Tracyhttps://touchogrey.wordpress.comI'm starting my second half of life. I have been cutting fabric apart and reassembling the pieces for as long as I can remember. I also ride my horse, knit, cross stitch, and garden in the Bay Area, CA.
I got the four extra blocks made, and put the top together. I just noticed an errant block in this the photo, will fix later. I think I’m going to add a border, it needs something to corral all of its pineapple-y goodness. I’m still not sure if I want to make any more of the larger blocks, I have enough left over fabric to make at least three more. If I put four together it would be about 40 inches square, six blocks would be 60″ x 40″ probably a better lap quilt size.
Progress has been made on my Changed World cross stitch piece. I finished the trees and the border above them. Those little red flowers are a pain, because they are 4 green stitches and four red stitches. A lot of flipping back and forth to get the ends tucked in. I also did a few more inches of the side border flowers, I am running the thread between them, as it is a short distance and it doesn’t show through. I’m working on this exclusively for now, I really want to finish it before the end of the month. I have two pieces I want to do for Christmas gifts and I would like to finish the Newcastle Bouquet before the end of the year.
I got the chart and fabric I ordered for the punch needle “tangential craft”. I am not sure I will open it and start it yet. I do have the beginner one all set to start, it has a preprinted cloth and all the threads. I thought this little Teresa Kogut Tuxedo Halloween pattern was cute. But I will show restraint.
I did start the Spider and The Fly quilt pattern yesterday. I need a bunch of 1/4 triangle squares, some black and gray, some black and white. It should keep me busy for a while.
I was thinking of the title “The Future’s Uncertain”, but it seemed too ominous. I was thinking of the lyric from the Doors song “Roadhouse Blues” which is “The future’s uncertain and the end is always near”. How does it relate to quilting, well, in a loose way, I am not always sure how a pattern or idea is going to turn out. But, barring abandonment or disinterest (UFO status) the finish is always near-ish. To make this more convoluted, I was thinking of how I have been working on my Changed World cross stitch project, which is nearing completion. It is all I want to work on lately. It might be because of the impasse I have come to with the purple pineapple quilt. I have reached the top third of the CW piece, and I am almost done with the tree border. I haven’t stitched on the Newcastle Bouquet in a few weeks, but I can see it while I stitch everyday.
What I really want to start is a new quilt pattern from Bonnie Hunter called Spider and The Fly. I downloaded the pattern when it went on sale last week. I have a whole pile of left over scraps from the Halloween Figs sampler quilt, plus a jelly roll and some extra yardage I bought when it was on sale. I would like to get that quilt top quilted, I made it for me, it’s seasonal, and this Wednesday is the autumnal equinox. Summer is over, fall is in the future. I would like it to rain soon, it seems the weather has finally cooled down a bit here. The Halloween Sno-cone quilt is done, as is the Pretty-Ugly quilt. I started on the smaller hungry animals quilt, I had a piece of light aqua bumpy minky hanging around that I used for its backing. I have seven quilts that I want to get photographed and up on Etsy. Today might just be the day for that, the light outside is good at this time of the year.
Other projects I have been contemplating include a sewing room re-org. That’s a big one, I would like to regain some lost floor space and cull out some stuff I don’t need or won’t use. My stumbling block has been (lately) the purple pineapple fabrics that are spread out on my work table. I don’t want to put them away, because then I know I won’t take them out again. Better for me to have them out and ready to finish up. They are taking up a good amount of real estate on the worktable, which precludes any sorting of other things on top of them. I have decided that I will make four more of the smaller pineapple blocks and make a lap quilt out of them. Once this is done, I can see what is left over, and make a few more of the larger pineapple blocks.
With the cooler weather, I have been knitting a bit at night. I have been working on the Wild Bees shawl. I’m almost finished with the center square, about ten more rows to go. This shawl is a rectangle made of three squares. The Bee motifs are showing up nicely, and I really like the colors together.
