December 1, 2019

HQAL and Slow Stitch Sundays

For the Hand Quilt A-Long run by Kathy, I am still working slowly on the flowers for the Grandmother’s Flower Garden.  At the last update, I was putting together the pieced hexis for some of the petals

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5 complete pieced hexis and my messy work space!

All those pieced hexis are finished and the flower is complete!!

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12/1/2019 – HQAL update.

I really like the way these pieced hexis look; however, they were super, duper fiddly and I can’t say that I enjoyed putting them together.  Some of them are a little wonky – the pieces didn’t always fit together smoothly so I had to “force” some of them.  I’m hoping that once I press the life out of it and then hand quilt, it won’t be so noticeable.

Hand Quilt Along Links

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Susan,  Nanette,  Edith, Sharon, Karrin, Gretchen, Kathi,  Bella, Daisy

I’m also joining up with a different Kathy for Slow Stitching Sundays!

November 29, 2019

Finish

One Monthly Goal Finish!!  My goal for November was to finish the Gingerbread Village House #5 and I did it!  This was so fun to do!!  Linking up with Elm Street Quilts and the One Month Goal Finish.

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Gingerbread House #5.

Below is a slideshow of the progress.  I took a picture after each session to inspire myself to keep going, but I thought it looked cool!  I hope you enjoy it.

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November 24, 2019

SAL and Slow Stitch Sunday

I am quite excited.  No, I didn’t finish. But I did make progress.  Last check-in I was here:

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11/3/19 SAL Update – Gingerbread House #5.

And this week I am here:

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11/24/2019 SAL Update – Gingerbread House #5

BUT…that is not what I am truly excited about.  I had been working on a Christmas Stocking for one of my sons and then made a pretty big counting error which resulted in being off by quite a bit.  All those little stitches needed to be ripped out – UGH!!  So the piece went into time out.  Because I’ve rejoined this SAL, it gave me the courage to bring the piece back out and rip all the stitches.  It is back now to where it was before and is ready to be worked on.img_8083

Please take a look at all the other talented stitchers taking part in this SAL:

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Deborah, Mary Margaret, Renee, Jenny, Carmela, Jocelyn, Sharon, Daisy, Anne

About the SAL

This SAL (Stitch Along) is slightly different to other SALs in that we don’t all stitch the same design at the same rate. We choose ONE unfinished project, or ONE new one, and show progress of its completion over a series of three weekly updates. There are no deadlines and no set amount to stitch. The result is that the space in our drawers full of WIPs (works in progress) is gradually being freed up to store lots of new crafty goodness. It’s surprising how much motivation I’ve gained from being in this SAL. If you’d like to finish a project you’ve left unfinished for a while, or start a new one with us, you can join us by sending Avis an email.

I am also linking up with Kathy for Slow Stitch Sunday.  Unfortunately, today I will not get to my stitching :o(, but tomorrow I will have some good time to put in.

November 10, 2019

HQAL and Slow Stitch Sunday

I have to say it again, it’s so good to pick up my needle and sew by hand on personal projects!  Right now for this Hand Quilt-A-Long (HQAL), I am working on a Grandmother’s Flower Garden Quilt.  I had decided to do a combination of full hexis and pieced hexis.  This time I am working on pieced ones.

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11/10/19 HQAL Update – Block #3: Sarah – from The New Hexagon Book by Katja Marek

I managed to get 5 of them done and a little bit of the 6th one.  They are very fiddly – the more pieces there are, the longer they take.

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5 complete pieced hexis and my messy work space!

The pieces don’t get lost if I have them on this felt covered board.  I am very excited to be participating in Kathy’s HQAL once again!  Please check out the other stitchers also participating in the HQAL.

Hand Quilt Along Links

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Susan,  Nanette,  Edith, Sharon, Karrin, Gretchen, Kathi,  Bella, Daisy

I am also linking up to Kathy’s Quilts (different Kathy!) for Slow Stitch Sundays.

November 3, 2019

SAL and Slow Stitch Sunday

I’m so excited to once again be participating in the SAL over at Avis’!  It has been a long time since I have worked on my own projects and I’m really enjoying the time spent with non-studio things.  Of course there are plenty of things going on in the studio, I’m just making space for a little bit of “me” time.  Last time for the SAL I was working on a big Christmas stocking for my oldest son.  That project is on time out!!  I made a pretty big counting error and I have to rip A LOT.  There are a few other smaller things that have been languishing in a “will do eventually” pile that have been pulled out.  This:img_7954

was purchased quite awhile ago.  It has been so nice to work on cross stitch again!  This is what is looks like right now:

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11/3/19 SAL Update – Gingerbread House #5.

I think this will be a very quick project as there is no backstitching.  I love this SAL and am so happy to be back in the midst of this group of talented, welcoming and supportive stitchers.  Please take a look a what everyone else is up to:

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Linda, Heidi, Jackie Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Deborah, Mary Margaret, Renee, Jenny, Carmela, Jocelyn, Sharon, Daisy, Anne

About the SAL

This SAL (Stitch Along) is slightly different to other SALs in that we don’t all stitch the same design at the same rate. We choose ONE unfinished project, or ONE new one, and show progress of its completion over a series of three weekly updates. There are no deadlines and no set amount to stitch. The result is that the space in our drawers full of WIPs (works in progress) is gradually being freed up to store lots of new crafty goodness. It’s surprising how much motivation I’ve gained from being in this SAL. If you’d like to finish a project you’ve left unfinished for a while, or start a new one with us, you can join us by sending Avis an email. The address is on the right of her page. She wil send you a few simple rules to agree.

I’m also linking up with Slow Stitch Sunday and One Monthly Goal.  My goal for this month is to finish the stitching on this piece.  It feels like such a quick stitch!

October 27, 2019

Around the Studio

I have been working almost full time teaching in the studio.  We just finished up our Halloween Workshop series and really had a blast.   So many fun and original costumes were made!  If you’d like to take a look at some of the costumes, take a gander over to Let’s Go Crafting and peek at the blog.

Now that I’m done with drafting patterns for Halloween costumes, I’ve had a chance to look around the studio.  My, my, my!!  Things have gotten a little out of hand.  I’m teaching 10 classes a week in addition to the Halloween workshops and really hadn’t organized in a bit.

Some of the yarn looks like this:

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Exploding yarn!

Actually, more of the yarn balls than I’d like to admit look like this!  My students are really good and they try to put things away, but if you have several students using the yarn (this was used for weaving), this kind of thing just happens.

I had seen ways to organize yarn all over pinterest and am going to be using one of the ideas that I liked the most.

First I wound the yarn.  I made one smaller ball and then wound the rest as big as my little yarn winder would allow.

Then, I used an empty Crystal Geyser water bottle, cut the top off, put the smaller ball of yarn into it and then taped it closed again.   I now have 10 different balls of yarn in a box that are prepared like this.  My box holds 24 bottles neatly and as soon as I’m done filling them all, I’ll show a picture and report back on if this method works!

I’ve also been taking some time out from the studio to work on my own things.  It’s been a long time since I’ve pulled out my personal projects and it really feels good!  More on that later – I’m off to take a walk with the hubby!