another month, another Lucy share

My February was spent

• watching the Olympics 
• watching the accumulation of lots and lots of snow, and ice during our badder than bad weather
• recouping from dental work/antibiotics that don't seem to agree with me

All in all, a pretty great month... and
that "down" time should have been conducive

to a whole lot 'o stitching and finishing some projects.

But, if that's what you've guessed, you'd be wrong.

I did not do a single redwork embroidery stitch the whole month,

and those Lucy Boston- 1 inch connecting squares

are never-ending, or so it seems.

I did do some stitching on my

Lucy Boston, Patchwork of the Crosses quilt:

February 2014
I'm about one third done connecting the blocks!!
(please excuse the little white, numbered squares that 
I've pinned on some blocks, used to designate block placement)

I now have 20 blocks sewn together -

so like in Olympics Hockey,

G-O-A-L!!!

 

Though I've not finished a single project this month,
I did meet my monthly goal of stitching Lucy Boston blocks together.

Lastly,
for those who have questioned/emailed about my methods of making Lucy,
I'm putting together a post on what worked best for me during my year of playing with fabrics, fussy-cutting and English paper piecing.
 

a couple more meanderings in thread

This past week I got to quilt a couple more
wonderful quilts for wonderful customers!

First up,
Louise has another great-granddaughter!!

So, of course, she made another beautiful baby quilt:

And here's another angle to show the little butterflies that I meandered:

(And for those who have inquired,

Yes, Louise's grand-daughter

who was hospitalized for early labor

is still on bed rest,

but no baby yet, 
so that's a great thing!)

Next up: Shirley.
Shirley called me with a quilting emergency!
Her quilt guild is doing a One Dollar UFO Challenge -

you put your UFOs on a list,

give your list in to the guild

& pay a dollar for each project on the list. 

Then, every other month

one of your listed UFOs is chosen to be finished. 

If you do finish, you get your dollar back.

Anyway, she said it's been a great incentive to tackle the UFOs
and so far she hasn't lost a dollar!
She didn't want this month to be the breaker,
but she would need a quick turn-around in the quilting time to make it.
Here's her quilt that was the 'emergency':

Isn't it a beautiful quilt?

Here's a close up of the fabrics:

Very nice quilts and it was a pleasure to meander over them!
These girls are so very productive!
Come to think of it,
Louise is also in the same guild as Shirley...
I don't know if she is doing this One Dollar UFO Challenge or not,
but, really, they are cranking out the finishes!

Though I don't think it's the loss of a dollar that is really the incentive,
maybe I should list some UFOs and pony up some one dollar bills!!!

Happy Tuesday
and hope you get the time to do a little Stitching!

oopsy-Lucy smiles

Like I don't already have enough

of those little one inch squares to stitch,

this is what happens
when you are watching the Olympics more

than paying much attention to your stitching:

Oopsy!  I just kept going with my needle and thread
and made that wad of Lucy blocks
(centered in the picture).

Even though I had to take the time to do some unstitching,
then some re-stitching,
it did make me laugh.
 
More Olympic competitions to watch tonight
and hopefully,
I pay a little more attention to where
 my needle and thread are going. 

Are you Olympic stitching, too?

Merlot! Pinot! Moscato!

Merlot, Pinot, Moscato...
am I the only one who thinks that
the names of types of wines sound like cussin'?

Wine, wine, wine
(really, whine, whine, whine).
Yes, please, I'd like some cheese with that.

Two weeks ago

my tooth extraction went well -

 I guess, as well as any tooth pulling can go.

Backstory:

the molar in question, years ago, had had a crown,

then a root canal. 

Then the crown came off & took a part of the remaining tooth shell along with it.

Lately, just for fun, it became abscessed. 

And, to top that off, I have a sensitivity to the 'caine' family of drugs,

so I get to 'sleep' during major dental procedures. 

By the way - when you awaken from this 'sleep',
you KNOW exactly,

I mean EXACTLY
what was happening in that dental chair.
For days.

So, a little more
wine whine from me:
Shiraz! and Cabernet!

Yep, you guessed it:

now there is a whopper of an infection.

 Sauvignon!     Chardonnay!     Riesling!

And, finally,
the antibiotics are now causing 'issues'.
Zinfandel, anyone?

OK, that's enough  feeling sorry for myself
(and 'cussing' err, wine-ing whining).

I'll go back to talking about the weather.

  

There's another Winter storm hitting the U.S.-

another blast from the Polar Vortex.

 

Although there is another winter blast today,

this time I'm talking quilt blocks by the same name.

