Slow Stitching Sunday

Finally - Hugs and Kisses is in the hoop and the hand quilting has started. I have two of the blocks quilted and decided to go with easy for the outside of the block - a straight line in the middle.
I like Kathy's idea of keeping track of the quilting so I have 2 of 49 blocks completed. That green one is on tap for today.... and maybe the brown one if time allows.

Head on over and see what other slow stitching is being worked on today.

November wrap up of goals...

I think I did pretty good this month!
1. The maple leaf quilt got finished. Well... I just need to hand quilt some maple leafs into that plain border. Two leaves are in the black print right now.10 to go int he black and 12 in the cream =)

2. Celtic Solstice was finished into a top. Bonnie's new mystery starts today... Are you joining in?

3. The Century Quilt was finished into a top 10/28. I'll quilt this next year sometime.

4. Snails Tail - no progress.
5. RSC color of the month was light blue. Hexies, churn dashes and a 16 patch block were made. I made a couple of missing 16 patches and then made all 12 into stars... then put them into a quilt top!

6. Tiny Tuesday - I made a couple but I think I have enough for my sampler quilt. Just need time to start putting them together.
7. Hugs and Kisses got pinned and the hand quilting started on Thanksgiving! The yellow block is done....48 to go!

8. I pulled out the Little T quilt and finished the hand quilting. It is now a finished little quilt.

9. I also decided to make 6 place mats for Thanksgiving this year. I got them done thanks to a pattern from Joanne at Canuckquilter.com.  I put Christmas fabric on the back so they are reversible!

I think I did pretty good. December there is no link party of goals.... but I'd love to finish up a couple of my RSC blocks into complete quilts. I also want to do my last two appliqué blocks for the Quilt Square Along blocks... the motive on that is to have two small things to hand quilt for a trip later in December. Head on over to see Kathi and visit her link party of goals.

Happy Thanksgiving.....

I got the place mats done in time ... and wouldn't you know it one got dripped on.... and yes, it was mine from me! Oops, guess that one will be turned over to Christmas for the next meal!
I think they turned out great - thanks Joanne for a great pattern.

As the kids were trimming the tree this afternoon....

I pulled out the Hugs and Kisses quilt and put my first hand quilting stitches into it! Hopefully it will be completed before next year's Thanksgiving! I am using a hoop for this (second attempt at a hoop type device) and hopefully it works since this is a pretty big quilt at 78x78.

The kids moved on from the tree onto the Christmas train that I put under my tree. It is currently in the front reading room getting a workout. Notice the nativity scene - Emily grabbed that out first and had that set up before Daddy even put the tree together. That is her job I guess!

Time to wake Daddy from his nap so I can go out and take a walk and get some steps and burn off some turkey before the sun goes down. Hope you all are having a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends.

Waiting until the last minute......

The placemats for Thanksgiving are in process. No sewing yesterday as I was attempting to clean the house. Never fun when you notice at the end of steam cleaning the carpets that the bristle spinning was OFF! Arrgghhh. 

I just finished quilting the last four this morning and have the binding on one side. I'll stitch them down tonight while watching movies with the kids. I've been informed it will be a movie night with popcorn! The last place mat is on the machine - bobbin thread ran out on the last side. I put Christmas fabric on the back so we can use them all December. Two are fun kids prints and the other 4 are the Christmas print you see. Wish me luck on getting them done for tomorrow.

French onion soup is in the last 30 minutes of simmering for my lunch after cooking down all morning. Turkey giblets are all boiled up and ready for the stuffing tomorrow. Just need to finish the thaw on the pumpkin to make the pumpkin pudding for tomorrow. The boy popped a little fever yesterday after school. He had his 3 hours of running around and is resting on the couch all snuggled up under a quilt =).

This was them earlier this morning - playing with a can of snow that one of my employees got for them. You add a cup of water and instant snow! It was for them to practice with for next month when they see the real thing =)

Wishing you all a safe Thanksgiving Holiday to those in the USA. Happy Thursday to everyone else!

Edit....Someone came home with a sheepish smile on his face. He got things to build a fire pit. Yes - the kids already are out with a fire in their new fire pit and have cooked their dogs and marshmallows already for their dinner!

Slow stitching Sunday...

Kathy reminds us every week to slow down and enjoy some slow stitching. I have been lucky and have been doing a bit of slow stitching this week. I got my Little T little quilt all finished - quilting done and bound. I just freehanded that outer border with the kids green chalk for their easel! It washed out just fine.

