Saturday, June 26, 2021

Love Birds Ready to be Framed

 And just like that, Love Birds is done!  I took a picture of me making the last stitch in the Bride bird's hat. 


The fabric is white but the lighting in my sewing room tonight was not the best for taking a picture of the entire wreath with the Love Birds in the middle.  This project was stitched on 14 count white Aida cloth and took 6 months to complete.  I will be washing it and then taking it to the framers sometime in the next couple of weeks. I am going to take pictures of the framing options and text them to the newlyweds to see which one they like the best.  Next up, I have a couple of embroidery kits to stitch and a knitting project to do as well...I'm going to take a break from cross stitching for a while.

I did some paper piecing for the 12th Modern BOM that I have been working on since September. Here is one quadrant of the block. I made the outside edge of each quadrant a bit bigger so that I could trim it down to the right size after sewing them together. 


Here is my finished block. There is one more optional block to make and I think I am going to make my own version of it.  I may use it as a label or on the front of the quilt...I'm not sure yet. I used the glasses fabric in every block and then pulled out my orange and navy striped and polka dot fabrics to add to the quilt blocks. The background is Michael Miller Hashdots in gray. 


The pineapple blocks are sewn together--this involved some rather intense pinning to make sure all of the seams intersected at the right spots.  I was successful in most cases!  I will be quilting this one myself when my sewing machine is back from repair. 

My husband and I spent a couple of days this past week mulching the gardens with a truckload of mulch that was in a big pile in our driveway.  There is still a bit more to do but it has been raining the last couple of days so finishing it will have to wait until we have a dry day.  We have lots more blooms in the garden this week including hydrangea:


Shasta Daisies


Prickly Pear Cactus


Purple Cone Flower


Butterfly Weed


The other activity that ate into my sewing time this week was genealogy.  I went to town looking for documents that told my family story.  My father always told me I inherited my sewing skills from his mother who was a "tailoress".  This week, I dug into her predecessors and found three dressmakers and a tailor!  I guess you could say sewing is in my genes!  



Some of the handwriting on these old records is challenging to decipher and some of the words they used to describe occupations involve googling to figure out what they actually did to earn a living!

Our daughter's cityscape stitching is coming along.  She is stitching it on 18 count Aida cloth. Finn wants you to know that it belongs to him and you can't have it!  LOL.  He has an appointment in two weeks for a haircut.  I'm not sure how he sees with all that hair in his eyes!


I will link up with the Slow Sunday Stitchers at Kathy's blog tomorrow. 

12 comments:

  1. Congrats on another finish. Finn says no travelling to the city, I need company at home. Garden looks beautiful and your projects are so full of energy with the vibrant colours.

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  2. Love Birds is beautiful. Congrats on the finish! I love that block! It looks quite complicated, but the resulting block is fantastic. Your pineapple quilt is so pretty. I can just imagine the number of pins needed to get all those seams to line up. Finn looks quite scruffy but still adorable. Your flowers are so pretty. How great to find out that your sewing skills are in your blood.

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  3. Congrats! Love birds is wonderful.
    I do love your new block and pineple quilt is awesome as it is.
    Beautiful flowers, your garden looks full of color.

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  4. Love birds are just wonderful! I cannot do cross stitch anymore, I just cannot see the charts or keep things straight. Beautiful pineapple too!

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  5. I love your pineapple block - I kind of wish now I had went with smaller more involved blocks for mine instead of the bigger strips that I used -- but I'm not going to start over again lol

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  6. Love Birds is so cute! And the colors on the pineapple blocks make me smile every time you show them. Finn is sure shaggy, I'm sure his summer haircut will let him be more comfortable!

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  7. What a great finish with the Love Birds. Your pineapple blocks are striking, and I love looking at them. Always love seeing Finn! Hope you have a great week!

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  8. Lovely finish on love birds and your pineapple blocks look stunning. Well worth the extra effort to get them lined up. Finn looks so cuddly and cute. My poor Lola had to have sedation yesterday to remove a grass seed from her ear canal, very sore! (And expensive!)

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  9. Love Birds is just the perfect thing for a wedding gift, and it's a great idea to get the couples input on framing options too.

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  10. Great job on the love birds! You are making progress on many projects! So fun to discover you come from a long line of stitchers!

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  11. Love Birds is a gorgeous finish. Well done! The happy couple will love this pretty. The BOM is striking and as for your pineapple blocks, goodness they are stunning. How nice to get out and enjoy working out in the garden. I suppose it is the perfect weather for it. Your flowers are looking happy.

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  12. Love Birds is gorgeous! The happy couple will be so touched by your gift. I really like that paper-pieced modern block. Looks very YOU!

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