Sunday stitches...

It seems that Spring is finally here in Southern Ontario....hope I'm not jinxing it! It feels so good to be out in the sunshine and a bit of warmth.

I have a bit of sewing that needs doing today, but hopefully the rest of the day will be spent outside enjoying the weather.

I started my day as usual, with a bit of hand-sewing.  I'm working on the next segment of my Queen's Garden so I can present it at the next guild meeting. I've been leading this as a BOM, with permission from the designer. 

This month we are working on two of these blocks.....

There will be a bit off embroidery going on and then these two blocks will actually be sliced in half diagonally to create four setting triangles.

Here is some of what has been completed so far...

It feels like this one is getting closer to being a real quilt top!

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A new sewalong this month is the Jen Kingwell "Dear Jen".

I think there will be 75 blocks in all...and we are given 6 block patterns per month. 

I was a little frustrated with myself as I worked on the first block. I made many mistakes....just due to my own inattention, but I finally got it done. This one was done using hand-piecing. The blocks will all be 6" finished.

And, of course, it wasn't until it was done that I figured it could have used a bit more contrast between the background and the green fabric....but too bad, I'm calling this one done!!!

The next block went together much more easily. I decided to construct this one with English Paper Piecing. It still came out a bit bubbly, who knows why??!!!.....but it's not bad....

The background fabric is one that I won in a fabric bundle at Retreat a couple of weeks ago. Who took shorthand in high school??....I did, although it was the other sort....maybe known as Faulkner? I did enjoy shorthand, but did I ever use it in the work-place?....nope!....but I still will use a bit if I'm jotting down a quick note to myself.

I am linking up with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching. Hopefully you get a few moments to put in a couple of stitches on whatever you are working on and also get outside to soak up some Vitamin D.

Sunday Stitching, Show and Tell

Happy Easter!

I've taken a break from blogging this past month. It's been a forced hiatus as I have been taking steps to de-stress my life a bit. Not that blogging has ever been a chore, or stressful, but it felt like something I could put on hold for a short while.

I've also taken some of my quilty projects off the to-do list, in an attempt to simplify life. I do have to admit, though, to another sewalong beginning at the end of April, lol. 

I wish I could somehow fit a relaxing activity like yoga or pilates into the mix, but at the moment it doesn't seem to be happening. Luckily I have my morning slow-stitching....which I often refer to as my "yoga". 

Since I was last here in blog-land I completed my Hand-piecing Sewalong. I think I'll try to get this one basted soon so I can do a bit of hand-quilting when the mood strikes me. It is 26"square and I contemplated adding a border, but I think this will be it.

I've also completed the fourth and final block from the wool applique class that I was taking at Quilt Junction lately. I learned a lot of cool stitches and am happy with my blocks. I think I will sew these together and make a small, decorative pillow.

On my to-do list tomorrow will be to do the prep-work for the next block for my Queen's Garden. In the meantime, this morning, I worked on my Tula Nova EPP....which is normally saved for "away" stitching...

I'm a little behind in my Harry Potter QAL. I did get the "Dobby the House Elf" block completed, but then it was given away and I'll have to make another....which kind of sucks, as it was a difficult block with a couple of issues ( not issues with the pattern, issues with my piecing! ) ...

Dobby was an intricate block.....then came the Hogwart's Express block!!!....it was even more-so...and in the end it did not work out well. 

There's a big, fat error in the piecing....which I can live with. What you can't see, due to the magic of cropping, is the uneven edges to  my block....so much so that I don't think it will be fudge-able when it comes to joining it with the other blocks. Also, I think I will change the numeral 2 in the block so it looks less like a backwards 5. 

Here is a reminder of the previous blocks....

In my quest to organize and de-stress, I am trying something called a Bullet Journal. As someone who enjoys working with lists I think this may be a good thing, who knows. If any of you uses a Bullet Journal, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.


It's been an early morning for me...I find that happens when there is a lot to do to prepare for a family gathering. We are having most of the family over for an Easter lunch.

 I'll be trying a couple of new recipes, one being a crust-less quiche...I hope it works out! 

