Handpiecing and Applique

For Slow Sunday Stitching  http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com I'm working on my basket quilt.  I have 135 blocks completed and 17 left to applique.  I'm thinking maybe a lap sized quilt for these blocks.  I have really enjoyed the applique on them.  I used the back basting method because they're such simple shapes.  Very addictive!

Another addictive slow stitching project comes from Temecula Quilt Company.  Its called Summer Circles.  I adore all the small quilts this tiny store creates.  Go to their blog http://temeculaquiltco.blogspot.com to learn more. 

We took a road trip to Oregon to visit family over the 4th, so I had plenty of time to stitch.  Sadly, much of our state is on fire.  We encountered two huge fires on our trip.  One on the northern border closed Interstate 5 to traffic, but we were lucky to have made it through before that was necessary.  It was clear that the fire was out of control and spreading everywhere.  Fortunately this area is sparsely populated.  I've have lived in California all my life, and I've never seen the amount of fire activity that we're seeing now.  My prayers go out to everyone involved, especially the fire fighters who risk their lives on a daily basis.



Nothin' But Slow Stitchin'

We took a road trip to Temecula, CA and then on to Scottsdale, AZ so I had many opportunities to slow stitch.  I've been on a kick to finish 35 year old cross stitch projects.  I can't believe I left them to languish when I was so close to being finished.  This first one brought back wonderful memories of a lunch trip my friend Connie and I made to Allied Arts in Palo Alto.   Our kids were around 3 or 4 years old at the time, so it was a great get away day with my friend.  All I had to finish was the two bottom stars.

The next finish was my January Elefantz stitchery. 

 

 

 This berry sampler is probably the first cross stitch I started.  Again, I wonder why I stopped.  I only had the last two squares to do. 

 This is today's Slow Stitching project.  Another oldie but goodie.

 

Have a great Sunday everyone.

 

 

Welcome 2018

I guess I'm a little behind for the new year.  Here it is February and its my first post.  I've been busy completing two tops that I began last year.  The first is "On Ringo Lake", a Quiltville mystery quilt.   I have so much fun doing these mysteries, and this one came together so easily.  Lots of piecing to keep me challenged. This is the 9th Quiltville mystery top I've finished.   Notice I say top--many still need quilting.

 

This second quilt, Holy Toledo,  is from Bonnie Hunter's book Scraps & Shirttails II.  Its made from mostly recycled shirts collected from hubby, son, and the thrift store. 

 

 

I've been doing a lot of slow stitching as well.  I have about 115 of these small baskets appliqued, and I'm working on this embroidery design offered by Jenny of Elefantz .

 





 

 

 

I'll be linking up to Kathy's Blog for Slow Stitching Sunday, working on these projects, as well as doing a little hand quilting while I watch football. 



Slow (Hot) Sunday Stitching

I've been getting a lot of hand stitching in lately, as there as days when I don't have much energy to do much else.  I'm so thankful that I have this hobby to keep my mind and hands occupied.  Today I will be stitching on this Fig Tree Frivol.  I'm almost done quilting it.   Just a few more blocks and 3 borders.  Its small, so it is comfortable to hold even in the heat. 

 

Last week I finished up my paper pieced hexagons.  Each hexi is 1/2 inch and most are fussy cut.  I started this back in November 2015 when I attended a Jo Morton hand sewing retreat at Lied Lodge in Nebraska with my friend Nancy.  I haven't worked on it steadily, as it became my car project.  We make several 12 hour trips to Arizona and back every year, and I occupy myself with a hand sewing project or two.  This in addition to having a 17 pound Shih Tzu on my lap!  I have it pin basted and will hand quilt it when I finish my current quilt. 

 

This past week wasn't my most productive week, but this coming week should bring me more energy and motivation.  I did read a great book this week called  Beneath a Scarlett Sky by Mark Sullivan.  It is based on the true story of a heroic young man in Milan, Italy during WWII.  Not the most uplifting of things to read when you're feeling poorly, but it definitely made me realize that things could be waaaay worse! 

 

Have a great Sunday everyone.

 

 

I'm Baaack!

Wow.  I didn't realize how long it has been since I last posted.  Six months and so much has happened.  This will be a rather long post so I'll keep the quilty goodness at the beginning and add the personal update at the end in case anyone is interested.  In early April I spent a wonderful week in Lake Tahoe at quilt camp with many wonderful ladies and my high school friend, Connie.  I worked on finishing some WIPs and came home inspired and thankful.  I'll be sharing these soon. 

