Time to start stitching again

I hereby resolve ..,,, OK, I know it is Christmas and not the new year yet. But I cannot wait. I must get back to stitching, sewing and creating.

The ideas have been whirling in my head. My daughter expects to deliver twins iMarch 6. My fingers are ready. And the eyes?

The new eye doctor suggested I match glasses to tasks. That means buying a bunch of readers with different magnifications.  I will use one when writing on the laptop. Another set will work for hand stitching and reading. I will use a third for reading the newspaper.

Funny, I thought I was losing the glasses with the fancy lens implants.

Still, it was good to learn I can now use readers as much as needed. This is the best the eyes will get. It was unsettling to hear the new doctor disagrees with the diagnosis and what was done. But the world is brighter and less painful so something was right.

Four major projects planned:

1) finish repairing my sister-in-law’s quilt. Her grandmother made this well-loved quilt in the 1960s. The quilt of recycled materials was a reward for breaking a habit. But age and lots of use led to holes in the quilt. The blanket used as batting has turned to threads. The binding is barely there.

She wants to keep as much of the quilt as possible. But I have had to replace some blocks. I found some material in the quilt itself. I found some shopping on the Internet - thank goodness for fabric lovers. The owner also shared some from her stash.

Everything is pinned into place. Some stitching done. But I need to finish stitching the new pieces and blocks onto the quilt.

2) start - and FINISH - the 2019 crazy quilt challenge of  a block each month. Each block must be at least 8-inches by 8-inches. I still haven’t decided if I will use my collection of Japanese materials or finish the calendar hangings. The guidelines allow us to complete  a previous challenge. It would be nice to finish the UFO. But that stack of oriental materials is so compelling.

3)  complete a crazy quilt using 2,020 materials, stitches, dodads, and other embellishments.  The deadline for this challenge is Dec. 31, 2020.

I am combining this with a long-time dream of a fabric Christmas tree wall hanging.

Of course, I have other UFOs to finish:

1) Katie’s quilt using T-shirts collected through the years.
2)) A quilt for my husband
3) A Nativity quilt

... and so many more. Unfortunately, I haven’t unpacked the sewing room so I can’t list them all yet.

Sacrifices required

Sometimes you do what you have to do to indulge in a favorite hobby. Yep. Glasses. Add in the special maginfiers. It is not pretty but if I used both I could almost see well enough to add a few more stitches.Oh yeah. I should have said this was a year ago and a lot has changed since then - a few eye operations, lots of eye training and I can see much better.

Day 264-5

1 year of stitches

Day 262

1 year of stitches

Day 261

1 year of stitches

Day 259

1 year of stitches

Day 260

1 year of stitches

Day 258

1 year of stitches

Knotted fan finished

I am trying to stay up with a stitch a day. Here is a fan I recently finished by adding a row of French knots to a series of stem stitches and long-and-short stitches.

That pink is part of another arc on the piece.

Stitching

I committed to stitching every day in 2017. I thought that would be the challenge. It turns out documenting what I've done is harder. Here are a few stitches I have added.

Remembering mom

This month's block for the Crazy Quilt Challenge 2017 is dedicated to my mother. 

First, the base is from her clothing and stash. Second, she loved her garden. Her favorite flower was roses. Third, I remember learning the chain stitch from her and spent hours doing it while she tried to recover from her last fall and a stroke. 

Each stitch was a memory and prayer.

Project Quilting 8.6 = happy husband

See that happy man? He's smiling because his wife finally found the time to make him a quilted project.

The last Project Quilting challenge for Season Eight was about time and deadlines.  A nice twist to a challenge that gives us  7 days to create and finish a project that fits the announced theme and has at least one of these three things: Three layers stitched or pieced or includes appliqué.

I used up some blues and golds -- his alma mater's colors -- to piece together a bag for him. My plan was it would be a good bag to stash dirty clothes in on short trips. He says the project is too good for that.

