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!