Unenergetic

Gibbs was mad at me the other day while I was vacuuming.  He went into my cave and was quite comfortable on my Heartfelt Quilt to be.

I have not been super energetic.  We are still having a very cool, grey and at times drizzly spring.  Right now, we have warmed up to 57 and it is dripping outside.  We are supposed to have sun in about an hour.  Shall see.  

I need to get outside and do more weeding.  But the grey and wet make me unenergetic.  That slides over to my house and hand work inside.

I was caught by a squirrel.  Another project bag from Shepard's Bush in Ogden, Utah.  My stitching buddy showed this to me and now the bag is done except for the button decorations.  I need to get set up to stitch the pin cushion and scissor fob.

Our annual town meeting was held on Tuesday.  This is where the town budget is reviewed and voted on.  There were also 29 warrants to review, discuss and vote on.  (We are a town of 3038 people at the 2020 census.)  We have 2193 registered voters, 130 showed up for the meeting.  It can get rowdy, but this year was nice, quiet and behaved.  

Before the town meeting I made one motif of row 11 of my tatting. Eight more were tatted during the town meeting.  More were made on Wednesday during a trip to Boston.  Yesterday I was sitting in a waiting room and tatted a ring.  Then un-tatted as I counted wrong.  Glad I caught it before I closed the ring.

My Heartfelt Quilt has two borders on it now.  Removed and redid part of the HST border as I was not happy with it.

I like this border and corners better that the pattern asked for.  In the pattern the red of the HST is next to the cream border.  I like it flipped.  Also, I like my corners all the same, so I have made the goose area to flip the HSTs.  

Talk about lazy.  The next two borders have not been cut as I have to measure how long to make them.  I measured for the next border when I took this picture. I will make the next side borders, measure and keep going until it is done.  

Jo at Jo's Country Junction had a "Stitch-A-L0ng" for early June.  My stitching is done.  This week I need to have some finishes.  Enough of being lazy.  (I have written it, now to do it.)

I will be linking up to Kathy's Quilts and her Slow Sunday Stitching.  May you enjoy your threads today.  

 

Errors

I have been working on the yard this week and last.  Not a lot of piecing, quilting or hand work was done except for tatting.  Even then I felt like I was doing more un-tatting then tatting.  

This picture is one of many errors that I did.  I had finished working in the garden for the morning and was sitting on the deck listening to the birds and tatting.  On the right I had twisted the group of three rings.  (I should have changed my jeans before the picture.  Took the pic with my phone.)  I was so frustrated with myself.  It was un-tatted. 

This is from last night.  See that loop at the tip of my shuttle?  I just didn't snug up the thread as it must have been twisted and then it popped loose.  Again, I un-tatted.  It takes longer to un-tat than to tat.  I worked on this for one and a half hours.  I could have just cut the thread, fussed to rejoin and move on.  But I do like the challenge.  Really??  Only when it is a quick un-tat.  This one drove me nuts.

It also drove Ziva nuts.  She wanted my chair as it was past her bedtime.  She did take a couple of swipes at the shuttle which she usually ignores.

Error was fixed, tatting was put aside, and I went to bed.  So did Ziva.  The minute I put the blanket on my chair she moved in.  

I will be outside in an hour.  Have another weeding job scheduled to do this morning.  We had rain yesterday, so no weeding or clean-up was done.

Until then I will try to finish off this row of tatting.  I have two motifs to finish.  I hope for no un-tatting on this last bit.  This row has been a trial.  Not hard to remember the pattern.  That is probably why the errors.  My mind wanders.

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

 

Tatting

In 1973 I was an RN in Rochester, NY.  A good friend that I worked with had a Grandmother who tatted.  I asked if she would be willing to teach me how to tat.  She was and taught me how to make the Double Stitch and turn it into a ring.  (I still have the shuttle she used to teach me.  One of my treasured possessions.)  She told me that was all there was to it, the Double Stitch.  I made lots of rings, but I knew there was more.  

In the early 2000s I was thinking, what will I do with my hands when I retire?  Would quilting, knitting, embroidery be too expensive when I retired.  What would I do to keep my mind and hands working.  I re-found tatting.  Watching the internet helped but I found a great intro book:  Learn to Tat with interactive DVD by Janette Baker.  The Double Stitch is still mainly all there is to tatting but it is what you do with it that makes it amazing to me.

Renata Niemczyk (Renulek) has a tatting Blog: Frywolitki,Tatting,Chiacchierino.  Every spring she offers a doiley pattern in rounds, rows, on her blog.  Ziva is on the 2018 doiley that sits on the back of my chair as an antimacassar.  I had put the doiley there to look at it and Ziva hopped up.  It remains there to this day.

Antimacassar: a small cloth placed over the back of a chair or sofa.  A washable, decorative fabric blotter.  They were used to protect the chair sofa material from the hair oil that was used by men in the Edwardian and Victorian times.  I just love that word.

 The 2018 doiley was made with a Size 20 Lizbeth 6-cord cordonnet thread.

