Slow Sunday Stitching - Bird Parade

Welcome to the Slow Sunday Stitching party here at Kathy's Quilts where we celebrate hand stitching of all varieties. We want to encourage our fellow hand stitchers to keep making slow progress, and to squeeze every ounce of enjoyment possible from each stitch taken.

This week I have a confession to make and here it is - I LOVE birds. Love them 💖. I "know" the birds in the back yard, and I know which birds are calling or singing even when I can't see them. My family members love to tell funny (in retrospect) stories of me coping (or not coping!) with birds in need of help. And I enjoy watching Robert Fuller videos for entertainment. 

So it isn't any surprise that I enjoy stitching bird projects. Today I am sharing a bird project parade.

Shari the Colorado Cross Stitcher is hosting an online Cross Stitch Camp event and the theme for June is birds! The camp badge even has a pink bird on it. But I am NOT starting anything new because I have enough bird projects on the go! 

#1) Stitcher by Luminous Fiber Arts was started in March. I have enjoyed stitching with the Weeks Dye Works threads (although I still prefer my DMC floss). Of course I stitched the bird first! It is close to a finish. 

#2) Spring's Messenger by Scattered Seeds Sampler. I started this in April and couldn't wait to stitch my way to the blue eggs. I'm stitching the second egg and realizing that my count was off in placing the branch that the nest sits on. It will just be a smaller egg than anticipated! 

#3) Melisa's Spring Stamp Collection was also started in April and has been a delightful slow stitch. I am almost finished the header and have finished 1 design on the top right. I adore these little blue birds and wish my hands would allow me to stitch more often. But pacing is important and I am trying to listen to my body to inform how many hours I can stitch each week.

I am using the "sewing" method of cross stitch now and although the stitches don't look as flat (as stab stitching), it is easier for my hands to do. I am stitching design #6 which has the early bird catching a worm. 

#4) I also knit a hummingbird dishcloth from the Garden Dishcloths to Knit pattern book using a pretty blue Sudz yarn. Can you see the cute little bird fluttering on the top right? I love knitting these little cloths!

That's my bird project parade! Are you stitching any birds this week? Link up your instagram or blog post below and share your hand stitching with us!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Crappy Saturday

Yes it is Crappy Saturday here at Kathy's Quilts! 

The sewer backed up into the basement on Thursday night which will cause a huge repair expense when it hopefully gets fully fixed next week. It also caused me to miss out on a weekend quilting retreat with friends in Trout Creek. Instead of quilting with my friends I am cleaning the basement 😰

I am thinking about how sewer and sewer are heteronyms - the words are spelled the same but mean very different things! 

I will spend half the day in the sewer basement, and half the day in the sewer room!

Making more disappearing pinwheel blocks has been such a delight. 

I have finished 6 disappearing pinwheel blocks in blue (which is the colour of the month for the Rainbow Scrappers). Here they are on the design wall.

Linking up to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Design Wall Monday

On Saturday I attended a fun "in person" sewing day with my guild members. I have been attending regularly via zoom, but gosh I missed being with people during the covid years! Zoom is fun, but there is nothing like actually being together and working on donation quilts with "like minded" quilters!

We had a wonderful day of sewing string blocks. I worked on sewing together the purple blocks that other guild members had made. I brought my 1952 Featherweight sewing machine for this outing. At first she had a bit of trouble with the tension (out of practice!) but I was able to fix it and she did a great job of getting these blocks sewn together.

Here are the string blocks on the design wall. I am still leaning to the chevron layout and look forward to making more purple string blocks to add to this collection. Notice the occasional pieced strings which add character to the project and use up smaller pieces 💜💜💜

I went to the sew day with no projects to work on and just wanted to help with whatever was needed. 

And I came home with THREE projects! This is the other string piecing project I adopted. I'm sure you can see why I couldn't let it stay at the orphanage! I love these blocks and can't wait to make more of them!

Linking up to Judy's Design Wall Monday

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly celebration of hand stitching! It's the one time a week where we make sure to set aside some special moments for playing with needles and thread. We hope you will join us!