I've been successfully keeping up with Moda Blockheads block of the week despite some real challenges (see personal below).  Here's my work so far:

 

 

I recently purchased Jo Morton's Jo's Little Favorites II and fell in love with most of the quilts.  I finished the triangle one last week.  It is so satisfying to work on smaller quilts that can actually be finished.  Both quilts are hand quilted.

Courthouse Steps

Half-Square Triangle Challenge
 

Finally, here is my Circa 2016.  This was a sew along with Temecula Quilt Co. last year.  It hangs in our family room.  It is the only quilt I can ever remember my husband saying he likes!

Circa 2016

Tomorrow's Slow Stitching will be some hexi flowers.

******* personal info*******

After my delightful time in Tahoe, I decided to take care of some routine health maintenance which included my mammogram.  Much to my dismay they called be back, I had a biopsy and was diagnosed with breast cancer in early May.   I had lumpectomy surgery and a lymph node biopsy in mid-May.  I feel extremely fortunate that my cancer is small and an early stage, however it didn't get me out of chemo.  I had my first of 4 treatments last week, and while it certainly isn't a walk in the park, it is manageable.

I hesitated to share this much personal information, but there are two things that I want to share with my quilting sisters.  First, if you are not regularly getting your mammos, please start.  Do it EVERY year, if possible.  Women in their 60s are most at risk.  The second thing I want to share is how much being a quilter has helped me brave my frightening new world.  Hand stitching, reading your blogs, and prepping new projects have kept me from falling into despair.  We are so blessed to have this hobby to help us through the challenging times in our lives. 
With gratitude,
Barb

Slow Stitching

I had to lay aside the spider web quilt because it is too heavy for summer quilting.  Since I didn't have anything basted, I looked in the UFO closet and found this old beauty.  I made the top in 1988!! and started quilting it.  For some reason, I got tired of it, put it in the closet, and forgot about it.  I have been working on it steadily for about a month, so I only have the border left to do.  This is really sloooooooooooow stitching!

Sunday Stitching

String spider web quilt is in the hoop.  I'm doing a big huge stitch using pearl cotton.  Its going really quickly and I'm enjoying the folksy look. 

 

 

 

This is a big quilt (queen size) and its heavy from all the piecing.  I'd better work fast, because once the weather gets warm it will be too hot on my lap.  I'm linking to kathysquilts@blogspot.com for Slow Sunday Stitching,  Have a great Sunday everyone!

Slow Sunday Stitching

I finished the bindings on two projects today while watching my Warriors beat the Rockets despite Steph's newest injury.   What a team!

The first project is a table runner.  My friend Nancy and I bought the kits for this runner when we were in Nebraska for the Jo Morton Retreat in November.  We spent much too much time and money at The Quilted Moose in Gretna thequiltedmoose.com but I just love that store.  The center panels are hand appliqued and embroidered.  The pattern is called Blueberry Harvest Runner by Pieces to Treasure in NSW Australia.

 

 

The second finish for today is a baby quilt that I plan to give to my Granddaughter's nanny upon the arrival of her first baby.  Although Caleigh is now 8 years old, Julie has stayed close to the entire family and we are all grateful for the great love and care she provided when Caleigh was a baby.

 

This was made with a charm pack using the pattern in Simplify by Camille Roskelly. 

It feels wonderful to have finished something.  I tend to work a little bit on a large number of projects, so I often don't have the satisfaction of a finish.  Maybe I should do one thing and finish it before moving to another--NOT!

This Week in the Sewing Room

It has been a very productive week in the sewing room thanks to lots of wet weather.  I finished the last two blocks of my Stars in a Time Warp sew along with Barbara Brackman and got the top pieced together.  I love the simplicity of this setting, and thanks to Lori at  Humble Quilts, I  even know how I want to quilt it.  I learned so much from this journey through different antique fabrics.  I made all but one of the blocks from fabric in my collection.  I even had the setting and border fabric as well.  Two of the blocks didn't fit on the quilt top, so I will incorporate them into the back.

Today I'm working on Sunday Slow Stitching and will be linking to kathysquilts.blogspot.com.  I'd like to get this quilt out of the hoop by the end of the month and start on the Stars in a Time Warp.  We'll see.  Rushing the process takes away the joy, don't you think?

Austin Bluebird Complete

I just finished my Austin Bluebird quilt.  I think this might possibly be my favorite quilt.  I enjoyed every step of the process.  There is something about a sampler that keeps it from becoming tedious.  I hand quilted it, and it was fun to pick different quilting patterns for the various blocks.  It is hard to tell from the pictures, but hubby was just  a little too short to hold up the quilt.  I needed my 6'4" son for this one!  I don't usually do kits, but I loved this quilt the moment I saw in on the Minnick and Simpson blog.  It was my birthday present last January and I was so motivated I finished it within the year. 

