Slow Sunday Stitching

How on earth did it get to be the 25th of February so fast?!?! Now mind you, I’m not complaining about that. It means we are so much closer to spring and the warm weather to come. In fact, it is sunny and going up to 7 degrees celsius today, and the snow is mostly gone, which means we can dispense with the heavy winter boots, for the next few days at least. It does mean though, that I am not going to make my goal of having this fifth and last border of Leo’s Mane finished by the end of the month...... rats!!

I have the corner pentagons sewn onto 13 out of 44 units. Nine of those units are sewn together. I need to add one more and they will be ready to be sewn onto the side of the quilt. I’ve spent a good deal of time in the last couple of weeks stitching. But a lot of that time was distracted by what was going on at the olympics, where I’d have to stop the stitching and watch what was happening, especially when it came to the figure skating, one of my favourite things to watch. And then I got caught up in all those extreme things like the snowboarding people who looked like they were flying, and the the skiers who were doing the same thing. All I can say is wow.... they are crazy!!
But, now the olympics is over, so maybe I’ll get back to more intensive stitching time. I’ve downloaded an audiobook that should keep me going for a while, which will help.
I’m linking up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching, and then I’ll pick the needle and thread back up for a little while.

Leo’s Mane fifth border progress

We had company this past weekend. Our grandson Avery came and stayed overnight with us Saturday and into Sunday. So there was no time yesterday for a Slow Sunday Stitching blog post, or for stitching either for that matter. By the time we finished looking after our 2 year old grand daughter on Friday and the 6 year old grandson Saturday and early Sunday these poor old grand parents were totally tired out, but in a fabulous and happy way.

I have been making progress with Leo though. All of the units for the fifth border are up to the point where the setting pentagons are going in. This month they have gone from these plus sign units then to having the side units put in and now the corner pentagons. I have three of these completed, with 37 more to go. So close..... so very close....

Slow Sunday Stitching

So close, so very very close to being done with Leo’s Mane. I have over half of the 40 English Paper Pieced units that I need up to the second step.
I have 40 of these, the first step
And 23 of these. the second step.I need 13 more of these for a total of 36 and then 4 of a bit of a different configuration to do the corners of the borders. After that, I put in the corner fabrics that turn these odd shapes into squares and these are done. The goal of the end of February looks like it might be reachable. Here they are, what I have done so far all together. They aren’t going to be laid out this way, considering they are meant for a border, but looking at them here, there are possibilities for further design variations. It would make a really fun scrappy quilt.
I’m linking up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching and then it will be back to more stitching.

Slow Sunday Stitching

I’m making really good progress on the fifth of Leo’s Mane borders. All the centre plus signs for the 40 blocks are done. Today I’m starting the process of cutting the next fabrics, basting them to the papers and sewing the next set of pieces into place. As I thought it would, this border is going together very quickly. Maybe, just maybe, it will all be done by the end of February. That would be so cool!  Here’s a closeup of the block so far. The spaces at the ends of the yellow pieces will be filled with the navy fabric I’ve been using through the whole quilt and will make the blocks square. I’m getting so excited about having this finished! I’m starting to think about how to quilt it. So far, I haven’t a clue what I’m going to do. I’m hoping sometime before it is finished, inspiration will hit. In the meantime, I’ll keep on stitching.
I’m linking up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching.

Slow Sunday Stitching

I’ve finally finished sewing on the fourth border to Leo’s Mane. It needs ironing before I can get a good picture of it. But that means I was finally able to start the fifth and last of the borders. I have to make 40 of these plus sign type sections. They go together quite quickly, though. I think I have 10 of them done already. So I’m hoping to have the whole thing done by the end of February. But more realistically, it will likely be closer to the middle of March.
This is going to be a short a quick post. We’re in the middle of watching a PBS series about Queen Victoria and it’s really good, so I’m going to post this, link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching and then continue watching and stitching.

Slow Sunday Stitching

Well, that was a week I’d not care to repeat. Like so many people all over the world, I got hit with one of the flu bugs. What a nasty bug it was!! I was out for the count last weekend and also for the first few days of this week. I had plans, so many plans of what  I wanted to get accomplished.......

However, the good news is I’m all better now, even if I lost a week. I had hoped to have all of the fourth border for Leo’s Mane finished and attached to the main body by now. The last of the fourth border sections is now finished and laying along side the left side of the quilt. After I post this, I’ll start stitching it to the main body. Then I can start in cutting and sewing the fifth borders which is the last one. Whew.... what a long process this has been. But that’s what slow hand stitching is all about, being slow and enjoying the process. I’m linking up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching and then will be finding something to watch on the computer while I stitch.

Slow Sunday Stitching.

This has been a crazy busy week, mostly spent on the computer working on new designs for our Canadian web site Eagles Wings Quilts where we sell English Paper Piecing supplies. We also have a few notions perfect for hand piecing and a few books. I received a request last week for a large English Paper Pieced Mariner’s Compass, so I spent a lot of time in EQ7 and then in Corel Draw getting it ready for the laser cutter to process. And then there was the time required to list it on the web site. But it was time very well spent. It’s available in finished sizes ranging from 33 1/2 inches from tip to tip to 10 inches from tip to tip. If you are interested, here is the link to the web site page for it Mariner’s Compass. Take some time and browse around to see what else we have. I’ve been slow lately adding new stuff to the web site, so this was good incentive, Also included in the same request was a design for an English Paper pieced Double Wedding Ring. That is in progress and will go up on the site in the next week or two.
I also got hit with a fibromyalgia attack on Thursday, which had me flat on my back on the couch not doing a single thing other than resting. All this to say my slow stitching has been slower than normal. I did get more done on Leo, but this particular border, although I love the way it looks, has lots of little pieces and is quite slow going. The finished effect will be quite worth it, though.
I’m in the process of adding in the little edging scalene triangles. On all of the other three borders of this  section, I added them all on after the pieces of the border were sewn into one length. I found that a bit awkward to handle, so I’m trying them as separate blocks instead, and it’s working much better. This will be the way I write it up for the sew along and pattern instructions. I have two more to finish, which I hope to accomplish today, and then I can start sewing the last of this particular border together and then attaching them to the main body of the quilt. My goal is to have them done and attached by the 15th, which gives me a week.
Oh, and the other thing that took up some time this week, much enjoyed time, was celebrating this sweet little girl turning 2 on Friday. How on earth did that happen so fast?!?!?

I’m linking to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching.