Shooting for the stars

 Finish one quilt, start another.  Quilters, they are always thinking ahead to their next quilt or three.  

The stars stitch together quickly.  With lots of blue fabric in my stash, blue starts on a white background seemed like a good choice. 

This is a hooked rug from Minnick and Simpson.  Yes, I am easily influenced by things I see in books, magazines, Instagram, Flosstube.  

 After weeks and weeks, 24 blockheads have been completed.  This project started back in late September.  Have I really been working on it for two months?  Block one was a self challenge, just to see if I could make the block.  That challenge expanded into color combinations from my stash which expanded into stash reduction which finally ended with “can I make the blocks into a quilt?”  

Much has been learned.  A class in color would have been very helpful.  Yes, tones play nicely with each other and yes chocolate brown and pink is a great combination.

Organizing fabric by color family would also have been helpful.  No more organizing fabric by designer or manufacturer.  (Almost all my fabric is Civil War reproduction).

What’s next?  Cleaning the sewing area, adding the sashing and setting the quilt.  Borders?  How many?  What color?  Width of border?  And. . .I saw another blockhead challenge for a star, there is lots of blue fabric in my stash.  

Veteran’s Day 2023

 in remembrance of all those who have served and sacrificed so I can enjoy freedom.  Thank you for your service!

Twelve Down

 Twelve blocks completed, twelve blocks remain to be made.  Am making slow progress on the Moda Blockhead #5 challenge.  Digging deep into fabric stash hoping to make all 24 blocks different and realizing taking a color class would have been a good investment. 

Gentle Stitches

                              Gentle Stitches by Shakespeare’s Peddler

This piece was designed by Theresa Vanette/Shakespeare’s Peddler and released as a kit in 2012.  It was stitched with Crescent Color Works fibers (now called Classic Color Works) on 36 count Linen by Weeks Dye Works.  I made one change:  I added beads between the row of button flowers and the words.  Adding the beads reminded me why I seldom add beading:  they are very tedious.  The piece will be finished into a needle roll and will play nicely with my Shepherd’s bush needle rolls.

                                                           

Are you a Blockhead?

A few years ago, maybe five, Moda started a program called Blockheads.  Each week a Moda fabric designer would design a block and feature his/her fabric.  (Sure hope I’m being factual here)

Last week a blockhead showcasing Betsy Chutchian popped up on my Instagram feed.  I thought her fabric and design were very pretty.

I started studying the block design closer and realized the block was made from HST’s and squares.   Ahh, my skill level.

Off I dashed to fabric stash and quilting supplies.  Concentration is required to make the block, think I counted 64 pieces.  Requires brain cells to make sure all those pieces and parts are moving in the right direction.

It’s been great fun digging into the fabric stash and seeing which fabrics play nicely with each other.  I’m thinking 24 blocks with sashings and borders will make a nice sized quilt.  

2024 Plans

 I like making plans, I like to do lists, marking off things accomplished, it is my own system of accountability.  At the sake of being redundant one of the positive things about the pandemic was rediscovering my stash.  On those days of isolation, I would shop my stash.  Rediscovering designs, fibers, finishing fabrics, accoutrements started me thinking about stitching things I always wanted to stitch.  So. . .for 2024 I have decided to focus on those pieces.  I’m calling it things you always wanted to stitch, but allowed yourself to be distracted by new releases. Don’t start thinking I won’t get pulled away, because there are some retreat pieces I have already put on shopping wish list.  In no particular order here are older designs I want to stitch in 2024.  

Harriet Elizabeth Coe

With Thy Needle and Thread/Brenda Gervais 

Released/Reproduced in 2013

Plans are to stitch on a piece of Weeks Dye Works linen called Linen.  Will be modifying her name to Great Grandmother Harriet Ward.  Lots of eyelets in this sampler and I enjoy eyelets, but will stitch other pieces to give myself a break from them.

                                                                                             

This was released as a kit in 2014 (The Scarlett House/Norden Crafts).  2014, yes this has been in my stash for a few years.  Love the stone house, reminds me of the stone houses in Pennsylvania.

                       Thomas the Turkey and The Reverend Gordon Squashbottom                                                

Notforgotten Farm/Lori Brechlin released Thomas the Turkey in 2007.  When I start decorating for Thanksgiving, I ask myself “why haven’t you stitched Thomas the Turkey?”   The Rev as he is affectionately called is just one of those fun seasonal fall stitches.  

                                                                    

Couldn’t resist including a Blackbird Design.  I do love drums and Hobby Lobby has some great candle stands for displaying.  Am thinking about using Mayflower linen from Fox and Rabbit.

This was a club piece released through County Samplers Threads of History Club.  Am trying to stitch some of my many kits.  My dear stitching friend Jane has stitched and finished this piece and seeing hers motivated me to stitch mine.  

In the words of AppleJack “this should keep you out of trouble for awhile.”  There are many other designs calling my name and I haven’t forgotten them.  Plans may change, new releases may excite me and quilting and punch needle might also need some attention.

                                                                      

Flowerpot Roll Up

 

Blue Flower Drum

Blue Flower Drum

La D Da, Lori Markovic

35 count Weeks Dye Works Parchment

Weeks Dye Works Fibers:  Dove, Dolphin, Seagull, Bee’s Knees, Garrison Green

I feel in love with this piece the minute I saw it.  From the soft muted color palette to the font of the letters in the alphabet, it was calling my name.  From counting errors to Lucy eating fibers to misplacing fibers it took me much much longer to complete the stitching than it should have.  Substituting fibers, playing thread chicken with fibers, borrowing floss from other projects, I finally finished the stitching.  Fingers crossed the finishing into a drum goes much smoother than the stitching.