I have been knitting the project from the Garden Dishcloths book that I started last week. I am using Estelle Sudz yarn which is 100% cotton and made for dishcloths. I enjoy the portability of this hand work - in this photo I am waiting for Granddog Max to come out of the vet office. It was a $1,400 Wednesday for Max as he now has pancreatitis and kidney stones. The knitting helped me pass the time feeling less worried.

Here's the little sick boy home safe and sound. We each bought him a new toy since we were feeling so sorry for him! He has another surgery next week.  

Here is the finished dishcloth. Can you tell what the pattern is? I love stitching these so much that I want to make every pattern in the book! I have already cast on the stitches for the next one!

I have also been working on the Fat Quarter Shop mystery cross stitch. I was getting frustrated with my very slow progress, and discovered that although the pattern calls for 2 threads over 2, at some point I had started using 3 threads over 2. Why? I have no idea, but it was hard to pull the threads through and tiring for my hands. Finally I realized the problem and returned to using 2 threads, which is so much easier of course! I should make some progress on this today.

What are you hand stitching on this first Sunday in June? Maybe you will be able to enjoy some outdoor stitching if you have good weather? Please link up your instagram or blog post below and share your slow progress with us.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Disappearing Pinwheels

Orange was the colour of the month at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this month, and I have finished a few more disappearing pinwheel blocks.

Here are the orange blocks looking bright and cheerful!

I have quite a good block collection going and keep adding more blocks here and there. Here's how they look on the design wall. I'll keep making more until I get tired of them. More blue blocks are coming next month!

Linking up to Design Wall Monday at Judy's and the RSC linkup at Angela's

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party!

Why not pick up your project and put in a few stitches today? That's exactly what I'm planning to do this afternoon. I started knitting a dishcloth with a bee skep pattern from an old book called "Garden Dishcloths" that my friend Debby found. I am really enjoying this project so I plan to do some knitting.

This week I finished embroidering the word "home" in the centre of a pieced block which will become part of a donation quilt.

I also want to share with you a bit about the Mennonite Relief sale and quilt auction that happened yesterday.  Although my sewing group didn't have a quilt to donate this year, I was inspired to get working on our group project for next year.

Here is a terrible selfie of me volunteering at the sale.  I think I got a bit dehydrated and started to feel unwell, so I didn't stay until the end like I usually like to do. 

Since covid, they have capacity to include online bids, and you can see on the photo below on the TV screen where the bids are coming in from (across Canada and the USA).

This is a quilt named 
"China Blue" that my friend Sandy pieced and donated and it raised $725!

There was so much inspiration to take in! I love to hear ladies oooing and ahhhing , pouring the details of  gorgeous quilts. There was a lot of that going on!

One of my favourite quilts was this tiny little treasure named "Wheel of Fortune" made with exquisite workmanship by Henny Bremer. 

Details:

-543 patches

-62 different fabrics

-size 11" x 8 "

I also saw many lovely labels and pretty backing fabrics. Look at this label on the back of "Quilt Addict Tulip Time" which reads: "Am I a quilt addict? Well yes, Oh no, Yes yes yes, Shhh maybe, No I am not, Yes I am today, Define addict?" Well that covers all the possible answers!  LOL

And of course I was inspired by all the lovely handwork I spotted. Just look at this gorgeous embroidery on a quilt called "Paisley". It didn't show well from a distance, but up close, this quilt was so beautifully done.

I hope you were inspired by my photos to pick up your stitching and make some progress today. And please link up your blog or instagram post below so we can enjoy your creativity.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party! It's time to put your feet up, relax, and put some stitches into your favourite project. Just breathe and stitch, even if just for a few moments.

I will be breathing slowly and putting some stitches into this mystery cross stitch from the Fat Quarter Shop. I think I am making good progress, but I am 2 weeks behind right now. That's okay... I'll catch up (or I won't!)

And I will be finishing some embroidery on this sampler block. That is probably all I will have time for today. 

