To Do Tuesday -- A Day Late!

I'm linking up again with Carol's Quilt Schmilt followers for the weekly "To Do Tuesday" check-in report.  

Today, I'm looking at what's on deck for the coming week to continue working on patrotic projects for "Red, White & June" as well as a project pulled out for a UFO challenge.

Finishing Red, White and Blue Cross Stitch and Quilt Projects 

Last week I managed to FFO "Patriotic Parade" which I discussed in Sunday's "Slow Sunday Stitching" post.

This week I want to finish "United We Stand" which is another patriotic themed cross stitch project.  It is to be finished as a simple pillow.  The pattern designer Primrose Cottage finished theirs with a pom-pom trim.  I don't have any of that but there is a decorative edge finish I've long wanted to try and will do so on this little project as a first stab at it.  

I had seen this technique in a back issue of Quilter's Newsletter (March 2004 issue) and have long wanted an opportunity to try it on a quilt.  Certainly trying a sample of it on this little pillow that will finish at three inches square would be easier, LOL!   The kit I had purchased for the "Parade" project may play a part in that:  since I framed "Parade" rather than finish it as a pillow,  I think I'll use the backing fabric that came in the kit and cut it into the bias strips I'd need to try this decorative edge finish.

This week I also want to try finishing up my "Seeds of Glory" pillow cover.  

Some time ago when I finished a cover for the same pillow form I will use here, I had stitched a small flange of fabric between the front, back and center band around the pillow.  

The post about that finish is here.

When I was considering how to finish this new pillow cover,  I had originally planned to try adding  traditional corded piping around the edges.  

You can watch Susan Cleveland demo this tool here.

However, once I decided that I'd try the "Piped Shell Edging" for the little  "United" cross stitch pillow,  if successful I'll try it again on this larger quilted pillow.  If I can do that then I'll be confident that if I ever want to do this on the edge of a quilt,  I'll definitely be able to do it.  I even have a quilt in mind that I could try it on in the future!       

"Alaska" Start Delayed!

The big project I had hoped to start last week was Edyta Sitar's "Alaska" in a Red, White and Blue colorway.   I was going to run a test of making the blocks for it but unfortunately I ran into quite a few snags!  My plan is to make the blocks using the Marti Michell Kaleidoscope ruler I have.  

A review of her Kaleidoscope book provided the good news that I can use the ruler I have to make the blocks but only some of them.  I have her "Large" ruler but the blocks that are made up of multiple smaller diamonds would need to have triangle and diamond units smaller than my ruler can make unless I make larger blocks for the quilt overall.  

That in turn led to the question: how big do I want this quilt to be and for what use?  I just fell in love with the design and coloring and was so focused on aquiring the fabric that I never really questioned the size of the quilt as patterned.  It is patterned at 71-1/2" square but now I'm not sure if I want a quilt that size.  Even so, the blocks I'd need to make for that size or for a smaller quilt will still require the "Small" version of this  ruler.  Fortunately,  I was able to find a few places that still have it and have ordered one which gives me a little more time to settle the quilt size issue.  Of course, there is also the option of making an even larger queen-size quilt.  But for that I'd still have to settle the block size issue and then check my stash to confirm I have enough fabric to do that. 

Speaking of the stash:  another complication that arose was when I pulled out the storage box with the stash for this and was confronted with another issue:

In the box I had the receipts showing what I had purchased for the project.  I noted how much of the background fabric I had ordered which seemed like way more than I needed for the original design.  However,  I have far less than what's invoiced!  Did I decide to use the rest for another project ?!?  If so, for the life of me I don't remember doing so or if I did what project I might have moved it to.  Sigh!  I've only found one source for that print but do not want to commit to ordering more until I've decided on the quilt size and block issue since I might already have enough.  Then again, background fabric is always useful so I could just bite the bullet and get more anyway.  Decisons, decisions! 

I did manage to cut some scraps to make up blocks to test working with the ruler.  These are the block pieces needed for the two styles of blocks used in the design.  

The smaller block is the size I'd use for the original pattern.  The larger block is the other style of block I need to make for the project but this is the smallest size I can make of it with the ruler I have.  I am also going to try it by making the large diamonds in that block the two ways you can do them:  either pieced of two small triangles or cut as one large diamond.  So when I sew these up this week that will give me an idea of how the assembly of the blocks work.  

