Late August Reflections

My Chookshed Challenge was to work on something  not on my list. I spent a good amount of time with Stonefields this month. 

I started machine appliqueing on the hexie flowers. Since the glue I used will never come off, it has been easy to manipulate everything around and through the opening. 

My OMG challenge was to make progress on Tumbling Blocks.  I started connecting the units together to  make horizontal rows. After I got 2 rows made, I sewed those together. I am sewing through the EPP papers. Crazy, I know. They do not fold over easily to run through the opening on the Bernina. I can switch to using the Jazz, which has 12 generous inches, but it is upstairs and there are a gzillion things piled on the glass table beside it.

I am now using a size 90 needle instead the 80. The bigger hole allows me to tear out the papers easily.

 I have been cutting small pieces for Omigosh and more for Wensleydale. 

The nights are cooler these days of late August. I heard a cricket the other day and saw some crows. These are signs of autumn coming soon. We had been having lots of rain. Too bad we cannot share it with other parts of the country that are so dry.

I read a very interesting novel called The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules. A totally ridiculous who-dunnit starring a bunch of geriatric residents of a nursing home in Sweden. 

We are all checked in for our trip to Alaska. The temperature in Skagway next week will be 9 C or 48 F and rain. Low of 5 C or 41 F at night. And that is why we are taking our winter coats. I have not yet started to pack, but I do have a Go-Bag on standby with tavel documents, earbuds, neck pillow, etc. Too bad I broke my MP3 player. It had 6 hours of my fav travel music. 

Blessings,

Chris

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Not All My Scathingly Brilliant Ideas Are So Brilliant

I may have an earned doctorate, but that does not necessarily make me the sharpest pair of scissors in my sewing kit. Just sayin'.

Stonefields (designed by Susan Smith) has seen some action this week. I had a lot more glue basted hexies  using Sew Line glue sticks. Then I sewed together more hexie flowers. 

Initially, I tried pinning the flowers onto the outer borders. It was easy when I just stabbed a pin to hold them on the big design wall. But had to remove all that to actually secure them. Pinning them on was too hard and they were puckered.

I glue basted 25 flowers onto each of the first 2 outer borders. Now I realise that the Quilters Stitching glue I used will NEVER release. Maybe heat will work?

This time I removed the center paper. That was not too difficult. I switched to using a size 90 needle after using a size 80. This is supposed to enable tearing off the papers. We shall see. I also switched to a different glue. One of the flowers fell off when I put the borders on the wall.

I am carefully positioning and measuring each flower so we stand a chance of having them evenly spaced apart. Eventually, after machine quilting and washing, the whole thing will be sort of scrunched up that it will not be so obvious if they are not even. At least that is what I am telling myself. 

I bought a new wool mat. Saw one at a farm picnic last month that the quilter's husband bought for her and fastened to a big board with bolts to hold it steady forever.  I got the 22x60 size. 

It is too wide for my large pressing board, but it sits on the table beautifully and does not squirm. It has a felt carrying case in case I decide to take it to a quilt retreat somewhere. But retreats often allocate 6 feet or 4 feet of table space, so will have to give that some thought. 

The border fabric stayed perfectly in place and did not wiggle. This was really satisfying after my previous experiences. 

Next, I started to machine applique the first hexie flower down. I was eager to see how that would work. I am using a 60wt poly that sort of disappears with a narrow zig zag stitch. There are 18 sides to each flower, so turning the corner 18 times. For each hexie flower.

There are, so far, 25 flowers on each of the first 2 outer borders. There will be 4 outer borders. You can do the math. There will be more flowers in the corners. Eventually. 

Time to let this project marinate for now. 

Blessings,

Chris

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Stonefield's Update

 

Stonefields (by susan Smith) has been sadly neglected for way too long. The last time I had it out to look at was the end of March. I 'd had great intentions and then did nothing for the next few months. 

I tried scattering the hexie flowers on these outer borders after I cut another wider set, but had to figure out the spacing and then fasten them on to do the machine applique. I stabbed them onto the design wall. Then had to fugure how to connect them off the wall. But pinning them was really hard on my hands. 

So, I took everything down and lay them out on a table after I cleared away my papers and icecream bowls. I discovered Kawartha Dockside Cappochino ice cream. And I thought they did not get any better than Salted Caramel Truffle.

