Hills 'n' Hollers

I've been enjoying my slow stitching this week (what else is new, lol).

It's always exciting to start something new.

 I've had the pattern for Hills 'n' Hollers for a while now, and was inspired to start it as part of an Instagram sewalong, #shutdownstichalong. I'm sure those who know me know that I'm a sucker for a sewlong...but I think a lot of us are! Is it FOMO...Fear Of Missing Out???....maybe sometimes, but most of the time it's the enjoyment of doing something with a group of people.

Here is the row of applique that I laid out on the back of the longarm earlier this week to get the spacing of the Hills right....

It's working up quite quickly. The pieces are about 6 or 7" tall and there are thirteen of them. I think this was my third morning working on them and I have only one more hill to stitch.  

In this next picture you can see that I basted all the pieces onto the background before starting the applique. I've done this in the past when there is a lot of vines on a long border, and it made sense to do it this time, too.  It really doesn't take long at all to prepare with the basting stitches, and it's all secure with no pins getting in the way.

I had intended on using my stash of Jen Kingwell fabrics for this project, but when I went to my local quilt shop I saw that they have started carrying Cotton and Steel fabrics (love!). I have a lovely stash of Cotton and Steel fabrics so I switched up the plan and am very happy about it.

I hope today to take some time to prepare the next row of hills. There is only one more row in the small size of this quilt and the hills are somewhat taller.

Here it is on the design wall with my Chapman Coverlet blocks...

Hopefully you can find some time to do something you love to do today. We may be in for some thunderstorms today so some extra stitching may happen in my house today.

I'll be linking up with Kathy today for her Slow Sunday Stitching.

And, just because, I'll share a picture of my run yesterday at the Jarvis Lions' Park. It was too bloody hot and it wasn't pretty....but I did enjoy the game of hopscotch that someone had provided...