Progress on Several Fronts

I managed to do some knitting or sewing or cross stitching every day this week!  My Gross Morne scarf is now 1 foot (31 cm) long.  I have decided to include the measurement each time I show it as it is hard to tell from the photo alone if I have made any progress.  I still have a ways to go on this project!  

I made my husband and my daughter pillowcases for Christmas but ran out of time to make one for myself so I did that this week.  The two main fabrics were purchased in the East Coast Quilting Company store in St. John's, Newfoundland.  The berries in the border are called Bake Apples or Cloud Berries.  They grow wild in Newfoundland and are used in jam, sauces and ice cream.  There is only one berry per plant so picking them is labour intensive. They are delicious! The colourful houses represent the jelly bean houses in St. John's.  

I started a new rainbow scrap challenge project...These are cut without a template so each one is a bit different.  I will make four each month using my I spy fabrics and the appropriate background colour from my solid stash. They are 6" squares.  I will make an I Spy baby quilt with the finished blocks. I would like to do another RSC project this year but have not decided on anything yet.  

I made and finished off the facing on my David Owen Hastings class project.  I will be hanging this up in my sewing room.  I would like to try making more of these little quilts inspired by architecture sometime.  This one was inspired by a picture I took at the chapel ruin at Dunnottar Castle in Scotland in 2019. 

I put in a lot of stitches on my Christmas cross stitch this week.  The reindeer in the upper right corner is just about done--the antlers and legs are yet to be done (plus a bit of the lower body). 

While digging around in a bin of UFO's this week, I found this 4.5" basket block that was just begging to be made into a pin cushion.  I used some cute pin fabric on the back.  I made the basket block at least 12 years ago.  There is an extra layer of white fabric under the basket block to keep the crushed walnut shells from making the white fabric look dingy. 

I finally finished piecing the back for my modern sampler quilt--I used only stash fabrics for this one.  I will cut the batting to the right size and take it to the long armer this week. 

Finn keeps my daughter in sight at all times and often has to be touching her.    Here they are, toe to toe!

A wintery blast arrived this week so it is time for boots and a coat.  Finn is not thrilled. 

I will link up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, Frederique and Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching.  

Spring Sewing

Well, winter did not rear its head this week, thankfully, even though it was a bit chilly for a couple of days.  

I managed a few hours in the sewing room this week and completed two more placemats for Meals on Wheels.  I have three more tops made and they will be quilted and bound this coming week.  I have fabric picked out for the rest of the dozen placemats I will be making and hope to finish them soon as well.  I am the type of person who likes to get things done ahead of time so I don't have the pressure of a deadline.  (I was not always like this!) The fabrics in these two placemats were leftovers from a quilt I made for the International Plowing Match in 2010 when it was held locally. 

The backing fabric was found in my stash. I enjoyed hand stitching the binding earlier today. 

We took Finn for a long walk today and he is completely worn out tonight.  He is going back to our daughter's place shortly as her work schedule has eased.  We will miss having him around!  This picture was taken on one of our walks earlier this week. 

 I managed to work on Love Birds several times this past week.  I will be adding more stitches to this project tomorrow for Slow Sunday Stitching with Kathy and the others at her blog.  I had purchased extra blue floss a few weeks ago and this week, discovered that I won't have enough of the dark green floss.  I should be able to get some from a friend so I can finish the picture.  All of the craft stores are closed right now and I don't want to order one skein of floss online. 

Once Love Birds is done, I can work on a couple of embroidery kits that I received for Christmas.  

I finished two more white 16 patches for my next Colour Block quilt this week as my leader/ender project. 

At some point, this may become my main project in order to get all the blocks made. There will be 25 blocks in this quilt. 

This star block is for the May Elgin Piecemakers Comfort quilt.  Each member of the guild was given the pattern for this bock as well as the centre square.  We were asked to use spring colours.  I dug into my batiks to find these fabrics.

 

We are also making a kid's quilt each month for donation.  We were each asked to make two framed I spy blocks this month--I made three! The dog fabric was leftover from a quilt I made for a work colleague who was having a baby--18 years ago! The frames are from my blue scrap bins.  I will link up with the Rainbow scrap challenge folks too.  The colour for May is red so the red frame on the train block counts, I think!

The daffodils in our front yard are definitely past their prime but the backyard gardens are showing off several varieties, some of which were planted last fall. Our Eastern Redbud tree flowers should be bursting open any day now. 

Thanks for visiting! 

Sewing My Scraps and some Slow Stitching

The colours for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this month are light and medium/bright blue so I made two more blocks for my RSC challenge quilt for 2021. I used 17 different blues in each block. 

Here are the five blocks I have made so far this year.  

