Slow Sunday Stitching

 It was such a lovely day on Friday that my husband and I went on a drive to Minden, about 90 minutes from home to do a bit of fabric refreshing. There is a quilt shop there called Remember Me Quilts and More. It is owned by the loveliest, friendliest lady. I needed border fabrics for the McKenna Ryan Aurora Ridge quilt that is hopefully on the fast track to being finished. And then I wanted some bright and happy fabric that I could semi-fussy cut for a new EPP project. I seem to have renewed my obsession with EPP. It’s a Willyne Hammerstein design from her third book called Flower Power. I’ve gotten a start on the centre stars. I’ve cut them stack and whack style rather than true fussy cutting. I didn’t want any more fabric swiss cheese and I think this will work. There is lots of motion in these, which is what I was hoping for. 

I’ve had to put my Connections project into time out. I’ve run out of 2 inch squares. Originally, the squares came from some of my friends at the London Friendship Quilters Guild, which led to the name Connections. Would any of you reading this be willing to send me a small envelope of 2 inch squares so I can continue this project? Nothing big, perhaps just enough to fit into a regular envelope that can go in the regular mail. That would be so much fun. If so, contact me at caleeshepherd at gmail.com and I’ll send you my address. Don’t leave it in the comments as I likely won’t be able to respond. So many comments now come through as no-reply. Thank you in advance, so much. 

The really big news for here though, for the slow stitching, is that I’ve finished My Tweets. It  is trimmed and waiting on binding. I took it with me to the church on Thursday to spread it out on the big tables to trim it and then laid it out on the floor for a picture. I’m going to bind it in the same fabric as the sashing/border so it won’t look too much different than this when it is done.

Anyhow, it is time to get this day fully started. So I’ll link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching and then get to it.

Slow Sunday Stitching

 I took the last quilting stitch in My Tweets this past week! The last stitch went into the junction of those three sashing bits. Celebration time! However, it is currently still sitting on the chair in a heap, still in the quilting hoop, waiting to be trimmed and bound. Hopefully I don’t leave it too long. Since finishing that I’ve been rather unfocused and unsure of what to do next. I picked up my Jackrabbit cross stitch, but had a difficult time trying to concentrate on the tiny threads and the counting. I ended up ripping out stitches two different times in his right ear, so I put that aside. Then I went digging looking for an EPP project I started years ago, back in 2019, according to this blog. It’s called Connections. I found the fabrics and the papers and got started on doing some more glue basting. But the biggest thing I’ve been working on this past week is machine quilting an old McKenna Ryan project. I’ve dived in and am doing some free motion quilting on my domestic machine. It’s actually going better than I thought it would. The hand sewing bit comes in on the back. I’m doing it a block at a time and then putting it together quilt as I go style, which involves hand sewing cover strips over the seams on the back, hence the slow stitching part. I really want to get this one done so we can use it as a fund raiser for our Prayers and Squares group this spring/summer. It is the pattern Aurora Ridge.  According to this blog, I started it way back in 2016. I bought the patterns as kits with the fabrics in them. I’m not sure why it got put into cold storage. But anyhow, it is back in production. I have one more block to put together. Pictures to follow in more detail in another post. I’m linking up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching

Slow Sunday Stitching

 I have reached a milestone this week. All of the quilting in the bird blocks for My Tweets is now finished. A few nights more work on the sashing and bottom border and it will be ready for trimming and binding. It could very well be finished and up on the wall by the end of March, which has been my goal since I picked this back up. And of course, there is no getting close to finishing one project without thoughts turning to “what’s next?”. I am seriously thinking of getting back and picking up some much neglected English Paper piecing projects that have been packed away in a box that I’ve recently found for years. I’ve gone so far as to order some more papers so that I can get them to a finish. 

