Needlework Tuesday - Keeping the Stitching Going

 

Thanks to a nudge from Shelley at Red Quilts, I have finally started the quilting on this lovely yellow and blue baby quilt.  at times, I find I get stalled on a project and for whatever small reason, I can't move ahead.  I had a vision of what I wanted to do on this quilt, but couldn't commit myself.  What if it didn't turn out like I imagined.  Oh the horror, the wee baby that it is going to might outright reject the quilt if the blue onlined images weren't perfect.  What was I thinking, this is for a baby, as if he'd even notice for several years that a line has a wobble.  I had also thought to do some fancy quilting in the other areas, but when I laid it out on the floor with the blue outlines already stitched, it hit me that what it really needed was a very sturdy quilting design that would stand up to repeated washing.  One of those ah-ha moments. A simple diagonal grid was exactly what it needed.  There are additional photos of my progress below.

Needlework Tuesday is a regular weekly post where I share the progress of my various needlework projects over the past week. I enjoy the encouragement that I receive from my readers and in return visit their blogs and cheer them on with theirs. You are welcome to grab the cute little mouse and create your own Needlework Tuesday post. Leave a comment with a link and I'll be sure to visit with you.

 

Before layering with the batting and backing, I used a disappearing marker to trace on the children's images that I wanted to quilt in the blue thread.  After layering with lots of pins, I quilted those motifs first using a variegated blue cotton thread.  Next step was to stitch diagonals across the entire quilt including the blue motifs.  I would have preferred not to quilt through them, but that would have left about 100 thread ends which would have come loose in the washing eventually.  Following are close ups of the motifs.

 

It took me a while and few false starts, but I did finish the popcorn block for the crochet along afghan with Red Heart yarn.  I generally don't mind working with this yarn, but I will admit to having trouble with it splitting.  I don't know if it's the new hook I am using, or my lack of expertise with crocheting in general.  I can live with the difficulties though.  The colours are so vivid and exciting.   Six more of the pattern blocks to go.

Progress on the temperatures scarves is proceeding at what seems a snails pace.  I do have to wait for each day to happen to find out what colour to use next.  Waterloo, Ontario temperatures are portrayed in the left hand scarf.  The mystery location had a very cold day at the beginning of March but then it really warmed up. That's a 35 C range in the course of one week.  I'll be revealing that location when I am finished at the end of September.  At that time, there will also be a contest to guess the length of the scarves.  They are different lengths as I am using different size needles.   And no, the prize won't be the mystery scarf.

 

The weather here is finally starting to behave.  Today we might make double digits, 10 C would be most welcome.  We still have mounds of snow in the back yard, though we can see the promise of grass soon.  This weekend is the annual Maple Syrup Festival in Elmira, Ontario.   It is the world's largest one day maple syrup festival.  My one day of the year where I happily stand outside in the cold waiting for pancakes sloshing in maple syrup, eaten in a frigid tent with a cup of hot, steaming black coffee to wash it all down.

 

Did you get any stitching done in the past week?  I'd love to see what you're working on, any Easter projects out there?  Mr. Linky is below and he's waiting for you to add a link to your post. Be sure to leave a comment so I know you've been by for a visit .