I recently succumbed to a fabric sale at Fabric.com and got a kit and some yardage for a quilt called Cotton Couture. I like the colors and antique look of the sewing themed designs, and the price was good. I am hoping that it will combine with the Tim Holtz fabric collection I have in my stash, so I can use the scraps for a different quilt.
I was trying to think of a title for this post, and when the above popped up, I thought of the scene in Charlottes Web (by EB White) where the spider spins the words “Some Pig”in her web. All the farm folk are excited more about the pig than a cognizant spider, but sometimes that’s the way life is. My last post, 8/28, doesn’t seem that long ago to me, not 17 days ago. I think I am slowing down bit now that summer is winding down. I am feeling the shortened days and longer nights. The weather here hasn’t cooled down much, still 80 degrees during the day. I just want it to rain, a good rainy day, I want to smell petrichor.
I have been working on the purple pineapple quilt. I hit a bit of a snag, I made an alternate block, in this pattern there are five alternate blocks and four pineapple blocks. Although I would have to say that they are all pineapple blocks, they are two different kinds. Block A consists of four smaller pineapple blocks and it is 20 ½ inches square. Block B turned out to be an inch too big. I’m not really sure how I can make it smaller without it looking like I cut it wrong (which I did). I am trying to decide if I want to use all the A blocks in their own quilt, or alter them to make them fit with the larger b blocks. I could add some narrow sashing to them, which may look okay. I could also make four more blocks and make a decent sized throw out of it. Then I would have the single B block to do something with.
I have tested the long arm and it seems I have got it back together correctly. It is functioning well, although there is a squeak every once in a while. I quilted the coffee quilt (giant coffee beans)and the halloween Sno-cone quilt (pumpkins leaves and stars). Plus put bindings on the two snails trail quilts. I put the “pretty ugly” quilt on the frame, but haven’t started it yet.
I have been making headway on the Changed World cross stitch. I am nearing the end of the houses, and stitching the church. I have not worked on the Newcastle Bouquet in a while, since today is an even day, I should devote some time to it. But the little buildings on CW are so much fun. I recently bought a punch needle pattern called Tuxedo pumpkin from Teresa Kogut. I tried to take a beginning class on punch needle about 5 years ago. Something came up and I had to leave early, but I got the kit. Everything I need to complete it is in the bag. I would like to start it, but I know it will be another rabbit hole to travel down. Maybe a fork in the cross stitch rabbit hole, but still, I am willing myself to finish CW first(at least) and then do something new. Only so many hours in the day.
This morning I had a little time to stitch so I sat down to do so. My DH happened by and commented that I was “at it already”. I told him yes, that’s because I have been up since two thirty, so this is like mid day for me. He wasn’t impressed.
A lot has been happening since my last post. My two sons came to visit for a week, its the first time they have been home since 12/2019. They live on the east coast, Boston and NY, and see each other quite often. The dogs were excited to see them too, it was a grand reunion.
I started a new quilt, a pineapple block quilt. I bought it as a kit from Craftsy, a few years ago and figured it had sat long enough on the shelf. It is purple, pink and off-white, I think I have a picture of it. There are 16 regular pineapple blocks and 5 large ones, I think the blocks finish at 24 inches or so. After reading through the directions, I quickly came to the conclusion that there was an easier and more accurate way to make them.
Finished quilt photo from kit
The pattern has you cutting all kinds of strips and width and cutting squares in half. Makes for too much bias edge sewing and wonky blocks. Creative Grids Pineapple ruler to the rescue. All the strips are the same width and only vary be length when using the ruler. Also it is much easier to chainstitch the blocks after cutting all the pieces for the round. After stitching and then ironing the 16 blocks, I square them up with the CG ruler. My blocks are a bit smaller than those of the pattern, but I am sure I will have enough fabric, and my version will be square and true.
