Popping on to show you some of what I’ve been working on lately. I realized that I do a lot of stitching in lots of different categories, so I’m gonna break the projects down into those categories, and show you what I’m working on in each category.

I’ve got 11 different categories today, so let’s get started!

HAND QUILTING:

After nearly 11 years, I finally made a space to get my hand-quilting frame set back up. The space is still not completely organized, but what’s left is gonna take some time to go through. And the pile has already gotten smaller since I took this photo. I decided to quit letting that stop me, and put the frame up anyway! Life’s too short, ain’t it?

Let’s talk about that quilt that’s on the frame . . . It’s a scrap quilt in fall colors that I was making to use as a door curtain in the old ranch shack we lived in at the time. It was going to be used to hide the pantry, which was basically a hole in the wall with shelves in it. I didn’t have a longarm back then, so I decided to tie it, with buttons incorporated into the ties.

Then we moved to Nebraska, and I rolled it up on the poles and drug it along with me. The whole time we were there, I never got the frame set up, then we moved back to Missouri. I drug it upstairs to an unfinished room, and that’s where it’s been this entire time. Thinking I would get back to it much sooner than I have, I never wrapped it in anything for proper storage. I mean, how difficult would it have been to just wrap an old sheet around it for protection? But I kept telling myself it wouldn’t be there long — hahaha! So now, you can imagine how dirty it is — it was quite dusty along one strip when I set it back up. I took the hand vacuum to it and it’s good enough to work on. You can bet I’ll be washing it the minute I get it finished!

Anyway, here’s a look at it, and how I’m tying it. I’m using DMC perle cotton, size 5, color #729. The buttons are all identical in shape and size, and I’m using three different colors: red, gold, and green. Just tying one button at each intersection of the patchwork.

I still like it, and will be glad to have it finished, but it’s no longer intended as a curtain, and I’m not sure how snuggly it will be with all the buttons, so I’ll have to decide what to do with it.

HAND PIECING:

I’m working on all the tree trunks for my Vintage Apple Orchard quilt. I decided rather than doing one tree at a time, I’d just do all of each section at once. I’m halfway through getting all the tree trunks finished, then I’ll start on the tops.

Once the tree blocks are finished, I’ll be doing the rest of it by machine!

HAND APPLIQUÉ:

I drug out a really old UFO recently. It’s a Flip-Flop quilt.

I wanted to make it for my daughter, who spends a lot of time in flip-flops and loves to go to the beach. I figured she could just keep it in her car, and drag it along with her as her beach quilt. By the time I get it finished, she’ll have to use it for her kids as a beach quilt, it’s been so long in the making!

Of course, I wanted to make it larger than the pictured version, so I’m making 20 blocks. I think I have 3 finished. Here are a couple of them:

I chose my background fabric to look like sand. And it’s been fun collecting the buttons that will go on each pair of flip-flops when I’m done!

MACHINE PIECING:

I have many, many machine piecing projects I could show you, but I’ll just go with one at a time. This time, I will tell you that I am making good progress on my Hexagon quilt. Back in February, when I featured my “What the Hex?” pattern as the pattern of the month, I got all inspired to start another hexagon quilt of my own, and I had an old, old bundle of fabric that I knew would be perfect for it.

The bundle is called Sassafras Tea by Bears Paw Design/Jill Kemp for Moda (from at least 10 years ago), and I wanted to use it all together. I pulled out a few extras and scraps from my stash that looked like they belonged, and cut up all of it, just to use it up. So the quilt will be whatever size it turns out based on the amount of fabric I had, and I’m not sure yet how large that is. But at least a good throw size, so My Cowboy can use it. Dark colors are safest for him — he likes to snack in his recliner!

Funny story: One day a small hand-held vacuum appeared on my doorstep, and my daughter called to say she was the one who sent it. She said: “I use this all the time to clean up after my husband, since he snacks on the couch. I thought you could use one, too!” Too funny!

Anyway, I have all the rows sewn together, and half of those rows sewn into pairs. I hope to be finished with the top before the end of the month. It’s been a good one to work on during my Sticky Buns Challenge.

