Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly Slow Sunday Stitching link up! 
This is where the hand stitchers gather to share the projects they are working on. When you create something with your own hands (not with a machine) it takes a lot longer to finish it. You have to develop perseverance and patience while you make a little bit of progress at a time. You learn to notice and appreciate the small things, and savour the feeling of accomplishment for each small step toward the finish. Sometimes it takes years to sustain the interest in the project. 

Grandma, how's the quilting coming along?!

Such is the case with my oldest UFO which I have been working on (or storing!) for 21 years!
It was pieced in 1996, and the border was added in 2012. 
For real! 

It was pin basted in 2015 and then the hand quilting was started. It's a really big quilt, and too hot to sit under in the summer, so it's a project I only work on in the winter. The time has come to put it away until the cool weather arrives again in the fall. This is the "high tech" chart I made to keep track of my stitching progress over the years.
This is the stitching finished so far:
11 of the 20 large stars done
16 of the 32 small stars done
26 of the 31 diamonds done

That's pretty good... more than half way there, not including the border. Today I am appreciating the progress and pondering how I might eventually quilt the border.
Now it's your turn... please link up your blogpost below and share the progress you are making on your slow stitching projects. 

   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly link up that celebrates the art of hand stitching! 
Make a cup of your preferred beverage, grab a snack (you'll be here for a while), and enjoy clicking through the amazing blog links below from hand stitchers around the world. Last week there were 48 amazing posts showing us incredible hand stitching projects. I was truly inspired!
It's been a busy week for me and I'm really looking forward to some slow stitching time today. I've almost completed the embroidery on my 30th Life is Beautiful block, which I'll show next week and write an update on that project.
But today I want to do some hand quilting on my oldest UFO. I spread it out on the bed to see where I want to quilt today, and in all truthfulness, to admire my stitching so far :)

Here's the update of the quilted blocks so far:
*9 of 20 large 12" stars (quilted 1/4" inside the seams)
*14 of 32 small 6" stars (also quilted 1/4" inside the seams)
*21 of 31 diamonds which are quilted with a square in a square design 
Slow progress is being made... just like we like it!

1 Year of Stitches - week #3

And here is a terrible night time photo of my 1 Year of Stitches project. I'm not really fond of my additions this week, but that's life. Love isn't always smooth sailing or pretty looking, and neither is stitching sometimes!
So what are you planning to work on today? Link up your blog post of your hand stitching project and share your progress.

   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

Slow Sunday Stitching

Bow Tie Quilt

Welcome to Slow Sunday Stitching where we celebrate the art of hand stitched creations!
Did you know that I just finished hand quilting my bow tie quilt? It was such a great take-along project over the last few months, and I am so pleased with the finish!
So what will I work on now? I guess the time has come to get out my winter hand quilting project. It's a big quilt, and it's heavy and warm, so it's perfect to work on at this time of year. 

Do you remember seeing this quilt last winter? It has been in progress since 1996 and therefore celebrated it's 20th birthday this year. It has the ceremonious distinction of being my oldest UFO! And I still really like it and enjoy quilting the blocks. I can't help but wonder if this will be it's last year as a UFO?

I made this weird little chart to help me keep track of the quilting progress. It looks like the block quilting is approaching the half way done mark. I'm starting to think about how I want to quilt the edge blocks and the border. I do really like just quilting straight lines on a border, but is that too old fashioned now?

What are you hand stitching? Are you working any Christmas gifts? I should be, but I'm just not motivated yet!
Link up your blog post below and share with us what you are hand stitching today.

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Slow Sunday Stitching - Muscle Memory

Welcome to Slow Sunday Stitching!

This week I have been thinking about "muscle memory". Wikipedia describes it as "a form of procedural memory that involves consolidating a specific motor task into memory through repetition". It refers to those things you can still remember to do, even though you might not have done them for a long time... like riding a bicycle. 

Max is the hand quilting supervisor

My first experience with muscle memory happened when playing the piano again after a long time of not playing. Amazingly I still knew how to play the piano, and could easily play songs from many years ago with little effort. It was like my fingers remembered the songs, even though my conscious brain did not.

