On A Roll

Cyrus was on a roll today, finishing her first Wildflower embroidery piece and starting the second. 

She originally planned to make a quilted wallhanging using all 4 stick-and-stitch patterns but then I mentioned making a pillow(s)… we’ll see what she decides as we get closer to her goodbye date. 

Coco is helping…

I’d planned to work just a short time on Wildflower, maybe get the horizontal sashing sewn on, but we were talking and stitching and having fun so I kept going. 

I have a hard time lining up vertical sashings across edge-to-edge horizontal strips. This time I measured each section and drew corresponding lines on the long strips, then carefully pinned it together like I was matching seams. It worked! 

It might not be exactly-exact but it’s closer than I’ve ever gotten before. Hooray! (Am I the last person to figure this out? Does everyone already do this?? 😂)

This is going to be a wallhanging and at 42.5” it’s as big as it needs to be, so I’m leaving off the outer border and calling it done. Ish. Hoping to start the embroidered critters tomorrow.

Who Reads Directions??

Decided to actually read the Wildflower instructions, a day after I trimmed all 16 blocks to the wrong size. Oops! Fortunately I made them too big rather than too small, so it was an easy, but time-consuming fix.

My second favorite Stripology ruler

Also remembered I had a (much!) better square-up tool. The embroidery’s knots make the block surface uneven and yesterday’s ruler wobbled like crazy. Definitely not fun while cutting. The Stripology ruler made it much safer and easier. 

Cyrus helped me put these in order before I sewed the first round of sashing. Hoping to finish the horizontal sashing, and maybe the outer borders, tomorrow.

Speaking of Cyrus - I think she’s hooked on embroidery again. (She did a lot when she was younger.) I gave her one of the leftover stick-and-stitch patterns, then let her rummage through my two bins of embroidery stuff for thread and tools. She worked on this one most of the evening and wants us to spend tomorrow stitching together. I can definitely do that!*

* Found several partially finished stitchery projects during the rummage, so now I have more things to work on during TV time. 

Wildflowers

Got the bug to work on this again, 

so trimmed all the squares to 9.5” - some were too wonky to fit the original 10” goal. 

Planning to cut the sashing tomorrow and start putting it all together. 

Not much left over! Looking forward to seeing how the little garden critters look on the cornerstones. 

Wildflowers #16

This block might be my favorite - definitely top 5 - and not just because it’s the last one. 

Decided the finished quilt should be wall-hanging-size, so 16 blocks are better than the original project’s 20. 

Tap or click the picture to open a better quality pic with lots more detail.

Next is squaring up the blocks and deciding on fabric for sashing around the squares. Have embroidery on the sashing? Still thinking ‘yes’, although I haven’t found the right design yet. Maybe bees? Or dragonflies? Bees and dragonflies?? Discovered I have a package of printable stick-and-stitch fabric in the stash so that opens up more design possibilities. Gotta think about it on the trip to Cambria. Suggestions welcome!

Double Up #2

March’s second Birdwatchers pattern, a Cerulean Warbler, is done. There’s a slight oopsie but I decided it “adds to the character” so I’m leaving it. (Can you spot it?) Still two birds behind but April’s pattern is cut, color-coded and ready to sew. 

10.5 x 10.5”

Also finished Wildflowers #15. Only one more to go before it’s time to trim the blocks and start on the sashing. 

10.5 x 10

Very happy with the progress. 

100 Days - Newcomer

I don’t think Cyrus has officially joined the 100 Days challenge but she sent me this pic of her freshly finished pomegranate. Gorgeous! I’m envious of people who can do counted cross stitch, especially at this tiny-stitch level. I’ve tried, it’s just not in my skill set. 

Rachel is ready to do the borders on her project. I’m wondering what she’s going to work on next since we still have lots of Days until we hit 100 in June. 

Wildflower #13 is done! And thanks to a new bingable tv series (Tracker) #14 is almost halfway finished too.

Starting Again

Remember the Wildflowers embroidery project? (here)

I went looking for blog posts to see when I left off… can’t believe it was all the way back in April 2024. I knew I hadn’t worked on it since the eye adventure began last October but….April??

I took it along on our cruise as a hand project and got a little bit done on block #5,

 then finished it up tonight while watching tv. 

It looks so tiny when the pattern is washed away

And started on #6.

Looks like this project is once again a ‘go’. Going to keep it near the couch and see if I can get it done this year. 

Recount

Apparently I can’t count.

I thought the last block I finished (here) was #4 and was tearing my craft room apart trying to find the missing piece.

So, here’s Wildflower block #3, which I finished fourth. 

And #5 is well underway. Still having (miscounted) fun with these!

I’m struggling to get accurate pictures. The blue in #5 is closest to the actual dark denim color of the background fabric. 

Rolling Thru The Blocks (#4)

 So addictive.

Starting to think about how I want to put these together and if I want to add more stitches, in the style of a traditional crazy quilt. 

Four done, 16 to go …

Wildflower Block 2

Started Block 2 Sunday afternoon during a FaceTime stitch-n-chat with a quilting buddy

and finished it tonight while watching tv. 

It’s every bit as addictive as I thought it would be…

Truer denim color on the background

Block 3 is already underway. 

Making A Start

Sat down with the first Wildflower block today

and couldn’t stop until I finished it. 

This is going to be so. much. fun. 

Drying out after it’s bath 

It looks so tiny once the pattern is washed away.