Sunday, June 28, 2015

Summer Break

Now that all the birdhouses are done for Down in the Garden, I've been picking up a few of my other projects. Yesterday I finished up the piecing on this block of Best Friends Forever:


Although it's pretty cold today, on hot days it's nice to work on smaller, individual blocks like this, so I think I'll be doing more of them over the summer.

I also think that I'm going to unplug this summer, and take a blogging break. The last day of school was this week, and I've been reminiscing about how nice it was to look forward to a completely unstructured summer. I also remember that I used to go home with as many library books as I could! These days I'd rather stitch than read, but I still have a big line up to keep me busy.

Last winter there was steady, behind-the-scenes progress on Jacks and Cats:


All the wool felt pieces are sewn together, and I'm currently working on the back stitched lines for the teeth. The oval Jacks pumpkins will get their stems, vines and leaves once they are appliqued onto the blocks. I'd like to be well along on this by Halloween, although I doubt it'll be finished.

For Slow Stitching Sunday today, I'm going to put a few more stitches in this Dimensions Gold cross stitch design, A Kiss for Snowman:


This one will be finished soon -- just a few more stitches in the background, and all the outlining left to do.

In all the chaos with the basement flooding (we had three floods total last month), some of my new fabrics have been sitting on my sewing table, waiting for things to settle down. Tempting me. Eventually I started cutting them up:


They are the two new summer collections from Connecting Threads, Island Hopping and Batik Paradise. I thought they would be perfect for the cover quilt on Carrie Nelson's book, Schnibbles Times Two, which I've been wanting to make for ages. I put together a few rows, just to see how it works...


With the crosses and the Hawaiian-themed fabric, I'm calling the quilt "Aloha Kisses," The white fabric is from Northcott. Around here it is the same price as Kaufman Kona solids, and I actually like it better. It is smoother, the thickness of the threads is very consistent, and it has a dense, higher thread count that makes it stable and easy to sew. I am very happy with it!

And, of course, Down in the Garden still has plenty of work left to do. Here's the first of those dratted butterflies:


They're a trial, but I know they'll be worth it. They'll probably end up as the key feature of the whole quilt.

So, I don't think I'll have time to be bored this summer! But, I'm not going to schedule anything. And who knows, there may be more new projects as well. Like the kids, I'll be back for sure after Labour Day. If the finishes really pile up (she says optimistically), maybe you'll see me sooner. Our basement problems are half fixed, so there's still plenty left to do there as well.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a great summer (or cozy winter if you are down under)! I'll still be around and answering email if anyone needs me. Take care!

11 comments:

  1. Enjoy your summer vacation. Looks like you have plenty of projects to keep you busy until fall.

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  2. That maroony colour looks fabulous on the BFF block. I have been wondering about your flood. Glad it is under control. Hope it isn't too stress full. Enjoy your Summer.

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    1. Thanks, Jillian! Yes, it has been plenty stressful, but hopefully we are past the worst of it now. I think I need to take a trip somewhere...

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  3. Have a good summer! Looks like you are all ready for a summer of stitchy fun!

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  4. Have fun and we'll get caught up in the fall

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  5. you certainly have some lovely projects to work on whilst having a break, enjoy the summer and happy stitching, see you when you return.

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  6. Well, you certainly have plenty to keep you busy. It was good to see Jacks and Cats is still in progress; it's a fave of mine. Enjoy your summer. We are gearing up for the annual midsummer Fourth of July here. Getting a lesson on my new Bernina today on the embroidery unit which is still in the box. It was an impulse buy. I want to make labels with it. Otherwise I much prefer real old fashioned embroidery like yours.

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  7. Enjoy your summer. I hope it is filled with good reads, creative sewing and a new project or two. Looking forward to seeing you back in September!

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  8. Love your little birdhouses from the previous two blogs. They are light and lacy and very pretty. Your "Down in the Garden" quilt is going to be absolutely lovely when finished.

    Enjoy your break from the world of blogging. I think that sometimes we just need to unplug and reset. (I seem to have done the same with my blog, even though it was unplanned.) Looking forward to your progress reports whenever. they appear.

    Good luck with your basement issues. Have a fun summer!

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    1. Thank you! I think it's not just about less time on the computer, it's also about analyzing less, and trying things without worrying about why they did or didn't work. Anyway, enjoy summer with your new grandbaby!

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  9. Happy World Embroidery Day!! It's a day to promote creativity, embroidery and a peaceful movement. All the best :)

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I'm told Blogger has been bouncing some comments, so if it happens to you I'm sorry! But the settings look right so I can't explain it. In any case, thanks for reading!

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