This actually is easier to space them. I am using that Quilter's Choice basting glue. It is hard to squeeze and will never let go of the fabric. I only put on a few tiny dots to the turned over seam allowance not onto the papers which I still have to remove. Someday. 

The Chookshed Challenge  number for August is 6 so I get to work on somehting not on my list. I guess that can be Stonefields since it is not on the list and it is on my table. 

blessings,

Chris

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August Quilting Goals

I turned 74 the other day. No less than 3 cakes showed up at the local Legion fish fry that my older brother organized. It was really nice. All my kids and their kids and my local siblings were there. 

I had not set any OMG goals for July but intend to for August. But what will it be? I have so many options and decision making has been a challenge. It is a part of the neurodivergent thing and being a bit ADHD. Not to belabour talking about this, but I have been fascinated with some of the characteristics. 

I had one of the boys put the Tumbling Blocks up on the big design wall. 

That colourful fabric will be the backing and a border.

I am using 3 Stonehenge Gradation layer cakes with 3 inch 6 point diamond papers and machine zig zag top stitching. 

I sewed up a lot more of the Tumbling Blocks and my sister started playing with them.

Not all the blocks have the same orientation of colour value. Will it bother me? 

I thought about taking it down and getting the girls to play with them after they come home from camp. One is at bi-lingual camp in Quebec with her father and step mother. Another is at Circle Square Ranch with horses and other 13 year olds. The oldest one is working full time at the bakery and loving it. She has been learning how to make home made pies by the hundreds. Now she will soon master butter tarts and cookies by the thousands.  Then I reconsidered and have decided to sew it together just like it is. I still have to prep 2 half hexies to smooth out the sides. That will be my OMG goal for August.  

I have been writing. I printed off all the chapters and arranged them in aphabetical order. This helped me see what I was missing since it is an ABC look at how we stayed married for 50 years. 

And I have discovered Google Docs! Now don't laugh. I had no idea. My editor has been returning each chapter with her many recommendations and I had been moving them over to Word where I have been working for nearly 30 years. But now Google Docs. My sister visiting earlier this summer, showed me how to locate and access all those pages. And then, I learned how to create a new document and finally save it and name it. This is pretty radical learning for an old gramma who resisted getting a cell phone until our landline cables were severed 4 years ago. 

My highschool quilting friend Barb will be visiting here later in the month for a couple of days of stitching. I plan to invite a few others to join us. I think I will start sewing up the Wensleydale blocks then. In the meantime, I have been playing with the outer hexie border of Stonefields (from Susan Smith). 

I cut a few pink pieces for Omigosh. I had not done that colour back in April. The August RSC colour is yellow. I have some scraps ready to cut. I am having difficulty locating my reproduction purples. I know I have lots but where?  I have another month for those.  No progress to report on Wreath of Roses. But I have a plan. I always have a plan. 

blessings,

Chris

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Chookshed Challenge for June and July

 I forgot to write up my newest quilt start. Tumbling Blocks. This idea showed up when I was doom scrolling back in March. 

I had purchased 3 Stonehenge Gradiant layer cakes when Gail from Gail's Place and I visited Missouri Star Quilts in Oct 2024. I had another idea in mind but this works also. I had a 300 pack of 3 inch 6 point diamonds papers I bought about 25 years ago. I found more at a local quilt shop on line. I have been glue basting off and on for weeks. I am machine stitching them together with a narrow zig-zag just like I have been doing with Stonefields and Lucy.   I will worry about removing the papers another time. 

For now, these are just slapped up onto the small design wall. I am about half way. It is hard to figure out the colour value with some of the lighter colours. There are 6 different colour gradiants in each pack. The wide back fabric laying below it is one I purchased years ago just because and the colours go together very nicely. When I see how big this will be, I can then cut some outer borders and still have enough for the backing.

The Chookshed Challenge number for July is 5 and that means I can start a new quilt. I have one ready and waiting. Grace at CityMouse Quilter  has been working on hers for a few months now. I dithered about making one for months then just bought the book of foundation papers. In the meantime, I found a site that gave cutting instructions and decided that I could do that. I do not have to do any of the math. Just have all the fun. My plan is to use many of the large floral fabrics I have been collecting over the years for broderie perse applique. So, first I have to finish fussy cutting a few more honeycombs for Lucy and a lot of floral for my Morrell. This will leave me with quite a mess of swiss cheese fabrics. Perfect for cutting random scrap shapes for Wensleydale. 

