Binding and Finn's Approval

It's been a busy week and I have not had much time to sew but I did manage to hand sew the bindings on the two quilts I showed in my last post.  The shadow box quilt has gray binding, the same as the shadows on the quilt. 

Finn approves of the potato chip baby quilt.  

Here is a close up of the backing fabric--I love the paper boats print!

My daughter's book blanket is coming along with nine new squares added in February. 

These squares represent two books read in March so far. 

Here are the books she read in February along with the ratings out of 5. 

The Christmas blanket had some more borders added this week.  There are still 22 pink bobbles to add to the gingerbread border. 

Finn is always willing to offer a "helping" paw while I am hand sewing. 

Here's what I am reading this week--a funny murder mystery with eccentric characters.  

I will link up with Kathy and Frederique.  

Just Got Home from a Quilting Retreat!

Three days and two nights of quilting!  I always bring more with me than I can possibly do while I am at a retreat but I like to have options in case I feel like changing projects.  However, by the time I left today, I only had one project that I did not touch.  Much was accomplished!  I started out slowly with a warm up projects.  I am making nine patch blocks for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge project this year.  March's colour is yellow.  They are a bit brighter than they appear in this picture.  The lighting in the room washed them out a bit. 

 Next up...my shadowbox quilt.  I finished the quilting at home this past week and put the binding on by machine at the retreat.  It is ready for hand stitching this week.  I call the quilting pattern "waffle quilting" and did it with my DSM walking foot. 

Then I worked on a quilt which will be a gift so no pictures yet.  I completed most of the blocks and then ran out of fabric that I needed to complete the last three blocks.  I will work on this at home to finish the blocks soon. 

This I Spy Potato Chip block quilt top was quilted and I put the binding on by machine. More hand stitching to do this week.  I found the backing at my local quilt store on the sale rack. This was my first purchase in 2025 and I only have a small strip of it left after trimming the quilt. It's perfect! The binding was in my stash. 

I have had an idea floating around in my head for a few months now for a wall hanging made with nine blocks.  This morning, I made the first couple of blocks...yes, there are partial seams in these blocks.  The background is Essex linen.  I plan on making each block a different colour.  The next block is underway. 

I also did some hand quilting on my Arizona quilt after marking some more circles on my quilt.  One of the other quilters had a nifty circle marking tool which she let me use.  Here is a picture of the back of the quilt which shows how much is done so far.  Those squares to the left and right of the centre may need circles in them too. 

 

The church sewing group that I belong to is making 1200 inserts for reusable hygiene kits for girls in Malawi.  They cannot go to school when they are menstruating unless they have these kits. We have already made 120 bags to hold the kits and other sewing groups at other churches are making some of the other parts of  the kits.  I have dragged out my serger from hibernation to work on these.  I am getting really fast at my part of the process!  We have 600 made and 600 more to go.  The deadline is the end of the month.  We only have 6 people sewing for a few hours a week. 

My daughter is still working on the borders on her Christmas blanket.  It's a big blanket and it takes a while to work her way all the way around it. 

Finn will soon be coming for his annual stay at our house. I am looking forward to lots of Finn cuddles and walks at the park while he is here.  Stay tuned for his antics!

I will link up with Kathy and the slow Sunday stitchers as well as Frederique.  Take care and have a great week. 

A TaDa Moment!

This afternoon, I added the final stitches to my Winter Woods cross stitch!  There were lots of little stars to add in the sky of several pictures and a bit of backstitching, but not very much. I love this picture and look forward to getting it framed to hang up somewhere in my house next winter.  We have lots of snow right now, although not as much as many places north of us where roads have been closed for days on end as the snowplows try to clear the snow away. 

I spent some time at the sewing machine this week, quilting my shadowbox quilt with a waffle cross hatch pattern.  I have all the lines going across the quilt done and have started the lines of quilting going from top to bottom.   I hope to finish this quilt soon, so I can get quilting the next one in line. The backing is a fun Peanuts fabric that has been in my stash for a while.  I had to add a solid strip on the back to make it big enough.  

I added 3.5" to my scarf this week.  The little ball of wool is shrinking fast! The scarf is now 35.5" long. 

Christine came over for a few hours one day this past week.  I did some hand quilting on my Arizona quilt and she did some cross stitch.  We also did some machine sewing. 

I made 6 turquoise hollow nine patches for my Rainbow Scrap challenge project this week as well.  These will do nicely for blue month!

I added some shelves from Ikea to my sewing room for my rulers this week.  They are actually meant to hold framed photos but work quite well for my rulers.  This job involved moving my cutting table and vacuuming up all of the dust bunnies under it...not pretty but looking nice and clean now!  They are right beside my cutting table and very easy to access when I need them.  My assorted small rulers are in a wooden ruler stand on the cutting table under these shelves.  

