Bummed Out

I was so excited to continue working on this project (same one posted previously), and I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH FABRIC :-(. This fabric was from Joann, purchased about 6 years ago. Checked on Ebay and Etsy just to see if someone have listed it trying to destash, but no success. Not sure what I will do. Was thinking that perhaps making a few EPP hexie flowers in coordinating solids... what do you think? Feeling so bummed. 

Throwback Tuesday: CQ Embellished Seams

A brief throwback to 2014-2015, that was when this Crazy Quilting block was worked on and completed. Many thanks to Kathy! So much learned in her free class for beginners, my favorite part was the Silk Ribbon Embroidery!  

Well, I better go now. 

Hoping your week is going well! 

Until next time!

Notes:

Kathy's blog here.

Bits of Stitching's Needlework Medley Video

Just testing posting videos. 
Here is a video summary of past and present needlework
projects. May consider posting more in the future.
Thanks for watching! ;-)

Hawaii

We were away for awhile on our wedding anniversary. 

Almost took a Hawaiian Appliqué/Quilting class, but since I wasn't going to be able to make it on time, just got a kit for a cosmetic pouch to try to teach myself when I get a chance. The previous time we went I saw a demonstration, and purchased a cushion kit (which I've not finish). May cheat a bit and mark the seam allowance before doing the needle-turn appliqué.. I find it so hard having to do all those curves without a marked seam allowance.

We had a lovely time, not only enjoying the warm weather, and the many beaches...

 ...but also the beautiful tropical flora & fauna, delicious fresh food,

a bit of shopping, and the rich culture, etc. .  Last but not least, we totally enjoyed the company of old friends and making new ones!

After all the fun, it is always good to be back home! Laundry done. Today was grocery shopping day to fill up the pantry and fridge, tomorrow some dusting and light cleaning. We left the house squeaky clean, so that makes it all much easier now. Now to catch up with the kids homeschooling, we didn't do as much as we intended while away... and get busy with volunteer work. 

Hope y'all are doing well! Until next time!

Notes,

Non-affiliated links:

My Hawaiian appliqué kit is from this company, they have retail shops around the islands of Hawaii: https://hawaiian-quilts.com/kits.html another good source to see pictures and read more about this art is: http://poakalani.net 

September

A month full of all kinds of activity besides needlework.
Just getting back to it this weekend, however as you can see 
I'm not hand embroidering but english paper piecing ;-). Still haven't forgotten about my blue work birdie towel, perhaps I'll finish it this weekend.

One more appointment in few days to be done with my medical round for the 2017 year. Everything seems ok, just needing to add a supplement to my daily routine to see if it makes a difference, so thankful for that!
Homeschooling officially started in this household, plus was able to increase my volunteer work although not to the amount I was aiming to, maybe in November I try again. Baking has increase too!
Need to go now, hoping everyone is well! Till later!

Project(s) Update

My family and I were traveling for a couple of weeks, and of course I took with me some projects.

Was able to complete the Calendula from the Flower of the Month, Aunt Martha's transfer pattern. Although reading in a moving car makes me sick, embroidering doesn't ... thankfully!

From the two hexagon flowers I took to hand-piece, was able to complete only one... better than nothing, right? This one was done in the hotel room while listening to upbuilding songs. For some reason hand-piecing in the car doesn't appeal to me... lots of tiny even stitches, while trying to match hexagon sides, a bit of a challenge on uneven highways.

Well, that's it for now... have to run! 
Enjoy the week, until next time!

Flower of the Month Project

A brief hello and update ;-).
Flower of the Month lap quilt project progress. So far these are the blocks that are done, the one I'm currently working on, and the main fabric. I was helped with two of these embroidered blocks, and will be helped with two others. There will be twelve embroidered blocks in total, but I may add two more... not sure yet.

Countdown ... 3 ...

I'm done with all three pending stitcheries! The first one that I was able to send to its forever home is the one above. A tea towel, with a vintage pattern embroidered in pastels as requested by my friend. I'm posting it here so as to keep record along the rest of my embroidered projects. I'm so happy that she liked it!!!


We were doing a personal swap and she made me a lovely Flora Supply Case (pictured above), which I love!!! It is helping me keep one of my needlework wips organized and portable. We sent each other additional goodies, but the main item was handmade with love. I will continue the countdown as soon as I send the other two and they are received, which may take me a few days since I'm currently feeling under the weather. 

It's freezing cold out there which means the trip to the post office will be delay for a bit. This winter has been a wacky-weather-kind-of-winter.... is started in the 70's and out of the sudden is freezing cold out there, not good for some us with chronic illnesses that get exacerbated with drastic weather changes and/or cold weather. Hoping that y'all are well and keeping warm or cool, depending on your location! Until next time!

Family Getaway

For some unknown reason I completely forgot to post about our traditional yearly getaway in a timely manner. 

 

I'm adding a brief post for record keeping. There's something about the ocean that is very soothing and relaxing... at least for me. Always look forward to our little family getaway! I'm not one to get in the water, but truly enjoy seeing my little ones having fun in it. 

