Last finish of the year

 This has been quite a year.  It's amazing that it doesn't matter how old we are. . . we're still learning.  There are new experiences to teach us and expose us to things we never imagined.

I was able to finish my whale quilt with a day to spare.

I love the blues and beiges of these Janet Clare lines of fabric.  But it needed a little "Oomph" so I added  the coral.  

I'll close with this quote that expresses my learning curve this last year and goes along with the ocean theme.

"A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor."

Franklin D. Rooselveldt

I welcome the New Year with all it's possibilities.                                                                                         Robin

Working on the whale quilt

 

I started quilting on this at the first of November.  It's hard to quilt on a regular basis with Christmas emerging upon us.  I'm quilting using six different threads.  It's makes it more interesting for me.  If I had to pick the thread again I would leave out the lightest (far left) and the darkest.  I just think it would look better.  But, the top of the quilt frames shows the last row so I'm going to continue on since I'm close to being finished.

I finished embellishing the right front of my denim jacket.  Here are both fronts together.  This isn't a hard project but the embroidery is time consuming.  I picked out a design for the collar below and I love the way it looks but I keep making mistakes and have almost done as much unpicking as sewing.  I worked on it for an hour yesterday and later realized I'll have to pick all of that out.  I'm learning a lot as I go.  I'm a beginner at this Sashiko Embroidery so I have sore fingers and that makes it hard to do much hand quilting too.  I finally ordered a palm thimble so I'm hoping that using it will make things go forward a little better.

This is the pieced denim and  I've cut out the back of the jacket and yoke.  It is awaiting embellishment.

We had our Christmas Quilt group potluck on Monday.  I wish I had taken pictures of all the show and tell.  This quilt was just made out of random scrap blocks.  It turned out really well.

When you're with other quilters even the stack of coats is coordinated - ha!

We went and got my Christmas present yesterday.  Two weeks before Christmas is not a good time for an oven to quit working.  I never had a black and stainless steel stove before.  I already miss my white one.  The white brightened up the kitchen so this is going to take some getting used to.

This is my husband's Christmas present.  It was delivered in a big wooden crate and so he, with very little help from me, managed to get it on a piano dolly to push to the back yard for uncrating.  He is so pleased.

My other Christmas present was an unexpected root canal I had to have last week.  It's been an expensive month.

  Christmas sure is a different holiday as we get older.  I'm at the point where I give my six children and their families money because I don't know what anybody wants.  They have started their own family traditions (which is good) so we don't do as much together as we used to.  I'm not complaining.  I'm usually too tired to go do anything in the evenings and their days are full.  But, I love them all and they love each other (a big blessing) and I look forward to the times when we're all together.

Minimal decorations but maximum quilty goodness.

I'll just close with this (really bad) picture of a headstone.  I do a lot of family history and when I came across this headstone I just had to share.  What a sweet thing to say about someone.  

I hope you're finding joy in the season,

Robin

Button Wreath

 I have an upcoming block exchange in my quilt group.  We decided rather that having a gift exchange this year we would exchange a block 12" square or less.

I got out all my orphan blocks and picked out the one I thought would make the best little wall hanging or table topper.  

I neglected to get a picture of it after I sewed all the buttons on . . . before I wrapped it. 

 But, it turned out kind of sweet.

Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving,

Robin

Up and down the stairs each season

 Well, it's transition time again.  I'm slowly taking my fall decor down and putting it away for another year.  

It makes me a little sad this year because I love fall and always look forward to it and it's rich colors.  

I put the fall things out much earlier than I usually do this year and then I interspersed Halloween with them when it was time.

But now, the cooler weather and gray days are telling me to make the change to winter.  So, each time I have to go downstairs for some reason I take pumpkins or crows, or fall leaf items down with me to put away.  Only a few Christmas things have surfaced - like a Cardinal snow globe and one of my Christmas colored wall hangings.  

We aren't celebrating Thanksgiving at my house this year so no one will notice the difference.

I'm making slow progress on my denim jacket.  I've decided to call it a denim jacket instead of a "Boro" jacket because of some things Katherine of K3N Cloth Works said on one of her lastest youtube videos. 

