Mystery Update

Part 3 of Grassy Creek mystery is posted today and I haven't finished part 2 yet. I was enjoying cutting and sewing and especially like this gold Patrick Lose fabric called "Christmas Cheer". My gold and greens were looking Christmasy, and I was feeling festive, and all was going well.

Until I realized that I had cut the strips the wrong size! Why did I do that?

I read the instructions and thought I was following them but my brain took a wee vacation and I made large blocks by accident. The blocks I made are on the bottom left and the blocks I need are on the right side. I also trimmed 2 blocks at the same time by mistake and got that wonky block in the middle of the photo at the top. For heaven's sake what is going on here?!?

I plan to settle down and do some sewing tomorrow with some guild friends on zoom. Hopefully they will keep me on the right track, and I can cut and sew correctly and catch up to part 3. 

How are your blocks coming along?

Morewood Mystery

I finally got November's step finished up for the Morewood Mystery over at Meadow Mist Designs. Just look at these bright colours! And I haven't even added in the orange yet!

Here are some of the petal units on the design wall. It will be fun to work on this bright and cheerful mystery quilt in the middle of winter. For now I will have to put it away until after Christmas. See you in 2021 Morewood!

Linking up to Small Quilts

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party!

Christmas is less than 20 days away, so this Christmas elf is starting to work herself into a bit of a frenzy. She needs a day off to simmer down, do some deep breathing, and set more realistic goals for what is actually doable in December. 

Have you set up your 2020 quarantree? 

Does it look like this one?!? LOL

Another tea towel was finished this week. This was one of my favourite designs to stitch. Maybe because it generated constant thoughts of chocolate?!?

These are the 4 towels I've stitched this year.

This pattern collection called Stitcher's Revolution has been so fun to work on play with this year. I just need to finish one more towel before Christmas.  The iron transfer is finished so I'm ready to start stitching today.

Does anyone have a recommendation for an embroidery kit that I could purchase for a gift for a brand new beginner stitcher? If you know of a good resource for me, leave a comment or send me an email.

What are you hand stitching today? Are you finishing things for Christmas gifts? Link up your blog post or instagram below and share your progress with us.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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One Monthly Goal

It took me a few days to chose a project for a December finish. There are so many things I'd like to finish, but a small amount of time available this month and I want to work on something that could be a Christmas gift. It seemed the perfect time to finish a family memory quilt.

Some daily notes and border fabric

I reached way back into the UFO closet and pulled out a project from 2007 called the 365 challenge. Yes it's a 13 year old UFO! The inspiration was the idea of Leanne Beasley when she used to write a regular blog.

I wrote down at least one happening per day on a piece of fabric for several months. It is a snapshot of the life of my family over the course of almost a year.

It is such a treasure to see all the places went, the activities that filled up our days, and the people we spent time with over a decade ago. These are the notes of memories sewn together. I sewed each half month of notes into one long unit, but that wasn't a good idea because the lengths really vary. I'll have to even up the columns somehow and sew them together, either with sashing or without. And then baste, quilt and bind. That's doable before Christmas don't you think? I like to put lots of pressure on myself just for fun!

Linking up to One Monthly Goal

Grassy Creek

Now that my Frolic mystery quilt from last year is pieced, I am full steam ahead on starting the new Grassy Creek mystery. The first step was an easy one, made easier with my decision to sew half of the blocks this year to make a smaller quilt. These greys and golds are so pretty together. 

I really like using the EZ angle ruler which makes almost perfectly sized blocks with no trimming required if your cutting and sewing is accurate. Since trimming blocks is my most disliked task, I'm delighted to be able to avoid it when possible.

Part 2 of the mystery project is being posted today - hop over to Quiltville to see what we are sewing this week!

Frolic is together!

Building a corner

All year I have been working on Bonnie Hunter's Frolic pattern which was last year's mystery. This project involved complex block construction and an on point setting. It was my goal to finally finish the quilt top this month. 

Did I mention there are millions of pieces to organize and put in the right place?!?

This was just one of the challenges I came across. I pieced too many side triangle units (totally my fault!) so didn't haven't enough pieces left for the 4 corner units. I had to deconstruct some of the blocks on the left and magically turn them into the blocks on the right. It was not as easy as it seems... or maybe it's just my covid brain?!?

Miles of HST borders were sewn for each side of the quilt.

