hand quilting

Inspired by Suzanne at today's Quilt Sunday, I decided to finally put the hand-quilting needles and frame sitting in my sewing room to work.

Let me tell you: hand quilting is sorta hard. Not to long ago I watched Johanna as she hand-quilted a table runner; at the time, I thought (and probably said) that seems so easy!  Ha.

But it's fun, which is really what matters.  My first stitches aren't that great: no two are the same length, and I can only get 2 or 3 stitches loaded up on my needle at once.  Overall though, maybe not so bad for a first attempt?

buzz saw quilt: complete!

Yay!  My buzz saw quilt is finally finished.

I've been trying to finish up a few projects before starting anything new: my wip pile was getting a tad ridiculous.  I have a stack of Far Far Away 2 waiting to be turned into a quilt; cutting into that heavenly fabric will be my eventual reward for adding things to my complete pile. 

I'm still working away on my zig zag quilt top (almost there!), and I'm close enough that I need to pick out my backing fabric.  Tomorrow at the workroom's Quilt Sunday I'll finally start quilting my second Avalon quilt.

Then again, I'm terribly jealous of the beautiful Amish Bars quilts made this past week at the workroom's day camp. It wouldn't take long to make a lovely new quilt top using such a simple pattern ...

progress report: zig zag quilt

I wish I could say I've been delinquent blog poster because I've been too busy sewing up a storm.  Alas, I can not.  These past few weeks I've been distracted by work and long days that leave me exhausted.  But I'm lucky enough to have a job I enjoy and work with people I adore, and in between catch-up naps and couch surfing, I've been able to sneak some sewing in here and there. I've even made some progress on my zig zag quilt.  It turns out that I'm even enjoying the (unintended) leisurely pace.

So, progress is being made slowly but surely.  I've got some rows stitched together, even (no photos yet), and maybe by the weekend I'll have a quilt ready to baste.  Maybe, but no promises.

22 days

This is my coffee mug. My sister has the same one; we bought them together.  It is, perhaps, a tad juvenile, but I still love it (it makes much more sense as a mug for my sister, who is a primary school teacher).  Every morning as I drink from this mug, I pretend like Carolyn and I are enjoying our morning coffee together, chatting about the day to come and other things only sisters can enjoy talking about, just like we would every day if we were neighbours.

But in 22 days, I won't have to pretend.  My sister will be in Toronto with Isabella and Jeremy, and I'll be on holiday.  Carolyn and I will spend some afternoons sewing and quilting while Peter and Jeremy watch baseball.  We'll take Isabella to the zoo.  I'll get to share a birthday dinner with my brother-in-law (his birthday is just the day before mine!).  All of us will visit Niagara Falls.

22 days.

stitchettes

For me, a day just isn't quite complete if I haven't done at least something a wee bit crafty, which helps explain why I have so many WIPs on the go.  Some days it's tougher than others to find a way to make that happen: long days at the office and time away from home mean that sewing and quilting get a bit harder to do each day.

But recently, I've really been loving cross-stitch. In the summer when hand stitching quilt binding is just too hot, cross-stitch has become my answer: it's perfectly portable, and finishing even a few stitches in bed each night means that I don't go a single day without making something.  Even better, all of those little x's mean that I don't have to think about even stitches or perfectly formed loops like I do with embroidery.

When looking for some cute cross-stitch patterns, I came across these stitchettes from Wee Wonderfuls. Cute, yes?  I immediately knew they'd make a perfect addition to my kitchen.

I couldn't help but start with 'wool' and 'eggs' since they remind me most of my sister and me. 

While my stitchettes aren't quite finished, I already love them. Is it wrong that I'm already eyeing these super heroes?

'J' Cardigan: Happy Homemade Volume 1

I've had Happy Homemade Volume 1 sitting on my shelf for a while now; I take it down often and flip immediately to the cardigan.  It looked to me the perfect project: quick, simple, and entirely practical for so many occasions.

The key was finding a fabric that would drape as nicely as the cardigan in the book.  I knew that I wanted something that would breath in the summer, but that I could layer over long-sleeve shirts and button-downs in the winter.

When I saw the Nani Iro linen/cotton blend, I knew that it would be perfect.  I tried to use it once before, but I was new to reading Japanese patterns and because the width of this fabric is so much less than a normal bolt, I was left at least a half-metre short. So when Karyn got some more of it at the workroom, I rushed down to pick up my three metres (it goes quickly!)

And look!  My cardigan is finally done!

The linen/cotton fabric was lovely to sew with, although it does have an tendency to unravel on the edges quite easily.  It has a looser weave than most fabrics I've worked with, which is perfect for keeping my fair skin covered in the Toronto heat, but will work just as nicely for fall and winter layering: just what I wanted.

I love this cardigan so much I'm already planning to make one or two more.  I have a couple of fall weddings, and I think this would be pretty in a dressier fabric with a ribbon sash or lace trim.

The best part?  This time I over estimated my fabric purchase, and I have a serious bit of fabric left over.  Now if I could just figure out what to do with it ...

embroidery + linen

Long weekends are good for all kinds of things, but especially good for catching up on crafty projects.  My sister and her family will be here in September and the sewing ... ahem, the spare room is looking a bit cluttered with half-finished projects.

Inspired by Karyn's finishing list, I set about making my own. After jotting down all of my unfinished projects--it's a very long list!--I started chipping away at it by finishing some linen towels that have been nearly done for some months now.  It's slightly embarrassing, but I have an excuse: I don't like hemming things, and since these these are really just about hemming, well, you get it.

There is nothing lovelier in the kitchen that soft, weighty linen towels, especially when they're hand-embroidered. My grandmother used to collect linen towels on her travels, and we still use them up at the family cottage.  Linen only gets better as it ages.

This set of towels is on it's way to my sister (surprise, Carolyn!), where they'll help to clean up baby messes in the kitchen.