He came to Tennessee to drive me home to Michigan as I end my 2-month stay watching my granddaughter. The three-month-old is now in a daycare program. She has gone three times and starts full time on Monday.

That meant this was a busy week as grandma finished up two quilts for the nursery's big window.

It was a complicated week as I strained something in my back when I picked up a small piece of material that is part of a US fabric map swap. That swap was intended to be completed by March 17. Ha ha. Then the granddaughter and I came down with horrible colds. (I blame her as the carrier as I had not been outside the house for two weeks).🤧

But I wanted to participate in the final challenge. It would be the first season I did all the challenge projects. So I pushed myself. And pushed. And pushed.

See up in Michigan I had the fixings of a clock. I had materials featuring newspaper pages and some with stories. As a journalist, who worked many years at newspapers I know deadlines. Up in Michigan. 😥

Also up in Michigan was computer novelty fabric -- perfect for deadlines a web writer faces. Up in Michigan!!!  😢

In my room, I had 44 sets of unique fabric for 50 states but there was not enough time to finish that project this week.

My fabric choices were limited -- mostly the mint, peach and lilac needed for the nursery quilt curtains.

And then I spotted the small pile of blues and yellows i had hoped I might squeeze in time to work on a lap quilt for my husband. No time for a big quilt but I could do a bag for him.

The finished piece is about 17 inches by 19 inches, not counting the handles. Larry's Michigan Bag was created near Knoxville, Tennessee.

You can see what others did for this Project Quilting Challenge 8.6 at http://persimondreams.blogspot.com/2017/03/time-is-upchallenge-6-of-project.html

Crazy woman adds monthly challenge

I rarely keep what I quilt for myself but I am trying to change that with a Crazy Quilt Journal Challenge,    The CQJP is about promoting the art of crazy quilting and expanding the participant’s individual artistic creativity and technical knowledge. Participants must embellish 12 blocks -- 1 per month ideally -- and share them on the joint blog. The challenge, created by Kathy Shaw, aka Shawkl, is simple because each quilter can determine what will be his or her challenge.

I finished this block in mid February and finally remembered to send it to Katie Bock, who took over the project, to be posted.

The block actually was pieced much earlier but not embellished.

Detail

Detail

Birthday fun

My granddaughter celebrates each new month of her life. The family continued the sign tradition with recent birthdays of my daughter and husband. What fun!

Stitch progress

1 year of stitches

Bowtie patch honors Fred Astaire

Finished bow tie patch

The fifth challenge theme in Season 8 of Project Quilting is the well-dressed man. I pulled some blacks and kakis from my tiny travel stash, thinking that covers the formal and informal states of dress. I wished I had my collected ties with me.

Then, I looked closer at one material -- those were not random splotches of white. They were top hats and canes -- the accessories dancer Fred Astaire would only wear with a tuxedo. The ties were no longer needed as only bowties belong with a tuxedo.

(You can see the images better on the back side of the fabric.)

I remembered bookmarking a free 3-D bowtie quilt tutorial. Find it at http://www.generations-quilt-patterns.com/3d-bow-tie-quilt-block.html

Back side of fabric

You start with 5 patches cut the same size AND there are no Y seams. Here's the block half done. Strange right?

But that's what leads to the center of the bowtie having dimension and  4 "pockets." It would be interesting to make a patch for the center so the undersides were a complimentary color. But even this version is interesting. I think I'll use it the next time I help a beginner who wants to learn to piece but doesn't want a "boring 4-patch."

A finished piece in a wedding party's colors would make a nice gift -- especially if the details were embroidered in a white square.

The finished wall hanging is 10 inches square, stitched and quilted by hand in Greeneville, Tenn.

You can see how others interpreted the theme and vote for your favorites at Persimmon Dreams.
http://persimondreams.blogspot.com/2017/02/well-dressed-manchallenge-5-of-project_26.html

Block half done. Unexpected, right?

Trying to show a pocket

So bright, so challenging, so loving

This is a big week of love for me -- Feb. 14 is Valentine's Day; the hubby's birthday is the 17th and our wedding anniversary is the 20th. I am still with my  granddaughter and her parents  but my husband was coming for a four-day visit.

