Needlework Tuesday - Birds of a Feather are in Flight

Needlework Tuesday is a regular weekly post where  I share my progress and thoughts on my current needlework projects.  Readers are invited to leave a comment with a link to a recent needlework post.  I find it most encouraging and inspiring to share with you and to read about your projects.

 

After several years of intermittent work, I am finally able to share with you the finished bird quilt top.  I have name the quilt "Birds of a Feather".  It was a block of the month program, titled Exquisite Birds,  from a now closed shop, Jillybean's Pride located in Oakville, Ontario.    The individual bird patterns are by designer Brenda Groelz of Gray Wind Publishing.

 

Canada Goose

Hummingbird

Cardinal

 

 

As you can imagine, I am thrilled to finish this quilt.  It measures 61 1/2 inches wide by 76 inches long.  I am not doing the quilting, but I will send it along to my friend's mom, with pieced backing, binding all cut and pressed, a hanging sleeve, quilt label with space for the quilter's name and a matching pillowcase for storage.  I have also completed a quilt identification form for my records.

 

Thanks for all the encouragement I received while working on this quilt.  It is not my usual undertaking, though I will admit that I did learn while working on it. 

 

A long time friend of mine has just started quilting.  When she was visiting recently, I went to show her the labels on a few of my quilts, and oops, the first two quilts I pulled out didn't have labels.  Before I move on to another project, I will be adding labels to them and ensuring that I have documented them.  Years ago I found a documentation form from the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum.  I can no longer find the file on their website, thus I keep photocopying the one I have.  To each form I attach at least one photograph of my quilt.  Sadly, I haven't managed to document every quilt, though as I find gaps, I complete a form at that time.   There is a good article and link to a form at Lost Quilt Come Home.

 

Do you document your quilts?

 

Rikki over at Rikki's Teleidoscope has finished a lovely crocheted  tote/shopping bag.

 

Tami at Just One More Thing has already finished a project for Christmas 2013.  Way to go Tami.

 

Needlework Tuesday - Fabric Post Card Giveaway

Needlework Tuesday is a regular weekly post where I share the progress or hopes for the needlework projects that I am currently working on.  I invite my readers to leave a comment with a link to a post of their current projects.  I find this a great way to encourage each other.

After I finished and pressed 'publish' on last week's post, I realized that I forgot to add the final contest for my 1000th post celebration.  Some of my readers might recall the wonderful embroidered fabric postcards that my mother makes.  She has traded them with collectors around the world and has a very sizeable collection herself.  Below are just a few that she has sent to my family.

 

 

 

 

All are approximately 4 x6 inches.  They can be sent through the postal system for the cost of a basic stamp.  My mother has donated one card to be sent to one of my readers.  I don't know what it will look like, though she says she has several ready and I can take my pick on your behalf.

 

To increase the odds, I am adding a second card, though my style is very different than hers.  Below are a few of my cards.

 

 

 

To enter, leave a comment.  Two winners, one postcard each.

A short update on the bird quilt. 
I attached the floral applique to the side of the oriole block and added another flower.

 

To the right of this lies the Robin block.  That bird needed feet, an eye and even a worm.  Add some sashing to the top and side.  Then to keep with the tulips that were appliqued along the oriole, some were needed here are well.

 

These are 3 1/2 inches each, and there really are five of them.

 

Will be back next week with an update.

 

Now for a small tease.  Started a new 'leaders and enders' project.  So far, I've done a bit of cutting and stitched a few very short rows.

 

 

Remember to leave a comment to be entered to win a fabric postcard.

Needlework Tuesday - UFO attacks

Needlework Tuesday is a regular weekly post where I share the progress of my current needlework projects.  The encouragement I get from my readers, in the form of comments, encourages me to keep working.  You are welcome to join in, add the cute little mouse to your needlework post and leave me a comment with the link.  I'd love to see what you're working on, and encourage you along they way.

Last week, I had a special interview with crochet artist Kelly Lynn Smith.  It was a real treat getting to know her and her amazing work, both her re-birthed dolls and her crochet designs. You still have time to enter the contest to win her sea animal pattern booklet. Will end February 5, 2013 when I'm enjoying my morning coffee.

 

Two weeks ago, I introduced you to the mitts I started for my sister.  I am using the magic loop method in the hopes that they will turn out the same size.  So far so good.  I am now at the top decreases, only a few more rows to go.  I am a bit nervous that the thumbs are going to be too narrow, but if that happens, I'll re-knit them on a slightly larger size needles.  The fronts are different on both mitts, so you'll have to wait till the final unveil to see the complete image.

