Last week I made some progress on my Cats in the Stars quilt. Yep, I named it too, my DH commented that the cats all look happy, and thought Happy Cats was a good name, but then said “When have you ever seen a happy cat?” true. I have 7 more green chain blocks to make to get this in the to-be-quilted pile as a top. The chain blocks take a bit longer to make than the star ones, but I am developing a chain piecing rhythm. I am hopeful that I have enough black yardage to finish them. I have about an half yard left, with all the triangles and long rectangles cut for the remaining blocks.

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This weekend was exciting around here too. Exciting in that it became quiet. For the past two weeks I had been watching my friends dog, Layla (she’s a Havanese). Along with my two dogs and my DD’s dog, we’ve been out numbered by dogs. My DD and her dog moved out on Saturday, and Layla went home on Sunday. It is a very peaceful Monday morning here, Ahhhh.

With the new vacancy in my home, a new possibility opens for sewing studio expansion. I am thinking of moving my Longarm to the room (den TV room) adjacent to DD’s former bedroom and making the bedroom my new sewing studio. I keep thinking how great it would be to have the Longarm in the same area as my sewing room/stash/stuff. I could sew and quilt at the same time, productivity would increase! Currently my Longarm is in a different area of my house, far from the sewing room. The only thing that is stopping me is the daunting task of disassembling the frame and computer system. When I bought my set up, the dealer sent his technician to deliver and set it all up. When I got the robotics, I did the switchover myself. It took me two days, as there was a modification that had to be made to the frame to hold the machine that drives the belts and machine head. I think the hardest part was getting the tension on the belts correct, and mounting the computer screen (insert expletive). My DS and his wife are coming to visit later this summer, they would be the perfect helpers too. The wheels are turning…

I have been dedicating hours to the Newcastle Bouquet cross stitch project. I have had to use the magnifier for all the stitching on this as it is forty count linen. I can honestly say that in the future, I will not attempt anything this small. While I stitch, I feel like I’m accomplishing so much, the stitches look like they are 1/4 inch in size, then I move the magnifier and they are so tiny, 1/32″. It looks so pretty though, the shading of the over-dyed thread really gives the design depth.

I have made a bit of progress on the Tulip block for the Halloween Figs BOM too. I need to get the pumpkin seed blocks prepped for an upcoming trip. They will be busy work on the plane ride east.

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Off to piece in the ☮️ today.

Linking up with Judy at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts for Design Wall Monday.

Be Kind.

The Hands 2 Help challenge is wrapping up soon. I made four quilts this year, and used stash fabrics to make them. They are packed up and ready to ship to Little Lambs, a foundation that provides comfort kits to foster children in transition.

I concentrated on using stash up and succeeded in using up all of the pink (the name escapes me) Boundless line. I had enough to bind it too. There is a random pattern of squares and four patches, I probably should have auditioned it on the design wall, but it turned out okay. The panto is a larger spaced leaf and vine, done with a ‘new to me’ thread called Finesse.

The blue and yellow quilt is made with the Dutch Garden line, also a Boundless fabric line, but I still have some left over. This is a simple patten of 6 inch squares and four patches. The panto is hydrangea flowers and leaves, I used a blue and yellow variegated King Tut Thread.

The “Animals on Earth” feature fabric in this quilt was in impulse purchase at PIQF 2019. The coordinating solids were from stash though. The panto is swirls and bubbles, using a variegated Fantastico thread.

This flannel quilt was made from some of my oldest stash. I found a pile of squares and rectangles at the bottom of a scrap bin. They were left overs from a baby quilt I made for a friend, the baby is 18 now, so these scraps were definitely mature. I had enough for a flannel backing and binding, this quilt is so soft and cozy. I quilted it with a heart and bubble panto, using a variegated pastel Fantastico thread.

I’m happy to be sending these out today, I feel like I accomplished a few things, getting some stashed used up, and creating a few simple designs, but mostly contributing to a charity that helps make a difference in the lives of foster children.

I’m linking this post to Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict today, 05-30-21, as it will be included in the wrap up of this years Hands 2 Help quilt drive.

Be Kind.

A Hem or two or sixteen. Monday was hemming day, I hemmed five pairs of sweat pants, two scrubs, and one pajama pair. I did most of them on the serger, and the others on the regular machine. Just in time for the weather to warm up enough to wear shorts.

I framed up my Pet All the Dogs sampler. I still need to work a bit on getting the lines to look straight, I am close though, the lacing on the back needs a bit of pulling and loosening in the lower left corner. I also finished the Strawberry fields sampler last night. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. On the original pattern the maker had the year 1992, it was the year that she had visited the strawberry fields house that the song is named after. I thought I would update it with this year. I was happily stitching it when I got to the 1, then I noticed that I had mistakenly stitched 2221. There was a bit of unstitching, and the two became a zero. My other changes are my initial in the upper right. I made a few counting errors, and the pattern isn’t exact, but all in all, if I don’t point them out, no one will know. I’m going to put glass on this one, I think, as I may put it in my kitchen.

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I managed to get the panel blocks cut for the Catkin quilt project, and a sample block of one of the two blocks. I think it may look a little better with some solids in the mix of prints. I got an box from the Fat Quarter shop yesterday, I had ordered some more 30’s fabrics (sale) and a ½ yard pack of Laundry Basket solids. I unpacked the box and placed the pack next to the pile of Catkin fabrics on my table. Wow, it matches, the colors look so nice together. I think I bought them to go with the rest of the Sequoia fabrics, but they go better with these.

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I am itching to start a new cross stitch project, but I really need to do the appliqué blocks for the Halloween figs BOM. I have to fly to Boston later this month, so I think if I get them basted before then, I can stitch them on the plane. It will be easier than bringing all the cross stitch supplies and such. three spools of thread, a couple of needles, scissors, and a thimble. Maybe I’ll do nail clippers, I’m not sure if I want to give up my little embroidery scissors. I have four kitted up and ready to stitch projects to choose from, Heaven and Nature Sing, Newcastle Bouquet, Pilgrims Progress, or Blessings be More.

Today I want to get the three quilts for H2H bound and finished. I put the last one on the frame for quilting, hope to get it done by Saturday, it is small.

Be Kind.

One dyers Grasshopper is another’s Emerald. The flosses called for in the Strawberry fields sampler are from Weeks Dye Works, DMC and Gentle Arts. When I ordered them, I think I got mixed up and ordered a Classic Colorworks Grasshopper, in place of a GA Grasshopper. Same names, but vastly different colors. I stitched the leaf over the roof with the CC and it looked out of place, then I looked at the picture on the pattern, yeah – wrong color. I had to order a new one, and of course, I had to add more cross stitch supplies to get free shipping. Two more charts, linen and other flosses were delivered yesterday. I got to stitching with the correct color last night, looks much better.

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I did get most of the Halloween Figs blocks together. However, I have to make the ten pumpkin seed blocks and one large tulip block in order to get the sections finished. That is my goal for the month of May. The last BOM (shipping in a few weeks) pack has the outer borders blocks and strips. I think the blocks are folded corners on rectangles, I going to wait and see.

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I am starting to put a quilt together using some of my Julie Paschkis Catkin collection of fabric. I have two large panels and four smaller ones, plus a lot of yardage. I want to do something similar to this quilt:

The picture is from an up coming class by Charlotte Angotti at Road to California, although this quilt was from a past class. I guess it’s an on going offering from her, these surprise quilt kits. You buy the laser cut kit and (start) make it in class, as a mystery. I have my fabrics, wish they were laser cut. I worked out the blocks in EQ8, so they would match the panel sizes I have. I may tweak them a bit, as I don’t like making the “house” shaped segments in the chain block. I also need to check if I have the ‘right’ black fabric.

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Be Kind.

Yesterday I finished the Evolution quilt, and renamed it “PCH”, or Pacific Coast Highway. I needed a name that described the color way better. The dusty pallet of all those greens and grays and reds, pinks and blues. It reminded me of a redwood grove, sunsets, and the pacific coast, and where else can one see all such things? I have traveled on most of the 656miles of PCH during my 30 years of being a Californian, it is so beautiful and a way to really see the different landscapes of CA. I remember when we first drove into California, we had taken a northern route across the country from NY, we came in from Oregon. The road up there is narrow and winding, and we were getting stuck behind giant RVs. We decided to cut in to route 5, the inland route, it wasn’t as pretty, but much better than looking at the back end of an RV. I did get to see all of the northern route a few times on road trips to Oregon though.

While binding PCH I had a “first” for me. I had exactly enough binding to go around the quilt and attach the two ends together. I should have taken a picture to document the event, lol. When I make bindings, I add up all the sides and divide the total by 40 to figure out how many strips I need to cut. In this case the number was 6.4, so I cut seven and joined them together. As I was nearing the join part I saw how close I was to the start end, and eyed it up to see if it was long enough. Yes, all I had to do was unstitch the last (now extra) segment. It would be hard to explain this win to any one other than a quilter or sewist, but it happened and I’m a bit proud 😊.

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This week is supposed to be my catch up on the Halloween Figs quilt. I got some of the 42 geese needed cut yesterday, but not much else. I have not looked at the next part yet, but I have the fabric pack. I finished the Catching rainbows top, my version is smaller than Bonnie Hunters, only 25 blocks. I modified the outer border, instead of string piecing, I used the extra squares I had from cutting the blocks. There are four days left in this week too, I am feeling optimistic that I’ll finish month ten and eleven.

I have been making a lot of progress on the Strawberry Fields sampler though. This sampler is a lot smaller than Pet All the Dogs, and it was throwing my stitching timeline off a bit. I kept thinking that I had to cover more space, but this one is a third of the size. I took it off the frame, to use the hoop as there is a lot of color changing and the flipping back and forth was getting tedious.

Off to sew some geese.

Be Kind.