It is July 1st and we are celebrating Canada Day. This is the hottest day of the summer so far at 93F or 36 C. Thundershowers usually follow this kind of heat. We are situated between the Great Lakes here in Southern Ontario Canada and get a variety of all kinds of weather throughout the year. 

Blessings,

Chris  

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Wreath of Roses

This is the Forgotten Quilt Book Challenge project for 2026. I will post monthly about my progress. 

My plan for the leaves is to run the fused green fabric through the custom dies GO cutter. That is why I got them made back in 2013. I do like to plan ahead. The next thing to figure out was what to use for the background. It had to be white. And it had to be all from the same bolt. I had several options. Some Kona Snow and some Kona White. But the background squares were to be cut an odd 24 by 26. And that would take the cut right through the center crease that all new fabric has. 

How to get around that? I had purchased a wide back but where, oh, where had it gone to?  I finally made a decision. I chose the Kona White. 

If the fusible stuff shows, no one will notice.

I cut them square. They will be 20 inches finished. 

The plan always was to machine applique and then machine quilt. I thought quilt-as-you-go would be the thing. So, I needed to learn how to do that. I had not yet learned how to do needle turn hand applique. And besides, all the stuff was missing for years. But it is all sitting here now, ready to play. 

My OMG goal for June will be to have one block prepped and ready to begin the machine applique. I did purchase matching thread way back when, but I fear not having enough once I get started. Oh. Decisions. Decisions. I do have lots of that Aurifil 30 thread I won here 5 years ago. Lots of it. 36 spools with 1000 yards each. Should the thread match or contrast? Which stitch or stitches should I use? I will figure it out.

 

I am off to a quilt retreat this weekend. Well, Sun-Tues. I have packed a few containers of OMIGOSH bits to trim and sew into 4 1/2 inch Shoo Fly blocks. I have the RSC blues, reds, greens and oranges. That shoud keep me busy. I also am taking 2 Morrell blocks. Some of those have accompanied me on every quilt retreat in the past 11 years so why stop now. Stonefields is planning to come along hoping I will play. There are no less than 4 containers of those bits and pieces in various stages. 

But what I am trying to finish up this week is Bricks and Mortar. This is a flannel kit I bought about 30 years ago. I am so close.  

blessings,

Chris

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Quilting and Other Thoughts

Random thought - Does your hot beverage taste better if you slurp it? Loudly? 

Although Stonefields, designed by Susan Smith, has not been far from my thoughts in recent months, I have not done anything on it since completing all the hexie flowers for the border back in January. So, here I am. I got the big ironing board out. The cutting mat nearby. I prewashed more of the fabric I chose for the outside border. This will have to satisfy the Chookshed Challenge for this month. Number 10 on my list was to prewash fabric for a new quilt start, but I realized that my next few quilt starts will not require the fabrics to be prewashed. I will be using pre-cuts for those. I have thought about, obssessed about, talked about, planned and dreamed about doing this. I even laid out three rows of hexi flowers onto one of the 4 outside borders. Then put them away. Again.

The thing is, I fear messing it all up and making mistakes. As if I haven't made mistakes before. Like cutting the outside borders too narrow the first time. At least I still have 4-5 yards of the chosen fabric. 

Easter had us hosting family and clearing all the tables and spaces in the SonRoom. Had to clear away everything again for the accountant who finally showed up after changing the dates 3 times. We filed our taxes and both of us get refunds. He gets $20 and I get $15. I had to have the tables cleared again before my Writing Group filled the space on Sat. 

I picked up a rake to start clearing the flowerbeds now that spring is really here. I lasted about 5 minutes. The pain in my hands has resurfaced and I had difficulty grasping and dragging the rake. I got 2 slivers. There had been crocuses popping up in the lawn and tulip leaves emerging through the now frostless dirt. And now daffodils everywhere. I love the smell of the dirt in the spring. So inspiring. And its been raining off and on. Love the spring rains. You don't have to shovel rain. It soaks into the ground. The grass has been cut twice so far and the tractors are out doing tractor in the spring stuff. New little pigs arrived last week and new beef animals arrived this week. All that should keep my Sweetie occupied. 