Can a UFO really drive a quilter crazy.  Perhaps, is the best answer I have come up with.  I have been working on this off and on for the past three years.  There are a whole bunch of earlier posts detailing that progress.  The history of the bird quilt is described there as well as the pattern source.  Scroll thought those posts for additional close-up photos.   This first photo shows the state of this UFO two weeks ago.  Arg, all the sashing is different, pieced, paper pieced and appliqued, even a bit of embroidery thrown in.  I decided that I would start in the upper left and allow the design to dictate my path from there.

I am not the biggest fan of paper piecing, but I do love the detail that you can get by using it.  I took a methodical approach and worked on all of the blocks at the same time, same step on each one, press, trim, next step.  It went a lot faster than I imagined.

The loon is now fully sashed and waiting for a neighbour.

I forgot to take photos while working on the french braid.  It used 1 1/2 x 5 1/4 inch strips.  The checkerboard used 1 1/2 inch squares.  This fellow will nest below the loon.

To the right of the loon, we find the favourite branch of the oriole.  He wanted flowers.  Lots of applique tulips and some red flower.  There are still some details missing on the flowers, but they are almost ready to be attached.  While many people were watching sports on Sunday, I sat under a bright light and made what seemed like a million tiny stitches.  It is getting harder to do applique.  I have to hold the work far enough away to focus, but then it's too far to actually see in detail.

oh darn, I keep forgetting to add the little butterflies. 

It's really hard to stay focused on just one quilt at a time.  I did take a wee break and work on the mystery quilt that my local guild is doing.  I don't have a photo this week , but I am not finished with that step of the mystery, so stay tuned.

Are you one of the many who resolved to complete ufo's this year?  Share it one your blog, then leave a comment here and I'll  come by and encourage you along the way.

Needlework Tuesday - New Project vs Completeing a UFO

Needlework Tuesday is a regular weekly post where I share my last week's various needlework projects.  By sharing, I find that I get a lot more accomplished as I want to have something to share with you in each post.  You are invited to add a comment with a link to your recent needlework post.  This way we can encourage each other in our stitching.

On the weekend, I was able to deliver the twins to their new home.  My little nieces were quite taken with them and had them cuddled in bed along side them that evening.  the two are cuddled in their travelling gift bags, couldn't put them all the way in as they wouldn't be able to see where they were going. Pattern is from Bernat, Baby Jacquard Florals, free membership required to access pattern.

Two more tea wallets.  Daughter thought it was funny to use coffee themed fabric for a tea wallet.

Actually, the one on the bottom is a tea wallet, and I changed the upper one to hold those long coffee sachets.  Use a 7 x 7 inch square on the inside and sew 4 sections.

More coffee themed fabrics.  This time I am making a lunch bag.  I saw one made up on Regina's website, and thought it would be fun to sew.  I followed the link to Pink Penguin for the in depth tutorial.  The instructions are quite good, though they miss telling you to sew the boxed corners before cutting. I was able to complete the bag in a couple of hours (lots of interruptions) and no hand sewing was involved.

One side with conversation print coffee labels

Other side with little coffee pots.



Looking down inside, you can see the draw string lining, will keep anything from falling out.

 

As you have probably noticed, I find it easy to start new projects.  I generally find it hard to stick with them to completion.  I have boxes of UFOs (unfinished objects) hiding around the house.   This year I am working real hard to keep any further ones from joining that status.  So far so good. 

 

 I did start these mitts for my sister.  I have been working on them every day.  I have one more row for the second colour in the pattern.  I think they are turning out very well.  I am stitching both mitts at the same time using the magic loop method.  To keep them straight, I have pinned a note on the ribbing of each mitt that tells me which mitt and which side I am looking at.  It really has helped.  To the left of each mitt is the thumb gusset.  i have a few more rows to go before I set those stitches aside and continue just with the body of the mitt.  I'll get back to  the thumbs later.  It's not as bad working with this thin wool and 2.5 mm needles as I thought. 

 

I have two other UFOs that are bothering me.  Not that I don't want to work on them, but that I haven't managed to get working on them.  I am telling you about them here, so that if I don't show you progress, you will ask me about them and nudge me along.

 

The Bird Quilt

I am completing this top at a  request from a friend.  She bought the BOM for her mother back  1999.  Her mother worked on the paper pieced blocks as much as she could until she was stopped by her Parkinsons. My friend had asked me years ago if I would finish it.  Of course.  She wanted it done while her mother could still enjoy it.  Unfortunately, my friend passed away before she could give me the pieces.  Two years ago I met with her mother and she gave me the completed blocks and other bits and patterns.  I quickly finished the blocks and started on the sashings, and then It languished.  I found it hard to work on as it made me remember my friend and all the wonderful times we had together. 

