Slow Sunday Stitching - January 11 AND 2026 Rotation #1 Slot #1 (Modern) Changeover

Settling back into the routine.  I put away the Christmas decorations on Wednesday (I leave everything up until Twelfth Night).  And I realized that I have almost NO 'not Christmas but still winter' decor! 

And there's basically nothing in the stash either.  I need to eventually add some cute pillows and stand ups in both patriotic and winter themes just so the mantle doesn't look so sparse in those seasons!

On the stitching front, I got to the ten-hour point on the "Garden Santa" Perforated Paper ornament.   It's going to have to continue into the second round of the rotation since there's still almost 300 stitches to do (including some that are replaced with beads) in the bouquet, plus backstitch in the butterfly wings/antennae, the "loopy" beard and all the finishing.   But I like the way it is turning out; this one is not as complicated as some in the series.  (No beginning photo - all I did last rotation was set the project up and sort the floss.)

The Musselburgh Hat is also progressing.  I'm at about 7 inches / 17.75 cm out of 21.5 inches / 54.6 cm, so about a third of the way to the second crown.   The yarn is 'flashing' just a bit (where the colors stack up) but the shades are all so close it's not obnoxious.

Red marker is in the last increase round of the first crown.

And I've started to get back to work on the "80s" quilt backing.  I now have a plan for the 3 inch finished 9 patches; today's Slow Stitching will be making more of the mini-blocks and getting the 16 patch of 9 patches put together.  I'm probably going to be making more string and crumb blocks, too.

over on the left - the first quadrant's background/border

Linking up with the rest of the SSS crew - weekly inspiration and accountability!

Slow Sunday Stitching - December 21, 2025

 What a week!  My grandson made it through his finals.  Good grades unless he bombed his public speaking long form speech on the last day, but even if he gets a poor score, he will pass the class. (Speech was NOT his favorite class, and I can't blame him.  I hated it every time I had to take it - high school, college - both degrees - and a couple of rounds of professional development over the years!)  So now on to Christmas!  I can't believe we are only four days out. Where did December go?

Bells play today for the last Sunday in Advent and again on Christmas Eve at the early service.   One of the pieces has a very tricky syncopated section that I only get right about half the time.  I'm praying that the service is on the good side of those odds! 

Crafting has been a bit scant on the ground this week.  Two extra rehearsals in the run up to Christmas services and the end of the school term really cut into my free time.  But I did get the binding for the 80s quilt finished and all ready to go when it gets back from the long arm quilter.   And the design wall looks a bit different this week.

First of all, look at it all mounted on the wall and everything!  Thank you, JC and Carl for plaster anchors and levels and getting it squared away.  Second, you'll notice that all the 'parts of blocks' are now actual blocks except for the 3 inch finished squares.  I ended up with a total of 12 blocks to date.  

I've been thinking about how to approach this back.   The quilt is going to a long arm quilter, so I will need an extra 4 inches on each side of the top dimensions.   The top is 85 inches / 216 cm square.   So the backing will need to be a minimum of 93 inches / 236 cm square.   That's way bigger than my design wall, so I'm going to put it together by the quarter like a huge 4 patch.   

I'm going to set some guidelines for myself:

• No blocks in the outer six inches / 15 cm (so no blocks get chopped off and the binding is easy on the back).  
• Asymmetrical so it doesn't matter where the top lands relative to the back.  
• Bottom left corner - light neutral for name and date label (use that lone rosette to embellish).   
• Use up the bright rose fabrics and the intense plaid first for large sections of backing.
• I'm going to try not to worry or overthink too much about the layout.  As Karen Brown says in the tutorial I am using, the only two rules are 'big enough for the quilter' and 'must lay flat'. 

I'm hoping that the back goes together quickly so I can get an appointment with the long arm quilter that I used before.   But I'm not going to make that appointment until I get the back finished and ready to go.  I don't need the stress of an actual deadline on this thing!  Besides, this one will probably hibernate for a couple of weeks until after the holidays now.  The sewing table needs to be clear for gift wrapping and holiday crafting.  This is better than the old house, where the dining room table had to suffice for all of the above plus dinner!

Linking up with the SSS crew (this week's roundup).