I like this pattern a lot and decided that I would tat it again but in a Size 40 thread, finer in weight.  I started it October 2022 and then after 6 rounds there was a pause.  (Darn squirrels.  I don't even know which one it was.)  Renata has put out her 2023 Spring Doiley pattern and I decided I wanted to tat it.  Well, I cannot until this one is finished.  So, I will finish. 

Here is my tatting box.

The doiley and shuttles at the beginning of round 8. 

The inside of my tatting box: tiny crochet hooks, little scissors, picot gauges, and filled bobbins to go into the shuttles.  Also, orange stick, red material circles, thimble and small finger pin cushion.  Hmmm, why are they there?  Let you know next week.

Enjoy your threads.  I hope to link up with Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.

 

Heartfelt

Getting back in action.  

My husband was nice enough to share his nasty viral cough and respiratory symptoms with me.  I had sent him to our PCP for evaluation when he had been coughing for five days.  All testing was negative.   That meant that it was viral, and time would heal all.  It did and it has.  We both still have a bit of cough, but my energy has started to come back.  

I finished three different blocks for my Heartfelt Quilt over last week.  Last night I cut out squares to get Block #24 ready to stitch together today.  If you look closely, you can see that the red has a directional print.  Last night I could not figure out which way to cut the half squares.  Today I cut them oh so carefully and one at a time.  I wanted the pattern direction to all go in the same direction.

First picture is the blocks before I trimmed them down.  I only made one direction mistake when cutting.

Here they are all trimmed and in proper position.  I carefully carried this to the machine.  Sewing was done with a lot of paying attention to the pattern and rows.

I am pleased to say that Jack did not have any work to do in piecing this block.

I am sharing what is known as a 'Kitty Smear' in our house.  Gibbs is on the left and Ziva is on the right.  They are truly bonded cats.  They were not excited with my sewing, and this is where I found them when I was done.

Have a great day with your threads.  I have another block, two of the same, to make today.  Will need to find some hand work for later when Basketball is on this afternoon.

Linking to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.

 

A Finish and a Roll

Our lunch day was delayed by a week, so my friend and I did not get together until yesterday.  She was very pleased to receive this pillow, pin cushion or whatever it may be.  

As you can see, I used a check material for the back, stuffed it with lizard litter (crushed walnut shells) and am pleased with how it finished.  

The other night I was going into my cave to close the window when I saw this.  They are not to be there.  I don't know why this is so comfortable (yes, I do).  When I am in there working, they are with me.  It is a nice space.  I just wish they'd sleep on the plant stand like usual.

I did my third roll of the quilt on the frame.  It took me 19 hours to get across this last time.  This section will be quicker as I will be finishing up the chain blocks and some stitch-in-the-ditch across the top of the applique blocks.  Then I will roll again.  Do you see one of my supervisors in the picture below? 

(Look to the right, just below the quilt.  The tip of Gibbs' tail is showing.  He is sitting on the floor.)

Have a wonderful week.  Enjoy your threads.  My slow stitching today will be working on the quilt.  I will be linking up with Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.

 

Update

Between family and friends visiting and HOT, HUMID weather, I haven't had much time or energy for hand quilting.  I know our hot weather was not as bad as Texas, the Mid-West or elsewhere, but it was hot for us.  I was working in the gardens during the heat at 0900 and was surprised to have sweat drip down my face.  

I walked into the Cave the other day and found Gibbs under Big Red's cover.  (Not to worry.  Since the first time I found him under there, the machine is no longer plugged in unless I am using it.)  I don't know how that is cooler, but he thinks that it is.

We don't have A/C unless we put the unit in the window.  We haven't done that yet.  Thankfully the weather broke the other night.  It was a storm that had the cats hiding under our bed until it was over.

This morning I saw something run by our front windows.  From the side windows I saw that it was three young deer.  They stopped and grazed in our back yard.  They were young enough that they paused to play.

Now, to threads.  I have finally finished the second row on my 3030 quilt.  It took me 22 hours to go side to side.  A Celtic knot is being stitched in the corner squares.  

Diagonal rows where I have the chain blocks.  The rows will continue on to the attached chain block.

All other pieced blocks will have four intertwined hearts.  Don't know if you can see that.  These blocks will also have stitch in the ditch outlining them.

Here is the quilt before rolling it for the second time.  Piano keys will remain on the outside edge.  You can see that I do have some applique blocks.  I am thinking that I will hand quilt around and maybe inside the applique.

The quilt after my second roll.  I can see the edge of the middle block.  I find that exciting.  

May you all stay safe in this summer weather.

 

Supervisors

There has been some progress on my handwork.  They have only been worked on in the evenings as I have been working in my gardens.  (I should have been out there in April to start the garden clean-up, but it was so cold.  I let the weeds get ahead of me.)  Today I was working on my raspberry beds.  The deer found them last year for the first time after gardening here in 28 years.  When I found out, the deer fencing went up.  They also did in my vegetable beds last year.  New fence for those beds won't be here until Monday.  So far, so good with what is in the ground now.

Now to the handwork. 

I placed these on the floor by the deck door and the sun was truly shinning.  The strawberries are a little over half done.  I have a few more big leaves and then the strawberry caps to put on.  One strawberry was missed but will be added when the caps are placed.

