Finding my Rotary Cutter

 The condition of my sewing room has deteriorated over the last month or so to the point where I could not find my rotary cutter... it was time for a clean up.  I spent over an hour putting things away, folding fabric, sorting through piles, etc. and still no rotary cutter.  I tried to think of the last time I used it...then, I remembered I used it at a recent guild sewing day---it was in the bag I took to the sewing day.  Oh well, the sewing room is looking much better and I had a new project planned!  I gathered up my supplies and got started. 

My MIL lives in a long term care home. She loves to have her room decorated for each season so I decided to make her a small wall hanging for Valentine's Day.  I got out my red 2.5" squares and some other red scraps as well as some white solid for the background.  It did not take long to get the top together, pin basted and machine quilted. 

I will finish hand sewing the binding and hanging sleeve tomorrow for Slow Sunday Stitching. 

I finished knitting the pink dish cloth this week.  I ran out of yarn before I ran out of pattern, so I just made the top border much narrower than the bottom one.  By the time I wove the ends in, I had one inch of yarn to spare.  If I use this pattern again, I will have to use smaller needles. The resulting cloth is still quite usable, even if it isn't square!

As I mentioned earlier, Christine and I went to the guild sewing day with the Oxford Guild this past week. I brought along my "Coming Home" BOM quilt which I started in January 2019.  This will be my project of choice for upcoming sewing days so I can see if I can get it to the finish line.  I spent the day adding more doors and windows to this house border. Some of my doors and windows are a bit wonky but I don't mind this a bit--it gives my fabric neighbourhood some personality and charm. 

Here is a picture of what I have done so far...I am working on the fourth street which goes on the bottom.  The blue house with the pink doors and windows above is part of the fourth side. 

My husband's sister and her family gave us a mushroom growing kit for Christmas.  It has been interesting watching the mushrooms appear out of this brown blob on our kitchen counter.   We harvested four mushrooms today and added them to the sauce on our spaghetti and meatballs tonight.  Delicious!

Finn is back to running around in the snow and sticking his face in.  We are so glad to see him back to his usual self. 

Here are a few more of the circle pouches I made as Christmas gifts. 

Last week, someone asked me about my book with the Christmas ornament patterns in it.  Here is a picture of the book, published in 1991 by Carol Siegel and the Dimensions Design Studio.  This book includes the Bethlehem and cabin ornaments I showed last week.  The other patterns were from a very old crafting magazine.  

I will link up with Kathy in the morning. 

Lupins, Slow Knitting and a Finished Quilt Top

My lupin blocks continue to accumulate...I finished 4 more blocks this afternoon. 28/48 blocks have been completed.  This fat quarter adds some more red-violet to the mix. 

I have four of each of these 7 blocks. 

I started a new knitting project last weekend...another facecloth in turquoise.  I have a few more repeats of the pattern to go before this one is done. I will be working on it tomorrow. 

The final layout for the London Modern Guild HST BOM was published this past week so I set to getting my blocks sewn together.  My blocks are 9" squares so the quilt was a bit small, even for a baby quilt.  I decided to add a navy striped border to bring the final size up to 34 X 44".  I found some backing material in my stash and will get it pin basted and quilted soon.  I have enough orange fabric leftover for the binding.  I will likely use orange or navy thread for the quilting. 

 My daughter has started two new handwork projects.  She is teaching herself to embroider by doing a small sampler and trying out different stitches including satin stitch, lazy daisy, stem stitch and French knots, among others. 

She has also started a blackwork project which will be a Christmas gift for someone who does not read my blog. 

I am still deciding on colours for my blackwork project... Stay tuned...maybe there will be pictures next week. 

Fall is in full gear around here.  My husband and I went for a walk this afternoon at the local elevated park 

Last weekend, we hiked by Lake Huron. 

Finn enjoyed a walk with my daughter today.  He loves being outside. 

I will link up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers in the morning. 

Lupins, a Bee and a Sheep

 My lupin block collection continues to grow...although, this week, the blocks were made with Finn's assistance, which means they took a lot longer to make than usual.  This week's blocks were made with a purple grunge dots fat quarter. 

So, now I have a total of 12/48 blocks made for this quilt.  Here are the three lupin fabrics I have used so far:

I have a FQ chosen for my next set of blocks. 

I started a new counted cross stitch project this week--a free pattern from The Blackberry Rabbit (Sorry, I can't provide a link to their website as they are creating a new website at the moment.) The bee will have a wreath of flowers around it and some words above it. 

Last week, I said I would be starting a Bee facecloth...my attention got diverted and I am making a sheep facecloth instead.   I am about half done. 

The London Modern Guild has been doing a year long HST (half square triangle) BOM (Block of the month) over the past year.  I made my final block this week and played with my 12 blocks on the floor when Finn was not looking.   

Here is the first layout I tried:

I will do more playing before sewing the blocks together.  This will be a baby quilt...I will likely add a border before quilting it. 

I picked up my Tula Pink 100 Modern Blocks Sampler quilt this week from the long arm quilter.  I will be getting the binding put on this quilt by machine early next week so I can sit and do the hand sewing out in the gazebo.  Each block is custom quilted...here is a sample. 

I am excited to use this quilt on our bed!  It's the first new bed quilt we have had for several years. 

I have joined the book club at the library and we will be discussing this book on Tuesday morning.  I am about 2/3 of the way through it so far and will finish reading it this weekend. It's a good book--I would recommend it!  As you can see, I have a reading buddy. 

The sedums are starting to bloom in our garden. I took these pictures in the morning after it rained. 

I will link up with Kathy and the slow Sunday stitchers in the morning.  I used to get emails notifying me of your comments but must have done something to stop getting them.  I am not sure how to start this up again...if any of you have any ideas, please let me know in the comments.  I sometimes can find your emails to respond to your comments on your blogs, but sometimes I can't... so I apologize for not responding to every comment.  I find I cannot comment on any blogger blogs at all.  I do read everyone's blogs though...

Take care and have a great week. 

Hand Appliqué, Knitting and Y-seams

I have been working on a secret project this week which cannot be revealed until October.  It involved some hand appliqué so here is a sneak peak:

I will continue to work on this project behind the scenes for several weeks.  I am waiting for inspiration to hit before I do the next step. 

In the knitting department, I made a simple dishcloth out of some leftover yarn from one of the facecloths.  I thought there would be enough left in the ball to make the dishcloth, but I ran out before finishing so I just cast off.  This left a slightly truncated corner but I will keep this cloth for myself so it will not matter. 

I also started another cloth with a whale on it.  This could be used as a baby wash cloth.  It's a little over 1/3 finished.  I need to pay close attention to the pattern on this one so that the whale is identifiable when it is done...so far, so good!

I took a class from Libs Elliott about a year ago and was working on it at our guild sewing days before COVID-19 hit and sewing days were cancelled.  It has taken a back seat to other projects for the last few months, but this week, I dragged it out of hiding and have started to get the final columns attached to the section on the left in the picture.  Y-seams take a lot longer than straight runs but the end result will be worth the extra effort. 

I even have a couple of options for backgrounds in my stash for this quilt so I should be able to sail right through to the finish over the next week or two. 

My daughter is stitching Budapest next...

My husband and I go walking every night, after supper.  The trail where we walk at least once or twice a week has lots of Queen Anne's lace in bloom at the moment.  This is a close up of one of the tiny flower clusters.  Someone asked what type of camera I use for my pictures...these pictures are all taken with my iPhone. 

The white phlox are starting to bloom in our gardens.  The pink ones should be blooming by next week. 

Before I forget, I have also made a block for the HST BOM for the London Modern Guild.  There are not very many more blocks for this quilt so it will soon be a completed flimsy.  It should make a fun baby quilt. 

I will leave you with some words of wisdom from out local ice cream shop...

Stay cool and safe.  Wear your mask.  Take care

You can catch up on all of the slow stitcher's projects over at Kathy's blog tomorrow. 

A Few Finishes

My sewing machine was moved up to the dining room table as the sewing room is not a safe place for Finn to hang out with me...too many things for a curious little dog to get into.  I started out this week making three more blocks for the London Modern Guild HST BOM.  The patterns for April and May were posted this week --three blocks in total.  Here are my blocks. 

And here are all 8 that I have made so far.  The final reveal of how they are to be put together will happen at the end of the year.

Finn and I also did some knitting this week.  He loves it when I sit down to knit or read or cross stitch.  He curls up in a ball and sleeps in my lap. He doesn't seem to mind being a model for my knitting either!  This half made dish cloth could be his super-hero cape!

I finished off the hat I was making last week and made a second one the same.  I am up to 4 dishcloths now too.  Here is a picture of my finished knitting projects.

I am not sure what I will make next.  I have a different hat pattern to try and the wool to make it.  I found another dishcloth pattern to try as well.  I enhanced my dish cloth yarn stash this week by ordering online from a local yarn shop so I won't run out of knitting to do for a while. It was very handy to just drive to the store, open my trunk and call them on my cell phone--they brought out my order and put it in the trunk for me.  I ordered some fabric online from a local-ish fabric store and they mailed it to me.  It arrived the next day.  I hope that all of the small businesses manage to stay open during and after this crisis and I did my part to help them this week.

Finn and I also spent some time cross stitching this week.  I finished off the February ornament for the Linens and Threads stitch along.  The material is cut out and ready to start March's pattern tomorrow. 

I spent quite a bit of my sewing time this week making the rest of the blocks for my Snowflake quilt. You can see Finn was waiting for my husband to get home from work while I was sewing.  He seems to know that it is time for him to be home in the late afternoon and will sit on the back of the couch for an hour, eyes glued to the street, looking for the right car to come around the corner. 

I finished the last of the blocks for this quilt this morning.   Finn wanted to help me show it off.

He lost interest quickly when he realized that no treats were involved.

The backing fabric is in the laundry basket, ready to wash before I sew it...there are some extra red squares leftover from the front so there may be a stripe across the back so I can use them up.

Finn and I came across this sage advice on one of our walks this week. Day by day, we will get through this difficult and trying time.  Stay home.  Keep sewing. Stay safe.  Take care.  I will be linking up with Kathy and the sewcially distancing Slow Sunday Stitchers in the morning.