Knitting, Cross Stitch, Crochet and a Weekend Away

My scarf that I am making with the yarn I purchased in Cow Head, Newfoundland in 2023 is getting longer-- 32" or 82cm long now.  It takes a long time to make a scarf! I will keep knitting...it would be nice to be able to wear it this winter!

Just a little bit more to do on the Winter Woods cross stitch.  There are some clouds in the sky above the mountains to add and some stars in the sky in several places on the entire picture.  The deer got its tail this week too--I forgot to do it when I was working on that section! This should be done very soon!

I made some fabric postcards for my MIL and my daughter & Finn.  They both received them in the mail on time for Valentine's Day.  I found the snoopy fabric in my stash when I was looking for something else and decided that it would make good valentines. 

We went to visit our daughter and Finn last weekend. We took Finn to the dog park one day and he wore himself out running around with all of the dogs that were there. We had Asian take out for dinner on my birthday and went out for ice cream for dessert.  My daughter gave me this book for my birthday and I have started to read it--a fun read so far!

I borrowed this novella from my daughter--the story is set in Ireland and was very poignant.   This is the same author who wrote Small Things Like These which I read recently.  Both books are highly recommended!

A very tired Finn!

My daughter finished reading three more books this week so the total number of squares for her book blanket is 6 for the month of February. 

Meanwhile, she is working away on finishing her Christmas blanket.  She completed the gingerbread border and is adding the colourful bobbles --88 in total.  All of the red ones are done now and she has started on the yellow ones.  There are 22 bobbles in each of 4 colours.  The red border is now finished as well--this picture shows it in progress. 

Today is flag day in Canada.  The Maple Leaf has been our flag for 60 years! We proudly displayed our flag on the front porch as did several of our neighbours.  As you probably already know, we are facing several challenges from our neighbours to the south of us, which has resulted in an enthusiastic display of pride in all things Canadian.  We have no plans to join the USA. 

It has been a snowy week in our neck of the woods with more expected tomorrow.  Finn had difficulty finding a spot to do his business this week as the snow was as deep as he is tall!  They will be getting lots of snow in the next 24 hours too.  

I will link up with Kathy and Frederique.  I'm hoping for some sewing machine time tomorrow as we are likely going to be snowed in.  Snow Day, Sew Day!!!

Slow Stitching Report

I finished off the second diamond hand quilting this week and then started on the squares at the top of the Arizona quilt. I'm working on quilting a quarter inch along the gray background. As I quilt, I am thinking about what I am going to do next. I'm still undecided about whether to quilt a circle in the middle of each square...we will see. 

I have finished the tree section now on my Winter Woods cross stitch.  This picture was taken before I was quite done.  The next section is started now.  Who knows?  Can I finish the last section this week???

I have my heart quilt hanging up in the hall for the month of February.  I made this a few years ago. 

 

My daughter is making this for me for my birthday which is today.  It is not quite done yet but will be soon.  I love all of the beautiful textures she is creating. 

"Only" three books finished this week so three more granny squares made more my daughter's book blanket.  Finn says they are not keeping him very warm. 

Finn's blankets got washed yesterday and made a nice warm nest when they came out of the dryer. 

I met baby D this week and gave him his baby quilt.  I made this all flannel quilt several months ago and had it in the gift bag, ready to deliver, for quite a while. His parents were thrilled with the quilt and laid it out on the floor for baby D to try out.  He is also happy with it.  Mom told me she was really hoping I would make D an I-Spy quilt and this one fits the bill!  Lots of things to look at, colours to learn and match and words to practice.  Cozy as well. 

I have started cutting out a new project but did not take a picture.  This is another gift.  I will be working on it at an upcoming retreat and hope to get all the cutting done before the retreat.  I also did some knitting this week but no pictures.  Sorry!

I will link up with Kathy and Frederique.  Have a good week. 

Slow Stitching Saturday!

Today was the annual Vice President's day at the Oxford Guild.  Many quilters were working on Anita's Arrowhead blocks, a pattern chosen by our VP, but I decided to bring along some hand stitching to work on instead.  Earlier in the week, I thread basted my Arizona quilt so that I could hand quilt it.  I am using 28 wt grey Aurifil thread for big stitching.  So far, so good!