Wow did I work hard to finish this quilt top! I feel like this must be similar to getting a PhD in quiltmaking! 

It's a large quilt (84" square) and became bulky to work with, and it was surprisingly heavy sewing the long diagonal seams.

I did something when making this quilt that I have never done before in all my years of sewing. I sewed a flower head pin right into a seam! I didn't see it as I was sewing and only noticed it when the clunking sound started! 

I unstitched the seam and extracted the pin.
Look at the pin now! Can you believe it?! I almost sewed the flower in half!

I'm sure the sewing machine needle must have been damaged by sewing over the pin, so both the pin AND the needle went into the garbage. Too much drama!

Here is the inside of the quilt on the design wall. It still needed some trimming on the side, but this is how it looked before the borders were added. So cool how it looks like a 2 block quilt, but it isn't!

And here is my finished Frolic quilt top hanging on the clothesline. Wow that's an incredible quilting design... kudos to Bonnie Hunter!

Proudly linking up to One Monthly Goal and Design Wall Monday

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party! It's a safe way to hang out with friends, enjoy some relaxing stitching time and there is a 0% chance of getting covid! Staying safe at home is the goal these days and stitching helps you to stay sane while you're at home.

I am ready to stitch the chocolate bar on my embroidered tea towel and hope to get this finished today. I'm also knitting a Santa dishcloth but just got started on that. It's time to get busy finishing up Christmas gifts!

What are you working on today? Are you trying to finish some Christmas gifts while you watch Christmas shows? A Christmas Story is one of our favourites! Link up your blog post below and share your hand stitching projects with us.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Scrappy Saturday

Somehow I misplaced the cord to download phone photos to my computer. There are just too many things for my poor old brain to remember! My Saturday post is late because a blog post really needs to have the corresponding photos!

And here is more  evidence of my poor struggling brain. I'm slowly working on my 3" Arrowhead blocks. See the block on the right? It has multiple problems. Should I throw it in the garbage or get out the seam ripper and start over? I've been sewing these blocks for 2 years now so why can't I do it right this week? 

Covid brain. That's why.

Here are the yellow blocks that I cut in October and sewed in November. I'm hoping the design wall will be free next week to show you the layout I'm working on.

Linking up to RSC party

New Mystery Starts Today!

Every year on the Friday after the US Thanksgiving I start a mystery quilt with Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville. It is my annual tradition and this year is no exception. I take the day off work and treat myself to a whole day of sewing.

Here is a review of the last few years:

2019 Frolic (still in progress but so close to the top being done)

2018 Good Fortune (still in progress)

En Provence

2017 On Ringo Lake is finished! I used the sashing units for a border and love how it turned out!

2016 En Provence - is one of my all time favourite quilts!

2015 Allietare - one of my favourite UFOs!

I don't always finish the mystery quilts I start, but some day I know I will because I love each one!

This year we are sewing a mystery design called "Grassy Creek". 

Red, Orange, Gold, Green, Grey and Neutral

The combination of recommended colours is one that requires sun glasses, but hopefully my fabric choices will magically turn into a lovely quilt. I am using one consistent background/neutral this time for the first time and am curious to discover if I will like that or not. All the colours are bits and pieces and most of them are less than a fat quarter, so there will be a lot of scrappiness in this quilt. I'm a little short on the greys so may need to look in the deep stash for more. I was determined to not buy any fabric this year, so it is what it is!

Remember the golden rule of Quiltville mysteries... no whining! There will be hundreds of small pieces and hours of sewing ahead. Why not make a pot of tea and join in the fun!

A quick finish

My November UFO project is last year's Quiltville mystery called Frolic. It's a lot of complex sewing and I just needed a quick finish for some instant gratification.

These pieces were found in a scrap bag and they wanted to become a placemat. How do I know that? Well they told me of course!

The original owner probably abandoned the project because the strips weren't fitting together well. I made some tucks, added a few pieces of fabric and a wide border.

The machine quilting was simple diagonal lines which aren't exactly straight due to the wonkiness of some of the piecing. But that's okay... finished is better than perfect!

This is the second placemat I've made to donate to Meals on Wheels. I love the idea that someone will enjoy their nutritious food along with a little quilty goodness!

Okay... back to Frolic!

