Slow Stitching and Gifts

Happy Sunday Everyone!!!

Today is Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy’s Quilts and I am very happy to report that I am continuing with my Birdie Stitches blocks and participation over at Kathy’s linky party.

This is the block I completed last Sunday

August

This is the block I am working on today

September

I absolutely love Pilot's Frixion pens for tracing my pattern.  I can mark over and make adjustments as necessary then simply remove the markings with the heat from an iron when I am finished.

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A couple months ago my cousin asked me to knit her daughter a Yoda hat.  I had never even heard of such a thing but I found a pattern on the internet and was surprised at how easy it worked up.

My cousin never sent me a picture of her daughter wearing hers but I posted a picture of the hat alone on Facebook and my son’s friend in the Navy asked for one for her son, which also happens to be my Sailor’s Godson. Did you follow all of that?

Well, my son sent me a photo of the two of them

  

My son is such a funny guy

And then the baby’s mom sent me another one

I would have to say that cutie pie makes any hat look good.

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I also promised to share some gifts I made for Christmas, so here they are…

Tissue covers in patriotic fabric for the group of ladies at work that knits helmet liners for the soldiers.

I made several of these cosmetic bags.  They are a Pickle Pie Design made in the embroidery unit of my Brother Quattro 3.

I love Pickle Pie Designs because all of her linings have finished seams...no raw seams inside at all.

I also made the Pickle Pie cross body bag. These stitch out pretty quickly and are a nice size.

Now I think we are all caught up so I'm going to sink into a comfy chair, watch football and stitch this Sunday away.

Have a blessed week, my friends.

Slow Stitching and UFO Busting

Hand embroidery is something that I have attempted several times over the years and while I am not necessarily horrible at it, I’m no expert.

I saw a beautiful quilt on Candace’s blog that inspired me to practice my embroidery (you really should go check it out at Squash House Quilts).  Then Tanya mentioned that she would be participating in today’s Slow Sunday Stitching featured on Kathy’s blog.

But wait….there’s more… I remembered a project I started in 2012 but had put away for a very good reason, I just can’t remember what that very good reason was.

Little Miss Shabby offered a free BOM titled Birdie Stitches, you can still read about it here. Her sketches are just too cute!

I decided to pull out the blocks and work on those during slow stitching Sundays and link up at Kathy's Quilts.

WARNING: Ugly blocks ahead but they will look better once I trim and press them.

January

February

March

April

May

June

I should change the year

July

August

I'm working on this one today

I used a jelly roll for the block borders but can't remember which fabric line they are from.  If anyone knows, please share.

Still not sure if I will make a full quilt with these or just mini quilts for my table top quilt stand.

This is how I’m spending my Sunday afternoon.  Are you stitching today?

I have one more Christmas gift to deliver then I can share the secret sewing I promised.

Hope you all have a blessed week!

Just Jane, Just for Me

Getting quilty mail is always fun but getting quilty mail that comes in packages with dots…

...that’s exceptionally fun and super special.

Stephanie, who blogs at Rummage and before that at Loft Creations, wrote Uncommonly Corduroy.  I have previously shared how much I love this book of bag and quilt patterns.  You can see some but not all, of the bags I made from her book here and here.

The one pattern I had not tried was Stephanie’s Just Jane bag.  That is until she surprised me with a kit containing all of the fabrics and notions I needed to make it.  

The kit contained 21 wale corduroy, a fabric I had not previously used.  It is so easy to work with and I will definitely be using it again.  She also included a mini charm pack of Color Me Happy by V and Co. for Moda.  I love this line of fabric, it reflects some of my favorite colors.

I took the opportunity to test the new little Pfaff by making my new tote.  The machine passed the test.  It transitioned very nicely from just piecing to quilting through Soft and Stable.  I’m really loving the built-in walking foot.

Thank you Stephanie for your kind generosity!  I love my Just Jane bag.