Binding Strips done for "It was the 80s"

 

Making bias binding, especially scrappy style like this quilt, is always a bit of a pain.  I always struggle with making sure all the joins go in one direction and line up right.  Some of these had to be pieced so not perfect on the join direction within a fabric, but I think I got all the intersections between fabrics correct.

All wound up and ready to go.  I put the solid mid blue on all the ends to be sure there would be a nice transition on every corner.   I'm doing full sewn miter corners - so there are four equal lengths of binding ready to go. 

Slow Sunday Stitching - December 14, 2025 AND starting the pieced back for the 80s quilt

It's been a busy week; this coming week is finals for my homeschooled grandson and then winter break starts Friday.   End of term assignments - ugh.  I thought I was done with those twenty plus years ago when my son finished school!  I am keeping up with the last month of the Daily Temperature Log as we bounce back and forth between an extended Autumn and full-on Winter!   We had our first snow, though it didn't stick around for long.  Then Tuesday, it got up to 62 degrees F / 16.6 C.   

I'm also keeping up with the 100 stitches per day on the Mead Dragon, but the rest of the crafting time this last week went into quilting.   I'm still working on "It was the 80s" (pictures of the finished top here).  The plan was always to do an improv style pieced back for this one to use up all of the blocks from the original sampler quilt.   

So, using the tutorial on making an "After-Quilt" from Karen Brown "Just Get It Done Quilts" (link to her YouTube channel), I laid out the remaining materials and took inventory.  I started with identifiable blocks and components of blocks.

There are eight large blocks (finished size is 12 inches) remaining from the original top, some mini 9-patch blocks (3 inch finished size) and four patches / pinwheels (finished size 5.5 inches).  Plus there's an extra strip of 2.5 squares (2 inches finished) and the chunk I cut off the side of a 12-inch crumb block to replace an area of unassuming plain squares in the original "Solstice" layout from Pat Slone.   When I made the EPP section of the top, I made an extra rosette (and a random extra background hexi for some reason).

design wall is just tacked up, my son needs to mount the frame

As far as materials I can use for the backing, this is the remaining yardage; size is from a full yard WOF down to a scant fat eighth.   I really want all of the bright rose and pink out of the stash, so using all of that up is a priority.   So the plaid and everything in front of it needs used first.

There were lots of extra strips cut for this quilt and there's a stack of all of the mitered sashing from the original quilt, so I divided that up into three piles - strips 3 inches and up, strips approximately 2.5 inches, strips approximately 1.5 inches.   There's a small stack of squares ranging from 2.5 to 4 inches and a couple stacks of half square triangles (mostly the offcuts from the miters on the original sashing and not all the same size!)

And finally, there's a bunch of true scraps.  Strings less than 1.5 inches or wonky, small squares and potato chip rectangles (2 inches and less), little HSTs from 'stitch and flip' corners and some random tiny or odd shaped 'crumbs'.   Plue the rest of the old sashing and a couple of false starts of backings when I thought I might hand quilt this in the 'quilt as you go' style.  

What a mess - but at least it's a somewhat organized mess LOL.   The next step is to take all the bias strips I cut this week and make the binding.   I like to make the binding right after I get the top done to be sure I use up the larger bits of remaining yardage.  In this case, I used up almost all of the blues for a scrappy but color-controlled binding.  You can see up in the yardage picture that there's not a lot of blue yardage left!  

I'm having a lot of fun puttering around with fabric again. Linking up with the SSS crew (this week's roundup) - inspiration and accountability!

FINISHED QUILT TOP - It was the 80s

colors truer on this picture

 It took me FIVE years to finish that last "Y" seam on the bottom right.  Why?   But it's done now.   I'm working on getting the bias strips for the binding all cut, then I'll get the back pieced.   I have a dozen left over blocks and strips of squares and some mini blocks that weren't used on the front and several fabrics that need to be used up because I don't want them in my stash.  (Looking at you, bright neon rose!)

you can see the lower corners here

The idea was a mostly blue and white sampler quilt with bits of pink/rose.   I'm pretty happy with how the top looks.   I need to figure out a better display solution, though.  (The photobomb by Dela is pretty cute!)

Slow Sunday Stitching - August 6, 2023

This post should be subtitled "Santa needs a Beard: 'The 80s' needs a border. But Karla got though close".