I had several opportunities this week to add stitches to my Winter Woods cross stitch project.  The deer is done and I also did the snowflake.  I am working on the part below the deer which includes several trees. I still need to add some stars in the sky and the eye of the deer. 

I also hand stitched the binding on my potato chip baby quilt today.  I had finished the quilting earlier in the week. 

You can see my straight stitch walking foot quilting in the next couple of pictures.  I will block this quilt to get it to lie flat. 

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge colour for February is blue so I put together some light blue hollow nine patches this week.  I may make some turquoise blocks too.  

After several months of not knitting, I decided that the only way my scarf is going to get done is if I try to work on it most days.  I have the yarn bowl and scarf on the coffee table to remind me to pick it up and knit!  

It was very cold today where my daughter and Finn live, but the sun was shining and Finn enjoyed sunbathing by the window.  He likes lots of blankets in his bed as well as some toys...

My daughter's crocheted book blanket will have 11 granny squares for the books she read in January.  

Here are the books she read in January along with their ratings.  She does not give very many 5/5's.  (only 3 books got this rating last year out of the over 120 books she read)

Last Sunday, my husband and I went for a walk at the local park.  I took this picture of a milkweed pod, dried out and cracked open, seeds and fluff still inside. 

 I will link up with Angela for the RSC, Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching and Frederique for her weekly link up. 

Arizona Quilt Top and Deer Stitching

 I put my Arizona quilt blocks together and it is now a completed top--36"square.  Before assembly, I remade a couple of the four patches. If you look closely, you can see that the cacti are now mirror images of the adjacent block in the next quadrant.  Anal, I know, but I didn't like how it looked before. 

I also worked on the walking foot quilting on the second potato chip baby quilt.  It is about 3/4 done and I hope to finish it this week and get the binding on.  One more of these tops to quilt...  The raindrop fabric is the backing.  I had to add the strip of purple to make it wide enough. 

The deer in my winter cross stitch only has one leg to stand on right now... he should have more legs soon. The borders are all done now.  

It's been really cold here--I have still been getting out for a walk every day, wearing extra layers to keep warm.  The latch on our gate was looking quite frosty when I was in the backyard yesterday. 

My daughter has finished reading 11 books so far this month and her collection of granny squares is growing. I think she has made at least one more square since taking this picture.  That is her sew together bag that I made her for Christmas. 

Finn was so tired one evening this week that he didn't even notice he was using the iPad for a pillow. 

I will link up with Kathy and Frederique.  

Quilt Blocks Made and some Slow Stitching

Last weekend, I showed you some fabrics I purchased when we were in Phoenix, Arizona in the fall.  I had pulled out some co-ordinating solids to go with them.  This week, at the guild sewing day, I started to make some blocks. 

I am making four of each block.  Each quadrant of the quilt will be a mirror image of the quadrant beside and below/above it.  I am using one solid and one print in each block.  The blocks are 6.5" square.  Here are the blocks I made early in the week, in a possible layout.  I was trying to show the others at the sewing day what I was trying to do. 

Later in the week, I sewed with a friend and made the rest of the blocks.  We played around with the blocks on the design floor to see if we could come up with something interesting.   This is the tentative layout, although, I may reorient some of the blocks before sewing it together.  I will quilt this one myself and will hang it somewhere in our house as a reminder of our wonderful vacation. 

 

I'm still stitching the borders of the final quadrant of my winter cross stitch project. You can see I am very close to finishing them!  Then, on to the colourful parts!

My friend had an interesting way of storing her rulers...she bought this shelf at Ikea.  Hmmm.  I might need to try this in my sewing room. 

My husband and I went hiking at a local conservation area with the hiking club this week.  The snow looked pretty on the pile of next summer's campfire wood.  We had never been to this conservation area before, even though it is not far from where we live.  We will be going back to hike there again. 

I really should be quilting some of the quilt tops that I have finished already but here I am, gathering fabrics for another quilt...  I decided to try some lighter colours this time.  I'm not exactly sure what this will be yet...stay tuned.  

It's always funny to catch a picture of Finn with his tongue out. I can't touch the tip of my nose with my tongue, but Finn can.  

Finn decided he needed a snuggle while my daughter worked one day this week.  

Speaking of my daughter, she has finished three more books this week so her collection of granny squares for the book blanket is growing.  

I will link up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers in the morning and with Frederique now.