This is almost done.  There are five sunflowers to put on and across the top border to be finished. This has been an enjoyable piece.

Now, what I have been spending a bit of time on is a UFO.  This is the 2016 Craftsy BOM by Lynette Jensen.  The flimsy was made on schedule.  It was even sandwiched, and the center machine quilted.  I put it aside as I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do next (and there must have been a squirrel in there also).  Self, I said, it has to get out of my way and onto a bed.  So, self agreed.  The quilt was draped over furniture for a week for the wrinkles to relax (and they did).  

The house has been mine alone since Wednesday.  What a better time to get this thing going.  Red (my sit down) was moved into the dining room so the quilt could spread out over the table.  Good progress has been made.

I was just in there working, knotting off some thread ends.  I looked up and noticed that I had a supervisor, Ziva.  She is laying on a corner of the quilt.  I was able to work on the next block without moving her part of the quilt and the noise didn't chase her away.

The next block was finished and when I looked up, I had two supervisors.  Gibbs had moved in. The machine noise was not bothering them.  If I continued on to the next section, I would have had to move the quilt.  They must have known that it was time for me to stop, time for my supper.  My machine work is done until tomorrow.

When the kitchen is picked up, I will begin this evening's handwork.  Tomorrow I will link up with Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.  May your upcoming week be filled with threads, or garden dirt.  Enjoy.

 

Twins

I have needed another finish so I made a set of Valentine runners.  One for me and one for a friend.  I was able to use left over material from other quilts that I made in the past.

The background material is one direction so I was careful to make sure all the hearts were in the same direction on the runners.  Here you can see a bit of my machine quilting.  I use a heart shape ruler in order to make the hearts.

 

Mine is now on the sideboard and the other will be delivered this weekend.

 

I am still working on my Grandmother's Flower Garden.  I am pleased (and excited) to say that I only have 3 1/2 rows to sew together and then I sew the two halves together and I almost have a flimsy.  When they are all together I will decide on how to make the outer row.  I think I may have enough material to make more hexies and then the binding.  Shall have to see how big it will be.  

 

  

My sewing supervisor, Ziva, as she makes sure that my stitches are being done properly.  It isn't very often that this supervisor is not on my lap.

May you all have a great day.  We are a bit of snow and sleet today, not bad.

Little Flowers

Our youngest read my blog to see Ziva in her debut photo (as seen in last entry).  I was then informed that Gibbs was VERY upset that his picture was not posted.  Here, as they sleep on their 'bunk bed',  you can see our two new Fur Children.  Ziva on the top of the picture and Gibbs on the bottom of the picture.  They are very close cats. 

I am still working on my Flower Garden and almost 1/4 of the way done.  I have still not made the grapes to applique on A Bountiful Life.  I am happy with working with my hexies.  I did make a small project this week.  Smaller hexies which I then turned into coasters/mug rugs.  This back side photo shows the one inch hexies made into a flower compared to the hexie flowers in my garden quilt.
 

 

Here are the two sides of the coasters.  You can see that the one on the right is not yet finished.  The open area is where I turned it inside out.  I love that wooden floor material.  It is left over from my S'mittens runner.

On our second trip to Boston last week I didn't work on the quilt.  Instead I knitted two dish cloths.  One on the way down and one on the way back. 

Thank you for stopping by. 

1/6 of the way

Good afternoon.  A very busy week we have had, driven to Boston twice and Bennington, VT once.  I don't have much hand work done and I am later than I wanted to be in posting. 

There has been no applique work done at all.  I have to get my grapes prepared and then sew them onto my Bountiful block. 

I have been working on Grandmother's Flower Garden.  I was able to do some hand work while we were on the MA Pike and while waiting in offices.  It was easier in the office, the Pike is not always that smooth and it would make my hand jump and then I would displace the needle.  Here are the first four rows, two of the flowers and two of the background.  Ten flowers per row and 12 rows of flowers.   I am 1/6 of the way done with putting the rows together.

Here they are folded in half as each row has a repeat after five flowers.

Closer in all their wrinkled glory.  

 

I have not been tatting much this year.  Nothing has caught my eye.  This doiley was done in 2018 and has been on the back of my chair.  I am using it as an Antimacassar (I love that word).  

Our Ted walked over the Rainbow Bridge in January of this year.  In February my husband found Gibbs and Ziva at the Berkshire Humane Society.  They moved in and we are glad that they are here.  Ziva makes good very use of tatted doileys, Antimacassars.  She says that they complement her "Kitty Look".  She will be above my head while I am in the chair piecing the rows of the quilt.  Every once in awhile she will touch me with her paw.  Not sure if it is because I am sewing well or I should fix something ;).

Have a great week.

Teddy

Good evening to everyone

I have been taking pictures of my tatting.  This is a practice post to figure out how to post them, see how they look and how I need to adjust them.  The first picture is of a yellow cat, Teddy, from “Tatted Animals” by Inga Madsen, published in 2003.

The next picture is of Teddy, another yellow cat, he was adopted from the Berkshire Humane Society in February of this year.  

I hope to have pictures soon of a WIP, the one I work on when watching the New England Patriots or the Red Sox.

Have a nice evening