                                                     

The French Connection

 

I’ve been watching Adrian and Carole restore Chateau de le Ferte on YouTube.  Adrian and Carole are amazing:  motivated, disciplined, no job is too big or small for them to tackle.  From plumbing, electrical, painting, refinishing floors, landscaping and yes mucking out a stable, they do it all.  Chateau de le Ferte was built in 1854 and no one has lived in the Chateau for 20 years.  Restoring it is a massive undertaking and they are doing an amazing job.

Watching them select paint colors and fabrics and visiting brocantes has influenced me.  I purchased the Marie Antoinette panel several years ago, because I loved its whimsical nature and I have quite a stash of French General fabric.  AppleJack’s granddaughter visited France in the spring and I thought this quilt would be a nice reminder of her visit.  

French General fabrics are rich in color and design and am going to try to make the fabric do the work in this quilt by fussy cutting.  

Lady of the Lake

 

                                                                 Lady of the Lake

                                                   54” wide  x 73” long without border     

One of my 2023 stitching goals has been to finish big projects.  For me a big project is one which is large in size, $$$ investment, time needed to complete or the space it occupies in my craft room.  Lady of the Lake has been a WIP for a long time (more than three years).

If you like making HST’s (half square triangles), this is the quilt for you.  With the exception of the wide border, the entire quilt is HST’s.  If you do not like making HST’s, this is not the quilt for you.  There are a total of 781 HST’s in this quilt.

In her book,  Remembrabces’, Jo Morton has included this quilt and calls it Peaceful Time.  Jo did not make HST’s for the right side of the quilt or the bottom.  She was either in a deadline to have the quilt finished for a market or she got tired of making HST’s.    I wanted my quilt to be symmetrical and made HST’s for both sides of the quilt and top and bottom.  The wide border was added to give the quilt a drop and to use up fabric in my stash.  Gulp, I purchased the border fabric several, several years ago.  Note to self:  stop saving fabric for that special project.  

It’s a great feeling to finally have Lady of the Lake pieced, now to get an appointment with the long armed quilter and call her a quilt.  

Sad irons

 Antique shops, consignment shops, second hand stores, Goodwill are some of my favorite places.  Oh the treasures which can be found there.  I go with an open mind, no list and no expectations.  Some trips I walk away with treasures, other trips I walk away empty handed.

My last adventure, I saw these irons and they were called sad irons.  I had never heard them called that name.  Decided to do a little research, since laundry and especially ironing is one of my least favorite chores, I figured they were called sad irons because the poor laundress would be hot, tired and sad after doing the ironing.  Nope, they were called sad irons because sad came from the English word for solid.  The irons come in different sizes and weights.  When heated, the temp had to be just right:  not hot enough would leave wrinkles and overheated would leave scorch marks on the clothing.  The laundress would spit on the iron to gauge the temp.  

Two of these irons have been in my family for years.  They were passed to me because everyone knows my dislike for doing laundry.  Hmm, might just be the beginning of a whole new collection.

Seeing Red

 

 

Inspired by Janice Wright Greene’s red sampler wall, I decided to stitch red samplers and create my own red sampler wall.  This design is a reproduction by Needlework Press called H. Purdy.  The design was part of the Advent box released by Kitten Stitcher/Shakespeare’s Peddler in 2021.  Mine was stitched on 36 count French Vanilla by R & R with NPI silk 575.  Following the direction of Anne, my needlework mentor, I changed H. Purdy to Julia Shultz, a treasured family member.  “Make it your own” were words Anne often shared.   

Julia is off to the framer today and will soon be joining Catherine (another Needlework Press sampler) and Two Birds by Blackbird Designs.

My next red sampler will be Maria Davis, by Needlework Press.  Her alphabet is stitched in eyelets.  Maria Davis will be changed to Maria Stocker, another Grandmother.

A little about Julia.  She was the daughter of Johan Martin Shultz/Shults and Maria Eva Stocker (my Great Great Great Great Great Grandparents).  She was born in North Carolina.  Julia grew up in Emert’s Cove which is part of the Great Smoky Mountains.  Julia would have been one year old when Thomas Jefferson was writing the Declaration of Independence.  She would wave goodbye to her father as he accompanied John Sevier and the Over-the-Mountain Men to Kings Mountain and defeat the British.  She married Richard Reagan in 1796 and was a Mother to several children.  Julia is buried in the White Oaks Flats Cemetery in Gatlinburg, TN.  

Trash, treasures and tomatoes

 Cleaning out closets has got to be one of my least favorite tasks.  Merging, purging, donating, downsizing, decluttering and rediscovering some lost treasures.  AppleJack saved this cookie tin for me, it was the perfect way to display my tomatoes.

A Little of this, a little of that

 This is Lady of the Lake, she’s a work in progress.  I hope to have her completed for the next Gathering.

Nashville had a storm blow through last Friday, March 3.  This is approx 250-300 yards from my house.  It was really scary.  I lost shutters and siding, lots of yard debris to clean up and a giant limb took out my split rail fence.  Thankful my home is still standing and intact.

Lucy always has a watchful eye on me.  She had some serious health issues and am thankful she is much improved.