Slow Sunday Stitching 2-15-26. #26.7

 

Progress on all (mostly all) of my stitching works in progress. 

Sweetly Sayin’ is finished, though not yet fully finished.

Winter Row is Progressing. I have 2 rows to finish on his bottom to make him more rounded. And my friend Aggie gave me a strand of the called for floss for the noses, so next he’ll have a nose. 

 Lastly, I’ve moved on to octopus #3 backstitching. Last night I was merrily stitching along while watching the Womens Mogul competition and the Women’s Curling, when I discovered 3 missed stitches on #3’s #2 tentacle.  It was 10:30 pm, so I put it away and got ready for bed. 

Can you see the missed stitches I circled on #3 as compared to #2?  Easily fixed, just need to thread a needle and do it before continuing. 😟

I read a few chapters in my current read. 

Tomorrow my book club meets and we will be discussing:

Linking up at Kathy’s Quilts

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy and Hopeful 

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop cause I'm Not Quite Finished!

Summer is quickly coming to an end! I just learned the first day of school is August 21st.  ONE MONTH from tomorrow!

I don't have children or grandchildren who are school age, but our great grandson who lives here in our town starts kindergarten this year. It makes both Mr Busy and me feel OLD!

I have been working on my APQ Challenge for July!  I have a QOV that became a UFO last year after I had a great deal of trouble putting the blocks together. Now it should have been an easy quilt. Like a rail fence with a star detail at two corners.  See this post!.

I was surprised when I went to JoAnns that there was no gold fabric in the Patriotic section. So I looked, and looked and looked. Now, our JoAnns is a relatively small one. Not lots of fabric, no frame section, and maybe 3 employees that day. Sometimes there are only two working. I finally settled on a gold batick, yes it has "leaves" in it, but more subtle than the ones in my stash.

Next I had to decide how to do the corners. Cut a piece approximately 5 1/2 by 3 and lay it over the existing corner, sew it and then trim it. I pondered. I could not see that as a good outcome, with the bulk of the seam and the possibility for a larger more wonky star. So I started to "unsew" each triangle.

Painstakingly, I unpicked the first one. I have an Alpaca Pressing Mat and I love it!.  I pressed, then moved to my regular pressing mat, gave the cut edge a light spritz of Spray Starch, turned it over and pressed it again. It felt really stiff and stable. I added a rectangle of fabric, lined up the already cut line and sewed it on. Success!  I decided to do one corner at a time, to eliminate the possibility of distortion on the bias edge. When both corners are replaced, it is back to the cutting table and my 8 1/2 inch ruler and re trim the corners. There is some waste, but I will use those triangle is another project I have in my head!! That has been my task all week. I have 3 rows done and am starting on the 4th. Luckily I had marked each block with a small scrap of paper Col and Row, so they will go back in order. I did not want to have to rethink that!  I must have rearranged blocks for days last year before I was satisfied.

Here is the first one, Row 1 Column A with one new corner and one old corner, on my alpaca mat.

and the unpicking continued. It was a slow process, but I am happy with the results.

I am almost half way with the block re-do!

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

ps: I also finished reading Beartown by Fredrik Backman.  AWESOME!!!!  On recommendation from a friend in Texas, I picked up the sequel at the library yesterday, Us Against You!. I have a kindle book and an audio book that I need to finish, then I will start the sequel.

I'm linking this post at Confessions of A Fabric Addict . She is in the middle of her 12 Days of Christmas in July blog hop, but I know she will get her Whoop Whoop Friday post up too.  I am glad Myra is back with Finished or Not Fridays! , so I will be linking up there too.

Finish It Up Friday, Finished or Not Friday

I wish I had taken more progress pics. But here is what I have been working on this week. Here I am doing a blanket stitch on the edge of the applique.

I have several of these patterns, some are kits and some are just the patterns. I have a narrow slice of wall in my entryway that is just perfect for the little 6" by 20" minis. Patchabilities has a great selection of seasonal little banners. The kits usually come with special buttons or embellishments. This was just a pattern, so I used some scraps from my stash.

Let me introduce you to Sven. My newest snowbuddy. I still need to add some fringe to his scarf and find a different embellishment for his stocking cap pompom. I am thinking an actual pompom or a pale blue yo yo with a snowflake button.

 My Sven next to the pattern. And don't look and my messy stash of 9 patches~

I will be linking up with:
Crazy Mom Quilts     Finish It Up Friday
Busy Hands Quilts     Finished or Not Friday


Stay Busy and Stay Happy

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

I am linking up late to Book Date's feature, It's Monday! What Are You Reading?


