Catching Up With Quilty Stitches

                                                     
The last block in this series has been released and one of my goals for the week is to get caught up. I did some stitching earlier in August between moving trips and was able to finish 1 of the 5 blocks I have left.

I also got a good start on two others. If you look closely at the top pic you can see that I ended up doing some un-stitching on block 12 because I didn't like how my colors were going together. Usually I do them in order but since I knew that block 13 would use red & aqua (all of my blocks have these 2 colors in them) I skipped ahead to that one. Then since I'd already skipped ahead I figured why not start the other 2 as well. I think I might have been on moving overload!

The colored pencils were a find when I was shopping for our son's graduation party last spring... I love that they are 2 colors to a pencil. So I dug them out and starting coloring in my templates. As you can see I've already changed my mind (again) on the Economy Block and am going to flip the orange and pink around.

Block #16 will be an easy one - all in red. The picture of the finished layout is from Corey's blog Little Miss Shabby. This project has been SO MUCH FUN!

And here is a closeup of my Slow Sunday Stitching... I'm linking up at Kathy's Quilts for the first time in weeks.

Stash Additions & Quilty Stitches

I actually can't remember the last time I added fabric to an online shopping cart before last week - talk about CRAZY! I was browsing my over stuffed blog feed and just had to have this collection of Paris FQs from The Intrepid Thread. I have been lucky enough to visit Paris twice and I have a small "starter set" of Paris prints in my stash closet

I was especially drawn to the low volume prints in the mix... now I'm going to have to decide what to make with them. The bottom fabrics were from the clearance section - I'll use the Sunnyside & Simply Style prints for binding as I have some charm packs from these lines. The 3rd fabric is a panel from Winter's Lane.

I won some Winter's Lane charm packs from a give-away last December so I thought the panels would be fun to work into either a wall hanging or some seasonal pillows. I love the pops of red against the muted colors in this line.

Block 11 for Little Miss Shabby's Quilty Stitches came out yesterday and I couldn't wait to get started on the Japanese x + y block. When I posted this pic on Instagram last night I was called an over achiever! It was the perfect way to spend a coolish afternoon and finish up my latest audio book. You can find the patterns for all of the blocks HERE. They are so much fun to stitch up.

I'm a novice on Instagram but I do love following along with the other stitchers - I'm deb_asimplelifequilts over there. Baby steps!

#quiltystitches Blocks 9 & 10

Here it is the end of May and what a month it was! Graduation, Mother's Day, Half Marathon and lots of family time held my focus in May. I'm thinking I will have to do a post and share some pics of my family soon... I kind of hold back at that but I do understand the enjoyment of getting know the blogger behind the quilts.  

In the meantime I can share the last 2 blocks of Little Miss Shabby's Quilty Stitches cross stitch sampler. I did the pinwheel block yesterday while avoiding the midday heat & sun.

Our weather pattern dramatically shifted overnight to a cool and rainy forecast through Monday so this morning I finished up the Petals block while drinking my coffee. I MUST make a Petal quilt!

I'm hoping to catch a track meet weather permitting early afternoon and then I will be hustling to finish up my May Schnibble X Rated for a post tonight.

Here are the kitties the morning after our son's graduation party... I think I could have easily curled up next to them! Tucker was quite the social one joining in the fun but poor Elsa spent most of the day hiding in our lower level or under the bed.

Here's to (I'll say it again) more quilting in June!

Quick Post

Another week gone by with lots of off blog activities but I do have a few things to share today.  I finished another ruffle scarf this week in blues to toss on with my jean jacket to jazz things up a bit. Now I will start to resist the ruffle yarns and move onto some of the other yarns in my stash.

The 8th block for Quilty Stitches (button on my sidebar for more information) is also done which means that I am caught up. I have got to make a granny square quilt one day but the cross stitched version will have to do for now.

We are heading back to Fargo, ND today for our second weekend in a row. Last Saturday our daughter ran her 2nd half marathon and my husband ran it along with her.  She finished 15 minutes ahead of her 1st one and was thrilled. This weekend we are going to watch a college track meet. My husband and I met at NDSU as runners and now one of his high school track graduates runs on the team. In between I'll do some shopping for our son's graduation next weekend. It is a most busy May!

I love this picture of Elsa out on our screen porch showing off her crazy tail in the sunlight.

Warm sunny days like this are still rare around here. Some afternoons I let Elsa and Tucker out there anyway and then they come scurrying back in. It looks like spring is due to arrive next week - fingers crossed!

Stitching and Knitting

Where has April gone? I can't wrap my mind around the fact that it will be May in a few days! The ice has gone out on our lake despite 2 afternoons of snow mixed with rain showers this week. One gorgeous 70 degree day on Easter really helped speed the disappearing act along I guess.

