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.

I was watching/listening to a Floss tube while sewing yesterday. It was Jean Farish, and she started talking about the other side of cross stitch, the back side. It seems that there was a “heated” (not really) discussion on a Facebook group recently about fun verses neatness. Some people don’t care what their project back looks like, some are fastidious, and some are very sure that if your back isn’t as neat as your front – well you know. I think it is a matter of craftsmanship, I fall somewhere in the middle of the extremes. I have been hand stitching things for almost 50 years, I can still remember when I was six years old, and my grandmother showed me how to embroider on a hankie. Later, my favorite first grade teacher gave me an embroidery kit, with wool yarns and a metal hoop and a printed design. Crafting took hold and I haven’t stopped. I don’t remember how I started to care about my backs, but I think it evolved with my skills.

There is one particular incident that stands out in my mind though. My first real job, was as an assistant manager in a craft/garden center chain store. I was in charge of the craft section, ordering and merchandising etc. We also had a framing department within the craft part. I would hang out in there, see what was going to be framed, and how it was done. I had a lot of free framing lessons, and learned more about framing than I probably needed to know. Anyway, there was a cross stitch piece that I will never forget, it was a full size monopoly board. All the words, properties, railroads and GO TO JAIL boxes carefully stitched out in all the right colors. It was really a neat piece of work. However, the stitcher didn’t bury any of the black thread ends. They also jumped from lines to words and outlines over the whole back. When the piece was framed, all those threads showed, I felt it was ruined. I remember the framer felt bad about the finished product too, I don’t remember what happened when the stitcher picked it up though.

Long Arm quilting has also helped me to become a better craftsperson too. Those loose bobbin threads or railroaded threads are the bane of my work. I have to check my quilt backs all the time, at least with cross stitching, it happens more slowly, and is a lot more controllable. Miscounting though, that’s another story, lol. A back side area that I need to improve on is ironing my completed tops. I am a bit lazy about that, I have no problems ironing units and blocks, but once that queen size top is together, my ironing mojo is out the door in a flash. Wrestling that big thing around, having it slip off the board, meh, no fun there.

This week I have been working on more rainbow blocks, I have three more to do. I am thinking two pink and one red in the corner. Then I need to make the sashing and cornerstones. I may switch it up a little and use blue, but I have plenty of WoW, and the sashings are very narrow.

I really NEED to work on my Halloween Figs BOM. I sort of forgot about the March blocks, I pulled the package out when I got the shipping notice for the April installment. I thought I better get it done, it was three blocks and 42 flying geese, and one of those blocks was a 12″ square with appliqué. So much for whipping those together. I got the appliqué prepped and one stem done, the small blocks were simple Ohio stars, an hour of sewing there. The 42 geese, well they are going to have to wait until the rainbow is done. April’s package showed up yesterday, it is the 11th month, but glancing through the instructions, there is a lot of putting chunks together, and a lot of filler and border pieces, more geese and nine patches I think. I can’t remember if I have done the pumpkin seed ones yet, there are a bunch of those. That’s my goal for next week, get this BOM into shape and mostly, if not wholly together.

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Be Kind.