Bee, Myself and I in August

The Bee, Myself and I effort was an idea Granny Maud's Girl came up with to help her accomplish the projects she wanted to do for herself but kept putting off. I haven't done anything with my selfish sewing project for the last couple of months. To be honest, the embroideries I've been doing have felt pretty self-serving. But it's also been too warm to sew comfortably this summer. We've been blessed with a couple of cooler days this week so I dug out my batiks and made up a few more blocks in my more favorite colors:

Then I had to get out the other blocks I've made to see where I am with this project.

There are only three spots left to fill out the 4 x 5 setting I'd planned. However, there's some blending that needs to be done. I like the transition from yellow to orange in the upper row. I need to eliminate that distinct line between yellow and orange on the right side, three blocks down. And then there are the pink blocks. I love pink and orange together, along with yellow, but if I can't blend them in better this may end up being strictly a yellow and orange quilt.

I'm not entirely happy with the yellow block in the second row down, second block from the right. It looks a bit gold in the photo above. That's because about half the strips in that block feature red and yellow prints. That one may have to be removed from the mix. Taking it out will give me a bit more leeway for the blending I'd like to attempt.

Getting these blocks out again has inspired some new ideas for color manipulation that could be fun to try some day. Or maybe I'll change my plans for these blocks! We're due for some more hot weather (relatively speaking) in the days ahead so it may be the end of September before I do anything more. ;- )

Stitching Along Some More in August

It doesn't feel like I've done all that much since our first check in with the Stitch Along but maybe I've accomplished more than I realize. The secret project is nearly complete. Unfortunately, I've been using one of Nancy's hand dyed flosses and don't have quite enough left to finish the project. The DMC equivalent isn't close enough to suit me, at least not by the color number Nancy gave. There might be another shade in the DMC line that would work better; I haven't had a chance to look. I'm hoping Nancy has another skein left from that dye batch. Otherwise I'm not sure what I'll do!

The mid-century modern trailer for The Sketchbook Project is finished:

There are some anomalies that prove this was handmade (as if there could be any doubt). I didn't realize the door wasn't quite straight until it was too late to fix it. Nevertheless, I'm content with the end product. I'm not sure the backstitched lines really read as louvers in the windows but I'm happy with the "screening" I put in the little window in the upper bunk area. I added the whitewall to the tire at the very end. 

I also left a bit of myself on the back of my work:

That sort of thing is a good reason to line your embroidery when you can. While the lining is blood stained, it doesn't show on the front at all. Whew!

This isn't a great picture, but here are the three caravans I've completed so far:

And here's the next one:

I suspect I'm going to have to move the position of one or two of the three windows. I don't think there's room for the embroidery I have planned the way they sit now. 

There are people doing all sorts of needlework in this stitch along group. To see what everyone is up to click on their name below. If you'd like the motivation that comes from a group like this contact Avis through her blog. But be warned: you may find yourself picking up your needles more often and leaving other activities untouched!

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Steph, Linda, Catherine, Mary Margaret, Timothy, Heidi, Connie

Post-Eclipse Post

I have no pictures to share with you of our experience with the recent solar eclipse. We did not make the effort to pick up the appropriate viewing glasses. Frankly, I wasn't all that interested in the beginning. We generally have so much cloud cover around here that I didn't think we'd get to see anything in the end. If you don't get your hopes up you can't be disappointed, right? But our skies were as clear as they could be on the day. Hubby set up the tripod for his cameras then discovered he had no film for the 4x5 view camera and a low battery in the digital camera. He has a welding helmet and shield though so he doubled them up and watched the eclipse. I went outside to experience the long shadows of afternoon created by the moon crossing in front of the sun in the morning hours and the subsequent drop in temperature. I had a look at the display on the digital camera when the sun was a skinny crescent, then I watched the rest of the eclipse on television. Relatives in Idaho had a magnificent viewing experience, and they didn't even have to leave home!

I couldn't keep myself from beginning to embroider one of the new pillowcases I showed in my last post.

Some folks suffer from Quilter's Attention Deficit Disorder, I seem to suffer from a variant of that disorder. My sewing station is a complete mess at the moment. Excavating from the top down we have embroidery threads and skeins, packets of needles, and scissors down at the bottom somewhere. There are three different embroidery projects and a needlepoint case in progress on the table. My scrap patches have been shoved off to one side along with the usual assortment of notebooks and writing tools. I really will have to have a clean-up session soon!

In spite of the mess I was able to frame up four star blocks from my Parts Department for the current block drive for Covered in Love.

Kat said this morning that she thinks she may be able to make six quilts out of the blocks she's already received. I was glad to be able to contribute a few blocks since I have yet to get the binding on the quilt I have earmarked for Covered in Love.

We have a Stitch Along check-in on Sunday (27 Aug.) so I'll hold off showing you any more of what I've stitched until then. Well, except maybe for this:  ;- )

Moving Right Along

I haven't quite decided whether I'm finished with the witch's caravan.

I provided a boulder to support the front end of her trailer and put colonial knot gravel underneath. The debate is whether to extend a few of those brambles up a little higher on the side of the trailer. And then there's the matter of her familiar. A cat? A raven? Do I really have room to include this element?

While I'm considering these options I've chosen to move forward on another caravan. I think this one will be pretty simple and quick to execute.

I'll probably just stick to the basic design lines and not try to embellish it further. Well, not much anyway. ;- )

I had to go out to find just the right shade of pink for this trailer though. Not only did that result in yet another toxic headache (blech) but it yielded up a pair of pillowcases to stitch when my brain isn't functioning well. Like now, after the trip to the store.

I got this on super clearance. I like the design, just not the colors they chose or the suggested method for stitching the flowers. So when I'm feeling a bit better I can settle on a color palette for these and then pick them up the next time I want to stitch without having to think too hard. I wish I could pick out colors willy-nilly and just start stitching! I will probably try to use the hand dyed floss I've been acquiring from Nancy's Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe. Although there was a lovely soft melon color in the DMC display at the store, a color I don't believe I have in my stash already. Unfortunately, to get some would entail another trip to the store and the consequences thereof. Better to use what's already on hand!

Scrap Happy in August

I've sort of been stash busting this year by cutting 3" strips to make truly scrappy Scrappy Trip blocks for Scrap Happy Day hosted by Kate in Australia and Gun in Sweden. This month I made four blocks.

Twenty of these 15" blocks make a nice comfort quilt. With a little stretching I can get a twin size quilt top. I actually have more blocks than I need at this point but I've been having trouble coming up with a setting I'm happy with. I thought the more blocks I had to choose from the easier it would be.

Not so much.

I can't seem to live with complete randomness right now. I have to have some element of organization. To that end I decided to try creating rows that feature a central diagonal line from one color family.

With 2.5" sashes between five rows and a narrow border I'll have a twin size quilt top. And I might be able to use up more of my stash!

Some of the rows work better than others. I may yet try ramming them together and putting on a wider border. (There's always a need for larger quilts for the teens in foster care. Otherwise I would just make a couple of smaller quilts.) I'm not in the best place to make these design decisions at this point. The weather has cooled down a bit and I believe the air is cleaner but I'm still gun-shy about having the windows open and I have too big a headache to think clearly.

I invite you to hop over to Kate's blog for the complete list of those participating in these monthly efforts to put our scraps to good use. There's bound to be something inspiring. :- )