On Wednesday night I got caught up with my DVR while stitching Block #7 for Quilty Stitches - Lone Star of Paradise. The model block was worked in 3 colors but since I couldn't decide which color to add to my plan of using red & aqua in each block I went with a patchwork of colors.

Now I'm kind of second guessing myself as it looks a bit too much like the Friendship Star block next to it but I think as more blocks are added I can balance it out. Elsa liked it just as it is so I could put it down and give her some attention! Yes that is her shadow on the pic above.

While decluttering our closet I came across a couple skeins of yarn that I bought on a trip 2 summers ago in Asheville, NC and decided to knit them up. The 1st one is made from Katia Triana yarn.

As I was working on it I kept thinking how these colors reminded me of my Mom so I gave to her yesterday when she and 3 friends came over to see my quilting room. It just so happened she was wearing a green shirt for a perfect match. She sent me a text last night and said that while they were shopping after their lunch she received compliments from 3 people. It really did look great on her!

I'm about 85% done with the next one which I'll keep for myself. I think when I bought this yarn it was a little out of my normal colors but they are right up my alley now. This is Flounce by Knitting Fever. It is a little pickier to work with as you basically create your own stitches in the mesh but now that I've accepted that "roughly an inch apart" doesn't need to be measured with each stitch I'm liking it much better.

Once it is done I'm going to bake some bars for a benefit tonight, go for a walk and get busy in my quilting room. After showing off yesterday I'm ready to fire up Mr. Juki! Progress to be shared tomorrow...

A Binge of Cross Stitch

I had fallen off the pace of Little Miss Shabby's wonderful Quilty Stitches Sampler Along and decided that I could stitch along to the NCAA final game on Monday night. That proved so addicting that I kept stitching yesterday afternoon until I'd finished all 3 blocks.

It's a toss-up between the Barn and the Friendship Star block for my new favorite!

I'm using the color palette from Bonnie & Camille's Marmalade line as my inspiration since this sampler will end up in my quilting room. It's just as fun to stitch with these colors as it is to sew with them.

Here is a pic of all of the blocks from Corey's blog... she is posting a block every two weeks. I am loving this project!

Winners and Not Much Sewing

It has been one of those weeks where my to-do list hasn't really been touched and the return of way below zero weather has kept me huddled under my Valentine's Plus quilt reading books, blogs and slowly working my way through emails. The one day I was out and about I had a nice long lunch with my Mom and picked up enough groceries to get through the week.

I did get caught up with the blocks that have been released for Quilty Stitches over at Little Miss Shabby. The middle block is my favorite so far... love the triangles and the white space!

And I decided while I was at it to dig into a few more bins that weren't in the MUST DO category but I was in the mood for. I'm close to having one of my roll out shelves cleared in the laundry room which will come in handy as a "resting place" for stuff as I work through the rest of my house this year.

This file box was quite an excavation with large pieces on top that got progressively smaller by the time I reached the bottom. And it has some block remnants from some of my 1st projects which are kind of fun to see.

Onto the winners...

For the floral FQ bundle Mr. Random selected:

 Who is:

For the organizing supplies Mr. Random selected:

Who is:

For the sewing themed FQ bundle Mr. Random selected:

Who is:

And, for the kid's novelty FQ bundle Mr. Random selected:

Who is:

Congratulations to all 4 of you and thanks again to everyone who cheered me on throughout my Olympics Organizathon! Can you believe it's the end of February? 

Craving Quiet

Yesterday morning after my blog post I headed downstairs to get back to my Olympics Organizathon tasks. Since I missed my usual laundry day on Monday I was playing catch-up. Our washer sounds like a jet plane at certain points in the cycle so I grabbed a stack of fabric and escaped to the family room to watch some Olympics on the DVR. Then I had an AHA! moment.

Image from http://www.tehkseven.net/quiet-the-mind-104405/

Quiet. Not only the absence of noise but the quietness of mind.

Remember how I was itching to sew?

And my brain was feeling overloaded - I believe "twitchy" was used in my post.

Needless to say the TV was clicked off, the piles of stash abandoned and into my quilting room I went with my "newest" pile of skinny scraps. Mindless sewing at it's finest! And oh my... it was just what I needed.

What is it about creative time that is so calming? I left my quilting room after about an hour and felt like a new person... like I had just woke up from a refreshing nap. All the jumbled thoughts had been tamed and I was able to jot down some ideas and get back to my sorting.

For those of you who make crumb blocks how big do you go? I'm thinking between 6-7 inches like the one above. I want to keep them wonky so will have to add some sashing strips down the road - but for now I'm just enjoying the process. And the therapeutic benefits!                                    

Last night Elsa and I settled for our evening Olympics watching session while I worked on the 2nd block of Little Miss Shabby's Sampler Along. Who knew that cross stitching quilt blocks could be so much fun? I'm including my floss cards so I know what colors I used in case I fall behind. The 3rd block is now available so I've got my night planned.