 She made me think that to honor the people that had nothing else to wear except these much mended old pieces of clothing (Boro means rags) perhaps I should  just mention that I was doing Boro-type mending embellishments to a homemade denim jacket.  I'm also using Sashiko embroidery and applique.

I found these Japanese Rabbit squares when we went to Santa Fe (of all places) and I could buy them by the square or buy the whole piece.  I bought the whole piece but I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with them  I just know they are lovely. 

Right half

They look yellowish but are deep indigo and bright white.

Left half

They are adorable.  I wondered what the writing was because I wouldn't want to use it on something and have it say something negative.  I found someone who spoke Japanese and they are the symbols for Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.  

It looks better in real life.

I think this little guy will look great appliqued to the left front I finished piecing and embellishing yesterday.  This sure isn't coming together very fast.  There are so many decisions to be made not the least of which is the actual construction of the jacket.

I kind of lost a week in thought because the left front wasn't turning out like I had envisioned.

I've decided to sew the pieces I want together to make the parts and then actually construct the jacket. Then I will work on the embellishment as a ongoing project.  

Yesterday was my youngest son's 35th birthday.  I remember when I thought 35 was old.

Robin 

Joy and gladness shall be found therein,

thanksgiving

and the voice of melody.

Boro sleeves

Well, this is a work in progress.  I did a chalkline grid on the front for the first embellishment.  It worked okay but I thought I would try pen on the back to see if I like that better.  It is much easier to see but the piece I used to make the grid was larger and I didn't like that as well.

I did an buttonhole stitch around  big hole and then just randomly stitched around it.  My first attempt had the buttonhole stitch backwards and so I had to take all that out and redo it with the overcast on the inside instead of the outside of the circle.

I think it looks like a beehive.  I'm not sure I like it so it might not get used.

This is the pair of jeans that I decided to use for the boro method of mending.  

And here are the boro patches on the leg of the jeans.

This is the embellishment close-up.  It was fun to do.  I'm not sure if I'll do more stitches or not.  It seemed very overwhelming yesterday with figuring out what pattern to use . . . what size?  What fabrics should I use for the raw edged patches?  How did I want to arrange the patches, what stitches did I want to do for embellishment?  It got to be too much and I just left the sewing room and came upstairs to lay down.

But, it didn't take long to find myself back in the sewing room.  I figured out I just need to do one part at a time and not try to plan the whole thing out ahead of time.  Here is the embellishment on the back.  It covered the rips and worn out places but it didn't really repair them per se. 

And this is the right sleeve pieced, patched, and embellished.  I need to unpick all that stitching on the left seam (tedious) and then I want to top stitch the seams.  The one on the left will just get stitched by machine and the right one might get a strip of embellishment.  One thing at a time  I'm not sure if I've finished embellishing the patches or not.  

The thing with Sashiko is you can just keep going until all the blank spaces are full.

Here is the other sleeve in progress.  I basted it down and now I need to decide what stitches I want on top.

This is a fun project.  I wake up each morning with ideas spinning in my head. 

I'm cutting this out as a medium but I hope it's not too big.  Normally I am at least a medium (12-14), sometimes large but I've lost 10 lbs. over the summer/fall.  I had to go on a special diet for health reasons and now I don't know what size I've become.  I went to buy sweatshirts last week and came home with two XS ones.  It doesn't make any sense.   

I  better go get busy with the quilt on the frames because past experience has taught me that the only way to get a quilt done is work on it. 😅

Robin

Also I've been asked what it's like sewing on denim.  I've been doing "Big Stitch" on my recent quilts so it's not an adjustment using a very large needle and sewing with thicker thread.  The Boro approach has you loading up your needle with stitches and then pulling the thread through all of them at once.  I find that very hard.  So, I'm just sewing one or two stitches at a time.  I'm using my regular thimble - not the one suggested in Sashiko instructions.  

Keeping busy

 

I have been wanting to make a Boro type jacket for months.  I got a big 5 gallon tub of dismantled jeans and cut up pieces from my daughter who has been saving it for some future project.  I also got a pair of jeans from my husband that should have been discarded years ago because they are so worn.  But, that is exactly what I want to use in this project.  I finally found a pattern I want to use and it's on it's way.

There are patterns in these wonderful books but they are more blocky and traditional and I wanted something with a little more shape. 

