Where Has All the Stitching Gone?

Spurred on by Debra, I've been thinking of my stitching life over the past year and realized that since we began remodeling our kitchen last spring, I've not once picked up an embroidery project! And there are quite a few unfinished projects waiting patiently for me to get going, so with that in mind, and a gentle push from Debra, I signed up for TAST (Take a Stitch Tuesday), hoping to learn some new stitches and hoping to finish some long neglected ones. Lots of WIPS are waiting for me:
The Christmas Sampler
The Christmas Quilt
CQ Purse Front
CQ Purse Back

And that's just a few WIPs that come to mind. Lately I've been doing lots of knitting, and yes, there are some unfinished projects of that ilk also. But I have finished a number of things including this shawlette for my sister.

So, in 2012 I am going to finish as many of these projects as possible, but first I have to think up a TAST project, something for all those new stitches. Any ideas? And just in case you wondered, the kitchen is finished....except for a new light fixture.

But then there're all those Christmas projects......... waiting patiently!

Squawk! Squawk! Squawk!

Nope, that's not the birds, although we've heard a few this noisy. It's me, trying to talk. Somewhere I picked up a rather stubborn laryngitis bug and have felt less than wonderful for the past week. We had company, too, and I sure hope they didn't leave here with an unintended bonus!

I've been meaning to post this little guy ever since we got back. We've seen killdeer a lot in the Midwest, and once even here in our church parking lot. The bird book says their nest is a "scrape on bare ground in field, bald spot in pasture, gravel shore, roadway, etc." This house stands on what used to be farmland in MN, and you guessed it, much of where we live used to be farms also. I'd say these little fellows have lots to squawk about!
Killdeer

And then there's this member of the jay family that's been visiting us lately, mostly to steal nuts from the resident squirrel. Their "song" is a particularly raucous squawk that doesn't resemble a crow's but is distinctive. I love their blueblack feathers as well as their cheeky spirit. Steller's Jay

What's going on inside, you say? Well, this little plant decided to bloom which is always an occasion of mixed blessing. The flower is beautiful and fun to watch open, but it has a sickeningly sweet odor....at night! Our niece says that's to attract insects, but I sure hope it doesn't work. It's other interesting "trick" is that it drips a honeylike substance from the flowers. So, these lovely blossoms never last long in our house because I cut them off right after they open. It's nice to have a photo reminder though as it neither smells nor drips!
Wax Plant or Hoya

Before my voice and energy deserted me, I partially embellished the front and back of the purse that's pieced with Allie's fabrics. Now my purse is flying across the mountains to visit Janet who will add some of her magical stitches.
Purse Front

I was very excited to find the large flat button in my stepmother's button box. I also learned a lot, mostly that the stitching needs to conside the flap and overlap. I'll do better on that next time hopefully!
Purse Back

That's it for now; I'll be back when I can do more than squawk! Soon, I hope!

Pat's Give Away and Carl's Under Sea Adventure, an Unlikely Pair

Pat is having a giveaway on her blog, one of those cute little birdnests that she makes. Go sign up; you won't be sorry as there's lots of her lovely work to see.


On another note, I've noticed lots of CQ featuring the theme "Under the Sea" and thought I'd share this video of my son and his friend's recent real watery adventure. I'm sticking to swimming at the Y!

"Summertime and the Living's" Been.......Really, Really HOT!

Perhaps you've read about the heatwave in our area, and perhaps you haven't. Trust me, it was HOT here, almost too hot to do anything. Normally the natives start to complain when the thermometer tops 80 degrees, and on Wednesday the official temperature was 103 degrees, an all-time record! While that isn't too hot elsewhere perhaps, it's extremely hot for west of the Cascades, especially since very few homes have air conditioning. Today, it is finally cooler and our morning grey sky is back. However, we found proof of the heat in one of our bedrooms where I keep my "wee Willie Winky" candle holders.
Too Hot!

Not much happened over the past week except trying to stay cool. Both of our cats would look out side as if to say, "What's happening out there?" and then go flop down on the sort of cool tile in the front hall or the kitchen linoleum.
It's hot out there!

