Funky Chicken Progress and More Blue

This week, I spent a bit of time working on my Funky Chicken cross stitch and added lots of stitches. When the stitching is done, I need to add felt wings and beak, etc. as I sew it into a 3D chicken.  I was running out of the darker red-orange colour and managed to get another skein this week. 

I have three Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects started for this year. I made a three shoe fly blocks from my leftover light blue scraps. These finish at 6.5".

Then, I dug into my medium blue scraps and cut out lots of squares and HST's.  This scrap bin has been mined for 2.5" strips before and it was tricky to find enough to make these blocks. 

My daughter asked me to repair a hole in her 17 year old university quilt.  The fabric was starting to shred.  Easy peasy I thought.  Won't take any time at all to fix...

Maybe I have some of that fabric in my light green scrap bin...  I did!  This quilt has been used a lot and has been washed many times.  It has faded just a tad...

I had to move on to plan B.  When I looked closer at the quilt, I saw lots of places where the fabrics had worn through. I decided to use the mending stitch on my machine and sew over the holes to stabilize the weak spots and the seams that were starting to come apart.  This quilt has been well used over the years and my daughter wants to keep using it.  In the winter, she likes two quilts on her bed, this one, and the one I made her for her graduation from university.  She and I have talked about picking out fabric and a pattern for a new quilt for her.  We will have to go shopping!

This is what my backyard looked like early on Wednesday afternoon.  We didn't have any snow in the morning. It was just starting to snow after lunch.  The second picture shows what it looked like on Thursday. 

I used my quilting ruler to measure how deep it was...nearly 10" and the snow had not quit falling yet.  It snowed again yesterday and its snowing again today.  It looks really pretty!  This is January in Canada. 

Finn and my daughter have lots of snow too and it is still snowing there too. 

Finn wants you to know that another row has been added to the book blanket.  He approves. 

 I will link up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, the Slow Stitchers and Frederique in France. 

Two Table Runners

I gave my friend, Pat, her Christmas gift early so that she can use it during the holiday season.  I used some more HST's from the charm pack that I found in my sewing room a few weeks ago to make this table runner. She really likes snowmen so it fit the bill perfectly. 

This past week, I quilted and bound my Tiny Street table runner-- this one is for me.  I learned how to make the tiny houses and trees in an online class through the Threadhouse Academy.  This particular class was taught by Jo Avery.  She gave lots of ideas of things to make with the tiny houses and trees (pouches, bags, quilts etc.) but I decided to make a table runner for a table in my living room. It fits perfectly and will be out on display after Christmas. I quilted it with 28 wt medium gray thread in a wonky waffle pattern.  The backing was in my stash and was purchased in Newfoundland when we were there on vacation in 2023.  I decided to match the binding to the fabrics in the runner.  This took a bit of extra effort but I think it was worth it. 

Finn wanted to show you what my daughter has been working on in her spare time...  This will be repeated three more times until the centre is shaped like a circle and then more borders get added on.  

I started a new book today.  My daughter gave me this one for Christmas last year and I want to finish it before Christmas this year.  Our family exchanges books each year and I am trying to read last year's books by Christmas.  It's a good thing they don't have a best before date! This one is set in Santa Fe, New Mexico  in the mid 1800's and is about a young women who moves to the area to work as a nurse/midwife.  I am only 50 pages in and I'm already hooked. 

This cardinal and his mate were eating the red berries off of our burning bush today. 

I continue to add some quilting stitches to my pineapple log cabin quilt each week.  I am finished the overall cross hatch and have started adding more quilting to this block.  This qualifies as slow stitching, for sure!

I started a small cross stitch project to work on during the holidays.  It doesn't look like much yet...maybe there will be more done by my post next week.  

Full confession...I hemmed a pair of pants this week that had been in my closet for over a year, waiting to be shortened.  It took me 15 minutes in the end.  I'm not sure why I waited so long...

I will link up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers and Frederique and her crew.  

 

Retreat Report

 Last weekend, I attended a quilting retreat, my first in two years.  Everyone in attendance was double vaccinated and our tables were spaced apart.  I brought along 4 projects plus some mending to work on over the three days of the retreat.  My husband gave me a nifty folding cart for my birthday in February 2020 and this was my first chance to use it since I got it.  With the cart, I was able to bring in all my sewing stuff in one trip as well as my overnight bag. 

