Two Almost Finishes

Miss Snow Angel gained some personality this week when her sweet face, golden hair, and hair wreath were added!

A few finishing touches are needed. This week's link with Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching, I'll fill in the white dots on her cloak and dress. Actually, I like how she is looking without her white wings.  If I don't add the wings, she won't be an angel. Maybe then she'll become a Christmas Carol. Hmmm.....

The straight line quilting on the red and white was finished. During the last few rows, the quilt's name came to me as Shades of Red. In the last post I mentioned there are different shades of white embroidery floss. This week it is true for red as I think there are more than 15 red & white prints in the quilt. I'm working on the quilt binding and a reveal will be next week. Hint: the fabric is red and white.  :-)

A few days of hot weather and the clematis bloomed all at once.  The variety is The President.

Stay safe and continue 

wearing masks while out and about.

Take care,

Jill

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Slow Snow Angel

Christmas stitching in the month of May continues. A quick update on Lil' Miss Snow Angel. Last week I had a humbling moment when I was a bit too smug stitching on 32 count linen.  The use of chic double layers of magnifiers was great. Unfortunately while working on her outside in the natural light, I noticed her white muff looked dirty in one area. How could that be? Then I discovered my error. In my haste to get her started, two different brands of white floss were used. Grrrr. The difference bothered me enough that I decided to start anew. 

Should you desire the whitest embroidery floss, choose Anchor brand if available in your area. Now she's coming along nicely with a few stitches taken in found bits of time here and there.  Twenty minutes seems to be my max. More progress today as I join Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching linky party.

Dear Kathi at Designs Originals by KC kindly emailed to see if I lived near the Michigan damns that failed in heavy rainfall. 

I live 130 miles southeast of that area. Thankfully and amazingly no lives were lost. Optional info: The Detroit Free Press wrote an informative article on the evacuation. 

To my kindred stitching Americans, may you have a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend!  

Jill

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Sew Steady

Sewing steady while maintaining the course has been my motto this week.  It's working out well as progress was made on the yet-to-be-named red and white quilt. Using the walking foot and sewing straight lines is quite relaxing.

Cross stitching Lil' Miss Angel is coming along also. It was a pleasant surprise to learn that 32 count linen is possible for my aging eyes. Of course, I'm using magnifiers at 3.0 on top of my craft readers, and yes, I look like chic with all that eye wear ;-)

There have pleasant signs of spring this week.

Migrating Baltimore Oriole at our Feeder

Just hatched robin's egg that blew out of the nest.
Robin egg blue is my new favorite color.

Neighbor's cheerful bed of tulips

This past week the US Navy's Blue Angels flew over Metro Detroit as part of the their America Strong tour honoring front-line workers. We saw them from afar briefly as they fly by as fast as you can blink. Our view was not over Detroit but out in the suburbs. These are professional photos taken by a local publication.

Linking with Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitchers.

Take care,

Jill

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Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome dear blog friends! Meet my lovely sewing lady friend  named Penelope.  She was made in England by Royal Doulton. Perhaps some of you have seen her elsewhere.  She is elegant, regal and relaxed while she embroiders.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if our hand stitching process could be as such.  Maybe on Mother's Day, you will have more time for delicate hand sewing.

Today's project, while I join many of you at Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching, is a small cross stitch decoration.  It is all prepared and ready to be worked on.  It is named "Lil' Miss Snow Angel" by Sugar Stitches available on etsy.  With the aid of magnifiers, hopefully I can stitch on 32 ct linen. When completed, it measures only 3 x 4 inches (7.62 x 10.6 cm) so hopefully, I can finish.

During the past few weeks, I've also worked on the red and white quilt. Hand basting was completed and machine quilting was next. While I was hand basting, I had hopes that the quilt would tell me what quilting pattern to choose. It didn't happen.  All I knew was that I would use the walking foot as I'm not a free motion person. 

Although I consider myself more of a traditional quilter, this top has a contemporary feel and I struggled on deciding the quilting pattern. I tried standard quarter inch outline which looked blah. Then I tried curves & waves - made my astigmatism crazy going against the many straight lines. After spending too much time on pinterest and several samples, a plain straight line seemed to compliment it without making it too busy. Plus it is good walking foot practice without unnecessary stress.  ;-)

May in Michigan is a pretty month, flowering trees and shrubs begin to bloom.  My pink rhododendrons put on a show and then as a reminder that mother nature is in charge - it snows!  

All one can say is lol.  I'll close with a photo of a neighbor's huge weeping cherry tree.  Until next time, please take care and stay well!

Jill

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