What will you be stitching today? We'd love to see your projects and hope you will link up below!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Sewcialites 2

Orange is the colour of the month at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I have been playing with some orange scraps and made 2 new sewcialites blocks to add to my collection.

First up is block # 15 called "Brighten" by Minki Kim. This was quick and easy to sew, and made from 3 fabrics.  I'm making all my blocks in the 6" size but this is a really cool block and wouldn't it make a dramatic quilt in the larger size (9") pattern?

Next was block #18 called "Spellbound" by Robin Pickens. It was the perfect pattern to use up 16 pieces in my 1.5" square collection. 

Why did I skip block #16 and #17 you ask? Well, one block was too many large chunk of orange for my liking, and I'll save that one for another month's colour, and one block was too hard for my brain this week, so I'll also save that one for next month!

Here is my yummy block collection so far. Some colours are noticeably absent in the sampler, but they will appear in the next few months.

All the free Sewcialites 2 block patterns are posted now (in 3 sizes) and will continue to stay on the Fat Quarter website, so I will keep sewing 2 blocks each month until I have sewn them all.

Linking up to Angela's RSC party and Judy's Design Wall party

Mother's Day 2023

Happy Slow Sunday Stitching and Happy Mother's Day to all who "mother"!  Kris from Scrapdash wrote in her newsletter:  "Whether your baby is two-footed, four-footed, feathered, finned, or quilted, today is your day". 

I have been mothering my Granddog this weekend and he loves to go for car rides (unless it is driving to the vet!) He sticks his head out the window as far as he can reach to get all the good smells.

I finally finished my 1991 cross stitch! Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to finish it - I'm so glad I took your advice!

I took this photo in the early morning sunlight with some spring tulips. The photo looked better in my mind's eye than in real life.

I gifted the pillow to my Mom when it wasn't quite finished - you can see the clips across the bottom. I don't have the hand strength at the moment to do that kind of stitching, so my friend Debby actually stitched it closed for me. The stitched words across the bottom say "The world is so full of a number of things, I'm sure we should all be as happy as Kings" (a quote from Robert Louis Stevenson)

We should be happy, but I was quite cross this week about a glitch (aka mistake) on my spring cross stitch.  My sister so patiently fixed for me. That's right - the dreaded ripping out of stitches. I can't bear it... but thankfully she enjoys unstitching - for others. This project is going into time out for a bit until I build my confidence to work on it again (hopefully not 30 years!)

I did make some progress on my Spring embroidery from Days Filled With Joy. These little adorable bumgoots filled with flowers are step #2. The next block to stitch are seed packets, so I hope to work on those today.

What are you hand stitching today? I hope you will link up your photo, instagram or blog post below and share your project with us.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Hot Mess Design Wall

Life has been crazy/fun/busy lately, which means my quilting productivity has decreased. This is what my design wall looks like. There are three different projects represented, and many of the 60 degree triangle blocks fell off. Pathetic!

But full disclosure - that's the way it is when life is busy!

For one thing I went on a shop hop! Woohoo! Every May, for the past 17 years my friend Louise and I take the first Friday in May off work and we go on a shop hop together. We missed 2 years during covid and were delighted to be together again for another adventure! This shop hop used to be called "Goose on the Loose", and now it is called Hills and Valleys and included 4 stores this year. 

We enjoyed leisurely country drives, deep conversation, a delicious lunch at the Creemore Bakery, and of course soaking up a wide range of quilty inspiration at each quilt store. Some stores had draws to win prizes and deals on some products. We each did a significant amount of damage to our credit cards! And also, we did not buy all the things we wanted to, because we do have some self control! LOL

I have also been on a quilt retreat, but that report will have to wait for another day. 

Linking up to Judy's design wall party

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party!

It's time to get out your stitching project, a cup of your favourite beverage, and enjoy some Sunday relaxation!

