A Little Catch Up Blogging

I’ve been absent from the blog for a while, but not the sewing room.  In fact, as I’ve stayed close to home while hubby recuperates from knee surgery, I’ve enjoyed some bonus stitching time.

First up, I completed 15 anti-ouch pouches in June and delivered them to the Guild meeting last week.

Three more rosettes are done.  I think I need one more rosette and a bazillion neutral hexies. (But who’s counting?)

I ran short on hexagon papers, so some punching was in order.  A friend loaned me her Fiskars punch and I find it much easier on the hands than my old one which has stopped giving me clean cuts.

Another friend kindly gifted me with a bag of scraps.  I’ve divvied it up with my scrapaholic friend and have been happily processing my share.

And I’ve made another 72 bow tie blocks.

As Bob’s recovery progresses, I’ve started getting out and about more.  I’m looking forward to sewing with my Tuesday pals tomorrow.  I'm tempted to take handwork because it's easy to tote and ready to go.  I want to rest my hand a couple of days, though, so it will probably be something else.

A Finish and a Win

Since my husband's knee surgery last Monday, my time has pretty much been spent helping him with his recovery.  He's doing really well, but it's been a challenge for both of us.  One of the ways I try to stay calm is working on my hexagon project.  Here are rosettes numbers 27 and 28.

I finished this wall quilt which dates back to a workshop with Karen Combs in April 2016. All it needed was the binding and I finally decided to check it off my list.  Since I wasn’t in love with it anyway, I decided to attempt a machine binding.  This time I tried glue basting the corners and that did help.  It’s far from perfect. I still need to figure out how wide to cut it versus how big a seam to use attaching it.

Also, to my surprise, I won Annie’s Sew30SewFUN May 2017 Challenge.  I now have a very nice gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop.  I’m going to resist the urge to shop immediately, though, and look for something that especially tickles my fancy.  Annie will be continuing the challenge another month, if you are interested in jumping aboard.

Here is number 26 out of the 32 rosettes needed for the Edyta Sitar project I’ve been working on.  I think I have fabrics paired for the remaining ones and then I will be ready to start thinking about how to arrange them around the center diamonds. 

Annie's Sew30SewFUN challenge for May is wrapping up.  I’m pleased that I was able to use it as a means to get my sewing rhythm back.  Hopefully that will continue.  

The Village is Built

I was determined that the project from last week’s workshop with Flavin Glover would not join the host of other UFOs tucked away in my stash closet.  I finished the binding today while sewing with my Tuesday quilting buddies.  It’s been a while since I had a finish.  

I’ve also added another rosette to the collection for my Edyta Sitar project, and I’ve been processing gifted scraps which will become bow tie block units.

One day soon I will stop and count the batches in my basket to get an idea of how many more I need to make.

Building a Village

Last week I had the joy of attending a workshop led by Flavin Glover from Auburn, Alabama.  We learned her technique of creating houses based on log cabin blocks.  At the end of the workshop she had us bring all our blocks to the front so we could see the village we had created.

I am continuing to build my wall quilt using a fabric line that looks like aged muslin.

So far I’m keeping up with Annie’s Sew30SewFUN challenge, and it’s paying off.  I feel like I’m hitting a rhythm again and really enjoying the process.  The new project and more relaxed pace of life the last two weeks has helped too.

Tuesday Stitching

I joined my Tuesday sewing friends for about three hours, before a sinking spell, a residual of the cold I’ve been fighting, sent me packing.  It’s trying to morph into bronchitis and I didn’t want to push too hard.  I have Guild meeting today and a workshop on tomorrow and want to be able to enjoy both.  My machine work was, of course, bow tie units.  My vintage Singer 404 lives at the Club House and I really enjoy using it for regular piecing.

I also have two more rosettes done for my Edyta Sitar project.  

Still Plugging Along

I’m still keeping up with Annie's Sew30SewFUN challenge.  

In fact, despite a lack of interesting pictures, I can honestly say those lovely words from my previous work life, “Exceeds Expectations.”

My focus, of course, was on my bow tie project, and the collection in my basket is growing.  There are enough bow tie units there for 27 rows.

Over the weekend I had to change directions and complete the 10 remaining anti-ouch pouch kits so they would be ready to turn in at Wednesday’s Guild meeting bringing my total for May to 15.  

I've also spent some time prepping fabric for a Thursday workshop and more hexagon rosettes.  No pictures there...