What I did on my autumn vacation...

Hope everyone is well and has yet to give up on my sporadic blogging.  Thanks for the reminder to get back to it, Barbara!  :) 

I've been on vacation this week, and spent 4 days at quilt retreat with my library quilting group.  I worked on this much-delayed work in progress.  The bow tie quilt top was pieced by the grandmother of my longest-term friend...not to be confused with my oldest friend.  ;)  She handed it to me 21 years ago and asked me to finish it.  Twenty-one years!  I am so ashamed that I didn't finish it and return it to my friend decades ago!

I've always loved bow-tie quilts, and wanted to quilt this one by hand rather than have it machine quilted which was part of what led to the delay.  I tried to give it back to her at one point, but she wouldn't take it.  We've been friends since the 5th grade, so since I've always been a procrastinator she had reason to know this was a possibility.  

I started the hand quilting of it on the first day of the retreat in a wooden hoop, but that was pretty horrible.  On the second day I phoned Carey and asked him very nicely if he would meet me half way and  bring my PVC standing quilt frame.  The retreat was over 2 hours from our home, so the rest of the group was mightily impressed when he said he would.  Such a sweetie!  When assembled this frame is about the size of a card table, so gave me much more work area and much less frustration.

I made good progress on it, but still have a long ways to go.  I'll keep you updated.

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes

I came home Tuesday and started (and finished) a book that a friend recommended at retreat: The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes.  Hard to put down.  About the Pack Horse Library Project which was a WPA project started in the 1930s.  The ebook was available through my library.

This morning I remembered to log on to work system and complete our insurance selections before the open enrollment period ends tomorrow.  Carey will be retiring at the end of the year (though he only has to work for another week and a half in actual days on the job), so have to make sure we both have coverage starting January 1.

Tomorrow I have a doctor appointment, and then hope to go get my Covid booster on the way home.

Not sure yet what the weekend will bring other than the normal work-week laundry.  Hopefully it will also bring some more hand quilting...don't want that to get pushed aside as I would really like to complete it before the end of the year.

2018 Cross-stitch...

One of my goals for this year was to be more productive.  My mother's definition of productivity was having something to show for your time.  Since my paying job claimed three times the number of hours this year as in previous years, small projects are what kept me on goal.  

When I saw these perforated-paper tags, I knew they would be a fun way to spend productive time this year.  I searched Pinterest for small cross-stitch patterns that would fit on the tags.  A couple of the designs I graphed myself.  I made most of the tags into cards.  A few are still waiting to be made into cards.

I think most of the following photos have appeared in other posts, but I thought I would assemble them all into a single post by way of a recap for the year's productivity goal.

These were really fun and relaxing.  I'm sure I will be making more in the future.

Making it Monday...

I showed this little peak at my most recent cross-stitch project back in early October.

Then I showed this close-up sneak peak last week.  Now that it has been received, I can show you the whole project.

The cross-stitching part of the project went SO quickly!  "Why a skull?" you may ask.  For Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), of course!  It's a big thing in this part of the country.  If you happened to see the Disney movie Coco, you get a sense of the traditions and celebrations that are all about remembering and honoring loved ones who have passed.  The skulls are called 'calaveras' or 'sugar skulls,' and a sweet friend of mine collects them.  

Here's where the progress started to slow...when I had to start adding those itty-bitty beads.  The challenge was the tiny eye of the beading needle...it was a smaller beading needle than I have ever used.  And, no, it wasn't just that my eyes are getting old!  A needle threader wouldn't even go through it.  I tried every trick in the book, and then I tried anything that came to mind.  Seriously, threading the needle took way more time than doing the actual bead work.  

DONE!  

Here's a close up that really shows all the beads in place.

Once I finished all the stitch work, I trimmed the excess perforated paper away and added a card-stock backing and a loop for hanging.

Since I was mailing it, I built a card around it.  I tried stamping the card, but the busy-ness of the sugar skull's design fought against any stamping, so I just used punches to make a flower crown (another tradition of the day) which also holds it in place on the card.  The sugar skull can be easily removed and hung in a window or added to other Dia de los Muertos decorations.

