Butterfly Catchers

Every spring I used to worry that I was suddenly losing my eyesight, but now I know that it is just my allergies, and if I wait it out it will get better again! Today I was finally able to see well enough to put the finishing touches on the next section of my Août sampler:

These two are spending their August vacation catching butterflies!

While all my even weave projects have been on the shelf, I've been making good progress on the Lima Beans, which are stitched on 18 ct aida. I'm in the home stretch now, so I hope to show you that soon. The next section of the Summer Sampler is almost ready too.

Riviera Star, unfortunately, has ground to a halt. I still have to cut the fabric for the next section. That's always a hurdle, isn't it? The sewing is the fun part. But the weather forecast is for a hot and humid week, so I don't think I'll be ironing and cutting any time soon. More hand sewing to come!

In the meantime, here's Août so far:

Two More Sweet Hearts

Yesterday Sharon over at Lilabelle Lane posted her work so far on Best Friends Forever, a new Rosalie Quinlan stitchery and quilting pattern. I immediately loved it! I think this pattern is in my future.

But, it inspired me to get out the redwork project I do have, Sweet Hearts. Two more blocks are now finished:

That makes three of the nine done. As a tv-watching project, redwork makes a nice change from Texas Star, so maybe there will be one or two more soon. We'll see!

Tinkering with Riviera Star

One of the problems with the Judy Niemeyer newsprint foundations is that there are really no "do-overs." Once they're sewn, there's no going back. That is doubly the case for me, because the limited-edition fabric I'm using sold out months ago, so I have to use what I've got.

Looking back at the Compass Star that will be in the centre of Riviera Star, you can see that the fabric around the edge has a greenish undertone:

The green tablecloth underneath makes it look better than it is. It was not the best choice to go with those yellow fabrics. Here was my original colourway:

There would have been more yellow beside that greenish fabric, and it would have been bad. Plus, Sue Garman posted a photo of another Prairie Star variation this month, which got me thinking again. Out came the coloured pencils:

Using a red fabric next to the greenish fabric will make it work again, and of these three variations, I think I'll go with the one on the left. I don't think I have enough red fabric to make the one on the right. The middle one is striking, and closest to my original plan, but now I worry that it will be a little boring close up and on the bed. The left one will have a bigger variety of fabrics, so there will be more to look at.

The final decision may be affected by how much fabric is left after I piece all the outer edges. But right now that's the direction I'm going. Lots to do!