a little remiss . . .

What can I say that I've not said before?!  Life is BUSY!  But that's okay; I'm in the here and now!

This past weekend I hosted (?!?!?) the first ever Camp MACOBA Stitcher's Retreat! It was such a cozy, fun weekend!  I hashtagged it #rustricretreat.  There's a reason!  LOL!

We made use of both bunkhouses.  We slept in the one . . . 

(Can you tell it was a quilter's retreat?!)

And we stitched in the other . . . 

(And we trekked to the 'outhouse'.  Really it's not that primitive -- it was a bathhouse.  But still it was a tiny trek! #rusticretreat)  I even did quilting/stitching themed favor boxes for all the ladies:

They were filled with my "favorite things" for stitching, including chocolate.  Of course. I wish I'd taken a picture of all the goodies! There was some good stuff in those little boxes!

Because the bunkhouses are filled with ... well ... bunks ... we had to be creative in the stitching room.  As in "push all the bunks to the back," keeping a path to the back door (fire safety!) and the small fridge, a coffee/tea station and our snacks.  Priorities. (I mean, right??) But it was plenty of room for five women and their machines/tables, plus a cutting table, an ironing station, and even a design wall!

I did a lot of handwork. *wink*  Who am I anyway?!  Haha!  One of the things I wanted to accomplish was finishing up the quilting on the above piece.

Done! I'm really pleased with this piece. I was hoping to get it bound, too, but I didn't have a fabric on hand that I wanted to use for binding.  I'd like to use a black, small print, tonal Civil War reproduction for it.  I guess I know what I'll be spending that LQS gift shop I won!  

I finished up Week 9 of the Peppermint Purple SAL:

I finished up block 3 of the Hospital Sketches BOM (that I'm working in wool) that's been lingering in my 'to do' pile for a number of months:

I started a new little mini that was a Temecula kit (I picked it up while I was in California):

I've done all the piecing by hand, so far.  It's rather fun!  I do enjoy hand stitching.  I just really do.  So I also did a little embroidery stitching on these two pieces . . .

I just stitched where the whim took me!

The other thing that I really wanted to accomplish was some significant progress on my big hexi piece:

What I ended up doing was hand-stitching together two rows, and then ripping those stitches completely out, because I'd misaligned the two rows.  Aye yi yi. Ripping hand stitches is a bigger bugger than ripping machine stitches, in my humble opinion. And then in my exuberance in stitch ripping, I accidentally ripped into a row instead of staying between the rows.  Gah.  I finished ripping, restitched up my accidental ripping, and put it aside.  I may not pull it out again for a month. Or two. —insert eye roll emoji here—

Todd was so good to us, he cooked a fish fry for us and put a huge fire in the pavilion fire place for us to enjoy!

Yup ... rustic but restful and fun!  What a sweet group of ladies!  I'm blessed!

:)

eclectic collection . . .

It's been a busy week, which means I wasn't able to get in as much stitching as I would have liked, but I got some in nevertheless. I did make some progress on my heart:

But put it down to work on the Peppermint Purple SAL. 

Week 8 was made available on Wednesday, and I had it finished on Thursday, along with a good majority of the box outlines for the entire stitchery!

It's easy, soothing stitching and I'm enjoying it very much.  

Thursday was guild, and I struggled to go, because by the end of my work week--especially when it's been a busy one in the evenings--I just want to go home.  But I went and I'm so glad!  Our speaker was Diane Knott, who was just delightful!  I really enjoyed her program.  Then as a bonus, I won a $20 gift certificate to a local quilt shop!

Yay me!

Saturday I did some utility work on a sweet little bubble of Edith's . . .

This is the after pic. It's challenging, but you can just make it out in the center of the photo. It had a tiny tear so I used a square, white cotton patch and fused it.

This is the back side. If you've never used this fusing stuff, you should give it a try. 

Especially for applique and wool applique! But also for fabric tears. It is very pliable and soft when the fusing process is finished. Very nifty to have on hand!

I also prepped and stitched a block from the Grandmother's Choice BOW.  I actually did go to the last entry and finished up block 49.  

I think eight years ago I may have been afraid of the curved piecing. It didn't phase me in the least in 2020! LOL!

So progress is progress, right?! Still not quite to the halfway point.  The gap in row two is starting to bother me, but it *is* a block that's giving me pause. I may whittle this bad boy down to a six blocks by six blocks quilt and call it done.  If that's the case, I'm MORE than halfway through!  Ha!

While I was in the Nook, I came across a project I'd started late in November and because I'm a squirrel chaser . . . well, need I say more?  Heh.  Anyway, I decided I wanted to finish it up and get it to guild for show 'n tell next meeting.  