I’ll link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching

Slow Sunday Stitching

 We are currently in the middle of yet another winter storm. The second in a week and it is dumping a fair amount of snow on us. I have no idea how much, but I must say that I am more than ready to be done with winter. In the meantime, there is plenty to do indoors. A few weeks ago I estimated that it would be taking me 2 weeks to do the hand quilting per square of My Tweets. That was a huge overestimate. I’ve actually been doing 2 squares per week. At this rate the hand quilting just might be done by the end of this month. It will certainly be done before the end of winter, which has been my goal. I am really enjoying revisiting each of these blocks as they are quilted, remembering the fun I had choosing the colours, especially for the tails. And also enjoying the feeling of having spring in my lap, if not outside in reality. I’ve been indulging myself in a little more spring dreaming by going through a seed catalogue, getting ready to order my seeds, especially those that need to be started early. But until then, I’ll enjoy the spring flowers and birds in this quilt. I’ll link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching

Slow Sunday Stitching

 I am continuing on with my push to get the quilting on My Tweets finished. Last week I mentioned that I was guessing it would take a couple of weeks per block. Well, I seem to be going much faster than that. I got 2 blocks finished  and the top border quilted in one week. I just may be able to meet that goal of getting this quilt done this winter. I’m currently halfway through another block which will take it to 6 out of 12 done. I’m doing the sashings and the borders as I go so there won’t be that large job left at the end. Slowly and steadily will get it completed. 

I’ll link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching

Slow Sunday Stitching

 All my slow stitching this past week has been focused on the hand quilting for My Tweets. I managed to finish 2 blocks. I really want to get this done this winter. If it isn’t finished this winter, I suspect it will go into time out again until next winter and I really don’t want it to linger that much longer. In theory, I can get a block quilted in about 1 1/2 to 2 weeks. There are 9 blocks left, plus the outer border. So it just might be do-able.

I’ll link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching and then perhaps put in an hour of hand quilting before heading to my sewing room to do some doll clothes for our Granddaughter.

Slow Sunday Stitching

 Last winter, or maybe it was the spring, anyway sometime last year I decided it was beyond time to get the quilt called My Tweets finished. Because I no longer have my long arm quilting machine and because I can’t afford to pay someone to custom quilt it, I decided to hand quilt it. I started it back last year sometime and then stalled out. Actually, I just looked back at a picture taken of the beginning of the quilting and it is dated March 13, 2024, so that answers that particular question. There’s no way I would have worked on it during the spring and summer. I have picked it back up in the last couple of weeks and am making good progress on it. I would love to have it finished before the warm weather and outdoor activities return. The centre of the quilt is finished and I’ve moved on to the first of the 12 blocks around the outside. I had originally thought that I would continue the straight line background quilting into the outer squares. But the more I look at it and the more I work on it, I realize that they don’t need it. The appliqué on those squares is so dense that the straight lines would get lost. I’m outlining the appliqués and that will be it. I can only work on this for a limited time each evening and then the finger on the back side of the quilt starts to get sore from feeling the needle come through, so then I pick up my cross stitch. The Jackrabbit from A Year In The Woods is slowly growing. I had hoped to continue with my one critter a month finishing on this, but the hand quilting has taken over and that’s ok. It has been a true Muskoka winter this year, very cold and a fair amount of snow, although nothing like the 4 feet of snow that was dumped about 45 minutes south of us. It still makes for a good time to be staying indoors where it is warm and cozy and play with fabrics and thread. I’ll link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching

Slow Sunday Stitching

 I had forgotten from many years ago, how much I enjoy the hand quilting process. It is slow and steady, just the quiet of the rocking needle. Sometimes it is accompanied only by the quiet around me, sometimes by watching something on the computer, sometimes by listening to a good audiobook. I would say that I have at least a quarter of the centre block finished now. The callus on the finger that I use on the underside of the quilt to feel the needle come through is getting thicker, so I can quilt for longer. I am quilting in the ditch around the appliqué shapes, which doesn’t show up on the photo, and then the background lines approximately 1 inch apart.

