There wasn’t much time spent in the studio this past week. I spent a few days away from home on a much needed retreat. I brought the yarn and needles to start the first clue of the Stillness MKAL with me, but it stayed in the bag.

I have plenty to do this week though.

1. Halloween figs sampler block #1
2. Botanica Block
3. Load new quilt on frame
4. Make more Alaska blocks
5. Work on shawl clue #1 (new clue Thursday)
6. Mail out quilt
7. Make more masks for friends

Hmm, seven items and seven days. I started figuring out the Halloween Fig block last Wednesday. I am trying to avoid making the blocks the way they do in the pattern. I want to use my rulers and avoid (what I feel is) the inaccurate way they show how to make them. I have an aversion to making HST’s by layering two squares and sewing 1/4 inch from a diagonal line and then cutting on said line. They just always come out wonky for me. I’m an Easy Angle devotee. There are a few other block assembly issues I have with this BOM, but its just me being picky. It seems to be a well written pattern in any case.

I have to finish last months Botanica clue, before moving on to this months. I ran out of one of the fabrics last month, I contacted the coordinator and she sent me another piece with my block fabric this month.

I did do a little sewing yesterday, I made two masks for friends, and one for me and one for my DH. The friends had seen my squirrel fabric masks and each wanted one. Then I realized that my DH only had one mask, made from his favorite NFL team fabric, and I didn’t feel it was appropriate to wear out to dinner. Also I made one to match my washi dress, which I wore to the dinner.

Be Kind

Some things are getting done around here. I’m at a point where I have three, no four things in the works that are going to be done soon.

The Turkish delight quilt is quilted, needs squaring up and binding. I’m trying to decide on a name for this quilt, the kit name is Gloriana’s dream, or something like that. It reminds me of Turkish or middle eastern tiles with the colors and the block shapes. I thought the name Arabesque might work too, but for some reason the Narnia story popped into my head and Turkish delight. Maybe its the rose colors, TD has rosewater and lemon juice in it and it is a dark pink gel-thing.

The baby quilt is quilted. This was a custom order, so I had to wait for the name and birthdate to embroider on it before quilting. I made the top in January, then the whole SIP thing started, the baby was born in April and the customer didn’t see the recipient until last week to get the info. So now it’s a rush job, it’s small, and all it needed was quilting and binding. I’m hoping to finish it today and get it in the mail tomorrow.

I am still stitching on the Shiny and Bright wreath. Only the metallic threads left. I usually stitch in bed before going to sleep, its relaxing as I stitch and listen to my book. However, my DH says that its too noisy. The thread makes a growling sound as I pull it through the fabric. I can’t really hear it though as I have ear buds in, so it doesn’t bother me. After a few minutes of complaining, he manages to fall asleep though. This is the same guy who sleeps through midnight dog barking sessions and crying children.

Alaska is chugging along too. I have 60 blocks made, out of 121, yay for halfway. I have been cutting the pieces in the AM and then sewing them together in the PM. I may need to order a bit more of the tan fabric I have, I initially doubled the amounts that the pattern called for, but then I changed the colors of some blocks. I thought it might be enough, but just in case, I’m going to get two more yards.

Next week the MKAL I signed up for starts. It’s a mystery shawl patten called Stillness, from Curious Handmade. A clue a week for a 5 weeks, a lot of knitting, about 1200 yards. I had two skeins that I liked in my stash (secretly I like all the skeins though) and I bought the navy blue one from a local dyer, Serendipidye Yarns. The pattern calls for a light a medium and a dark color. I really should be working on my Nieve sweater, but it is resting, in a basket, waiting for sleeves.

Thats all I got.

Be Kind

This past weekend I started the Alaska quilt. I got 32 blocks made, out of 121, a good start. I am wishing for an Accuquilt die for these shapes though. I have the Laundry Basket templates that go with the pattern, so there is less measuring, just strips and then pieces. So much bias though, lots of triangular pieces, now that I think of it, they are all triangles of some kind or another.

I spent a few hours last week with EQ8, making this quilt into a large, 100″x100″ bed size. I changed the coloring of a few blocks to get my version. I have to be a little careful when I use the LBQ pattern as a reference though. It has 13 different colorations of two blocks, my version has 18 different colorations. Most differences are left and right versions, or opposite/mirror images. There is a lot of checking and rechecking of color placement. I am thinking of renaming this quilt “Sewards Folly”, Secretary of State, William H Seward was instrumental in purchasing Alaska from Russia in 1867. Everyone thought it was a waste, but then gold was discovered and later oil, the rest is history. One day I hope to make it up there, it’s on my list.