Event #1: Magazine Culling

I had so much fun reading the comments from yesterday's post kicking off my Olympics Organizathon... and I'm glad to let you know that the 1st Event is underway! But before I get into that, I found THIS great article this morning while I was searching to learn more about the beautiful flags at Sochi and wanted to share it with you.

Image from http://www.graphicart-news.com/the-olympic-patchwork-quilt-sochi-2014/#.UvemSfldUpg

Here is an excerpt:

In the concept design, every patch was infused with the history and personality of traditional crafts from each of Russia’s 89 regions: in a single tapestry we combined Uftyuzhskaya painting and Vologda lace, Gzhel and Zhostovo painting, Kubachi patterns and the flowers of Pavlo Posad shawls, Mezenskaya painting and Khokhloma, Yakutsk patterns, fabrics of Ivanovo and other distinctive Russian patterns. That is how we arrived at a modern, distinctive and unmistakeably Russian Look of the Games.”

Isn't that interesting? I think they are just gorgeous!

Today I am going to mix in some Slow Sunday Stitching with Day 1 of Magazine Culling. I've got the Swoon block completed on my Quilty Stitches Sampler Along hosted by Corry@Little Miss Shabby. All I can say is fun, fun, fun!

I've decided that each block will have red & aqua in it and I will be adding in other colors as I go. I'm debating between the two shades of orange or the yellow for next block. It's not too late to dig out your floss and join in the fun!

I neglected to show you The Olympic Village (AKA family room) in yesterday's post. This is the hub of my organizing efforts. My quilting room is located to the right and the laundry room is behind me in this photo so it's pretty convenient to pull things out here to work on in prime view of the TV. To the left you can see my hand stitching chair next to the window and a bit of my OTTLite for nighttime work.

Event #1: Magazine Culling

My table is set for the Preliminary Rounds of Magazine Culling. This Event will require many decisions to be made! Staying hydrated will be important and I have both electronic (iPad) and old fashioned tools ready as needed. Magazines have been pulled from multiple locations and stacked up into teams by type.

My objective at this stage is to page through each magazine noting Projects Of Interest (POIs) and categorize them. As you can see... at various times over the years I have done this with my older magazines using at least 3 methods of identification. I suspect some of these notations will no longer be of interest! 

To prepare for the Finals of Magazine Culling I will need to come up with a plan to track POIs and find a home for the magazines I'm keeping. I'm also contemplating using my scanner (I have a hard time ripping out patterns!) if there are just a few pages I want in an issue. How do you store your magazines? Please leave me a comment and share what works for you.

I'm linking up to Slow Sunday Stitching@Kathy's Quilts.

Quilty Stitches Sampler Along

When I came across this last week I knew resistance was futile...

Corry who blogs at Little Miss Shabby is hosting the Quilty Stitches Sampler Along and we will be making this little beauty. I am smitten!

During the 80's and early 90's I was obsessed with cross stitch. I don't think I ever left the house without a piece of Aida cloth, some floss and a needle. My Mom and several of my aunts were avid stitchers as well.

This wall in our living room is my cross stitch pride and joy. I enjoyed Paula Vaughn's patterns so much because I love their romantic style of flowers, antiques and quilts - well before I became a quilter myself. The finish dates on these range from 1987 to 1990.

When I made partner in my CPA firm in 1994 my present to myself was to have these framed by the best frame shop I knew of. It cost a bundle but it has been worth every penny because these make me happy every single day!

The large wedding dress scene is my favorite... the armoire, the trunk, the quilt, the sampler on the wall and, of course, the dress! I remember doing the white french knots and agonizing over each one.

Of course I have to show a closeup of this one for all of you sewing machine enthusiasts! It's hard to get pictures without reflection... it took me a while to figure out that the lines "radiating" on the top are from our wood ceiling. I love the textured mat board and the detailed inner and outer frames my guy used. I had never seen anything like it. I asked for an heirloom look and he certainly delivered.

This is my baby wall at the end of our main level hall - an awkward place to take pictures for sure but these are the best of the lot.

My Mom made this one when our daughter was born. This pattern was love at first sight for me years before and I was thrilled when she agreed to stitch it!

Then she made this adorable one for our son and my dad made the custom frame with the routed details. I come from a very talented family don't I?

Today I am looking forward to going back to a prior love. I've taken my floss bins off the shelf and am ready to pick out colors and get started on a fresh piece of Aida using new needles.

The first block is the Swoon (upper left corner). I'm thinking red, aqua and green as this will end up in my quilting room. Who would have thought I'd be stitching a Swoon block before I sew one!

I'm linking up to Slow Stitching Sunday@Kathy's Quilts.