Two Squirrels

First Squirrel.  This is the front window where the bird feeders are in the winter.  (It is known as Kitty TV.)  A squirrel planted this for me.  It is right next to the foundation, so I had to support it due to the rain that made it tip over.  My bamboo poles all went to Maine so a Shepard's hook for the feeders was used.  Next year I will plant some Russian mammoth sunflower seeds out front (away from the foundation).  I am enjoying watching this from my chair.

Now for the second squirrel.  A friend told me about how she and three others were to start a stitch on the 4th of July.  It is the Plum Street Samplers: America 250.  I joined in and I am glad that I did.

I am a center starter and began with The Stamp Act of 1765.  That is the red rectangle in the center.  This stamp was found on articles that were being taxed in the Colonies by England's Parliament.  As said on the pattern's description, this led to the political slogan "No taxation without representation" as the Colonies had no say in what they were being taxed on.  (No politics here.  Just history.)

This is being stitched on 32 count linen and some of the stitches were 1 over 1.  I am so glad that I started with the stamp as it may be the fussiest part of this whole project.

Here the center from top to bottom is stitched.  Now the stitching will be going to the right and then back to go left.  This is being shown to you vertical, but it is being held and stitched in a horizontal position.  My camera ran out of battery so the stand that I use cannot be shown.  

This has been stitched while watching the World Cup which ends today.  Yesterday's game between England and France was the best that I have seen in a long time.

Linking to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.  Enjoy your threads today.

 

Lazy

Lazy when it comes to taking a picture or writing a blog post.  My last post was back in March, and it is now the first of May.  

There has been activity on the thread and fabric front.  Laurel Ridge had all her blocks put together.  A pause needed to be taken.  Now I am ready to put on her two borders.  One is 1.5 inches in width (which finishes at 1 inch), and the outer border is 4.5 inches.  Then she will be done and shall have to think of how she will be quilted.

 

Slow stitching: these are from a kit by Herrschners from many years ago.  I was looking for something for my fingers to work with, so these were begun.  They are supposed to be ornaments but I may turn the blocks into a quilt or a runner.  There are 30 different designs in total.

Here is the last one that I began before a squirrel came by.  Getting ready to get back to this.

Here is the squirrel.  Stitcher's Garden Berries by Erica Michaels.  They are all being worked on the same piece of linen.  I marked the outline of the berry before stitching so the placement of the stitching would workout.  So far, so good.  

Then a quilt top that I had made in 2024: On the Farm by Sweet Jane.  It had been sandwiched and then machine quilted around the blocks.  Could not come up with an idea on how to continue.  It sat.

My mind made the decision to hand quilt this.  (A wonderful decision if I may say so.)  I am using my Barnett hoop on its stand.  The outside of each baby animal has been quilted and then inside each wreath.

You can see the pattern quilting in the border of the square blocks.  I am thinking of a small animal or heart in the green centers.  My favorite square is the "hairy coo" (baby Highland cow), and then the donkey.

Alphabet letters and numbers will go around the border.  This is made for our granddaughter so her name will also be quilted in the border.  Maybe also the names of the pets and her parents.  Shall see how much space there is to do this.  

My daughter asked that I use a flannel sheet of hers.  (It had never been used as we use a duvet to cover the bed comforter.)  Wonderful way to use up something.

Well, lazy to post in April but not really lazy when working with threads.  

Spring is slow in coming to the Berkshires and all that I have done in the yard is clean up where the peonies are.  Our days are staying mostly in the 40s and I have become such a wuss. When I do get out there, it is enjoyable.   

Enjoy your day and threads.

 

Squirrel!

Laurel Ridge is moving along.  It is now at the point where it is in nine parts.  Next, the nine parts will be stitched together, and it will become the center of the quilt.  Then two borders to be stitched on.  They will be the easiest part, I think.

Last week a squirrel came zipping by.  It is the Sampler Bag from Shepard's Bush in Ogden, Utah.  I have watched this for a bit and somehow it was in my mailbox (I must have placed an order).  

The bag is done except for the buttons which need to be stitched on.  These project bags are just the nicest thing, and I do use them regularly.  Fun to make and fun to use.