I've been reading again. Lots of books. And Bricks and Mortar is on the table again this week. Haven't done anything on that either. 

A good friend, who has been attending our small group and was part of my writing group, passed away unexpectedly after major heart surgery earlier this month. She was 63. She did not get her book written. Her very life was an open book. She affected countless lives in her family and friends and others with her joy and total acceptance of broken people. She had received incredible heart healing from a difficult life and years of addictions. Her story is a ripple effect of how allowing the forgivenss of Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit into our hearts transforms us from the inside. She sat here a few days before her surgery, explaning the proceedure to come and hugged everyone before she left saying, "God loves you and I love you. The world is a better place because you are in it," Yes. The world is a better place because she was in it.  

blessings,

Chris

Stonefields

I started this quilt back in June along with Gretchen and Rebecca. We are all working at our own pace.  

Stonefields was designed by Susan Smith.                                                                                   

I am using soft colours that I collected more than 20 years ago. 

September I had this much done. Enough to fill the small design wall. It helped me to keep track of how many blocks, hexie flowers and flying geese units I was making and it was easy to store this way. My goal that month was to fill the wall.      

This is what I had completed last time I had it up on the big design wall in October. 

 I cut out 4 ouside borders at 10 inches wide by mistake. So it sat for most of the winter. 

Now to cut 4 more borders that are 13 inches wide. Good thing I have lots of the designated fabric. Otherwise it may wait a couple  more years to get back on track. I do want to have 3 rows of the hexie flowers because to me, that is what makes it so special. 

After that, I cut out a lot of hexies and took them on a cruise where I spent time daily glue basting them as well as more Lucy honeycombs.

After we got home, I sewed up each of the 4 flying geese borders and lined up 9 of the 6 inch blocks to see how it was going to look since I plan to make it smaller than the original. I am in love. 

I sewed the rest of the hexie flowers together by machine. Then everything got put in a box.  Sigh.

Because for the Chookeshed Challenge in January, I started OMIGOSH.

And for February, I pulled out an old ufo Bricks and Mortar. Then I hired an editor and flew off to India.

Now we are doing taxes.

So here I am. 

blessings,

Chris

Handstitching and Some Progress on Stonefileds

I recently pulled out TOMDO and have been putting in a few hand stitches. I had put the whole thing on the small design wall so I could look at it. Then it occured to me that I could add a few stitches on this block. This was the first inlaid or reverse applique I had ever tried. It wasn't "perfect" so I set it aside to work on something else. 

This was early 2010. In 2013 I started CCCQ and in 2014 BTCT. I cannot believe how much hand applique I've done since then!  

But in reality, I have a writing deadline next week and I am distracted and procrastinating in true Chris fashion. 

This is the potential for Stonefields for now (designed by Susan Smith). I oopsed and cut out all 4 outer borders 10 in wide. It is supposed to be 13 inches. So now I need to decide if I will be okay with only 2 rows of hexie flowers instead of 3. I have lots of the fabric but do I want to do that? Too many decisions. I have more than enough hexie flowers made. A decision for another day. I have put this away for now. I will not be meeting my OMG goal this month. 

I did cut more blue strips for Omigosh since it is awkward doing scrappy with only 5 prints. I have decided that, for now, doing this as a leader ender is not going to work. I will just blitz it once in a while for the RSC.

In the meantime, I did something to my back the other day and mobility is limited. The hot tub sure feels good on a mid wintery day.

Blessings, Chris

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Lucy and Stonefields

Lucy is showing signs of progress. I will make 5 more cross blocks. I have to prep a few more pieces to complete them. Then, I need to figure out how I want to do the outside edges. I have lots of sashing units prepped. I sewed them together by machine. I do want to get this completed soon. 

I plan to put a border print around the outside to grow it. Now to locate that. I had it in my hands a month ago. Shouldn't be too far away. This will be machine quilted. Will I do it myself?  I guess it depends on how big it will be when done. 

In the meantime, Stonefields has not been neglected.  In preparation for our cruise back in Nov/Dec, I cut out lots more hexies for the Stonefields border. Over New Years, the Chookshed Stitchers got together for 2 days of hanging out and stitching. I spent part of the time machine zig zagging hexie flowers together. I sewed the flying geese borders together. Then I got the fabric ready for the outer border.

