Ho-Ho-Halloween!

 It's a seasonal crossover on the design wall today!

The Fat Quarter Shop Christmastime mystery quilt top is done and ready for quilting. It was a fun little project made completely from scraps. I have the backing and binding fabric ready and now it will go in the pile of projects to be worked on in December.

But today is halloween and I want to sew pumpkins, ghosts and spiderwebs. Here is the full view of the design wall with the seasonal mix. 

The Christmas quilt top is already off the design wall and I'm cutting ghosts!

Linking to Design Wall Monday at Judy's

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to Slow Sunday Stitching where we make time to slow down our lives, to breathe deeply, to pick up a needle and thread, and take some slow stitches. The fall weather has been extraordinary here and I have enjoyed many long walks in the forest which is good for your soul.

Also good for you soul is finishing a miniature quilt, hand stitching the binding while sitting in the sun. The weather here was glorious in October, even more so when we know that the cold and snowy weather will soon be coming.

I started another new little embroidery pattern, but I don't know who designed this block. Does anyone recognize it so I can give credit where credit is due?

This week I have been using the thread conditioner that came in my Spooky Box and really like it! I thought it might be gluey or gummy or slimy, but NO! It's hardly noticeable and does keep the floss from getting tangled.

Have you used thread conditioner with your hand stitching projects? What are you working on today with needle and thread/yarn? Here's the link up to share your projects...

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Scrappy Saturday Mini Quilt

The weather this week has been glorious and tempted me to be outside as much as possible. Quilting time has been greatly decreased, but soon the snow will fly and there will be lots (too much) indoor time.

I did finish Sewcialites block #2 called Tussy Mussy by in Susan Ache. I enjoyed using up some small pieces from the 2" scrap box to make this on point block. It doesn't have a "co-ordinated" look, but it makes me happy!

But what made me even happier was using up the tiny leftover baby HSTs I made while sewing this block. Whenever possible before cutting off block corners, I sew a second seam and cut between the stitching lines, which gives me bonus tiny blocks. In this case they were trimmed up to be 1.5" (1" finished).

These little pieces turned into a little coaster. To give a sense of the scale, this is the variegated green Aurifil thread I used for the quilting... almost as big as the coaster!

I enjoyed hand binding the mini quilt in the sunshine and took a ridiculous photo of the little quilted gem clipped to the tree in the front yard. The leaves are a beautiful golden colour and the sky was a pretty blue.

And one last shot of this new finish already doing it's job as a coaster! 

Finished size: 4.5" x 4.5"

Linking up to Rainbow Scrap Challenge and the Table Scraps Challenge

Spooky Sewing

One of the treats I enjoy is gifting myself the specialty quilting boxes from Fat Quarter Shop. So far I have enjoyed a Jolly Box, a Valentine Cupid Box, and this week I opened the Halloween themed Spooky box from the Fat Quarter shop. These are specialty curated  boxes of new items for quilters to enjoy.

Click here to watch my very amature unboxing video. It's so fun to open new products that you haven't seen before.  There might be more Spooky boxes available if you want to get one for yourself - click here to see.

One of the new items in this box was thread conditioner, which looks like the lip balm that came in the Cupid Box. One product is for your lips, and one is for your thread, and you don't want to get these mixed up!! LOL

But the most exciting thing in these boxes are  always the fabric and a brand new pattern. I have abandoned all my other projects and started cutting and sewing. As the pretty fall leaves fall outside my window, I am in my happy place making pumpkin blocks!

Come back for my Design Wall post on Monday to see how my Halloween project is taking shape!

Mystery Monday

These labour intensive blocks are parts for the "Oh say can you sew" mystery by Primitive Gatherings. Each month a new step is been posted, and it has taken me more than a month to sew each one. This is not your typical mystery quilt!

Each block has 85 pieces, so you can do the math on how many pieces are on the design wall right now. And this is only half of the secondary blocks! These blocks will alternate with Block A that you can see here. 

October's step was to sew the sashing units, but I haven't even started that yet. First I have to cut over 700 squares! If you need me, I'll be at the cutting table!

Linking up to Design Wall Monday at Judy's

Slow Sunday Stitching

Happy Slow Sunday Stitching! 