On Saturday I made something ahead of time, to free-up some oven time for today. This bread was something my mother would often make. It's made with a sweet dough and when it comes out of the oven you put jam in the creases of the braid and a thin icing on the humps. I have to say, I'm impressed with the results, even though the flavour of the bread is slightly different from what I remember of my mom's. Of course, I had to test it out by having a slice (or two)....

That's all for now....have a wonderful day. I hope it includes a bit of slow stitching.

I am linking up with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching, and also with Elm Street Quilts for the Hand-piecing QAL Finale. 

Stitching on a Sunday

I feel like I usually start my posts with a comment about the weather...so why should today be any different?

After a beautiful day yesterday, today seems blustery and grey. It's milder so the precipitation is rain instead of the white stuff. 

Seems like a perfect day for extra slow stitching time, a bit of book reading and continued de-stashing in the sewing room.

Yes, finally this week I began the ruthless process of packing up fabrics that I'm not in love with anymore. 

You see, the problem the last while has been that my newer additions to the stash have accumulated into piles here and there in the sewing room. I've known that I wanted to do a major overhaul, but it's difficult to make the time. 

My goal is to just take a half hour here and there to make progress. I have to say, I've already filled 2.5 of those large, clear garbage bags and it feels so good! 

These fabrics will find a new home and be used by someone else.


On Friday I went to the third of four classes at Quilt Junction on wool applique stitching....featuring little Sue Spargo kits.

Here is the block that I've recently completed...

This is the block we worked on this month...

Some of the stitches seem like they are going to be so difficult, such as the Pekinese Stitch that we learned this month. This is the stitching around the upper wings on the butterfly. Turns out it is super simple and quite lovely.

This mornings slow stitching was prepping the block for next month's class. All the pieces get stitched down with a fine, blind stitch.....

So, one of the reasons I took this class is that I've been stitching away at my Summertime Sampler BOM and quite enjoying it. Here you can see a block stitched as instructed using a blanket-stitch around all the pieces....which is quite nice....

....but when I heard of the stitching class being offered, I thought wouldn't it be fun to add some "Spargo" to these blocks!

Here is the Summertime Sampler block that I am currently working on...

Yup, I'm in love with the look of the stitches, and the process of figuring out which stitches to use!


I took part in the St. Patricks Day 5k down in Hamilton yesterday...such a beautiful, sunny day...not too cold, although there was a crisp breeze coming in off of Lake Ontario. Perfect conditions for me!

Here are Paula and I waiting for the starting gun...

Note to self....wear green next year! 

Paula runs a bit quicker than I do...typically by the 1k marker I lose sight of her. Yesterday I seemed to be always within 100' of her and the thought crossed my mind that she was having an "off" day.

Well, it turns out that I happened to run my fastest 5k ever! If it hadn't been a timed event I would have been sure my watch had malfunctioned!!! I'm still on Cloud 9 this morning :)

I am linking up with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching. Hopefully you can visit with her today as she has a particularly interesting project to share with you.

Sewalongs

Hmmm, I'm starting to think I may be involved in too many sewalongs! 

One of them will be ending in a couple of weeks, though...the Hand-Pieced QAL. 

I finished up the stitching on this week's block during my morning coffee today...

I have also been keeping up nicely with the Harry Potter sewalong. This week we worked on Snape...

Here are the whole gang hanging on the design wall...

That's about all for today....except I just have to share...

I was so excited to get the email yesterday informing me that my Down the Rabbit Hole has been accepted to the National Juried Show this year in Ottawa! 

As someone who has been a hand-quilter since I was 19 in 1980, it feels so special to have a hand-quilted quilt accepted...I can't even explain how it feels!

It's been quite a few weeks since I submitted my quilt. Then I had to put it out of my mind. I really couldn't believe it when the email came in :)

Now....anyone going to Quilt Canada this year?....Maybe you could take a picture of my quilt hanging in the show for me? That would be wonderful.

Today I am linking up with Elm Street Quilts for the Hand Pieced QAL, and with Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social.

Slow stitching.....and a glimpse into something else!

Yay.....it's March!....March always makes me feel good because we should start seeing glimpses that Spring will indeed happen once again.

I've done a bit of slow stitching this morning, as usual. For the past few mornings I've worked on my wool applique project, the Summertime Sampler BOM.

The first step is whip-stitching all the components onto the background...