The top half is the pincushion.  The bottom half is the scissor keepers.  One will become a scissors keeper.  The second one will be added to the back of the pincushion with my name and year.

Our snow has melted, only some is left near the tree lines.  Not as many birds are at my feeders.  Spring must be coming.  (For sure it is pothole season.)  But it is currently 33F outside and we are under a wind advisory with intermittent snow.  New England weather is amazing.  

Enjoy your threads this day.  Thinking of what UFO will next have my attention.  Can't allow myself to start anything new.  Need to empty some of these project boxes.

 

FROGGING

Getting closer to the right edge of Moira Blackburn's Season and Time.  But today I will begin by finishing the removal of the rabbit.  After I made the star and counted to begin a bird that will be stitched to the left of the star, I found out that the rabbit is two stitches off.  (That made the star off by two.)  If it was one, I would leave it but two won't work.  Out it will come.  

I began the frogging last night to remind myself what I needed to do today.

Here is the beginning of the turning corner.  There is a repeat of the flower edge that was on the left side and then the two pink border rows.  Getting closer!!

Enjoy your threads this day.  

Great news, preseason football began on Friday evening.  Football is great to stitch to.  (New England won.  May they do it again in the regular season.)

Linking to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.

Summer

As elsewhere it has been hot here.  I have been out in the gardens at 0700.  Have accomplished a bit of summer clean up.  A lot left to do.

Here we have Gibbs with the right idea.  Belly up to the window screen to get the breeze.  Kitty heaven.

Slow stitching is what I have worked on.  Stitching Quaker by Primrose Cottage has been completed.  This was stitched on a 28-count linen.  Not sure why I chose such a large stitch space.  After working on 40-count this looks enormous.  

I have begun Stitching Quilt by Primrose Garden.  The same colors and size linen are used in both.  

I see them finishing as a table runner or topper.  Need to find the proper material colors and will make a log cabin block around them.  Right now, it will be three blocks.  The center block will have a solid center to its log cabin. 

The MorningStar hot pad by Plum Easy was made.  I am wanting to make her Point of View table topper.  The prairie points were making me nervous, so I started with this, a Hexi point.  This was made without a problem, and I now have the confidence to work the prairie points.  

May you all be able to stay cool this weekend.  We are in the 80s but the humidity has finally dropped.  For a few days.

Linking to Slow Stitching Sunday at Kathy's Quilts. 
 

July?

I am not paying attention to the passing of time at all.

Youngest was here at the end of June with her family.  She asked me to make the farm quilt that we had bought the kit for last year.  I had no idea what she was talking about.  She said she would look in my cave to see if she could find it.  I wished her luck.  Two minutes later she had it.  Said, "Mom, this was easy to find."  I was shocked and surprised.  She told me that she could see that I had been organizing and that it worked.

MAW are her initials, and her future projects are in that box.  Need to keep this up.

While I was piecing "On the Farm" by Sweet Jane's I was closely supervised.

Later, Gibbs was telling me the importance of pressing.  He was not very pleased when he was told to move.

Ziva later helped me sort scraps and did great work as the compactor.

Here is "On the Farm" as a flimsy.  Need to get cotton batting, turn it into a sandwich and then will begin to machine quilt it.  Hope to have it at least a sandwich by the end of the week.

I did begin a Primrose Cottage cross stitch, Stitching Quilt.  This is being done on a 28-count linen.

My Season and Time by Moira Blackburn is getting closer to the end.

May you all be able to stay cool and enjoy your threads.

Linking to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.
 

June?!

Hello.  

I cannot believe that I haven't been here for four weeks.  Life has been busy, I think.  We did have our living room, dining room, entry way and stairs touched up.  We had them refinished about five years ago and some traffic areas needed a touch up.  That meant moving furniture out.  Some to my sewing cave and some to the garage.  

Gibbs and Ziva went to the kitty spa, and we went to Maine.  Visit with family was great but it was also good to come home and put the house back together.  (And get my sewing cave empty of what doesn't belong there.)

Some work with thread has occurred.  Here is Faded Flag by Robin Sample.  I am not sure how I will finish it.  She made it into a long thin pillow.  The stitch area is 1 1/2 inches by 8 1/4 inches.  It was a quick and enjoyable stitch using Dinky Dyes silk thread.  The red is variegated.