Machine quilting teachers talk about "building up muscle memory" by doodling designs on paper prior to sewing them on the machine and I have experienced this before. But this week was my first experience with hand stitching muscle memory.

Rest and renewal

I haven't done much hand quilting lately since I've been smitten by my Life is Beautiful project. But my poor granddog Max had some major surgery this past week and I have been chief doggy nurse. I needed a project to work on while encouraging him to cuddle up and be still so he could recover. And he loves quilts! Do you remember the quilt eating incident?
As soon as I picked up my hand quilting project (which is my oldest UFO) it was like my hands remembered exactly what they were supposed to do and without any conscious effort, just went to work putting in the stitches. That's muscle memory. It was so effortless, easy and relaxing.

Quilts are for cuddling

And Max's muscles remembered what they were supposed to do too, and he cuddled right up to the quilt in progress! 
I hand quilted while he rested. I got a lot done this week until the temperature skyrocketed and became too hot to have the quilt on my lap. Max is feeling quite a bit better and the quilting is put away for the summer.

hand quilting progress chart

This is the chart I made to keep track of my progress. It looks like the block quilting is almost half way finished. Slow and steady!
I hope my hand quilting muscles remember how to stitch when I take this project out again in the fall.
What are you hand stitching today? We would love to see your project and hear about your progress. Link up your blog post below...

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Slow Sunday Stitching - In the Ditch?

Mrs. Bobbins

Are you part of the "stitch in the ditch" club? This is a cute cartoon by Julia Icenogle with a play on words. Can you see that they are all doing some hand quilting? I used to do a lot of quilting "in the ditch" (aka... the seams). It is the easiest way to determine where to quilt. There are no lines to draw, and no patterns to design. You just put your stitches in the seam line.

But I rarely do that anymore. I figure if I'm going to put in all that effort, I want to be able to see my stitches... all of them, and not hide most of them in the seam line.
My hand quilting designs are usually either: 
1) store bought stencil, 2) a cardboard stencil I made, 3)  a free form design drawn on the fabric, or 4) stitching 1/4" beside the seam line. 

This is what I am quilting this week - my oldest UFO hand quilting project. I am drawing a square in a square block in the space between the stars. You can see my favourite quilting needles in this photo - John James big eye size 10.

And inside the small star blocks I am quilting a smaller square in a square pattern. This is what I see when I'm quilting.... my right hand in that very attractive claw shape, rocking that needle up and down, putting in more stitches (but not hiding them in the ditch!)

What are you stitching today? I will be hand quilting, but remember this is a link up for all kinds of hand stitching, not just quilting. We had an amazing variety of hand crafting shown last week and it's pure delight to visit each of you. We love to see updates on your long term projects and celebrate your progress with you!

Slow Sunday Stitching

It's time for some Slow Sunday Stitching!

Take out your hand stitching project and enjoy some relaxation. Try not to think about your "to-do" list, or ruminate about your worries. Just take a stitching break, and focus on pulling thread through fabric, one stitch at a time. Breathe deeply and enjoy yourself.

Modern Quilting by Sherri Noel

If you have an interest in hand quilting, I found a fantastic blog post for you to enjoy. Sherri gave me permission to share her tutorial with the Slow Sunday Stitchers - click here to visit. I was so inspired by the lovely photos and bright colours of her project. Sherri shows step by step how she uses perle cotton for quilting a block sampler quilt. Yum!

I have been putting some stitches into my winter hand quilting project and making some good progress. Max has been visiting and when he "helps", progress is slower.  
I went to get some tea, and when I came back, this was the scene.

"Well Grandma, I really don't know who put that toy on your quilt, but I'm keeping a close eye on the situation. And any time you feel like playing with me instead of quilting, I'll be ready!"

Today I'll be playing with Max, visiting your inspiring blog links, and enjoying some relaxing hand stitching. I love Sunday!
Link up your post below and share your hand work progress with us.

Slow Sunday Stitching

Today I am starting to hand quilt my oldest UFO.  This old quilt was pieced in 1996 so it will soon be 20 years old! You can read more about this quilt here. 
It's time to start the quilting.

