On Point Quilt Finish

Hello Everyone! I hope your December has started off on a good note! Ours has. We went to another Christmas Parade on Saturday, which was fun, but an all day affair. It wasn’t too cold or too warm, but a little windy to be just right. We (or I should say I) have almost finished decorating for the season, too. The tree and most of the decorations are out and I just need to put my Department 56 village up. I took some time off from the decorating, though to finish my quilt.

I’m so happy to have this quilt finished in time to be used this Holiday Season. Here are the facts about this quilt:

• Designer: Cozy Quilts Design, for Angela Walters Midnight Quilt Show.
• Size: 68″ x 74″
• Fabrics:
  • Quilt – Figgy Pudding by basicgrey – Jellyroll and Red Snowflake background and the backing print.
  • Border – Moda Grunge
  • Binding – Fruitcake by basicgrey
  • Batting: Quilter’s Dream Select
  • Thread: Aurifil 50 wt for piecing and quilting
• Date Started: 9/15/17 (on Sew a Jellyroll Day)
• Date Finished: 12/5/22

I bought the Figgy Pudding fabric during a shop hop in 2009 or 2010. I thought I was going to use the Jellyroll for several different quilts before deciding on the On Point Quilt. I only bought enough backing fabric for the first quilt I thought I would make so I didn’t have enough for this one. The blocks are made from strip sets, so I had enough end pieces that I could piece the length of the quilt but still had to add in the Grunge strip to get it wide enough.

I quilted it on my Pfaff QE 4.0 home machine using Aurifil 50 wt thread. I used the same quilting design on the blocks that Angela used, the straight lines in the pieced sections using the walking foot and a flower in the background using my free motion foot. The swirly design in the border is inspired by the fabric.

I will tell you a secret about this quilt, though. The borders are terrible! They are really wavy and on one, I had to take some tucks in it while I was quilting. I have no idea how they could be this bad. I always measure the inside of the quilt and use those measurements for the borders. Either I measured or cut wrong. The borders are cut from the width of fabric instead of the straight of grain. I don’t know if that caused a problem or not. I finished the center part of the quilt in early 2018 and added the borders in August 2018. I didn’t even know it was a problem until I had the quilt spray basted and was getting ready to quilt. I could have pulled it all apart and redo the borders, but it’s going to be quilt to cuddle up with on the couch. And I wanted it finished. Whoever uses it is not going to know that the borders are wavy.

For my cross stitch friends, I’ll have an update on some of my small ornaments soon. I have started and finished several and am in the process of fully finishing them. I’m heading back to put the finishing touches on a few when I finish this post.

I hope you all have a great rest of your week and thanks for stopping by.

Brenda

WIP Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Hello Everyone and welcome to Works In Progress Wednesday. I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving if in the US. We had a very pleasant one spent with our son and daughter and her boyfriend in Blue Ridge, GA. We rented a cabin for a few days and we really had some good quality family time.

We had a great view from the cabin. This was the view just after sunrise on Thanksgiving Day. We are looking at mountains in Georgia, Tennessee and probably North Carolina in the far distance. We spent a little time shopping in Blue Ridge and the guys went fishing for a bit on Thanksgiving Day. We also had fires in the fire pit late every afternoon. My son brought a fully cooked turkey from the grocery store and I fixed all the sides for Thanksgiving dinner. It just couldn’t have worked out better. Both of the kids will be here for Christmas and I’m looking forward to seeing them again.

I started and finished a few new things on our trip, too. I had already finished the Daisy Kingdom Santa ornament (top left) before we left. I started and finished the church ornament on our drive. It’s stitched on 28 count Lugana using DMC. I started and finished the JBW Designs wreath since we’ve been home. It’s stitched on 32 ct white linen. I hope I can find time this week to finish them. I plan to put them on gifts, then use them on the tree next year.

While at the cabin, I started Prairie Schooler Santa 2021. I’m stitching it on 36 ct Vintage Country Mocha, 2 over 2 because I want the color to be saturated. I got the red outlined so I could fill it in on the way home. I worked on it after finishing the church.