Here is Pollinator's Garden by October House.  Another delightful stitch.

Both of these were stitch-a-longs at Jo's Country Junction.

My Season and Time by Moira Blackburn is probably 3/4 done.  The turn to work on the right side has happened and it is exciting to see the end somewhat close.  

When I was back in my sewing cave and finding out where projects had been moved, my 365 Little Blocks showed up.  Here are the three that I made this week.  It is embarrassing to say that the last time it was worked on was July 28, 2024.  There are now 249 blocks finished.  Keep going I shall. 

For a leader ender I have been making scrappy nine-patch blocks.  Had an idea for a quilt but have now seen one with the nine-patch on point.  That is the direction this quilt may be headed.  Over 100 have been made.  

Enjoy your threads this day.  Once again, now 13 weekends in a row, we have rain.  Like many areas in New England and elsewhere.  My weeds are so happy.

Linking to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.

 

Another Week

We began the week with another Boston trip.  SEW (husband) had a left shoulder rotator cuff repair.  We left on Monday with the thought that he would be first or second for outpatient surgery on Tuesday.  Best laid plans of mice and men.  His surgery was scheduled last, and he was the last patient to leave the building at 6 pm.  That meant a second night in Boston.  Good thing the hotel was right across the street.  All has gone well since.  We go back in two weeks and then our Boston trips stop until next spring.

There was a bit of sitting in the waiting room so, Santa (Old World Santa by Janlynn) has been outlined.  I still have a bit of his collar to do.  I made a mistake and had to unstitch.  His beard was not to be outlined in the dark brown. 

Santa's eyes will be outlined in blue and his mouth in the pink.  There is a little bit to be done on his beard and then I can begin stitching the name.

My slow stitching today will be finishing Santa.  Then to make him into a stocking.  

The sashing between the blocks on my potato chip quilt #2 has been stitched.  Now I need to stitch the sashing between the rows.  Next week I should be able to show you a flimsy, 84 inches by 84 inches.  

Enjoy your threads this day.  

 Linking to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.  

 

Squirrel, Snowflake,

I will begin with the squirrel that I caught.  The pattern is Seasonal Hexie from Lynn Wilder at Sew'n Wild Oaks.  Somehow it jumped into my cart when I was looking at her quilt patterns.  I grabbed some scraps and stitched it together.  It is about 20 inches across.  Machine quilted with stitch in the ditch and the heart ruler was used for the center. It was nice to have a finish so quickly.  It has already gone to a new home, but this will be a made again pattern.

I have been enjoying making the potato chip blocks.  Here they are on my wall.  They will become a quilt for the bed in one of the extra bedrooms.  I am really liking making a block without serious thinking.  It will be a wild quilt and that is really appealing to me.  Going through all those fat quarters and cutting them up is great fun.  Only one or two get cut up a day, material that I wonder why I picked it.  (The material that I can see using gets placed aside.)  The parts added to the box for this quilt, another box for the quilt that will be made with 12 inch finished blocks and then my nine-patch box.  Three scrappy quilts in my mind. 

Snowflake Tablerunner from Piecing the Past Quilts has been sandwiched.  I need to pick up some muslin to add border on the long side.  I will hand quilt this in my hoop and I need a bit more material on the sides to hold it in the hoop.  It was basted by machine, the first time that I have done that.  Shall see how that works.

Work has begun on Season and Time by Moira Blackburn. This is being worked with it on its side as it is long, and I rather work in the frame than the hoop.  Here is the center, bottom on the left, top on the right.  It will be worked toward the sides.

Won't be doing any hand work until this afternoon.  The gardens are calling me.  It is 39 degrees outside now, but the sun is shining.  

May you all have time to enjoy your threads today.  Thank you for visiting.  Linking to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.
 

Bits

This week has been a different week.  We still have snow on the ground from the storm.  It will be gone by tomorrow as our temps are to head warmer this week.  We did not get the storm as badly as they did in Maine.  Sister and daughters all had power outages (just received notice that the last had their power come back at 0530 this morning). 

The snowflake table runner will turn into a sandwich today.  That is what is next on the list.  Shall start stitching it this week.  Now that I have told you that, I need to get cranking to be able to show something next week.

