Sunday, April 20, 2014

Still plugging along!

I am still plugging away at the eight layered flowers I need  to finish off block #17 of Baltimore Garden.  It really has gone pretty well, but I have been interrupted by the spring weather.  I was able to get most of my garden planted so that really cut into stitching time.













I also got the bird legs embroidered onto block #16.  It didn't take very long but all these things take time.

Today I hope to find a some time to stitch the last two centers on block #17.  I love the depth that the block gets from all the layers.  As I work on it, my mind starts dreaming about how much fun this quilt is going to be to quilt.   I have to remind myself to enjoy the stitching at hand for now or I will never get the quilt assembled into a top.
I did get a start on block #18.  This is the start of a vase, they are so much fun to stitch! I hope you find some time for a few relaxing stitches today. Happy Easter!

23 comments:

  1. love your garden - when we lived in Idaho we lived in town and I had a 3 foot garden dug all the way around the fenced yard - it was out of the way and the kids still had plenty of room to play.

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    1. Sounds wonderful! I love having my garden right off the patio so that I can fiddle in it daily.

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  2. Good luck getting your centres done. One day I will try and make a Baltimore quilt of my own they are just gorgeous. Can't wait to see yours finished.

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    1. I hope to finish the 25 blocks this summer and hopefully start the borders next summer. That will be three years just for the applique. I should be able to do the hand quilting over one winter.

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  3. So happy you have a garden! That is gonna be a nice one too! Your Baltimore blocks are coming along and totally looking fabulous!!! I am looking forward to appliqueing my own blocks soon.. just learning .. no Baltimore's in my future yet! lol Kathi

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    1. Thanks Kathyi! I love applique you can be so much more creative with them. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do when you finally try it. It is all about practice!

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  4. I haven't been in my garden yet but the weather is improving around here. Your blocks do look wonderful and I am glad that you are reminding yourself to be 'in the present' when you are working on your quilt.

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    1. We are about a month behind where we were last year. I just love gardening and am so happy to finally play in the dirt. Hopefully the hot weather will not arrive too soon and the plants will have an opportunitly to get a good start.

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  5. Yes, we get torn at this time of year garden or stitching? Suddenly it is all happening out there and a rainy day like today, is a good excuse to pick up a needle again :-)
    I like your center block :-)

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  6. So fun to star a new block - I would get distracted and forget to finish the old ones!

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    1. I like to do prep work during the day and stitching early in the am or in the evening. I don't work to far ahead, but it does take time to trace all the pieces and then cut them out. I hate not to have something ready to stitch. I usually only allow my self to do prep work, no stitching till the previous block is finished.

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  7. I only work on it in the warmer months as it is too warm to handquilt. I am so glad I am inspiring you to do one of your own. That is how I got inspired. Applique is all about one stitch at a time and enjoying each block until we have enough to assemble a top. They are all so unique and different so they seem like their very own project.

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  8. No actual gardening here yet....nothing in the ground till the end of May here ...too much late frost worries but cleaning and grass mowing etc are going on. Love to see the progress on your applique :) My son just closed on a house and the moving's been going on this weekend. This grandma dropped all other sewing projects to make cute fabric banners / pennants for kids rooms! :) Loved hearing a little girl say "it boo-tee-ful, Oma!" :)

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    1. You have such lucky grandchildren! Yes we garden pretty early here. Our last frost date is April 3 but it has been to wet to plant. But things are coming along, I think the tomatoes already grew several inches this week.

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  9. What wonderful garden - outside and in the fabrics. Enjoy your stitches today.

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  10. Beautiful blocks again : ) I'm envious of that big garden. What all do you plant? Veggies? Hubby just built me a garden box today. Looking forward to digging in it

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    1. 4:52:00 AM
      I grow tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and squash. I also have a little strawberry patch. It really isn't that large but we do get a lot of produce out of it. I usually can about 30 quarts of tomatoes from my 6-8 plants. They taste so good straight from the garden. Thanks for stopping by.

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  11. Fabulous looking garden! We are still waiting to plant most of our garden here ... we've got some onions and lettuce in the ground (although we're still waiting for the lettuce to come up ... think we're going to have to give up on the first try and try again. The rest of our garden will be planted in another couple of weeks. I only got to do a little slow stitching yesterday ... enough to finish a MWFG block and start another.

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    1. We are about a month ahead of you . Although this year it seems late to plant the garden towards the end of April. Usually plant it the end of March or the beginning of April. It is so much fun to watch things grow. Those hexies take a while, sounds like you made quite a few of those slow stitches!

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  12. I was out planting in my garden today. Takes a lot of time.
    Love your bird block.

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    1. I agree and it doesn't get any easy as we get older. LOL It is so enjoyable to watch things grow and I love fresh garden grown tomatoes. I love the bird blocks in this quilt also, so fitting amongst the flowers, just like in nature.

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