Handwork finished!

 Staying inside to avoid the heat. And enjoying completing little things.   I do love embroidery and cross stitch and other small handwork. 

1) Here is the finished Hawaiian Sashiko. I plan to make it into a pillow with piping on the edge.  I need to find a batik with these colors. I also need to dip it into cool water to erase the blue markings.

I have 2 more kits to make.  Very enjoyable.

2) I made the finishing touches to these cross stitch bowl fillers.  I added some buttons, ribbons and ric rac to them. 

I found that I liked the sparsity of the letters and design and it went much faster than other cross stitching. The alphabet is from Susan Ache's book Summer Memories.  (She now has a Halloween one coming out soon as well.)  Melisa from Pinker n Punkin has several samplers as well.

I don't know where I found the mini. It has been sitting in my basket completed for a year or two. 

I will have to add them to my wool ones. 

2nd Place finish

 Hooray! My triangle quilt ( Ocean Waves) won a 2nd place finish at the Wisconsin State Fair!  YEAH!  And although I went to see the judging; I goofed AGAIN and went on the wrong day.  But I will get to see it at the fair in August! 

So I had better get working on next year's entries. 

Dear Jane block A 12

Paper pieced on newsprint

Back of Block

Finished block  ( 5 inches)

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If you are interested, Susan Gatewood has a EQ version of it for free 

Link to her A blocks

                                                                                                                                                                        I also have added more blocks to my New York Beauty:  

Entering the state fair

 What a tale to tell.  I was so excited to enter my winning quilt in the Wisconsin State Fair.  Paper work; check, quilt flattened; check, quilt in car and delivered; check.  REJECTED:   I don't know what happened to the rod pocket.  Oh no!   Seriously, I don't recall it at all.  I did enter it in our quilt show this spring. It must have been pinned????  But it is no longer there.  Three of us searched around and around the edges.

So I returned home and got my other quilt out from the quilt show that got a blue ribbon.  Both qualified for the same category in this show as the requirements change from show to show. ACCEPTED.  Hooray.   

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What a nut I am.  So if they will accept it next year, I will enter it.  Otherwise, there are always quilts in the works. ( And I will SEW a rod pocket on.)

So next week is judging:  we will see how well it does???

On the sewing side: 

I pieced the remaining red white and blue blocks into a square topper. I need some basting spray to finish these.  I have located backing fabrics for both sizes in my stash.

On the needlework side: 

I purchased 2 sashiko kits in Hawaii this spring. And I thought I needed the special thimble which goes on your finger at the edge of your palm, which I then searched videos and etsy for one. But the first block is a preprinted panel with variegated thread to stitch. It is a thicker thread and a larger needle, but the design is going quickly and is very pretty. This is one evenings work.

Red and blues

 It has been a great year thus far for my quilting.  And I really feel good about my accomplishments. (17 finishes: half of them are small ones  and half bed sized)  And the best part is that most of them have been UFOs sitting around. It started out as just binding the quilts as they came back from the long armers, but it expanded to a couple quilts that just have been sitting. 

And following Maggie's blog: Making a Lather, I took her example, and just started finishing up. It felt so good that I have just kept going.  Success begets further success. I have several empty boxes and am still working on some partly started projects. 

Additionally, I almost have as many posts now as the entire year of 2023. That says a lot! 

But I did take a detour, and started a Red, White, and Blue table runner. It is a free one from American Patchwork and Quilting: table runner link. I have had my eye on it and it was pinned so I could find it easily. So onward to the cutting and piecing.

And here is the the quilt top. 

I was happy to use up some of my smaller pieces of fabric. Plus I have enough for a 2nd top that will be square. Each block is 6 inches making this 24 by 36.

I also finished my round robin for guild for next month, because I will be with family instead. 

I love, love, love these Robin Picken's fabrics and the splattered background.

And lastly some of my stitching in the evening: 

This is from the Summer Memories book of quilts and cross stitch by Susan Ache.

My first attempt at linen which is a very pale blue not gray as it appears. 

Hope to make it into a pillow for my 4th of July bowl fillers.

Another UFO finish

 Three years ago in the beginning  of 2022, I enjoyed the Stay at Home Round Robin sponsored by Quilting Gail. It is nice to have challenges.  My center was created from wool and bead applique and the colors were from several collections of Coriander Quilts.  I love the warm pastels Corey Yoder has utilized in her quilts. The first row was curves where I appliqued using my own templates with starch. The second was triangles and I put it on point. The third row was friendship stars. I did not add the last 3 rows.

It sat in a pile until this year when I have taken several different sessions for quilting it.  Different methods for quilting included free motion around the wool shapes as well as small stippling in the background of that square. I also used straight line quilting with a walking foot  around the friendship stars, and lastly I used a hera marker to "draw" lines for the triangles.  

A great quilt for trying out new techniques.   Yeah another UFO:  DONE!  It is about 3 feet square!

Chandelier flimsy and more!

 Still working on UFOs. I am excited to finish my navy quarter square chandelier quilt. (I am not great at naming quilts.) I had it almost done at retreat which was posted.  But then I came home and found the missing parts of blocks which were about 15 blocks left on the cutting table. I used 9 of them  to add another row to the bottom and the missing corner . Some deconstructing ensued followed by adding more blocks. Hooray! So happy to get it done.  Twin size 65 by 91  No additional borders will be added. The setting triangles give it space. The larger blocks are 4 identical quarter squares and the smaller ones just a singular one. 

Next up : getting  the 2 flimsies to the quilter. She is such a special friend. And she already has 2 of my other quilts.  NO RUSH!   I like getting it off my plate. Plus I am slow at getting the few finished that I do. I am trying more machine quilting  and like the challenge, but it definitely takes longer. 

And I completed one more block for my Dear Jane quilt. 9 done and many many more to go.

For this block I utilized paper piecing. There is a free site. 

In the evenings I have been cross stitching.  I think I am getting better at counting, although I do take out stitches here and there. 

I love the warming weather as our birds, squirrels, kittens, and deer have returned to entertain us in the back yard.  It sure is nice to open windows and feel the breeze while listening to the croaking of the frogs or the rustling of the leaves. Hello summer!

I love the warming weather as our birds, squirrels, kittens, and deer have returned to entertain us in the back yard.  It sure is nice to open windows and feel the breeze while listening to the croaking of the frogs or the rustling of the leaves. Hello summer!

Bitcoin flimsy and more

 Several days of progress on different projects. It feels good to get things going.

This is my bitcoin flimsy.  Bonnie Hunter released the pattern in 2021 and I really liked the arrangement and the ability to use up the bag of 1 1/2 inch strips I had.   But I didn't want to keep making more and more, and saw a modified arrangement using long strips of a background in between the vertical rows by Nann of With Strings Attached.  It made for a great combination.  I found a nice red small print which accentuated my color combination.  I do like the Thimbleberries and Kansas Troubles.   But I have added some brighteners to increase the contrast. This is a twin sized quilt top, but no destined recipient yet. 

And as a new month comes, so does a new block for my Stash Bee.

This one had lots of 2 inch squares. 

And lastly, I have a few blocks to show for my New York Beauty: They are a fun detour from the other blocks and require different skills with paper piecing and curves. 

Keep on quilting.