Stocking progress

I needed to put a dent in the stitching on this stocking and gauge how long it is going to take me to embroider this. I stitched at lunchtime, maybe 2 1/2 hours last evening and before work this morning. Here is where I was and where I am now.

I only need to stitch the snowman's face and he is done. I think I will be able to had this fully finished and in the mail on Monday.

17th finish for 2021

I worked hard the last 5 days and you would think I could have gotten more done or at least I thought I would have gotten more done! Here is what happened. I did get item number 3 on my list done. This is a baby quilt for a woman my niece works with. I had gotten the first top sewn together on Friday (I had enough fabric to make two tops). When I hung the top up I realized I had sewn it together wrong. See how the zig zag is off? It's the one on the right in this picture. The one on the left is the way it is suppose to look. I had gotten up at 2:30 a.m. on Saturday because I couldn't sleep so by 5:40 a.m. I had the second top put together. I will go ahead and finish the other top for my stash of baby quilts. It's not horrible; just not what I was aiming for!

So here is the finished quilt. It turned out 43" x 53".

Item 1 - the platform cover - I got the strips for the sides cut out. Here they are with the  roll of velco that needs to be sewn on the strips. I plan on working on this tonight.

Item 2 - the dark flannel quilt. I got the top pin basted and have 13% of it quilted.

Item 4 - a stocking for my brother's dog. I got the design traced and picked out the floss. By the time I got around to doing this yesterday it was dark outside so I dug out the light box another brother of mine had made me years and years ago since I couldn't use a window and daylight. I used a Crayola washable marker to trace the design on some heavyweight cotton fabric.

I did get a start this morning on embroidering it. This takes me back to when I was a kid and I first had a needle in my hand. I remember my first project was to embroider pillowcases that had sheep on them.

Item 6 - pastel flannel quilt. I had bought some light blue flannel for the solids blocks so it needed washed along with the denim blue and gray flannel I bought too. I also had a bunch of Australian fabric that I got this summer that had not been washed so I washed it all then had hours of ironing fabric. I while I was at it I went ahead and cut the light blue flannel squares.

So here are the flannels for the pastel flannel quilt ready to go.

What I forgot to put on the list was making the two pillow with the deer cross stitch pieces. I found fabric and polyester fiberfill so I have everything I need for finishing these.

Another project that was not on the list but is now done is framing three cross stitch pieces. I cut up the frames I had bought at the Goodwill store and resized them. I am happy with how they turned out. The Irish Blessing piece is a gift for someone who when building their new house, had an Irish pub room built. I was glad to get these done. They took a lot longer than I thought to get them done.

I had family come on Saturday to watch the Ohio State/Michigan game so I made two homemade pizzas and pumpkin pie. I forgot to take a picture of the pizza when it first came out of the oven, but here is what they got to take home along with what was left of the pie. By the way, I made the pie crust from scratch. My house smelled so good!

Throw in laundry, dishes, cleaning up the laundry/utility room for the furnace man on Wednesday, cleaning up the studio, grocery shopping, and cooking three chickens then picking off the meat, that was my last 5 days.

Backing sewn

It was a battle to get myself to do anything last evening; I guess I am just a little tired. I did do dishes while I cooked some salmon and I was glad to get them almost done. After eating, I made the label for the lavender quilt and stitched it on. I will be handing it over tonight when I get my haircut.

Since I had the iron on, I went ahead and started pressing the flannel for the backing for the dark flannel quilt. I pieced together two pieces that are the width of the quilt top and pressed the seam. A bit more pressing and the backing will be ready to go!

I added another item to my to-do list yesterday. My brother and his wife would like a Xmas stocking for their fur baby. I have put together some images that will be quick to embroider. I am going to be taking a vacation day tomorrow because the furnace guy is coming. That means I will be not posting again until Nov. 29th. I have 5 days to try and put a dent in this list which I put in order of importance:

Let's see what I can get done in five days. I also need to work on the punch list for the bathroom and frame some cross stitch! I think I might need 50 days not 5! LOL!! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

What a weekend - updated

Saturday was spent visiting family and shopping for Xmas. By the time I got home it was dark and I was tired. Sunday after running to the grocery store, I spent the day sewing together the dark flannel quilt top. It is done! I did change out the accent solids blocks from dark blue to black and I like it much better.

I got the backing washed so I can sew it together tonight. Superior Threads had King Tut on sale so I stocked up on a variegated neutral that was 40% off and got a cone of lavender for those baby quilts that was 10% off.

While shopping Saturday we stopped at a grocery store to get some pastries and I found 5 bottles of the G. Hughes Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce.  I have been searching for this! I like this on chicken. It has a bit of heat and I don't like hot stuff, but this I can tolerate. It makes plain chicken palatable. I had been to 6 stores previously looking for this, but everyone was sold out. I am now stocked up for a while!

