Recap of June

 No quilting of any kind was tackled in June.

I did finish two Bucilla stockings. "Winter Magic," and "Snow Queen." 

My biggest accomplishment was finishing my bag project, "A Place for Everything 2.0."

The front side...

the backside...

and inside.

This pattern from By Annie, is amazing. She has several videos to show her techniques. It took me a month to make this bag...I tried to take my time and work on it a little each day so I wouldn't feel overwhelmed by the challenge. 

I will share pictures of it all packed up with goodies for my next retreat in September. 

The 2021 Santa ornaments from Sandra Cozzolino were released in June.

 I am anxious to get started on this series, "Christmas Day."

I am spending most of my time outside...as it should be!

My blue Himalayan poppies are always the biggest attraction in my perennial beds.

Summer 2021 Underway

We had some visitors. I love it when the critters cooperate for photo ops.

This moose cow had her two-day old calves stroll through my yard. Because of photos from a neighbor's trail cam we were able to nail down when these calves were born. 

And...my other neighbor's horses came to visit...again.

Here's an official "before," photo of this summer's landscaping project. 

So...not much quilting planned but that hasn't stopped me from buying fabric.

I am spending a little time most mornings trying to tackle stitching parts of a fancy tote bag.

Evenings are devoted to handwork. I finished the stocking fronts of two Bucilla kits. The one on the left is the original design from 2008, "Snow Queen." An update to the style was released in 2020, "Winter Magic." I liked the update best. And there were two faces printed on felt so you could "practice." I only needed the one face but it sure was nice to have that backup face just in case.

Gotta run...the sunshine is calling me.

May 2021 Retreat

 I had a great retreat! Great fellowship and lots of accomplishments. 

It was my turn to bring the door prize for the retreat. I struggled for months with different ideas and about three weeks before the retreat I was reading the blog, Cathy Tomm Quilts and she had made a mini iron case that was a free pattern from lillyella.

It was challenging but totally worth it!

I had raspberry zippers by the yard from By Annie which meant I had to adjust the back piece to be about a half-inch taller. 

I'm definitely going to make another case for my mini iron.

We had fun project at retreat...we made a stand for our cell phones. Very easy! I love mine. I no longer lose my phone underneath fabric because it isn't laying flat anymore.

All it took was one piece of fabric, 8x10-inches, Stiff Stuff or Trim-tex for the flat spot which is the base the phone rests on and rice or crushed walnut shells to stuff..

I might have to make one for every room in the house...especially the kitchen.

But I came for the quilting...

After dragging this quilt to four retreats...and I did work on it for at least a day at every one of those retreats...I finished the Skyfull of Stars - King Blue Version. The center blocks of this pattern are a free pattern from Moda Bake Shop, Skyfull of Stars

I added an extra row of stars and three borders to make it king size...I couldn't help myself. As I was working on it I just knew it had to actually be a quilt on my bed for those long...dark...winter months.

I opened up my EQ8 program and worked out the borders. 

Such a help to work out the details with a preview. I was trying to hard to keep the borders simple but scrappy.

The next quilt I worked on was super fast to put together because I once again turned to EQ8 to figure out how to combine two panels. 

I learned how use the custom format and load photos and use them as fabric. 

I have a lot of embellishment plans for this top. I want name tags for all the dogs and some fun quilting to enhance the design. 

And my last project actually had to be finished at home. When I start working on borders it really frustrates me to have to stop and come back later so I came home determined to finish this quilt asap.

This is the original pattern, Royal Gardens, a BOM from Cozy Quilt Designs.

I finished the center of the quilt but just didn't love those strips for a border. It need more bling. I decided on a braid-like border.

 It really helps to work out the math and get a little preview by using EQ8.

I love this quilt so much...it will look great in my home.

And my favorite part of retreat is Show and Tell.

 I finished the hand stitching on the binding for this quilt at retreat. 

I am gifting this to my son who is in the Air Force, is a bigfoot enthusiast and does a lot of hiking. 

I predict very little sewing time in the future months...gardening season is upon me and I have more landscape projects planned for this summer...big ones.

April Finishes

Remnants of snow but mostly spring has officially arrived.

I finished quilting the Bigfoot quilt.

I had lots of fun with this one.

This will be gift...my son is going to LOVE this quilt!

I finished the set of twelve ornaments from Bucilla, a vintage kit from 1991.

The periwinkle blue from from Mill Hill is perfect for the Winter Wonderland kit. 

The hardest decision is always what to start next...

I’m going with two Bucilla stocking kits, one vintage and one an updated version recently released.

Sometimes I get lucky...I managed to snag this extremely rare cross stitch kit on eBay that was designed by Sandra Cozzolino.  There are at least three more kits in this series I will keep hunting. I do have two of the patterns which another stitcher shared with me but the kits have the charms which are not always easy to find. 

I am just a little over a week away from a Material Girls retreat. I have no idea what I am going to tackle but there are any number of UFOs that could attend the retreat with me...but it is so much more fun to start new projects.

April Snow Showers

I just want to make others feel great about their weather...cuz here in Eagle River, Alaska...we are still getting snow...and we already had plenty. It snowed most of yesterday and our temperature dropped to -6 this morning.

We are breaking records for the coldest March and April.

Woo Hoo!

 Might as well make our mark in history for something other than COVID related stats.

I have finished the cross stitching on my latest Mill Hill kit.