This quilt holds so many memories for me. I always had in mind to hand quilt this project, but somehow it never got to the top of the project pile. 

Favourite hand quilting batt

I finally bought a package of my favourite hand quilting batting and a new box of pins. It's a queen size quilt, so I needed to get more pins since they will be committed to this project for a long time.

Pin basting

The pin basting was finished this week and it was a tough workout for my hands, with only one episode of bleeding. The hand quilting will be a breeze compared to the pinning process. 




And so the hand quilting journey begins again, although I don't know yet what the quilting design is going to be. Stay tuned :)

What are you hand stitching today? Link up your blog post below so we can see your project and encourage you on your journey. 

Mid Week Hand Quilting

If you need to relax and stay put, hand quilting is just what the Doctor needs to order. I had some cryosurgery for skin issues this week, and my recovery included lots of hand quilting!

I finished the top third of Always Home, and am happy with how it is looking. I am now quilting straight lines in the outside border following the plaid lines. You can probably see it best in the green border across the top.
I started quilting this wallhanging a year ago today while watching the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta. It's now one year later and this project really needs to be finished before next year's tournament! It's well on the way, and I think I'm very close to finishing the middle section. I may need to prolong my recovery!

2015 Slow Sunday Stitching

It's the first 2015 Sunday link up for all you slow stitchers out there. If you are anything like me (exhausted from holiday celebrations) I bet you are ready for some relaxation and stitching enjoyment. 

I am starting off the new year trying to finish the quilt I didn't get done by the end of last year. Christmas totally derailed my progress on quilting the border, and I am now ready to get back at it. I finally decided on a design with 3 diamonds in each border section. I went totally "old school" with the tools and am just using cardboard templates (which I cut to the size I wanted) to make the diamond shapes.
I have started marking the quilting lines, which is always easier to do before the quilt has been pin basted. But since I can never decide on my design until it is time to actually quilt the border, I am used to "marking as I go". My marks are made with my white Bohin chalk pencil so that I can clearly see the quilting lines, since I will be quilting with red thread on red fabric and it will be hard enough on my poor old eyes! The chalk soon needed to be refilled (which you can see in more detail on this post) and enough of the design was marked so that I can get going on some quilting today.

Can you see in this photo that I will run 5 needles at the same time so that I don't have to reposition the hoop to go back and forth?
Two needles are for the inside and outside lines, two needles are for the inside diamonds, and one needle will run along the edge with a large basting stitch to hold the layers together and make it easier to put the binding on at the end. It's fun to do the quilting this way - if the threads don't get tangled together. I will make my way around the outside of the quilt only once to complete the border quilting design.

What are you stitching to start off 2015? You are most welcome to link up your blog post below for any hand stitching project you are working on today.

Slow Sunday Stitching

I have made a bit of slow progress on hand quilting my block sampler quilt. The autumn colours of this quilt make it the perfect project to work on at this time of year.
I took some photos of the back of the quilt this week just for something different to share. The backing is a mottled gold and the red stitches show up well.




Stars - quilted 5 of 20  
These are fun and quick to quilt.








Blocks - quilted 5 of 12
These are more challenging and time consuming, and each one is different depending on the block pattern, so I make myself finish quilting a block before I quilt a star.


Sashings - quilted 7 of 31
Very boring, but easy to complete. After I finish quilting a block, I would like to quilt the sashings around it, so I don't have a lot of sashings to finish at the end.

From Red Brolly

What are you hand stitching today?
Enjoy the relaxation that making each stitch can bring!
And link up your blog post below so we can be inspired by your slow stitching.

Slow Sunday Stitching

Today I will be hand quilting a few more stitches in my sampler quilt. I am enjoying the "big stitching" 1/4" from each seam. I am constantly reminding myself to resist the temptation to make the stitches smaller.
Please forgive the terrible photos taken late last night as I was trying to assess where I am with this project. The bowtie block is finished and I have started the next block, which I will work on today.
I am making such good progress that I have started to think that I might be able to finish the quilt this year.
So I made a list of parts to be quilted which I can periodically update for motivation:
Sashings - quilted 6 of 31
Stars - quilted 4 of 20
Blocks - quilted 4 of 12
What are you hand stitching today? Link up your blog post below and let us be your cheering section!