So it looks like this week will be the testing phase and maybe next week -- once I've made the final decision on the quilt size -- I can actually get to work on the actual blocks for the project! 

UFO:  Quilting Decided Now To Layer

The other project on my list for this week is my "Modern Bohemia UFO" for the "Mission: UFO" challenge on the Sugar and Sand Quilt Company website.  

Last week I looked at it for a couple of days and came up with what I think is a simple yet custom quilting plan.  The top has blocks that are 12, 9, 6 and 3 inches.  In many cases the same size blocks are grouped together.  

So after layering, the plan is to stabilize stitch the whole top by outlining the block sections.  This means all of the twelve inch blocks will be individually outlined but all of the three inch blocks are together in sections of three to five blocks.  Most of the six inch blocks are paired although a few are either individual or in sets of three or four that are adjacent to each other.  The nine inch blocks for the most part are individual but there are a few that are paired.  

For stitching over the blocks, all of the blocks smaller than twelve inches will be quilted with various straight line patterns.  I want to do cross-hatching across the three inch blocks and either horizontal or vertical matchstick quilting over the nine inch blocks depending on what is going on around them.  I have straight line rulers for those so the good news is that I can do that stitching free-motion as opposed to using a walking foot which would require turning the quilt to complete those sections.   

For the six inch blocks, I had purchased a "Cube" template on Etsy a while back that will do a "concentric lines in a square" stitch pattern and is perfectly sized for those blocks.  I also want to "connect" the stitch pattern between adjacent blocks.

For the twelve inch blocks I envisioned doing something that contrasts the other stitching,  preferably a cuved pattern.  I thought about a number of options including doing Adria Good's  "Big Flower" motif that I did on my "Heartland" 3 Yard Quilt last year.   However I decided to stick with a cleaner line pattern so opted for a simple "Spiral Starburst" that I saw in Natalia Bonner's "Next Steps In Machine Quilting" book.     

I also have this great backing print for this project and even better, it's 108" wide so I won't have to do any piecing of it!

"Unstoppable" by Whistler Studio for Windham Fabric

I had purchased this back in 2021 when I originally thought I would try to finish this.  I got it during a Keepsake Quilting "Black Friday" sale of their 108" “wide back” three yard packs.  Of course this quilt only being lap sized means it doesn't need all the fabric this backing pack provided.  Fortunately in 2023,  I realized that I also needed backing for my much larger "Scrap Happy" project so all of the rest of it will go to help fill out the backing for that project!     

The hardest part to do now that I've got my quilting plan will be to layer this.  Actually no, the hardest part will be cleaning off my cutting table in order to have the space to layer this, LOL!!   

There's Also Still Alot of Cross Stitch Going On

Lastly, I will continue working on all the cross stitch projects I have in progress at the moment.

Home of the Free, Right to Vote, Craft Supply Lies and NY Skyline

A lot to do but surprisingly, with a clear plan it seems doable.  But then it always does seem that way until it isn't!  

Have you checked out what others have planned over at Carol's Quilt Schmilt link up?  Who knows, maybe your next project is there waiting to inspire you!

Slow Sunday Stitching: Red, White & June Week 1

Well, one week into "Red, White & June" and there's been a lot of activity going on!  Linking up for "Slow Sunday Stitching" at Kathy's Quilts with a report on what happened this week.

One FFO Down!

With two projects needing to be "fully finished" as part of the stitch work this month, I was hoping to get an early start on either my "United We Stand" or "Patriotic Parade" pieces.  "Parade" won the draw!

It turned out to be the easier of the two to finish.  Despite the fact that it came in a kit with finishing supplies for a little pillow...

...when I had pulled it out last week, I realized that framing it might be a better way to go instead.  For the patriotic season (from Memorial Day to Labor Day)  I have these two quilts up on display right now:

They hang together today just like they did last year.

When I hung them last year, I realized I wanted a little something extra to go under the Lone Star wallhanging.  I had purchased a seasonal sign from Dollar Tree which was okay but that I didn't love.  When I pulled out "Patriotic Parade" this year, I realized that framing it might give me just what I needed to fill that space.  So the plan was hatched to go to a local home decorating store to see if there were any frames of interest.  If I didn't find anything there, I would check at Dollar Tree and see if they might have some decorative boards or canvas I could use to double mount the piece.   Well, I did find many frames at the decorating store that I liked and one in particular hit the mark for me (and unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of it before altering it).