Later on in the evenings I am still working on my sweater. I may end up with a game of chicken between the amount of yarn I have left and the end of the sweater. I hope I don’t have to order more yarn because I have lost or thrown out the identifying tags for the colours, although I do know the brand. I could always do a fade type thing if I had to, I suppose. I’ll do a few more inches on it and then make a decision to order more yarn.

I’ll link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching

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Slow Sunday Stitching

 My sweater continues to grow. I’ve separated off the sleeves and have about 2 inches of the body done. But the really exciting piece of slow stitching is the start of the background quilting on My Tweets. It is going faster than I thought it would. The amount here was done in an afternoon. I don’t have any calluses built up on my fingers yet, so I had to quit as the finger under the quilt was getting quite sore, as was my wrist. I haven’t been able to get back to it, due to our grand daughter being off for March break and also the now almost finished reno of my room. The ceiling is in and the baseboards are going in today. There is still all the tapeing and mudding and sanding of the drywall seams in the ceiling, but I suspect that is not going to happen for quite a while yet.

I’ll link up to Kathy'sSlow Sunday Stitching

Slow Sunday Stitching

 Most of my slow stitching this past week has been knitting. I’m making really good progress on my Walk Along T-shirt/sweater. The helical knitting technique that blends the two different skeins of yarn is working beautifully. It’s not even noticeable that the light colours are two different yarns in there. They are close enough in colours that they blend quite nicely. I am getting so close to the dividing point of taking the sleeve stitches off the needles. After that it will go even faster.

I also have taken just a few hand quilting stitches into My Tweets. It is in a new hoop and stand that is quite comfortable to use. I’m still trying to decide what I am going to do in the backgrounds. I have a few ideas and I picked up some painters tape to help with the straight lines I am thing of. But until I have a firm idea I don’t want to do too much on it only to maybe have to take it out. I just realized that I never posted a picture of the finished top. Here it is. It was difficult to get the whole thing into a picture, so it is slightly crooked.

I’ll link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching.

Slow Sunday Stitching.

 My main focus this past week, besides finishing up some Prayers and Squares quilts, has been getting My Tweets  ready for the basting and hand quilting stage. I got all the missing leaves added to the centre block and last evening started putting it all together with the sashing fabric I purchased a couple of weeks ago. Oh how I am loving this!! I took it with me to the Prayers and Squares group on Thursday so that I could lay it out and get an idea of placement of the blocks and distribution of colours. I took a picture to remind myself of the decision. I would love to be able to get the rest of this sewn together today. After that I’ll have to get a big table set up so I can layer and baste it ready for hand quilting. I bought myself a new stand and hoop from Amazon - this one here. It is currently still in its box waiting assembly. If I get as far as getting this layered today, that will have to be the next step. It is all very exciting.

I’ll link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching

Slow Sunday Stitching

 I finished my Frankensocks this past week, and even got the toes grafted and all the ends woven in. That is the step that usually just sits and ends up procrastinated. So that’s done and I can even wear them today.  I’ve had a couple of coordinating skeins of Alegria fingering yarn sitting here for quite a while. There was enough to do a scarf or shawl, but I don’t really need another scarf or shawl and there wasn’t enough to do a sweater and matching either of the skeins was going to be difficult. My dear friend Gail, aka The Cozy Quilter, gave me a gift certificate to a local yarn store here in Huntsville, just 5 minutes down the road, so I got the idea to see if there was anything there that would coordinate that I could use to do alternate rounds in a sweater to make a combined fabric. It turns out that there was. So I got the skeins wound up into cakes and started on the sweater yesterday. I think it is going to work really well. I already had the green and the light yarn with the greens and orange in it. The skein I picked up has all the colours of the top skein, minus the green. While I was in the yarn shop, because I had explained to her what I was planning on doing, the sales lady mentioned a technique called Helical knitting that seamlessly blends alternating yarns together. I did a you tube search and the technique works really well.

