Hand Quilt Along, Slow Sunday Stitching

Happy Valentines Day everyone!   I am planning to have a shrimp cocktail, split a steak and baked potato with my sweetheart and maybe a piece of cake.  

Three weeks has passed again, and time to check in for the Hand Quilt Along.  I have been pretty busy this week with several projects.  I've been working on my project for the Show Your Stripes Blog Hop coming up.  

I also was able to get a block done for the Pieces From the Past Sewalong being done by Melva @Melva Loves Scraps.

On the slow stitching front, I am still trying to catch up my Ella Maria Deacon blocks.  I was able get three more blocks done.

For my slow stitching this week I will be working on this last EMD block I am behind on.  The new ones come out in three days,.  

Check out the other Hand Quilt Along links below.  

Hand Quilt Along Links

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Nanette, Sharon, Karrin, Gretchen, Daisy, Connie, Monica and Sherrie

I will be linking up, with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

My Saturday turned into a wonderful day.  I had just wrapped up a package of little goodies for Granddaughter Kyleigh to tell her I was thinking and missing her.  I had it on the bench to take out to the mailbox.  About 5 minutes later, Kyleigh texted me, and told me she was in town, and could she come over to visit.  She apparently flew back home to surprise her dad.  When he was watching a Super Bowl commercial last Sunday got tears in his eyes thinking about Kyleigh.   She apparently has classes all day on Tuesdays, but the rest of the week is free, so she was able to come out on Wednesday last week and is flying back on Monday, and gets to spend Valentine's Day with her boyfriend Drew.  Next week she starts her nursing clinical, and she needed to have regular office clothes to wear instead of scrubs this time, so she and Drew planned to go shopping before she returned.   What a treat to have them visit.  

Thanks for stopping by!  

Slow Sunday Stitching

Another week has come and gone.  I can't say I have gotten a lot accomplished this week, especially sewing with my machine, although I have several things I need to be working on.

I have been feeling somewhat "off", lost my mojo.  I hope I find it again soon.  I have read several books.  My husband and I had been watching "The Outsider" on HBO I think it was, based on the Stephen King novel.  With my hearing difficulties, I sometimes have trouble hearing, especially women's voices.  I have tinnitus in both my ears, hearing loss, and and have hearing aids, but sometimes even those aren't enough to distinguish voices,  Anyway I decided to download the book, and I ended up reading that several days, and several other books.

What I did work on this week were the Ella Maria Deacon blocks for August.  The bottom left one I think I am going to do over.  It has pleats, and doesn't meet in one section so there is a big pleat .  I tried EPP'ing this, and couldn't figure out how it went together.  So I cut it out again, and hand pieced it.  That is this version.  It is also 1/2 too small.  I am going to set it aside for now, and maybe try appliquing it on the background, or maybe reverse applique.  Any suggestions?

What I plan to work on this week for Slow Sunday Stitching is my Cassandra's Circle block for August.  I have it all prepped for applique.   It's called Cotton Boll.

What has made me smile this week, is my Amaranthus.  It is almost 5 feet tall now.  I had to tie it to the fence it has gotten so big.   A friend gave me the original plant years ago, and each year it seems to reseed itself.   This is the biggest one yet.  I'm glad it ended up close to the fence so I could have something to attach it to! 

Thanks for stopping by!  I will be linking up with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.  Head on over and check out what everyone has been up to.   I love this weekly motivation! 

Slow Sunday Stitching

Time to report in again for Slow Sunday Stitching @ Kathy's Quilts.  My favorite day of the week to visit blogs and find out what everyone has been up to. 

I have been quite busy, working on Hands2Help comfort quilts during the day.  At night this week I worked on my Ella Maria Deacon blocks.  Not sure I am happy with the broderie perse, I might redo that one.  Still deciding.

Today I prepped the block for Cassandra's Circle.  This one should be pretty easy to do.

Next up, I am prepping a new applique project (like I really needed another), I came across on Instagram.  It is a Sunflower Sew Along, @fixer_of_old_quilts.  The original block was from a quilt dated 1863 in the collection of Cathy Erickson @quiltingcat2, which is being used with her permission.  If you might be interested, check out the post @fixer_of_old_quilts.   I might do 4 blocks instead of 1.  

A few pictures of blooms in my yard.  I still need to do some weeding, but the flowers are pretty.  The foxgloves apparently reseeded themselves because I have more coming up along the fence.  

And the irises are blooming.  

