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.

Country Roads

I'm embarrassed by how long its been since I've blogged, but I finished my Country Roads mystery quilt and want to link with Lori at Humble Quilts.  Maybe this will give me the push I need to keep up with this blog. 

This is the third quilt I've made along with Lori.  I love her sense of color, so I never really change mine from the original.  I find these are some of my favorite small quilts.

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.

 



Linking Up

Wow.  I'm a terrible blogger.  I haven't posted since October.  My goal for the new year is to be more consistent starting now.  First, I'm linking up with Lori at Humble Quilts to share my version of her Cascadia quilt along.  I'm not too surprised that mine looks similar to Lori's, as we have similar taste in fabric and quilts and therefore similar scraps.  Thanks, Lori, for this fun sew along.

 

Next, I'm linking up to Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday.  My blocks for "Where Poppies Grow" are up on the wall.  I still need to applique the leaves down on two of the blocks and I have yet to make the last 4 blocks.  Putting them up on the wall like this has inspired me to finish this quilt.  I'm just kind of bored with appliqueing these leaves however.

I've also been trying to keep up with Bonnie's new mystery.  So far, so good. 

Slow Sunday Stitching

I have two projects to switch back and forth from today for slow stitching.  The first is to applique the swags onto the borders of my Hugs & Kisses quilt.  I started this quilt in 2009, and once I get the border finished, the top will finally be done.  I am, most definitely, a SLOOOOW appliquer/quilter.  The quilt was designed by Sue Garman for The Quilt Show BOM.  She made her beautiful quilt in blue and green, but I decided on yellow, cheddar, and green.  It will probably take another 5 years after that to get the quilting finished.

If I get tired of hand applique, I can always work on the current quilt in the hoop.  This is a scrap quilt that I'm quilting with an overall Baptist fan design.  It's still rather warm here in California -90 degrees is our projected high for today, so I'm not sure I want a big quilt on my lap.

 In any case, I should probably get my handwork in before 4:30, as my beloved Giants are playing game 2 against the Cardinals.   I often quilt while watching TV,  but these playoff games are just too exciting to multi-task through.

 

 

Go Giants!!!