I liked the overall color of the frame but wanted to add little RWB touch to it.  My thought while in the store was that I could paint the small strip of space between the center and the outer frame edge in Red.  Then I could use the Blue ribbon in the finishing kit to add a ruffled edge around the stitched piece that would line the inner edge of the frame.

However, when I got the frame home and tried inserting the piece into it, things took a slightly different turn.  In trying to test out how the piece would need to be centered in the frame,  I was able to just about squeeze it with all the excess fabric left around the stitching into the frame and get the back on --- tight!   It took a bit to get it all in (with no lacing!) and then was in so tight that I really didn't want to take it back out!!  

Okay, so I moved forward with painting the thin space with Red and also decided to rub on (and off) a little bit of white piant to both brighten and further distress the outer edge.  But now how to add some Blue?  I decided to tape off the edges and over the piece and then carefully paint around the inner edge of the center of the frame.  The effect of the Blue is subtle but it's there.  

Lastly the finishing kit had also come with a cute RWB star button which I hadn't remembered until after the piece was already in the frame.  Luckily I was still able to get it sewn on even with the piece still firmly wedged into the frame.  So now it's all done and up and I'm happy with it!  

So for next week I'll try to work on the finish of  "United We Stand".

Progress on Resumed Projects

I had said that I hoped that the stitching I had done on Linen and Evenweave projects during "May-nia" last month would help when I resumed stitching on the two RWB projects I had previously started in 2023.   Results were mixed on that front.  I moved both pieces a little bit forward but it still felt awkward to get back in the swing of working on them.  In both cases I managed to get another letter of each stitched.

I got the "R" added to "Home of the Free"....

,,, and the "O" is in on "The Right to Vote"

In the case of "Vote",  I'm finding this linen harder to work on mostly because it is a softer and looser weave than the Linen in the "Craft Lies" piece I worked on last month.  One thing I find when stitching on certain Evenweave and Linens is that I prefer to hoop those in order to pull the fabric taunt to make the weave easier to see.  This is in complete contrast to when I work with Aida -- with that I can stitch "in hand" comfortably because most of those fabrics are very stiff and the holes are clearly visible.

I'm hoping that as I continue to work on these,  I'll get more comfortable and the stitching will go a little smoother going forward.   

Continued Work on the "May-nia" Pojects   

Speaking of those "May-nia" projects,  I just couldn't give up working on them so continued to stitch on them for this month as well.  Here's the progress made on those:  

"Craft Lies" is now this far!

The "New York Skyline" is a little further along too!

I'm normally more of a monogamous stitcher so it may be a challenge to continue at this pace and keep all these cross stitch balls in the air!  

I hope you'll go back to Kathy's Quilts and see what other crafters had been whipping up during their "Slow Sunday Stitching" sessions this week!

To Do Tuesday: Quilt Projects for June

The start of a new month is a good time to do a "To Do Tuesday" planning post so I'm linking up with everyone over at Carol's Quilt Schmilt blog.

I already outlined my cross stitch plans for the Fat Quarter Shop's "Red, White & June" SAL,  so now I want to think about the slate of quilt projects that I want to work on this month under the same theme.  As a month-long list,  this will be a bit long at this point.  Hopefully I can try to keep up with shorter updates as the month progresses.  

UFO#1:  A Pillow To Finish

Quilted cover featuring the "Seeds of Glory" fabric line.

I had started this back in 2022 and all that needs to be done is the final assembly of the cover.  However that involves installing a zipper and working with a round pillow form so that may be easier said than done, LOL!  I've made a cover for this pillow before so hopefully it's like riding a bike and I remember how to do it.  I also sheepishly admit that I recently saw designs for two more pillows I'd love to make but I'm not committing to those until I can get this one completed.  

A New Start

Thinking about RWB projects, one that I am really excited about is to finally get around to making my long desired Laundry Basket Quilts "Alaska" project!   I had seen and liked the original Blue version that I believe premiered in 2019,  the Red and Green holiday version that, if I remember correctly, came out around the holidays later that same year and the Rainbow version that came out during the pandemic quarantine in 2020.  Then while reading Edyta Sitar's blog that year, I saw a version she had made that was Red, White and Blue!!  