These were the projects I took with me, and up to now, most are still in the works. After all it was all about kids having fun... so this momma did very little stitching ;-).

What I've Been Up To

As I mentioned on my previous post, here are a few peeks of current wip's.

First is Jenny's free BOM "The Vintage Kitchen". The original 

BOM is in redwork, but I'm doing mine in blue... it goes better with my kitchen ;-).

I'm also doing another hush-hush stitching... only a little peek of it for now. I'm embroidering with Cosmo Multi-Work it comes in a spool in 2 strands, however I'm using 3 strands for this wip.

I'm still working on my Spring Stitching Club (pattern by Mollie Johanson aka: Wild Olive). This and the two other wip's above came with me on a family vacation trip. Hopefully by the time we are back home, these four hexies will be pieced into hexagon flowers. 

Before I go, for those of you interested on Jenny's BOM "The Vintage Kitchen",... here is how the finished project will look like once completed. Small and manageable, I most likely be doing all the stitcheries although not sure I will complete the entire mini quilt as shown. Perhaps you may want to visit Jenny's blog to check it out for yourself. Here is a link to her blog post.

I guess this is all for now... 'til next time!

CQ Block Finished

It's been a while since my last post. I completed my Crazy Quilting block from Kathy's online class. It was great!!! Kathy is an excellent teacher, giving encouragement and constructive feedback when needed. There'll be another beginners class soon. Kathy will post on her blog when sign ups are open. So be on the look out if you are interested... sign ups only last a few days.

There is an intermediate class that I may want to take some time in the future, but for now I must work on many of my wip's to see if I'm able to finish a few of them before 2015 ends.

PS: Kathy's blog link here.

I will try to be back soon with peeks at what I'm up to these days.

Until next time!

Handpiecing ... Etc.

Lately, I've been dedicating most of my free time to the CQBC, and my hand piecing is on hold for the moment. Few weeks ago I took a few pictures of the tools/supplies I'm using for hand piecing.

Cookie Jar Pup was a bit overwhelmed by all these items, but really there's nothing much to it; a Clover magnetic pin holder with Clover fine patchwork pins, Sewline glue pen and fabric pencil, Clover needle threader, Omnigrid quarter inch rulers, leather thimble pads from the Colonial Needle, a Clover finger pressing tool, size 11 Foxglove Cottage straw needles, Mettler silk finished cotton thread, and Fons & Porter's seam ripper.  The Clover ring thread cutter and the black leather thimble are used occasionally. 

The fabrics are a mix. I think most of them are by Sandy Gervais, Fig Tree, or 3 Sisters, but I'm not really sure... it's been awhile since they became part of my stash. If you recognized them please give me some insight! ;-)

I already posted about the scissors previously (here), so won't go into details on this post. Trying to keep all tidy and at hand can be challenging. I really wanted a Bionic Gear Bag and I even got the pattern, but the dynamics between my sewing machine and I are practically non-existent at the moment. While waiting for a reply regarding having one custom made, a trip to Target took place and I found this handy dandy cosmetic/toiletry bag (traincase) that looked like a good candidate,... and I was right! 

I was able to fit everything I need for hand piecing as you can see above, plus a few other things. On a separate plastic zippered pouch are my scraps of fabric, template material, and quilt block paper pattern. 

It fits nicely inside the cosmetic bag, on top of everything else, as you can see below. This little toiletry bag has proven to be just what I needed without having to dig deep in my pocket! 

I'll still love to have a Bionic Gear Bag, perhaps when I master up boldness to sew one for myself. Having one custom made can be a bit costly, and rightly so, since there are so many steps to it. Perhaps one of you will like to trade with me, you could sew a BGB for me and I could hand embroider a few kitchen towels or quilt blocks for you ;-). I think a BGB bag will be perfect for keeping english paper piecing projects!

This toiletry will remain my designated hand piecing bag ;-). I have grown fond of it! It fits a lot, zips up nicely, and keeps its shape. I love having everything tidy and in place!

I must keep focus on the Crazy Quilting class, especially since I am so close to completing it, but having said that.... can't wait to keep working on a few more hand pieced blocks and my other hand embroidery projects!
Until next time!

CQBC Progress

I finally made some progress on my Crazy Quilting Basics Class!

(Class is hosted by Kathy Shaw.)

Above is the beginning of Task no.5, after adding the basic seam markings. In this particular class we have learned how to make and use seam templates. 

After the basic seam markings are embroidered in the corresponding seams, we have to add combination stitches to the basic seams. Later, on of of the upcoming tasks, I'll be adding other types of embellishments to these seams.

This is the fun part! At this stage, I'm mainly using Perle Cotton no.12, and for french knots 2 strands of Color Variations DMC.

However, half way my 3rd seam, I did get a tiny bit tired of making french knots. 

A much needed break from embroidering french knots was in place. This is how my block looks so far with today's progress. It's resting on my needlework desk waiting until I find a few more minutes to sit and stitch. I will love to finish this task before the upcoming weekend. We'll see!

Crazy Quilting Basics / Class Progress

As mentioned on my previous post, here is a peek at where I am at on my Crazy Quilting Basics Class hosted by Kathy Shaw.

