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Sunday, January 4, 2015

Slow Stitching Sunday ... and Every Day!

It's been all Slow Stitching around here lately!

The holiday season is always a busy time with all the preparations and get-togethers with friends and family.  We barely got home from our visit to Carolina at Thanksgiving when it was time to start decorating for Christmas.  Over the past several weeks, we've enjoyed visits from several of our children and grandbabies - what a joy it is to hold them in our arms and see their sweet smiles!

Of course, those busy days usually mean very little time at the sewing machine, right?  I have managed a few stolen hours here and there, but not much - certainly not enough to share.  However, handwork has been happening!!!  


Here is my latest Patchwork of the Crosses block.  I love those bright oranges!  This one reminds me of fireflies and stars :)

Several other blocks are in various stages of completion as well.


As I have said before, having everything ready to stitch is key for me to move these little puppies along :)  One thing that is helping make them go faster is using the ClearStamp Template from The Quilter's Path.


I finally went by the Quilter's Path and picked up the ink pad to go with the templates which I purchased quite a while back.  In addition to the 1" Honeycomb stamp, the package includes a 1" square and 1" Half Square template.  So far, I've only used the Honeycomb template, but the others will come in handy when I start joining the blocks together.


I love using this stamp!  It is flexible and you can clearly see where the design will end up on your patch.  It has two lines that stamp onto the back of your fabric, the stitching line and the 1/4" seam allowance cutting line .....



You can stamp a lot of patches very quickly!
It sure beats drawing around templates over and over :)

Can you believe this is the back of that gorgeous orange????

I've also started work on Millefiori.  I really struggled with fabrics for this project, even though I have tons of fabrics that lend themselves to kaleidoscopes very nicely.  I had three issues to address while picking my fabrics:
- I wanted to keep this first month's rosette in the yellow/orange/pink ranges, and I discovered that my "wild" fabrics are limited in that color range - oops!  
- I had to be sure there was enough of the chosen fabrics to make the needed number of motifs.  For the center I only needed six of each motif, but going forward the numbers multiply.
- I had to make sure I had enough variety to put together each of the rounds in the Rosette to give it a lot of interest and value.  I was surprised at the number of fabrics in my stash that I thought would be perfect for this Rosette, but which didn't work at all with my Center block!   

I finally chose this wonderful Australian print - very aboriginal and funky :)


and it made this very interesting Center for my Rosette #1 ....


This is an english paper-piecing QAL with Katja's Quilt Shoppe.  Katja uses glue instead of baste prepping the pieces for each block.  I love the simplicity of it, but I'm not happy with the way I can see each of my stitches in the final block.  I'm hoping that eases when I take the templates out.

 The intricacy of each of Katja's hexagons is quite remarkable, and  she puts them together to make the most marvelous medallions!

Photo from The New Hexagon - Millefiori Quilt-Along on Facebook
We are working from her book, The New Hexagon.

The New Hexagon
See it HERE
I thoroughly enjoyed stitching on these hand projects today while watching my Carolina Panthers win their first NFL Playoff game!


We Panther fans feel like we won the lottery or something, since our team had only 7 regular season wins, while all the other teams in the Playoffs have at least 11.  We'll take it though and enjoy the ride for as long as it lasts :)

Have a lovely Sunday my friends!!!!
Linking up with Design Wall Monday
WIPs Be Gone & Kathy's Quilts

WIPs Be Gone

Slow Sunday Stitching

Hugs & Blessings!
Teresa
=^..^=




33 comments:

  1. Every time you post a new EPP block it is a breathtaking moment! You seem to have a sixth sense about how to use the fabrics for the greatest appeal!

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  2. I agree with Janet ... you certainly have the "touch" for choosing fabrics. I am interested in doing some hand piecing but the thought of all that tracing around templates put a kabosh on that idea (not to mention the possibility of inaccurate tracing, especially as I begin to get bored). But a stamp is a perfect way to get accurate cutting and stitching lines! I wonder ... do they sell other shapes, too? I'm still on the fence about the POTC. I'm off to go Google Clear Stamp Quilting Templates!! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ClearStamp Quilting is being revamped with a new website coming soon! You can contact marita@clearstampquilting if you'd like your own set of these Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses stamps. She is developing more now!