Since my sons were here, I took advantage of the “free” labor and moved the long arm yesterday. It took all day, with a few breaks in between, to partially disassemble the frame and move it into its new location, the former TV room/ den. I was able to reassemble the frame, but left the computer and automation stuff for today. I may get some new lighting, or maybe just brighter bulbs in the ceiling cans will do. There is a bit of furniture re-arranging left to do too. I am also contemplating whether or not to move the sewing room to the adjacent bedroom. I would be nice to be able to have everything within sight/hearing range. I would like to be able to sew and have the longarm working at the same time. In its former location I could do hand work while it was stitching, but all my cross stitch is in another room in my sewing corner. I just moved the sewing room last year too, it might be too soon, the thought of going through all my stuff again, no, not yet.
I have had a bit more progress on the Newcastle Bouquet and Changed World stitcheries. I was watching a floss tube yesterday and Craftie Emily was showing her progress on her many lovely projects. She was also talking about a challenge that she was doing, and keeping track of how many stitches per day she was sewing. I think she was aiming for 1000 a day, not much for a sewing machine, but a good chunk of little X’s. The brown box at the bottom of Changed World has about 4500 stitches in it (yikes) and I’m about 1/3 way done. Its pretty mindless stitching, especially since I have the border box done. I worked on the wording last night and filled in a little too. With the Newcastle Bouquet, I made a few more leaves and a white flower, I have been resisting the border for a few weeks now, but I am going to try a bit this coming week. I got the scroll frame holder for my Lowery frame a few days ago. This makes the Edmunds wooden frame go into retirement, as now I can stitch on both pieces with a simple switch. I would like to get a few pieces of moleskin to put on the metal holders, as they leave a bit of residue on the linen.
I have been watching a few Floss Tubes on the Needlework Expo (that starts today) new releases. I haven’t added anything to my queue yet, but I have seen lots of interesting prospects. Just not enough time in the day to do all the ones I have/want.
We are having a bit of an Air Quality Alert in our area, due to the wild fires and changing wind patterns. Our AQI this morning is around 165, unhealthy for prolonged exposure. Looks like it’ll be a stay in and sew weekend for me.
My two cross stitch projects are coming along, I have been alternating days on which I stitch them.
Changing World is at the point of the large black square with the wording. It is pretty mindless at times, 101 stitches across. I changed the DMC color from black (310) to a very dark brown (3371). It seems a little less harsh on the eye. I think it also makes the other black stitches stand out a bit more. Like the accents in the red flowers on either side and the zigzags.
The Newcastle Bouquet is also progressing, a got a few more inches of the brown border lines done, another flower petal and some leaves and stems. Since I got the Lowery stand, I am liking the Edmunds stand less. I do like stitching in the scroll frame though. The only thing left to do was to get the adapters for the Lowery stand that hold a scroll, hope they get here soon.
I saw a Lori Holt floss tube this morning, that was on Jo’s Country Junction. Lori was featuring three finishes, and one of them was a Blackbird design called The Bee’s Skep. Had to have it, after tracking it down, I finally found one in a store in MA. It is a small piece, and I didn’t get fabric or threads, so I am not planning on starting it soon. The booklet will go in the basket of cross stitch projects.
The one on the top is the Bees Skep
Recently I saw on Patchwork Times, a good floss organizing idea. Previously I had all my DMC and flosses in plastic bags inside an ArtBin case. It was okay, until I needed to find a certain number floss. Then I would have to look through all the bags and at each number, a bit of a trial, especially if I don’t know the shade or color to start. For lack of any other system it has been this way for a few years. Judy found that a different ArtBin case, one for photos, works quite well. I was able to get one onsite at my local craft store on sale and with a coupon for about $14.00. I like a deal, what can I say? When I brought the box home, my DH was helping me unload the car and I held the box up (by the handle) to show him and brag a little about the great deal. The handle twisted with the weight of the box and “dis-engaged” itself, the box and all 16 of its inner boxes fell to the concrete. Of course it landed on a corner and cracked it. I was sad, but, since I won’t be carting it around anywhere, a bit of duck tape held things together again. I was able to get all my floss in here, separated by number and there were a few spots left for special sparkle floss and Anchor brand. The over dyed flosses have the old art bin, as I don’t have a lot of those (yet).
So neat and organized.
Off to stitch a little, we have to stay indoors today, as the air quality is unhealthy, due to smoke from the fires north of here.
