Disappearing Design Wall

More progress has been made on my disappearing pinwheel blocks. Two more Kaffe blocks have been sewn. I love these fabrics and hope I never run out of them!

There is a grand total of 5 finished blocks on the design wall. I must confess that the orange block is my favourite. The background fabric was in a layer cake from the Fat Quarter Shop's Spooky Box last fall. While it didn't make it into the Halloween quilt, the spooky fabric found a perfect home here!

This is what the whole design wall looks like today.

Five finished blocks and seven pinwheel blocks ready to disappear. I want to find more blue fabrics in my stash to add to this collection.

Hope your design wall is bringing you joy today!

I'm joining Judy's design wall linky party

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party!  Take a few moments to set aside your machines, your devices and screens, and just take a deep breath... ahhh... so much better. Now pick up your needles and fibres, and put a few stitches into your project. You will feel better in no time!

Today I will be adding stitches to Melisa's Spring Stamp Collection Stitch along. I am stitching very slowly so I don't aggravate my healing hand, and have only made it this far in stitching the frame. But do you notice that the line at the top and bottom do not line up? For heaven's sake! I made a nasty counting error and missed a stitch on the diagonal. I had to rip out the carefully stitched mistake...UGH! That was a set back for sure.

So I took out a big bag of floss that my friend Janet donated to me, and started digging around in it, looking for the perfect green to stitch the word "SPRING". In the sample the word is brown, but I wanted mine to be green. I did find the perfect floss colour and really cannot wait to stitch the letters so that I can get stitching the sweet blue birds! 

And in other bird news, I am delighted to announce that a bird has moved in to the little house my neighbour made for me and attached to the tree outside my front window. I can't tear myself away from watching her come and go. I'm so happy she is my new tenant. What is the rent for a bridhouse these days?!?! LOL

There is another spring mystery stitch along over at Joy's blog - called Days Filled With Joy. I just finished her winter sampler in March and can't wait to get to put some embroidery stitching in the spring project.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Design Wall Monday

The disappearing pinwheel pattern has captured my attention *squirrel*!

I made my first block in December of 2020 and started making more blocks in March. My design wall has 3 finished blocks,  6 squares of light and dark fabrics sewn together around the perimeter and ready to become pinwheels,  2 pinwheels ready to "disappear", and 6 squares that have no light square to partner with yet. So fun!

What kinds of squirrels are running around in your sewing room today?

Linking up to Judy's design wall linky party

Slow Sunday Stitching

Happy Easter and Happy Slow Sunday Stitching!

I saw this sweet picture on Jocelyn's blog a few years ago and thought I'd post it today because it makes me smile to think of the Easter bunnies (or are they mice?) joining us for hand stitching! The bunnies also remind me of precious memories of when my Dad used to read to us at bedtime when we were kids. He read many Beatrix Potter books with wonderful stories of the adventures of woodland creatures.

I have finally spotted some robins - real ones in my neighbourhood, and one that I hand stitched. This pattern is by Tammy Black and is the perfect spring stitch. I am loving it! Next up to stitch will be the bird's nest on the left and the word "Messenger" at the bottom.

I do love visiting your blogs and seeing your wonderful projects - even though I am not leaving many comments lately due to resting my sore hand (so I can stitch a little). Just know I am admiring your work and cheering you on! 

David Artz painting

I hope you will link up your photo, instagram or 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

April is purple month at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I don't use purple very often in my quilts, and in fact I can't even locate my purple scrap bin at the moment! But there were enough bits laying around to do some sorting and cutting this week.

I made some blocks for my version of scrappy stars. This pattern alternates 25 patch blocks with a star block. Just look at this sweet 3" star block!

I have been having thumb pain and have it immobilized for 6 weeks in a hand brace. That makes quilting very challenging. I have been teaching my left hand to do tasks like cut with scissors and use a rotary cutter. And I am letting my fingers do the work my thumb used to. I have to keep quilting somehow!

Here is my collection of blocks so far! 

Only 1 purple block has been finished but today I'll stitch together the pieces I cut out for more blocks to add.

Linking up to Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly celebration of the art of slowly stitching by hand! We encourage you to slow down, breathe deeply, take a few stitches, and enjoy seeing the slowly created projects of hand stitching gurus from around the world. 

There seems to have been a lot of social events in my life lately, and my stitching time has been eaten up by visiting and celebrating. I'm not complaining since it has been lots of fun, but that means less to share on the blog.

I did order a new hand stitching project to celebrate spring. I ordered these products  from 123 Stitch and the pattern is called "Spring's Messenger". Yes it was extra in postage and the exchange to Canadian currency but I just loved it, so it's worth it to me. I love robins and watch for them in the spring. I haven't seen one yet. 

