Calm before the Storm

This week I have pulled out Simple but Not.  With Thanksgiving around the corner, there will be the added stress of a road trip, so I decided to hold off on starting the last border on Baltimore Garden.   I realized that although I love applique, hand quilting is still my favorite part of making a quilt. So relaxing just taking stitch after stitch pulling the thread thru the fabric.  I love when I get into the zone and my mind drifts off to other things and takes me where I want to go.   It's raining outside, so today I will sit and stitch to my hearts content.  I will be joining  Kathy and the others that link up today over at Kathy's blog.  Kathy also reminds us today, that Bonnie Hunter will be hosting Quilt Cam this afternoon at 2pm.  Sounds like a lot of wonderful stitching will be taking place.  As is often said, enjoy the calm before the storm. Monday, brings laundry and preparing for our trip to visit family for Thanksgiving.   I hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving Day with family and friends.  But first, let's enjoy some wonderful slow stitching today!

Looks like this a great place to start!  Adding more crosshatching and feathers!

A little progress!

Still working on the borders.  I finished the second one and posted about it here.  That was Tuesday. So what have I been doing since then?  Well not stitching.  I promised my sisters and brothers that I would scan some old family photos and get everyone a copy.  Yes, I have been scanning and scanning!  Trying to name each photo so that we could bring them up and enjoy them whenever we want.  It was a nice stroll down memory lane. But, it also took a lot of time, but the deed is done. Here are a couple of my favorite pics:

My Mom and my sister Liana and I. I am on the right.

My mom was always taking pictures of us after we got home from Church.

So this evening I need to get back to some stitching.  I did thread about dozen needles so I could get under Simple but Not and put in a few stitches.

But,  I am really making progress on Baltimore Garden's borders.  Sometimes when I get near finishing a top, all of my other projects get put aside and all I can think about is working till it is done.  So I think the applique will win out tonight, although it would feel cozy to get under a quilt and quilt as the weather is damp and cold. But, this third border won't get done unless I keep vigilant.  Hope you will join Kathy and the others at Slow Stitching Sunday and enjoy stitching on your current project.

 

Borders!

I am currently working on the borders of Baltimore Garden.  Today as I sat and stitched, I realized that I am really going to miss working on this quilt. It has become like a best friend.  Do you ever feel that way about a project?  Thankfully, I plan to hand quilt this one, so there will be many more days where we will spend a lot of time together. 

 

 

Three flowers on row 2 are not quite complete, so it looks like that is what I will work on today as the beautiful fall weather will leave us and the polar vortex sends us some very cold weather.  Another reason to stay inside and stitch!

Time to relax!

Today, I will starting the second border of Baltimore Garden.  I must say, I am very pleased that I was able to finish up the top border on Friday.  Saturday I spent some time prepping for the bottom border.  I like the idea of prepping more, but I worried about how to keep the pieces safe while they wait to be stitched.  Then it dawned on me, I have a small 36x36 inch design wall that I use when laying out blocks to be pieced, why not keep my little pieces there. It is easy to separate each flower and I can see when I need to start doing more prep.  Seeing all of those pieces just makes me want to sit and stitch.  I must say, prep work is a bit like hiking up a mountain, but it is so worth it cause once you get there, the view is spectacular.  Kathy's post today talks about multitasking and feeling guilty! We all do that, but we also all need to take some time and really enjoy the view. That is my plan for a few hours today anyway! 

I snapped a photo of the borders laid out side by side.  What a view!  I really like the difference!  I hope you can take some time today to really enjoy some slow stitching too!  Get into the zone and enjoy the view!

 

More Blue Blocks!

Well, I have finally caught on that November has arrived. We have had such lovely weather and the leaves have not started to drop here.  In fact, they are just starting to show some color.  I have been busy with my applique and enjoying every minute.  They say time flies when your having fun!  I was glad that Angela picked more blue for November's RSC.  I still had some blue scraps too!  So here is are my pickle dish blocks for November.




Three pickle - dish blocks

As you can see I was a on a roll so why not just dig in and get my wonky star block finished too!   Just one more month and these blocks will turn into two quilt tops! How exciting!

Wonky star

 

How does your garden grow?

Well, this week I started adding the little flowers between the swags on the border of Baltimore Garden.  I made such progress last week stitching the swags in place for all four borders.  Now, working on these flowers I seem to be back to a snail's pace.  I try to remember that even the flowers in the garden take time to grow and bloom.  The swags on their own are quite boring!

 But a few little flowers between the swags and soon things are looking better. I have been prepping the pieces for each flower as I go, but I am wondering if it would be better if I prepped all of the flowers or at least enough to do one border?  Last night, I didn't have anything prepped so no stitching got done. What are your thoughts?



I do love how they really make the border so much more interesting!  There are forty flowers to be done and of course the corners won't be finished until the top gets assembled. I feel like I have really come along way on this quilt, but there is a still a long way to go.  So, I might as well spend time doing the prep work which is very much like preparing the soil in my garden, not fun but a very important step.  Then it is just a matter of enjoying  the applique process until they all get completed!

Cruising!

I must say that the last couple of years I have put in a lot of slow stitches.  I have really tried to put in a few stitches everyday, not always possible but I could probably count the days I have not with the fingers on my hands.  There is something so relaxing about pulling thread thru the fabric.  This week I was very focused on working on my  borders for Baltimore Garden.  It is so much fun to applique the swags in place after working on the small leaves and flowers parts in the blocks.  I felt like I was on the autobahn, just cruising along! 

 

The trouble with driving this fast is I have reached my destination.  So today I will be prepping stems, leaves and flowers for the forty flowers that ago between the swags.  It will be fun to add some green to the simple yellow and red swags.  They look so plain after working on the blocks and the little flowers should cheer them up a bit.

I will be linking up with Kathy's blog to see what others are slow stitching today! Come join us!