Weekly Progress!

 I got a good bit done this week! The face is looking better - I tweaked a few blocks in this area. I'm happier with it now. Woohoo! Progress is good!

I didn't mention it last week, but in the face area...some of the pieces are absolutely too small to applique. So I had to resort to fusing these little bits. I rarely fuse these days, but it was a necessity in this case. I'm having a few issues with it - it doesn't always stay in place like it should, even though I bought fresh fusible web. I'm going to add some permanent flexible fabric glue in a few spots (once it comes in from Amazon). I don't want these little bits to fall off! 

And that's the update for this week. Hope you're finding some quilty time this week!

Cross Stitch Update!

Sunday afternoon, I pulled out the graph paper and graphed out Daughter 1's name. It didn't take long to stitch! Now I can add some motifs around the name and on the left side of the house. And I can finish the vine/flowers on the right and the rest of the border.  Oh, and the rest of the house.  Will I finish before the month of May is over? I hope so!

I've started going to the Farmer's Market here every Monday to load on fresh food for the week. They have wonderful tomatoes, as you can see. Loving this season for food! Those are air fried wings, also. And pink eyed peas. And of course, fresh corn.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

 

A Face is Appearing!

I got much more done on the Sadie portrait than I expected this week. I tried to do one or two little squares every day, focusing on the simple ones while taking care of Sadie. I almost finished a row, but then switched gears today to focus on a few face blocks. 

Here is the pattern for one little 2 inch block - this is the eye that I finished today. The face area is very fiddly, with LOTS of little pieces. So I tried to get some of them done over the weekend. 

You may have noticed in that first picture....I have gone ahead and drawn the patterns for lots of easy blocks to do during this week.

Once I get past her face and the rest of the green/white pants, I'll be home free and sail through the rest of it.

My other weekend project was cleaning out my closet and drawers. I pulled out all the clothes that no longer fit. I'm only half way done! I'll box these up as soon as I finish. I was going to donate them all, but I've decided to put them in the attic for now. If I don't need them in a year, then out they go! I'm so over playing the weight game - lose it only to gain it back. I feel like I've finally killed the beast and I really don't think I'll need these bigger clothes again. Yippee!

Enjoy your week!

 

Cross Stitch Update!

I'll admit it. I've been slacking off on my cross stitch time in the evenings. 

I did stitch those flowers along the left side while at quilt retreat though. 

I need to get my mojo back and get to work! It will happen. Maybe tonight I'll stitch? We'll see...

Happy Thursday!

 

Retreat Report!

Retreat was AWESOME, as usual. I'm so lucky to be in a guild with very sweet and talented quilters. I took several projects to work on, including some old UFO's. But I ONLY worked on my Sadie portrait quilt. I finished 3 diagonal rows, which I thought was wonderful progress. Once I got to the green and white striped pants....it was very tedious and time consuming.  Some of the two inch squares took an hour or more. But I love the way it looks! I'm obsessed with Timna Tarr's technique!

Here's a photo of the partial quilt top against the paper photo to give you a better idea of how I'm doing. The next row will have some of her face in it! Woohoo! Once I get past her head (about 5 more rows), it will be smooth sailing.

I did do a bit of cross stitch in the evenings- I'll share that later in the week.

Here are some other quilts being made at retreat that caught my eyes.

I love the quilter's bravery to use that bright raspberry in the sashing. It makes the quilt sing!

This quilter had used half square triangles for leaders/ender for more than a year to make this beauty.

This cute center was surrounded by hand embroidered blocks.

Looks like Harry Potter to me!

I'd never seen a bow tie quilt like this one in progress. It's made from tumbler blocks - I may have to make one of these!

The pattern for this strippy quilt is in a Diane Knott book. What a great use of leftover strips!

This is definitely a little girl's quilt - sweet and lovely.

Another half square triangle quilt - a pattern by Laundry Basket Quilts, it was made after an online swap of half square triangle units.

And don't you love these Tula Pink pineapples? Each one was fussy cut and all were fun fabrics.

There were so many other fun projects that I didn't photograph. We ate very well and laughed a lot. Only wish we could have stayed a couple of more days!

