Not Happening Tonight

Nutmeg, says, "It is okay, Mommy."

Maestro says, "Time for sleep."

My kitty helpers and I gave it out best effort today to try to finish our

February One Monthly Goal Set Here

But it is just not happening this month.

We  logged over seven hours of stitching today and got this close ... 

... then rut-roh ... 

...  we had to take out stitches.

The red and aqua should have aligned.

I should have caught the error sooner.

The red bridge is one count too high.

Because this is the corner and my aida is pulled a bit askew by the frame

I thought at first the aqua arrow on the right was misplaced,

but no ... it is the red.

I took out the offending stitches and am calling it a night

and a month.

Tomorrow I will take the cloth off the frame and square it 

before I start again.

Even though I did not complete my February OMG Goal,

I feel it has been a successful month of sewing and stitching.

It is all good.

Good Night and Sweet Dreams

One Day and Counting

I am stitching ...and stitching ... and stitching.

I am making progress.

This is my stitching log for this project.

At this point I have been logged 33 and a half hours.

Also,  I forgot to record a few times when I just 

snatched a few minutes of stitching here and there. 

I  am  a  s-l-o-w  s-t-i-t-c-h-e-r.

If you look close in the shadows at the top of this photo,
you will see Nutmeg is sleeping on the job 

on one of her favorite warm spots,

a small quilt folded on top of the steam radiator in the living room.

OMG ... I may not get this done.

February Count Down ends tomorrow 

Better go put in a few more "x"s 

before I get my needed "z"s

Sweet Stitching Dreams 

I Like Thursday #46 ~ Scrappy & Happy

My mini tea rose is blooming on my sunny south facing kitchen windowsill.

I shared the story of this gift in my 

I Like Thursday Post #42

This is my first bloom of the year for 2020. 

It has been such a mild February that the buds are starting 

to get fat on my forsythia in my back yard.  

The ground is cracking where some of my bulbs are planted.

Spring is coming soon!

I have been taking this advice from a quilt to heart

and have been tending these thoughts.

 Here in my post last Thursday

I had three projects in the red and not finished.

I am happy to say I have checked two of them off the my list this week.

My Sweet Tea & Sashiko Stitches Pillow is Finished

My Sweet Lily Pillow Cover is Finished

Both of these were made from extra fabrics from other projects,

were made entirely from stuff in my stash,

and up-cycled old pillows.

My third project of the week is still in the red ...

My  Quilty Love Cross Stitch  is my 

OMG Goal for February ~ Posted Here

I have not yet got it done.

As you can see, this is very much a "all paws on" effort

Nutmeg says,  "We still have time, Mommy.  I will help!"

I do have hopes of getting this done tomorrow or Friday ... or ...

Saturday Leap Day may be my lucky day!

Just in time to start another cross stitch ...

You may download this

Free Lucky Charm Cross Stitch Chart @ FQS

I am finding common threads today with the

I Like Thursday Bloggers @ Not Afraid of Color

who always share what makes them feel happy.

May you have a Happy Thursday!

My Sweet Tea & Sashiko Stitches Pillow is Finished!

My Jolly Bar Bakewell Pillow Cover is finished!

For the quilting, I did hand stitched Sashiko stitching.

I made this pillow with extra blocks from my 

Sweet Tea Jolly Bar Bakewell Quilt

I could not have done this stitching without this ...

Clover Adjustable Ring Thimble with Plate 

@ Fat Quarter Shop

You place it overt your thimble finger with the plate on your palm and 

push the long needle through the fabric

and then pull the needle and smooth the stitches.

More info on my method and tools may be found Here.
I stitched straight lines for the borders in these matching thread colors.

For the center, I let my quilty muse decide and I did some free form improv stitching.
I did not mark these motifs or the straight lines. 

I wanted to make this as a cover for the winter season pillow on the upper left
which has red and green snowmen on the front.
The pillow measured 20" so my Bakewell blocks  needed a narrow outer border
to make it large enough for the pillow up-cycle.

I machine sewed the background border strips around the center
to make a nice clean and crisp frame.

For the back of the pillow cover, I made and envelope back with snap closures
from extra Sweet Tea fabrics.

I bound this pillow with a navy heart print from Bonnie & Camille
that was in my stash.

I am very happy with this project!

I plan to do more Sashiko quilting on future projects.


Do your do large stitch quilting?
I would love to hear what thread and method you use.
I love to learn new quilty things ... :) 

Happy Stitching!

Honey Buns & Free Pattern Fun

This Mini Moda Honey Bun has been in my stash for a long time.

I have no idea how it came to be in my stash.

This is not a precut size that I recall ever buying.

Honey Buns are collections of 1 1/2" x 42" strips of fabric produced by Moda Fabrics. 