The latest Project Quilting challenge is brightness and I know who is my sunshine. So I played with the idea of sunshine -- a yellow portrait of my husband. But none of my sketches followed my brain's eye. 

I thought about making a card with a mirrored surface so he could see himself. I even found at least five ways to attach shisha mirrors at Needle and Thread http://www.needlenthread.com/videos#stitchesS Alas, no mirrors in the stash I brought with me.

Playing and reading The Seed with my granddaughter led me back to the sunshine idea. The simplicity of the book's illustration inspired me to try a fused collage technique. 

I ended up nixing the sunshine and collaged sky but kept the foreground. I added 7 flowers to help focus the eye and framed the work in some checked fabric I forgot I had.

I learned it's smarter to fuse the fabric, then cut it. First though I cut a foreground from the fusible sheet, released the sticky side and randomly cut green shape. That left tiny gaps of stickiness peeking out. Plus, by fusing to the material and then cutting I could place the fabric to better use its lines. 

I can see myself using this technique again. My fingers were itching to turn the foreground into an English cottage garden with threads and ribbons. But I can see other possibilities -- especially a Michigan autumn scene.

The finished piece is 15 inches by 12 inches. A Bright Day was created near Knoxville, Tennessee. It was finished moments before my husband and I left for a night alone to celebrate the first 34 years of marriage.

You can see what others did for this Project Quilting Challenge at http://persimondreams.blogspot.com/2017/02/brighter-betterchallenge-4-of-project.html  You can even vote for your favourites.

Y

Straight and simple stitching for now

Here's an overview of my year in stitches thus far and today's contribution.

Stitching fascinates grandbaby

Oh my. My stitching has gained a fan. I was working on my stitching when the family noticed how facinated my grandaughter seemed to be. Later, I found putting the hoop in her line of sight would stop her cries. 

Surely, it is the bright colors that command her attention now. I can't wait until she is ready to pick up a needle. Here's my progress on a year of stitches. 

Challenge of texture perfect for new sense of touch

The third challenge of Season Eight of Project Quilting revolved around texture. Although I intended to quilt for texture, I dropped that idea to add texture to an animal panel for my granddaughter's room.

This was the week my grand seemed to become aware of her sense of touch. The two-month-old seemed to touch and then study everything in her path.  That led my daughter to bring out the book called Animals, which includes a different texture on each animal. Amelia and I explored the rabbits' fur, the zebra's rough stripes, and even the slick grass that hid the tiger cub.  

But back to the task on hand. I pulled out muslin and batting and made a 9-inch by  9-inch quilt. Next,  I divided up the space and prepared an area to start quilting by hand. I planned to stitch densely in the first box. But first, I started working on a fun project - a monkey appliqué for a wall hanging. You see, piecing is my love in the adventure of quilts so I postponed my quilting.  

As I worked on the monkey, I scoured the environment for texture. Look at how the placement of stitching added variety to that white towel with a band near one edge breaking up the fabric. See how the stitches and cutting of fabric created the softness of chenille. Look at the tiny stitches that compressed the fur on the baby's rabbit face. That work emphasized the padded threadwork that served as an eye.

Fortunately, I finally woke up to the idea of making the monkey the project. I put together eight layers of fabric with eight rows of stitches. I then cut through seven layers between the rows and fluffed up the cuts. I stitched this piece down over the tan circle that once identified the monkey's belly. I longed for the chennile tool sitting in the tool box up north. I cursed not using a different color base to make the clipping easier.  

I created layers of stitches to build thick rounded eyes.  I added loops of thread to the 

top of the monkey's head. A similar set of loops finished off the monkey's tail that also was padded.

 I  added batting and a backing. The finished work is 8 inches by 11 inches. It was created in Greeneville, TN. It is best viewed and  touched while working your way through five verses of monkeys jumping on the bed. Check out how others tackled texture too.