Not caught up but it feels good to get something completed!
I put in a few hours on Friday night to get this August Crazy Quilt Journal block done: It looks unbalanced to me (that peacock is too "horizontal, maybe?) but maybe, when assembled with it's 2103 compatriots, that will cease to be an issue.
Not caught up but it feels good to get something completed!
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Gosh, am I ever sick of rain! 14 out of the last 16 days its rained at east a little, leading us to the 8th wettest June in local history (but July is still behind on water, possibly because the airport met station is in one of those "scattered shower" dry spots --- it sure feels wet enough here!). You'd think that would lead to more stitching on my part but mainly, it's insomnia coupled with the inability to keep awake during the daylight hours. So I have little progress to report on this week. Oh well, here is "Midnight Garden" as it was on Friday: And I did get BJP two butterflies kitted out - the late June one in purple: and July's in red and white stars: The July Crazy Quilt Journal Project block is underway --- with stitchery and beading started simultaneously: I started kitting out the Roll Your Own Mandala charts, only to find that I didn't have a piece of fabric large enough to do them all on one piece and I need a lot more fabric if I want to do all seven of them individually but have them match. Also, I don't have enough thread to do seven right now (man, they call for a lot of DMC!). SO I have mys hopping list made out and will visit the local Hobby Lobby to see if I can satisfy thread and fabric requirements. Otherwise, it's online to order something VERY pricey...
Husband insisted on getting two of my framed pieces tweaked (both had some lint caught on the sittches!) so that was done Friday and now I have to get around to filling out the application form for the fair and get it in before the deadline Saturday. I did stitch this weekend... I finished Stitch 71 for TAST on Friday and the June block for the Crazy Quilt Journal Project on Saturday. Then I started on the 12 x 12 block I hope to enter in the county fair next month in the category called "Pink"...
All the seam treatments are finished and now it's time to embellish: This month's themes were: Designer – Teresa Wentzler, Style – Summer, Colors – Black and Green ... and again, I don't have a single piece in progress that fits in with those themes. Also, I still seem to be in recovery from that eye surgery as my eyes don't seem to have any stitching stamina *and* I seem to have lost my stitching mojo as a result of the four weeks I had to lay off for recovery. Still, I did get SOME stitching in this month. Completions included:
In addition, I took eight pieces into the framer to be framed because fair submittals have to be ready July 1 - 13. I decided to go with "Kimono - Revisited" for Needlepoint framed sampler, "Red Thai Mandala" for Counted Cross Stitch picture 28 ct (even though is it primarily blackwork, there doesn't seem to be a perfect category for it), the Michael Powell "Home is Where the Heart Is" for Counted cross stitch framed picture 16 or 18 ct, the "Charles" name badge for counted cross stitch framed sampler 28 ct, the blue Sumptuous Embroidery study for embroidered framed picture, "Birds of a Feather" for counted cross stitch 32 ct, the Encrusted Embroidery 8" block for Needlework Specialties, beading on fabric, and "The Taco Sampler" for the Special Contest framed picture with a kitchen theme. I picked them all up June 21... a first day of summer present to myself. Still in progress are: "Midnight Garden", where the borders are now stitched out , a 12" block for entry into the fair with the theme "Pink" (doesn't need framing), and the wall hanging for the 2012 Color Palette/Crazy Quilt Journal/Bead Journal Project blocks (the final side sashings are cut and pinned but still not stitched). I pre-assembled basic crazy quilt journal blocks for the rest of 2013 but I have yet to design and kit out the June Bead Journal butterfly, the Tracy Horner "Roll Your Own Mandala" SAL (of which there are two now, still not with a color palette chosen) and the Janet Perry background stitch notebook (lesson one printed out but not kitted up, or even read!) Besides catching up with TAST, finishing the piece for the fair ("The Taco Sampler") and taking nine finished pieces to the framer on Saturday, I did squeeze in some stitching as well this past week. I managed to get the main part of the outer borders done for "Midnight Garden", as well as some of the black cross-stitched elements in the middle border: Ready for blackwork! I also put together a 12.5" block (12" finished) for the "Pink" category for the fair. It needs embellishment but the basic block is done: And the basic block for the June Crazy Quilt Journal Project is ready to embellish as well: I still need to kit out the June Bead Journal Project butterfly, the needlepoint background stitch journal for Janet Perry, and at least two "Roll Your Own" mandalas for that Tracy Horner SAL. Of course, kitting out isn't the same as stitching but my eyes seem to be improving daily and if I can do better than my latest stitching times, I should be able to do some catching up this next week!