It really doesn't need much. I need to stitch the vines, then add the leaves, and then quilt it.  I'll spend my slow stitching today working on it.

After all the rain we've had in the last MONTH (!!!) I did take advantage of the sunny Saturday (brisk as it was) to take a slow stroll around the camp.  Things are starting to green up just the slightest and it makes me happy to see it.

The trees always make me smile.  This one in the center is just the perfect cone shape!  Enjoy!

Linking up today with Kathy's Quilts.  Have a super Sunday!

:)

bits and more bits . . .

It's been a lovely weekend so far.  Todd surprised me with a "gourmet dining experience" on Valentine's Day.  

It was a privately catered event and the food was excellent!  The chef classified his style as 'sophisticated southern.' We were served a four course meal which included a deconstructed Southern Greek salad, seared scallops, braised short ribs, and for dessert . . . 

Red velvet cake with a cheesecake center, topped with white chocolate ganache.  YUM!

Backing up a bit, I spent Thursday evening with the grandgirls and gifted them with their Valentines.

Edith was particularly enthralled with hers and went through her 'goodies' very carefully, several times!  ♥

I've gotten some stitching in, too. I worked up Block 40--Art Square--from Grandmother's Choice.

It went together fairly easily, and I should probably do more than one of these every couple of weeks if I want to actually finish it!  I've got SO much of the fabric.  I really need to do something with it!

I played around with the new Kathy Schmitz heart printed embroidery I got earlier this week, too . . .

This is really fun to stitch on!  For some reason I first thought there was just outline or straight stitching on it, but there are actually quite a few different types of stitches to work out, and I like that!

Finally, I've continued to work on the Peppermint Purple Blackwork SAL piece.  Since  I had finished week 7's block, I decided to go ahead and work out the block outlines for the rest of the year.

Nine rows down and four rows to go; then I need to decide on borders.  It's fun, easy stitching and probably what I'll work on this afternoon for my slow Sunday stitching!

Wrapping it up ... be sure to head over to Kathy's Quilts to check out what other slow stitching is happening today!

Happy Sunday ... I hope you get to enjoy a holiday Monday--I know I sure will!

:) 

heartily stitching along . . .

I've had to work all four (10-hour) days this week.  It's been long!  LOL!

I made just a little progress on my Love Sampler project.  It's really so sweet to stitch on . . . 

But not as much progress as I had planned. Scrolling through Instagram on Sunday, I stumbled upon a Blackwork SAL hosted by Peppermint Purple, and I chased that squirrel down.  I have been fascinated by blackwork for some time, but hadn't ever tried it.  This seemed to be the perfect opportunity to give it a go.

At first I though starting six weeks behind might be a problem, but it stitches quickly and I'm caught up through week #7.  

Go me! (It was really easy to catch up.  Each block represents one week.)  I'm using Cosmos Seasonal floss (1 over 1) in 8056.  I really love the subtle movement of color!

In other stitching news, I got some happy mail . . .

Kathy Schmitz was running a special:  spend a certain amount and get the heart stitchery free.  So I got the birdie stitchery and the black floss.  

They're really cute.  Pre-printed ... you just outline stitch in black and frame!  Voila!  I thought it would be fun (and now I have two to play with)!

Been having fun getting Valentines together for the local grandgirls. They stopped by for a quick visit at work yesterday . . .

They're so fun!  And they all MATCH!  Even mama matches!  ♥  I found some really cute vintage cards to gift the girls . . .

And made some heart-themed baskets filled with goodies . . .

Just simple things.  But sweet!  And speaking of sweet, look what *my* Valentine sent me!

Aren't they beautiful!  Gives me lots of reasons to stop and smell the flowers!

Signing out ... have a great weekend and a Happy Valentine's Day!

:)

all the hearts . . .

Finally got myself over to Hobby Lobby (I had a gift card) to pick out a frame for my Snow Sampler. Bonus -- all the frames were 50% off!  So this is the one I picked out . . .

Isn't it sweet?!  Joc has a silver and blue snowman that's so cute and would look perfect in this vignette.  But for now, I'm pleased with my jar of melted snowman, my snowman book, and the little blue and white heart, which help me feel like at least we're transitioning.  LOL!

I got a few more hearts free handed to stitch up:

Something to work on as I feel like it.  Which, given Friday's diagnosis of a sinus infection *and* strep, I haven't felt a whole lot of.  But that's okay ... I will again.  Some day.

I did finish up my entwined hearts . . .

It's rare that my back looks as neat as my front (although it's always optimal).