Design Wall Monday

This is exactly what my design wall looks like today. I'm still working on finishing my Frolic mystery quilt before the end of the month. As you can see it is such a large quilt that it is too big for my design wall. I have the blocks on the left  pinned to a sheet covering the doorway. It is the on point setting that is so challenging for me. I am forcing my brain to work hard on this big fabric jigsaw puzzle and really liking how it's turning out.

The little yellow blocks on the upper right are mini arrowhead blocks for one of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects. I am sewing those as leader-ender pieces.

I'll also post a photo here of the wonderful winter wonderland we woke up to this morning. This is the tree in the backyard. Some of the branches are being pulled to the ground with the weight of the snow. It's just so pretty!

Linking up to Small Quilts Design Wall Monday

Slow Sunday Stitching

A hearty welcome to all you stitchers! Thanks for dropping by to see what the Slow Sunday Stitching crew is creating this week!

I finished knitting a gift for the US Thanksgiving coming up this week. Can you see the pattern? I think I made a mistake on the nose (beak? snood?) stitching area? Oh well, I tried my best and it will be conversation worthy if nothing else! If you want to knit up a turkey for the holidays, click here for the free Ravelry Gobble Cloth pattern.

I wanted to start a new dishcloth with this new-to-me yarn. I had to deal with a "hank" for the first time... very annoying. I followed the instructions here, and used a chair to wind the yarn into a useable ball. Just wondering.... why doesn't yarn come in a useable ball format?!? 

Anyway, I ended up having this big knot to deal with. I reminded myself that "patience is a virtue" as I wasted my precious stitching time trying to untie this knot.  I'm finally ready to start the knitting for this Christmas gift which will hopefully turn out better than the turkey!

But first, for today's relaxation I am hand stitching a binding to finish up a placemat. These are my favourite binding needles. Will I have enough thread on this spool to finish the binding?

What are you hand stitching today? Will you give yourself some time to rest on Slow Sunday Stitching? Please link up your blogpost below and share your relaxing hand stitching projects with us.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Scrappy Saturday

I am totally off my schedule for working on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects. I'm not even sure what the colour for November is, but that's okay because I haven't finished my yellow blocks for October yet and still have this pile of mini arrowhead blocks (link to Anita's blog) waiting to be sewn.

Finally one block is sewn together! Woo hoo! These are 3" blocks and are so darn cute. I have been making a few each month for 2 years now and still only have enough for a wallhanging :)

Here is a fun (but blurry) photo of me that a  snapchat filter put on top of my mini arrowhead blocks.  But you can see how I am starting to sew the blocks together in groups of 4. I still love this project and will continue sewing these blocks into 2021. 

In the region where I live we are now on "red control tier" which is a tiny step away from lockdown. Lock down just means that other people might start to live like we have been living since March!  And for some unknown reason when lockdown is mentioned, people start needing to shop constantly. Long lines at grocery stores have returned and probably toilet paper will be scarce again LOL!

I'll be staying home safe and covid free in my sewing room!

Design Wall Monday

There are only 11 more sleeps until the 2020 Quiltville mystery begins! I really wanted to finish last year's mystery before I start the new one. I'm making lots of progress but these borders are a lot of HST's!

All of the 8 border strips are sewn together. Now they just have to be joined to each other and to the quilt top ... which isn't sewn together yet. But the blocks are all sewn and the big job getting of sewing it altogether will be tackled this week. I'm not sure how long it will take me, but I'm giving it my best effort!

Linking up to Design Wall Monday over at Small Quilts.

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party! It's time to take a deep breath, pick up your needles and threads, and put some stitches in your project.

It has been such a busy week at work that I haven't had the time or energy to sew or blog at all. So today I'll be sitting with my feet up, hand stitching the day away while I watch the Masters golf tournament. It certainly is different with no spectators during the covid tournament.

I'll start by stitching these gold french knots on my Stitcher's Revolution tea towel. The progress is slow and steady, but I still have one more tea towel to finish before Christmas, so I better pick up the stitching pace a little bit!

What are you hand stitching today? Are you starting to think about Christmas coming and gifts you want to finish? Link up your blog post below and show us what you're working on.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Design Wall Monday

Slow and steady sewing is happening on my November UFO blocks. There are 3 more blocks to piece and I have started sewing the HST border strips together as the leader-enders between block construction.

Linking up to Small Quilts