Slow Stitching Sunday...

Here's a glimmer of what I will be working on today...yup, I will be doing some slow (BIG) stitching this Sunday using perle cotton!

The Wee House Quilt has been quilted...now the plan is to slow stitch some swirls in the border!  Here's a glimpse...

I hope you carve out some time for some Slow Stitiching this Sunday too!  Thanks for dropping by!~P

Fabulous Friday Finishes...

This is our last of the Friday Finishes in February!

I knew that February was a short month and always flies by... but it seemed to go extra f-ast this year!  I think it was mainly due to our focus on Finishing Up those projects!

This week, we had incredibly beautiful, Spring-like weather...which is not conducive to sewing...not like a miserable, wet rainy day!  Because of that darn sunshine, I spent a lot of time hiking and gardening...but thanks to our 'Finish it Up February' I F-orced myself to f-orge on...

Here's what I got f-inished or near f-inished...

'Home for the Holidays' by Primitive Gathering got borders!  Now this may seem like a small feat but let me tell you, it took me forever to measure each and every strip and average the length before adding it to each side.  After reading a blogger's post about her client's quilt 'waving' in the breeze, I thought I would be EXTRA careful with mine...That last outer border is 6 1/2" for a total of over 10" of borders!...If waving is going to happen, it would be in this quilt!

 Taking the extra time paid off, as she is flat as a pancake!  However, I had to be fast with the camera as Rylie (my quilt inspector) kept thinking she was getting a new toy to dig in and roll on!

Now for the quilting...which makes me break out into a sweat just thinking about...YIKES!!  I do not want to wreck this quilt!

 On the other hand, this little guy got quilted and the binding is on, ready for hand stitching!  Not the best of pics but I will show it to you again, once the binding is down and she is complete!  Another UFO is about to bite the dust!!  I am giddy...:o))

 A few close-ups...

 I ended up really liking this small quilt...Remember it's just random blocks with random baskets...a total mishmash...that somehow came together in the end!  Shock and surprise...in a good way!

 The first two blocks from the BOM designed by 'The Linen Closet Blog' are stitched...These blocks are small...6 1/2" and just as cute as can be!  I hope you went over to Dawn's blog and got your FREE copy!

 And together...

 And Cheri Payne's Log Cabin Christmas is stitched and ready for a frame!

This week I dumped out all of my wool bins and reorganized! What a job but so nice to have it done!  Now all the reds are in the RED BIN, blues are in the BLUE bin and so on!  Life just got a whole heck of a lot easier!  

Inside the black/grey bin, I found a ziplock bag containing bits and pieces to stitch this wee pillow.  I cut these pieces out about FIVE (or more) years ago.  In one evening, I had her together and f-inished off!  Now she is in with the rest of the Spring Pillows!  Somethings are meant to be...and sometimes things have to mellow and jell awhile...before they are fully appreciated!

 So that's it, on this last Friday in February!  Except for this wee pillow, nothing got completely F-inished BUT that's OK... because everything got a step or two closer towards the F-inish Line!

Now I wonder how Nancie Anne made out this week?  I know it was a busy week for her (work wise) and she was afraid there would be nothing to report (finished wise).  We both agreed that this 'Finish It Off  in February' was a brilliant idea as we both got a TON done!  BUT we also both agreed that we are so happy February is coming to an end as we cross the F-INISH LINE!  Whew!  Nancie Anne and I have decided to make this an annual event!  See you back here next February...for more Finishing It Up Fun! Now hurry over to Nancie Anne's Blog to see what she got done!

Have a F-UN F-RIDAY and happy stitching! ~P

Union 22...

On Saturday, I ventured over to Union 22...it's an Antique/Vintage Shop in beautiful downtown Cobble Hill!  Yes, there is a downtown to Cobble Hill...consisting of  a post office, Vet, wee Grocery Store, Consignment Shop, Curves (excercise/weight loss place) and a Pub...and that's it!  Blink and you have gone by!  