I am so looking forward to seeing how this is going to look. My OMG goal will be to have the 4 hexie borders all prepped and possibly some machine appliqued down. 

Blessings,

Chris

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Gail from Missouri Came to Visit

She drove for 3 days to get here to our space in Canada. They asked her interesting questions at the border. Where are you going? How long have you known her? How did you meet? You met on Zoom? They let her and her companion bear Lucy in. We had a great time. Gail, Janice and my sister Elizabeth and I shared a room at the Shipshewana Quilt Retreat for a week 2 years ago. They came out to the farm to join us for a day of quilting and visiting. 

I put all the Stonefields blocks and bits on the big design wall to see what it will look like. I am considering putting a center medallion. I started that at a Di Ford Hall workshop in Shipshewana in 2017 using fabrics from the Stonefields project bin. I had been considering this quilt for more than 10 years. Not sure if that parrot will make it into the center. But who knows. 

I still have to decide if there will be 3 rows of hexie flowers around the outside or 2. I put up all I had made - 60. They are pinned on because the papers are still in and they do not stick to the fuzzy board.

I pulled out the circle making things. Gail suggested using the Faultless heavy starch. It does work better than what I had been using. The white background fabric I am using for some of the squares is much heavier than most of the other fabric and would not behave in the Applipop metal rings. Especially the tiny circles. So, I tried putting the Perfect Circles into the larger metal circle and voila! it works very nicely. 

In the meantime my Lucy came out to play.
Progress on Lucy after ignoring her for more than a year. I made the decision to machine zig-zag the blocks together then machine stitch the hexies and squares. Some of these blocks are sewn together in rows and the rows are random on the wall. Now to fussy cut more pieces. My thoughts had been to make 25 blocks. Almost there. I may make it up to 30 or 35. I cut a lot more white hexies. I ran out of the 1 inch square papers but will remove those already sewn together to reuse. They come out easily enough with a finger nail.

I want to make a few more exciting crosses with stripes and frames. I recalled joining the Lucy Boston facebook group several years ago. Got lots of inspiration. So I pulled out a few fancy fabrics and the see-through templates I made from Luann at Loose Threads. 

Blessings,

Chris

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OMG Stonefields Update

My OMG goal for Sept was to get the rest of the flying geese made for one of the borders. I also made lots of hexie flowers but will need more. I will make those later incorporating  some fabrics not yet used. Doing the math here, I have 1/4 or 25% of the parts made so far.

Half of those blocks still need circles. Lots and lots of small circles. I will use the metal Applipop circles.That will be my goal for Oct. I made the bigger circles using Karen K Buckleys Perfect Circles. But I still had to hand baste around the outsides before pulling them around the plastic templates. My hands did not like that. But I used a hand stitching technique I learned from Jinny Beyer that made it doable, but not too many at a time. I am loving the colour pallet that I chose. I have lots more I could pull from in the cupboard of endless fabric options.

I have been writing for a lot of years. I wrote countless research papers and reflection papers throughout the years. After becoming an empty nester, I went back to school and earned three degrees. I finally published a book I had written in 1986 about the life and death of our handicapped child. Then I started writing about other aspects of our journey as husband and wife of now 54 years. About surviving menopause. About receving healing of memories. About staying married for 50 years. So many journals. So many memories. So many words written. So many teaching points. Did I mention the morning pages? Blogging? Mentoring women? Leading a writing group?

Now I am trying to bring it all together into the first of several short kindle eBooks. This is what I am working on this fall. My anticipation is to hit the Publish button before the end of the year. But first, I am trying to find a Christian Canadian editor. We spell words differently here. 

Blessings,

Chris

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Chookshed Challenge

 

My Chookshed Challenge for Sept is Machine Applique. This is timely. I have about 100 hexie flowers to assemble for Stonefields. I am doing them by maxhine. I have many hexies prepped and ready to sew together for the border. I am starting at the other end of this quilt. Not sure why other than I can. I actually have a lot done so far. I am impressed with my productivity. Now to keep the momentum going. 

