2020 Linen & Threads Mystery Stitch A Long -- Slow Sunday Stitching

I finished the January portion of the 2020 Linen & Threads Mystery Stitch A Long!  I really like the color blue I am using on oatmeal-colored Aida cloth.  It makes me happy.

There's a couple little things that aren't perfect with it.  I still LOVE it.  It's a learning process.

I'm linking up at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Binding Time

There was no school today due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.  Sounds like sewing machine time for me!  I'm working on adding the binding to my OMG quilt for January.  I hope to get it finished before the end of the month. I love this pink polka dot fabric for the binding.

...yes, the Christmas lights are STILL up outside.  That's my husband's job.  It's always my Valentine's gift to take the outside decorations down.  LOL.  All of the inside decorations (my job) was done before New Years Day!

This quilt is called Catchin' Some Rays.  This is what it looks like before the binding:

Catchin' Some Rays was designed by Barbara Jones.  It measures approximately 52.5" x 72.5".  Except for replacing the applique flowers with EPP hexagon flowers, the pattern is as designed.  This is my first EPP hexie project while participating in Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.  The pattern can be found in McCall's Quilting January/February 2013 issue.

Slow Sunday Stitching 1.19,20

Mid month already.  Time flies.  Here's some of the progress made this week on my THANKSGIVING holiday apron.  It is a pre-printed cross stitch that I found in a "last chance" bin at Goodwill.  Someone else didn't finish it -- at this rate I know I will.

I'm excited about making all the little x's in this  project.  I'm not excited about how to make the single line stitches.  I'll have to research what stitch is best for those straight lines.  I love to chain stitch, but I don't think that is what it is calling for.  The instructions aren't that clear on how big to make the stitches.  I'll figure it out.  It's a learning process for me.

I'm linking up at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Slow Sunday Stitching 1.12.20

I started the stitching on my 2020 Mystery SAL (Stitch Along).  I have decided to go with all blue floss this year on oatmeal colored Aida cloth.  You can find the free monthly stitch along patterns at Linen & Threads here. I started stitching in Aquatic Biology class like this:

It was exam week.  I had to keep my eye on the students closely.  I kept on stitching...

I realized when I got to math class the next day that I had too many stitches in some of the rows.  Glad I noticed it at this point.  So much for multi-tasking...  You can see where I ripped out my stitches and started stitching again.  I know that very first section has a few extra stitches in it, but I'm leaving it as it is.  I don't think it will be obvious in the grand finale.

In Business class by Friday I was back on track.  I got to start to stitch the butterfly.  I have a BA in business.  I easily finished the class assignment of banking terms in the crossword puzzle to be able to help the students.  Almost all of the stock terms could be found on Google.  Happy stitching!

I'm linking up at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.  Grab a cup of tea and come join the fun.

Slow Sunday Stitching -- Printed Cross Stitch Apron Progress

I'm linking up at Kathy's Quilts today for Slow Sunday Stitching.  This is the little progress that I made on my printed cross stitch apron:

Due to the holidays I only worked two days last week.  I completed the stitching on the grey pot while in Spanish class for the day (hence the pinatas in the background.)  Happy stitching!

Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC20) Plans

Listed below are some of my RSC plans for 2020.  I have 69 project on my current WIP list.  This year I hope to have more finishes than starts.  I will be working to complete things on my WIP list that either need more blocks of the color of the month or a project in process that is predominantly the color of the month.

For example, this month the color is green (lights and brights).  I worked a little on making leaf blocks for Pumpkins & the Beanstalk quilt.  It was a fun wintery Christmas / New Years sewing day!  I had time to dig these out and sew a few.

1.  Pumpkins & the Beanstalk

2.  Sand Castles Quilt
(This is a Bonnie Hunter pattern.)  All of the block centers are complete.  I finished the black and grey scraps on New Year's Day.  I still need to add the brown string corners to them.  Below are four green Sand Castle blocks.  They will not end up like this in the quilt.  The photo is just to give you an idea of what they look like.



These are the black and grey centers that I finished on New Year's Day (being photo bombed...)



3.  Owl's Well That Ends Well
This is an RSC19 project that I started on 1.26.19.  I need to take inventory of what owls I have and how many more I need.  I believe I only need the black, brown, and grey owls.  We shall see.  I also need to think about sashing plans before this quilt can be assembled into a top.



4.  If there's a "maroon" month, I will work on my maroon sampler quilt.  These blocks have been in my collection for quite a while.  I made them during a Summer Sampler back in 2011.  I have a few more blocks.  I'll have to consider stashing and binding and count the blocks to see how many more I need to make at least a full sized quilt.  I could also probably work on this on a "red" month as well.



5. Go Four It
I started a Go Four It Quilt in June of 2017.  I love to make 4-patches.  I need to assemble 4-patches that I made during months of different colors in the past into blocks.  I believe except for yellow and purple, I have enough 4-patches to finish it.  I love the effect of this quilt.  I love the use of fun neutrals in 2.5" squares and 1.5" squares in the 4-patches.  It looks like this:



6.  Garden Party
I have all of the blocks assembled for the Garden Party (pattern by Bonnie Hunter) quilt that I started one year while red was the color of the month.  All I need to do is assemble all of the blocks into a quilt top.  I also worked on Garden Party blocks using scraps each month.




7.  Simply Summer Sensational Quilt
I started cutting and sewing TWO different quilts called the Simply Summer Sensational Quilt that was a quiltalong in the summer of 2019 with the one and only Kevin the Quilter.  My colors are pinks and greens.  I could work on it during either of the months of the RSC using those scraps.  I have two quilts going in 1.5" squares and 2.5" squares.



8.  Kite Girl
Kite Girl was a quilt I started during the RSC14.  I purchased an solid old-fashioned green for the sashing fabric.  All of the blocks are pieced AND embroidered with kit strings and flower stems.  I did this while participating in the Slow Sunday Stitching group at Kathy's Quilts.  This quilt top needs to be assembled into a top.



9.  Soul Searching
In 2016 I started a quilt top called Soul Searching.  A quilty friend across the country and I made blocks by participating in the RSC but did not post them because it was a surprise to the other.  When quilts tops of 9 huge 24" blocks were assembled into a top we swapped!  I saved the fabric ends of the 2.5" strips that I used to make the blocks for Julianne's quilt top and made plus blocks out of them.  My plan is to use the plus blocks to make a border to put around the quilt top that she made.  Again... it's another RSC quilt not finished.  (Plus blocks are #10 on this list, see below.)



10.  Plus Quilt

I know I have a whole box of these plus blocks.  I will see what is left after making a border for the above Soul Searching quilt to see what I can come up with for a quilt top.  These were also an RSC16 project block.



11.  Fortune Teller 
Another quilt top not finished is my Fortune Teller quilt.  I loved sewing strings for this quilt.  I only need a few more blocks to make it a top!  Maybe green will do.  I may just swing the rules and go with ANY greens in my scrap basket to get two more blocks.  We shall see this month.  Shhh.  Don't tell the quilt police.  Actually... I think I may have already made the green blocks.  I guess the next step is to dig and see if I can find them.  LOL



12.  Picadilly Circle
I think I have this quilt on my to-do list every year.  Will this be the year I remember to make blocks and border pieces in the colors of the month?  Time will tell...  This was an RSC14 project start.



13.  Waffle Blocks
Waffle blocks were a simple leader/ender block that I started for the RSC19.  I think it was in August or so.  It's a quick block.  I just need a few more for a baby quilt.  I could work on this any month...



14.  Folk Art Birds
I think I know where these blocks are...  I started this project during the RSC15.  Here's the green one.  There are pieced blocks that go around the border.  Again, I need to inventory what I have for this project already made and go from there.









15.  Slabs with White Rectangle
I started this quilt during the RSC14.  I hope to inventory what colors I need and make more for a small quilt.  I searched and searched.  I can't even find a picture on my blog to post.  I need to inventory these blocks and do something with them.  I may just make a little table topper for the VCR shelf or something...

16.  Box Kite
I started this quilt during the RSC17 after taking a Bonnie Hunter class.  I loved the class, but this quilt block wasn't my favorite thing.  I really learned a lot from Bonnie.  I need to make more blocks and assemble this into a baby quilt and be done with it so that I can cross it off the list.



I'm linking up on Angela's blog, SoScrappy for the RSC20.

Sweetie

Just like a rare footage of bigfoot, I love it when my husband sends me a selfie.