I finished the binding on my Maple Leaf quilt last night during a movie marathon with Emily and Greg. Frozen and then Happy Feet - we opted out of the parade as it was a damp drizzle all day long. She got a pizza and movie date with Mom and Dad. Aidan was at Grandma's for the day and had his sleepover last night. He'll be returned this afternoon. Em also got to sleep in her tent in her room last night =)

So.... after going into work today for a bit to pay some bills and do the books.... I plan to enjoy some more slow stitching this evening.

The options -
Hand quilt some maple leafs onto the middle border on the Maple Leaf quilt.
Start (finally) Hugs and Kisses...... I think Hugs and Kisses will win and the Maple leaf will be the car line hand work for Monday and Tuesday. Kids are off Wednesday through the rest of the week.

Off to try the chocolate Puff Pancake Emily and I just made for breakfast (I added cocoa and mini chocolate chips).... the joy of her going to bed at 7:15 last night was short lived when she got me up wide awake a little before 6AM this morning. I think Hugs and Kisses might get a few stitches put in this morning before work.

Head on over and visit Kathy's Quilts and see what other slow stitching projects are being worked on today.

I'm blaming Joanne....

She was kind enough to send me the pattern for her geese across the table runner and placemats. Instead of cleaning..... I decided to make the placemats! I cut this out yesterday.

 I need 6 for Thanksgiving this year. So far the six tops are made. Now to find some backing fabrics.... christmas maybe?... and then quilt and bind them.

See - I told you it was all Joanne's fault! You can purchase her pattern for Geese across the table here. She did hers in contemporary colors.

*** Mom - I think I am just going to have a few things shipped to you for the kids. Expect a pink Janome sewing machine from Joann's Fabrics to arrive sometime soon for Ms. Emily. ***

Progress......

Well, the Little T got the final quilting stitches in yesterday in the car line. I quickly threw a binding on it but have not hand stitched it to the back yet. I plan to take it with me to bowling and get the binding finished this morning.

I added some borders to the orange peel mini quilt. I think this print gives it that 'aged' look!

I also got these blocks finished and all put together yesterday! It is 48x 64....I think that is a good size snuggle quilt for a young girl..... or should I add a border? Kathy - I used 4.5 inch strips to make the flying geese which finished at 4x8 using a flying geese ruler (Fons and Porter). My 16 patches were made with 2.5 inch squares. I'm thinking a scrappy color binding for this one.

Now to press Celtic Solstice and get it rolled to the boards for pinning. I need to cut the backing and batting and it is best to do that when everyone is away from the house (school and work). One week to get that baby quilted. I'm thinking circles a la Kim Diehl. Fingers crossed that it will go smoothly on such a large quilt. It did well on the 60x48 one I did but this one is 82x82.......

We had a hard frost this morning.... so the weathermen were one day off! Good thing I had covered everything Tuesday afternoon... and kept it covered. The kids had fun scraping the windshield this morning ( a novelty in Florida!). Hoping all those up north getting all the snow are careful driving and shoveling all that snow. We are back to 'normal' temps in the 80's this weekend. Thank goodness =)

Tuesday......

I started picking up a little in the sewing room yesterday and found two separate piles of orange peel blocks! So....... I decided to sew them together to make a little quilt. It is 20x16 right now and I think it will just get a border added. I wonder what color it will be? Looks like a new car project for the pick up line at school since the Little T is nearly done. Two more sides of the last border and then the binding and that one will be all done.

I also made the missing blue and purple 16 patches for the RSC Challenge and decided to start making them into stars. Last year I had a colored square in the upper corner of each block. I decided to leave it plain this year. I might alternate the background color with a lighter cream in some of them to add movement.

I should be pinning Celtic Solstice.... but I'm just not in the mood so I'll continue making stars out of my 16 patches this morning. I am doing lunch with Aidan today at school since I did lunch with Emily yesterday. Hopefully it will not be a rainy pick up at school today - I got there at 1:30 and they are released at 2:05. My car did not move until 2:20 and I was only about 35 cars or so in the line. They were lined up down the road both sides waiting when we got through.  I am guessing it took well over an hour to get the kids released yesterday. It did give me a lot of time to stitch on the little T!