Fun fact: After an all-night negotiating session, the treaty was signed at 4am on March 30th, 1867. The agreed price was $7.2 million, equivalent to around $120 million today, which works out at about two cents an acre.

I am also working on my current long arm quilt “Turkish Delight”, I picked a simple panto called kaleidoscope from Karlee Porter designs. This quilt is a long twin size, 80 x 108, which translates into lots of rows. While the Q24 is working through this, I stitch on my Shiny and Bright embroidery piece. I am done with most of the cotton floss parts and have moved on to the metallic threads. I got a skein of the Cosmo brand gold, and it is a little less fiddly than the DMC metallic threads. Short lengths are the key here, it shreds after a while, too much friction. I am sewing through two layers, which doesn’t help the thread last. The two layers does make it look nicer, somehow a richer hand to the fabric, plus less thread ends shadowing.

I am awaiting my first installment of the Halloween Figs BOM, it shipped out last week. This is going to be my BOM for 2020.

It’s got some interesting blocks and it is wall hanging size. I just have my Baltimore Halloween quilt that I hang every October, so this will get into the rotation for 2021.

Linking up with Judy at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts for https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/2020/06/design-wall-monday-june-15-2020.html

Be Kind

I have been working on a behind the scenes project that I can’t show until September.  It is a challenge, and I would like to blog about it, so I can remember all the good points and work arounds I figured out while making it.  Maybe I’ll make a draft and keep adding to it until September.

I have also been working on the Bright and Shiny wreath embroidery.  It has become my relaxing project.  Although the metallic thread is a pain to work with, I need to figure out a better way to work with it.  Shorter lengths seem to help, but I am really questioning the use of two strands.  One strand is a bit easier, less tangling and twisting, but I have already done a bunch with two.  I could rip those out, but maybe a combo of the two would look okay too.

The fabric that I ordered came in last Friday, for the Alaska quilt. Blue and white shades of batik, twice the amount called for in the pattern.  I am adding two more rounds to this quilt to make it grow from 72″ square to 100″ square.  I am working it out in EQ8, and it looks pretty good, the picture below right is sort of like what I want to do.  I’m itching to start cutting this out and doing some mindless sewing/piecing.

Earlier today I finished the quilting on the Christmas pines quilt I have been working on. There were nine rows of pantographs that took 80 minutes a row.  I wish there was a calculator that could look at a Pantos and tell you how long it will take to stitch out.  It couldn’t be that hard, my embroidery machine does it.  It’ll tell you how long the total piece will take to stitch at what ever speed you choose.  Plus how long for each color stop.    I have to find the binding fabric, I put it somewhere so as not to lose it, yeah, that didn’t work.

Trying to decide what to put on the frame next, do I want another end-to-end Pantograph, or do I want to break out the new rulers I got earlier this year.  Or I just bought a huge whole cloth design from Karlee Porter, which might be a learning opportunity.

Be Kind.

 

This is my second post using the “new” WordPress editor. My first one was very frustrating and I accidentally erased it before I finished it. It seems to me that they changed where everything is and renamed it. Thanks, but no thanks.

I was working on the Country Christmas quilt on the long arm yesterday and needed something to occupy my hands and mind. There is only so much pet rescue saga one can play while the computer is quilting. The pantograph I am using takes a loooong time to do one row, about eighty minutes. It’s not very complicated, bells, holly and ribbons, but the curved lines really slow things down.

The previous day I had found my kit that I made up for the Crabapple Hill embroidery piece called ‘Shiny and Bright’. I opened it up and started stitching. I was really enjoying stitching by hand, until I realized I no longer had a callous on my needle pushing finger. Found a thimble and was back at it.

Lately, I have been watching a few other bloggers making the Sue Spargo ‘Toned Down Circle’ sampler. There are ninety little wool circles, each sewn differently, with decorative stitches and pretty threads. This is an Instagram stitch along, with a new circle everyday. https://www.suespargo.com/store-detail.php?ID=7494 The URL paste function is different, used to be that I could re-name it, now its ugly, sigh. Anyway it is inspiring to me.

I received the next block for the Botanica quilt BOM, it is two blocks, one part is adding on to the center block, and the other part is a sort of border for the center. It’s medallion style, I think I have picture of it.

YAY! I did it. It’s the little things in life, LOL. Anyway, the center block has the four borders with the flying geese, I may make them today.

I am linking up with Denise at For the Love of Geese today for Put your Foot Down. Here’s the (ugly) link https://fortheloveofgeese.com/2020/05/28/put-your-foot-down-53/