There are only 46 more flying geese to make for this border. I think I have most of the coloured bars cut out just need to cut more background squares. This will be my OMG goal for Sept. I am doing the sew and flip method. I like it. I will have a lot of 3/4 inch HST eventually for something mini. 

Devan and I are using them for leader enders. She is progressing with her Jelly Roll quilt. I will show pictures when her flimsy is ready. I am looking forward to that since she is using the big design wall and I want to put up all the Stonefields blocks and borders as I complete them. 

I am working on prepared edge applique. The one using starch and a brush and a hot iron. Not sure if I like it, but I will have lots of practice now that I have started. No hand applique for me for now. 

Check out on how Gretchen and Rebecca are doing. We are all making this quilt at the same time. I love that about this project. I am so inspired by their progress. 

Blessings,

Chris 

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Hexie Flowers

So what's with blogger these days? Suddenly I have hundreds of page views and many going back several months. Got 400 on the 20th then another 1000 just yesterday. 

My plan for Stonefields is to make a 9 x 9 setting of 6 inch blocks, I am thinking about putting a larger medallion block in the center. I had this idea 8 years ago when I did several workshops with Di Ford-Hall at one of the Shipshewana quilt retreats. These are some of the blocks I have done so far. I put them up on the small design wall to see how a 12 inch border will look with all those hexie flowers. I plan to space them further apart than the pattern. Not sure yet how many will be needed.

I have been prepping a lot of the blocks and of course, a lot of hexies. Just need to cut a few more larger scale florals after I get the block prepping done. Devan has been working on her Jelly Roll Race quilt. It is suposed to take about an hour if you know what you are doing. We do not. So she has been at it for a couple of days and has almost half the strips sewn together. One delay was stitching her finger right through from top to bottom. A lot of noise happened and we found the broken needle tip, and bandaged the finger. My goodness! She has such skinny little fingers. She is taller than my Sweetie now. So about 5'6"? Ellyse is over 5'10". When did all this happen?

Another delay was the machine jamming every few flying geese I was chain piecing together. So, today Devan and I took the machine back to get it looked at. And of course, it ran perfectly. So, I brought it home, set it up and sewed a few geese together and it jammed again. Twice. Sigh. I think I am lifting the presser foot up too quickly and my left foot is hovering over the foot pedal and possibly adding just enough tiny pressure to bring the needle up and it jams. So, I started doing everything slower. No more jamming. 

The girls start back to school next week and I plan to turn my focus and time on writing. This past week I have been reading back over the Morning Pages I hade been writing for the past 4 1/2 years. I have focused on the books through 2022. A lot happened that year. I turned 70 and had many unexpected, age related health issues. No wonder I did not make much progress on writing and sewing.

blessings,

Chris 

Stonefields Update

I have been home all alone for a few days without any other humans around. People will show up tomorrow. In the meantime, I have been a busy girl. I can eat what I want when I want where I want. But I still have to do dishes. But not many. I did some laundry and, get this, I even ran the machine through a clean cycle since there were no other humans standing in line to do their own wash. I did stay out of the hot tub since I do not go in there when I am home alone. 

I am starting with the borders for Stonefields. And why not? I am loving doing the flying geese units. Partly because that is all I am doing with them. Earlier, I made flying geese for the star blocks and that is that. I am doing the method that gives me a gzillion bonus triangles. I am planning to make something very tiny with them. Not sure what just yet. I have another 50 to make.

And you would think that with all the many different hexies I have prepped so far, how did I manage to make these first 2 flowers, that are not going into the border, the same sprigged floral? 

I tried hand stitching the yellow one together. That took me nearly an hour while watching Miss Marple. The pink one was a lot faster. I machined stitched it. First I stitched 2 hexies together from the back. One using a tiny zigzag then another seam using a blanket stitch. Both show from the front. Then I machine appliqued them both onto the background square using a tiny narrow zig-zag. I did leave the papers in. Oops. Well, maybe not. I cut away the back and pulled out the papers. I am using a neutral colour bottom line thread that I was hoping would disappear. Almost and that is good enough. Only 168 more flowers to go.

Check out what Gretchen is doing here , here , here and here. Rebecca here and here. I am so inspired! 

Blessings,

Chris

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Stonefields & August Challenges

My OMG goal last month was to make 7 more of these star blocks for Stonefields. 