Mom - I'm on Chapter 32 - 55% done the Cindy Blackburn book. I am reading her new book Unbelievable which is a 'fictional' place that is a lot like the little town my parents summer camp is in =). There is even an Arlene in the book - which is my Mom's name! Pretty neat to read about a place I know so well. If you like easy read mysteries, go check it out.

I also got my fitbit zip device in the mail this weekend and set it up Sunday. Yesterday was my first full day wearing it and I got 10,000 steps in! I guess I walk around the house more than I thought I do!

Off to sew......

Slow stitching Sunday.....

I have been enjoying a little slow stitching this week and picked up the Little T quilt!

Little T 

I am working on the borders today and hope to get this baby finished off this week so I can start hand quilting my Hugs and Kisses quilt! I took a hand quilting class ages ago (late 90's? I remember it was when I had the townhouse in Hinesburg and before I purchased my house in Colchester) and remember the teacher had brought in a quilt she was working on. She used a hoop and took it with her so had rolled the excess backing and batting and basted it to the edge of the quilt to protect it. I remembered that and figured I'd give it a try as this will be a very long term project and between kids and cats it will get tugged and pulled a lot in the process of getting this quilted. Does anyone else do this who uses a hoop? Ok, one more question.... I need ideas on quilting the square surrounding the X and O's. Straight line in the middle? Squiggly line or two going around it? A small version of the peel - maybe two on each side leaving the edge square empty? I plan to echo the peels for each block and I'm thinking a cable of some kind for that tan border. Any ideas are appreciated.

I don't know about you, but I find after pulling a few strands of thread through some layers I feel a lot more relaxed after a busy day or busy morning. That little T was being worked on in the car line this week - no radio, car off and the windows down to let the nice breeze in. High 60's and mid 70's are so pleasant this time of year. It ALMOST makes up for the 5-6 months of stifling humidity and mid 90 degree temps (not including that humidity in!). Almost.....

Head on over to Kathy's Quilts and see what others are working on today. I'm popping into work to do the books and pay a few bills and then plan to do a little more outside work - weeding and pressure washing - before settling in for some nice relaxing stitching.

Light blue Churn Dashes.....

I had a little bit of time Friday after my morning walk and before I had to go to 'school' to learn about the Common Core Math. I decided to cut some parts for the light blue churn dashes and started sewing.

I've done 12 each of 12 colors.... (well only 6 of the light blue so far this month) of 6 inch finished churn dash blocks. Now.... what to do with them?

Should I split them up - 6 sets of each color and make two quilts? Group a couple of colors together with some alternate blocks and make a couple of snuggly throws that I was thinking of gifting around Christmas? (purple and yellow; pink and bright greens?).....Decisions, Decisions. I think I'll sleep on it for another week and then toss some coins =) What would you do?

Head on over to visit Angela on Saturday morning and see what other rainbow projects are being worked on.

This picture is from my new iPhone. I'm in process of setting it up but it let me take a picture so it is already better than my other phone. This one is huge though.... we'll see if I can get used to it.

Wednesday, Wednesday.....

It was a half day at school today so pick up time came quick. I did manage to get this Hugs and Kisses Quilt pinned today! I think I will just 'fold' back the extra backing and batting and hook it to the edge of the top so I will be able to quilt the border whenever I get to that point. Just in time for a chill down this weekend so I can have this on my lap in the evenings. I think I left 5-8 inches on each side to help with the edge quilting.

To get there - I finished the machine quilting on the maple leaf quilt and machine stitched the binding to the top. I plan to hand quilt some maple leaves in the plain tan and black border and then hand stitch the green binding to the back. I did a stipple in the tan and black parts in the center and outlined all the leaves. I also did a stipple in the leaf border and outlined the center border with the walking foot.

I picked up the Little T quilt to practice a bit and have been putting some stitches in the last couple of days. Time to stitch inside the T's and then onto the borders. I'll have to pull the pins and give the borders a press before I start on them.

I use my phone to take pictures and it has started to rebel and pop out of the photo without taking anything. Yes, I downloaded them all and deleted from my phone but it is still acting up. I've had it for a couple of years and am due for a new one.... which I just had Greg order for me today. Arrgghhh, I really hate change. I had my previous cell phone for 5 and 8 years before getting something new. Hopefully the new phone will behave - take my pictures and stop deleting all my contacts for a few days and then have them show up again.