So...here we are inside Union 22.  This use to be an old house and now every room is packed with old vintage goodies!  Let's wander...you just never know what will catch your fancy...

What!? No vintage/antique quilts?

That wreath is made out of burlap!

 NOW...this is what I really wanted to show YOU!!  Sweet little lavender Sachets!  They are made out of ticking fabric and old vintage doilies and they are sweet as can be...and SEW simple to make!

And filled with Lavender (...did you know that Lavender will keep moths at bay?)  So if you tuck one or two of these in among your wool bowl fillers you won't get moths!  These are a good thing! 

 If you have a drawer full of doilies, then get 'em out and start cutting!  Yup...I have the doilies and the ticking...and I have lavender in the garden!  So I am in business...I just need to wait for the lavender to grow! ..... Is it Spring yet?

Hope you enjoyed the Field Trip....I must whip out my camera more often!

Have a thrilling Tuesday and Happy Stitching!~P

Dyeing on Ice!

Have your heard of Ice Dyeing?  Well yesterday my blogging friend, Marie, was telling me that most of her wool has been hand dyed by herself...and that recently she tried ICE dyeing and had great success!  Of course I asked her what Ice Dyeing was...Well, Marie did such a great job telling and showing me how it's done, that I thought that I would share it with you too!  So without further adieu...here is this morning's Guest Speaker...

Marie:

Here are my two pieces of wool that I dyed using ice cubes and Cushing Dye. The pieces of wool are different depending which side you have up. 

Side one...

And flipped to show side two of the same pieces of wool.

This is what I did. I bought a large roasting pan with handles at Good Will for $4. (You don't want to use dye in pans used for cooking). Into the pan, I put two pieces of wet wool, side by side, covered in water, with a drop of Jet Dry and let them soak for an hour. I drained the water and scrunched up the wool, then covered the wool with ice cubes.  And using Cushing dyes I used a tiny (less than 1/8 to 1 tsp) for hit/miss measurement.  I picked 4 random colors of red. Using one tsp of each color, I tapped the spoon so the powder "sprinkled" over the ice. I did this on one of the pieces of wool. Then on the other piece of wool, I used 3 greens and a Khaki color.  I covered the pan with tin foil and put it in oven @350 for 1 hour. Then I measured out 1/4 C or so of vinegar, filled the rest of the cup with water to make 1 C of liquid and poured it over the wool, covered it again with foil and cooked for another 1/2 hour. The water wasn't clear, so don't concern yourself. (I didn't think to save the water to dye something else). Then I rinsed the wool and put both pieces into dryer-----and that's it! Could I duplicate it?------not in this life! I just wanted to try this and was very happy with what I got. Some of the red ran into the green piece and made some blue/purple for added interest!


 I am currently using the red wool to hook some flowers for a chair mat.  I am enclosing a picture to show you how the mottled red wool makes for some interesting petals!  Hope you find this helpful and enjoyed my experiment in ice dying.


                                 
I did indeed enjoy it, Marie...THANK YOU for taking the time to type up your instructions and send us the pictures! Your chair mat is going to be adorable!  Now we can all dye some wool using ice and cushion dye!  You made it sound simple and very do-able!  I know that I am definitely going to give this a whirl! What about you?  Are you going Ice Dyeing today?

Have a magical Monday and Happy Stitching!!P

BOMs Away!

Well I have my BOMs prepped and ready for stitching...but after seeing my blogging friend,  Marie's blocks, I really want to re-do mine!

Here's Marie's...see for yourself!  The top two blocks are from Buttermilk Basin's Mystery BOM (patterns are released on the third Friday of every month).  I love her blue letters and the snowy background print is so CUTE!  And the bottom two are from Linen Closet Designs's Mystery BOM (patterns released on the second Monday of each month).  Dang sweet and tiny...the blocks will finish off at 6"!  Love, love, love the grey wool in the baskets!