That pretty much sums up this week. 

I did get the quilt top done - except for the small (2 inch finished) border.   I really like my new quilting/sewing set up in the dining room.   Other than the fact that I still have no place to lay out a larger quilt to take measurements and photographs.  Once I'm retired and get the big desk out of here, I think I can rig up a temporary design wall in the window seat area where the desk is now.   Just a few months.....   No date yet, but training my replacement is winding down in all but one area.  

In the mean time, photographing half the quilt at a time, pinned to sheets of foam insulation precariously perched on dining room chairs up against the bookcase is the best I can do! 

I thought about trying to photoshop them together, but decided my skills just are not up to the task.   I need to think about how to display a finished quilt, too!

I also got all the stitching done on the Heirloom Santa Ornament:Canine back during Christmas in July, as planned.   I even got him cut out and the hanger on him, but I still have his beard/mustache and the tassel on his hat yet to do.   And the backing to apply and cut out.   

I'll report on the sweater and the Blackbird piece next week. Linking up with the SSS crew (roundup here).

Slow Sunday Stitching - July 30, 2023

For the first time in absolutely ages, I am reporting on all three of my craft categories!   Not a LOT to report in any one of them, but enough that I feel like I can at least mention stuff. 

Now knitting won't have a photograph this week since I just added about an inch/2.5 cm (6 rounds) to the body of the brown sweater in simple stocking stitch.   When I get another 10 rounds or so, I'm going to put the sweater body on my longest cable and try it on.   I think that's about where the waist shaping should go, but I need to check.   I'll take a picture then.

But for needlework, take a look at the tiniest, cutest little stitches on my BBD "Two Hearts" needlebook:

For scale, that needleminder is almost exactly the size of a US quarter/UK 10p!  56 count linen, one strand of CC floss over two fabric threads - full cross.    And let me tell you, it's fiddly work too!   I need both a 5x magnifier light AND my needlework glasses.   I do have a 10x lens, but it's hard to work with since the smallest movement (like just drawing the thread through the fabric) will knock it out of focus.   Technically, those stitches are the same size as one over one on 28 count, but having twice as many ground threads makes for a much more supported, much denser and altogether to my eye more attractive stitch.

Speaking of one over one on 28 count.  This month I put in 1268 stitches on the Sugar Skull; a much more respectable showing than June.   My monthly average is just short of 1600 stitches per month, well over my goal of 1000 stitches.  Time so far on this project is 66.25 hours.  Picture of it when I hit my next milestone, which is getting one of the temple areas done.

And my quilt is one long seam and a small outer border from being an actual quilt top!!!  I got the bottom third of it put together over the last two weeks.

The reds are actually rose pinks, it's a hard color to capture.

Linking up with the SSS crew (current roundup is here)

ETA:  my thumb is better.  After it not getting much improvement for a couple of weeks, I went to the doctor. X rays say that it's not broken, but I'm in a splint for at least a few weeks to keep it protected and not moving to let the tendons heal.  I think it's helping.

Slow Sunday Stitching - July 9, 2023

For the last several months, ever since I got the dining room table situation fixed, I have been waffling about how I am going to sew now.   I do not have a dedicated sewing room or even a sewing space.   I always set up my machine on the dining room table and the old table top was so scratched and marred that I didn't care if there was another scratch added by a random pin or dropped pair of scissors.   When the leg support on the table collapsed, the only other possible space was my work from home desk.  And with the laptop stand, large monitor, files etc, there was barely enough space for my sewing machine.  Plus I didn't want to ruin the finish on my desk.   Then the NEW dining room table top is also lovely and I do not want to ruin it either.  What to do???   So I haven't had my sewing machine out since.

Well, I was getting ready to take my order of furnace filters down to the basement, and it struck me - here's a huge horizontal space that needs to be protected and here's a huge expanse of very nice cardboard that is only going into the garden as mulch or into the recycling.   It's a match made for each other!

So here's my sewing set up.  One of the drop leaves is up and the cardboard is just about a quarter of an inch over the edge.  The weight of my machine is enough so that the cardboard doesn't move around and there's just a tiny triangle of space that isn't covered on the near side of the table.  (I think I'm going to put masking tape on both sides to fix that.)  My built in buffet in the back is counter height and just fits an 18 x 24 cutting mat perfectly.   And the ironing board is usually just where I'm standing, but I moved it out of the way temporarily.   I have one of those three tiered craft carts that you can find anywhere that are dupes of the IKEA Rashult for all my tools.    

