Snow Stitching!

How many of you are covered up in snow?  Here in Nashville, we received a record 6-7 inches of snow yesterday - very rare for these parts.  And it's beautiful!!!  No ice.... just soft, blindingly white, puffy and fluffy SNOW!

I think it's interesting that the two projects I had planned to work on this weekend are the blue Twinkle Stars for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (first photo above), and Bertie's Year - December.

Angela at SoScrappy posted a fun tutorial for these beautiful Twinkle Star blocks on her blog as the January block for the RSC Column-Along she is doing this year.  I saw Sharon's beautiful blocks on her post at Vrooman's Quilts last week and fell in love!  So much so that, although I had other projects planned to be working on, I immediately had to to pull fabrics and print out the pattern right then and there!  I chose blues and whites that made me think of snow - maybe my bones were telling me the white stuff was coming our way? :*)

I managed to complete four blocks last week ....

..... and today I plan to put them together into a winter-themed runner for our kitchen bar.

Believe it or not, this was my very first time ever to use Tri-Recs rulers.  I've had the rulers forever, but always avoided them.  I was even tempted to paper piece these; Angela very kindly gave us a link to the foundation patterns in her wonderful tutorial.  But I decided to be adventurous and was rewarded with a fun afternoon of piecing.  I can't wait to finish this runner and enjoy it in my kitchen!

Yesterday, I finally pulled poor little December Bertie out of the bag and started work on her.

She was part of a BOM project for me in 2014, and this was the only month I did not finish up last year.  I felt really sorry for her, being so neglected.  I put her on my guild's UFO Challenge list so I could make sure she got finished this year in time for Christmas, and was delighted when her number was called for January!

These kits were laser-cut fusible applique, so all I had to do was peel away the paper, place them on the background and fuse.  Easy-peasy!  Then I stitched the applique pieces down, using either a straight stitch or a buttonhole stitch... Leaving me with lots of strings to tie off :*)

Last night I caught up on a few episodes of The Good Wife and worked the embroidery embellishments....

I also got all the half-square triangles made and assembled for the border.

Tomorrow I'll join Kathy's gang for some Slow Sunday Stitching as I handstitch the border embroidery while watching the NFL Playoff games with My Guy.  Our Panthers are playing for the Conference title, and of course if they win, they will go to the Super Bowl!!!  Exciting times my friends :*)

We are settled in for a long, solitary weekend.  One of my favorite things to do on cold, snowy winter days is to work jigsaw puzzles! I have this one set out to play with this weekend when I'm not stitching.

After New Year's while I was too sick to do much else beside sit, I did this one ....

Maybe I should have waited until this week LOL!!!

How well I remember the days when my children were small and they almost vibrated in their excitement to get outside and play in the stuff!  We didn't get a lot of snow in south-eastern North Carolina, so it was an exciting event when a storm dropped anything more than half an inch.  I had to go dig out a couple of my favorite memories from their childhood to share with you ....

Joshua in front of our house
circa 1980

 I bundled them up as if it were a North Dakota blizzard!!!

Christy in front yard
circa 1978
Probably one of my favorite pics of her childhood ever!!!

Notice in both pictures that there is only a small patch of snow for them to play in.  It almost always melted quickly, so they had to get out there and make the most of it!  Of course, they were out there maybe ten minutes before they were crying to come back in again, dripping water and snow all over the floor LOL!!!  In and out, in and out, for as long as the patches of snow lasted.  Those were good times :*)

Hoping you are finding ways to enjoy the snow if Jonas visited your neck of the woods!  My snowbird friends are sending us pictures of sunny Florida.  I'm not sure I'll be speaking to them when they return.... =^..^=

Also linking up:

DesignWall Monday

Tuesday Linky

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

=^..^=

Slow Stitching on My Design Wall

On Sundays I always like to link up with Kathy over at Kathy's Quilts for some Slow Stitching!  And since I posted yesterday about my Rainbow Pineapples, I'll link this up with Judy at Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday.

I'll be working on The Blue Collection applique project while watching the mediocre Carolina Panthers play football today.  At least I'm loyal, right?  Hope springs eternal that they will mount an unbelievable comeback and start winning every game for the rest of the season..... well, okay, that hope has pretty much fizzled out, but I'm still pulling for them :*)

Back to the real world.... 

This is how my strawberry dish turned out using the starch method to prepare the pieces....

Sweet!!!!  I just love that dotted fabric for the strawberry!!!

I still had a little trouble with that leaf, but it was the stitcher, not the method that was at fault.  I think it turned out okay, so it's staying on.  Here is a picture of the designer's block so you can see what it will eventually look like...

The Blue Collection - block by Maggie Walker

I've started on the teapot now ......

I just love this teapot, and I'm absolutely in LOVE with this fabric I'm using for the body of it!!!!

If all goes well, I should have this block finished up today.