But I am glad to be home and to get back into my normal routine. Wishing you a wonderful day!

 

Cross Stitch Update!

Alrighty! Here's the progress on the May block. There will be another row of windows at the top of the house before the roof is added. I'm going to personalize this one for Daughter 1, adding her name at the top of the block. I'll have to get some graph paper out for that.

I told myself I would never get sucked into watching floss tubes....

But I did.

(If you don't know, floss tubes are Youtube videos that cross stitchers make and put on Youtube. They talk about their projects and other things in their lives.

I'm hooked on Brenda and the Serial Starter. Find it on Youtube. Brenda and Laura have such a nice demeanor and I  love watching them. They post every other Sunday. That's doable for me to watch with my limited time. 

Of course, when they show things they are working on.... I want to do it, too! And so I've acquired some new patterns. Brenda is running out of wall space in her home for large samplers, so she's focusing on smalls for a bit. 'Smalls' are small projects that can be finished as little pillows, pincushions, etc. Here are some patterns I've bought after seeing them on their floss tube.

Can you see a theme? All are sewing related! I'm looking forward to starting these, but I'm telling myself I CAN"T until I finish Anniversaries of the Heart. I'm really trying to be a monogamous cross stitcher! I'm afraid if I take a break from A of the H, I won't pick it up again. So I'll keep going along on it and look forward to the smalls to come!

Many stitchers display their smalls in a dough bowl. Yes, you guessed it! I have ordered a dough bowl from Etsy for my future smalls. I tend to plan ahead. Haha!

No, I have not started building up a stash of linen and various threads....YET! Quilting will always come first for me, but I'm really enjoying my little jaunt into cross stitch.

Enjoy your day!

 

Lots of Fabric Cut!

I didn't sew much this past week, but I cut a LOT of 2.5" squares. This is the kit I have prepared to work on the Sadie portrait quilt. I did sew a couple of new squares for the quilt over the weekend, and it is so much easier and faster to work from this bin! In the past I was going through piles of fabric looking for the perfect color. What a mess it was! 

I know that I cut way too much of some colors, but I want to have plenty to choose from. And I'll save the rest for future quilts. I love the Timna Tarr method and can see making more of these.

Over the weekend, I also packed all my sewing things for retreat. The orange thing on the left is a fold up wagon. When we unload the car, I can put my stuff in the wagon and pull it into the retreat center. The navy cushion is to put on the chair for more comfy seating. The empty tissue box? That will be my small trash can for little threads and bits. 

Now I just have to pack my clothes - and that will be easy!

If you're wondering why I didn't post a Cross Stitch update this week - well, I didn't do very much cross stitch. But I'm back at it and making progress again. Will post on Wednesday.

This was little Mickey yesterday morning in my lap. I was scrolling Instagram and he was trying to wake up. Sweet thing is 14.5 years old now, and still doing well.

I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. I certainly did! Yesterday we swam and sat by the pool at Daughter 2's home. They put in a gorgeous pool over the winter. The entire family is enjoying it.

Have a great week!

 

Sewing!

I added another row to my Sadie portrait quilt. Slowly, but surely. Two inches at a time. I really love working on this. If you zoom in, you can see that I did a bit of the Ked's label on her shoe. It's starting to take shape.

I'm going on a quilt retreat in a couple of weeks (squee!) I really want to take this project to work on. BUT, the piles of fabric I have surrounding me for this quilt are a bit overwhelming. I was thinking today that maybe I should cut up a bunch of them into 2.5" squares. It would be easier to take to retreat and it would be easier while working on this at home, too!

So this afternoon I made a start. I think I have enough greens - 3 piles of them. But I need to cut more blues. And I need to cut hair colors - various shades of brown with blonde highlights. I also need more white and skin color. And more gray.

So for the next couple of weeks, I'll be in cutting mode. I can tell already that this will help loads! And I know the friend I'm riding with will appreciate it....

I'll also be taking a couple of UFO's with me to retreat. And a bit of hand sewing. And a bottle of wine to share? Can you tell I'm excited?

What are you sewing these days? Any long term projects? 

Enjoy your week!