 

The Scribbling Women Quilt

In April 2011, I read and reviewed the book Scribbling Women by Marthe Jocelyn.  This book cried out to me that it needed a quilt made to accompany it.  I started on it right away. It got pushed aside for some reason.  Then my nephew passed away and again it was pushed aside.  Weeks later my father became very ill and very little quilting was attempted.  Them my father passed away and even less stitching.  That brings me to today.  Much more stitching is happening and I am determined that after the Bird Quilt top is completed, this will be next on the wall.

 

Now that I have admitted these two UFOs to my readers, I'll need to keep at them and see them through to completion,and yes, you're allow and encouraged to remind me of this.

 

Even with these two on my plate, I did come across another project I want to start: The Temperature Scarf.  I immediately thought of Marie from Daisy's Book Journal and sent her and email.  Since she was already planning to write about it, I thought I would link to her post.  This is on my list and I'll get it started as soon as I find yarns.  I only need to knit two rows a day, so not a big imposition on my time.

 

And so it goes.  Finish one project, start another, pull out a UFO  and work on it.  As long as I am finishing and my net count of projects on the go gets smaller by the end of the year, I'll be happy.

 

Do you have a project that you need encouragement on? Leave a comment/link and tell me about it, then I'll encourage you while I am working along on my UFOs.

 

Sarah, over at Lit and Laundry, has a snow theme happening in her projects this week.  Lucky for her that they don't involve any shovelling.

 

ps. the contest in last week's Needlework Tuesday post is still open for entries.  Four quilt patterns from Babs 'n' Jas are available to be won.

Needlework Tuesday

Progress on 'Dear Jane' was limited this week, but I am determined to do at least one block a week. That way it won't get pushed to a back corner and forgotten for months on end. Then I would have my readers sending me inquiries wondering if I ran out of orange fabric or something.

This block is C-3 Rayelle's Fence. At first it looks kind of complicated, but then I realized that its really a 9 patch whose sub-units are 4 patches and fence rails. Didn't have anything small enough to fussy cut for the centre as that piece was only cut 2 inches. The strips were all 1 1/4 inches as were the squares.

View Tropical Screamer's version also in orange.



I was so excited to finish this Cardinal block. All the tiny holly berries are stitched on. They measure about 11mm. Quite tiny. There are 18 of them. Three leaves are not stitched down, as they overlap the neighbouring blocks. Will have to work on one of these neighbouring blocks next. Check back next week to see which.

I started on the Bernat Stitch Along yesterday. I have done 1 1/2 repeats of the pattern and its looking good. The colour in this photo isn't good, but it shows the pattern better this way. I ended up knitting on larger 5.5 mm needles rather than the 5mm called for. We are told that we need to knit this square three times, once in each colour. In a few weeks, they will post the next step/block. I think that this pattern would make a wonderful scarf for a man. Of course done in a colour that doesn't look so pink, unless he likes pink.

I was browsing some of my favourite sites yesterday and came across a pic of my mother. She attended a workshop featuring a quilt teacher from Ireland. The special part is that my mother had been trading fabric postcards with the instructor via an online postcard group. I don't have a copy of the photo to post yet (for some reason I couldn't capture it from the site), but you can click this link and she is the lady to the left in the very first photo. Landscape Technique Workshop with Miriam at Linda's 'Living, Quilting and Stuff . How special that my mother got to meet one of her 'virtual' friends.

Update on Wednesday, October 28. Linda kindly sent along the file with two pictures which I have now posted.

Needlework Tuesday

Somehow I did find time to work on my version of the 'Dear Jane' Quilt. I didn't think I would get much done as I have started to move into the more finicky blocks. Much narrower strips of fabric, 1 inch, than I am used to working with.

The first picture shows L-7 Town Square. Quite an appropriate title in my opinion. The centre motif was straight forward. I used full orange squares and stitched a line corner to corner and flipped it back and pressed. I did trim away the underlying layers. View Tropical Screamer's Version.


L-4 St. George's Cross, was a bit more fussy. Those white strips were cut 1 inch and I sewed them to that neat almost orange fabric. I then trimmed them down to size before assembly in 9 patch fashion.

K-3 Seven Sisters. All the pieces were cut 1 inch strips or squares. Rather fiddly but it did work out well. The final outer border of white I cut wider and then trimmed to size. Just a note, after final pressing I put a square ruler over the block and let it cool completely. Once it has cooled it relaxes to proper size. It is only then that I trim. Never trim while warm. The pressing may stretch the fabric a bit, but once it is cool it will have contracted back to proper size. (this is my experience, if you don't agree with me, that's fine).

H-10 Ben's Bowtie. Nice looking block. I did all the triangle bits over sized and then trimmed to the correct measure. The size turned out almost perfect. Again, a 9 patch with a 4 patch in the middle. Yippee. View Tropical Screamer's Version.