Hope everyone is staying safe and is well!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

I will be linking up at Slow Sunday Stitching @ Kathy's Quilts.    Pop on over there and see what everyone has been up to.  

Slow Sunday Stitching

I can't believe that Sunday is coming around again.  This week has flown by, for no reason in particular.  I spent 5 days this week working on the Ella Maria Deacon quilt blocks.  I finally got the star block done, by EPP it.  I was really glad to get that done!  I don't think I will use a glue stick next time.  I had a heck of a time getting the papers loose.  All except the broderie perse one were done by hand.

While I stayed in this week, and didn't have the shopping hassles, we had other issues.  I was finally able to get 2 weeks of my lupus medication.  Apparently this is one of the ones they are trying on Coronavirus patients so my supply has been limited from my standard 3 month supply to 2 weeks.

Thursday night my heat pump went off again.  I woke up at 3 am on Friday with a migraine, and was cold and noticed it was off again.  The repairman came out promptly and replaced the fuse again, about the 5th time in two months.  It is a low voltage fuse apparently.    So we had heat for most of the day yesterday.  But I had the migraine all day, so wasn't able to sew.  

Then this morning, woke up at 3 am again and it was off again.  I talked to my husband and we are going to get an electrician out here on Monday or so and see if he can figure out why this keeps blowing fuses.  There is obviously a problem.  That last fuse didn't even last 24 hours.  So Saturday I was not able to sew on my machine either, we are heating the room with a space heater my husband stays in and the rest of the house is cold, too cold for my arthritis to handle.  

We did get a visit from our younger daughter this afternoon.  She has been working from home and trying to get her children 9 and 6 to do their assignments.  Next week is Spring Break so she won't have to worry about it.  But she praised me on being able to work from home (I was a medical transcriptionist for 35 years) when her and her sister were young!

So for my Slow Sunday Stitching, I will be working on my Father Christmas.   The last two days, with my migraine, and today I read all day, I haven't gotten much to show.   

I got the big tree stitched down, now I can start working on Santa.  I will be linking up with Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.  Head on over and see what everyone is working on.  

Thanks so much for stopping by, and Stay Safe!  

Slow Sunday Stitching

Time to report in again at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.   I really appreciate this weekly check in and motivation in seeing others' works.

This week has been a crazy one.  Multiple appointments were cancelled due to the mandate for shelter in place for the whole state of California now.  I did venture out daily in the mornings for needed supplies, most of which were gone from the shelves.  I can now say I did score some TP yesterday at Target, and was finally able to find some distilled water for my husband's CPAP machine at Sprouts, after looking for almost 2 weeks for those items.

My chest freezer and refrigerator are now filled to the brim for now, so we can rest easy.  I do miss our family, children and grandchildren immensely.  Granddaughter Kyleigh on her way home with her Dad as of Sunday driving cross-country from Boston.  They will drop off her roommate in Arizona along the way.

So what little sewing time I did this week, I finished up the Buhl-Bushong quilt border assignment for March.

Those blue flowers I ended up changing the fabric below.  I didn't think it offered enough contrast against the green, so I took it out and substituted the above fabric.

This week, I have been working on the Ella Maria Deacon quilt blocks too.  There were 2 applique, 1 broderie perse, which I have all prepped, and I will be slow stitching on Sunday. 

The fourth block was a lone star type pieced block.  I spent 4 afternoons working on this one.

The first one came out like this, almost looks like a cap.  I was really trying to force it to go together.

There is no way this one is going to lay down at all.  I didn't even bother putting three of the corners on.  This took me 2 afternoons to do this much.  I had a hard time figuring out where those parallelograms were supposed to match up.  I kept being off one way or the other.  I took some of those seams out 2-3 times.

Then yesterday I got this far before figuring this wasn't going to work either.  It was like a sliver was missing.

So today I read on Facebook someone from the group had theirs done, and had a hard time too, and did EPP.  So I decided that was what I would do.    I have never done EPP before and it was relaxing to me.  This is the first section.  I still need to prep the other 3 sections so I can do the hand work on these too.    But I think this will be better.  I did figure out when I made the templates to which we were to add the seam allowance, it was larger than it should have been.  That was probably what caused all my difficulties.  

And if I don't have enough to do above, I still have my Father Christmas block waiting to be put together!

I will be linking up with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.  Head on over and see what everyone has been doing. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Slow Sunday Stitching, Some Finishes

I don't know how these weeks keep flying by, I know I keep myself busy, but can't believe it is already March!  Time to check in again for Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.

