Kathy's Quilts

Sunday, October 06, 2024

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts!
Make yourself a cup of tea or coffee (or maybe a pumpkin spice latte) and join us to celebrate the experience of slowly stitching your way through life!

I have been savouring the experience of becoming a Grandma and did have time to do some stitching while watching the baby nap. Here I am doing my two favourite things at the same time!

I started this project for the Stitches and Pages book club hosted by Katie the Novel Stitcher. We were reading The Violin Conspiracy, which was a very enjoyable novel for me. I chose the "Music and Books" pattern by Little House Needleworks to stitch while reading this book.

Here is the finished stitchery which measures 4 3/8" square. I am pondering how to fully finish this. I might find the perfect frame, but if not, it will likely become a little quilted wallhanging.

I also sewed the binding onto a quilt this week. One side is stitched down and I will be enjoying some hand stitching on this today.

This week I made a video of the progress on my September projects - you can view it here.

What have you been hand stitching this week? Do you have a project to share with us? Link up your blog below and give us an update!

Sunday, September 29, 2024

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly celebration of all hand stitched crafts! We hope you will join us in setting aside a few moments each Sunday for some relaxing stitching on your favourite project. Pick up a needle and thread, breathe deeply, and enjoy a little vacation from the responsibilities of your life.

You won't believe it, but I have not taken one single stitch since last Sunday. Not one!

But I have a good reason!

I have a new responsibility now... I have become a Grandma! This little bundle of joy weighed in at 8 lbs 1 oz and has brought so much love and joy to the world! I am soaking up every minute of being part of his sweet life, especially since I never thought I would have this privilege of being a grandparent!

I must get working on his birth sampler and his quilt. I have lots of plans, patterns and fabrics but haven't settled down to start anything. I was waiting to make sure he arrived safely and was well, and he is! My friend Louise crocheted the beautiful blanket (behind us on the chair) and little guy's great grandma has already made him a baby quilt. But every baby needs lots of quilts don't you think?

I do hope I can tear my eyes away from this amazing creation, and get back to some stitching. I have a comfort quilt to bind, and some samplers that I wanted to start in September but it's almost over!

Have you met your September goals? Share with us your slow progress by linking up your blog post below.

Sunday, September 22, 2024

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the regular weekly practice of relaxing with some hand stitching! We encourage you to join us... all you have to do is take a deep breath, find your hand stitching project and put in some stitches.

I am finishing yet another baby quilt for the baby boom we are having in my family. This one is for my niece's baby and it turned out so cute. It has a pretty flannel backing and will be very cuddly.

I also finished another cross stitch design - pattern by Lizzy Kate. I love the message on this little project and plan to finish it into a mini wallhanging for my office.

What are you hand stitching today? Are you making any progress that you can share? Link up your blog post below and tell us about your hand work.

Sunday, September 15, 2024

Slow Sunday Stitching

In a year that has had way more starts than finishes, I am so delighted to be able to share a finished quilt called "5 Cats and Scraps". This is a mystery quilt from La undry Basket Quilts from the spring of 2021.

Every day for 2 weeks Edyta Sitar posted a different block pattern and by the end of the time we had 225 blocks ready to sew together into a quilt top.

This quilt was made completely from my scrap stash (except for the backing). There are 5 fussy cut cat blocks that wanted to be in the quilt (hence the name) and they just blend into all the other scraps that are florals, geometrics, plaids, mottled, and reproductions. Every day of the mystery I just grabbed a hand full of scraps and started cutting and sewing. It was one of my most fun to make quilts ever and I am delighted that it is finished!

The finished size is 61" square and it was machine quilted by Roxanne Caughill using the Handiquilter design called "Field of Flowers".

Because this quilt is so scrappy, I was unprepared to love it as much as I do! This was going to be a donation quilt but I have fallen in love with it, so am uncertain now!!

I have no idea what I will be stitching on today. My sewing room is a disaster and I will need to do a big tidy up before I can even find some projects to work on! LOL

What are you stitching today? Do you have some September starts? Any finishes to share? Link up your blog post below and show us your slow progress.

Sunday, September 08, 2024

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the second September hand stitching party! It's time to slow down and find one of your projects to stitch. Also maybe make a cup of your favourite beverage to enjoy while you visit with other stitchers and work on your own stitching.

This week I spent a lot of hours on a quilt repair project. This is a large queen size sampler quilt that my sister made as a gift to a special friend. It has been loved and well used by a family, and was showing wear and tear at some of the seam lines. My brother-in-law took this photo of me working intently on hand stitching all the open seams.

This is an example of some seams that needed repair on a square within a square block. It was very interesting to see which seams did not hold up over time. I used many ideas that I learned in an online class that Carole (From My Carolina Home) taught me... thank you Carole! The quilt is restored to working order and is back on the family bed. Mission accomplished.

I have also been putzing along on finishing the scrappy binding on my own quilt. I am on the 3rd side now and hope to finish it tomorrow.

In cross stitch news, I finally finished the August Square Dance block of bee skeps. The September block of little chickens has been started and I hope to finish it before the end of the month.

What are you hand stitching this week? We hope you will link up your blog post below and share your updates with us!

Sunday, September 01, 2024

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the first September hand stitching party! It's time to slow down and find one of your projects to stitch.

I'm making headway on my knitted dishcloth. I think I've got the "bee" stitch figured out now. And I am enjoying this yarn so much that I bought a much bigger ball of it.

Another little cross stitch project has also been finished. This is "Summer Sucks" by The Witchy Stitcher. I enjoyed this project so much I couldn't put it down! I do hope those hot humid days of summer are done and that September brings us cooler more comfortable weather to enjoy.

I am gathering some new threads to start a sampler for "Sampler September". Isn't this collection of DMC floss so pretty? The pattern is called the Garden Cherry Sampler and I would like it to be my next new start. I can't seem to figure out what fabric to stitch it on because there are a few light colours that won't show up well on a light background fabric. This is my first floss conversion from Weeks Dye Works recommended threads to DMC, so maybe I didn't get all the colours correct?

And lastly I am still working on the binding of the quilt I wrote about last week. I am "lollygagging and dillydallying" as my friend Barb would say!

What are you stitching this week? Are you being productive, or are you lollygagging? Dillydallying?

Link up your blog post below and share your slow progress with us.

Sunday, August 25, 2024

Slow Sunday Stitching

Hello stitcher! Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party where we hope you will get lots of inspiration and encouragement to help you on your stitching journey!

I started a new knitting project this week and challenged myself to try a new stitch from the Leisure Arts Kitchen Bright Dishcloths booklet.

I was desperate for a distraction while at the hospital with my Mom this week. It was not an ideal learning environment, in fact is was quite stressful - the long waiting hallway in the local ER where the elderly and sick wait for hours on end for health care while lying on uncomfortable stretchers . (**Sorry I should have mentioned that Mom is home now and feeling much better!) But I started this project anyway and couldn't know for certain if I was knitting the pattern correctly or not! But I do love the Estelle Sudz 100% cotton yarn and it did help to pass the time.

Many cross stitch projects were worked on this past month and I especially love the caribou I finished. This guy is part of the Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery SAL called Arctic Animals. The next step is stitching puffins, so I'm excited to start on that this week.

I recorded a video to share the projects I hand stitched in August. To see the video on my youtube channel click here. After I filmed the video, I realized I actually had quite a bit of progress on many projects, so that felt great!

Today I will be hand stitching the binding on my Laundry Basket mystery quilt from 2021. It always feel so good to be nearing a finish!

What are you planning to hand stitch today? Are you starting new projects? Finishing some treasures? We hope you will link up your blog below and share your journey with us!