Here is a previous block, so you can see how things look after the embroidery....although I can see I still need to attach some eyeballs to the birds...

I've been skipping the blanket-stitching lately because I have something else in mind...

I've been taking a wool applique class at Quilt Junction, where we are learning lots of cool Sue Spargo stitches to spice up our wool applique projects. Here is this past month's block...and, again, another block where I still have to complete the eyeball!...

I'm so surprised at how simple, but effective, some of these stitches can be! 

Also, I have to mention, when I posted the above picture on Instagram, I had a comment from Sue Spargo herself! 

So, my plan is to utilize what I am learning in these classes to dress up my Summertime Sampler blocks...should be lots of fun. 

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Now, just a glimpse of some blocks I worked on on Saturday. I'll explain more in a future post, but I just need to share pictures of these sweet blocks.

Here is a typical log cabin.....probably one of my favourite blocks....

.....but here are my two little log cabins shown in a way that you can see the scale of the blocks....

The finished size of these blocks is 1-1/4" !!!!!

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Now I am going to hijack this post for a completely different topic. I promise this will be a one-time thing....future posts will be all quilty-goodness.

A few months ago, completely by accident, I learned of a lifestyle called Intermittent Fasting.

I had, for a few months, been on Weight Watchers to try to slim down a little bit for my son's wedding in November. This experience helped me be more aware of my meals and I did lose a few pounds, but after taking a break for the wedding week, I never really seemed to get back into tracking my meals.

Mid-November is when I heard of IF....and I thought, what the heck, I'll try it through the week and take a break on weekends. Well, right from the get-go I have settled very comfortably into this way of life.

Here is the concept in a nutshell...

You eat how you like in a window of time through the day. A common window is an 8-hour one. That's how I started....only eating between 10am and 6pm. This is referred to as 16:8....fasting for 16 hours and eating only in the 8 hour span.

During the clean fast you only consume water, black coffee, black tea, green tea or unflavoured sparkling water.

I thought there was no way this could work for me, as I was one to typically get "hangry"....I'd usually eat breakfast at 8am and if lunch was an hour late I would get dizzy and very irritable.

To my utter surprise, I have not experienced this once since starting IF. I think it is because I am not starting the "engine" first thing in the morning. Believe me when I say, I do not feel hunger during my fast.

Now for some benefits....

People refer to this way of life (note, it's not a diet) as being full of health benefits, with a side effect of weight loss.

Well, I have not seen the scale move much, I seem to bobble back and forth with the same three pounds....but my body is changing, thats for sure.

Evidently during a fasted state, our cells experience something called Autophagy....a theory that someone has actually won a Nobel prize for in 2016. What seems to happen is that, while in a fasted state, our cells will work on repairing our body.

So, for me, even though there is not a lot of change on the scale, my cells are working hard at building muscle and bone.

The testimonials on the Facebook pages are amazing. One thing I see over and over again are peoples accounts of having reversed their Type 2 Diabetes, high blood pressure, among other things.

I will certainly be looking forward to getting my blood-work done in a couple of months.

This is not a quick fix, but I will say that myself and a couple of others that I know personally can tell you we feel so good. I am feeling like my old self again in many ways....like I'm ten years younger. I have much more energy and I am getting so much more accomplished in my day. 

I could go on, but I know this has been lengthy already. I just have to say, what have you got to lose? This is terribly easy and it's free!

The only money I'd suggest spending are on two books. One is this one....

What a great title....sums it all up....you can eat the foods you've always loved, you just have to delay eating them until your "window".

The other book is by Dr. Jason Fung, a kidney specialist from Toronto. His book is The Obesity Code, and is a much more science-y book. A great read, but I'd start with Delay, Don't Deny as it reads like you're having a conversation with your girlfriend. I think, at this time, that it is only available on Amazon.

I'll end by saying that, of course, I have no medical training, so if this sounds interesting to you, have a talk with your doctor if you have medical issues. I hesitated to write all this, but I just had to, as I feel like I've stumbled upon some big secret to the fountain of youth :)

I won't write of this again....if you have something you'd like to ask me, you can email me at sandra.croley@gmail.com

Have a lovely Sunday!

I am linking up with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching.

My Design Wall

Today I am going to share my design wall with you.