I was sitting at my desk after I had already published this post and a lady I work with was at a store where she lives and brought me this

That is six bottles of the Chili Dipping Sauce! LOL!!! She knew I had been searching for it! How funny is that! I really am set for a while!

36%

I got two more rows sewn together on the dark flannel quilt so I now have 36% of it sewn together.

So this weekend I will be working on this top and sewing together the backup platform cover. Today at lunchtime one of my co-workers is going to help me sew the two long pieces that will make up the top of the cover; a second pair of hands will make this job so much easier. Then this weekend I will sew on the 3" edge with Velcro so I can ship this out on Monday. Have a great weekend!

Now we're cooking!

I spent about an hour last evening pulling up the marigolds and a few weeds. It was 63 degrees out and it was so nice even though it was overcast. I got a phone call from a friend then went inside about 5:30. I got the six dark 9 patch blocks sewn and press then started sewing together the rows. The first two rows on the left, which is really the top, are sew together. We are cooking now! Tonight I plan on getting the next two rows sewn and hopefully can start on two more.

Lots of action yesterday!

Where should I start? Yesterday at lunch one of the ladies I work with helped me mark the vinyl coated material for that backup cover I need to make for that 8 foot round platform. We got the circle marked in a half hour! It would have taken me a half day to get it marked by myself! Either Thursday or Friday at lunch she is going to help me sew the two lengths together. Having a second pair of hands will make this hard job easier. Here are the scraps and the circle stored for now in the car.

I made a quick stop at the library to pick up a book and then decided to clean up the side yard when I got home. My neighbor's arborvitae is shedding and it makes such a mess. The leaf blower will only blow part of it so I had to rake the stubborn stuff that was stuck in the grass. This is the before - no after - but it does look better.

The fabric arrived for the baby quilt I am making for my niece's co-worker.

I dug thru my stash to find fabrics that would go with them. I was happy that I found so much!

I am going to make one of these chevron quilts out of this fabric.

Of course to get free shipping I found some fabric in the clearance bin to add to my order. I really like that weird print in the right hand piece. It is not as attractive in the red colorway, but it will get used. The white with the navy letters will make a cute backing for a baby quilt.

I finally got back to working on the dark flannel quilt. Here is where I am now.

I am going to change out the 9 patch blocks circled here. The contrast with the navy blocks is lost.

I needed one more color of 9 patch blocks for this quilt so I went thru the piles of blocks that still need made and decided on these.

I still have plenty of blocks to make more flannel quilts. Here are the ones that are sewn together and the ones that still need sewn.  I know, I went down a deep rabbit hole!  Wait to you see the pile of flannel strips for the pastel quilt!  Geeze!  What was I thinking!

Lastly, I cut the flannel for the backing so I can get it washed. I bought a bolt of this light gray flannel and it is 60" wide! I had found this at a fabric outlet place in Berlin, Ohio. They had a whole pile of bolts and I dug to find the nicest fabric. I think I paid $2 a yard.

Next

You remember all those flannel nine path blocks I was making for two quilts for Xmas? Well, I decided to try and get them made. Call me crazy!  To make these go faster I decided to use an alternating solid block instead of making every block a nine patch. I cut a bunch of 8" dark gray squares and here is where I am on the first one. Yes, I ran out of design wall so the last row I will tape to the fireplace.

Now that I see this picture, I may be moving those darker blocks at the bottom right.

Here is my handy dandy gizmo I use to clean the snow off my dish and a picture of where the dish is located.

Here is the progress on the latest cross stitch piece

16th finish for 2012

I finished the lavender quilt I needed for the 23rd. All I need to do is put a label on it. The quilt turned out 41.5" x 50.5".

I worked hard on Saturday getting the binding on the quilt and then worked on sewing together all the remaining fabric to make blocks for two more tops. I was still short 5 blocks so I went digging again for a lavender print. I hadn't looked thru my bin of vintage fabric and this is what I found - perfect!

So now I have one more top pin basted

and one more top ready to pin baste

I only had this piece left over

I had a bit of time Sunday evening so I finally finished my three smalls by stitching on the leaf shapes that covered the opening that I used to stuff them. I used embroidery thread and added the buttons for a finishing touch. Here are the fronts and backs.

This morning I had just enough time to get ready the vinyl for another one of those platform covers. One of my co-workers is going to help me mark the radius of the circle which will make that part of this job go much faster.

It snowed a bit on Saturday - nothing stuck - then it started again on Sunday around 11. It was a wet snow which means it stuck to the tv dish. I had tape together my jerry-rigged device - the electric chain saw extension pole with a paint stick fully extended plus a paint brush taped at a 90 degree angle - and cleaned off the dish 6 times! I have to reach up a story and a half to get to the dish. At one time the flakes were so big I felt like I was in a snow globe!