I feel like I accomplished a few things this past week. I got the first Christmas quilt top kit together, I think it is called Peace and Joy. I made a good start on the Winnie the Pooh Christmas top too, I will finish that this weekend. I managed to stitch a bit on the Enchanting Stars quilt. I had a bit of a scare when the program crashed while using it. I was able to resume because of auto save. I want that quilt to be done soon, I am down to the final 20 inches or so. Once it is done I can get the Christmas quilts and the Thameside top on the frame and be done with my holiday shop quilts. I sold one this week, so I only have one holiday quilt in there at the moment.

I was looking through my post from 11/14/20, and what I was working on then, the first Irish Chain bear quilt I made. The other thing that caught my eye was the delivery of the Panama Star quilt kit. It is still in my TO-DO pile of kits, maybe it’s time to break it out?

I finished the lobster on the lobster sweater, it looks pretty good. I got better at duplicate stitch by the last claw, it is a bit like counted cross stitch.

Be Kind.

I was going to title this Back and Forth, but it didn’t convey forward progress. I returned from my vacation a few days ago, it was nice to get away and see the world. I toured some of the states in the southern US, drove through SC, GA, MS, LA, TX, NM and AZ. I didn’t get much sewing done on the MiaB Blocks I took with me, due to low light situations. I can’t hand sew in the car, as it leads to a feeling of nausea for me. I didn’t buy much, only a few food items, and mostly spent time being with and talking to family.

I eased back into sewing this weekend and finished the Thameside Ramble top. It went together smoothly, with lots of pinning. I think of it as a giant (70″ x 70″) appliqué block with all the sections being sewn onto each other and not right sides together. The pieced sections are in the compasses, but mostly it is machine appliqué.

I am thinking of starting a Christmas quilt or two, now that the Ramble is done. Then I remembered the BootiFall QAL I joined in late September. Been seeing lots of complete tops on the Facebook group, it’s so cute. I haven’t pulled any fabrics for it, I was thinking of changing out the pink for green, but thats as far as I got. The Xmas quilts are kits, so there is that, ease of starting. Also I am thinking of doing the latest Bonnie Hunter Mystery, this year it is called “Star of Maghreb”. The colors are to my liking too, green, blue and red, my scrap colors tend to lean in that direction. I didn’t do the last two years, Lupine and Laughter and Old Town, for lack of time. This year feels a little different for some reason, more laid back, I hope it lasts for the rest of 2026.

I managed to knit a few more rows on the lobster sweater last night, but fell asleep. I am struggling with the time change from being in EST and Day light savings. My puppies are too, they think 4 am is a great time to be up and about.

Be Kind.

The last physical Pacific International Quilt Festival (PIQF) took place from July 24 to July 27, 2024, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, California.

Today, while reading through some old blogs of mine I realized that this week was the usual PIQF weekend. Gemini found the above quote from somewhere. I feel sad that I didn’t attend the last show, probably because I was disappointed in the one the previous year. Anyway, I think I could use a quilt show outing about now. I have been keeping busy with friends and family for the past few weeks. Next week I am going to South Carolina to visit more family. I may have to look up some Quilty things in the area.

Work continues on the Thameside Ramble quilt, I got the center block together. I’m working on prepping the 84 leaves that get appliquéd on. I prepped all the bias stems the other day with the ½ inch clover bias tape maker – no burnt fingers. I have a memory of a tape maker that you could insert wonder under tape into and in one motion make the fabric folds and attach the tape/glue. I should look for it, these stems a wide enough that they can be pinned, but they are long. Maybe some glue stick or Roxannes, I wonder if I still have any around here. I found a good panto to use for this quilt, it’s called Strawberry Thief by Bit of Orange. This month their clubs include many Morris themed motifs. Since I have all these kits to make up with the Original Morris fabric lines, I ended up signing up for the Saffron club. I really do not need any more digital designs, but Bit of Orange has a different style than most other companies I use.

I have not touched the Enchanted Stars quilt since 10/7. I pass by it every day, and want it to be done. It may rain tomorrow, so I can work on it a bit. Speaking of never ending projects, I finished appliquéing the 16 diamond with dots blocks for the Message in a Bottle quilt.I want to make up the 16 alternate blocks to take with me on my trip. Handwork that doesn’t take up a lot of space in my carry-on.

Knitting on the lobster sweater is progressing, the body and right sleeve are done, and I started on the left one. Then it’s a few rows to make the funnel neck and on to the fun part, duplicate stitching the crustacean.

Be kind.

