Lots of Swallows

Picked up my counted canvas piece for the first time in a while, and managed to get all of the flying swallow motifs stitched in the big border.

I see a happy dance in the fairly near future! End of September (or earlier) is what I'm aiming for.

A quiltin' I will go ...

A few months ago I was introduced to English paper piecing (a hand-stitched quilting technique) and I couldn't resist trying it out. I now have two projects on the go. :)

My first and major project is a Batik Hexie Quilt. It is mostly dark blue with green, purple, and aqua blue flowers and will consist of just over 1200 hexies. I've managed to make a few more, bringing the total up to 119 basted hexies:

I've also started a wall hanging piece made of 96  2" diamonds.

These are done in Robert Kaufman Fusions Mist fabrics in Pear, Forest, Sable, and Ivory (I think - not sure about the greens). I've managed to baste more than half of them:

And I've figured out the design layout for the 6-point star I'm making:

Keep on stitching ...

School starts soon, so class prep has started and is taking up quite a bit of time, but the stitching keeps progressing.

Elizabeth (by Mirabilia) has really grown over the past few weeks. I'm excited that the black blob now actually looks like a bow!

Metamorphosis (by Ink Circles) has made huge progress! I forgot how quick this one stitches up. I'm already working on motif six, and there's only one more after this one!

Now, if I only stitched on these two pieces, progress would continue by leaps and bounds. Alas ... I have other projects that steal my attention at times. More on those next time.

Life gets in the way

Seriously, I had such high hopes for blogging this month. I even took my camera and cords with me when I went travelling for two weeks. But nothing happened ... I stitched, that almost always happens, but the blogging thing got pushed to the side. Sorry about that.

I also missed posting for IHSW (International Hermit and Stitch Weekend), even though I did hermit quite a bit last weekend. I'm hoping the structure and schedules of September will help me keep on top of things. Again -- sorry!

There will be lots of update photos coming in the next week, but today I have a framed finished for you!

After much bitching, whining, and grumbling, I finished stitching the all-white hardanger piece Frozen Flower by Mabel Figworthy's Fancies.

This piece was stitched as a gift for a dear friend who defended her PhD dissertation earlier this week. I am happy to say she was successful and is now a doctor!! I chose this design for her because she writes a blog called White Cabana -- unsurprisingly it's about all things white, including interior design, decor, art, and architecture. Over the years I have sent her links to stitching and cardmaking sites featuring all-white projects. Every year I make her birthday and/or Christmas cards in all-white. (Not as easy as it sounds!) So I could do nothing less than an all-white piece of stitching to mark this great occasion.

I knew I had to choose a design with style, elegance, and texture. This piece had it all. (Though it was a much more challenging stitch then I had expected. Not that the stitching was particularly difficult, but the tedium of all those woven bars (approximately 280 of them) made my mind melt. It was a challenge to stick with this piece. However, the look on my friend's face when she unwrapped it made all of those hours so worthwhile.) I can't wait to visit her in her new house and see it in all its glory!

A bit of a bender

Some insomnia plus a little extra "me" time means a good amount of progress!

Elizabeth got most of her bodice and more of her bow added:

I love this one more and more now that it actually almost looks like something. She is going to be huge though!

Metamorphosis had two motifs completed and a third started:

This is such a quick, easy stitch. I forgot how fast it can go. The fire colourway looks better than I had hoped - I like it!

A new start was made on my next crochet project - a stripey scarf:

I must admit that I struggled to get this one started (had to chain 432 ... twice!), mostly because I have fairly tight tension in my stitches and the first chain was just too tight to use. On the second try, I moved up two hook sizes to make the foundation chain, then went back to the called-for E hook and it is now going swimmingly! I really, really enjoy working on this. It's super simple as well, using either slip stitches or single crochets. I do appreciate the mindlessness. :P

And the quilting store received another visit from little ol' me (oops):

I just love the Robert Kaufman Fusions Mist fabrics -- great colours, awesome mottling, and subtle print. I keep thinking of things I want to make!