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.