I did do a little piecing for a CQ project or two. Last spring I bought a nice packet of coordinated fabric from Allie and finally got them pieced for a purse project that Janet and I are doing.
Front
Back and Flap

And then, I received a lovely surprise from Kathy, her puzzle pieces and two pretty fat quarters. I am finished with one of her pieces and have a good start on the other one but won't show them till later so as not to spoil the surprise.
Thank you, Kathy!

Meanwhile, I am enjoying the COOL. It's 8:30 AM and only 63 degrees. Hurrah!

Saving Noah~

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that I've been working on Lynette Anderson's free Noah BOM for the past year. To my horror, when I went to assemble the finished blocks, the top half did not fit as they should. Those patterns did not print off correctly or something; it never occurred to me to check. So, I was left to figure out a way to make them work and "save Noah." What a challenge! The lady at the fabric shop said, "You need coping strips." Yeah, right!
Coping with Noah
Well, many strips later, it is put together and sashed with the whole thing bordered like each small piece. What's the next step? A trip to the quilt shop..... Oh, darn.

A Wonderful Surprise

The day after Christmas the first mail delivery in days brought a surprise gift from my blogging friend, Kathy. She felt bad that this beautiful pillow didn't arrive in time for Christmas, but actually the timing was exquisite. I awoke that day feeling terrible and spent most of the day in bed, and her wonderful surprise was a real pick-me-up! Thank you so much, Kathy. Your stitching is lovely, and your pillow is a real treasure! Some day I hope we can meet face-to-face.
A Beautiful Gift

Nuttin' But Newbies Swap

While we were gone, I received this beautful block from a swap on the Crazy Quilting for Newbies site. Doesn't Janet do fabulous work? When I saw this block on her blog, I never dreamed it would one day be mine. Janet later wrote me, saying that one of the blocks she received was from me. Thank you, Janet!

Another CQ Attempt

I finally "bit the bullet" and agreed to try a Crazy Quilt swap at CQforNewbies. The only real requirement for the "Nuttin' But Newbies" swap was that the block include something with a birdhouse, and thanks to Kathy, I had the perfect charm and a wonderful piece of lace. I also had a block that I'd pieced a while back for practice and was the correct size, so how could I refuse? Here is what my unembellished block looked like. Hopefully it's OK!
Unembellished Block
I learned a lot on this block: that the "flower" yarn would pull through fabric easily, how to make a bee thanks to Bullions from A to Z, how to make Kathy's cool SRE daisies, and how to attach things using beads. It was a fun project and is now on its way to Lesa as my first CQ swap block. Perhaps if you double click, you can see the details better.
Off to Lesa

Kathy's Magic Touch!

Yesterday the mail contained my CQ heart which had been visiting Kathy in Pennsylvania. She had worked her magic on it and returned it very quickly. What a fabulous job she did! Here's how my heart looked when she received it:
My Piecing and Stitching
And here's how Kathy added to it. Isn't it wonderful? I learned a lot from this exchange.Kathy's Additions

Kathy's CQ Heart

Sometime last spring, Kathy and I decided to do a heart exchange where each of us would piece a heart, embellish half of it, and then exchange it for the other person to finish. After we stitched the remaining half, we'd return it home. Well, Kathy's heart arrived, along with some beautiful hand-dyed lace pieces and a couple of charms, while we were driving around California and Oregon. That was a very nice surprise, and I've already used the beautiful butterfly on Sophia's bonnet.
Kathy's Half-done Heart
Since I had taken my heart with me and had even worked on it in the evenings, I worked like crazy on hers and sent both of them, plus a few goodies, to her. Just the other day, she sent an email saying she'd received them and better yet, was happy with what I'd done to her heart. As other CQ bloggers have said, you really can learn a lot from studying another person's work! It will be fun to see what Kathy comes up with on my heart.
Kathy's Heart as Returned
To see the details better, you might want to double click on the photo.