I am lucky enough to have space for a design wall that is 8' wide and goes from floor to ceiling.

When we installed it, my husband wondered at it's size. Now he admits that I've made great use of it!

Here is the view today...

Too many sewalongs....I know, I know!!!!

There is the latest block in the Harry Potter QAL, Hagrid, hosted by Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts...

Here are all the blocks, so far...

I wasn't sure of my fabric choices for Dumbledore, but I've grown to love him...even though he looks like he has a booger hanging out of his nose...

There is the Hand-pieced SAL....still keeping up...

In the above picture, you can also see three blocks for the Dear Jane sewalong that begins this month. I have to admit, I'm still nervous about this one....but the blocks are so sweet!


There is also the 52blocks52 weeks, that the Canadian Quilters' Association is hosting this year...

There is a block (the orange and green diamond block) that won't make the cut. I used a vintage fabric that I like and it turns out being too dull for the cheery 30's reproduction prints in the other blocks. 

I considered letting this project go....but it's only one 6" block per week so I'll keep at it.

Here is the area where some of my I Am Enough quilt is hanging out...

My One Monthly Goal for February had been to get three more components completed for the I Am Enough. That did not happen....I just got the Around the World section done.

My goal for March....I think it will be to get two more sections done for I Am Enough. Wish me luck!....I'm going to need it!

In the above picture, you can also see my February row of my Temperature Quilt entwined amongst the other "stuff". I'm not sure if I can get much sewing done today, but I will finish off the February part of the Temperature Quilt. I don't work on it daily, I find it easy enough to do it every five days or so since the blocks are simple. 

I think that about sums up all I want to say about the state of my design wall today...even though I've left a few items out. 

I am linking up with Elm Street Quilts for One Monthly Goal, and also with Elm Street Quilts for the Hand Pieced QAL.

Have a great weekend!

Sunday stitches....

What a fast week it's been!

It surprises me, as February always seems to drag out for me even though it is the shortest month. 

We have to go out this afternoon down Niagara-way to check out my daughter and her girlfriend's new house that they are buying. It's not supposed to be nice weather at all today, but you wouldn't know it by looking out the window right now....still and sunny!

I hope the weather holds off. After we are finished looking at the house I want to visit my favourite winery and favourite Mexican restaurant while in the area. 

I haven't had much time to sew this week, but hand-stitching always seems to get accomplished :)

This morning I worked on a couple of my Chapman Coverlet blocks....these literally take moments to complete as they are so tiny...

.....and a couple more from the other day, so you can get more of an idea of the scale of the blocks...

Hmm, maybe we will get the windstorm, after all....as I'm sitting writing this post it's as if a curtain has been drawn, it's got so dark all of a sudden.....and the wind is picking up right away!

I did get my block completed this week for the Hand Pieced QAL...

....I love this block!....although I know I was daydreaming as I stitched, and had to un-sew a couple of times when I sewed things together incorrectly. There will be nine blocks for this sewalong, here are my blocks, so far...

This morning I did the applique on this little Dear Jane block...

I am so pleased with this little block and can picture a whole scrappy quilt made of it. (Uh oh, sounds like another "squirrel" moment)

Today was the first time trying out the Clover Black Gold needles. I was lucky enough to find them at my local quilt shop during a class yesterday. I've been curious about them since hearing Kathy from Kathy's Quilts recommend them.

I did enjoy using this needle....hard to explain why, but it did feel good in my hand. 

My only complaint...I'm not one to like a package of different-sized needles, I'd much rather buy a whole package of the size I prefer. Maybe they do come packaged that way, I'll have to keep an eye out.

I also worked a bit on this month's block for my Queen's Garden quilt...

I've enjoyed this block, as it's a bit easier than the first four....but funnily enough, I'm finding it a bit boring and may try to dress it up with a bit more embroidery with the perle cotton. 

It seems like I've accomplished a lot of slow-stitching this morning....but, really, each project was just a little bit of work. Nice to see progress, though!!

Well, now it's looking a bit brighter outside again. I hope we get to stick to the plan today. I'm so looking forward to that chimichanga!!

Today I am linking up with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching, and with Elm Street Quilts for the Hand Pieced QAL.

Have a lovely day, that hopefully includes some quilty time.