I mean I thought for a moment that the back was the front.  Of course the lighting wasn't good and I wasn't wearing my glasses, but still . . . ! I think part of that is because I used perle cotton and because I used a pierced backstitch, which gives it a very smooth look.  I have an idea of how I'll finish this one out.  Maybe next weekend?

I was SO pleased with how the Sulky Stick 'N Stitch worked for the entwined hearts project.  I wasn't real pleased with it after my holly snowflake, but I made some changes ... I didn't use metallic thread (I so dislike working with metallic thread) and I whip stitched the border of the stabilizer to the fabric.  What a difference!  So much so that I decided to go ahead and print my Love Sampler out and prep it for stitching . . . 

Yay! This will give me some happy stitching in between naps (because hard core antibiotics make me tired beyond all tired).

I also prepped my lazy daisy heart for stitching . . .

So I've got three projects all ready to go depending on what I want to work on, what color I want to be stitching, and what stitch I want to use.  Something for every mood.  :)

Todd's been working hard on getting our Camp TV cameras up and running and online.  He's done a great job . . . 

Two captures from the past week, both from the camera off the back of our RV.  A pair of foxes and a raccoon.  We've caught deer, possums, skunks, birds, squirrels, too.  There's quite a hubbub of activity out there after dark!  We put out corn and a mineral rock for the deer (the camp property is posted no hunting) and food scraps for the rest of the bunch. It's entertaining.  We watched one young button buck spend about three hours at the spot where we put out their food.  A fox came in at one point and he scurried away, but not so far that we couldn't still see his eyes glowing!  It was very entertaining!

Linking up with Kathy's Quilts today.  Be sure and stop by to visit Kathy and see what all is being stitched out today!

Happy Sunday!

:)

a flimsy and some whimsey . . .

Is anyone else struggling with spammers (one in particular) of late?  I hate putting my comments on moderation, but I'm so tired of the spam, I had to go there for the time being. On a happier note, this is post 1,400!  Not that it means anything to anyone but me (and I've been blogging since 2003, which averages to 82 posts a year?!) ... perseverance!  LOL!

I finished my class flimsy . . .

I'm so in love with this.  The top finished out at a respectable 60" square.  It'll make a nice lap quilt.  I'm going to use wool batting (which is a first for me) and back it with this lovely, beautiful piece of material that was just made for the quilt . . .

It's Stonehenge's Calypso.  Isn't it perfect?!  I might even bind it with this.  I dunno.  There's time to make that decision.

My slow stitching went completely freehand Sunday evening . . .

It was fun to play with; just a little whimsey.  I think I'll do a few more love-related stitcheries on different scraps of fabric and then patchwork them together.  No plan ... completely off the cuff.  Because I can. ♥

Anyone that knows me, knows how much I enjoy tea.  Too much, it would seem . . .

Seriously.  It's not even all pictured (it's not even all in the kitchen).  Kinda like my fabric reserves (which I don't apologize for), I've amassed quite the collection of loose teas over the last few years.  I've made a decision to purchase no more teas this year until I drink my way through what I have (or, if I decide I don't like it, gift it away). Feel free to hold me accountable!!

That's it for me today.  I'm battling a nasty sinus infection ... and it's winning.  At least it's Wednesday!

:)

always changing . . .

Not a whole lot going on to show here today. I managed to change up the design of my class quilt (again) . . . 

Here's my EQ layout. It's a respectable 60" by 60" now, so I think I'm done changing things!  I added the four corner blocks (which are just a tad different) and increased the width of the sashing and borders.

The blocks (laid out here in the order I planned to stitch them together) are now sashed and ready to have the borders stitched on.  I'd like to have that done before class on Tuesday!

I worked on it yesterday, until I had to leave to help with our guild's New Member Tea.

We had a pretty setup for our finger foods and tea station, and a great crowd, too!

It was a fun day!

I know what I said earlier in the week about what I might stitch next, but I got to looking through my rather extensive collection of files on my laptop (close to 4,000) and came across this heart . . . 

It's actually a coloring page I downloaded from Don't Eat the Paste.  Coloring pages really lend themselves to double as embroidery designs! I thought it might be fun set on point, in a crazy quilt-like patchwork block.  Plus, it looks easy to transfer. LOL! I'm thinking I'll use cotton perle and stitch out a pierced backstitch.  

That's enough from me this morning.  Linking up with Kathy's Quilts this morning; be sure to check out all the Slow Stitching that's happening this Sunday and have a terrific day!  Happy Groundhog Day!!  (I'm banking on an early Spring ... what about you?!?)

:)