Here is a picture of  my second Buttermilk Basin Block, all ready for stitching.  Thanks again Stacey!  You have out done yourself with these pattern!

And Dawn Heese has created the sweetest basket pattern...FREE!  Thank you sew much, Dawn!

                                   
                            
We are so fortunate that we have such talented designers, giving so generously of their talent and time!  When you think about it, there is a ton of work in creating a pattern for a BOM!  Just think about it...First they have to come up with the idea...enough ideas for 12 months...then draw the design, make up the sample, take the pictures, write the instructions and then put it all into PDF format, then write a Blog Post about it!  And then do it all over again for the following month...and the month after that and the month after that!  Boggles the mind!...we are talking HOURS and HOURS of work!  We NEED to SHOUT out a huge... THANK YOU SEW MUCH, Stacy and Dawn!

And a thank you to Marie for sharing her projects...even if they are cuter!! :o)) I think Marie needs to share each and every month!  We wanna see!

Have a sunny Sunday and Happy Stitching! P

Heritage Happenings....

I'm late this morning...I didn't sleep in... just feeling sluggish!  I think I need another cup'a coffee because you CAN'T feel sluggish on a Saturday!  

Don't you love Saturdays?  I always try to plan something fun to do on a Saturday, just to make it MORE special than it really is...because when you are retired EVERYDAY is Saturday!  I know, I know...we retirees have it tough!:o)))

I am behind on my Heritage Happenings pictures...I won't give you a running commentary because I usually screw up...and then hear about it on Monday!  Thank goodness quilters are forgiving!

So without further adieu...

This was the sweetest quilt top going off to be quilted!  I don't know the name of the pattern but I did hear that the quilter bought the kit at Hamel's (online store).  Made in the softest flannels!  (Sorry about the angle...but we were sandwiched against a wall.)

 Sandy was busy stitching this FREE BOM from Farmhouse Threads BOM!  Beautiful!

 Love the story behind this Scotty Quilt...the quilter is giving it to a neighbour who always walks his Scotty dog by her house!  Isn't that lovely!!  Can't you just imagine the look of surprise and JOY on the man's face upon receiving this beauty!

                                           

Just in time for Valentine's Day!  So sweet!
                                       
Michelle was working on her blocks for a quilt for her son!  Very masculine...
                             

I loved this quilt!  Such lovely browns and greys!
                                 
Just Judy was working on this wool mat!  I have already shown you the finished mat but it's SEW worth a re-visit!

 I think these were Joan's...see this is where I get into trouble!  Anyway...she was going to a Chinese New Year's Luncheon...and she made these to gift to all those attending!

                                             
Quilters are the most generous of people!  She even put a sticky on each of the placemat to show what the Chinese symbols are saying...(each placemat was different!)

                                  

Betty continues to crank them out...and they are ALL for charity!  Betty is AMAZING!!

You can always tell it's Betty's masterpiece because it's always a gorgeous scrap-happy quilt and it's always beautifully done!

 

When you compliment Betty on her quilts, she is always quick to point out that they consist of two blocks...and she is right!  Can you see the two blocks?

                                          

Yup...all of those quilts were made by Betty...and here she is hiding behind her latest creation!  Plus, I can't forget to mention that ALL of  these quilts were beautifully quilted by Hazel!  Between these two women we keep our hospital and other various charities stocked with lovely quilts!  They both deserve a standing ovation!  BRAVO, ladies!!

(Can you see the two blocks in this one?  Amazing, isn't it!!)

 The rest of the quilts are also Charity quilts!  Yes, Heritage donates hundreds of quilts to various causes throughout the year!
                                           

 I had to show you the wee sheep that Hazel quilted on this quilt...

 Can you see it now?  C*U*T*E!

 I said I wasn't going to do a running commentary...and then I go and shoot off my big mouth!  Geeze...sure hope I didn't put my foot into it...again!!

Have a SUPER Saturday and Happy Quilting!~P