Just look at these floss colours! Yum! I'm stitching on the recommended 36 count vintage country mocha Edinburgh linen. I love the feel of stitching on linen vs. aida cloth.

It's slow going since I am pacing my stitching due to hand pain. This is how far I am today. I wonder if I will stitch see a stitched robin or a real one first?!?

While I was waiting for the robin to arrive in the mail, I worked on my "Stitcher" project until I ran out of green "Lucky" floss. I was rather unlucky because the skein I bought was not enough floss for the entire project. Pastime Pieces mailed me another skein and this one has a bit more yellow in the dye, but that's okay. 

My right hand continues to be too sore for hand quilting, but it can tolerate cross stitching for short periods of time. I'd like to purchase a lap or table stand that could hold a hoop for embroidery or cross stitch. Does anyone have a recommendation for one of these products that you have enjoyed?

What are you hand stitching this week? Link up your photo, blog or instagram post below and share your slow progress with us!

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Disappearing Pinwheel

This weekend I started playing with some disappearing pinwheel blocks. I had made a few sample blocks back in 2020 and always wanted to make more. You never know when inspiration is going to strike, and it suddenly did. Sometimes you just have to play in the sewing room! Here's a green Kaffe block. Love it!

I also made a blue one. It's a fun process - you make a pinwheel using 4 HSTs, cut the pinwheel into 9 equal pieces and rearrange the pieces. You can see a video tutorial here (with 16 ways to arrange the pieces).

And here is my design wall today. Two blocks are sewn with my recently finished cross stitch above them. I look forward to sewing more blocks to go with these 2!

Linking up to Design Wall Monday at Judy's

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to Slow Sunday Stitching! It's the day of resting, moving slowly, breathing deeply, and hand stitching. To rest means to "cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength" (Mirriam-Webster Dictionary). This is a hard thing for me to do - resting is hard work LOL! Which is one of my motivations to keep this linky party going - to encourage others to make rest a priority.

I have even been trying to stitch less to rest my sore thumb, to listen to the pain and stitch accordingly.  Believe me, this is hard for me! I need "busy work" and am learning the hard way that my body is the boss of me!

And after saying all that, I bought a new project! *snort*

It was a St. Patrick's day gift to myself. I went shopping at a new (to me) store called Pastime Pieces and saw this cross stitch chart that had my name on it. The pattern and the sample were stitched in red, but I chose a variegated green because it was St. Patrick's day, and I really liked the Weeks Dye Works thread colour (named "lucky").

We are not talking about all the stitching UFOs around here! We are focusing on new life for Spring, new energy, new starts! 
I made a small start on 14 count aida cloth and love love love stitching it! Oh this bird is so sweet! But I am pacing myself - 2 threads per day. Slow and steady heals the thumb! 

What are you hand stitching today? We'd love to see the slow progress your hands are making with needles and threads.

What are you hand stitching today?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Design Wall Tuesday

Finally this Super Bowl Sunday mystery has become a quilt top!

This design was the mystery from Scrapdash called Dancing in the Stars. The inside of the quilt was finished mid February, but I just couldn't decide on the borders. 

I finally added a 4" border on the top and bottom of the quilt, with 3 pieced stars on each side. I really like it now and hope it doesn't stay too long on the "to be quilted" pile.

Linking up at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly linkup that celebrates the art of hand stitching! We are all about pure relaxation, and taking one s l o w stitch at a time. 

It has been a very long winter and we are anxiously waiting for spring to arrive. It has been a busy week here hosting  March Break camp for wayward Granddogs! Max loves long walks and cuddles, and if you can believe it, my sewing machine has not been turned on at all this week! Yes we had this much snow on my street on Wednesday and this great Canadian dog loved it. His Grandma... not so much!

I have been obsessed with finishing my cross stitched Alphabet Hearts Sampler by JBW Designs.  It is stitched on 32 count Parisian Linen using 3 strands (for better coverage) over 2 threads using the called for green and pink threads.

I love how it turned out and am thinking about how to finish it. I'm wondering about making it into a long pillow? What would you do?

I also finished my Winter Mystery embroidery wallhanging from
Days Filled With Joy. It has minimal hand quilting along the blue stitched lines. For some unknown reason the top left corner of the binding went wonky. Oh well, I'm not redoing it since I'm already onto several other new projects! LOL

Finished Size: 7.75" square

What are you have stitching today? Link up your photo, instagram or blog post below and share your progress with us.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party! If you enjoy needles, threads, yarn, and hand made delights, you have found your tribe!

I finished a couple of hand stitched sympathy cards this week. This heart design by Little Lion Stitchery (free pattern when you subscribe) is fun to cross stitch, easy enough to complete quickly, yet challenging enough to keep your interest. I love to stitch with variegated threads. I painted a bit of pink around the centre cutout to make the card less stark white.

