We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming….

……for this.

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I felt awful coming home yesterday and a trip to the doctor today confirmed Influenza A. I think hubby has it too. It is highly contagious so I will be out of work for a week. If only I felt good enough to sew. But I don’t.

I did iron the table runner that I took apart and resewed. Here is the before:

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And the after:

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I am much happier with this arrangement but I am still not in love with it. Maybe I will like it better after quilting.

And now I am gong to lay down again….. I hope all is well in your world.

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Design Wall Monday

We are traveling home today but I thought I would post an update on my block a day log cabins as of last Thursday.

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I didn’t bring a machine with me so I am now behind. I really don’t mind working ahead but I hate playing catchup. I do have 25 of these blocks that I made a couple years ago so I may just cheat a bit and add a few of those to my stack. They will all end up in the same quilt anyway. I just like to look at the stack and see how many days of winter are behind me!

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Slow Stitching Sunday

I will be sewing some more hexies today!

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And I will most likely do some slow unstitching as well on this:

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Judy left a comment saying, if I was thinking about it, I should do it as it would always bug me. She’s right. I’m going to bite the bullet and to it. Thanks, Judy!

Linking up with Kathy for Slow Stitching Sunday.

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Road Trip Projects

Mr. Wonderful and I decided to make a quick trip home to visit my parents this weekend. Since he did all the driving, I enjoyed lots of hand stitching time on the way here!

Before I left, I unearthed yet another UFO. Here it is:

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These bits all came from a charm pack but I didn’t have a great plan when I started and couldn’t figure out where to go from here with the limited pieces I had. I realized that with some ripping and rearranging, I could use every piece and end up with a table runner.

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As soon as I finished adding the last piece, I wished I had done it differently. I should have had all the light portions of the tumbling blocks pointing outward. It would have looked so much better. Now I need to decide if I rip some more or leave it as is. I hate to throw it back n the UFO bin but I am not sure I like it enough as is to finish it. Ugh.

I also finished the second mitten of the pair that was suppose to be done for a Christmas gift.

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I cut some more hexies for my Hexie quilt before I left and got the seams marked as well.

We drove part of the way here on Thursday. Here was the sunrise as we drove over the Mackinaw Bridge on Friday morning.

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Have a lovely Saturday!

PS I so appreciate all your lovely comments and read each and very one, but I find it difficult to respond while I am away rom my desktop computer. Thanks for your understanding.

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Finish It Up Friday

I finished the hand sewing of the binding on this little crib quilt yesterday. These pictures show the quilt after washing.

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Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts, Richard and Tanya Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

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Freehand Allover Feathers

I’ve been wanting to try freehand allover feathers for a while. I decided this envelope top would be a good place to try it out.

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I started by drawing a widely spaced meander and then stitching it for the spine.

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Then I went back to the beginning and began filling in feathers along one side.

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I went back to the beginning again and stitched the feathers along the other side of the stem.

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Then I advanced the quilt and stitched the stem again.

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The quilting went very fast!

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Here is a peak at the back.

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This backing fabric has been in my stash for yeas. It was given to me so I really have no idea how old it is. I am going to use this Amy Butler print for the binding. It is also from my stash.

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It has been attached by machine and I will do the hand sewing in the car today.

Linking up with My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday.

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WIP Wednesday

I’ve had a number of questions this week about my scrappy Hexie quilt. I do not use English Paper Piecing for hexies. I tried it once and didn’t care for it. Shocking, I know! Anyway, I piece mine as you would any hand pieced block. I cut my hexies using my die cutter, use a pencil and small ruler to mark the seams, pin, and piece. No papers!.

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This is the die I used to cut my pieces.

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You may notice that this die is marked Accucut and not Accuquilt. It is the same company but they made die cutters for educational purposes long before they marketed them to quilters. Accucut dies will work in my studio cutter. If you have any questions regarding die compatibility, contact them. They are very friendly and helpful.i bought this die because it was on sale at the time and the size I wanted.

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The die has a 2 inch cut edge and gives a 1 3/4 inch finished edge. Odd size but since. Am just using it with other hexies, it makes no difference to me. Here is a peak at the back.

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I have also machine pieced these and wrote up a tutorial for that here.

Now I need to go do some cutting before work! Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday and She Can Quilt for Scraptastic Tuesday.

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Finally!

My trip to Lansing went well and I was able to bring my machine home and get back to quilting last night.

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I was glad to finish the quilting on this Quilt of Valor. I had gotten part of the first row done on January 1st when I threw my machine out of time. I did NOT piece this top, it was made by one of the members of the Stitching Sisters QOV group.

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It is really hard to get a good picture of the back, it is actually dark blue.

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I have much to do this morning so I better get to it. Have a great Tuesday!

Linking up with Free Motion by the River and I have to say…

Posted in Finishes, Quilt of Valor | 6 Comments

Design Wall Monday

Happy Monday! I have been checking weather but the plan is still on to head to Lansing today with my machine. Praying I can bring it home tonight as good as new!

I finished my swap blocks this weekend. Here are four of them on the design wall.

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I also have been keeping up with my block a day log cabins. Here is the stack.

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I did get my eight hexies added to this project, although I didn’t take another picture afterwards.

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It’s looking like a very busy week ahead for me. I have been pondering the verse in Phillipians that says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I have to remember that doesn’t mean I can do “all the things” (as in everything I can put on my list that I want to do/see done) but all the things He has asked me to do. The only way to determine the difference, is to sit and listen.

Check out what others have on their design walls be heading over to Patchwork Times here.

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Slow Stitching

It has been so cold this past week that all I have wanted to do when home, is sit by the fire and read. I have made progress on my swap blocks and I have kept up with my block a day log cabins. Honestly, most of my time in the sewing room this week has been spent wrapped up and sitting at the computer. I decided if I was going to sit by the fire today, I would at least do some hand work. So I pulled this out from my UFO list.

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See that partial row on the left?

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My only goal for today is to finish that row. Eight hexies. I should be able to get that much done!

What are you working on today? Head over to Kathy’s Quilts to see what others are Slow Stitching today.

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