My OMG for August will be to make several more of the 6 inch blocks. There are 3 or 4 with hexies. I will start there.

I am really enjoying this journey so far. Four of these stars still need some tiny circles appliqued on but I will wait until I am doing more circle blocks. I took time to look through the pattern pages and listed blocks with circles. If I have the circle making stuff out, I might as well make a lot. That was my thinking with the hexies and the flying geese. 

There are 121 six inch blocks in the middle of the quilt then a flying geese border then a wider hexagon border. I am still of the mind to make only 72 blocks.  

For this project, I am working on the outside borders right at the beginning. Here is the logic. As I sorted through all the soft floral prints for the first star blocks, I took the time to cut a multitude of strips of the same fabrics to cut and prep the flying geese and the hexagon units. There will be a lot of each. Why wait until the end?  I layed out several layers of the fabrics and cut, cut cut. Devan helped me cut out hexies with the Go Baby. I will now cut a few more strips for her. She is at camp again this week loving it. I really like the colours so far that I have used. I think I will keep to this pallet. No reds or orange or really dark fabrics. 

The Chookshed Challenge number is 7. I again tweaked my original list and will assemble a flimsy. I have several almost ready to sew up. You will have to wait until the end of the month to see which one(s) I get done. 

Our summer Houseguests have all returned to their respective homes. I see a few weeks of empty spaces on my calendar. My plan for now is to sew, sew, sew and write, write, write. 

The summer days here continue to be nice and hot but the evenings have cooled down to a nice 15C or 60F. Perfect for sleeping. 

Blessings,

Chris

Linking with smallquiltsanddollquilts.design-wall-monday- 

Quilty Goals for July

The Chookshed Challenge number for July is 9 and that for me is to do some hand applique. I added a few stitches to this Ella block that has been languishing for several years awaiting completion. My goal will be to simply complete it. That should take about 15 minutes if I hurry.

There are a few other half done blocks nearby that I can progress also. The right hand is beginning to hurt a bit again. Wonder how long the cortisone will last this time? Last year, it lasted about 2 months.

One sister is visiting for the month on her school vacation time. Another sister will be coming over to visit and work on one of her projects. She lives in a tiny 2 room apartment and does not have the luxury of space like I do. 

Twelve year old Devan will be starting her Jelly Roll Race quilt this week. And all that means that I have to clear away my Stonefields bits and peices.

I did complete my June OMG and now for July, I want to complete the next 7 star blocks for Stonefields. I have a good start on them so far. But we also have houseguests for the entire month.

Blessings,

Chris

Linking with wednesday-wait-loss-439

finished or not friday 

Gone Stitchin' FNWF

quiltingpatch.

Slow Sunday Sitching 

Progress on Stonefields

My Chookshed Challenge project for June was permission to start a new project. I started Stonefields. 

My OMG goal was to complete 1 block. So I did. That is not all I did. I pulled out lots of fabrics. Checked out what I had in the project box. Much of the fabric was already prewashed. Some was not so I pre washed those.  I cut out lots and lots of bars and squares in preparation for making a lot of flying geese units for one of the borders. 

There are 8 of these star blocks in the quilt. Four are made in month 1 and another 4 in month 8. These also have circles appliqued on. That can be my goal for July. 

I was reading Angela from Soscrappy the other day and she mentioned cutting hexies with her Go cutter. Duh! I have a GO cutter and I have a hexie die. Wonder what size it is? My thoughts for the Stonefields hexies was fussy cutting some of them and random for others. It turns out that I do have the right size  so Devan helped me cut out a whole bunch. I am glue basting them.

The plan for now, is to machine applique them in place but that will not be till closer to the end when I have the outside borders figured out and prepped. I want to make the whole thing smaller than the original, so do not have the final count. 

Blessings,

Chris

And Sew it Begins - Stonefields

Today I made the first cut on Stonefields. I have a huge pile of fabric set aside for this project. Maybe too much. Do I want it to be matchy-matchy or all out scrappy? No. Definetly not scrappy. I over think things and end up hesitating for years before beginning. I trimmed the pattern sheets to fit into our north american letter sized binder and punched holes. 

I read through the directions again. Did that back in early May when Rebecca said she was planning to start. This pattern is not for beginners as a lot of the techniques are assumed. Just the way I like it. This way I can figure things out for myself. 