Great progress has been made on my Alphabet Sampler. I stitched from right to left on this project, and only have 2 more letters to go. The letter 'B' is almost done, and then there is only 'A' and 'C' to stitch. It has been a vision challenge to stitch on 36 count linen (3 threads over 2). One day I realized I had 3 pairs of glasses in my work space - plus my magnifier lamp! But I forgive it for being so hard to see because it looks absolutely beautiful, and I am very proud of this stitching! 

One more bit of progress - I found a backing, a piece of batting and pin basted my Winter Mystery Stitchalong. The hand quilting has been started around these adorable mittens. I am motivated to finish this miniature quilt before Joy starts her Spring mystery. 

What are you hand stitching today? Link up your photo, instagram or blog post below and share you slow progress with us.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Scrappy Saturday

The green scraps have had my full attention this week. It has been so fun to dig through the scrap bins and cut little green bits into useable 1.5" squares for my scrappy stars project. These 25 patch blocks are a 10 out of 10 on the fun sewing scale for scrappy sewers! I used up such a wide variety of greens.

Then I made 4 star blocks and although they don't use up as many scraps, they are still very fun to sew. I enjoy looking in the scraps for a neutral background to go with the scraps. My favourite is the Tula block on the top left with the whale in the centre square. 

And here is my block collection so far. I love how it's coming together! 

Apparently I only made 1 of each of the blocks in January and February, but green month inspired me to make more! There are just so many lovely variations of green - how can you resist?!?

Linking up to the weekly scrap party at Angela's

International Women's Day

I have finished cross stitching a project from the book "Really Cross Stitch". I love everything about this project, from the fancy lettering that clashes with the harsh message, to the asymmetrical design... I love it.

Love, love, super love it!

In the world of cross stitching most people tend to frame their finished pieces or turn them into pillows. But I am a quilter, so I'm not sure what this will become.

Here is the description about this design in the book. Because I have worked most of my career as a social worker in the front line trenches of treating victims of sexual assault and domestic violence, I know first hand that some things have not changed much in the past 100 years.

From the United Nations report in 2021:

 • Globally, an estimated 81,100 women and girls were killed intentionally in 2021. The overall number of female homicides has remained largely unchanged over the past decade. 

• Most killings of women and girls are gender motivated. In 2021, around 45,000 women and girls worldwide were killed by their intimate partners or other family members. This means that, on average, more than five women or girls are killed every hour by someone in their own family.

And that is my inspiration for stitching this cross stitch!

I want to wish you a Happy International Women's Day!

Design Wall Monday

For some unknown reason I had a desire to work on my version of the 2022 BOM from A Quilting Life. I worked on it at the beginning of February and had a lot of design decisions to make. That is the point at which a quilt can easily start inching into the UFO closet.

But not this time!

Here are the 12 blocks sewn together with the sashing and the square in a square cornerstones.

I like how it turned out so far and am wondering if I should quilt and bind it with black. Or if it needs a black border first to give it more of an outside frame? What are your thoughts?

Linking up to Design Wall Monday at Judy's

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching link up party! We encourage you to join us by putting some stitches into your project today. Hand stitching can provide numerous health benefits - click here to read an interesting article about 3 of the major benefits of hand sewing.

I have been faithfully wearing my custom made hand brace/orthosis when stitching and have noticed a surprising decrease in pain in just one week. Very good news!

And that means more stitching of course! Uh oh - don't tell the OT I said that! Apparently pain = time to stop!

I made a lot of progress on Joy's Winter Mystery Stitchalong. It is now ready to become an FFO (fully finished object) as they say on Flosstube. Of course I will turn it into a miniature quilt because that is what I enjoy to do. 

And I traced out Joy's next embroidery pattern called Tea Cup Critters of the month which can become part of a 36" quilt. 

I have also made progress on my Really Cross Stitch project. This one is going so fast and I love stitching with variegated thread to give the stitching more interest.

What are you hand stitching today? Share your progress with us and link up your photo, instagram or blog post below.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Scrappy Saturday

It's green month at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, which is perfect for celebrating St. Patrick's Day and also for those of us who are longing for signs of spring. Today my world is covered in white as we had a huge snowfall last night.

I am snug in my sewing room with my little green scraps spread around, and I am cutting them into 1.5" squares for my Scrappy Stars project. 

Here is the first green star block - so darn pretty! I hope to make some alternate 25 patch blocks today. There are already enough squares cut to enjoy some mindless sewing.

This is an early RSC project and there aren't many blocks made yet. it's too early to tell if this will be a small quilt or a large bed quilt. It depends on how much I like it over time.

Linking up to the RSC party