What Kind of Days Are You having?

 The lazy hazy crazy days of summer continue 

here in Colorado. 

I've been the lazy one and

the usually bright blue skies 

have been hazy with smoke.

I haven't seen the foothills from my backyard

for weeks.

The crazy days of 2021 seem to keep

us guessing about what will happen next.

But with all of that in mind,

I have actually been filling my days 

with stitching, mostly,

x-stitching.

The first piece that I've finished 

earlier this summer was:

"Winter Rose Manor"

Designed by Brenda Gervais

With Thy Needle and Thread.

I learned with this piece that not all overdyed cotton

threads look like the photo.

There must be some variables in the 

dying process.

It's okay because we know that

 there aren't stitching police,

just like there aren't quilting police.

 Who says you can't change threads and 

choose a color that you find more appealing or

makes more contrast.

I had to do that so the cardinals showed up better.

****

This small piece is 

"Hello Summer" 

Designed by Paulette Stewart

Plum Street Samplers

I've been enjoying stitching some

of these smaller pieces just to get something finished 

Although, I've found nothing is really

too quick.

Adding some trim around the edges gives 

this a nice finished look.

What I don't like to do is to stitch the

small opening closed after it's stuffed.

Here's what I've been doing.

Stitching completely around all 4 sides

and then making a small slit in the back in 

order to turn the piece inside out.

We've all done that, but what I have been doing

is fusing a piece of fabric and  matching up the 

design elements of the fabric. 

I challenge myself to see how close

I can make it.

Not too bad.

****

The 3rd piece just finished is:

Come Into My Garden

Designed by Blackbird Designs

I learned that if the border actually meets 

it can be a miracle.  

The question then becomes 

do you fudge or frog it (rip it, rip it)

In my case, I like fudge more than frogs!

Hopefully, no one will see what I had to do.

And if they do, well, that's the way it goes.  

I'm sure my recipient will love it anyway.

Well, my days are still some what lazy,

the sky is still hazy,

and from not going too crazy

I keep putting in more stitches, one at a time.

Until Next Time-

Kyle

August Mini

 My August mini is called

No Rhyme nor Reason

33" x 33"

I noticed there has been several bloggers, like Barbara

of Quilts, Gravestones and Elusive Ancestors   

have been doing some tidying up of little bits and pieces

that had been accumulating.

I try and do the same thing as I end up with

small pieces leftover from a current project,

precutting different sizes of squares and strips.

Lately, I had even gone so far to sew some of the squares

into hst's with no plan in mind.

I thought, I probably should do something with them.

With a pile of quilt books

and a pile of hst's 

I found a pattern in 

Beyond the Battlefield 

by Mary Etherington and Connie Tesene

There was no event or plan or reason for choosing

this particular pattern, 

other than

I could use those half square triangles, 

it had some applique pieces,

and lots of red.

Add in some fun pinwheel blocks

and a flange binding and you've got a 

great combo.

Sometimes it important to

be a free spirit

and sew something 

for no rhyme or reason.

But speaking of a perfect combo....

"Garden fresh"

The garden is finally giving us some

perfect tomatoes.

Now go check out Wendy's blog,

The Constant Quilter

for more free spirited quilters.

Until Next Time-

Kyle

A Perfect Combination of Events

It's always interesting to look back at what might 

have influenced you in a certain direction

 when you're ready to start something new.

Here are 4 perfect events that influenced me.

1.  As a quilter and a X-stitcher, we have all been

saddened by the passing of Barb Adams, who was

part of Blackbird Designs along with Alma Allen. 

This lead me to revisit all of their wonderful books and patterns

I've collected over the years.  

So many wonderful ideas.

2.  I recently sorted through my wool fabrics and

decided to share pieces with friends.

I had a large piece of off white wool.  When I 

showed my friends they all said, "Kyle, put that back

in your stash.  You might need that!"

3.  Also in the past 2 months I have relocated

most of my fabric stash from one place to another.

The good part is that you familiarize yourself again

with what you have and the bad part is

you realize just what you have!

My flannel collection had not been reduced in quite awhile

and I thought maybe I should work on that.

4.  Ideas come and go like the ebbing of the tides, but one

that I always seem to come back is a log cabin design.

I had been thinking about making blocks with a larger

center square and using the center as a platform for an applique.

****

So where did all of that lead me?

The idea was sparked from a pattern found in a series of booklets

called Christmas Memories.

I pulled red and green flannels

and cut strips.  Then I subcut the strips 

into the correct lengths for the log cabin pieces.

I find if I take the time to do that,

my blocks stay square and all the same size,

especially if you use your walking foot on your machine

when you're working with flannels.

But before I sewed the blocks together, I 

fused off white wool snowflakes to the large center squares and

then whipped the edges with a DMC wool floss.

Once the blocks were sewn they lacked the luster

of new fallen snow.

It was then I decided to stitch crystal beads 

to the points of the 20 snowflakes.

I attached the 3 beads to each point as a separate unit.

Just in case a bead becomes loose, all of them won't fall off.

For quite awhile, I was in a spot waiting for inspiration

and not having anything in mind of what to work on next.

I do like where all of the different influences ended up leading me.

"Perfectly Imperfect"

57" x  69"

 I'm glad I was open to combining events and letting

my creative muse inspire my imagination.

I hope you are too.

Until Next Time-

Kyle