A little let up and a little let down, that’s how this week is progressing. I didn’t finish the Enchanted Stars quilting in time for the gifting. A substitute was made and everyone was happy. I was a little let down, but it really would have been a push to finish it, and I am glad I didn’t force myself. Creativity as well as process suffer when forced, not to mention things like wrists and thumbs. My mouse set up for my longarm system is not really ergonomically set up. The pad is on a cabinet and I use the mouse while standing in front of the screen. With this quilt design I have to manipulate each piece to fit in its spot. Map out the specific area, rotate/flip the design, increase or decrease size, link them, order them and finally stitch them. The largest compass has thirty points, but it’s done now. I have thought about doing some of it manually, like the points that have a quick V shape in them. Those are easy to do with a ruler, but the curlicues are hard to make look the same consistently. The quilts construction with all its intersecting seams and seam allowances is also countrary to smoothness. This quilt is mine, it will be displayed, eventually, in my house, and hopefully I’ll finish it soon.

Today the heat wave we’ve been experiencing has broken. We had a similar one in October 2024, a week of 90+ degree days. The AC was running all day and night, and it was conducive to indoor activities like sewing.

I have been steadily working on the Thameside Ramble quilt top. I got the four small and one large (34″) compasses done. The technique and ruler system is easy to use and putting all the points and angles together is easy-ish. There are no inset seams, and the units go together because they are all cut to the same size. No paper foundations to tear off, even though it looks like they are PPF pieced. I ended up ordering another piece of pink/blush colored print for the center backing behind the main compass. The pattern calls for a piece that is 42 and ½ inches square, my piece is 36 inches by 42 ½. The fabric print really pulls the piece together, and I thought I could substitute with a different one from the Original Morris line. It is a little too wimpy looking though, I found another, called Small Pimpernel, which might work better. If it doesn’t work, I may do an insert of a 6 ½ inch wide strip. I think I can do it with the fabric from the center of the square, since it is cut away from behind the compass. I’ll cut two pieces shaped like square “U”s and join them with the 6 ½” strip at the legs of the U. No one will ever know, lol.

Lobster sweater number one is coming along, the raglan shaping was slow going, but now the body and soon the sleeves will be done. Hands and thumbs are okay with knitting, when I get tired I stop for the day. The last time I picked up the piece to knit, I noticed about ten purl stitches that had snuck in there, I must have dozed off and made them, because this piece is all knit stitches (in the round) my unconscious self switched to purl for variety I guess.

I keep meaning to add photos to this post, but life has been busy lately. I am going to post it as is, otherwise it will always be a draft. Plus I have made a little progress on these projects.

Be Kind.

I tried to smooth out the Blooming Beauty top and it just wasn’t working. I decided that if I removed the outer borders, it may give a bit of breathing room. Since I had quilted 5/8ths of it already I could only rip up the sides about a foot or so. Taking the bottom borders off helped a lot, I have to add about 2 inches across the bottom, and an inch to the sides, but it really helped with the fullness. The whole bottom third sort of relaxed, like when you unbutton your trousers after a big meal. This quilt is no longer square, but it is only for my personal use, and unless I point it out, no one will notice. Now I have to take the unfinished quilt off the frame fix the borders, remount it and finish quilting it. I will probably wait until after the Enchanted stars quilt is done, as that is the one with a deadline.

I have been working on ES for what seems an eternity at this point. Finished the piecing last Wednesday, and pinned it up to look at, promptly saw a problem area and fixed it. I put the backing on the frame and realized that I needed a black batting, and I didn’t have the rainbow colored thread I wanted to use. Ordered both from amazon and it was delayed a day, it got here on Saturday and I have been quilting it for what seems like hours. The custom quilting package(85 design pieces) is from Wasatch, and it is easy to use, just a lot of turning and resizing and placement. The pebbling looks really good though and I am happy I went with charcoal thread instead of black.

This quilt is small, 53″ square. I am wondering if my client will like it, as we had originally talked of it being a bed sized one. I guess they could use it as a throw, or hang it up.

I made a little progress on the baby sweater, made it through the German short rows and I am about three quarters through the raglan shoulder shaping. I may just do the lobster motif as a duplicate stitch after the sweater is done. I am having to concentrate on the shaping so much, that I fear adding another element into the works. Once the ES quilt is done I will have a bit more brain power to add to this project.

Oh yeah, while waiting for the batting to be delivered, I started the Thameside Ramble quilt. The pattern and booklet and rulers by Robin Ruth Designs are easy to work with and once you get the ruler use down, it goes fairly quickly. I made the first sunflower and then made the next three all together, I have the large center medallion cut and ready to sew. It will probably get done in October, as we have company arriving at the end of this week and there is cleaning and preparations to be done. I feel good about the start, and I am excited about this technique of strip piecing compasses rather than paper foundation piecing. So much so, that I bought another kit, for a tree skirt. In my defense, it was on sale 😉

Be Kind.