Hand Stitching and a Secret Project

Another busy week! I continue to do some hand quilting on my Put a Ring on It quilt most days. I have developed a callus on my left pointer finger... the mark of a hand quilter.  I think I am a little over half finished with hand quilting this wall hanging. 

I cut all the pieces for a secret project this week.  It seems to take me longer to pick the fabrics than it does to actually sew the quilt.  I seem to hum and haw over my choices for days on end, adding and subtracting fabrics, taking pictures, thinking about it and finally deciding to go ahead and start! I sewed several units together today...still more to do.  

I'm not sure why Finn is giving my daughter the side eye in this picture...obviously she does not give him enough attention!  LOL. 

It was quite humid for this week's hike with the local hiking club.  The milkweed plants were all in bloom.  This is a close-up of the flowers--so pretty!  

This is an Ebony Jewelwing.  I have never seen one of these before!

This is not Queen Anne's lace...it is called Ground Elder and is in the carrot family. 

My friend Pat completed the first of the PJ quilts --this one is for her grand-daughter who is heading off to university in the fall.  This was quilted by a local long armer with a snowflake pantograph as most of the fabrics on the front are winter themed.  The back is pieced from leftover fabrics from mostly pink and purple flannel pj's.  Pat's granddaughter was thrilled with her quilt and had fun looking at all the fabrics and remembering all the pyjamas that Pat had made for her over the years. 

I've spent lots of time outside this past week--weeding, deadheading and inspecting the plants/trees.  Our tomato plants are in bloom.  My friend grew these from seed and gave me a couple of plants.  They are in pots on our patio. 

Our prickly pear cactus bloomed this week. 

Our orange echinacea (cone flower) is just starting to bloom too. 

This is a miniature rose that was given to me by my mother in law in 2001 after I had some surgery.  It blooms every year in the garden. 

The purple cone flowers are putting on a show as well. 

I finished off the pink lupin this week and I'm working on the green at the bottom.  I like to work on this in the car...it's my portable project. The amount of time in the car each week determines how much gets done! I had to correct a few dark green stitches...they were in the wrong spot. 

I will link up with Kathy and Frederique in the morning. 

An Excellent Week

I have had an excellent week, filled with fun activities and lots of stitching time so there is lots to blog about today. As you know, I like to cross stitch in the car.  This week, I finished off the light purple lupin on the right side of my cross stitch project and now I am working on the lighter green coloured leaves at the bottom.  There are also a few more pink stitches to add, but I will soon be doing the outlining stitches. 

A friend has a new granddaughter and, of course, I made baby E a quilt.  Her parents sent me this picture along with their thank you note. Such chubby cheeks!  So cute.

Earlier this week, I noticed a Facebook post by Nancy at the Secret Life of Squirrels.  Nancy is a retired teacher turned squirrel photographer and children's book author.  Several years ago, I offered to send a mini quilt I had made to her for one of her squirrel photos.  She used the little quilt in a scene with a sewing machine that she made out of modelling clay and then returned the quilt to me.  The next year, that photo was included in the calendar that she made.  This week, her FB post was about a new puzzle by Cobblehill Puzzles that features nine of her photographs, including the one with my little quilt in it! How exciting!  I went into my quilt storage area and pulled out the little quilt to show my husband.  I ordered a puzzle at a local store and will take my quilt in to show them when I pick it up. 

I made this little quilt at a miniature quilt making class over 10 years ago with Kathy W. who hosts the weekly Slow Sunday Stitching link up on her blog.  It was made with scraps from another quilter at the workshop. Each HST is 3/4" --the quilt is 6.5" square. 

Our shamrock bloomed this week.  This plant once belonged to my husband's Great Aunt.  When she died in 1977,  his parents took the plant home and it bloomed happily on their back deck for many years.  His mom gave it to us a few years ago and we shared a piece of it with my SIL.  It makes me happy to see this plant come back to life every spring after spending the winter dormant in our basement. The flowers are very tiny--my picture is taken very close up so it looks much bigger than it is. 

Finn has been a hot dog this week!  He still likes going outside though. The heat wave has broken where he lives and he is looking forward to finally being able to go for a walk today. 

I worked on my hand quilting project for a few hours this week and it is coming along. Lots more to do but I am enjoying every stitch!  The pattern is called Put a Ring on it by Latifah Saffir

A friend retired recently and hosted friends and family for a celebratory dinner this past Thursday.  I made her a Sew Together bag.  She told me she is hoping to have more time to sew now. The outside fabric is the same as the one I made for Christine for her birthday but the lining and pocket fabrics are different.

