Rainy Days…Projects Galore

It is pretty rare that I buy quilt kits. 

When I do…those kits come to the front of the cue for attention. 

“Flight of Honor,” by Whirligig Designs from Hancocks of Paducah was one such kit. 

I was a little worried when I cut out the kit…sooooo many little pieces. 

The traditional piecing method to make flying geese blocks…yuck. But there was a little wriggle room with the flying geese and I used a Bloc-Loc flying geese ruler to trim the blocks down to size. I bought the ruler for another project. It is very pricey but I think it will get a lot of use. Unfortunately they come in sizes so there isn’t a universal ruler for several block sizes.

What I loved most was the border…and it was so easy to put together.

I also love the way the wonky striped fabric was used in the two star blocks.

The photo below does not do this quilt justice. I just love the simplicity of the design that really uses the line of fabrics to great advantage from Timeless Treasures Tonga Batiks.

I also finished one more, By Annie project. I had just enough scraps of quilted fabrics from one of the bags I made to add another, "Stash and Dash."

I wish I had more time for handwork...so many cross stitch and Bucilla kits I would like to finish before Christmas.

I did get the Jim Shore Santa series from 2021 done. I still have the series from 2020 to start.

But the newest Sandra Cozzolino Santa Series has been moved to the front of my cross stitching list. 

This year the theme is Timberline Santas. This is Scotch Pine Santa.

I finished a few more ornaments in the Bucilla kit, "Partridge in a Pear Tree."

I am still trying to finish one cross stitch ornament every month from the Hearthsewn series, "Twelve Days of Christmas. For years I only made perforated paper kits...I just don't have wall space for cross stitch pictures. Somehow....I always find a way to display cross stitch ornaments. 

One of the outcomes of Covid shutdowns was watching YouTube videos about cross stitch. I have found other options for finishing cloth-based cross stitch and displaying them. Of course figuring out how I want to stitch on fabric has been a journey. I didn't want to use a hoop or frame of any kind. I have been stitching in hand. I tried the sewing method on several of my ornaments in this series but didn't always like how my stitches looked.

With my latest ornament, Six Geese-a-Laying, I dropped the sewing method and learned from a full-coverage stitcher to hold my fabric from the top instead of the side. Such a simple change really helped improve my stitching quality and wasn't fatiguing to my left hand. So happy. Just shows one can always learn something new.

When we have a break in the rain...I'm immediately go outside...trying to peck away at my big landscaping project. I plan to recap my garden season...someday. 

I missed entering any projects in the state fair this year. Of the five quilts I finished in the last year, four were given as gifts and the fifth was a king-size that really didn't warrant a state fair entry. Plus, I'm sleeping under that quilt this summer. 

I was even planning to enter a Bucilla project but the 3D Christmas Tree I finished, which would have been perfect, was just a little too delicate for me to feel good about having others handle it. I like to participate every year because the number of displays has been steadily dropping every year. It makes me so sad! I love looking at all the projects at the state fair...it's the main attraction for me when I go to the fair. 

Thanks for stopping by for my update.