I also made good progress on Birds and Berries on the trip. I finished the white and green jar on the trip down. It was good to work on in the car because there were big blocks of color. I waited until we were home to do the backstitching. Easier to concentrate here. The only thing left to finish are the sprigs coming out of the jars. I don’t think they will take too long.

I went to Hobby Lobby yesterday and found a framed piece of art that I think will work to mount the stitching over. The finished size is an odd size and I don’t want to spend a lot of money on a frame for something that will be on display for such a short time. All table and wall decor are 50 % off this week. Usually it’s one or the other.

My goals this week are to finish the On Point quilt and take my fall decor down and start putting up Christmas. The tree is up and fluffed and I think I will be decorating it this afternoon. My Christmas quilts are laying on the guest bed trying to get a few of the wrinkles out of them and I want them to be put out in the next two days. We also need to get the outside lights up. Busy, busy! Once the decorations are up, though, life will settle for just a bit before the visits from the kids.

I hope you all have a great week and thanks for stopping by.

Brenda

Quilting and Black Friday Shop Update

Hello Everyone and welcome back. Today I want to share a few pictures of my quilting process on the On Point Quilt and I have a shop update for you.

First the shop update. I’m having a Black Friday Sale all this week. Everything in my shop, BrendasQuiltingNook, on Etsy is 30% off from now until Tuesday, November 29. If you’ve been looking for a project bag or pattern, now is a great time to purchase. However, if you purchase a physical item (paper patterns and project bags), they won’t ship until Monday, November 28 since we are going to Georgia to have Thanksgiving with my kids.

If you’re looking for a quick Christmas or gift quilt, The Holly-Daze quilt is confident beginner and layer cake friendly. This pattern is Digital (PDF) only and is available immediately.

On Point Quilt Top and Backing

Now on to some quilting. I finished quilting the On Point quilt, but out of the three I basted, it was the only one I did not make the binding for in advance. So…it won’t be finished until we get home next week. However, I have a few quilting tips.

I started quilting with straight lines in the multi-fabric triangle blocks using the dual feed feature on my Pfaff QE 4.0. I stitched in the ditch of each of the 2″ strips, then stitched in the middle of the large strips. To keep the lines straight, I used an air erasable marker to mark the the starting point for each line. Then I was able to use the lines on the ruler and the seam lines to stitch in between without marking all the lines or just winging it. I have the open toe foot on and was able to butt the ruler right next to it while I sewed. It took a few two hour sessions to quilt this part, but the results are very nice.

Next, I switched to the free motion foot and stitched a half flower style motif in the red sections. The thread really matched well because it was difficult to get a picture. I didn’t have matching thread for the border so the quilting mistakes are more visible. What I want to point out from the above picture is where I got my quilting inspiration for the border. See the swirly snowflake in the blue 2″ strip, that’s what I tried to imitate. I practiced it a few times on a layered fabric scrap, then just did it. I purposely echoed the little loops on each branch of the snowflake deciding trying to match the stitching would be a nightmare. My alternate swirls aren’t the best but that’s okay. This is going to be something to cuddle up with during the holidays.

As I mentioned above, we are getting ready to travel to Georgia to spend Thanksgiving with my son and daughter. It should be nice and the weather is going to warm up so that’s a plus, too. If you are in the US, I hope that you have a pleasant Thanksgiving and to everyone else, I hope you also have a very pleasant week. I will be back in a week and a half with a cross stitch update. As always, I’m very thankful that you choose to spend a few minutes of your day with me.

Brenda

WIP Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Hello Everyone and welcome to Works in Progress Wednesday. I hope you all are having a great week. It’s been cold here after some wonderfully warm days last week. In fact, we had our first snow flurries yesterday, which only lasted about 30 minutes, then we had cold, chilling rain. It’s supposed to be cold for the next week at least. Maybe I will get some things done this week since we won’t be enticed to spend our time outside.

Speaking of getting things done, I have a finish!

I finished A Turkey’s Thanks by Luminous Fiber Arts. It’s stitched on 25 ct Cloud Lugana, one over one, using the called for colors. It’s a small one! I will use one of the wooden pieces when I fully finish it. When I’m shopping, I’ll pick up things I think will work with finishing. The block on the left was $1 in the Target dollar spot a few years ago and I just got the other one at Hobby Lobby for less than $2 in the Fall section. Which one I use depends on if I want to add some color with another layer behind it.