Slow Sunday Stitching - Big Stitch

"Big stitching" is continuing on my block sampler quilt. Although I have been hand quilting for years, the "big stitch technique" is a whole new world for me. These are the differences I have noticed so far:

1) Type of Thread
I am using a "new to me" 12 wt. Aurifil thread which was given to me by Deanna. It happened to be the perfect colour for this project. I use the 50 wt. Aurifil everyday for piecing and machine quilting, but have never used a 12. wt thread for hand stitching before. It's like sewing through butter!
A couple of years ago I tried hand stitching with perle cotton, but found it difficult on my hands (read about it here). It might have been the batting or needle I was using on that project that made it harder to pull through, but I am amazed at how easily this 12 wt. Aurifil thread pulls through, and how well the stitches show up. ( Also, I am using Quilter's Dream Cotton batting this time and perhaps that makes a big difference as well?)

2) Thread Colour
In the past I have usually quilted with neutral threads and hoped the stitches would melt into the quilt, or sink into the seams. But I always loved Julie's projects with contrasting threads. Look at her black threads on light fabrics here, and brown threads on neutrals here. 

Julie's Scrappy Quilt

I even have my very own "Julie original" that lives on top of one of my sewing machines. This is one of her amazing scrappy quilts which she hand quilted using pink threads. The pink threads adds such character and texture to the quilt.




With the quilt I am working on now, I am channeling Julie's bright and bold approach and using red quilting thread.

Blue thread in sashing

I thought I would use blue thread on the blue sashing and I quilted one block. 
It was a struggle to quilt (very hard on my eyes) and when it was done, it was invisible! I couldn't see any of those stitches on the quilt, and now I think it was a waste of time! 

Red thread in sashing

Then I tried the red thread, and although it's not a great contrast, I can see the stitches and that makes me happier.
I think I'll pull out those blue stitches and put more red ones in!



3) Stitch Length

For years I have been trying to get my stitches to be smaller. Now I am trying to get my stitches to be bigger... life is funny that way!
Today I am going to focus on breathing and relaxing, and being in the moment, no matter what the size of my stitches are!!

I would love to hear any ideas or experiences you've had with big stitching. And I am looking forward to seeing what you are hand stitching today, and hope you will link up your blog post below.

Slow Stitching Sunday

Are you going on vacation this summer? One of the great things about hand stitching is that the projects are portable. You can take them anywhere with you! You will be amazed at how putting in a few stitches here and there will add up over time. And you will be amazed by the relaxation benefits of slowing down, and taking your time to be present in the moment, while you enjoy your stress-free hobby.
I took my hand quilting project camping last week. It was a gorgeous day with bright sunshine and blue skies, but not too hot or humid... just the perfect day for stitching! 



So there I sat, in the middle of the woods, and got out my hand work bag for some hand stitching relaxation. I hand quilted a few more blocks on my "Always Home" wall hanging.






And while I was stitching, what were the kids doing for relaxation and fun?!?


Paddleboarding.

Yikes!

Not relaxing for me at all, even as a passive observer.

Ahhh.... now this is better!
My needle and thread in hand, putting some slow stitches into cloth. 
I feel better already!
No matter where you go this summer, remember to take time for some relaxing hand stitching.

What are you working on? Link up your blog post below and share your relaxation with other hand stitchers.

Slow Sunday Stitching

Have you seen the series that Caron Mosey wrote on the Celebrate Hand Quilting Blog? It covers every topic you'd ever want to learn about - from needles and thread, to batting and hoops. The posts are well worth the time to read through if you're interested in hand quilting.
This week I have returned to hand quilting my version of "Always Home". It is the perfect size for a take-along project. I have almost finished quilting the middle section of houses. 
It looks like there are a few windows and one section of trees left to quilt.

I have really enjoyed quilting these little scrappy squares.

I am not stitching much in the area of the words so far, just one single line underneath. I'm not sure what else to do in that space above the trees and houses. We'll see...
What are you working on today? Link up your blog post below and tell us about your hand stitching project.