I also had big plans this past week to take the centre block of My Tweets to the church where there are large cutting matts that I could use to trim it up to the right size. It occurred to me that I should check the block against the picture of the pattern just to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything. It turns out that it is missing quite a few leaves. So those will have to be done before I can trim it and start adding on the sashing and the other blocks. Getting the leaves traced and ready for appliqué is going to be part of today’s slow stitching. 

I’ll link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching

Slow Sunday Stitching

 A finish for the My Tweets quilt blocks is so close. I prepped all the leaves for this last block and glue basted them into place. A few days of stitching shall finish it and then I can go fabric shopping for the sashing and backing. Then I will have to decided how to quilt it, since I know it is going to have to be done by hand. Perhaps a very simple cross hatch so the quilting won’t take away from the appliqué. The hand quilting means that this project will be in my Slow Sunday posts for quite some time to come yet.

Our kitchen renovations are now finished.....woohoo!! But, now the renovations are moving into the bedroom/sewing room. Which means emptying it out and getting it organized and doing some more purging. It will be lovely when it is done, but it is a bit of a nuisance getting there. I have 2 weeks before it needs to be empty for the floor to be done. I’m assigning myself a small section of the room every day or two so that I don’t end up feeling overwhelmed. And in the meantime I remind myself that the end is in sight.

I’m linking to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching

Slow Sunday Stitching

 I have made great progress with the 12th and last block of the My Tweets block of the month by Erin Russek. All the pieces, except the leaves are prepped and glue basted in place and the stitching is started. I’m hoping to have all of the appliqué sewn in place by the end of February. Then I can go shopping for sashing and backing. I suspect that this is going to end up hand quilted since I no longer have my long arm. It would need custom quilting to do it justice and there is no way I can afford to pay someone else to do it. Nor can I afford to rent time on a machine to do it. So hand quilting it is. The only other hand stitching I have done is to finish gridding my linen for my next cross stitch piece. But that is totally boring, so I won’t bother with a picture of the gridded fabric. I may get some actual cross stitching done this week and if I do I will post a picture of it next week.

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

Slow Sunday Stitching

 I am almost finished block 11 of My Tweets, a block of the month quilt that dates all the way back to 2011, designed by Erin Russek. I picked this back up sometime back in December, so it’s taken a bit more than a month to get this block almost finished. There are just three circles left to stitch down up in the right hand corner and this one will go into the finished box of finished blocks. I’ve started gridding a new piece of linen for a new cross stitch piece. But I won’t bother with a picture of that since it’s not very interesting or exciting. 

I’ll link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching in the morning.

Slow Sunday Stitching

 Our little Prayers and Squares quilting and knitting group has decided to do a UFO challenge next year. We are going to do it a bit differently than most and just choose 6 rather than the traditional 12 UFOs. We will work on each for 2 months rather than the traditional 1 month. My oldest UFO is My Tweets. I started it way back in 2011 as an appliqué block of the month designed by Erin Russek of One Piece at aTime blog. She doesn’t appear to be posting to her blog any more, which is a shame. Anyhow, I pulled out the box of pieces to assess exactly where I was and what is left. From what I can see I am working on the 10th block. I haven’t checked yet, but I am hoping that I printed out the patterns for the 11th and 12th because they don’t seem to be available any longer. If I didn’t I can probably improvise a couple of blocks of my own using elements from previous blocks which I’m pretty sure I still have. This is simple stitching which doesn’t take a lot of concentration, so it is suitable for working on in the evenings, as long as I have my good light and my magnifying glasses. It’s a busy and joyful time of year, so easy stitching is a good thing. All our gifts are wrapped. The menu for Christmas day is settled and the cooking assigned out so that one person isn’t doing all the work. I want to wish all of you who read here who celebrate this miracle of Christmas to have a joy filled Christmas and a happy New Year.

