We’ve had rain Friday and Sunday, today is windy and cold and the rest of the week is rainy. Translating to days of sewing and getting things done.

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My first finish was this floral cross stitch. It was a UFO from 1995, and I started it again in July last year, to finish it in the beginning of December. Lots of little X’s, which led to another UFO the Cat head (Bright eyes) from 1995 also. I finished it this past week too. The whiskers were a bit of a pain, but they add a lot to the piece. Also, Mary Hickmont designs are nice in that there are no half stitches and usually no outlining. I still have to give this a soak and press, but the Cat is out of the hoop. I found the wooden round frame on Etsy at ACMS Frame Shop . It arrived unfinished, I dug up some black milk paint and put one coat on. The stitchery looked very flat in the frame, so I grabbed a few batting scraps and cut them into circles. I covered them with a piece of muslin and then lay the cross stitch on top. The frame wasn’t holding the fabrics tight enough to the backing on its own, using some rusty upholstery skills, I stitched across the back to pull the fabric around the backing circle. The circle is 14 inches in diameter, a lot of strong thread was used to make it come out evenly. I’m pleased with the results, although I probably could have gone with a 12 inch circle frame, done is done. I was happy to start the Pet All the Dogs sampler, now that those UFOs were done. As I got everything out to start I realized I didn’t have the two skeins of DMC called for. I had ordered the Weeks floss, but I guess I thought I could grab the DMC at the local Joann’s or Michaels. I searched through the bin of floss I have, but no luck. I ended up ordering them from Amazon prime, with my luck and the shortage of stitching supplies, neither store would have it when I got there to shop. It should get here Wednesday, and I can start my project that I’ve been putting off since last summer.

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On the quilt side of the studio, I put a binding on the Hungry Animal quilt, extra credit for doing a bias binding – the gingham print looks so cute. I got the quilting on the Jungle Postcard quilt done too. I am thinking a brown binding should hold it all together, or maybe purple. I pieced the table runner that I had promised my DS for his new apartment. The pattern was for paper piecing, but I cut the pieces to size and chain pieced the 12 sub-units for each of the four blocks (only two are shown, it’s folded in half). The thought of ripping paper off the blocks wasn’t that appealing after all the string pieced blocks I did for Grassy Creek.

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I started on a Tee shirt quilt for a friend, cutting up the shirts for the logos and such. That will keep me busy this week, but I really want to think up a design for the Mia Charro Forest Friends fabrics I collected earlier this year. They are so cheerful, just what I need to get through a rainy week.

Be Kind