Getting a handle on things!

A fellow quilter in blogland this week sent me some homespuns she was no longer wanting in her stash.  I have collected some over the past twenty years and recently saw a basket quilt another blogger made  and I left her a comment on how I wanted to make a basket quilt like hers .  That blogger gifted me her drawing of the block.  I just love quilters they are such wonderful people. I felt so blessed that when I had a conversation about thread with a third blogger who like silk thread for applique, I knew what I had to do. That five spool silk thread set that I had bought a couple of years ago and decided was not my cup of tea was shipped off to her house.  There is something wonderful about people being nice and also in sharing that experience by paying it forward. So today, I appliqued the handles down on my first two  basket blocks.

This evening I hope to put a few more applique stitches in the second quarter of my pumpkin peel quilt. I need to share that I am naming it "Simple but Not" My pumpkin peel quilt is being made in the same manner as my Amish Ice Cream Social. A fellow quilter left a comment on that post that the quilt was simple but not. It explained it so well, that I have decided to use it as a name of my pumpkin peel quilt.

 So even though I halve started another project, and I have more than I can do, I have a handle on it, two blocks done on my new project, and the knowledge that there are wonderful people out there that do wonderful things, we just need to pay attention. I  was so glad I was paying attention a while back when I started following Kathy's blog. She host slow stitching Sundays and I have throughly enjoyed sharing my slow stitching projects with others that link up. So if you get the chance, turn off the news, and slow down and pay attention, there is so many wonderful things going on you just need to enjoy them.

Celebrating Twelve Blocks Completed

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Everything has fallen into place for a Friday Finish!

 

 

 

 

Leaves Leaves Leaves

I love the fall of the year, things cool off and I can start hand quilting again.  During the summer I enjoy doing my applique and piecing on the machine. This week I started block number twelve of Baltimore Garden. I am hoping to get a little more than half way thru with them, so that next summer I can finish the rest of the blocks.

 This is the beginning of a tulip block. I love using the method that leaves the freezer paper on top, although I have found that basting them down does help. I tried just using pins but the thread gets caught on them and things can still shift a bit.

I hope to get the rest of these stitched on today. As usual I will be stopping in over at Kathy's blog to see what others are slow stitching today.

Block 11

This is one of my favorite blocks so far!  The vase was really fun to do!  I have already printed out block twelve which is a tulip block. I can't blieve the summer is almost gone and I have finished up almost half of the blocks needed for this quilt. But, I am also looking forward to a hand quilting project when the cooler fall air arrives.  

Prioritizing!

A few weeks ago, I felt a little frustrated with my quilting. Working on Baltimore Garden is very intense, and sometimes it seems that a block can take for ever. Maybe it is just the process of applique. There is so much prep work, and then you finally start stitching and somedays you look at the block and wonder if everything will come together.  I also started putting together another quilt top and as I have mentioned before, piecing is not my favorite part of quilting. So I took a few days away from sewing and set some goals and have made some progress.
One of things I did was mark and sandwich my fall quilting project , my traditional red and green quilt . Too warm out to feel like starting the hand quilting process, it gave me incentive to get a top finished up and to start block number 11 for Baltimore Garden. I have the vase and most leaves and stems done but I still a lot of pieces to add as you can tell by the picture.

So today, I am going to continue the progress and do some slow stitching and get closer to finishing block 11.  My goal was to finish half of the Baltimore Garden blocks this summer, and now it looks like if I just enjoy at least one or two more blocks I will be on target.  Of course, I also get a lot of inspiration from Kathy's Slow Stitching Sundays. It is always good  take a break and see what others are slow stitching.