The quilting bug has bit again and "It was the 80s" is now 2/3s of the way assembled.  I rebooted it back in December of 2017, which is a bit embarrassing because at that time I thought it would be a six month project LOL.  I got distracted by a couple of other quilts, including Lucy Boston, and I just do not sew all that much these days. Hoping for more time once I retire.  And now that I've figured out the set up, hopefully I'll do better.   

It takes me about five minutes to set up once everything is pulled out of the hall closet and about 15 to tear down, including sweeping the floor and putting away all the fabrics used.   I have another old cart that my mom had in her pantry that holds the thread box, the pattern and fabric for the current project, the cutting mat and the case for the machine.  Adding the carts to the mix has made it so that I can corral the tools and materials in a way that is both efficient and easy to work with.   I'm still tweaking the tool set up, but I can find everything. 

The machine, by the way, is "Bee" my mother's Singer 99 from 1955.   I use that one as my 'daily driver' because it has a bigger harp than my grandmother's Featherweight and a larger bobbin, which I appreciate when doing long seams.  "Alice", the Singer 221, is still my workshop machine and my favorite overall.  I learned to sew on that machine.

Posting to the SSS crew, who are probably amused by my glacial quilting progress!  Link to current round up.

Quilt WiP - It's still the 80s

 I haven't touched this quilt for a bit over a year - Jan 2020.  I lost my 'sew-jo' somewhere in the never-ending parade of masks last spring and it has been reluctant to come back.   But I made a resolution to move forward on my quilting and decided early last week that the best way to do that is to allocate a specific time (namely Saturday and Sunday afternoons) to the task.   I promised myself that I would set up my sewing machine on the dining room table Friday after dinner and then sew on Saturday and Sunday, then put the sewing away for the work week to keep everything in my work space (currently the corner where the living room and dining room come together) nice and tidy.   

What do you know, I worked on my quilt!   I had finished all the blocks and all the pieced sashings (though I had not cut the solid sashings) when I put it away last year.   I will cut those sashings as I come to them in the assembly.  This quilt is not put together in rows due to the asymmetric setting.  It's not even put together in quadrants, but instead in seven large areas that are then seamed together in a way the makes sure that there are no set in corners.   The sections are designated A-G

I actually started with section  B, which is the center and center upper area.  While this one is the largest area wise, it is also the one of the simpler areas in construction, with only one real sashing strip and very few places where corners meet or points are a concern.  I trimmed the outer round of the log cabin blocks down so that the bright rose would not overpower the blue so much.  They were a bit wonky, so that also made that less of an issue (and I hope the rest will quilt out).  The lighting makes it look much worse than it is, btw.  And I didn't smooth out the wrinkles at all, as I was losing what little light a grey winter day provided in my north facing bedroom!.

It's going to be huge.  The length of this section is about 2/3 of the length of the quilt, and between 1/3 and 1/2 of the width.  And it almost covers a double bed mattress top.  It will be nearly 90 x 90.   Bedspread sized.

Next I will try to work on Part A.  It has a much more complex layout with sections of pieced sashing.

Quilt WiP - the never-ending scrap basket

UMMM, I found another box of quilt scraps last night when I was putting away all of the Christmas stuff.   In one way, it was great - there were actually some fabrics that 'go with' the quilt I'm working on - "It was the 80s".   All these are matching or coordinating prints to the fabrics already in the quilt.  There's at least a yard total, maybe closer to two.  

I will be able to remake and swap out one or two blocks that have a lot of that bright rose pink solid in them (and move those blocks to the back).   And I will have enough to do the one fabric sashings now.   But I'm so happy with the Carpenter's Wheel block, which was made out of necessity when I thought I was running out of fabric, that I can't be sorry these fabrics were hidden up to now.

There are also a bunch of pieces of homespun, shirt weight ticking, parts of shirts and shirting fabrics in small checks and plaids.  I've been casually collecting for one of Bonnie's quilts from "Shirt tails", so the variety will be nice. Not sorry I found that box in the basement storage, but will I ever get to the end of zombie craft supplies????