The garden continues to "serially" bloom --- one "new" plant after another. First of all, the Iris are now popping up all over: And another tree peony is in bloom: Allium, in various colors, has appeared in the front garden (that's the Asian lilac and the rhodies in the background...): As has Evening Primrose (we used to admire these little pink flowers, and their darker cousins, the wine cups - which wont grow here, when we lived in Texas but up here, they become weeds and spread everywhere.): But most impressive of all are the Clematis --- lots of different ones! And, would you believe, there are still at least two that haven't begun to bloom yet! Every vertical surface seems to have its own grouping of these gorgeous vines! With my new glasses (fitted on Wednesday), and the left eye still bothering me a little, I decided to do something that didn't need a lot of "focus" --- I stitched up the last seven "base" blocks for Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2103: And I plugged away at the May block so I could squeak it in under the wire: Still have a May Bead Journal Project piece to stitch which, clearly, given the date, isn't likely to be done on time. And "Midnight Garden" sits idle as does the 2012 Color Palette/Crazy Quilt Journal/Bead Journal Project wall hanging and I have yet to start on the "Toll Your Own Mandala" being taught online by Tracy Horner of InkCircles. To say nothing of two more online classes I've signed up for that lurk in the near future: Janet Perry's background stitching and Linda Perrin's "Messy Beading"... Will I never learn?
Even though I had a nasty cold, I could concentrate on free-stitchery so I managed to get two pieces done so far this week. First was my approach to the TAST stitch 61 - the Up-and-Down Feathered Buttonhole Stitch: I even attempted a beaded version on my April Crazy Quilt Journal Project block: And speaking of the April Crazy Quilt Journal block, here it is... Not exactly "encrusted" like in that class I took on Encrusted Crazy Quilting but it is more in the style of the previous three blocks in this series so I will let it be...
Two "small" finishes for me... My "Mug Rug" which is 9 x 12, and (GET THIS) I did some needleturn applique on the front and QUILTED IT MYSELF! WAHOO! MY FIRST EVER QUILT, even if it is only 9 x 12! LOL I even applied the binding by machine, at least partly --- but found it wouldn't work for stitch-in-the-ditch for the back side so I hand stitched that part...I can't believe this --- I will now HAVE to go to guild on Thursday, despite the pot luck part, and show this one off! Front (top) with the needleturn (motif cut from the backing fabric): Back (bottom): And my March Crazy Quilt Journal block, monochormatic red: Monday was a productive day!
It's been a busy, if disorganized, week for me but I did complete a few pieces and made some progress on some WIPS... The completions were: "Red Thai Mandala", "Vintage Kitchen" from "Color Through the Ages", and stitches 56 and 57 (Sailor Stitch and Sailor Edging) from Take a Stitch Tuesday: Progress was made on my Crazy Quilt Journal block for March --- only beading to go, I think: I completed Lesson Three in the "Encrusted Crazy Quilting Class" (I am now officially behind a week in that class): And I stitched on the latest "Mittens & Mini-Socks" lesson (Mt. Fuji): Other in-progress pieces without photos are lesson one for "Sumptious Surface Embroidery" (I have a possible post-card-sized design sketched out), a mug rug for quilt guild (needs binding but I actually did some needle turn applique - first time since Saudi Arabia - *and* machine quilting - first time EVER!) and trimmed the blocks for finish-finishing of my 2102 Color Palette/CQJP/BFP challenge wall hanging!
Somehow, with all of this, it doesn't feel like I got a lot accomplished --- it was too scattered, no focus. And this week is going to be a busy one so I fear I won't get much done on the stitching front. We shall see... |
AuthorBorn in New Jersey, I grew up in Southeastern Ohio. Attended university at Bowling Green State University (B.Sci in biological science, 1964), University of Southern California (M. Sci in biological science, 1967) and University of Florida (Ph. D in zoology, 1971). Archives
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