I bought the cute little measuring tape tag at QuiltCon at the Sarah Hearts booth a few years ago.  I wish I had added one to my bag too but forgot that I had them until this week.  The wool piece is a needle landing. 

The garden is exploding with colourful flowers this week. All that rain and hot weather has helped! This first flowers is called Veronica.

Shasta Daisies

Coreopsis

One last bit of good news--I heard that Quilts for Survivors far exceeded their goal of 1000 blocks donated at Quilt Canada!  I was very happy to participate in this very worthwhile and meaningful project.  I will link up with Kathy and Frederique as usual.  Thanks for stopping by.  I love to read your comments. 

A Little of This and a Little of That

I seem to have a bit of a green theme in this week's post...  My hand quilting is coming along slowly, as most hand quilting projects do.  I added some stitches a few days this week and decided on a diamond shape in the four patch sections.  

These shapes will each get this pattern--there are five of these to do and one is done.  I used a bread and butter plate to mark the curves. 

The lupins did not get much attention this week.  There is one more light purple one to add on the right (I have just started the first few stitches on the bottom right) and more medium green to add to the leaves at the bottom.  I hope to work on this on the weekend. 

We think this little Carolina wren has built a nest in one of our hanging baskets.  Last year, some mourning doves took up residence in our hanging baskets.

My Stella D'ora day lilies are out this week.  They look pretty after it rains. 

I'm making another Sew Together Bag for a friend.  The lining is green.  The wool needle landing is actually orange but looks gold in the picture. The cute little tag was purchased at Quilt Con from Sarah Hearts.   There is a looming deadline for this project so it will be done soon. 

My friend, Pat, is making quilts for her grandchildren.  This one is for her grandson who is graduating from high school this year.  All the fabrics (except the red and white) are leftovers from PJ's she has made for him over the years and are all sports related fabrics--hockey, golf, soccer, baseball,  and football.  She came over to my house one day this week so we could figure out a layout for all the blocks. She is madly sewing them together now to have the top done before the family BBQ this weekend to celebrate his graduation.  She will be adding a border before it is quilted.  

My daughter's first crochet project is growing.  She has learned increases and decreases.  The bottom part in the picture is actually the head of the gingerbread mad she is making. 

We are hoping that Finn does not think the gingerbread man looks good enough to eat!

I will link up with Kathy and Frederique on the weekend. 

A Quilty Week

Last week, I told you about the quilt that wanted to be quilted by hand, not by machine.  After acquiring the thread I wanted to use (Aurifil 28 wt) last weekend, I started the quilting this week. I'm doing big stitch quilting, so far in the peel shapes and the arcs in the middle of the quilt.  I have figured out a quilting design for the middle of the quilt but have not started that part yet.  This is a slow stitching project, after all. 

I visited our daughter and Finn last weekend.  I did lots of cross stitching on the train and while I was at her place.  

My daughter did some cross stitching too--she started the next room in the mystery cross stitch series she is doing.  

Here is the first one--the kitchen. 

My daughter bought herself some kits to make Christmas Woobles in January.  She watched some online videos to learn how to crochet and here is a picture of her progress last weekend.  As of yesterday, she had finished the head and was moving on to the neck and body as well as the arms. I do not know how to crochet--I chose to learn to knit when I retired.  (speaking of knitting, I should get back to working on my scarf...)

 We took Finn for a few walks while I was visiting.  He likes to stop to rest on the soft grass!  We ate lunch on a patio that allows well behaved dogs to sit beside your table while you eat.  Finn was a good boy and wagged his tail whenever anyone walked by. 

The local Modern Guild had their show on while I was visiting so we went to see the quilts.  This was my favourite. I have been contemplating making my own 100 day project for a while now.  I will have to figure out what to do. 

The title of my post is "A Quilty Week"...  On Friday, my friend, Katharine, and I went to the Grand Quilt Guild's show in Fergus, Ontario.  There were lots of beautiful quilts.  I chose this one as my favourite to show you.  Celeste reverse appliquéd each one of the 196 blocks in this quilt as well as the border as her long term slow stitching project over several years, January 2017 until Spring 2024.  So many interesting blocks and just a gorgeous quilt!  The indigo fabric in each block is Shweshwe. 

We continue to have lots of rain with sunny days in between which means our flowers and gardens are growing like crazy!  

Evening Primrose below. 

Serbian Bellflower (if you look closely, you will see an ant on one of the flowers)

This week's hike included creature sightings--a snail and several toads.  

One last picture of my favourite dog!  Those eyes could bore holes into your soul. 

I will link up with Kathy tomorrow and Frederique today.  Have a great week!