April 28th, 2019 - Slow Stitching, Stash Busting and 15 Minutes To Stitch
I finally finished up Spool Snowmen. I had to sew on 23 buttons for their eyes and noses. I didn’t have the right needle and my fingers are sore from trying to push a blunt ended needle through the fabric and batting.
Then I blanket-stitched their noses on. First I had to make them. The pattern has a button pack available but it’s quite pricey so I thought I would use wool. But I didn’t have any orange wool, just some yellow. I ended up colouring the yellow wool with a orange sharpie. My fingers look like I was in the Cheezies. I love using what I have on hand. Makes me feel good!
The eyes and noses are from my button find on FaceBook. Someone was selling a giant box of buttons for $40- and I bought it. I spent a day sorting out the buttons by colour and clipping off any threads I found. Once again my hands were filthy. I make sure to wash the buttons as I use them.
I also finished up the stitching on this Crabapple Hill project.
Now all I need to do is decide pillow or wall hanging. Then get it done!
I finished up a couple of Christmas table runners/ wall hangings. They needed to be quilted and bound. That’s 3 things off my UFO list.
I put a lot of quilting in to the Snowman Trio. It was all layered and basted, ready to be quilted. I blanket-stitched the larger raw-edged applique and straight-stitched the small pieces. A little stippling in the background. The side borders are holly leaves, the top border is snowflakes and spirals from a Lori Kennedy book and the bottom border is layered trees that I chalked on. I really like how it turned out.
This one, Snow Happens, was getting done until my old machine started skipping stitches. I must have ripped out the stippling 3 times before I gave up. On the borders I stitched-in-the-ditch and then it’s all stippled around the snowmen. Binding on both pieces is all by machine. I love my Bernina #71 foot for binding. It is a lap-seam foot but someone figured out how to use it for binding. What a genius! I love how the binding turns out. And instead of spending hours hand-stitching the binding down, they are done! Now to move on to other exciting projects.
As for stash busting, I failed. Oops! I made a quilt for a shop and got paid in fabric. That’s okay as I do have a plan for it. More wallets. Just in time for Canada Day.
Now for some numbers.
Fabric used this week: 6.32 yds
Fabric used YTD: 57.89 yds
Fabric added this week: 6.6 yds
Fabric added YTD: 25.8 yds
Net fabric busted: 32.09 yds
And on the stitching front, I have managed to stitch 27 hours this week. I really range in my daily stitching times. Some days it’s only a hour or 2 but then there are those marathon days where I get in 5 to 8 hours. I love those days the best!
I’m linking up with Donna at quiltpaintcreate for the Stash Report, with Kate at Life in Pieces for the 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge and with Kathy at Kathy’s Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday.
Have a great week!
April 28th, 2019 at 11:59 am
[…] No change in the numbers this week. I started quilting the QAL top yesterday. Once I got over the fact there would be a lot of stops and starts, the design came easier. Sometimes you have to get out of your own way. I tried to get a picture of the quilting, but the white thread didn’t show up well on the light pink back. I’d love to have this one done before the next report, but there’s a lot going on this week. Fabric Added: 14.25 Fabric Used: 2 yards Net Fabric In: 12.25 yards How did you do this week? 1 Julie in GA 2 Meloney 3 Marti 4 Pack Rat With a Plan 5 Chrisknits 6 Mary-Kay […]
April 28th, 2019 at 11:59 am
Lots of great finishes! They are all winter themed…are you moving on to spring now? 🙂
April 28th, 2019 at 8:53 pm
Congrats on moving forward!! I am singing Christmas carols.
April 28th, 2019 at 11:37 pm
As a matter of fact I am working on the Spring Sampler from Crabapple Hill. I just noticed that I do have quite a few snowmen projects.
May 1st, 2019 at 7:25 am
You’ve definitely had a run on the snowmen projects. Congrats on all the progress last week.