PAPER PIECING:

This category could include English Paper Piecing or Foundation Paper Piecing at any given moment, but this week, it’s foundation paper piecing, which is not my favorite thing to do, but I LOVE this quilt, so I’m calling it worth it. It’s the Slice quilt by Amber at Gigi’s Thimble. I bought the papers, the Jen Kingwell Lollies fabrics, and the pattern years ago, and it sat (imagine that!). Then Amber hosted a quilt-along for it last year, and I got started.

I knew I would get behind, even if I started out good, and I did. But I’m one-third of the way through it, and still love it, and I’m so anxious to get it finished so I can see it all together in all its scrappy goodness! I try to sew on it a little bit every day, even if I only get two pieces attached — any progress is better than none. I just finished Block 12 a few days ago, and am currently working on Block 13.

BLOCK OF THE MONTH:

I’m making ridiculously slow progress on my Ladies of the Sea BOM. This is all I have done on Block One. I knew I would never be able to do one block per month, let alone two, but still, I thought I’d be a bit faster than this!

I want to start one of the borders and work on it along with the blocks, but I’m almost afraid to. Maybe I can pick up speed soon.

COMFORT QUILTS:

I made some simple 4-patches from some pre-cut squares I found in a box. Added in some plain squares in a larger size to make it get bigger faster, and I’ll soon have a Comfort quilt top finished. Again, dark colors, suitable for anyone who snacks on the couch! I’m setting the rows together now.

EMBROIDERY:

Working on my vintage Snowflowers bedspread. I try to do just a tiny bit on it each week, but it’s really slow going. But it’s not a race, I don’t have a deadline, and I’m enjoying the process. I’ll enjoy the embroidery, then later on, I’ll enjoy the quilting, and after that, I’ll just enjoy looking at it and using it!

CROSS STITCH:

I’m working on Lady Halloween, very, very slowly. I’m not sure I’ll even have it done by this coming Halloween! I just do one strand of thread on it every now and then. I chose the pattern because it’s only 3 colors of floss.

KNITTING:

I recently finished this cowl from some luscious yarn I bought locally. A lady a few miles away spins and dyes her own yarn, and she was at the local quilt show a few years ago with a booth, and I fell in love with this color.

The pattern I used is the “In a Twist” cowl, a free pattern from Purl Soho. So super easy and fast. I used two skeins of the yarn and just knitted till I used it all up. It’s wool, so it should be plenty warm for next winter.

I’ve also knitted about 4 dishcloths and passed them out to some of the women in my family. It’s how I spend my time when I go sit with my dad a couple times a week. And I’ve also done my share of knitting at the laundromat while waiting for my laundry to get done. We’re planning to buy a new washing machine, but we’re not quite ready, so I go to the laundromat a couple times a month. I DO kind of like having it ALL done at once, and I don’t get distracted and leave it in the washer or dryer too long because I forgot about it!

OTHER:

Other than stitching up one lone pillowcase, I haven’t done much non-quilty sewing lately, but back last year, I made a couple things for my daughter than I never got to show you.

She moved into a new apartment about a year and a half ago, and she’s been slowly decorating it in her style. She wanted some “poufs” to use for seats/footstools, and since storage is premium in a city apartment, she wanted them to be the ones you can stuff blankets and linens in for storage.

So I made her a square one, and a round one. They have zippers so she can easily open and close them for storage purposes, and she says they work perfectly for what she wanted!

I can tell you right now, I would never have gotten them stuffed so smoothly. Mine would be a lumpy mess!

Then we had fabric left over, so I made her little dog a matching crate cover. I’m not sure why it looks dirty in this photo — it’s not. Unlike when she was a child at home, my daughter doesn’t even let the dust fall at her place! And isn’t my grandson adorable?

I guess that’s about enough for now. I’ll try to post another update soon. The next one could have completely different projects and categories — cos that’s how I operate! Am I alone in that? Or do you have several projects going in several different categories, too? It keeps me from getting bored, and also lets me make use of the various types of time chunks I have available. But also, it IS a bit out of control, so I’m trying hard to finish up lots of older projects and not start so many new ones!