I naively believed I could get this finished and in the mail in early October so it could be used to decorate, but sadly I was late getting it done, and didn't get it in the mail until November 1, so it was received late...but it's the thought that counts, right?  :)

A finish...

YEA!

I had to put this one down and walk away a few times.  It was very challenging, and now that it's done I have a great sense of accomplishment.  

I'll show the whole thing after it has been received.  I just couldn't wait to say, "It's DONE!"

No time for reading Wednesday...

There's been a little bit of this...a very little bit...just trying to learn how to use the new machine which I finally took out of the box!  It's the new version of the Singer Featherweight.  I haven't heard great things about modern Singers for years, but a very talented friend who teaches sewing techniques purchased this model within the past year, and she has been pleased.  Since I wanted it to be portable enough to pack around for quilting group and retreats, I went for this one.  (Plus my very talented friend will be available for any questions.  LOL)

There's been a lot of this...on a couple of different projects.

A little progress shown here...you probably can't tell what it is yet.  I'll show you...eventually.  :)

 

Then there's been some of this.  The white beads are seed beads.  I have no idea what fresh hell those teeny-tiny red beads are named for...poppy seeds maybe...or celery seeds...so very tiny.  And when I finished separating those...

...there were more...so very many more.  And these are the kinds of things I choose to undertake at 3 a.m....the dark of night...on black background.  Yes.  I'm crazy that way.

Ah!  All sorted and contained.  

And that is why I haven't been reading much.  It's hard to read when your eyes are strained!

Making it Monday...

Today was quilting day at the library.  For the past few months we have been making 12 1/2" blocks to exchange.  Oh, and they were to be stash-buster squares, so made only with fabric we had on hand, nothing purchased.  

Each member made two blocks per month...collected and held by our fearless leader...with there eventually being twelve in total from each person.  The photo above shows them all laid out on a table this morning awaiting the exchange process.  

We drew blocks at random from each person's contributed blocks, so each of us has at least one from every other member.  Then what was left we drew at random so that we all had twelve.

These are the blocks that I received.  I ended up with two of my own; the spool (2nd column, 2nd row) and the butterfly (bottom right corner).  We are to have all squares assembled by our next meeting on December 4th.  How we assemble them is left up to us.  I am pretty sure I will be adding sashing and borders, but I haven't even thought about colors or designs, since I wasn't sure what colors would be dominant in the squares I ended up with.  Now I'm thinking maybe blue and white for sashing and borders.

These are not necessarily in their permanent locations, but I love the way they all look together.  I'll post when it's finished.

Making it Monday...

Today was quilting day at the library.  Most everyone was working on a mystery quilt.  I did a different mystery quilt a year or so ago, and didn't really want to do one again right now.

I worked on these butterfly blocks for a shared project the group is working on.  Each person is doing whatever block pattern they want as long as they are all the exact same size (12 ½ inches square), and made with scraps from our collection (no buying fabric to make them).  In a few months we will exchange so that everybody has one of each from everybody else, then we will each make a quilt top with all the different squares combined in it, so that each square in the quilt top is a different pattern and from a different person…kind of a keepsake quilt of our time together.  Each quilt will be different since we will each choose how we want to put our own block 'sampler' together.

Everybody else had done their exchange squares (2 of which were due today) at home.  I did the piecing at home, but I hand embroidered the antennae while at the library, because there are just some days I don't feel like packing up and loading and unloading my machine in and out of the car.  :)  When I was done with that I helped my neighbor un-sew a couple of boo-boos.  It was the least I could do, as she was falling behind due to my talking her ear off.

I love the first Monday of the month!

Home from winter quilt retreat...

I had a very productive weekend.  I took lots of works in progress.

(crib quilt)

(table topper)

 By the time I was on the third and largest of the binding projects, I was getting pretty tired of binding!  :)  I stuck it out by rewarding myself with one m&m each time I removed another Wonder Clip.  I worked on this one while we were all watching the Oscars, and I finished it just before the Best Picture debacle.