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  3. Yep, I agree with Janet, too! Your blocks are always so beautiful (and if I recall correctly, were the whole reason I jumped into the POTC game to begin with)! I'll look forward to watching your progress on this new one, that's for sure! That template stamper is SOOOOO cool! I may need one of those. LOL!!! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ClearStamp Quilting is being revamped with a new website coming soon! You can contact marita@clearstampquilting if you'd like your own set of these Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses stamps. She is developing more now!

      Delete
  4. Love the Clear Stamp Quilting Template - what a nifty idea! Your new hexies are gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ClearStamp Quilting is being revamped with a new website coming soon! You can contact marita@clearstampquilting if you'd like your own set of these Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses stamps. She is developing more now!

      Delete
  5. Your blocks are gorgeous, Teresa. I keep wishing I had more hours in my day.

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  6. Love how that grid fabric looks in your crosses block! That was so cool to see how you use that stamp. I've never seen anything like it before. And your new project is amazing... it will be so fun to follow it's development!

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  7. Those blocks are just so wonderful. Two or three of the ladies at our guild, including me, are planning on doing the La Passacaglia quilt, which also uses the large rosette format. I have the book, just waiting on the paper shapes to comes in the mail, and then I can start with pulling fabrics

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  8. Your blocks are just stunning! Do you cut the hexies out by hand after stamping them? And do you use a template to fold the fabric to the back or just fold on the stamped line? I am fighting the urge to jump into English paper piecing, especially after seeing your beautiful blocks. You have an eye for these, Teresa.

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  9. The patterns that keep happening when you sew your blocks together are amazing! Can't wait to see what happens next!

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  10. Beautiful and to begin a new project all I can think is Oh my I can barely keep up with my other big projects.

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  11. Beautiful block , those colours just pop ! The template is certainly a wonderful idea , I had never sent them before but can see it would save time and frustration .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ClearStamp Quilting is being revamped with a new website coming soon! You can contact marita@clearstampquilting if you'd like your own set of these Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses stamps. She is developing more now!

      Delete
  12. Such beautiful medallions. Thanks for the insight on your process. It is always fun to see the design evolution.

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  13. Your slow stitching is just fabulous. Those stamps make them so much easier. Very interesting!

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  14. Your POTCs are just gorgeous. You have such a fabulous sense of color. I invite you to link to WIPs Be Gone (a Friday post) and share this wonderful Eye Candy. Here's to slow stitching which I am going to go do right now and defrost my toes.

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  15. Your new POTC block is amazing. What a neat tool for making the pieces. It almost makes me want to jump in and try one, but it might not be wise with my 2015 goals. I'll just watch you make these beautiful blocks. Your colors are gorgeous.

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  16. Wipe away my drool! Those are breathtaking!

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  17. Another wonderful POTC block! It looks like you have lots more in the works. I am going to have to check out those stamps, it looks like a much more efficient way of marking. Those are going to be some fabulous hexagons!

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  18. Your POTC quilt is going to be amazing! The Millefiori one is, too. Happyp New Year!

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  19. Just loved catching up with your last few posts! I'm always amazed, inspired (and a little intimidated) with all your beautiful projects/blocks and fabrics!!!

    Imagine - what a fantastic word for the year!! It will fun to follow along on your journey!

    Blessings and hugs!

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  20. I'm leaving a second comment because I can't tell whether the first came through. Sorry if it did and you can delete this second one.

    Your blocks are so beautiful, Teresa! I like the idea of a stamp pad. Do you have to be careful the kind of ink you use, that it's washable?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The stamp pad inks are made to work perfectly with fabric! While ClearStamp Quilting is being revamped with a new website coming soon so you can order the stamp pads by emailing marita@clearstampquilting or if you'd like your own set of these Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses stamps. She is developing more now!

      Delete
  21. your 'hexies' are outstanding, and thank you for introducing the stamping process.

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  22. Your blocks are always so lovely.....wonderful!

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  23. I haven't seen those templates before Teresa - very interesting. blessings, marlene

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  24. I am having trouble locating those templates. Can you offer any further information on them? I have been searching the web for them. Thank you

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ClearStamp Quilting is being revamped with a new website coming soon! You can contact marita@clearstampquilting if you'd like your own set of these Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses stamps. She is developing more now!

      Delete

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