It's time to pick up your hand stitching project and put in some stitches. You will immediately notice the health benefits of breathing more slowly, clearing your mind to focus on a simple task, and feeling more relaxed as you enjoy creating more stitches in a project that you have chosen. Even if you just put in a few stitches, your health will benefit, and your project will be closer to completion!

This week's 20 minute cleaning up episode unearthed an old embroidery project. I know it's old because I traced all the patterns without any space around the designs, which I know not to do as an experienced stitcher! I embroidered the corner design without a hoop and really do not enjoy it as much as using a hoop. 

Even though it was hoopless stitching, I was able to finish this first block and am eager to move on to the next one. Each block is traced in a 3" square so these are tiny! I think if I cut carefully there will be barely enough for a 1/4" seam allowance around the stitching.

The pattern comes from an absolutely lovely booklet by Anni Downs and is called Simple Pleasures. Isn't that what Slow Sunday Stitching is all about? 

I hope you have some time today to enjoy the simple pleasure of hand stitching.

Link up your blog post, instagram or photograph and share your hand stitching project with us! And if you missed visiting Canadian Needle Nana Jocelyn last week, she shared a fun link to free Halloween patterns that you might want to check out if you're in the mood for some spooky embroidery ... thanks Jocelyn!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Rainbow Sewcialites

A new RSC project has been started in my sewing room! You know how it goes here 😀

Fat Quarter Shop has started Sewcialites 2 which is a free sew along. I missed out on the first series last year (darn my self control!)... but I'm not missing out this time around!  

I am starting with a gorgeous fabric called Dragonfly Lagoon by Henry Glass which will be the border. I use the Alphabitties to help me keep all the cut pieces organized.

Here is my first block, made in bright greens since that is the RSC colour this month. Click here for the link to the first block by Bev McCullough. I found the directions a wee bit confusing, but it does say that this block is for experienced sewers. I made my first block in the 6" size, but I'm not sure if I will make the entire series in 6" yet. I may try all the sizes!

Linking up to the weekly RSC party

Design Wall Monday

I finished sewing the 4th block of the Christmastime mystery. But for some unknown reason, I didn't like how the red ribbon looked on the bottom present and so I  turned it upside down and liked it much better! I really like how my pile of presents turned out!

Here are all the blocks together on the design wall. This is layout #1.

The candy and presents have to be in the same column and the cards and Santa mug have to be in the same column (due to size).

Here is layout #2. 

Do you think it looks more balanced with the mug on the top and cards on the bottom?

It's time to cut some sashing and border strips, and turn this into a quilt top.

Linking this post to Design Wall Monday at Judy's

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party! Make yourself a cup of tea or coffee, or pumpkin spice latte to enjoy while visiting the blog links of stitchers around the world. It's so inspiring to see what other people are creating with their own two hands.

I have a finish to share today! But not one that I am proud of unfortunately.  This is a dish cloth from the book called Kitchen Bright Dishcloths that my friend Gail gave me. The stitch I was learning is called "bee stitch" and it was hard! 

Last month my friend Deanna helped me to fix a mistake and I kept knitting, hoping to make it big enough to be a square cloth. But when the second big mistake happened, and I couldn't figure out how to undo the stitches, AND I am 4 hours away from my  help/knitting therapist, I just got frustrated and cast off the stitches! I even forgot that I should knit a few rows of seed stitches on the edge! That's what you call a "knitters temper tantrum"!

Oh well... it's done and I will use it for my washing my own dishes instead of gifting it to someone. I am pleased that I tried something new, but I won't be stitching the "bee stitch" again! It stung me! LOL

What are you stitching today? Are you dealing with any stitching frustrations? Link up your project below...

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Design Wall Monday

 

A bit of progress has been made on the Christmastime Mystery project from the Fat Quarter Shop. Block #3 was a bit of a challenge and it took me a long time to select and cut the fabrics. These days I am still primarily sewing on Elsie my 1951 Featherweight because she's just so darn cute!

Here is my first Christmas card block. It's a unique design trying to give the 3D effect of an open Christmas card. I used up some little green scraps for these cards hoping they would look like trees.

Here are the 4 cards sewn together with sashing. Maybe the background is a little too busy?

The fussy cut star at the top of the right card is a tiny detail that makes me happy! I wish I had more of those scraps to put a gold star in the top of every block, but I only had one.