Time to add the beads and a little backstitching.

I've been alternating between my cross stitch project and my Bucilla project in the evenings.

Two more ornaments completed...very fun to have Santa's face hidden on the backside.

I did some quilting on pieces for the bag I am working on...wow...lots of preparatory work involved in this project. One of my orders that included the vinyl never showed up so I am awaiting the replacement package and then I can start making this bag.

 I'm trying very hard to stay on task and not get intimated.

I actually have a Sew-in Saturday tomorrow with my Material Girls retreat group...it doesn't take much to get me excited. I prepped the first border for my Sky Full of stars quilt and also spent some time with the EQ8 program determining additional borders to make this a king size quilt. 

So much for fighting my mysterious inner need to make every quilt bigger! 

Original size...64 x 80-inches.

My version, 104 x104-inches.

And while I was playing with EQ8...and awaiting vinyl...I started playing with ideas for borders on "Royal Gardens." I spent a lot of time in Pinterest trying to get a scrappy border idea. I found an idea that I think will be easy and accomplish the look I want.

The original finished size was 65 x 83-inches. This is a bit bigger, 83 x 100-inches. I think this will hang in my bedroom as I already have a king size quilt that will look great with this quilt! 

I'm very excited about my border additions. I managed simple solutions...no complex piecing but it gives me the scrappy look I want.

 

March Projects

 I am patting myself on the back for making some great progress on my projects the last 10 days...hmmmm...wonder if that means my housework has been a little ignored. Oh well!

I keep looking for that perfect top pattern that only takes me a couple of hours to make and fits great. I was pretty close on this top but I don’t see any benefit to the black insert other than color variation. I have trouble fitting my broad shoulders for pull over tops...if the shoulder area fits...the rest of the top is huge. This design has a raglan sleeve cut and that works better for me. I bumped up a size for my shoulders but trimmed each side by 2-3 inches.

I also finished my granddaughter’s dress...though I will wait to hem it when I see her later this week.

The smocking was the easy part...the dress construction was a challenge. The bishop collar design makes it pretty flexible for sizing so I am confident the dress will be on the big side for her.

I got all 25 blocks sewn together for the top, “Sky Full of Stars.” I even have a wide back piece of fabric in my stash that might work. I still need to add some borders and I have part of that planned...still thinking about how to actually finish this top.

 

One more block was added to the bonus project with the leftover HSTs. I need to figure out the border finish before touching any of the leftover white background fabric. That means I need to finish the big top before pecking away on this little quilt.

Two more little ornaments finished in my current Bucilla kit. These are tiny...together...both fit in the palm of my hand.

And several nights I stitched on my latest Mill Hill kit. Still lots of snow at my house so this feels like the appropriate season to work on this project. 

That "spring forward" business with the clock always messes with my mind and body. Extra cup of coffee in the afternoon was required several days. My international pilot husband thinks it is very funny how a one hour time change wrecks me for weeks...it is pathetic...but I just kept telling myself to focus on projects. Of course I had to rip out the first two rows of the smocking...had to rip out the embroidered faces on the Bucilla ornaments...lots of ripping out to get those 25 blocks sewn together. Lots of bonding with several seam rippers throughout my house this past week. 

Really...I have been busy

I do have a few little finishes.

I started a vintage Bucilla ornament kit several weeks ago...okay...maybe it was months ago now. There are lots of details on these tiny ornaments but I am at the halfway point and getting a little more motivated to finish the last six. 

I finished two of the little bears that sit in a series of quilted stockings. 

Four in two different colors are yet to be completed. 

I have a visit to see my grand daughter coming up so I feel the need to make her a smocked dress. Below is a photo of a dress I made at least 24 years ago. I am making this dress.

I am stumbling through the preparation process but the smocking part will probably be the easiest and that is the next step.

I made a visit to a local quilt shop that I  hadn't been to since the shutdowns in March of 2020. They were having a big sale and rayon batiks were $7 a yard. Several pieces came home with me so I am trying once again to make a few blouses. 

Below I am making view D with long sleeves.

And also this pattern in view D

With clothing projects I have the advantage of being able to sew for a few minutes a day and get a lot accomplished...at least that is what I keep telling myself.

In cleaning up my cutting table I opened the box with one of my quilt projects that I worked on at retreat and then quickly forgot about when I came home. I finished the final four blocks at retreat and started making blocks from the scrappy HSTs I have collected from the leftovers.

Somehow this quilt became a victim of my tendency to make designs bigger so I added five blocks to the original design. The blocks finish at 16-inches so I may add a border or two and get it useable on my king-size bed. So perfect for a winter quilt.

I have been spending days...no...weeks...prepping projects.

 All because I spend so much time on Youtube getting pulled into more things I want!

 And there is only one way to get them...make them.

So I've been making my own cross stitch kits.

This process is very time consuming. 

I couldn't resist starting a kit someone else put together.

It feels good to just start stitching another cross stitch project.

But the biggest project I am hoping to tackle soon is a bag for organizing my sewing notions for classes and retreats. The colors of the fabrics don't look so great in this photo but I have a lime green sewing machine roller case so think, "lime green" when judging these fabrics.

I've been watching videos by Tula Pink about all the bags she has made from By Annie and I want them all too! Such an enabler! Gathering all the supplies is really daunting...and...expensive. My goal is to have it made in time to use for the next retreat in May.