Small finish week for me

I have a few small things I’ve finally gotten the finishing work done on. About 6 weeks ago I made a list of 11 things that I really had to get done. They were not all stitching projects but a few quilting odds & ends and some other craft projects. All of them were close to being done but just needed a bit of a push to get to the finish line. I’m happy to report I have now made it through 7 of the items on my list! It’s a good feeling getting some of these out of the way. My plan is when I’m done with these 11 things, I’m going to make a new list of the next 10 things to work though.

This is a Loose Feathers design by Blackbird Designs called “Winter Delivery”. I stitched it early last year but it’s been sitting in the finishing bag ever since. I had fun digging through my huge stash of quilting fabric for some backing fabric that fits nicely with the colors.

A view of the back:

My other progress this week was the finishing of this little Prairie Schooler design. I stitched it years ago and stuck it in a drawer. I never did do anything with it. I’m happy with how it came out – hard to get a good picture of the backing fabric at night but the backing fabric is the perfect blend of colors and looks really cute. I am getting better at finishing and especially at making cording. I bought one of those Conair hair braiding gadgets and I love making cording with it. It saves me from having to ask my husband to assist me in making the cording and it’s much faster. That little gadget is well worth the money! I got mine on eBay and I think I’m going to pick up another one while they’re still available. I don’t think they are manufacturing them anymore.

Next up on my list is a small quilted wallhanging I started about 2 years ago. I made one for a small quilt auction and liked it so much I wanted one for myself. Isn’t that the way it goes a lot of the time? We find time to make something for someone else but our own projects frequently don’t get finished. Then I have several holiday towels I want to make – these are cotton plaid towels that you do fusible applique on and I have several pairs I had planned to make for Christmas gifts. Well they’ve been sitting in a box for about 2 or 3 years now so I’m finally going to tackle them.

I hope all of you are making progress on your own projects. I appreciate those of you stopping by and taking the time to make comments. The husband usually gives me a distracted nod and a “very nice” whether I spent 2 evenings or 2 years making it!

Happy Halloween - a bit early!

Here in the southwest we are enjoying the last few days of wonderful weather before it starts to get hot. I have hibiscus starting to bloom in the backyard and things are starting to recover from the winter freeze we had.

Here are some photos of a recent UFO finish - a Halloween quilt I started about 2 years ago. It was hard to photograph because it's so big. You can't see much of the block motifs unless you click on it and view the larger version. I really love Halloween and when I saw a model of this quilt I just had to make it. I puchased a panel of motifs for the centers of the blocks. I'm not sure what I will do with it now that's it done - I don't really have a place to hang a big quilt like this just for a holiday. Hopefully it will fit nicely on the guest bed or draped over a chair or something. I really want to purchase a quilt ladder to display some of my quilts on - too many of them are stacked in the linen closet.

I'm also posting my latest progress on the English Sampler. I finally finished the band with the numbers on it - all Algerian eyelets which took forever to do. So I completed that band and carnation band under it and now making progress on the center floral motif. I only photographed the top portion of this sampler - the bottom is various bands of whitework which I have probably about 40% done so far. This picture is a bit blurry but if you click on it you can see it enlarged and clearer. This is one of the projects I'm committed to finishing this year. I'm making good progress lately.

I was at my LNS for open stitching the other day, did very well controlling my spending but did pick up Brightneedle's "Pretty in Pink" along with the linen and a few fibers for it. I have admired this done by members of the Legacy board and glad I finally picked it up. Also showing some of the pearl-headed pins I picked up at Joann's recently - I anticipate doing several pinkeeps but none have been completed yet. I have dreams! I also got a call today that my hornbook pattern and materials are in. Can't wait to pick it up. This is by Pam Schmidt of The Prairie Sampler.

I hear there's a new design out of Gingher embroidery scissors - I need to get to Joann's quick before they run out of them. I believe it's called "Maria". I've seen it on eBay - looks a lot like the last set Alyssa just in a different colorway. Not my favorite colors this time but I'll buy them anyway! :)