This one needs a border, but then it will be ready to go out for machine quilting.

Since today was a short sewing day before packing up to come home, I wanted just a little project.  Today I begged some of my fellow quilters for their scraps, and I made some fabric origami butterflies.  I've been wanting to try my hand at making them for awhile, but hadn't gotten around to it.  The antennae in the photo above were edited in since I didn't know I would be making any of these.  In addition to the one above, I made some cute ones out of St. Patrick's Day fabric.

And to share some of the gorgeous things the other quilters worked on at the retreat...

This one was made by Caroline.  I love the pink fabrics.

Laura finished up her Hunter's Star.  Can you see the arrow heads?

Debbie finished up this gorgeous blue and white one.

I'm glad to be home, and Rudy is glad I'm home too.  I think we will both go to bed early tonight!

A little project finally finished...

I mentioned in yesterday's Frugal Friday File that I was recycling some linen from an old pair of wide-leg slacks to make an embroidery piece.  I used only supplies I had on hand, and I started and almost finished it while I was binge watching Season 2 of Outlander that I had checked out from the library.  I finished the last little bit this morning, and I wanted to show it off.

I used to love the blog, Chez Larsson.  The blog author stopped blogging at the end of 2013, and I miss it.  She once showed a print that hung in her laundry room. It was a rather modern image of clothes hanging on a line, and it said "Mrs Larsson launders here."  I have never forgotten that and often thought of doing something similar.  Of course Carey would laugh if I had the nerve to put something that said, 'Mrs. St       launders here' in our laundry room, as he does as much of our laundry as I do.  :)

I found the frame at Goodwill about a year ago, and thought it was a great shape to hold a clothes line image.  I wanted to do something really primitive and simple.  I Googled 'primitive laundry embroidery' images, and found a crewel piece that looked to be circa 1970.  It had a great quote and really sparked my imagination.  I won't show it, as I couldn't find the original attribution.

I drew a simple pattern with pencil and paper.  When I got it how I wanted it, I traced it with a Sharpie.  I laid the fabric over the pattern and was able to see it pretty well, so I used a Pilot FriXion pen to draw/trace it onto the fabric. 

 FriXion's ink disappears when you apply heat, so it worked great.  All the pattern marks disappeared when I ironed it before framing.

Here's a closer look that shows just how primitive the stitching is.  I added the quote in small letters as if it were the 2nd clothesline.  It says, "If all of our troubles were hung on a line,

"you would take yours, and I would take mine."  Isn't that true?  I wouldn't want to trade my troubles for anyone else's.

Here it is hanging again.  I could do a better job framing, and I may someday, but for now done is better than perfect.  And I'm very happy with it.

August 25, Rudolph Day...

Oh my goodness, the days are flying by now.  I am getting almost nothing done these days, as Rudy (the puppy, not the reindeer!) is keeping us hopping.  I had to think of a small job I could complete for this month's Rudolph Day.

I decided to go in search of these crocheted snowflakes.  I've always kept them in a separate box to keep them stored flat.  I would hate to have to re-block them, though I'm sure it could be done.

I made them about 25 years ago.  At the time our living room had a wall of windows, and I would hang a snowflake in each of the upper window panes.  Our formal living room at the time was decorated in pastels, hence the non-traditional pink ribbons.

Today I cut all of the ribbons off.  My plan is to hang them in the big window in our dining room this year by putting a tiny dot of hot glue on the glass and imbed monofilament, attached to the snowflakes, in the dot.  When it's time to take them down, the hot glue will pop right off of the glass.    

I rounded up the perler bead snowflakes Caitlyn and Chloe made with me last year , and will hang those as well.  I'm excited!  They look pretty just laid out on the table like this.  I think they will look awesome in the window.

So now they are all packed together back in the box to keep them flat.  The pink ribbons have been discarded.

One more job to tick off the list.