Embroidery on the Road and 2 UFOs

Knitting on the road I can do, but embroidery I can't, so I usually bring those projects along on trips to work on in the evenings. First, I finished the July Noah's Art BOM; then, I worked on Kathy's CQ heart and half of my own. I won't post Kathy's heart for a bit though because I just dropped them both into the mail yesterday and want her to see hers first.
August Noah's Ark
I pieced this last spring and just embellished it before sending it on to Kathy so she can work her magic on it.
Half of My Heart
This week I've been on a real "finishing streak," attacking stuff that has been languishing for a bit, waiting oh so patiently for me to do the sewing together part. Here's a sweater for Sophia that will be part of her birthday package. I can't believe she'll be turning one in a couple of weeks!Velvet Touch Sweater
The other finished project is a pair of slippers for David from a pattern called "Bunny Hoppers" in Kathleen Taylor's book, Knit One, Felt Too. They, too, have awaited sewing together, my least favorite task and one that I'm very good at putting off....the born procrastinator, you know. Here's how they looked before felting. It actually took 3 tries to felt them properly.Before Felting
Finally Finished!
They've been waiting to be sewed since June, so I sure hope they still fit!

CQ Piecing Practice

Another Heart
Lest you think I've been only doing knitting, I have tried my hand at printing off an image as well as have been practicing piecing. Some turned out better than others, but this one is my favorite. Now to embellish the whole lot, but first I have to finish weaving in the ends on David's sweater as we are going to Chicago soon!

Block Party Quilters' Show

This is the weekend of the Block Party Quilter's Show, so Dick and I went on Friday because we figured it would be less crowded. Yesterday, however, the weather was gorgeous for the first time in ages, and I'm wondering whether that impacted attendance. Of course, there were lots of beautiful quilts, way too many to photograph, but I did find several CQ items which I'll post here. The rest of the photos that Dick took for me are on my Flickr site, including a quilt that our FMS group made for the Ronald MacDonald house, which is BPQ's charity project.
Beyond the Secret Garden by Lynn Majidimehr
I took a free motion quilting class from Lynn Majidimehr ; she is extremely talented and has her own design business. As you can see, she's very creative! I just found out today (5/2) that she won a third place ribbon for this one and 2 firsts for two others that you can see on her blog!

I also found two other crazy quilts: The flowers are machine embroidered.
Crazy Quilt by Barbara Reed

And the blocks on this one were created by the ladies in Diane Axworthy's small group. She assembled the quilt. The Ladies by Diane Axworthy
Be sure to check out the rest of the quilts on Flickr and remember to double click on the photos to see the details.

My Heart Is Back Home!

A week ago the mail brought a very nice surprise: Linda returned my heart after doing a really nice job of embellishing it. Thanks so much! The heart was relatively bare when I sent it off and looks quite different now. I especially like the seam with all the French knots, and the way she attached the beads on the lace flower. That motif fits just perfectly where she put it! My plan had been to add some beads when I got it back....how did she know that? I may add a touch of color to the lace pieces but mostly I need to decide how best to finish it. Hmmmmm. Any suggestions?

My First Heart Swap

Linda's Heart Before
This is Linda's heart that she pieced and partially embellished before she sent it to me. We have both been hesitant to participate in the established swaps at Crazy Quilts for Newbies because we're both beginners, so we created our own swap following the guidelines for the STS swap. Her heart had been languishing in our mail until we returned from vacation, and this week I've been working on it. I'll mail it back tomorrow on the way home from church. Above is the heart as done by Linda.
Linda's Heart After
I had a lot of fun embellishing this heart. Linda had done all the seams, and at first I felt like there wasn't anything for me to do. But after I got started, the ideas kept coming, and here's how it turned out. One thing I learned was that I really like the way the Sassa Lynne Perle Fine gives definition to the stitches that doesn't seem to happen with ordinary embroidery thread. I also like the way variegated thread looks. It was fun to use some of the beads that I bought in Hawaii; it took 3 trips before we "caught" the bead shop actually open! (But it was worth it!) BTW, double clicking on the images shows the most detail.

Partially Embellished Heart

We just got back from being gone for over a week, but before we left I got a bit of embellishing done on my heart. It was really fun figuring out a way to attach the hearts!

CQ Heart

Even though the Fall block isn't finished, I decided to piece a heart, using the idea of a 5-sided shape in the middle. Well....something happened to the fifth side, but I think it looks OK anyhow. So, I will embellish it with some of Susan's thread that came in today's mail. How did she know the colors I needed?