I also finished the next section on the Peace on Earth Sampler from Cottage Gardens Samplings. That house is what attracted me to the sampler in the first place and this is my favorite section.

You can see what’s left for the bottom section. I have changed my plans for when I’m working on it. I want to fully finish Birds and Berries for display this Christmas. To make sure that happens, I’m going to switch that to my morning stitch and work on the sampler on the weekends. Once the stitching is finished on Birds and Berries, I’ll go back to this in the mornings. I think the sampler is going to end up being an odd size and I will have to have it professionally framed so I don’t think it can be ready for Christmas anyway.

Remember I showed you this group of smalls a few weeks ago? Well, I have them all kitted now. I also added my first Prairie Schooler Santa to the group. I probably won’t get them all finished, but I plan to start them all.

I already started the Daisy Kingdom Santa and need to finish the tree and backstitching. If the Santa didn’t have the iconic Daisy Kingdom plaid on his coat, you wouldn’t be able to tell that the design is over 30 years old. I am using the floss that came in the kit, which feels and looks like DMC, but did change out the Aida. I’m using 28 ct Antique White Monaco that I got from my Mom. I have never used Monaco before and I’m not sure I like it. The threads are very thick so the needle isn’t gliding through like it does on linen or Lugana. I am using a size 26 and I guess I could try a 28 to see if I like that better. When I finish both of these, I’ll be adding another mat board to the back with fabric for a layered look or at least add trim around the edges.

I didn’t post a quilting update this week because I didn’t have much to share. I’ve been quilting the On Point quilt and finished all the rows yesterday. I need to quilt the borders, then I can add the binding and have it ready for the season.

I hope you all have a great rest of your week and stay warm if you are experiencing cold weather where you are. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Brenda

WIP Wednesday, November 9, 2022

Hello Everyone and welcome to WIP Wednesday. Are you going from a beautiful warm Autumn to very cold later this week? We are. We had some nice warm 70 degree days over the weekend and into the first of the week. For the next few days, it will be normal, but by Sunday, we’re expecting highs in the 40’s and low’s in the 20’s. I’m not sure I’m quite ready for that. In anticipation of the colder weather, I finally cut down my summer flowers in my garden and containers. The weather has been so nice, I wanted to leave them as long as I could.

This week I have just a few things to share.

I’ve made progress on A Turkey’s Thanks but still have a ways to go. Since I’m stitching 1 over 1 on 25 ct, it’s going slower than 2 over 2. I use the stab and stitch method when stitching 1 over 1 so the floss doesn’t get lost behind the threads of the fabric. I may get it finished by Thanksgiving, but I’m not sure if I will get it fully finished by then.

This past weekend, I worked on Birds and Berries but didn’t quite get that small teacup finished. I took a little bit of time on Monday to get it finished. There are two more containers to stitch, then the stems in each plus the backstitch to finish. My new plan may be to start one of the vases on each of the upcoming weekends and work on them until they are finished. I would like to get this one finished and framed by Christmas.

Remember last week I showed the red progress on my house and that I didn’t like it.

I decided to rip all the red out and start over with the called for color. I like it so much better! I just need to stitch the rest of the snow and the last tree and cardinal and I will be finished with this row. Maybe I can get it done this week, but now that the time has changed, we’re walking earlier than we have been in the morning so I’m not getting in that extra bit of time on it.

Have you made stitching plans for the Holidays?

I was planning and pulling fabric and floss on Sunday afternoon for some of the things I want to stitch. I did get one of the ornaments I showed you last week kitted and started, but not enough stitching yet to share. My floor is still like this because I watched a little TV on Sunday afternoon while starting the ornament and since then, I’ve been quilting. I hope to find some time later in the week to get more organized. I’m ready to stitch some Christmas things.

I hope you all have a great rest of your week and stay warm if it gets cold in your area. Thanks for stopping by.

Brenda

Quilting Update and Shenandoah River SP

Hello Everyone and welcome to my weekly quilting update. This week has been spent getting three quilts ready to quilt. We also spent a warm November day hiking at Shenandoah River SP.