I just spent 2.5 hours picking up the play room. It still needs a vacuum but I am DONE! (1.5 black trash bags full; recycle bin is full; one laundry basket has donate jackets, shoes and toys - more will be added when the kids are not home!) The kids are in there playing school - Aidan is teaching Emily right now working on her spelling words. I think I'll put in a few slow stitches while no one is yelling. Lets hope the playroom is how I left it when the kids are done playing in there. It is so nice to see there is a floor in there.

I'll deal with the rest of the house tomorrow =) Time for some relaxing stitching before I have to make dinner. Taco's tonight (Aidan's favorite).

Ta Da! - Celtic Solstice is officially a top!

Celtic Solstice is a top finishing at 82x82. There are 2302 pieces in this quilt!

I went with a mottled blue. Guess I need to go shopping and get more of that fabric for Alex's graduation quilt. His quilt is due for June 2015. I am trying to determine a pattern so I can start on it next month. His request was white and blue - not light blue or dark blue but a medium blue. I was thinking bear paw on point or a 12 inch block that has a plain center - nine patches in the corners and opposite 3 way sashing in the other four parts... not sure of the name of the block but I can see it in my head! Then... hunter star popped into my head this morning. I've always wanted to make that pattern and have the specialty rulers for it already. Do you think that would be boyish enough with blue and white? This is for a high school graduation present. I make a twin size quilt for each of the nieces and nephews as they graduate from high school. I've done 5 years in a row and this makes year 6 and then.... I get a couple years off! The next one is a Freshman this year.

Want a trip down graduation quilt lane? Well....you are going to get it anyway =)

Ben's quilt - leftovers from Greg's quilt using the Nickel Quilt book.

Kristin's Yellow Brick Road in batiks.

Star Struck for Mindy

Jillian's Kaleidoscope

Kaleidoscope for Becky

Home with a sick girl today. She has decided to pop a fever yesterday afternoon and tossed her cookies all over last night around 9:30. She finally got to sleep around 11 and slept until I had to wake her to bring brother to school this morning at 7:15. She is a little warm but seems better. It will be a day resting on the couch with the tv and hopefully back to school for her tomorrow. Lots of hand sanitizer for me today along with clorox wipes and lycol. I don't want this bug =).

Off to press the backing for hugs and kisses...... maybe I can get that pinned today finally? I'd love to start hand quilting that one this week. I used my 60% off coupon at Joanns yesterday and got 300 pins so I don't tie up all mine on that quilt. I did a text and also got another 60% off some citrus thread to quilt Celtic Solstice and a 20% off everything! Spent $45 and saved $45! Not too bad. That much more $ to spend on my Joann's gift card......

De Ja Vu Slow Sunday Stitching....

Today I plan to prep my appliqué to start some slow stitching on this block tonight. This is the December block from The Century Quilt. I made this one in October and I had purchased two of these kits. One will be made into a pillow to go with the quilt. That will give me some hand work for the car line up this week waiting on the kids to get out of school.

First...... dinner must be figured out and then we can enjoy this yummy cake Aidan and Greg made me by request. Maybe we can just skip dinner and go right to dessert?

Linking up today with Kathy over at Kathy's Quilts who is reminding us to not multitask all the time. Relax, breathe and enjoy those calming slow stitches.

Saturday in light blue.....

I got a lot of hand work time over the last week and my blue hexagon flowers are my proof!

I also did a quick 16 patch in light blues.

There were a few black churn dashes worked this week as well in between seams on the Celtic Solstice quilt.

Celtic Solstice took me a wee bit longer than I was thinking so next week I will take a look at all my sampler blocks and see what I come up with. Angela's is looking lovely and I really like how Sheila set hers.

I'm working this weekend so I'll check in to the RSC link party when I can.
Have a wonderful weekend.

An update on Celtic Solstice....

Well, the first two borders are on. Now to find some green for the final border. I think I will make it wider than the pattern calls for to make it a good size quilt. It is 72x72 right now and I think I'll add 5.5 inch borders to make it 82x82 before quilting.

Celtic Solstice two borders on - VTQuilter

Close up - VTQuilter

Monkeys?

Mottled bright green for the border?

Emily had to have her picture taken.

Thoughts? Opinions? I had to add a couple of units to make things fit on the pieced border - mine are 22 and 24 instead of 21 and 23.
Mom just weighed in and does not like the green.......
Maybe a 2 inch green, a 1 inch orange and then a 3.5 inch medium blue? Hmmmmm. Must check and see what I have to work with.