Oh boy, RWB quilts are my jam so that pushed me over the edge to really wanting to make this design!  

I did try pre-ordering a pre-cut kit for it through Hancock's of Paducah that I saw in the Fall but my PayPal authorization timed out before the kits came in stock.  I thought that was the end of it for me but eventually I caught sales of her "Perfect Union" and "Sweet Sixteen" lines of fabrics.  Those were made up of Blue, Red and Pink prints from three of her previous fabric lines and she had used scraps from those lines to make her version.  When I found the same fabrics as the ones in the kit I had tried to order,  I gathered together what I needed to make my own kit. 

Edyta has  templates for this design and also has a Creative Grids ruler that was introduced in 2021.  However,  it always struck me that these were essentially Kaleidoscope blocks and I have long had and have yet to work with Marti Michell's ruler that makes those blocks.  

Marti is now retired but her books and templates are still available around the web.

So even though I am a Gadget Fanatic and love a new tool,  I am going to first try making the blocks with the ruler I have and only go the new ruler or template route if I can't make that work.

A Charity Project

When I had visited my MIL back in February, I joined her quilt guild: the Tar River Piecemakers Quilting Guild.  I've attended meetings with her when we've visited and even gone to a few of  their workshops and small group meetings so a long distance membership seemed like a good idea.  While there I also picked up two charity quilt kits to make and return to the guild for distribution.  One of them is for a simple Quilt Of Valor Staggered Bars Quilt.

The good news is that it's already pre-cut so it will be easy to get it started.  I had purchased the backing for it while I was down there since that has to be submitted with the top for one of their members to long-arm quilt it.  I would love to get this pieced up so I can send it down early enough to be finished before they need it for the award ceremony in November.  

UFO#2 But Not RWB

Lastly, I do have one non-RWB project that I want to also work on this month.  Ever open to prompts and encouragement to get through my UFOs,  I signed up for Rebecca's "Mission: UFO" group on her Sugar and Sand Quilt Company website.  There's no obligation to participate every month although you earn points towards prizes if you post projects you will resume work on and additional points for posting updates on them.  She also offers monthly prompts to help you decide on which UFO to work on.  The prompt for June is to work on a "Summer Bright" UFO.  That brought to mind my "Modern Bohemia" top.

It is one I've long wanted to get quilted so I impulsively threw my hat into the ring to try to get it moving!  I had planned this year to try to get a To-Be-Quilted-Flimsey done each month so I couldn't resist the opportunity to try to once again make good on that.   

Whew, I've gone back to the usual "full crafty plate" for this month!  However, I am ever hopeful of staying on track.  What I've learned in the past is that whatever gets worked on, even if only moved a little bit forward is still progress.  As always, Bonnie Hunter puts things in perspective:

Have fun checking out what everyone else has planned for the week (or even the month like me!) over at Carol's Quilt Schmilt blog.  Give everyone encouragement to get some things done! 

Slow Sunday Stitching: The End of May-nia, the Start of Red, White & June Stitching

Well Hello to June!  And hello to all visiting from another week of hand stitched wonder over at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching!

With the start of this new month,  I have come to the end of my cross stitch "May-nia" period.  As usual not as much got done as hoped but I had a lot of fun stitching and have become more comfortable working with fabrics like Evenweave and Linen during this round.  That will be a big help with projects going forward.  

Progress:  One Fully Finished!

The good news is I got one project "fully finished"!

This is "Year of the Snake" by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery and I can now call it D-O-N-E!  And better than last year's  "Year of the Dragon" I can actually get to enjoy it while there is still half of the year left!  This is the third in this series that I have done, the first was 2023's "Year of the Rabbit".  

I had planned the finish for this to look like a gift but ran short of the scraps I had of the fabric I liked for the bands around the sides.  I wound up having to piece a square of another fabric into the center on the back to make the scraps stretch and then used a bias strip of that same fabric for the "bow".   

Dare I plan to do another for 2026?  If so, I'll go back to doing it as a "New Year's Stitch" and try to finish it earlier in the year .

A Little Bit Backwards To Go Forward

It took a restart to get my "Craft Supplies and Other Lies I Tell Myself" May-nia project going!  On the plus side, I have really enjoyed stitching this one more than expected given that it is stitched on Linen and I stitch more often on Aida.  