The last of the Chubby's have been finished.  Fox, Rabbit and Bird from Jeannette Douglas Designs.  I see that she has a Bee for 2024.  Need to look for that one.  These all need to be framed and I need to learn how.  This will be a good place to start as they are small.

Squirrel!

Like many people, I have scraps left over from other projects.  I had seen a video by Conquering Mount Scrapmore with Brenda on making a "potato chip block".  This looked like less thinking than the other scrap block I had made.  Just don't put the same fabric in the block.  (I already messed that up.  Didn't notice until I was pressing the finished block.  Oh well.)

I am spending time cutting out bricks, 30 minutes a day, and my scrap pile is not noticeably smaller.  Cutting two sizes: 1.75 X 3 inches (wrote the wrong measurement down, cut wrong and had to adjust vs tossing fabric) and 2.5 X 4.5.  The smaller brick blocks are what I am showing.  It makes a finished 10-inch square.  When I stich them together, I need to make sure the center start is in different directions.  That way NO matching of seams!  Totally mindless sewing.  I leave one set up next to my machine waiting for me.  (I had to think harder for a crumb block).

Since the chip is waiting for me and I don't have to think, just sew and press.  I am back on a UFO: Little Block 365 by Sentimental Stitches.  I had 217 blocks stitched and several rows put together.  The smallness was driving me crazy as it takes a bit of time to stitch them.  Longer than to stitch a potato chip block.  I wasn't seeing the progress to keep me motivated.  Now it is a pair project.  Hope that helps me.  I want to see it done.  I do like 365, a lot.

NCAA Women's Basketball final this afternoon.  My slow stitching will be work on Season and Time by Moira Blackburn will watching the game.  

Linking to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.  Enjoy your threads today.

 

Flimsy

The Snowflake Table Runner from Piecing the Past Quilts has turned into a flimsy.  Not perfect but I am pleased.  The last 18 large leaves and the 18 diamonds went quickly (after stitching 72 of the little leaves).  On the diamonds I was wondering about the pointy end.  It is a bit small, narrow, and I wondered if it would survive the washing machine when its time came for a bath.  So, I used fray check on the sides and tip end of the point.  I haven't used that in a long time and don't remember if I was pleased or not.  It was easy to stitch through.  Shall wait and see.

It needs a good "brushing" before I make it a sandwich.  Between the loose threads and the cats, sigh.  It will become a sandwich this week.

Hand quilting is being thought of around the snowflake parts.  Then machine quilted straight lines following the long side of the runner (but not quilting over snowflake parts).  Shall keep thinking.

There has been other stitching done.  Here is Chubby Bunny from Jeanette Douglas Designs.  Jo from Jo's Country Junction is having a stitch-a-long with this small and two others.

Here is the beginning of Chubby Fox by Jeanette Douglas Designs.  They are being stitched on 40 count linen.  Need my magnifying glasses for this work.  

Enjoy your threads this day and Happy Easter.

Linking to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.

 

Squirrel and Frog

On January 3, 2024, Jo at Jo's Country Junction announced that she is starting a Stitch Along.  It is Kind Words Never Die from Heartstring Samplery.  This is a small that I really like.  So, I have joined in.  The Stitch Along begins on 1 February but I started mine on Friday.  That is the Squirrel.

The Frog.

As I said, this is a small.  Stitch Count: 74 x 73.  On Friday evening the words and five flowers were stitched.  Yesterday afternoon I stitched two more flowers and found out I was off one stitch, and it wasn't going to match up.  I had to look over the entire pattern to find out where I was off.  See the circle to the left.  The flower was one stitch to high.

So, the Frog went into action.  Thank goodness for football.

It has been restarted properly and I will keep better track of my stitches (she says as her fingers are crossed).

This was a more productive week.  I made two mug mats using a postage stamp background with a snowflake applique.  I gave them to my Tuna Quilter friends and forgot to take a picture.  Still thinking of that quilt.

My socks have been finished and have survived a wash.

 

My Slow Stitching today will be finishing my small and then I have another stitch waiting to begin.  The sun is out, a bit windy, and we are starting our day at 3 degrees.  I know other parts of the USA have it worse.  Please all be warm, safe and enjoy your threads.

Linking to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.