First up is a picture of my finished Autumn Stars top. I designed this quilt in August, 2018. It went through several iterations before this final version. The fabric is Cheddar and Indigo by Nancy Gere for Windom Fabrics. Those Navy and Cheddar colors are so timeless together. I ended up changing the border design and am glad it’s done. It’s a large quilt for me, 74″ x 86″. We were just past peak on the the color of the leaves when I took this picture earlier in the week.

I spent this week making the backing for Autumn Stars and basting Autumn Stars, On Point Quilt and the Moda Blockheads 4 Quilt. I took advantage of some nice warm days to spray baste the quilts outside using 505 spray. The only one I know how I will quilt is the On Point Quilt. I’m going to quilt it just like Angela Walters did. She used a combination of her walking foot and free motion quilting. I may use my rulers and free motion ruler foot for the straight lines I plan to quilt. When I finish it, I’ll let you know which I used. I have some ideas on the other two, but nothing firm yet.

We had another great, but very long hike at Shenandoah River SP just south of Front Royal, VA on Tuesday.

The leaves are past peak, but there was still lots of color on the mountains and in the woods. This was Hokie Hike #3.

We started the hike from the Overlook parking lot, then went on the Campground Trail and through the campground to get to the River Trail. The trails along the South Fork of the Shenandoah River are flat and even the ridge line is not very high. After a walk by the river, we wanted to go up on the ridge to the Redtail Ridge Trail.

I had a plan that would have been about 5 miles, but we couldn’t find the cut through to the ridge trails. By the time we finally got on the right trail to get there, we had hiked along the river several times. At the end of the day, it was almost 10 miles worth of hiking. Needless say, we were a little tired after that. It’s a beautiful park, so don’t overlook it if you’re in the area.

We hiked the end of the middle ridge in the picture above when we hiked to Buzzard’s Rock in August. We’ve done a lot of hiking recently and we’re lucky we have so many spots to hike in our “backyard”.

I’ll be busy this week quilting and who knows, we may go on another hike while the weather is nice. I hope you all have a great week and thanks for stopping by.

Brenda

WIP Wednesday, November 2, 2022

Hello Everyone and welcome to Works in Progress Wednesday. Where has the year gone? It seems that I was just making plans for the new year and here we are again, thinking about the holidays and all the new projects we want to start in 2023.

Have you moved on to Holiday and Christmas stitching yet? I’m getting ready, too. I have two fall themed smalls to finish, but I’m ready for a seasonal change.

I went through my stack of ornament and smalls charts on Sunday and pulled these to try to get stitched this season. The three on the lower right were a gift from my daughter, who got them from her boyfriends mother. Each is a kit, but I’ll change the fabric and probably the thread. The only date I saw was on the Daisy Kingdom kit, 1991. They will all be quick to stitch and will make nice gift tags before going on the tree. It’s a nice variety of things to stitch and I plan to get floss and fabric sorted this week.

As far as fall smalls, these two are the last I’ll be working on this year. On the left is Gathering Acorns and on the right is A Turkey’s Thanks, both by Misty at Luminous Fiber Arts. They both come as digital and paper patterns. Gathering Acorns is stitched on 32 ct Salted Carmel, 2 over 2, dyed by Misty and uses DMC 4130. Turkey is stitched on 25 ct Cloud Lugana from Lori Holt. I’m stitching 1 over 1 with the called for floss. It’s slower stitching because I have to stab and stitch, but I’m surprised at how well I see it with my regular glasses. Unless my eyes are really tired, I don’t have to use a magnifier. I hope to get the stitching finished on both in the next couple of weeks.

I’m making good progress on Birds and Berries, I have finished the right side! I have started working on it for two days a week now, still hoping to finish it by Christmas.

I’ve also made good progress on the Peace on Earth Sampler by Cottage Garden Samplings. Since I last showed it, I finished the third tree and have most of the house done and half the snow. I’m in a quandary, though. I’m not sure I like the red in the house.

I changed the reds because I couldn’t find the called for at the time. I’m using CCW Licorice Red for the lighter color and it calls for GA Antique Rose. I now have that color and could use it in the house and some of the motifs on the bottom. I might stitch a length against the orange to see what it looks like. What do you think? Should I change it?