Since I've had a bunch of stuff sitting in my stitching chair that has the really bright lamp next to it,  the Linen has often been best worked on in bright daylight if I'm sitting on the couch and only able to use my lighted magnifier.  As such, early morning sessions of a half hour to an hour have been frequent during the past month.  

That said, I totally bungled this at first!  I got a whole section done only to realize I hadn't started at the center or at least far enough in to get to the edge of the piece with space to spare for additional motifs and framing allowance.

For some reason I started it here and then realized I was waaay too close to the edge....

...to have room for this next motif!

So I had to restart it.  By now though I was more comfortable with the stitching and got further faster on the second round.

Although I'm not ripping the initial stitching until I absolutely have to, LOL!!!

A Start on a Project, Just Not as Much as I Thought

"New York Skyline" was another long desired start for last month.

The pattern image.....

...and this is as far as I got.

I thought this one would go fast since I don't have to change thread colors.  However,  a lot of counting and direction changes added to continuing to get experience working on an Evenweave fabric meant it went slower than expected.   I am pleased with the progress and love seeing the design unfold so I'll probably keep stitching on this one in dribs and drabs until it's done.

Bonus stitching this month!

We went camping over the Memorial Day weekend with my husband's co-workers again.  My cross stitch project for the last few camping trips has been "Open Your Heart" so I took it with me again.  Before the trip I was here:

At this point I had three more pages of this pattern to stitch to complete the top half of the design.  Between the drive there and back, some stitching around the campfire when the weather held and in the tent when it was raining (which it did on and off unfortunately), I managed to get halfway through one page.

I still have the top of this page to complete.

The new part added is actually the first page of the pattern.  When I started this project back in 2023,  I had chosen to do so on the fifth page (bottom center).  That was because it had both a lot of "filler stitching" which was good for long car drives to campsites.  It also had the most color changes in the piece which at the time I started this was expected to be the biggest challenge and learning curve for me.  

I'm also happy with the progress made on this.  We have another camping trip booked for the July 4th weekend so I'll have another opportunity to pick this up again before the year is out.

Only One Left Behind

I had planned to work on one more thing during this May-nia period but never got to it:   

Oh well.   Maybe I can pick it up for Sheri's (Colorado Cross Stitcher) "Cross Stitch Summer Camp" this year.  If so, this could be my "August - Try Something New" project which would be adapting a pattern for self framing.

Moving On To June  

Now that it's June, I'll once again be stitching with the Fat Quarter Shop during their "Red, White and June SAL".

As always, they have compiled a section of patterns and supplies perfect for the SAL on their webite.  For my projects,  I'll be returning to the patriotic projects I started for 2023's SAL (I missed out on doing it in 2024):

• "Fully Finish" Primrose Cottage's "United We Stand":

This will be a simple pillow finish and I have the backing finishing supplies.  What I don't have is Pom-pom trim but I've long wanted to try the special edge finish pictured here for a quilt so this little project maybe the perfect time to test it out.

• Finish Stitching Primrose Cottage's "Home of the Free"

• Finish Stitching Mani Di Donna's "Right To Vote"

Admittedly, both of the last two should be helped by the progress made on the May-nia stitching.  Working  on "Lies" which is on Linen  just like "Vote" and "Home" which is on Evenweave like "Skyline" as well as a previous "Fudge It" finish  got me way more comfortable working on both types of fabric.  So I am hoping the work on both of these UFOs will go much faster this time around.  Who knows, maybe there'll be more finishes to show at the end of this month!

Another Bonus Project

I had stitched "Patriotic Parade" in 2024 for the Colorado Cross Stitcher's August challenge.  For me, the "Try Something New" prompt was "try cross stitching with wool thread".  

I finished stitching this one up in October that year but I still need to "fully finish" it.  I had purchased this project as a kit which came with the fabric, floss and finishing supplies.  Since it too is a Patriotic-themed piece, it fits right in with "RW&J" so I'm hoping to work on completing it this month right along with finishing "United We Stand".  Looks like it'll be a another busy crafting month and that's just for the cross stitch portion of it!  

What have you got planned for hand stitching in June?  I'm sure if you need inspiration, checking out all the others that are posting over at Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching link-up will give you lots of ideas to pursue!