Honey Buns typically include 40 strips of fabric but can vary,

like my mini roll which has 20 strips.

This little honey bun came out of my stash for a photo today

because I saw this cute 

Free Quilt Pattern that is made using a Honey Bun Roll.

Here is the link for this freebie @ Moda Fabrics

Click Here for the Free PDF Pattern

For fun, I did some window shopping for fresh Honey Buns

@

Moda Honey Bun Rolls @ Fat Quarter Shop

and found quite a few tasty fabrics that I would like to see in this pattern.

including the

Just Red Honey Bun

shown in the free pattern.

I think I would use a different line, though. 

Of course, I could also just sew my stash

and use the mini bun

or cut 1.5" strips from my stash.

The pattern looks like a good  choice for a "Stash Buster" quilt.

I am not buying fabric today but it is fun to look.

Which one would you choose?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Edit 2/26/2020

Early Bird Honey Bun FQS Precut of the Week Sale!

Just saying ... ;) 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Sweet Lily

My Sweet Lily Cushion is Done!

For this project I found some red and white fabrics from my stash.

The very detailed and well written pattern for this project may be found 

@

Sweet Lily Cushion PDF Pattern by Down Grapevine Lane

As this is a new release, it is on sale now for a short time.

This is the block in my 

Color It Red Blog Hop Post 

Even the 20' pillow is an old one that was in a closet waiting for a new cover.

 I quilted it and made the back Here

I have wanted to make a while lily block for a long time
and I really like the look of this modern take on the traditional block.
The white fabric is a Zen Silky and it has a lovely feel and sheen.
The red prints are leftovers from a red and white quilt.

Here is the back of the pillow with my favorite snap back closure.
This was also made with extra fabric from another project
and pieces form my stash.
The border is fat quarter of a Bonnie and Camille diagonal stripe.
The red solid is Bella Country Red.

The pattern gave good instructions for making an envelope back.
I added my touch with this snap closure.

My quilty kitties and I are really happy with this nice cushy project.  

I really like this pattern and hope to make a four block quilt

in floral and pastel fabrics this spring, which may be soon. 

It has been so warm here that had my south facing windows open the last two days.

Spring is coming! 

Slow Sunday Sashiko Stitching

Today for my Slow Sunday Stitching 

I completed the sashiko quilting on my 

Jolly Bar Bakewell Pillow Cover

For the center I did some free form improv stitiching.

I did not marking.  I just let the blcok deisgn and the threads and my quilty muse decide

I used these beautiful 

Hidamari Sashiko Thread @ Fat Quarter Shop

I use fusible fleece on the back to hide my threads.
I do not mark lines.

 I can make nice straight lines and take multiple stitches at a time
with the Tulip Long Sashiko Needles from Fat Quater Shop

This long stitch quilting has the "paw of approval"
and I am very happy with the results.

Linking up today with the lovely slow stitchers
@


Slow Sunday Stitching @ Kathy's Quilts

Tomorrow I hope to sew my pillow cover. 

My Jolly Bar Bakewell Quilt

Welcome to my Sweet Tea Jolly Bar Bakewell Post!
The snow is melting here and soon it will be time to sit and dine outdoors, 
so I made this fun Sweet Tea Table Quilt.

This quilt is featured here on The Jolly Jabber

I made this sample quilt for the  

Free Jolly Bar Bakewell Quilt Pattern
 @ Fat Quarter Shop

There is Jolly Bar Bakewell Kit 


Backing Set Here 

for the quilt in the image above.

Free FQS Video Tutorial Here

I did my own layout to make a smaller quilt for a table.

To make this quilt I used 

 Fat Quarter Shop Jolly Bar

and

 Print Shop Cream Camera Ready
yardage for the background fabric
and  blue and red Sweet Tea prints form my stash
for the binding and backing.

For my center block I chose this

Sweetwater Ink Sweet Tea Panel
purchased directly from
 Sweetwater Fabrics

Here is the block layout for my 30.5" Table Quilt.
The blocks are 8.5" except, 8" finished,  for the center block.
I did not turn the blocks are shown in kit quilt.
The center block is the Sweet Tea Recipe Print.
The cream sashing and outer border strips are cut to 2",
1.5" finished.
The blue frame for this block is cut at 2.5",
2" finished.

The blue and red two color binding is from
My Two Fabric Flanged Binding Tutorial

I really enjoyed making is quilt and hope to make a lap size quilt
with the rest of my Sweet Tea fabrics.

I am also making a matching pillow with
four Jolly Bar Bakewell blocks,
also not rotated.

Like many of my late January and February projects,
I am a bit behind due to the sinus infection.

For this one project, I am long stitch quilting with sashiko threads.

Click Here to see my finished Sashiko Quilting

I hope you enjoy making your own quilt from 
this fun and easy pattern.

Happy Sewing!