After selecting my block fabrics and gathering my supplies, (which, thankfully practically all of them were already in my stash) the piecing of the block was do. I did the block, of course, mine is hand pieced. The picture collage below shows progress and completed Tasks 1 through 4.

Hand piecing the block wasn't hard but since I needed to follow a pattern (to my advantage) my focus couldn't shift from the block. Each and every piece needed to be on the right place. After the hand piecing was done I basted the block onto a large piece of fabric and mounted it in the Q-snap hoop neatly stretched, ready to be work on. Now my homework consists of learning how to plan the embroidery on a CQ block. I took a break for few days from the CQ class and did other less focus stitching in order to relax ;-) and finish a little something for a special someone.

I'll show you later what I made on my short relaxing break, but for now my focus is back and this homework needs to get done!
Will update later how I did on Task 5!
Until next time!

Scissors Review

Wow, October was a busy month! Just now getting back to normal.

Do you have a favorite pair of scissors? I guess it would be kind of hard to just have one pair, especially when there are scissors for different tasks. My current fabric and paper scissors where not doing a good job. The paper ones were old and had been used for other things beside paper, the fabric ones are bulky and require a bit of hand/wrist work. So, I did a bit of research a while back and decided to try these below.

These above are the scissors I'm currently using for my hand piecing tasks :-). Three of them are Kai Scissors. I'm using the one with black handles for cutting out templates from a specific kind of cardboard (however they are not for that, their job is to cut rubber for rubber stamping projects), can't tell any difference from using this pair from any other utility scissor pair. It is still hard on my hand to cut with this pair. Maybe is the kind of cardboard I'm using for the templates that makes it hard...don't know, so I will still be looking for an alternative.

The hot pink Kai Sewing Scissors, are very sharp, they perform smoothly and effortlessly... like cutting through butter, love them. The lavender Kai Serrated Patchwork Scissors have a serrated blade that grips the fabric preventing slippage, for very precise cutting of patchwork pieces, and in my opinion, still cuts smoothly... this pair is my favorite, really love it!  

The yellow one is a Cutter Bee by EK Success, excellent for cutting the paper pieces needed to make templates. They are very nice for cutting paper... very happy with this pair as well!

Here are close ups of the front and back of the serrated pair... are you able to see the serrated blade? They are a bit linty because I've been truly giving them a work out with my hand piecing blocks ;-).

Here a close up of the Cutter Bee, do you see that sharp tip... it does a very detailed cutting into the paper pattern pieces.

Having the right scissor for the right job makes a big difference. Especially if you were to have health conditions, like myself,  that will hindered your ability to cut for a long period of time and such.   

So these are my to go scissors for the various tasks of my current hand piecing wip. Very happy with the two Kay's, the lavander and hot pink ones, and with the Bee Cutter. The pairs I'm using the most are the serrated one and the paper one.

Do you have any favorite pair(s) for hand piecing? Please do share!

Please Note: I do not have any affiliation with the brands/links I mentioned on this post. I'm just a very happy customer sharing my thoughts on how these work for me.

Block No. Two

This block with its many pieces took me a bit longer than the previous ones, especially since I didn't work on it in just one sitting. It is not perfect but I am happy with it.

I am learning a lot! It was a good idea to skip this one until I felt ready for it.

Another block with a hiccup,... ended up piecing the center right side section to the center square upside down :-( , my seam ripper and I are best friends. It was such a silly mistake that, that in my disappointment, I forgot to take a picture of it. I am glad that it wasn't the longer top/bottom sections. You can be sure that the silly mistake was not repeated. Lesson learned!

I am taking a little break from all needlework until I take care of an assignment. Until next time! Enjoy your weekend!
Notes: Pattern/tutorials provided by Wynn at Zakka Art. Inspiration from Japanese patchwork book (info on previous hand piecing post).

Block No.4 Heart

This block was easy to stitch, the cute factor was motivational! It was completed a week ago.

The above picture shows my work area just 2 pieces away for the Heart block to be completed. (Really liking the Kai Scissors, especially the patchwork and sewing ones!!! More on them later.)

Now there was a little hiccup after hand piecing that middle triangle piece. The right corner was off, so out came my handy seam ripper. 

New piece was cut, pinned and hand pieced in place (by the way these Clover Extra-Fine Patchwork pins are much better than regular pins, in my opinion).

Et voilá, magnifique! Like nothing ever happened ;-). 

Completed the hand piecing, and finger pressed. Lesson learned, won't be cutting my triangles' corners until done with hand piecing the entire block.

Not bad (if I may say so myself)... for a beginner like me!

A truly enjoyable hand piecing journey with Block No.4 Heart.
My needlework is serving as much needed therapy! Moderate costochondritis... not fun, just hopping it doesn't progress to severe as it has in the past.

PS: Just today I was able to completed another block.... can you guess which?

Notes: Non-affiliated links, just for sharing. Pattern draft and tutorial are kindly provided by Wynn at Zakka Art as part of her Hand Sew Along #handsewpatchwork. Inspiration and guidance from Japanese Patchwork book ISBN: 9784863224421.