I’m linking to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching

Sunday Stash and Stitching

I’m making progress on my tenth out of twelve My Tweets blocks. I finished up all the stitching on the pieces that were already prepped and on the background.
So it was time today to make some leaves.  still have to finish stitching the birds’ heads, but I can’t do that until I get their beaks and top knots done. I haven’t decided whether I’ll go ahead and make up all the rest of the components, or if I’ll stitch down what I have, and then do more.
We took some time on Friday to put up the family Christmas tree. Our little grand daughter Abrielle was kinda fascinated with what was going on, but really she was quite good about not getting into it too much. I’m not sure if that has remained the case in the days since, though. She’s really a very good little thing. She already knows the meaning of “don’t touch”. And that’s a really good thing, since she’s up and walking all over the place, even though she isn’t even 11 months old yet.
The stash numbers moved a little bit. I donated a couple of yards to the comfort quilts we are doing for guild members who experience loss or bereavement.

Used this week:                                      2 yards
Used this year:                                  83.8 yards
Added this week:                                  0 yards
Added this year:                             77.45 yards
Net stash busted:                               6.35 yards

I’m linking up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching and Judy’s Stash Report. And then, I think I’ve decided that, since everything is out and ready for shape preparation, I’ll keep on going.

Sunday Stash and Stitching

I haven’t got any real progress to show, since the actual stitches aren’t that visible. But, the birds have their tails all finished and the bird on the left has its wing all finished, too. So there has been considerable progress made on this block today.
Another Sunday worth of stitching should take it to needing more pieces prepared. I really can’t say that I’m looking forward to doing all those circles. And then there are the top knots on their heads to do before I can finish stitching down their bodies. And little tiny triangles of beaks. It is more than official..... I’m insane.......
We a sewing day for the guild yesterday, from 9am to 8pm. I didn’t arrive until 10, but stayed until the very end. There was quite a lot accomplished, which added some numbers to my stash busted column.

Used this week:                                    2.5 yards
Used this year:                                   81.8 yards
Added this week:                                    0 yards
Added this year:                              77.45 yards
Net stash busted:                               4.35 yards

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

Slow Sunday Stitching....

Well, not so much stitching as preparing for stitching. I put My Tweets up on the wall to get an idea of the colour balance, and what I should use for the tails in the next block.
I noticed that I have a lot of pink tails and purple tails, and also a couple done in shades of yellows and oranges. So, what I’ve chosen for the next one is shades of reds, with just a touch of blue and purple added in.

This is blocks number 10. I spent most of the afternoon cutting pieces and prepping them using the liquid starch and non meltable mylar method. There’s enough here now, that I can get a start on the stitching. I’ve found that I like doing the birds first, before adding in the flowers.
I’m going to link this up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching. After that, it just might be time to tidy up from all the cutting I’ve done, have something to eat, and then actually do some stitching.

Sunday Stash and Stitching report

I seem to be back in the groove of stash additions and also Sunday stitching. I finished up block nine of My Tweets today.
Next week I can start in on getting ready for block ten. I’ve been doing some more playing with McKenna Ryan stuff, too.
Would it sound crazy to say that I find the tracing and the cutting and the intricate placing of the fabrics relaxing? Because I do.
I had some new fabrics come in this week. Some was for a workshop that I participated in on Saturday. What a great time we had. It was led by Lorna, over at Sew Fresh Quilts. I got a start on doing her Forest Friends design. I finished this birds block, and got the pieces cut for four foxes. This is going to be a long term project, considering there are lots of other things that have to be worked on and finished around here, but it sure was a lot of fun to get together with a great bunch of quilters on Saturday to play with fabrics and animals.
I have a commission quilt to do, as well, which is going to take priority for the next while. We are having some new graphic designs done for Eagle’s Wings Quilts, and the designer, rather than being paid in cash, has asked for a quilt as payment. She wants this design Bravo Indigo. I’m adapting it to make it larger, and eliminate the flip and dew triangles.

Fabric used this week:                            0 yards
Fabric used this year:                        79.3 yards
Fabric added this week:                       15 yards
Fabric added this year:                    77.45 yards
Net stash busted:                                1.85 yards

I’m linking to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching and to Judy’s Stash Report.