It is becoming increasingly obvious that I need a better storage system for my quilting fabric! 

Quilt WiP - back to "It was the 80s"

One of my major goals for this year is to get "It was the 80s" done.  I haven't been putting time into my quilting.  Knitting and needlework happen in the living room in a comfy chair.  They are often (though not always) projects where 15 mins of work can happen without needing any set up or much prep.  I can leave a needlework project on a frame on the floor stand and the pattern on my antique music stand that I use for a chart holder and just sit down and stitch whenever I get a minute.  Knitting is even more portable yet.  Even on lace pieces, it's just a matter of finding my place on the chart and away we go.

Quilting, on the other hand, means hauling out a sewing machine, setting it up, getting out fabric, and iron and ironing board.....  I'm a dining room quilter and I can't really leave everything set up.  Well, I COULD, but the dining room table is the only place to eat in the house other than a TV tray in front of the tube (which I try not to do).  I'm trying to find a solution.  But in the mean time, I'm going to try hard to utilize the weekends. 

So this weekend, I spent some time organizing my projects.   And sorted and folded the fabrics that will be used on the back and sashings for "It was the 80s".   I also made a list of the steps needed to finish the top and back for the LAQ.  I have the funds saved up to pay her and once the top and backing are completed, I'll get on her waiting list.  Jean is pretty quick, and I just need an all over pattern, so it shouldn't be a long wait. 
So the next part is checkerboard sashings - 4 of them, three that are a single strip and one that is basically 4 patches set edge to edge.   I got all the parts cut on Saturday and the machine set up and pairs run through on Sunday afternoon.

The single row sets went quickly - these are the two that are 12 patches each.  The four patches (2 x 11) were fun, too.  I wanted to include as many of the mid blues as I could, so there are some 'patched patches' in this set.  The blue and cream stars from the salvaged sashings of the old quilt cut down nicely into two patch sets. 

Still have the one patch row that is 22 long (this one will go along the lower edge of the top).  So that will be next weekend's goal along with figuring out where and how to do a design wall.  I don't want to lay this out on the floor unless I have to.


EDIT:  last of the sashings

Slow Sunday Stitching - June 2, 2019

Milestone reached!   All the blocks for "It was the 80s" are done.   There's still sashing to cut and a whole bunch of assembly, but I feel like I'm making progress again. 

I really love hand piecing.  The points on this are very crisp and tight.  Well worth the time it took.  The assembly on this quilt will be done on the machine, though, and it will go to the LAQ, so the next time you see this on SSS will be when I'm working on the binding.   Who knows when that will be LOL.

And I pulled out a block from "Aunt Lottie's Garden" to work on this week.  It feels good to get back to that project, too.  My first goal for today is to get it basted.   This will be Block 20 of 30 for the center of the quilt.  Borders still to be appliqued, to say nothing of the quilting.  So a far way to go on that one. 

My needlework project is rather back burner this week.  My attention has been on the hand piecing almost exclusively.  Hopefully I'll be getting back to it after I get the applique block basted.  To see how the other Slow Sunday Stitchers are spending their days, visit this week's round up at Kathy's blog.

Quilt WiP: "It was the 80s" - Block 22 - finale

As I mentioned in the "sneak peek" for this block, I turned a 12 inch hand pieced Lemoyn Star into a 24 inch hand pieced Carpenter's Wheel block to replace a block in Pat's layout that I did not have enough fabric for. 

It took me a lot longer than I thought it would, but it came out wonderfully.   There are a BUNCH of Y seams - so hand piecing was the way to go on this.  I truly dislike machine piecing Y seams and miters, though I know how and can do them well.  

This block will make a nice solid anchor for one of the outer corners on the asymmetrical setting.  

Now I just have to figure out how to do a design wall somewhere in my little house so I can lay this beast out!

Quilt WiP: "It was the 80s" - Fill Area #3 (6 inch blocks)

The last of the three fill in areas is in the right side, about the mid point.  It's an area 6 inches by 12 inches, so perfect for a pair of half size (6 inch) blocks.   I debated doing some true miniature piecing there, but when I saw the "X and O" block that Pat called "Hugs and Kisses" in her design, I knew what I was going to do.  That block was Block 20 in "Solstice", and I substituted a block from the old quilt, but I made one X and one O for this area.