That’s it for now. We are heading out shortly for a hike along the Shenandoah River (I’m writing this on Tuesday morning). It’s a beautiful day. I hope you all are enjoying some nice fall weather and the end of the changing of the leaves.

Have a great rest of your week and thanks for stopping by.

Brenda

Quilting Update and Smith Mountain Lake SP

Hello Everyone and welcome back. Today I have just a quick quilting update and then a few pictures from our camping trip last week.

This past week has been all about the borders! I sewed the borders onto the Moda Blockheads 4 quilt and made the binding, too! Now that it’s all sewn together and I turned the quilt this way, I like it better than I did. The only thing I could have done differently was to make the red sashing and the navy sashing between the blocks 1″ instead of 2″. I actually gave a thought to redoing it for about 10 seconds, then said no!

My quilt group went on a field trip on Friday to Web Fabrics in Purcellville. The shop has recently reopened under new management and also has an on-line store. Their specialty is carrying a large number of basics. They had every color of Moda Grunge. It wasn’t far away, so now I’ll have a place to go when looking for basics, backgrounds and backing fabric. I bought the green Color Weave by P & B Textiles for the MBH4 backing and I also bought backing for the Autumn Stars quilt. The orange in that was very difficult to match. Speaking of Autumn Stars, my plan is to finish the top this weekend and I’ll have it to share next week.

Now for a few pictures of our hikes while we were camping at Smith Mountain Lake SP.

For the first full day of our trip, we stayed in the park and hiked several trails in the park. We hiked a total of 7 miles that day, up and down a few ravines and in and out of coves of the lake. The picture above is where we had lunch overlooking the lake at the Discovery Center. Fortunately, the trails were pretty easy and we took our time. We were still tired at the end of the day, but the next morning we got up and did more hiking.

This time to the top of Sharp Top Mountain at the Peaks of Otter. Even though half the distance, it was much harder! We had 360 degree views from the top and it was beautiful. The day was much colder and it was windy. The hike was straight up almost all the way, but there was a little bit of a break as it neared the summit and you went from the west side to the east side with a more manageable incline. There were lots of rough stone steps, too. We ate lunch at the top, protected from the wind by the wall. There were a few other people around, but not too many. You can take a bus to the top if you want to have these incredible views without the hike, but there is still another quarter mile or so to get to the top. Going down was a little faster, but not easier for me. Sometimes I think I can go up and up and up, but coming down can occasionally bother my knees, plus some of the steps can be high for my short legs.

We really did enjoy this hike though and well worth the climb. In the above picture, we’re looking NW and down at the Peaks of Otter Lodge. We added in the Buzzard’s Roost spur for a total of 3.5 miles, 1.5 miles to the top, then back down with an elevation gain of approximately 1300 ft. So far, this has been our best hike for the views and the highest change of elevation we’ve hiked.

Both days we wore our “Hokie Hike” shirts. For several years now, the Virginia Tech Alumni Association has hosted Hokie Hikes for the months of October and November. I still need to post pictures of both hikes on Instagram. Look for more pictures of both hikes over there.

After the hike, we went by the Lodge to check it out. The lodge is on the Blue Ridge Parkway and there are several more hikes in the area. We definitely want to come back and maybe stay at the lodge for a few days. That’s Sharp Top Mountain in the picture above. We were way up there!

On the third day of our trip, we went to the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford. If you are ever traveling along I-81 and have time for a short trip, it is well worth your time. We took a tour which enhanced the visit greatly. The above picture of the memorial represents the allies coming onto the shore. It was so very well done. Right now, most of the sites are outside but the organization is raising money for a museum. We would have spent more time there but it was another cold and windy morning so we cut the visit short and had lunch in Bedford. You can see the Peaks of Otter in the background.

Except for the cold and windy mornings, we had a great trip. Smith Mountain Lake SP was a very nice park. The campground was clean and well maintained and there was a boat ramp, beach, picnic areas and cabins in the park, too.

I’m off to sew on the next set of borders for the Autumn Stars quilt. I will share that with you next weekend. I hope you all have a great week ahead and thanks so much for stopping by!