Last Sunday I attended a little hand stitching party hosted by my friends Debby and Dorothy. It was so much fun to see what everyone had brought to stitch. We had some embroidery, cross stitch, crochet, and we even had a painter! We also had one person "making memories" and talking about stitching, but not really doing anything! We won't mention any names! LOL Visiting with friends is a very important task, and since we have been so socially deprived over the past 3 years, we are making up for it now!

And look at these new friends... Livvy is learning to crochet turtles, and Katie begged to buy one to give to her son.

Janice had just come back from Stitch North and told us all about the event, and showed her floss winnings! We were so happy for her, and know she will make many gorgeous stitcheries in the future. She showed us the patterns and books that she bought and we all decided we were going to attend next year (even though I have tried to attend the past 2 years and missed the deadline before it was sold out).

And of course I have started a new project! 

You know how I love mystery projects and the Fat Quarter Shop started a spring mystery called "Life in Full Bloom". So I had to jump on board with that! These are the necessary supplies. I had 7 of the 12 required floss colours, so only had to buy 5. I am stitching on 28 count Lugana which is so soft.

Here is my start. A new section of the pattern comes out each Friday, so hopefully I will be motivated to keep up. I love the argyle design I stitched so far and the pretty needle minder that came with the project. 

What are you stitching today? Are you starting new projects, or finishing old ones? I hope you are able to have some happy stitching moments today and can share your projects with us in the link up below.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Krista's Diamond Ruler Class

On Saturday I attended a virtual workshop on the design possibilities of a 60 degree ruler with Krista Moser. It was fantastic! 

I hadn't taken a quilting class for about a year and I forgot how much I enjoy being able to stay at home to learn (no commute), wearing my pyjamas, having all my supplies and equipment around me, and seeing everything perfectly. Krista was an excellent teacher, so I learned some teaching tips from her as well as her many quilting tips.

I was "in the zone" as they say! Cutting fabric and sewing and being constantly amazed at how everything lined up perfectly! I can't say enough good things about her specialty ruler. It was pricey and I'm not one to have all the gadgets and rulers, but this one is well worth the investment and I am sure I will get a lot of use out of it.

We made many different complex blocks with lots of bias seams, and Krista shared her tips about how to handle and sew pieces to reduce bias issues. You have to take a class with her to decode why I took this photo to remind me of a few of her tips.

I am telling you, I barely had to use pins and my blocks were practically perfect most of the time! I can't even believe it! I felt like something magical was going on!

And just look at all the various block patterns she taught us in one day! Here is my day's accomplishment on the design wall.

Pinwheel diamond, rainbow hexie, wreath hexie, star block and pinwheel hexie were some of the patterns we learned how to make. I hope to sew these into an equilateral triangle sampler. 

I keep looking at my design wall in amazement today! My grade 10 math teacher would roll over in his grave if only he knew I could accomplish this! LOL

Lynn's mini blocks

But just look at this... our co-student Becky  challenged us to make the blocks smaller, and Lynn actually did! Look at how small her blocks became (loonie on the table gives the size perspective). Now I have to try to meet this challenge too!

Linking up with Judy's design wall postings

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to Slow Sunday Stitching where we celebrate the art of creating things with our hands. Any hand stitching activity is welcome here :)

I have been slowly cross stitching Melisa's Spring project. I repaired the problematic bird in the header that I posted last week. Thank you to the eagle eye stitchers who told me how to fix my mistakes.

I also stitched the first stamp on the upper right, which is stamp #3 called Bluebird and Bees. So cute! I am using the sewing method of cross stitch and stitching in hand, which I find to be  easier with my sore hand.  I am willing to overlook the fact that it doesn't look as nice as stab stitching using a hoop.

And following along with the bird theme, I have been watching the nesting chickadee family in the front yard birdhouse. It provides hours of free entertainment to watch the comings and goings of Mr and Mrs while they are setting up house and hopefully planning to have a family.

Okay, enough of the bird watching, now it's time for more bird stitching. Next up is making the maroon frames so I can stitch more bird patterns (9 in total).

What are you hand stitching today? You know we love to peek in on your progress, so link up your photo, instagram or blog post below.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter