bodner017

Remember this post? Well, the desire to start hand-piecing was strong enough,... this above is Block #1 Nine Patch. It didn't go without a few hiccups along the way. Instead of following the advice provided for making templates and marking fabric. I decided to print my block onto freezer paper, cut out all the shapes, iron them on fabric, trace around templates, etc. . For my second block I think I'll follow instructions :-) and see how it goes. This is how my work space looked during the process of making block #1. How nice that everything came from my stash :-). No trips to the fabric store,... can't believe myself... LOL! But I'm glad because at this moment I'm trying to downsize a bit my craft items and only getting those crafty goodies that are really needed and/or pertaining to types of needlework that I want to focus on and become good at. Going back to the aforementioned hiccups, the photo below shows the completed block after my 1st attempt. Things didn...

Stopping briefly to post a bit of progress made on my Daisychain Sampler;    Letters G, H, I, and J are finished. Working with crewel wool is satisfying... the embroidery goes fast. Half of letter G and the other three letters were completed on a late evening, couple of weeks ago. Here are a few previous posts in which I made reference to this sampler. Until next time!  Notes: Daisychain ABC's Crewel Sampler is a pattern by Alicia Paulson. 

Did you know that Wynn from Zakka Art is hosting a very nice #handsewpatchwork Sew-A-Long?  (picture below: screen shot from Zakka Art blog) Anyone is welcome to follow along and do all or some of the blocks. It will run for 18 weeks so they'll be 18 blocks, she just posted the 7th block this past Monday. The fact that they are all hand pieced is what got my attention. I took a hand piecing class in 2010 and shortly after I tried hand piecing a block  from the Farmer's Wife Quilt book. It's supposed to be a basket block but the handle was a bit challenging so I left it out :-). (picture below: my Farmer's Wife Quilt book hand pieced basket block) The inspiration for Wynn's Hand-Sew-Along comes from a Japanese patchwork book. Wynn drafts a block pattern which it's provided about once a week with helpful tips and advice, picture tutorials and even a few short instructional videos. Wynn's very first post regarding this sew along is  here  in case you like to t...

  Basting hexagons for English Paper Piecing (aka: EPP) is relaxing! A couple of nights ago -thanks to my not so dear friend insomnia- I was able to finish basting the hexies that will become the petals. My Summer  and Winter hexagons were basted with needle and thread, this time around I've been glue basting all the hexagons that will become petals and thread basting those that will be for flower centers.   Now I need to finish the hand embroidery on the pieces of fabric that belong in the center of the hexie flowers, rinse them to remove the water soluble stabilizer, let them dry, give them a nice press with the iron, and baste them. Will love to have all 12 EPP Spring hexie flowers pieced before autumn. We'll see! Hmmm, just realized that I may have not posted a picture of my Winter finished hexie flowers yet. Will do soon!   Thanks for the recent visits and comments! Hoping to be able to catch up soon with y'all posts. FMS is really hindering what I can do this ...

Few days ago I was able to finally finish stitching Mrs. Laundry Hen (and made progress on some of my other WIP's, more on those later). The only thing I'm regretting now is the woven fusible backing ironed on the back, see those 'bubbles' ack, ... but, oh well, live and learn. Hoop marks still there, haven't ironed it yet. The last few stitches were for completing the laundry section, the grass, and flowers. At the last minute I had to make changes to my goals for this month do to not feeling well and I'm ok with that,... so glad that with help, last month was a good one!  Listening to upbuilding material as I hand embroider or as I work on English Paper Piecing serves as therapy for me. I think, that very soon, my therapeutic stitching sections will become frequent.

I was able to reach July's goals and fulfilled my commitments successfully. It was challenging, exhausting, but so rewarding! August will be another month full of activity, with a less crowded schedule, thankfully. Did manage to do some embroidery and maybe next time I'll show-and-tell a bit. Sudden weather changes exacerbate my condition so I'm just doing basic simple chores today. A pot of homemade soup on the stove and then to dream of the 'more serious kind of embroidery'. Trish Burr's Needlepainting books are my favorites, pulled some out from my personal embroidery library and let the dreaming begin :-)! Yes. Someday... . Somehow... . Until Next Time!