***UPDATE****

I did finish up the teapot block ------

Now I'll start on my peaches bowl.  Do you remember my Great Peach Quest post?  Click HERE and HERE if you want to refresh your memory.  I'll wait..... Okay, you back?  *smiles*   Well, here is what these peaches look like all prepped for stitching down....

I was amazed at how great they are going to look in that bowl!  What really tickles me pink is that the size of the peaches in the fabric is almost exactly the size needed for the pattern =^..^=  I may have to tweak them a little as I stitch them down, but I think it is going to work splendidly, don't you?

This is Maggie's block - No offense to Maggie who is one AMAZING designer, but I think I like my peaches better :*)  And I didn't have to paint anything - yep, that's a winner for me!

The Blue Collection - block by Maggie Walker

For those who enjoyed seeing my granddaughter's first attempts at embroidery (HERE), here is her finished piece!!!

For a first embroidery project, I think she did an amazing job!  She even designed the layout, choosing the designs from her book and placing them in position to make her undersea design.  I think she has some definite potential as a future crafter =^..^=  We will be making a sweet little pillow out of this so she can gift it to a special friend.

And last, but not least - the news you've all been waiting for.....  * Drum-roll please!*

The winner of my Birthday Giveaway is....... Andra Gayle!

Andra Gayle said...

I became a follower. Can't wait to see your progress on Hawaii Sunset ( I am very far behind you) and Easy Street (haven't officially decided to participate yet)!

Congratulations Andra Gayle and thanks for following along.  I hope you enjoy the magazine and pattern!  I've sent you an email, so be sure to get your snail mail address to me quickly :*)

That's it for me today!  What about you?  Are you slow stitching today?  What's on your Design Wall?

Hugs & Blessings!
Teresa
=^..^=

I'm linking this post up with...

 Kathy's Quilts

Slow Sunday Stitching

***  Looking for my Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol 6 Giveaway?  Go HERE! ***

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I want to thank you all SO MUCH for your sweet Birthday wishes!!!  You are all so good to me :*)  I had a smile plastered on my face all day long!!!  I did stop smiling long enough to devour my Chicken and Shrimp Carbonara, topped off with Pumpkin Cheesecake at Olive Garden - YUM!!!!!

But then I went right back to smiling again ... actually by then I was doing a pretty good impression of the Cheshire Cat! =^..^=

I've had very little opportunity to do much stitching at all this past week because of some guild commitments, but I posted HERE about a little prep work I managed to get done for a couple of applique projects.  Yesterday I finally got most of that other "stuff" done, so today I am taking a break and sharing an especially fun Slow Sunday Stitching with my oldest granddaughter, Emma, who is visiting with me for the next couple of weeks.

Emma is one month shy of 17 and a sophomore, and getting a picture of her is like pulling hen's teeth, so enjoy this one, there probably won't be another LOL!!!

None of my grandchildren have so far shown much interest in sewing, but Emma likes to do a little cross-stitching now and then when she gets bored.  So when she asked if we could look for a project for her while she is here (yes she got bored pretty quickly), I hustled her off to Joann's Fabrics to see what we could find.  We were really disappointed to find that the pickings were mighty slim!!!  There were quite a few large and complicated kits available, but only a few smaller ones appropriate for a beginner, and none of them appealed to her.

We decided to look at the cross-stitch books to see if we could find some small designs there.  But then her eye fell on this sweet little embroidery book....

Doodle Stitching - the Motif Collection by Aimee Ray

It is filled with wonderful little designs that especailly appeal to young girls.  I was delighted because of my own recent rediscovery of the joy of embroidery.  I can clearly remember my mother and grandmother teaching me how to embroider when I was a small girl.  If they hadn't spent that time and attention on me then, I would have had to learn this wonderful craft the hard way!  So I was delighted at the thought of passing that down to my own granddaughter!

We bought all the little tools she needed, and I set her up with some muslin for learning and practicing some simple stitches - backstitch, french knots and lazy daisies.

She did great!!!  She said it was "tedious" - isn't everything "tedious" for a teenager?  LOL!!!  But she said she liked it and was eager to start on a real design.

We started with the unicorn - do all teenage girls love unicorns???

She got carried away on a real project and I told her we needed to work on making smaller stitches!  But I think she did really well for her first embroidery project, don't you?  And then she was off and running, putting together several of the designs to make a picture for a friend back in North Carolina....

Look at that sweet mermaid!!!

We are stitching together today... her with her embroidery, and me with my Blue Collection applique.  I'm teaching myself how to do the starch method of applique today to see how I like it.

Several of my friends swear by it, so I thought I would try it.  I'll let you know how it goes :*)

Are you enjoying the pleasures of slowly stitching today?  Go over to Kathy's Quilts to share and see what others are enjoying on this gorgeous Sunday!

Hugs & Blessings,
Teresa
=^..^=