Stories from the Sewing Room

I am making progress on Nancy's Cupcake Crossing quilt! I have two of the inner rows sewn.

As you can see, I have one more row of blocks to sew. After that, there is an inner border and a pieced outer border. And that's it! While Nancy had purchased the finishing kit for the top, it didn't come with backing. I found fabric from the same line and purchased that last year, so I'm ready to go on quilting.

I've also started knitting a selvedge rug. I've been cruising right along, but I find knitting selvedge yarn to be pretty hard on the hands. The further along I go, the harder it gets because it is pretty heavy. Last time I made one of these, back in 2020, I cast on 38 stitches. This time I cast on 30 since I felt like I ended up with a pretty big rug last time. I gifted that original one to my mother in law and I noticed that the rug has really stretched out/grown over time. Of course I have no idea how she uses/cares for it, so I'm not sure why it stretched so much. But I thought I'd try a bit smaller anyway.

I've continued to be very busy with work. Here's what I've done since last week.

I made and attached the binding to the front of Haley's quilt. It doesn't show much in the picture, but she had me make the binding from three different fabrics.

Janice's quilt, quilted with Winterfest. We used Glide Ocean for the thread and it looks so good with her background fabric.

Brenda's quilt, quilted with Hidden Valley. This quilting design did not agree with my software. It is highly unlikely that I will stitch out this design again. This took forever. Remember when I said I would have all of Saturday to myself? Yeah, this is what I was (still) working on. It can be really hard to admit defeat with a design, especially one you've paid for. This one was a freebie, but it still doesn't feel good when you can't make it look how you want.

Jae's quilt, quilted with Daisy Bounce. It's hard to see, but I used a light purple thread on the top and neutral on the back.

Hannah's quilt, quilted with Denali. I need to fully bind this quilt. Some of these fabrics are shimmery and it's so pretty.

Ben's quilt (his first!), quilted with Dunes. I fully bound this quilt. Can you see the hammerhead sharks in the upper right of the picture? He paper pieced those. Also, I brought in a photo of this quilt to one of my software programs. It has an alt-text auto feature that I can't figure out how to turn off. It identified those sharks as birds. 🤔 AI is stupid (and really bad for the environment).

Then yesterday, we finally had some really nice weather. I decided I'd go for a walk before lunch and then get back to work. I stepped out the door and saw a bald eagle flying behind my neighbors' house. It landed in the remaining tree line around the corner. I took a few pictures with my phone and then got caught by a neighbor for a lengthy chat. Sorry for the blur; I was zoomed all the way in with my phone. This is the second time I've seen an eagle in our neighborhood in 13+ years. 

I made a small amount of progress on my UFOs during January, but did not complete anything.

Linking with Ms. P's PHD Program

In January I finished sewing the last 10 "Cupcake Crossing Unit" blocks needed to complete Nancy's project. Nancy was a fellow guild member who passed last year. Many of us took home her fabrics and/or kits to complete. This project is Cupcake Crossing from the Sew Sampler box. The date on the pattern says 2018. The project is now ready to start assembling into a top. This is item #8 on my list.

I made progress on the Linda Hahn Beach Bumz class project that I started at IHQS last March. I completed all the "spire" pieces during January--that's the blue and white spiky blocks. I'm confused on how to piece the remaining four blocks, so it's stalled out. This is item #23 on my list. 

I also completed all remaining clues for the Magnificent Mystery during January. The assembly instructions should come out tomorrow. This is project #1 on my list.

I made a lot of progress on my knitted blanket, finishing January with just 11 rows left to knit. I easily finished those last few rows this month, so it is a finish for February. This is item #25 on my list and my first finish of the year. It's around 42" x 54". It probably could use some blocking, but I also probably won't do that. I used Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick and it's quite warm. I ended up with at least 1/2 skein left. I'm wondering about knitting a hat with it. It's been years since I last knit a hat (and those were baby hats).

Now that I've completed my knitting project, I need to decide on a different hand-stitching project. I have several cross stitch and an embroidery project, but I didn't put those on my PHD list. I could start the selvedge rug. 

I considered working on many of the things on my list, but did not actually do anything other than what's listed above. Truly, that was quite a bit of progress. But I always wish I did more. I should have a full day to myself this weekend. Will I spend it sewing? 

I've worked on a few quilts since last week. I ran into a snag--our house was really dry due to the furnace running a lot with the low 20s highs we'd been experiencing. My longarm manufacturer suggests a room humidity of 40% - 45% for machines with robotics to avoid issues with static buildup, thread, etc. My room and my house were at 28%. We bought a room humidifier for my sewing room. I haven't been able to get it above 40%, but it's a lot closer to the ideal range than it was. 

Anyway, here's what I worked on:

Kathy's quilt, quilted with Sugar and Spice.

Jae's quilt, quilted with Opal.

Haley's quilt, quilted with Moons and Stars. I am making her binding with three different fabrics she provided. The thread is pink.

Marsali's quilt, quilted with Textures. 

Toni's quilt, quilted with Pansies. This one has vintage handkerchiefs appliquéd to blocks. 

I thought these little birds were charming.

In other news, I wanted to take a moment to promote my cousin-by-marriage's pottery shop. Gavi is one of the finest human beings I know and she sells her creations in her Etsy shop, Pots Imperfect. We bought these mugs. She has bowls, little cake stands, and mugs right now. 

I've noticed we have a lot of deer tracks throughout our yard. These are all made by animals. 

They have been bedding down in our yard too. I've noticed spots under the deck stairs, this spot right next to my garage service door

and these spots in the front yard. 

We seem to have quite a herd roaming the neighborhood this year.

Friday we went down to the spillway/tailwater to look at birds. My son and husband had been there earlier in the week so that my son could complete his film photography homework. This time he took his personal digital camera with what I call his paparazzi lens. It was still really frigid outside, so we didn't stay outdoors long. We moved around to the other side of the tailwater where there is a park with a road that runs close to the creek and observed from the car. My son opened the car window and stuck his lens out. It was so peaceful. I really needed that. We saw loads of great blue herons, a juvenile bald eagle, and lots of hooded mergansers. It was fun to watch the ducks dive, come up with a fish, and then eat said fish. 

The following pictures were all taken with my phone.

heron, ducks

heron

eagle

so peaceful

duck on left between branches is eating

I finished reading Prince Harry's Spare. At the beginning of the book I felt like he was a lost little boy, desperately in need of counseling and more attention from his family. By the end, it was clear that he is totally besotted by his wife. He seems to do a lot of drugs and a lot of drinking. I'm not sure he's found his purpose yet other than as a husband and father. I guess I just feel pity for him.

I'm trying to decide what physical book to read next--I am constantly reading e-books, mostly those I'm able to get for free, and most often fiction. Anyway, I'm considering 1984 (I'm an English minor and somehow have never read this) that my son recommended, Coates' Between the World and Me, or Broom's The Yellow House. Those last two are in consideration simply because they were at the top of the stack of books I bought at the food pantry's used book sale. They are both National Book Award winners. 

Well, this has gotten much lengthier than I planned. I even deleted some. So, until next week, take care.

Linking with Quiltery, My Quilt Infatuation, and Alycia Quilts.