My palette is soft florals and perhaps some solids. I have several in the bin of endless options. I decided to start by cutting out a lot of 3/4 inch hexies for the rosettes that frame the quilt with an incredible border. I figure that I can make some every month so not to have them all to do at the end. And there will be an end. I am planning to work on this for a year. At least that is what I am telling myself this month. 

I have a whole week with just me and my Sweetie before grand children and houseguest start arriving for the summer. I wonder what mischeif I can get into? Linking with Finished or Not Friday and Off the Wall Friday and Quilting Patchwork Applique and Design Wall Monday 

Blessings,

Chris

Blessings in Slowing Down

I was greatly blessed by reading Jenny of Elefanz's post this week. 

She wrote about slowing down as the seasons of our life progress and we no longer have to do everything. We can stop doing things that are no longer necessary and begin to enjoy the calm and peace in rest. 

Two of the girl grandchildren are at the farm today. It is a PA day with no school. Their older sister graduated from high school yesterday. I did not go to the ceremony. I had been out several times through the day and got home tired, cold and feverish. I know. Devan took my temperature and told me I sounded hoarse and had a temperatue of 38C or 100.4F. I was in bed very early. Like 5:30 on a Thursday afternoon. Among other things like getting blood work and seeing the nurses for the final time and being discharged after my surgery. Yesterday I bought a couple of rose bushes and new clothes which is what we do when we lose a few pounds and have our breasts reduced so smaller clothes fit better. Just saying. And why was I so tired? After all that, I had to pick the girls up from school. That was a lot of driving for this gramma.  

Today, Friday, I took 13 year old Ellyse to the Dollar Store to pick up some craft supplies for a project at school. We spent $101. We also got milk and bananas. Staples in our house. Then when we got home I took 12 year old Devan to help buy some plants for our summer gardens and went out for lunch. We brought home left overs so may have been caught visiting someone else's secret lunch spot. I won't say how much we spent. I cannot count those kind of numbers in my head so quickly anymore.

I can do all this because my Sweetie is visiting the boy grandchildren for a few days. We also bought a new shelving unit to organize my sewing stuff in the Blue Room. I managed to get the thing off-loaded and up to the room before any other adult humans around saw what I was doing and questioned my sanity. We were asked before we left earlier if we had a list and to stick to the list. How much fun is that I ask? The list was in my head. I had been planning this maneuver for a few weeks. Then forgot to get the unit earlier so we got it later as well as some poppies, begonias, sunflowers, and a bunch of other plants. A couple of window boxes. They are already on the windows. Now to remember to water them before it rains tomorrow. 

Much earlier today, I pulled weeds and added water to the water feature. There were a lot of weeds. If I go out there for just 10 minutes a day and putter, it will look really nice. I lasted 8 minutes. I know. I had the timer set on the kitchen stove for running the water. I do not want to forget to shut it off. 

Tomorrow is Sat and I have another Writing Workshop here to help others to start getting ready to start writing their life stories. I have Stonefield's spread all over all the long tables in the SonRoom. I still have a couple of hours to get that all set up before the girls head off to the final night of youth group before the summer holidays. It is an all-nighter. Remember those? I went to one when I was finishing grade 8. Got home after breakfast and had to go out to work on the farm for the rest of the day. No rest for the weary. Well, not in those days. 

So back to Jenny's comments today. I have learned to slow down. A lot. I cannot do all that I used to do. I do not have many of those responsibilities any more. But I can still do things. This summer will again bring family for several weeks and I will be leading my writing group. I plan to write along with them. If I manage to spend at least one day each week doing some deep writing (2-3 hours without interruption or distraction) I can have at least 12 stories written. And if I do one blog post a week, that adds up to a lot of words written. My hands are working very nicely for now since the cortisone shot a month ago. Here's trusting that it will last for a couple months more. 

And what about stitching? I have plans to do some but will not commit to too much. At least for now. Stonefield's awaits some dedicated attention. My OMG goal for that is to start and complete at least one block. Totally doable. And I am rambling. I like to ramble. Oh. And I cut some scrap 1 inch strips to start on Omisgosh as a leader-ender project from now until possibly eternity.

Blessings,

Chris

linking with frederique