Sunday Stitching

Here's my progress this week.

I'm still happy with it.

I'm linking up to Kathy. You should go read her - she's very thoughtful and insightful about being mindful when sewing.

Sunday Stitching

I'm still making progress on my Winter Wonderland. It's cooled off a bit here, so I don't feel the need to think about winter just yet.

These snowmen are on the far right side of this large panel.

I got some large wonder clips this week and I'm using them to hold the rolled up completed part of the panel. They were expensive but well worth it. My little wonder clips were full of fabric.

I'm linking up with Kathy.

Hand Stitching

It's hot here in my part of the world. It's humid and hot and feels more like July than the end of May.

I don't like this weather much, so I spend a lot of time inside - stitching.

Working on this makes me feel a little cooler.

Slowly but surely I'm getting this large panel finished. I'm glad to be finished all the music lines - they were tedious. At this end of the panel are a few singing snowmen and a tree. Then I'll go back and do all the snowflakes along the top. I've rolled the finished part now to help protect it and keep it clean. It's working, but making it really wrinkly.

I'm connecting with Kathy

Hand Stitching

Thanks everyone for the kind comments from last week. And Lynn - there is a slight odour left from the vinegar, then I rinsed in cold water and it disappeared. And my thread isn't shredding so I'm very happy about that.

On the hand stitching front, I joined a campaign to make quilt blocks to send to people in Fort McMurray who have lost their homes. This one is sponsored by the Ottawa Modern Quilt Guild and you can learn more about it here and here. They are asking for 12.5" unfinished maple leaf blocks. I've enlisted the help of Buttons and the Perfectionist as well and we'll pool our blocks to send them together.
I started with these two blocks

I used the freezer paper method and hand appliqued these leaves down. I'm very happy with them. I'll make a total of 4 more blocks, in 2 different styles.

My Winter Wonderland is coming along, slowly but surely. It's getting quite wrinkly - the creases will iron out. The fabric is so big that I roll the stitched portion both to protect it and keep it out of my way.

Slow Sunday Stitching

I haven't blogged for awhile - I didn't realize how long until I checked my last date.

I have been sewing - a bit - though. I wasn't in the mood or busy for a bit, but I'm back at it again.

Here's the progress on my Winter Wonderland

Sorry it's rotated - it looks fine on my computer, but rotates in the blog.

I'm making progress, just slower than I was. I'm still enjoying it so I keep plugging away.

I looked for something a little more seasonal when I was at the Creative Festival last weekend but I was sadly disappointed. My next hand project will be a La Passacaglia and I'm determined to finish this one first.

I had to buy more embroidery floss. This time I pre-washed it with vinegar, instead of the chemical (retayne) I used before. The thread was bearding a bit and I wondered if it was the chemical. There didn't seem to be any running with the vinegar, so all is well.

I'm linking up with Kathy.

Sloooooooooooow Stitching

Not slow in a bad way, just slower than I've been going. I've finished the smaller blocks in Winter Wonderland and now I'm into a big block. And I had a very busy week.

This is my progress this week. (And this big block is traced out)

It's the left hand side of a pine tree. On the far left of the top panel

(photo from http://www.crabapplehillstudio.com/winter-wonderland.html)

This week coming up will be far less busy so I'm hoping to have more to show next weekend.

I'm linking up to Kathy`s Quilts

Just In Time?

A polar vortex has hit my part of the world this weekend. All our snow was gone, then we got some more yesterday - and it hasn't melted yet. I was just out for a walk and it feels cold. There are 3 boys tobogganing down a small hill just behind my house and judging by their shouts they are enjoying themselves. The weatherman is calling for more snow later today. This should be it for us for winter-like weather, but I'm not betting on it.

I finished another Winter Wonderland block this week - last night in fact.

It's up against the patio door, so you can see my carried threads behind. I'm pleased with how this block turned out. And I'm still enjoying the process.

Last night it looked pretty with the snow sticking to everything. But I'm ready for spring.

I'm linking up to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching.

Sunday Stitching (A Day Late)

It's been a busy week around here. We had a spring ice storm last week and I got an extra day off school - so a 5 day Easter weekend for me.

I finished another block in the Winter Wonderland quilt.

I'm still delighted with the process and am really enjoying the hand sewing.

The next block is traced and ready to be started tonight.

I'm linking up to Slow Sunday Stitching (unless I'm too late).

Slow Stitching

There is a fellow Canadian blogger I read at Kathys Quilts.  I'm not exactly sure where she lives, but it's not too far from me - I found her when we had our big ice storm a few years ago. Her style of quilting is very different from mine and I appreciate her workmanship. She hosts a "Slow Sunday Stitching" link up every Sunday - the idea is you do slow hand sewing on Sunday.

Since Christmas I pledged to do some hand work in the evenings when I'm watching tv. Sometimes I knit and sometimes I do embroidery, and some nights I do both. I'm really enjoying this time and seeing the fruits of my labours. Nothing goes quickly but I'm happy with my progress.

My first hand stitching project is a pattern called Winter Wonderland by Crabapple Hill Studio, which I've had forever. I have a thing for snowmen and that is what caught my eye in this one. I've finally got at it - in my year of selfish sewing, this was one quilt on my agenda. I'm embroidering on white kona, with a mulsin backing. So far, I've been doing my marking with a pink chalk pencil by Bohin.

This is my current block:

For some reason, my white fabric looks blue. You can see the pink markings. I'm doing it all in red (2 strands of DMC floss colour 321), with a simple back stitch. The machine stitches you can see at the top and bottom are just basting to hold my two layers together.

I've finished 3 other blocks:

Again, the machine stitches are just basting to hold everything together.

I'm pleased with my results and I'm enjoying the process of this. I will probably use a different quilt layout when the hand work is finished - I'm not in love with the pattern layout provided. I'm hoping to use it as a winter quilt on my own bed. I'm not certain how my cat's claws will get along with the embroidery though, so I'll have to wait and see.

I'm linking up to Kathys Quilts today.