I didn't really knit this week, rather I finished ends. This scarf was knit a few months ago but all the ends were waiting to be worked it. I couldn't procrastinate any longer, I needed to clear off that table so I could dust. It is made with two yarns from Paletteyarn.com. This is called Series 011b/219. I used 3 balls of the pink and 1 ball of the beige/brown. Little bits of a different type were used for the stripes between the colours. This is a 100% wool.

I didn't pay much attention to my pattern once I got going, so when I reached the end I forgot that I wanted the squared off end and knit to a point. oops. The left side is squared off and the right is pointed. oh well, not getting changed now.

I did start working on the bird quilt again. I am getting the tiny holly berries ready to applique on the holly leaves that I started months ago. The berries are approximately 11mm across. Too tiny but they will look good, so I will preserver. Pictures next Tuesday.

back to my stitching and reading.

Needlework Tuesday on Wednesday

In the winter my daughter started a scarf using the smallest of the circular 'Nifty Knitter' looms. She is using one strand of Fun Fur Prints by Lion Brand Yarn and one strand of Heirloom Sport Weight by Mary Maxim. I noted that it had been sitting untouched for ages so I picked it up the other day and started in on it. It works up very quickly and I find it quite relaxing to do while watching TV. At present I am on the 4th ball of the Fun Fur and the scarf is over 5 feet long. Still have a 5th ball, though don't know if we'll use that.


As you can see in the second picture, I have finished the birdhouse blocks. Each one measures 3 inches finished. The pattern showed all the houses of the same fabric, though I found that a bit boring, so I used bits left over from the blocks and from my stash. Much more interesting in my opinion.

I thought I was finished with this one when I realized that there is some applique required. Will keep you in suspense...

I haven't decided which block to work on next. I am still working on the embroidery and holly berries for the 'Cardinal' block.

I have to admit that I am finding it hard to sew these days. I have stacks of books that are calling to me and I really do want to bury myself in them for hours at a time. I am having to contend myself with listening to "The Three Musketeers" by Alexandre Dumas.. Being a fencer, I am loving the book, specially the duals. I would get in heck from my coach if I ran someone through with my sword, but here I can enjoy it vicariously.

I am also reading "Musicophilia" by Oliver Sacks. Am in the final chapters. It is an excellent book as it delves into all sorts of musical phenomena. such as those earworms (when you have a song that keeps running through your head). Should have a review for you within the next week.

bye for now.

Needlework Tuesday on Wednesday

I am very happy. I managed to keep to my stitching last week and did at least a little bit each day. I have most of the holly leaves stitched down, with the exception of the ones that overlap to the neighbouring block. Next will be to embroider the vein on each leaf and then I think there are 18 holly berries to stitch on.

I asked my daughter which boarder to start on next and she picked the bird houses. There are 12 to do and they will go on two sides of the hummingbird block . There are two types of holes in the bird house. One is square and the other is a diamond. The diamond is much more fiddly. I has 4 extra pieces (square in a square technique). Oh well, only 6 more to piece. These finish at 3 inches and are paper pieced. I am trying to use as many scraps from piecing the birds, but there isn't that much left over in some colours so I do have to add from my stash.


Sorry to be late this week. My son is spending part of the summer at my sister's house, so I am continually travelling back and forth to pick him up or deliver him . Its about 1hour 45 minute drive in the country. Nice route. I have been using the time alone to listen to an audio version of "The Gargoyle" by Andrew Davidson. I finished it this morning so will be posting a review of it in the next few days. Then i will get back to listening to "The Three Musketeers".

Needlework Tuesday

After cleaning off the dining room table last week, I decided to stay focused and only brought the bird quilt back out. I am going to try and keep to it and work on the sashing. Each block gets a unique treatment, almost like doing 12 little quilts and then butting them all together.

The chickadee was quite straight forward and I needed that to make me feel like I had accomplished something. I cut strips 1 1/4 inch wide of both the blue (which was the background from one of the other blocks) and the light (which is really 3 different mostly white/cream prints). The strips when then sewn together and re cut to 1 1/4 x 2 3/4 inch bits that were sewn together to make the two sashing units. Then I had to add a 1 inch strip of the dark mottled looking print to make the measurement for the final unit fit.

The cardinal block is next. The 3 trees and the 2 little cardinals were paper pieced using scraps from the bird blocks. The sashing to the left and to the bottom will feature holly leaves and berries. These will overlap with the neighbouring blocks. For now all you can see are their embroiders vines/branches. I have the holly leaves basted to freezer paper and have pinned them in place and am ready to start the hand applique. Will show you my progress next week.

Tomorrow I meet with my local bee for stitching and coffee. I'll update them on this project. I showed them the blocks last month and they really enjoyed them.