I have had a few finishes this week, mostly hand-finishes.  First I finished February's Ella Maria Deacon blocks.  This is offered through Sentimental Stitches.  Last week I think I had just prepped the blocks.

I also finished the block for Pieces From the Past by Melva Loves Scraps.    This will eventually be a quilt for my grandson Jaeger who will graduate next year.  This block was called the Mayflower.

I finished March's block for Cassandra's Circle called Mulberry Wreath.  This is the 2020 applique BOM by Barbara Brackman on Civil War Quilts.

I spent this afternoon getting my Slow Sunday Stitching ready.  It is the next border on the Buhl-Bushong quilt offered by the Virginia Quilt Museum.  I got this month's assignment ready, which consists of 4 flowers.  

I actually finished one of them tonight, but have 3 more to do on Sunday.  

I will be linking up at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.  Be sure and pop on over and see what others are working on.  

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Slow Sunday Stitching

Time to check in again for Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.   

This week I finally finished February's assignment of the Buhl-Bushong Quilt offered as a BOM by The Virginia Quilt Museum.  It was to finish this border.  

These are all three borders so far.  

Today I prepped two of the Ella Maria Duncan Blocks for February's assignment of this BOM offered by Sentimental Stitches.   So these will be my Slow Sunday Stitching this week.

I'll be linking up in the morning to Kathy's Quilts.  Be sure to pop over and see what everyone else is working on.  I continue to appreciate this weekly motivation and inspiration from other quilters!

Thanks for stopping by!

What I Have Been Up To

I wanted to document a few things for the 2020 Finish-A-Long so I can find it later. 

One of the items on my list was to finish January, February and March assignments for the Buhl-Bushong Quilt, the BOM I am working on through the Virginia Quilt Museum.  I finished this part of a border which was the assignment this month.  I suspect we are going to finish this border in February.

Another item on my list was to finish January, February and March assignments on the Ella Maria Duncan BOM offered by Sentimental Stitches.

Also this morning, I finished the Love Sampler, by Kathy Schmitz.    I love how it came out.  I have it hanging up already!  I really got going on it this week as I had no applique to work on!

Well now that that is finished, I need to prep the new BOM by Barbara Brackman called Casssandra's Circle.  The first block came out on Wednesday, and the first center block is 36".  

I am also current working on my project for the Color It Red Blog Hop due to start February 17-21. hosted by Carol of Just Let Me Quilt.  My day will be on the 21st.  

Thanks so much for stopping by!  

Slow Sunday Stitching

Hard to believe it is time to check in again for Slow Sunday Stitching @ Kathy's Quilts. 

DH had two appointments this week which I need to drive him to and push him into the appointment.   I tried to quilt my China Dishes quilt for the Winter Blues Blog Hop, and got frustrated that my machine was still not fixed after being in the shop for three weeks.  I've been messing with the same issue (timing off after a couple of broken needles going at top speed).  My old machine was a Juki 98E.  DH took pity on me and ordered a new Juki 2000Qi, which arrived on Wednesday after one of his appointments.  My day of the blog hop was Friday, and I completed quilting it on Thursday, so just in the nick of time. 

The new machine works great, unfortunately it doesn't work with the old speed controller I had for the old machine, and I had to drag my foot pedal around to complete the quilt in time.  I have a new one on order that should get here one of these days.

Meanwhile this week, I have had time for a lot of slow stitching.  I finished the Buhl-Bushong for this month.

The past two days I have been working on this month's assignment of the Ella Maria Deacon Quilt.

For Slow Sunday Stitching this week, I will be working on this last block.

I'll also be working on this Love Sampler by Kathy Schmitz.

I'll be linking up with Kathy's Quilts.  Pop on over there and see what everyone has been doing!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Ella Maria Duncan Quilt

Another goal on my Quarter 4 Finish-A-Long list has been accomplished.  It was #5 on the list that is stated here.  It was to keep up with the Ella Maria Duncan BOM, with blocks for October, November and December. 
These were the blocks for October.



The blocks for November.



And the blocks for December.  I changed the bottom right one some.  I enlarged the shapes, did fewer of the.  Those red ones look like amoebas or something to me.

All three months together

That's all for now.  Thanks for stopping by.  I am still trying to get last week's Frolic Mystery clue done.  It is the 2019 Mystery by Bonnie Hunter, and can be found here.  Because I had out of town guests, and then grandchildren last week, I am playing catch-up.  Should have them done by tomorrow I would think.

Thanks for stopping by!