I decided to experiment in making the Sashiko embroidery.  I do a lot of "Big Stitch" on my quilts so I figured it wouldn't be that hard to get used to stitching on thick fabrics like denim.  I drew a grid on the right side of a square of denim (from the stash) with my white pastel pencil.

Then I stitched a basic alternating stitch and with my white Aurifil 12 thread and a needle I had on hand.  I used two threads as instructed by measuring out a long thread, folding it in half and pushed the fold through the eye of the needle.    I'm going to experiment with repairing that hole in the jeans next.  

I have some varigated blue  and some red Aurifil thread that I want to use too.

I'm going to stitch this pattern on the back yoke of the jacket.  This pattern was free online and I've had the package of floss for years.

I must be in a some kind of shaded indigo rut because it's the same colors that I'm "Big Stitching" the current quilt on the frames.  

I went to buy some new sweatshirts this morning.  Who knew Penneys doesn't open till 11:00am.  Here I am waiting outside.    I also found a cute pink purse.  

Hope you're having a good day.

Robin

Feel good finish

 

I finished our quilt group "Bound Together" 's Mystery SAL this beautiful afternoon.  (Just the top)

I struggled with the pattern and was about to give up so many times but I'm glad I stuck with it.

I don't normally do the "victory lap" of machine basting on the outside of the quilt top but this one has so many bias edges that it needed to be done.

It's spread out upon tall grass so it doesn't look very smooth in this picture.  It measures about 60" square.

I was unable to get a really good picture on this old trellis but I wanted to include the absolutely beautiful autumn sky.  It really is that bright blue color!!!  Amazing!

Enjoy you day!

Robin

Happy Fall to Everyone!

 

Happy Fall to everyone!  I found this darling platter at the grocery store of all places.  I love it!  It adds so much ambience to the room.

This is my mantle so far.  I'm waiting for my two grandsons (ages 7 and 5) to come and make decorations for Halloween/Fall.  The are so delightful and stinkers all in one.

I decided I wanted to make a fall bouquet for my living room wall.  I'm not much for flower arranging but I'm willing so I picked out flowers at Hobby Lobby, bought some of the spongy stuff to stick them in, found a little bling and got to work.  I found the basket at CF Furniture in Gardner Village.

I found a large doily that my mother made, folded it in 1/2 and it adds nice contrast to the flat hanging basket.  There is enough basket leftover that I'd like to find a photo or quote to hang there.  There is a 'Welcome' plaque under the doily but it's too dark to really notice.

If you look closely on the right you'll see a little mouse that I added for whimsy.

And here it is above the couch in my living room.  I think it will be fun to change the flowers etc. for different seasons.  And I'd like to roll up a row of little quilts to put inside as another idea.

As far as quilting goes, I've been trying to catch up on the Mystery SAL in my quilting group.  I picked New Mexico colored fabric from my stash.  At least they look New Mexico to me . . .   I made one of the strips to finish the outside border.

I have seven more strips to go.  I cut out all the colored squares today and need to cut out all the backgrounds next.  And then it will be done.

I finished "Big Stitching" my flying geese quilt.  It time to do the binding around this 88" square quilt.  It's going to take a while.  The temperatures have been dropping and this is for my bed so I'm motivated to get it done.

A lady gave daughter #2 boxes of old fabric she didn't want any more.  I was invited to come over and look through it.  I found this 1/2 yard print by Debbie Mumm in one box.  I still love Debbie Mumm Fall and Christmas things so I was excited to find it.  I'd like to make it into a little wall hanging but I have no plans yet.  I'm thinking it would look cute to just surround the big piece with blocks.  We'll see.

I've made a little more progress with my hexagon quilt.  It's so hard to show much progress with projects like this.

 This is a picture of my "Rolling Office".  It's really the kitchen table but it's what I always use for computer work (it's where I'm sitting now) and the rolling cart contains everything I need.  I can roll the cart into the bedroom when not in use.  

I'll close with my husband's (the garden gnome) harvest of pumpkins this year.  It always makes me happy to see them all together.  I probably should have taken the picture in the early morning when the sun shines in on them  but I didn't think of it till this afternoon so it's in the shade.

 

I hope you're having a lovely fall and Happy Thanksgiving to you if you live in Canada.

Robin