February is on its Way Out

I have been working a bit in the quilt studio but not as much as I would have liked. I had two interviews this week and also a bit too much back pain for standing and quilting.

So I have done two squares on the Batik Windows quilt but I have had some tension issues and I have not moved forward yet.

The drawing on the left is how I am trying to quilt inside of the square. I am feeling OK about that but the tension issues are stalling me. I will hopefully work those out today and be able to move on with this project.

Since I have finished my leader ender project from Bonnie Hunter I do not have a new leader ender project to work on. I have been thinking I need to start another Quilt of Valor and these quilts make great leader ender projects. So I am making 8 X 8 squares that I will later sash. The individual squares are from my 2 1/2 inch square bins and I am using only red, blue and patriotic fabric. The finished size is 16 inches which are very large for me but should work up very quickly.

I have three of these done and have started on the 4th. I have not decided how many rows across and how many down yet.

I have the mystery quilt webbed together and I am now sewing the rows together. This will be so nice to have finished to the top state.

Well, this is all I have for this week. I will post again on Sunday.

Slow Sunday Stitching-Hibiscus Part 3

I have been a little slow in stitching this week but I have made some progress. There are times when I am stitching that I can't quite get myself motivated to finish the flower up quickly. But then I think about that and realize that this is OK because it is Slow Stitching and enjoying the process is the most important part in these projects. I like to start and finish the hair part of the flower before I move onto the face and then to the leaves. This flower has allot going on in the hair part.

I am linking up with Slow Sunday Stitching each week. I have never done this before this year and I am enjoying it very much.

To see what others are Slow Stitching please click here.

What I am Working on This Week

I have had a slow week in the quilt studio. I have worked in there but have very little to show.

I have all but one of the alternate blocks made for the mystery quilt. I discovered that I had mis-figured on the star blocks but it will be fine. I thought I needed 25 blocks but I only need 24.

I am short for the chevrons in the alternate blocks but I knew that I was at least one short when I was making them. At the time I sewed them I was not too concerned because I knew I would be able to take care of that at this point when I am putting the blocks together.

As soon as I make the chevron I need I will put together the last block and then I will web this top together. Yeah, another finished top.

I have started on the pieced outer border now so I can have them ready when I get the inner border on the quilt.

I also went to visit my friend Lynn and picked up the backing fabric and batting needed for the quilt I call Sunshine. I never name my quilts but this certainly shines like the sun. It is a beautiful quilt and we have chosen the thread and the pantogram for it. I was very worried that I did not tell Lynn to buy enough fabric for the backing and binding but it has turned out perfectly. I have washed, ironed and cut the fabric for the backing and still have more than enough for the binding.

The fabric on the right has very small flowers with a white back ground. I will start on this quilt as soon as I finish my Batik windows quilt that I have had on the HQ for a few weeks now.

I have not completed the last of the quilting because I have been intimated with the rain drops. But I plan to get some practice in on the white board and then I will dive into finishing the last of this quilting. I do not have the binding cut for this quilt yet but that should not take long and then I will have another quilt finished for 2014.

So this is all for this week. I will post on Sunday for Slow Stitching.

Slow Sunday Stitching-Hibiscus Part 2

I have been making slow progress on Miss Hibiscus this week. She is looking pretty good so far.

She seems to have allot more details to work on and it will probably take me a few weeks to complete here.

I have been very inspired by the slow stitching of many others who link up with Slow Sunday Stitching.

To see what others are working on please click here.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge-Pink (Craftsy blocks)

I have been working on the Craftsy blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and they are done now.

The first block is called the Balkan Puzzle.

The second block is called the Chunky Chevron block.

It is nice to have these done.
I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.
To see what others are doing for their blocks please click here.

Yeah! Progress! Split 9-patch & Celtic Solstice

I have been piecing like crazy this past week. I have finally sewn the entire top together for the Split 9-patch quilt for the leader ender project this year. I had seven blocks missed sewn together and had to rip them out and then put them back in properly. Jenny helped me rip and it didn't take long to have it all done.

I have also been sewing together the star blocks for the Celtic Solstice quilt and have completed all 25 of them.  I did come up short with some units for the last star. I quickly got those done up so I could have all the stars done. Yeah!

I have also laid out the alternate blocks that go with this quilt. I haven't sewn any together yet. Thank goodness because the one I have laid out to be sewn is not correct. I will fix that when I start sewing them together.

Well, this is all I have for today.

Slow Sunday Stitching-Hibiscus

I have completed Miss Fuchsia. YEAH! She is very happy.

I have decided to talk about the way I am approaching these flowers. I purchased them many years ago from a Tri Chem dealer. These were suppose to be painted. But 40 years later I do not want to paint them and I think that embroidery looks so much better.
I have to approach each flower with just my own ideas of how she should look. I go to the internet and google the flower and when I find an image I like and that I think will go with this particular flower design I then use it to pick out my floss colors and decide on the stitches that will look best with this flower.

So here are my resources laid out to help guide me as I begin the process with Miss Hibiscus. Maybe click on the picture to see all of the items. The drawing is where I start, then I transferred it to the fabric. The image I keep in front of me to help me choose the colors and then to refer back to as I go from color to color as I stitch. I feel like I have gotten better with each flower and I have tried to add more and more texture as I go along.

This is where I am at with Miss Hibiscus now. Oops I forgot to add the picture.

To see other Slow Sunday Stitching click here.