 One of the guilds I belong to, the Elgin Piecemakers, has taken on a new charity project this year.  We have 20 members and we have each agreed to make 12 placemats before November to be distributed to all of the Meals on Wheels recipients in our county.  I got started on my first three placemats this week.  Except for the solid borders, all of the fabrics came from the bottomless scrap bins. The first placemat is quilted and I still need to add binding.  The other two still need to be quilted and bound. More blue scraps used up!

For my leaders and enders project, I have started making black on white colour blocks. I have two done so far.  These will be used in my next Colour Blocks challenge quilt. I will be adding some white on black blocks as well. 

Christine and I used to get together in person every week to sew for a few hours.  During the pandemic, we have still been getting together but now it is virtually, on FaceTime!  We both attended a virtual class on Pineapple quilts with Barb Vedder a few weeks ago and we are still working on our blocks.  More scraps being used in this project too. 

Here are my blocks in progress:

Each log finishes at .5" wide. 

Christine and I are both working on counted cross stitch projects as well so we got together on FaceTime again to hand stitch and chat together.  The blue flower on Love Birds is over half finished!

Our daughter continues to be very busy at work (at home!) but she did have a few moments to stitch this week. 

My husband and I both received our first vaccine this week.  Ontario COVID numbers are rising rapidly so the Stay at Home orders have been tightened again.  We continue to do our part to keep our family and our community safe.

I received this picture from C's Mom this week.  I made this I Spy quilt for C when he was born--he is now about 18 months old.  His Mom says he loves looking for birdies and doggies on his quilt!  This warms the cockles of this quilter's heart!  (C's Parents and Grandparents are friends of the family--not related to us. )

These small white flowers were spotted on a bush at the side of the path where I walk each morning.  So pretty!

Our Azalea bush is out in full bloom!  It was a birthday gift to my husband from Christine and her husband a few years ago.  Such a beautiful colour!

We took Finn for a walk in a local park this week and he sat still for a few seconds so I could take his picture!  I'm not sure what the purple flowers are in the background. 

I will link up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge now and with the Slow Sunday Stitching group in the morning.  Take care and stay safe. 

Baby Quilt Done, Lap Quilt Started

Last week, I showed two piles of blocks for this baby quilt--the rectangular four patches and the I Spy blocks.  I have way too many I spy fabrics but could not resist buying this one to add to my collection--who doesn't love a popsicle in the summertime?  

I got busy at my sewing machine this week and put the quilt top together, quilted it on my DSM and did the binding...One completed baby quilt in less than a week!

Since I did not want to go out to a quilt store to buy backing, I pieced the backing with flannel leftovers in gray, white and turquoise to match the front.  The fabric in the top row has sock monkeys on it!

The quilting is straight lines diagonally through all of the blocks, creating a diamond pattern. 

I had enough of the turquoise fabric from the 4-patches for the binding.  

This baby quilt is ready for gifting.  The baby boy is not due until later this summer so the quilt is ready in plenty of time. 

On Friday afternoon, Christine, Sarah and I had a virtual sew-in for three hours on FaceTime.  Christine worked on a baby quilt and a pillow while Sarah was making a Canada flag quilt, hoping to get it done in time for Canada Day on July 1st.  I worked on the hexagon quilt I showed a few posts back.  I got all of the half hexies sewn together and then laid them out on the floor with the Essex Linen fabric I had chosen for the borders.  I was not really keen on how the blocks seemed to smush together with this layout so decided to sleep on it--this often helps me when I am trying to figure out a quilt layout or solve some other type of problem. 

Today, with a fresh outlook, I moved the pieces around and came up with this:

I wanted the end product to be a rectangular lap quilt and the other layout was not going to be the right shape or big enough.  I added gray triangles in the empty spots and started sewing the columns together today.  Check back next week for a picture of the finished quilt (I hope!)

I finished off the pink facecloth this week and started another one.  The texture created by the pattern is fun and looks interesting from both sides. I have enough yarn to make 5 of these. 

Finn has been "assisting" my daughter while she works at home...she didn't need that half of the keyboard anyways...

Finn "helped" my daughter to open a package of embroidery thread and Aida cloth this week, as well.  He must have thought it was treats for him!  She has started a new cityscape --any guesses??? 

 I like the way she stores her threads. 

The dove babies left the nest this week and posed for a photo with their parents before flying off for their next adventure. 

A few more flowers are out this week. Lavender:

Elderberry (this is a bush)

Allium

My herbs include parsley, cilantro, basil and rosemary. They will soon be big enough to start picking them. 

I will link up with Kathy and associates at the Slow Sunday Stitching link up in the morning.