If I had written and posted this late Sunday, I could tell you I was reading Liar, Liar, Tabloid Writer 

by Suzy Quint.  But it is now 2:00 pm Monday and I just finished it. Rather abruptly too, I might add. It was coming to a conclusion, I thought. Annaliese has been arrested, Alec has just discovered the relationship between Annaliese and Cleo. And he was starting to have some real feelings for Cleo. Then the last sentence says, Cleo and Alec's story concludes in Liar, Liar, Heart's Desire.  Bummer!


So now I'll go on to reading the last of the 3 summer selections for my Face to Face book club. We meet again in September. We decided to pick 3 novel of Fredrik Backman. I have finished A Man Called Ove and My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry. So I will read
Britt- Marie Was Here  this week.

Because I like these books so much I may have to pick another before the week is over. If that happens, I guess I'll chose between Jane Green's The Beach House 

and Kristin Hannah's Between Sisters.  Any one have a favorite? 

Until next time, I'll be reading and putting a binding on a Christmas Wall Hanging. Maybe I'll even finish the place mats for the camper. Or maybe I'll just hang out on Facebook and wait for my son or daughter-in-law to post pictures of their new granddaughter.  She is our 5th great grandchild. She lives in Arizona, so I don't know when we will get to meet her in person. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Finish It Up Friday ! Pinnies and a SB baby gift

Last week was a kind of slow week as far as finishes go.  I did do two pincushions, inspired by Amanda Jean.  But I cheated.  The first one was a re-do. Years ago I made a pincushion to match my family room colors, using Doreen Speckmann's Norwegian Chicken Pincushion pattern. The pattern is dated 1997, but I think I made it around 2001 or 2002. Shortly after my breast cancer treatments and my learning to quilt. I developed a seam malfunctions ( due to improper construction I am sure) and so I then un stuffed it and fixed the open seam. There is sat all floppy and un stuffed. Until Amanda Jean asked if we had a pincushion collection and I gathered all mine together. There she sat, forlorn and unloved. I decided to fix that!  Here she is, stuffed and sitting up proudly.

The little pincushion beside her is really a cheat!  I backed a baby quilt with this chevron fabric. When I sent it to the quilter, she had used the edges to practice and check her tension....so there was this scrap of cute fabric already "quilted to batting" and I just put a backing on it, stitched it into a rectangle, filled it with walnut shells and Voila!!  , a tiny pincushion for my couch side sewing basket.  Here is the other side of both pinnies.

Also this week, I got busy and put together a self-binding receiving blanket for the sister of my daughter-in-law.  I had the yellow surfboard flannel in my stash and found the robot blue flannel at JoAnn's.  The new baby is a boy and his big brother  and parents are all tech types. I thought the robot fabric was too cute to pass up. It turned out really well, I think.

And a better look at the backing fabric and the stitching that holds it all together. Have you ever done one of these?  Super easy and fun.

It's a Missouri Star tutorial...they even have a snuggle ( minky) version.

Anyway, those are my Friday Finishes.

I'll be linking up with Amanda at Crazy Mom Quilts.


Til next time
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

ps: I also finished reading,

both really good. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 5/29/17

It's Memorial Day here in the US and although my heart aches for our country, I must remember those that served so we have the freedoms we enjoy. I pray that our freedoms continue and that we the people have a voice.

On my FB page I shared these:  This is my dad, probably about summer 1946 judging from the other photos that were will this one in my mom's belongings. I lost him too young. I was 23, by sister and brothers still in school. He was 49, killed in a car accident.

This is our son. He served in the Air Force in 1987-1990. Luckily for him and for us, not during wartime. I am proud of the man he has become. He would cringe at this photo, but it is the only one I have of him in his uniform, except for his wedding to his first wife and I can't publish that. 


I am finally back to reading more. My book club is taking a break during the summer, but we have selected 3 of the titles by Fredrik Backman for our summer reading choices.

I had already read A Man Called Ove and liked it a lot. 

This one was one that our friend and member, Helen wanted to read. She was 84 and at our March meeting was having trouble with her hip. Easter weekend she fell and though she had had a hip replacement, she broke the surrounding bone. Her heart problem complicated further surgery, so she was admitted to  rehab in a town 2 hours away.  She missed our April meeting.  We staying in touch with her through emails and because one of our members is a friend of one of her daughters. She raised 10 children on a ranch in NE Wyoming. We met the third Tuesday in May, discussed our books and decided to chose these because Helen was interested and we knew she was recuperating now in a hospital a bit closer to home. By the next morning Wednesday, we got word that she had passed away, due to heart issues. We will miss this lovely woman of God, strong spirited, lover of literature and her fellow man.   

I am looking forward to the discussion of all three of these. I am currently reading my grandmother asked me to tell you she's sorry. 

Last week I finished, though not in Audio format.  I read a regular sized paperback from the library. It looked and felt liked it had been read many times. I enjoyed it too. I especially like the main character Eve Dallas. If you like detective stories, with a bit of romance ( or just plain lust) and you don't mind setting in the future, try this series. It is set in 2058 in NYC.  Still gritty and "happening". 