My first project was my Buffalo Check Modern Snowflake quilt top.  By the end of the first day, the top was together!  I have already purchased a flannel backing for this quilt so I will be able to take it for long arm quilting soon. 

Next up, I worked on my black and white colour block quilt top.  I made these blocks a few months ago and they got put aside for some reason--it was time to get them made into a top!  I chose to make the sashing and outer border with a fuchsia cross-stitch print.  I like the way the black and white blocks look like a checkerboard. There are all kinds of interesting prints in the little squares that make up each block.  I have chosen a backing for this quilt from my stash, and will quilt this one myself, after Christmas gifts are made. 

I took a break from quilting and shortened two pairs of pants for myself next.  A friend pinned them for me.  I used the extra fabric that I cut off the bottom to repair a hole in a pair of jeans that my niece ripped while climbing a fence.  

Back to quilting!  I brought along some Christmas prints that I bought a couple of years ago.  I had started a project with them at the last retreat I attended and then they never saw the light of day again until last weekend.  I managed to finish off a wall hanging and then did the quilting and binding when I got home.  Here is a sneak peek at this project which will be a Christmas present so I can't show the whole thing. 

I made a pompom for the hat I showed last week, and started a new knitting project this week, another gift. I got started this morning on this gift while I was attending an online seminar on Zoom. The knitted snow person also saw some progress this week. 

I spent the remaining time at the retreat cutting and organizing the blocks and sashing pieces for my lupin quilt.  You may remember me showing my lupin blocks months ago--I got stalled on this quilt when I stopped to make a bunch of gifts.  I would like to have this top put together and to the quilter before Christmas.  I made 4 more lupin blocks at the retreat:

My husband and I crossed an item off our bucket list this week--we got to ride in a combine at a family member's farm while he was harvesting corn. It was a beautiful day and lots of pictures were taken. 

We went hiking at a local conservation area on Tuesday morning and enjoyed a colourful walk in the woods. 

I will link up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers in the morning.  I hope to do some more knitting tomorrow. Have a great week.   Finn says hello!

September UFO finished and Some Slow Stitching

Last week, I mentioned that I was doing a UFO challenge with a group of friends starting in October.  Since I have way more than 12 UFO's, I decided this week to get one done for the month of September! I quilted the Barn wall hanging earlier in the week and did the binding and hanging sleeve as well before changing the calendar to October!

 Here is a picture of the finished wall hanging with part of it covered...I'm not revealing who this is for just yet. The barn is quilted with vertical lines and the roof has horizontal lines.  

I played bobbin chicken while quilting and binding this quilt and won!  Not much thread left on the bobbin by the time I was done!

I found some leftovers from the zigzag quilt in a drawer this week and used them to make three more placemats for Meals on Wheels recipients.  I still have a bit more binding to hand sew down on the last one. The backing fabric is the same on all three.  The placemats are reversible. 

My knitting is to the point where I had to stuff the bottom part of the snow person.  Yikes...now my mistakes are a little more obvious!!!  It is what it is...I am learning.  I just have to do the head and then a hat, scarf and face. 

I pieced the backing for the charm square quilt I showed in last week's post.  This quilt is my October UFO --I hope to have it pin basted tomorrow and start the machine quilting with my walking foot. I am sticking with my goal to use only fabric I have on hand and not buy anything.  I had one yard of the flower fabric and used the yellow to make the back big enough. This picture only shows part of the back. 

Like many quilters, I am not a big fan of mending.  A while ago, Finn the grand-dog smelled something good in my daughter's coat pocket (it was not food!) and decided the best way to get to it was through the lining of her coat.  He also chewed a hole in her pocket.  The pocket was fixed by machine, but the lining holes were patched by hand.  A friend had a piece of black lining fabric that was big enough to cover the holes and was kind enough to give it to me.  There is no fabric store in the town where I live.  Thanks, Pam!

When I finished the patch on the lining, I noticed the seam in the armhole had come apart, so I fixed that too. 

A friend and I walk every morning at a local park and we often see birds, squirrels, chipmunks and rabbits. Sometimes, there are deer and one time there were coyotes. This week, we saw a groundhog.  

It's a beautiful place to walk.  Some of the trees have started to change colour, but not very many. 

Finn, as you all know, loves a nap and a snuggle.  

My daughter has been working on her cross stitch picture of Dubrovnik...only a few more colours to go. The white areas will all be filled in with stitches by the time she is done. 

 

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