I've ended up making five Polar Vortex blocks,

all with different snowy fabrics, 

and they are almost a runner. 

I think another border and it will be time to layer and quilt.

(the block pattern was HERE: Nancy/Blogging, near Philadelphia
Thanks, again, Nancy!)

Not much to show for a week, but better than nothing. 
I'll sure be glad when I'm back up to speed. 
And off the wine/whine. :)

Hope everyone is safe and warm during the latest Winter storm.
I'm off to get some white cheddar! :)
Happy Stitching!

Half-pint, 2nd addition for the neighborhood

With February here,
we are experiencing snow accumulation almost every other day.
And the temps have been not quite so bone-chillingly below zero,
so all in all, 
if you love winter, it' been great so far.

Also, with February here,
the second installment (of 6) of the sew-along with
Cindy at Quilt Doodle Doodles
is available! 
And it's another cute block, for sure.

I'm making my sew-along project at half the size as the original

(I have problems following instructions, I guess),

so instead of 2 1/2 inch strips, I'm cutting mine at 1 1/4 inches.

Also, I am embellishing each block with some felted wool...

(The first row of snowmen have woolen noses,

and in this house block, the door will have a little woolen wreath that is not part of the pattern.)

I think it is just so cute!:

February, Quilt Doodle Doodles Sew Along

After I got all 74 little squares put together,

I think some of the fabrics are maybe a little too busy/print-y,

but I do like it.

And it's staying in the neighborhood. :)

Like all of you, I have many other quilt-y projects in the works,
and I can not believe I'm thinking this,
but I can hardly wait for
the next/March installment in this sew-along.
And, not because I'm wishing away our Winter,
but because I'm eagerly awaiting the next block for the neighborhood!

Happy Monday Stitching!

snow day, again

Another day in early February,
another snow storm visiting!

Last night after sunset, the snow started falling...wet and heavy.
Eight inches, then some freezing rain, and today, more snow.

Today, we ended up under Level2 Snow Emergency,
with most schools and businesses closed,

and with 10 1/2 inches of the white stuff.

To celebrate today's new snow,

I made a quilt block

called,

wait for it...

 Polar Vortex!

Thanks to designer Nancy,  of Blogging, Near Philadelphia
who put the block instructions and tutorial on her blog!

Isn't it a GREAT block?

I think I will make a few more and make a

snowy, Winter table runner.

The block finishes at 10 inches, which is apropos, don't you think?,

what with our new 10 1/2 inches of snow.

 

Finally, notice the stick off to the right of the block?

That's my new favorite quilting notion,

called the STRIP STICK and I picked it up a LQS.

My Review?

Thumbs Up!

It's flat bottomed, half-round on top & in a muslin sleeve.

You put it under your block seams (rounded side up)

when you press, and like magic,

the seams press open very easily. 

I especially like it for all of my small block pressing. 

It makes it so easy!

It's a great gadget to have on hand

and worth the $10 price.

 

And, no, I am not affiliated with or compensated in any way

for sharing this info, I just like it that it makes pressing seams easier.

So,
Back to some stitching for me this evening.
And, if you visit Nancy's, Near Philadelphia blog, tell her I said HI!

Happy Stitching!
Debra

The Olympics are coming, the Olympics are coming! Olympic Hand-Stitching is planned!

Are you as bad as I am?
When the Olympics are on,
are you also glued to the television broadcasts?

One good thing about all of this Olympic viewing
is that I do my hand-stitching while watching...

Plying needle and thread to the music of ice skating.

Whip-stitching to snow boarding and down-hill skiing.

Appliqueing to jumping and racing.

So, this week I'm preparing...
readying to do some major, Olympic hand-stitching!

I have stacks of  'Lucy' ready:

• pre-cut connecting squares and one-inch square Paper Pieces
• pre-cut muslin honeycombs and Paper Pieces
• two new spools of hand quilting threads for whip-stitching my paper-pieces...ecru for the muslins, light brown for any colored pieces
• the acrylic 'Lucy' templates
• also, my favorite serrated-edge scissors, thimble, and pink-turntable cutting mat

I have a basket of Red-work prepped, too:

• collection of Cosmo threads
• designs traced onto fabric and crayon-tinting done
• hoop, needle and thimble at the ready

I really enjoy watching the Olympic athletes from around the world compete.
So much so,
that I have trouble making myself go to bed while they are on.
So, for the whole time the Olympics are being broadcast,
I'm watching.   Staying up too late.  Recording.  And watching.

In the past,
after watching hours of Olympic competitions
and stitching for too many hours,
this is what I've looked like:

And I'm sure I will again this year :)

Happy Olympic Stitching!!!