I've sort of fallen away from my sewing room in the last couple of weeks. I attended a retreat  and started several projects there, finished 2 but that is all. I did not complete my challenges for May at all. One I did not even start, although I did locate it in the stack of project boxes and bags! The weather is improving here, I got some pot planted for in front of our house and on the back deck. I need one more for the front porch. I put the flag out this morning when I got up, I think I would like a patriotic themed planter this year. I will go looking for an appropriate pot and selection of flowers today. 

Until next time

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

A Wall Hanging, Another Little Project, and a Book.

Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts is taking a spring break, so I will try to link this to another blog.

I found another quilter so I am linking to Busy Hands Quilts. You should be able to click on the image above to get to her linky party.


There hasn't been a great deal of finishing here this last week or so.

I have been working on a small wall hanging. It is finally finished, well the top at least. Now I have to decide how to ask the longarmer to quilt it. Some don't do custom around embroidery. This pattern was free on Val Laird Designs blog several years ago. She did hers in pastels. I had an abundance of browns from a fat quarter exchange and I am more of a Fall colors kinda girl.

 It is hard to see here, but the nine blocks have embroidered and appliqued pictures. It is called Thoughts in Thread and I really like it. I finally took these close-ups.

Seems current in the fact that the world is in such turmoil, we must keep good thoughts, lovely thoughts, and pure thoughts in our hearts.  As of Saturday morning it will be on its way to the longarm quilter that EVERYONE in my circle recommended. Her name is Virginia Ohr and she is awesome. I will share when I get it back. She is backed up, so it may be awhile. The other fabulous quilter in our area has retired and is traveling with her husband. So for custom work, we are lacking.


I also finished a lanquishing project. You are going to shake you head I am sure. For years I had 2 placemats that were take-aways at a Mother's Day tea sponsored by my Beta Sigma Phi chapter. They were fabric fused on to batting, then pinked around the edge. They lasted a long time. I did not use them daily, but often. Finally the fabric began to pull away from the batting. What's a frugal girl to do?  Find a backing, quilt and bind, of course.  So here they are. The backing is a left over piece of pieced backing from a lap quilt I finished in October. The binding is a piece from my stash. I am very happy to have them done and usable again. There were also two small heart shaped coasters that I just backed, quilted then re-pinked around the heart shape.

 The front is the vegetable print, the back is the pieced cream, beige, rust and brown. I stippled them myself, so I won't show you a close-up.  They are fine for everyday use in our house.

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Oh, I also finished reading Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse , it is wonderful. Have you read a book told in free verse?  Set in 1934 during the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma.  One of my favorite, speaking of her Ma:

Today, she stood out in the drizzle
hidden from the road, 
and from Daddy, 
and she thought from me, 
but I could see her from the barn, 
she was bare as a pear, 
raindrops
sliding down her skin,
leaving traces of mud on her face and her long back,
trickling light and dark paths, 

February Finishes - Book and Sewing Projects.

I only finished reading The Guilty by David Baldacci.

You can check out my review  here.

 I am still wading through the Karen Kingsbury collection on my Kindle.

That may be why it is taking me so long. That and the fact that I have been  nursing a sick Mr. Busy and I have been in my sewing room a great deal.

I have completed these, this month.

This was still in kit stage on Feb 1st. It still has to be quilted. I send mine to a longarmer. That requires a bit of saving, so it will wait for a complete finish for a bit. This was my February challenge for American Patchwork and Quilting's 2017 UFO Challenge.

And I did these little pillows for my 2 great grandchildren.

 This little pillow matches the quilt I made for Bella before she was born. I finally got around to making a label with her birth statistics and a little pillow I hope her mama will use when she is nursing. It has a handle for ease of caring to a rocking chair and a shallow pocket for breast shields or maybe mama's cell phone.

I couldn't let her big brother be forgotten, so I gathered some scraps from Mr Busy's airplane quilt and made Jojo a pillow too. His has a deeper pocket to hold a book, or more likely his iPad. A velcro strap will secure the tablet in the pocket when he carries it to and from "Gwamma and Pa's" house. He is a big fan of the movie "Planes" and know that Pa has a model of the Corsair F4U that is  on this bag...:Skipper" in the movie. 

I sent this one to our oldest great grandson for Valentine's Day. He lives in Arizona, he will be 7 in July. His grandpa, our son, is a Bronco fan. I got a "thumbs up" thank you from his mom. 

And one last finish: 

It's a Mondo Bag. Over 200,  2 1/2 inch squares sewed to an interfacing. It has batting too and is large and quite heavy. I hope I remember not to load it too heavy or I won't be able to lift it.  I love the colors though. 

That is it for February. Now on to March and it's challenges. I will be reading two books written in verse. 

 Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse

and Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson.  I am looking forward to this "new to me" format. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy