All my projects that were waiting for parts and pieces were started or done this week.  Fabrics came in, quilts were quilted, yarn came to stay and patterns were downloaded.  The little bear was shipped out to his new home, far away in Africa.

I was able to piece these three quilts for up coming births and such.  I used my Accuquilt to cut all the 3 1/2 ” triangles and that quilt (center picture) went together really fast.  The other two are from a pattern called Tumbling Blocks by Its Sew Emma.  This pattern works up quickly, you only need six fat quarters and about two yards of background fabric.  I think the second one (the pink one) took me about five hours total, with ironing.  Two of these will get minky backings and one a cotton backing that has yet to be decided.  After the past two quilts I have done, I am ready for some simple edge to edge quilting.

I also finished quilting the Daydreams quilt and made the binding for it.  That will get sewn on today, I hope.  It’s pretty warm today, and the thought of quilt wrestling isn’t very appealing right now.

My Wick shawl from The Shawl Society lll is coming along, its simple garter stitch, but the yarn colors make it pretty.  I’m about 40 % done.  I think I’m going to take it with me on my trip next weekend, there will be lots of plane time.  The new sock pattern for the Sock society was released today, it’s called Honey Bee Dance.  I have to find a yarn to use, the pattern calls for a pretty caramel colored cashmere.  I don’t think I have anything like that in my stash, but you never know.

I did get my entry for PIQF on the frame and started quilting it today.  It’s moving along too.  I have about three more weeks to finish it, I think I’ll be done sooner.

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

I’m in a sort of creative output holding pattern right now.  I have many pokers in the fire but nothing is getting finished.  Well I did finish this little guy yesterday.

I got the “kit” for him last year at Stitches West.  The Mother Bear Project had a booth there and they were selling kits to make their seamless knitted bears.

They are a non-profit organization dedicated to providing comfort and hope to children affected by HIV/AIDS in emerging nations by giving the gift of a hand knit or crocheted bear.  The website is http://www.motherbearproject.org.

I was looking for an interim knitting project while waiting for the next Shawl Society pattern to be released (7/26).  I wanted to start something, but not too big, I didn’t want to work on a knitting UFO, and I wanted to finish and have a bit of fun.  I did, and although the pattern for the new shawl “Wick” has been released, I still have to wait for the yarn I ordered for it, it should be here Tuesday. Sigh.

I have been working on my PIQF entry, at least that is moving along.  I have almost finished the main body of the piece, I have about 40-50 more pieces to add to it.  Then to get all the parts together and quilt it.  Before I can quilt it though, I need to get the log cabin quilt that is on the frame done.  That quilt is not sewing itself, but I have been busy with extra curricular activities.  Activities like choosing paint colors, moving furniture, dress shopping, gardening, and knitting :).  Plus my mom called to order a baby quilt for her cousins new granddaughter.  Luckily that one is a simple pattern, but I am waiting on the fabric I ordered for it.

Lastly, I have been watching videos on Bluprint about upholstering.  I want to get a chair done and possibly do a wing chair and ottoman that really need updating.  I have the fabric and foam.  I went out and bought a staple gun that is compatible with an air compressor that a friend has.  Now I just need the space and time to do it.  It’ll probably have to wait until the remodel is mostly done, as the only area large enough to use, is filled with furniture and boxes of stuff.  More waiting.

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

My daughter and I were discussing the word catsup yesterday.  She was reminiscing about a spelling test in which the word catsup was given.  Of course she wrote “Ketchup”, and didn’t receive credit, she is still miffed about it, lol.

I have been catching up for the last ten days or so.  We went on vacation to London and Edinburgh for the first part of July.  Saw great concerts, Art, and old friends, ate delicious food and drank appropriate amounts of beer, ale, and whisky.  We even saw the Rosetta Stone (checked that off my list) and sat on top of King Arthur’s Seat.

Back home I’ve been trying to get over the eight hour time difference, slowly adding hours to my sleep duration.  This left lots of time for knitting and contemplation.  I finished my “Ivy Over the Door” shawl Saturday.  This is the second in the series from Helen Stewart and The Shawl Society III.  This shawl has 545 rows of 112 stitches, so 61,040 stitches.  Upon blocking it I noticed a slight difference in the beginning of my knitting and the end.  I think in my excitement (hurry?) to get started I misread the pattern and instead of eight stitches in-between the columns of twisted stitches I knit 13.  Over all, I’m really happy with the way this turned out.  The colors remind me of wintry skies and gray clouds.  The next shawl is called “Wick”, I have to wait until Thursday to see it and then I’ll pick some colors.

On the quilting front, I quilted the Crayon Box quilt (a Jinny Beyer pattern) and my mini lightning quilt from the Jaybird Pattern.  While binding the Crayon Box, I used the end of a spool of purple thread, down to the last 12 inches.

I loaded up the next quilt on the frame, Daydreams (pattern by Kate Colleran) it’s a log cabin block set in a barn raising square on point.  I’m doing feathers and waving lines, haven’t decided on the borders yet.  This photo is from Craftsy, the kit is on sale if you’re interested 😉

I also have been working on my PIQF entry.  I have about 5 1/2 more weeks to finish it before the entry deadline.  I am hoping to have the fusing done this week and start to  quilt and then embellish it.  No pictures yet, sorry.

Lastly, my remodel is progressing, sheet rock, windows and fire place are installed.  Tiling next week, yeah!

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

Thanks for reading.

I finished quilting the Storm at Sea quilt yesterday.  I still don’t know why it took so long, I put it on the frame May 31st and then 28 days passed.  I really didn’t like quilting this quilt.  I used waves and circles to follow the movement created by the pattern.  A lot of stops and starts that could quell anyones enthusiasm.  Last week I came up with the idea to add some bubbles to the waves, I think it helped create some interest and texture.  That being said, this quilt has a lot going on.  I’m going to bind it today.

 

 

 

I loaded up the pillow tops I made to go with this quilt.  They are a Bargello pattern using the batik fabrics left over from the first S@S quilt.  I used a panto called Seashells and Pearls, it took about four hours to stitch out the two 22″ x 24″ tops.  Computerized pantograph quilting looks great, but it can take a long time.

I was productive while the machine was stitching though.  I started the next shawl of The Shawl Society III, it’s called Over the Ivy Door.  The pattern calls for brown and green and is very pretty as that.  I had enough green in my stash, but no brown that would work.  I did have four skeins of Knit Picks Hawthorne that were part of a kit.  I’m going to knit the gray for the brown, fade into the gray-blue and then into the turquoise- gray-purple.  The finished size is about 21 x 85 a nice size rectangle to wrap up in.

Also finished this week was the paper boat quilt top.  I’m planning on simple horizontal waves to quilt this one.

Linking up with Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict for “Can I get a Whoop Whoop?” today.

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This week I have been paper foundation piecing boats.  They are from a free PDF pattern on the RJR website by Cotton and Steel.  I found the background fabric on sale a few months ago and came across it recently while looking for something else.  It promptly went to the top of the “To-Do” pile.  Each boat is made from two mirror image parts.  Simple paper foundation piecing, with large pieces and simple straight lines.

When I first started paper foundation piecing, I took a class with Judy Mathieson on mariners compass piecing.  The method she taught was a bit different than the traditional way.  Instead of using plain paper she used freezer paper, and instead of sewing through the paper she had us fold the pattern on the sewing lines and then sew the two pieces of fabric together next to the fold.  The first piece of fabric was held to to the freezer paper by a quick press of a hot iron.  Then after each fabric was sewn on it was cut with 1/4 added and pressed to “glue” it steady to the foundation.  Once all the piecing is done, all you do is peel off the freezer paper.  The tedious picking and tearing of the paper foundation is gone, and you can reuse your foundation many times.

My last two quilts have been paper pieced through the paper, Storm at Sea tops.  I don’t think the fold and sew method would have worked for them, as there were just too many pieces and blocks.  This Paper Boat pattern lends itself nicely to this technique.  Instead of freezer paper, I used plain printer paper and a bit of washable school glue stick.

I took some phone pictures while sewing yesterday, kind of a tutorial, hope you can see and understand the methodology better.

I have also been working on my PIQF entry and I have almost finished the Maytham shawl from Shawl society III.  Sadly, or rather happily, I don’t have a design wall up as my house is in a minor state of chaos while we are remodeling.  My sewing room is intact, however I have to run my machine and iron with an extension cord to the next room.  I’m just happy not to have to move my thing from that room again.  It’s been a little more than two years since the last time I did that, post from May 2016 Still here  .

Linking up with Small Quilts and Doll Quilts today for Design Wall Monday