Brenda

WIP Wednesday, October 25, 2022

Hello Everyone. I would say welcome to Works In Progress Wednesday, but I will only be sharing finishes today! Yipee! I have been stitching on current WIPs, but I’ll wait until next week and more progress has been made on them.

Cinnamon Stars if framed and displayed so we can enjoy it for the rest of the season! I love, love, love it!!

I found the 8 x 10 frame in an Artisan Studio shop in Bedford, VA last week while we were camping. When I saw it, I was sure it would be perfect for Cinnamon Stars even though I didn’t have it with me. I mounted the stitching on a piece of foam core with batting on the top. I measured very carefully, then used a combination of pins and lacing to attach the stitched piece to the foam core.

Cinnamon Stars is designed by Plum Street Samplers. I started it on August 11, 2021 and finished on October 24, 2022 with a long break between late last year and mid summer this year. It’s stitched on 36 ct Sparrow by Luminous Fiber Arts, 2 threads over 2. I wanted saturated coverage on this one. I’ve changed some of the colors and added in more oranges. Most of the called for orange/brown colors were more brown than I wanted so I lightened some of those up and added more orange. Most of the stars coming out of the chimney have been changed, too. I’m going to find a place to display it in my sewing studio during the off season so I can see it all the time.

My next finish is “Welcome October” by Brenda Gervais of With Thy Needle and Thread. It’s the pin pillow in the front left with the crow, pumpkin and vines. It’s a freebie from 2009 from her website. I found it from Carol’s Stitching Dreams blog. She has a whole list of freebies on her sidebar. She also stitches beautiful pieces. (To see the names of the other pillows in the bowl, go here)

I changed the border which made the right side and the bird get a little squished in, but you really can’t tell. I pulled colors for it from my Autumn stitching bag as I went along. Some are over dyed threads and some are DMC. It’s stitched on 36 ct. Winter Moon, 1 over 2.

My last finish today is this Halloween piece that I finished stitching last year. It was a freebie I got from my mom that was given out in shops. The name is Pumpkin Pageant by Louise Young and is from 1992. It’s stitched on 32 ct Woodland Moss by Mt Aire Fabrics, 2 over 2 using the called for DMC’s. I don’t do a lot of Halloween anymore, but I have a few things (my daughter has taken most of the Halloween decorations). The mini quilt is Mini Dashing by Corey Yoder. If you’re interested in the quilt details, you can find them here.

That’s all I have for today. I hope you have a great rest of your week and thanks for stopping by.

Brenda

Quick Quilting Update

Hello Everyone! I was hoping to get a quilting update in last weekend, but we’ve been busy bees this past few weeks. I felt like I was caught up from the Maine trip and then we were off again last Sunday to Camp at Smith Mountain Lake SP near Roanoke, VA. The few days before that we went to a winery and to watch a Civil War Re-enactment, plus get ready for camping. I’ll have a post on camping soon. It was a great, but coldish trip.

It’s been several weeks since my last quilting update and I have accomplished a few things!

I got the backing made for the On Point Quilt. The fabric I bought to go with the back wasn’t enough so I added in the leftover strips from cutting the triangles. The the fabric is Basic Grey’s Figgy Pudding from a long time ago. I used the Grunge as a border and to add extra fabric to the back. Angela Walters made the quilt on an Episode of “The Midnight Quilt Show” and from a design by Cozy Quilt Designs. I need to buy batting and I will be ready to quilt!

I also made progress on Autumn Stars. I’ve got all the blocks sewn together and am working on sewing the rows together. I hope to have the top finished by the end of the week.

The Moda Blockheads 4 top is almost finished, too. I need to add the borders and call it complete. I’ve been playing around with the size of the blue border and I think I’m going with the narrow version. The white will go on the outside and I’ll either use the red or blue for the binding. I also hope to have this top finished by the end of the week.

Getting everything accomplished depends on what we do this week. It will probably be peek leaf time so we may take a drive. I’m also going to a quilt shop in a nearby town with the quilt group on Friday. I hope to find backing for both the Autumn Stars and Blockheads quilt. I also have a few cross stitch pieces to get fully finished. I’ll share those in my next post.

I hope you have a great start to your week and enjoy some lovely fall weather. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Brenda