Upcoming Blog Hops

I'm working diligently in the sewing room but can't show you since I'm working on 2 blog hop projects that happen to be going on at the same time!

Beaquilter is hosting the Dust off a Quilt Book blog hop Feb. 18th to 22nd. I'll be posting my project on the 19th which is inspired by a Gwen Marston book called Liberated String Quilts. It's all scraps and it's a fascinating process! I have one more week to figure out how this thing is going to come together. You can see some progress photos here.

The Show Your Wings blog hop is also starting on Monday February 18th to the 21st , hosted by Carol at Just Let me Quilt. I'm so happy to have this deadline to motivate me to finish one of my favourite quilts to post for this blog hop. 



Guess what I am doing today? I'm attaching the hanging sleeve, sewing on the label, and hand stitching the binding to my wings project. I'll be sharing my finished quilt on the 21st.

We are going to be treated to amazing inspiration next week, so be sure to set aside lots of time for blog hopping!!

Design Wall Monday

Today is the link up for the Good Fortune mystery over at Quiltville. I haven't worked on my mystery since the beginning of January. I have a lot of sewing still to do since I want to make mine larger, and I plan to work on it at my winter quilt retreat, so it's packed away until then. I look forward to seeing all the link ups today.

I have been busy working on making the sampler blocks for the 2018 July Shop Hop quilt. I just got a "bee in my bonnet" about finishing this quilt and sewed all the alternate blocks this weekend. The colours for this project were neutrals, and it was a wee bit boring, so I added in some teal colours. Here is the schoolhouse block, where I have substituted 3 scraps of teal fabrics.

This is what the design wall looks like with the sampler blocks and the alternate blocks sewn. There are 5 more blocks to finish, 2 of which are hand appliquéd butterflies which will take a bit of time to complete. 

Hop over to Small Quilts to see more design wall postings.

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching link up! We celebrate all types of hand work and enjoy seeing what is being created by hands all around the world...
slow and steady, one small stitch at a time!

Where I live in Ontario, Canada we are in the middle of a cold, dark, and icy winter. Yesterday I tried to buy salt or sand to reduce the risk of slipping on  the icy walkways around my house, but I couldn't find it in stores anywhere in my area. They are sold out! UGH! So I came inside and got out this hand stitching project which is helping to get me through the winter. Are you sewing along with the hand stitching quiltalong at Elm Street Quilts?

Block #3 of the Hand Stitching Quiltalong

If you're not a hand stitcher, you really can't understand how focusing on making tiny stitches, and sewing together little pieces of fabric to make a quilt block is so important to maintaining mental health through the winter. Reading this article might help you understand, but even for me, it's not a logical process. I can't really explain why this hand stitching helps me feel so much better. But it does! 
You can hop over to the block #3 link up here and see the 60+ versions of this block that hand piecers have made!


Here are my first 3 hand stitched blocks in the project. We started with simple squares at the top block, progressed to triangles in the block on the right, and the last block was flying geese on the left. I am loving these Clover black gold needles for hand piecing. And I am delighted with how this block came together while I visited with my sister-in-law yesterday. She talked, I listened and stitched, and we survived another February day!

So ... what are you hand stitching to get you through the long winter days? Link up your blog post below about your project and share your hand work with us.



   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

Blockheads II

These are my most recently finished 6" Blockheads:




Block #21 - this block is hand appliqued and is called Circle and Star.





Block #22 - Economy Path was posted here last week and it inspired a new RSC project.




Block #23 - Broken Windows is a fun 6" block with 8 flying geese and 16 scrappy HST blocks that are leftover from previous blocks.




Block #24 - this is my variation of Kaleidoscope. Instead of 4 patches, I used a square of my favourite Harmony text fabric. This is also a 6" block and used up a lot of little triangle scraps. 

Block #25 - Oshkosh star.
That little 2" yellow star is so sweet and was great fun to sew!



Here is an updated photo of all the blocks I've made so far for my Blockheads II. It's a very fresh spring looking sampler quilt and I'm so happy that I like how it's looking.

Super Bowl Mystery

A few friends came over on Superbowl Sunday to sew the Scrapdash mystery quilt called "Garden Party". This mystery quilt pattern starts with a panel and each one of us had completely different panels and did the borders differently.

This is how my version turned out so far. I have a couple of borders still to add, but this is the start.









Here is Gayle's version with the funky tilted house panel and bright colours. She moved around all the border pieces for a fun effect.

This is Louise's version with soft monochromatic fabrics to go with the dragonfly panel.

Here is Joanne's vibrant version with her subtle bright red as a "neutral"! She also rotated her border pieces around and has one of the borders attached.

This is Marg's version with a Nancy Halvorsen Christmas panel. She went with the colour blocked corners.

This is a great way to use up a panel. You can find the information at Scrapdash.

We really sewed up a storm and I have proof... this is how my sewing machine looked under the faceplate.... eeewwwww!

Time for a deep clean under the face plate!

Aurifil DOM on the Design Wall

I wasn't going to do the Aurifil DOM project this year because I didn't want to start another quilt. But once I saw the January block I knew I had to try it. I decided I would just add the 2019 blocks to the Aurifil blocks that I finished last year so I really won't be starting another "new" quilting project... I'm just making last year's project larger! 

The name of January's block is "updated wedding ring block" and designer is Beverly from Flamingo Toes.

For my version of the block, I reversed the light dark placements. 

I adored making the little 4 patch blocks and it made me want to get out my Omigosh project again so I could make more of these little framed 4 patch blocks.
And I made a double stitching line on the corners so I have 16 little HST baby blocks to play with.

It was a fun block to sew, the pattern was well written and the block came together perfectly. Love it when that happens!

I only finished 6 blocks from last year, so here they are on the design wall with my newest addition at the top. I love these fabrics and this colour combination. 
Click here to see the linky party of all the submitted blocks.
Click here to see more design wall postings.

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching linkup! Here's your weekly reminder that slow stitching is like medicine - just a spoonful eases the aches and pains of life, and makes it feel more bearable. It helps you to feel more relaxed, and enjoy the healing powers of creativity. I don't have any specific research data to support those statements, but I do have a lot of lived experience!

This week has been full of hand stitching enjoyment. I finished block #2 of the Hand Piecing Quilt Along. And I hand stitched 216 inches of binding to finish the Circle of Squares quilt.

I also finished another one of Gail Pan's embroidery blocks from the 2018 I Stitch Club. I used an unusual variegated thread on the flowers and the designs at the bottom. The thread switched quickly from blue to pink to green and back to blue, which makes for an odd looking flower!
This year's I Stitch Club project is Christmas designs, but in a demonstration of remarkable self control, I didn't sign up because I haven't finished the wonderful patterns from last year yet!

These embroideries are being stitched on a strip of muslin that was cut off the side of the backing of my Broken Dishes quilt. Because I need enough fabric around the design in order to use the hoop, I have one finished design rolled up and pinned together at the top, the design I'm currently stitching is in the hoop, and once I trace the next pattern below, I will cut off the top design. I hope that makes sense to show how to use up long thin scraps for embroidery. The other technique I have used is to baste a scrap of fabric around a traced pattern so that there is enough fabric to stitch in a hoop. I find that using a hoop makes the stitching more even and flat.

I won't be doing any hand stitching today because I have some friends over to sew the Super Bowl mystery over at Scrapdash (for more info and links click here). 
Are you doing any hand sewing while you watch the Super Bowl game? Link up your blog post below and share your hand stitching progress with us.

   

    An InLinkz Link-up