I'm linking to Kathy's Slow Stitching, as there are many hours of slow stitches on this baby.

Lots of Slow Stitching

I've been doing tons of hand stitching for the past month.  Between binge watching episodes of Madmen and many hours of traveling by car, I've managed to finish a few things.  The first is my scrappy pink quilt.  I started hand quilting it in October and finished this week.  I did an overall Baptist fan in the center of the quilt and an old Amish design in the border.  I hope these photos capture the quilting.  I just love the texture and softness that hand quilting provides.  To me, there is nothing like it.

 

 

 

The second finish is a very old (over 10 years) quilt that was 2/3 quilted.  I don't know why I lost interest when I was so close to being finished (does that happen to you?)  It was the project I drew from my Jo Morton Yahoo group to finish this month.  I used a silk/poly blend batting that was heaven to quilt through.  Unfortunately, the pictures don't show that hand quilting very well.

 

 

I'm prepping some applique to take on the road and finishing up a mini quilt also.  Hopefully I'll have more to show next week.

My Hands

Kathy asked that we share a picture of our slow stitching hands today, so here I am quilting the border of my pink scrap quilt.  My hands, thankfully, to not get tired when quilting because I do not rock the needle.  My right hand stays still and pushes the needle.  The left hand (underneath) has a thimble on it and it pushes up.  I started quilting this way long ago because I could never get used to a sore finger underneath.

I remember when I first learned to hand quilt I thought "This is supposed to be relaxing???  You've got to be kidding!"  I thought it was so unnatural and the quilt was always in my way.  Of course it didn't help that I chose the fluffiest batting I could find!  But I persevered and now I agree that hand quilting is one of the most relaxing things a person can do.

This is what happens to the thimble on my left hand.  I have to replace them about once a year when I poke a hole in them.   I'm glad its the thimble and not my finger that looks like Swiss cheese.   I need the metal thimbles with the flat top (no ridge) and they are getting more difficult to find each year.  I've become a thimble hoarder. 

A Little Slow Stitching

I'm still working on quilting my pink scrappy quilt.  One more pass across and the center will be complete.  I'm going to do a more elaborate design in the wide border.  Its amazing how much you can get done by just allocating an hour a day to hand quilting. 

 



I've also been busy piecing.  I finished Bonnie's Grand Illusion top on Friday.  I worked hard to keep up with each clue, and the quilt came together quickly in the end.  I wasn't sure I liked it at first because it seemed so busy and it is definitely out of my comfort zone.  Actually, its growing on me.  I think it will be a cheerful addition to the guest room come springtime.   

I belong to the Jo Morton Yahoo group and the gals have come up with a great WIP plan for the year.  We were to list 12 projects that we want to either finish or move further along.  At the beginning of each month, a number is chosen and we are to work on the project on our list that corresponds that number.  There are very few rules:  You can finish, make progress or switch to another project.  This month I finished a Thimbleberries top that was about 1/3 complete.  I finished cutting and sewing the blocks and then sewed them to the 1/3 I already had.  This was an OLD project (2001).  Apparently I'm a much more accurate piecer now, because my new blocks were bigger than my old ones.  I just sort of eased them in.  I think hope if I quilt it with a slightly thicker batting, I can disguise the problem.

 



Slow Sunday Stitching

Today I will be joining my friend Nancy and her mother for slow stitching.  We all love to hand quilt..In fact, Vivian (Nancy's mom) has never ever had one of her quilts quilted by a machine of any type.  She hand quilts every single one of them!  Unlike most of us, she doesn't have a backlog of tops that need quilting.  Nancy keeps hoping her mom will run out and quilt some of her tops for her, but Viv just tells her she can do them herself.  Viv is 93 years old and still quilts several hours every day.  I once asked her why she didn't machine quilt and she looked at me like I was crazy.  "I like to hand quilt.  It's my favorite part of the process." she replied.

I'm going to be working on one of two things.  The blue and cheddar quilt is basted and ready for quilting.  I just need to decide on a thread color.

  If it is too hot to have a quilt on my lap then I will applique the leaves and stems on the "Where Poppies Grow" BOM.  I'm falling behind on this BOM.  This is block 4 for me, and block 8 was just released last week.  The piecing and applique is time consuming, so I have to be fully alert and in the mood to start a block.

Enjoy your Sunday!