Here are the first 3 blocks of the mystery so far. The end of the mystery has already been posted, so I have to get going. Block #4 is a pile of presents and will be fun to sew. That is on the agenda for today.

And also I will probably enjoy another leisurely drive to see the fall leaves as they are really at their peak colour this week!

Linking up to Design Wall Monday at Judy's

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party! It's Thanksgiving weekend here and we are so very thankful for our stitching  hobby/lifestyle that enriches our lives! 

And this week I have some Slow Sunday Stitching gossip for you - shhhhh it's top secret!

**I am having a wee love affair with french knots!**

They are so fun to stitch! Even when it seems like the knots are too big or too loose, or not quite right, when they are together with their friends, they are all perfection! 

This photo shows some gold knots for the coneflowers, and there are 2 blue and 1 burgundy hydrangeas full of knots. Such gorgeous texture from these stitched knots 💙

But the bees were not as much fun to stitch. They were fiddly to make with 3 colour changes, and I just wanted to make more knots. My bees turned out too skinny to be nice hunny bees. But anyway, they are done.

And just look at those french knots... deliciousness!

This was a time limited free embroidery pattern from Clever Poppy which I think is only available for purchase now. I'm not sure yet if I will frame it in a circular hoop, or make it into a mini quilt. For now I am just admiring the french knots! 💙

And I am also admiring the beautiful fall scenes  which are putting on a spectacular display for us this year! It's my most favourite time of the year! this is a farm I drive by on my way to work and I take fall photos of it every year!

Whatever you are stitching today I hope you are enjoying it as much as I have enjoyed french knots this week! Here is the link up....

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Hello October

How can it possibly be the beginning of October?!?

I have completely lost track of time, haven't finished a quilt in months, and haven't even sewn any mini quilts!

The fall fair season has overwhelmed me with judging gigs, helping my parents move to a retirement apartment, and also we've had 2 family weddings and an engagement party. Life is full but exhausting... with not enough time to restore my sanity with quilting!

I have finished my fall fair judging commitments for 2022, and have 1 more fair coming up that I enjoy participating in, so I am checking the categories, and gathering a pile of quilts to enter. 

I am slowly working away on sewing these blocks for the "Oh say can you sew mystery". Clue #7 has been posted and we will be sewing star sashings which are really fun. This will be a great quilt so I am motivated to keep at it when time allows.

My October goal is to finish all the sewing for step #6 and #7. Ambitious - yes! 

Doable - maybe!

Linking up to One Monthly Goal

Slow Sunday Stitching

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

I think you could guess from last week's post that I was starting a new project this week! This is a free online embroidery workshop from Clever Poppy. The pattern was beautifully written and clear, and the lessons were full of tips. I used Julie's method of tracing a pattern and I really liked it! Sometimes we get stuck in our old ways of doing things, and resist trying new ways. I'm so glad I tried something new!

Even though I have been embroidering for years, I learned that there is a "stab stitch" method of doing the backstitch, and my way is called the "sewing stitch" method (shown in the photo). Using this method your needle and hands stay on top of the project.

I didn't use all the colours recommended since I didn't have them in my floss stash so I just substituted some of the threads to a similar colour that I had. So happy to use what I have on hand. See the ziploc bag of threads I found to use!

There are a lot of french knots in this piece, which not everyone likes, but I really do!
Julie's tip was - "don't choke your needle" when doing french knots. I sometimes do that, so I worked on my tension and think I'm getting better with all this practice.

When I'm finished the french knots, I will move on the the bee making lesson. It's so fun to watch someone else stitch and Julie was very generous with her embroider tips and tricks. Thanks Julie!

What are you hand stitching this week? We hope you will link up your project and share what you are working on!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Rainbow Scrap Challenge Quilt Top

One of the primary ways I sew scrap quilts is following along with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Every month our host Angela gives us a colour to focus on for that month. It's a great way to keep scraps organized and constantly being sewn into projects.

This month I am so happy to have finished one of my rainbow quilt tops - a waffle project (non edible!)

This project was inspired by Nann and I started sewing waffles in June 2020. This is the perfect project to use up 1.5" squares and strips. 

There are a lot of seams in this quilt top which made pressing the blocks and rows a challenge. 

And now for the age old question - does it need a border? It doesn't need to be bigger but does it need a frame?!? 

Linking up to the weekly Rainbow Scrap Quilters party