What Did I Accomplish During the Sochi Games???

      I was very productive during the Sochi Games... but did not accomplish what I set out to do. Remember this pile of quilts waiting for hand sewn bindings? I managed to get half the binding sewn on one tablerunner.... that's it folks... the pile remains undisturbed. Hopefully this pile will dwindle to nothing before the Summer Games in 2016!

      Thankfully I did better on Susan Singleton... my new start to honor the Winter Olympics.

Susan Singleton - The Scarlet Letter

Love the sweet spotted deer!

     I've been collecting small pieces of Liberty Tana Lawn fabrics and have finally decided to use the prints in the charming Monkey Wrench block. Here's my start on my Liberty Quilt blocks.

      Also, I continued piecing blocks for my Park Bench quilt.

       And Drum Roll Please... I've finally completed the finishing work on several needlework smalls. I will not admit how long the time span between completing the stitching and doing the finishing work. Much too long!

       I have a head start on my Christmas smalls for 2014!

     

Wintertime - Threadwork Primitives

Beggar's Christmas - Threadwork Primitives

Noel House - Chessie & Me

Way ahead of time for July 4th!

Glory House - Chessie & Me

Stitcher's Name Tag - La-D-Da

A Lady's Trimkeep - Plum Street Samplers

A Valentine's Stocking - Plum Street Samplers

Valentine Sampler - With Thy Needle & Thread

       I've completed a few more smalls... but I'll save them for my next blog update... this post is getting long!

I'll leave you today with one very dejected Corgi. I broke the news to Owen this morning that the Polar Vortex has returned to our little corner of Iowa. We won't have temps above the teens for at least the next ten days.

When is Spring going to arrive!!!

And the Winner Is...

      Carol of Stitching Dreams... you are the winner of the box of fabric scraps. Thank you all for leaving a comment and requesting your name to be part of the draw. I wish I could send you all boxes of scraps.
I've sent Carol an e-mail asking her to send me her mailing address. If you didn't get my e-mail Carol... please let me know where to send the box.
    
      Have you all been enjoying the Olympics? I've spent countless hours glued to the TV watching the coverage. Of course I couldn't let such an event pass by without starting a brand new stitching project, because I don't have enough projects started, in honor of the Sochi Games.

      I've been wanting to stitch Susan Singleton for some time now and she was my first choice for my Olympic sampler.

Susan Singleton - The Scarlet Letter

I'm stitching Susan on 40ct. Lakeside Vintage Chantilly Creme linen with AVAS silks. I wonder how much I'll get stitched by the end of the Closing Ceremonies?

      Before the start of the Games I put in a few more stitches on A Parrot, A Leopard, A Lion.

A Parrot, A Leopard, A Lion - The Scarlet Letter

      I've been working on some Finishing projects and had hoped to have more completed by now. I do have one to share with you today.

Strawberry Marking Sampler Bag

      Two new patterns were released for the Blogger Girls II BOM. These blocks are so much fun to piece together.  I used the Open Gate Fit to be Geese ruler for the flying geese blocks. It's a wonderful ruler and you can't help but make perfect flying geese blocks with the aid of the ruler.

      When I saw the beautiful Fussy Cut Stars that Margaret, Days of a Sampler Lover, was making I wanted to join in on the fun. Temecula Quilt Company is responsible for starting us both down the path of Fussy Cut Fridays.

If I make two more fussy cut stars this coming week I'll be caught up!

      My local frame shop called earlier this week and two of my samplers were framed and ready to be picked up. I'm very happy with the framing for both Emma Miles and Jacob's Ladder.

Until next time.... happy stitching and quilting!

Stacks, Stacks Everywhere and a Giveaway

     Once again too much time has passed since my last blog post. I've worked on many projects and have lots of photos to share with you.

      I've started two new stitching projects. The first is The Attic's 2014 Stitch Along sampler Por Luciana Delgado, I'm stitching my Luciana on Lakeside Legacy V. Lt. Examplar with Tudor Silks. We were instructed by our SAL leader to start our samplers with the last page of the chart. What you are seeing is the lower right hand corner of Luciana's sampler.

Luciana Delgado - Needle Work Press

I'm hoping to be able to keep up with the SAL schedule and have Luciana completed by the end of 2014.

      I'm taking another on-line class with Thistle Threads, Abbey A. Couzzens 1836: A Family Register Sampler.  What drew me to this class was the following sentence in the course description:
"The students will be taught the secrets of crinkle silk and how to make crinkle silk for there own sampler stitching!"

     I'm currently finishing up the counted thread portion of the piece so that I will be able to draw the surface embroidery design that comes with the next lesson.

Abby Couzzens - Thistle Threads

This is a photo from the Thistle Threads website of the completed sampler.

      I continue to work on  A Parrot, A Leopard, A Lion. The portion of the design I'm currently stitching will be used on the top panel of my Flat Topped Casket.

A Parrot, A Leopard, A Lion - Scarlet Letter

      I can't tell you how pleased I was with myself for not only doing the stitching, but also the finishing on Brenda Gervais' Snow bird. It's a wonderful addition to my Winter decorations.

Snow Bird - With thy Needle & Thread

      The only way I knew how to deal with the bitterly cold, snowy Winter was to spend time in my sewing room making quilt blocks. I managed to get quite a bit accomplished which will tell you just how many of our days have been spent in the house due to the harshness of the weather.

      First up are the next eight blocks for the Hampton Ridge BOM. I love the fabrics we've been given for our blocks. They are a joy to piece.

           I was looking for a project that would showcase my Bonnie & Camille fabrics. Open Gate Quilts was doing another Blogger Girls BOM and I decided that would be the perfect project. I'll be making two sets of each month's blocks because I don't plan on using the setting blocks for my quilt. Here are the first month's blocks.

      I fell in love with the Park Bench quilt and knew I had to make one for myself. I'm using fabrics from the Botanics collection by Carolyn Friedlander. Here's a photo of the quilt from Jaybird Quilts' website.

Block 1

Block 1

Block 4

     The blocks are a lot of fun to construct. There are two specialty rulers, Hex N More and Sidekick, that are used to cut the pieces. There are no Y seams... just straight seams and the large blocks go together quickly.

      I picked up some quilts from my long-arm quilter and was very pleased with how she chose to quilt my French General quilt.

     I spent most of the weekend stitching the bindings onto several quilts of various sizes. I thought it would be the perfect mindless sewing project to work on while watching the Olympics. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's anxiously awaiting the start of  the Games.

     This is one of the Stacks I was referring to in the post title.  I have numerous other stacks of partially completed quilt tops and blocks along with stacks of various stitching projects. I'm hoping by the time Spring arrives my stacks will have dwindled.

     As for the Giveaway that is also part of the title... I have a medium priority flat rate shipping box filled to the top with leftover scraps from my various quilting projects. I also have a small bag with small quilt blocks and HSTs that are leftover from another project. If you would like to have your name included in the draw for this box of scraps please leave a comment on this blog post. I'm sorry, but due to the weight of the fabric and the high cost of international postage, I will have to restrict this Giveaway to US residents only.

      Owen and I have already received a lovely Valentine's Day present. Thank you very much Oliver and Whitney.

      Wishing you all a very sweet Valentine's Day!