These are four patches with each patch 'snowballed' on two opposite corners using the 'stitch and flip' technique.  The X and O simply happens with the way the 4 patches are orientated.   Fun little blocks. 


The Solstice Quilt on Pat Sloan's blog with the blocks and layout.

Intro: How this quilt came to be
Trackback to prior block - Fill in #2

Slow Sunday Stitching - April 28, 2019

Not a lot of progress this week on the crafting front.   I've been a bit distracted by the yard and stuff at work. 

I did get started on the hand piecing of the Carpenter's Wheel block for "It was the 80s".  I unpicked the outer background of the Lemoyne Star from the original quilt and have started cutting and marking the new background.

Behind the block, is my graph paper sketch of how one section of the expanded block will go together.   If I've done my math right, it should fit the 24 x 24 inch space I need to fill.  There are two versions of the Carpenter's Star.   The modern or 'simplified' version uses half square triangles, and this traditional version uses equilateral diamonds.  Lots and lots of "Y" seams in this version, which is why I'm hand piecing this.

  

Besides, I like to hand piece.

There are a lot of people who do hand work, linking up with a bunch of them on Slow Sunday Stitching - link to the current roundup.

Quilt WiP: "It was the 80s" - Fill Area #2 (EPP Hexis)

The second of the three fill-in areas is at left side of the layout a bit over half way down.  It is 6 inches by 18 inches.   I showed this area off in the Slow Sunday Stitching link ups while I was working on it.   The English Paper Pieced hexagons are appliqued to a backing piece that will be trimmed to the correct size.

The Solstice Quilt on Pat Sloan's blog with the blocks and layout.

Intro: How this quilt came to be
Trackback to prior block - Fill in #1

Quilt WiP: "It was the 80s" - Fill Area #1 (Crumb Block)

In addition to 25 blocks of assorted sizes, Pat Slone's "Solstice" with the asymmetrical layout includes solid sashing and several sections of checkerboard sashing.   Three of those checkerboards are fairly large - block sized.   So on those areas, I am substituting something other than checkerboards.

The first area - at the center top of the layout - is 10 inches by 12 inches.   The original quilt had a 'crumb pieced' block that I will cut down for this section.   I think I'll trim off the far left side. 

The Solstice Quilt on Pat Sloan's blog with the blocks and layout.

Intro: How this quilt came to be
Trackback to prior block - Block #25

Quilt WiP: "It was the 80s" - Block 25

This is the last of the machine pieced blocks (still have the rest of one hand pieced block and some pieced checkerboard sashing to do).   I used Pat's pattern for this block.  she calls it "Summer Rose", but I have seen it as "Christmas Cactus" as well.  

I was very pleased with the way this one turned out, the 'oversized and trimmed down' half square triangles work very well for me

So next thing will be to show off the three 'fill in' sections.  They are all done, just need pressed and a picture taken.

The Solstice Quilt on Pat Sloan's blog with the blocks and layout.

Intro: How this quilt came to be
Trackback to prior block - Block #24

Quilt WiP: "It was the 80s" - Block 24

And another block from the original quilt subbing in for one of Pat's blocks.   Her block 24 is this same star with a nine patch center instead of a 4 patch and the corner blocks divided. 

This one will do just fine.

The Solstice Quilt on Pat Sloan's blog with the blocks and layout.

Intro: How this quilt came to be
Trackback to prior block - Block #23

Quilt WiP: "It was the 80s" - Block 23

This block is a simple 16 patch,  I've seen it called "garlic knot" "tied knot" and Pat calls it "Eureka". 

At any rate, I was originally going to just sub in a 16 patch from the original quilt in the 'sunshine and shadows' set, but it had a LOT of that bright rose in it.   So I salvaged what I could, pieced pieces where I ran short and added new neutral fabric

I didn't take a picture of the 'dead' block.  But here it is laid out:

And finished

I think I did a pretty decent job of hiding the 'pieced pieces' by matching up the print repeat carefully. 

The Solstice Quilt on Pat Sloan's blog with the blocks and layout.

Intro: How this quilt came to be
Trackback to prior block - Block #22