On this week's hike with the hiking club, I saw this nest piled high with snow.  I love walking in the woods after a fresh snowfall!  Apparently, lots of people like to walk here with their dogs too as the evidence showed...

Finn was so cold when he came inside from doing his business once day this week that he was shivering! My daughter wrapped him in his blanket to warm him up.  

Finn just sent me a couple of pictures of my daughter's crochet progress this week. Three more book blanket granny squares and the Christmas blanket has had some attention as well.  She wants to keep working at the Christmas blanket so it doesn't turn into a UFO.  

I will link up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers, the RSC folks and Frederique this week.  Have a fantastic week.  

Knitting, Cross Stitch, Crochet and a Weekend Away

My scarf that I am making with the yarn I purchased in Cow Head, Newfoundland in 2023 is getting longer-- 32" or 82cm long now.  It takes a long time to make a scarf! I will keep knitting...it would be nice to be able to wear it this winter!

Just a little bit more to do on the Winter Woods cross stitch.  There are some clouds in the sky above the mountains to add and some stars in the sky in several places on the entire picture.  The deer got its tail this week too--I forgot to do it when I was working on that section! This should be done very soon!

I made some fabric postcards for my MIL and my daughter & Finn.  They both received them in the mail on time for Valentine's Day.  I found the snoopy fabric in my stash when I was looking for something else and decided that it would make good valentines. 

We went to visit our daughter and Finn last weekend. We took Finn to the dog park one day and he wore himself out running around with all of the dogs that were there. We had Asian take out for dinner on my birthday and went out for ice cream for dessert.  My daughter gave me this book for my birthday and I have started to read it--a fun read so far!

I borrowed this novella from my daughter--the story is set in Ireland and was very poignant.   This is the same author who wrote Small Things Like These which I read recently.  Both books are highly recommended!

A very tired Finn!

My daughter finished reading three more books this week so the total number of squares for her book blanket is 6 for the month of February. 

Meanwhile, she is working away on finishing her Christmas blanket.  She completed the gingerbread border and is adding the colourful bobbles --88 in total.  All of the red ones are done now and she has started on the yellow ones.  There are 22 bobbles in each of 4 colours.  The red border is now finished as well--this picture shows it in progress. 

Today is flag day in Canada.  The Maple Leaf has been our flag for 60 years! We proudly displayed our flag on the front porch as did several of our neighbours.  As you probably already know, we are facing several challenges from our neighbours to the south of us, which has resulted in an enthusiastic display of pride in all things Canadian.  We have no plans to join the USA. 

It has been a snowy week in our neck of the woods with more expected tomorrow.  Finn had difficulty finding a spot to do his business this week as the snow was as deep as he is tall!  They will be getting lots of snow in the next 24 hours too.  

I will link up with Kathy and Frederique.  I'm hoping for some sewing machine time tomorrow as we are likely going to be snowed in.  Snow Day, Sew Day!!!

Slow Stitching Report

I finished off the second diamond hand quilting this week and then started on the squares at the top of the Arizona quilt. I'm working on quilting a quarter inch along the gray background. As I quilt, I am thinking about what I am going to do next. I'm still undecided about whether to quilt a circle in the middle of each square...we will see. 

I have finished the tree section now on my Winter Woods cross stitch.  This picture was taken before I was quite done.  The next section is started now.  Who knows?  Can I finish the last section this week???

I have my heart quilt hanging up in the hall for the month of February.  I made this a few years ago. 

 

My daughter is making this for me for my birthday which is today.  It is not quite done yet but will be soon.  I love all of the beautiful textures she is creating. 

"Only" three books finished this week so three more granny squares made more my daughter's book blanket.  Finn says they are not keeping him very warm. 

Finn's blankets got washed yesterday and made a nice warm nest when they came out of the dryer. 

I met baby D this week and gave him his baby quilt.  I made this all flannel quilt several months ago and had it in the gift bag, ready to deliver, for quite a while. His parents were thrilled with the quilt and laid it out on the floor for baby D to try out.  He is also happy with it.  Mom told me she was really hoping I would make D an I-Spy quilt and this one fits the bill!  Lots of things to look at, colours to learn and match and words to practice.  Cozy as well. 

I have started cutting out a new project but did not take a picture.  This is another gift.  I will be working on it at an upcoming retreat and hope to get all the cutting done before the retreat.  I also did some knitting this week but no pictures.  Sorry!

I will link up with Kathy and Frederique.  Have a good week.