One Monthly Goal - August Finish

My goal for August was to complete my Halo quilt top.

This was a quilt that I started a couple of years ago then stalled on. I'm glad that I came across a Halo sewalong on Instagram that helped motivate me to get back at it. We were to do two blocks per week....easy peasy.

I'm so happy that I accomplished my goal...

When it came time to sew the blocks together I used a method of organizing the blocks that I learned on a retreat last year. 

Normally I would gather up all the blocks for the first two vertical rows off of the design wall and sew them together, then gather up each subsequent row and sew it on. 

This method, instead, has you get all of the blocks carefully stacked in a pile waiting to be sewn together.  It's a bit scary, but it works! Thanks to SS for teaching me a new trick!

And, of course, I just had to put a few stitches in....there's just something special about the very beginning of a hand-quilting project.

I'm using Hobb's wool batting, which is like quilting through butter, and Wonderfil Spaghetti thread for big-stitch quilting. For someone like me that has spent 40 years working on traditional tiny stitches, this kind of quilting is taking some concentration. 

I love everything about this quilt....I wish I'd had the patience to make it a bed-sized quilt, but I settled for a lap-sized quilt :(

Meanwhile, I've been a bit behind in the Summer Sampler 2020 sewalong. One block is released each week. The theme this year is blocks that are constructed in a manner easier than they seem. They are all quite unique and are looking good up on the design wall.

In the picture above you can also see a narrow peek of my Leaders and Enders blocks. I've been keeping two little containers near my sewing machine...one with 1" light strips, and the other with 1" dark strips. I'm really wanting this to be a full bed quilt so I imagine I'll be working on it for a while!

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of a bouquet of roses from our garden. They are really starting to flourish (it's a fairly new garden), and they have suffered a little from a couple of heat waves we've had this summer, but we are getting some spectacular blooms.

I am linking up with Elm Street Quilts for One Monthly Goal - August Finish, and with Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?.

Peaceful handquilting

I thought I was finished with making PPE. 

I haven't made any masks, but I've sewn scrub gowns and many scrub caps. I liked the fact that I was helping out in a way that we sewers can, but I was happy to be done with it.

Then I went to the dentist this past week to have a tooth repaired. The dental assistant had a home-sewn scrub cap on and I commented that she must have a sewer in her family...but, no, she bought it off of Marketplace online. That got the conversation going....on how the dental office were now looking for more of these caps. 

So, what's a quilter to do??? 

When I try the caps on they kind of make me feel like I belong in Little House of the Prairie...

It was quite an eye-opener, seeing the new protocol they are utilizing at the dentist. I feel sorry for them....but I was glad they were able to fix my tooth.

My Slow Sunday Stitching consisted of sewing buttons onto the caps that I've completed. The buttons are to hook the mask elastic onto, to help avoid constant friction on the ears. My son, who works in a hospital, says the buttons are a "game changer". I have four more caps to finish off today....then I'm done!....lol, we'll see.

Like I said, I haven't made any masks, but a good friend of mine made me a nice one...

...can you tell that she is a running friend???

After I finished sewing the buttons onto the caps I picked up some hand-quilting that I haven't touched in months. This is a pattern called Shimmer...

I'm using Coral YLI quilting thread which is showing up nicely on the front and on the back.

I always seem to forget the feeling of peace that comes over  me as I hand-quilt. In these stressful times I should make more time for quilting as I do look at it as my yoga.

I had wanted to have this one ready for the Fall fair this year...but in all probability the fair will be cancelled for 2020.  Here's my opinion....maybe they could reduce the fair this year to just agriculture/animal displays and the Homecraft displays. I'd better keep stitching on this quilt "just in case".

A couple of years ago I started working on Jen Kingwell's Halo quilt. I think I made two blocks and stalled. A couple of months ago I spotted an Instagram sewalong for Halo and figured this is what I needed to get me sewing on this UFO.

Here are my blocks, so far, not necessarily in their final spot...

My kind of quilt....full of jolly scrappiness!!!

Everyone's gardens seem so wonderful this year. For me, I was overcome at the beauty of my Wisteria. I've never seen it so lush and full of blooms...

....and the aroma was just as wonderful.

That's all for now....I'd better get at the last few scrub caps and hopefully make some progress on my Bonnie Hunter Unity quilt....which is intended to be a birthday present for my grandson who will be turning 4 next week. I've given myself an extra week lee-way to get this done. Hopefully by the next Slow Sunday Stitching day I will be working on the binding!

I am linking up with Kathy today for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Sit back and relax a bit

Today I need to find some time to prep a bit of applique. 

I do have some EPP to do and I did do a bit this morning. My Tula Nova is coming along nicely, but it's getting bigger and a bit more cumbersome to work on.

You can see on the purple-striped section that I am trying something new-to-me. 

There is something called the flat-back stitch for joining EPP pieces, and I've tried it before...unsuccessfully. My attempt looked sloppy and loose. The purpose of this stitch is to actually look neater and not see see stitches from the front, as you can kind of see when doing the whip-stitch.

I tried using painters' tape for this method, but it didn't hold well enough while inserting multiple-pieced segments, like I'm doing now. Then I tried gift-wrapping tape....stickier than the painters' tape but not sticky enough to leave any residue on the fabric.

I have to say, my attempt at the flat-back stitch this time was much more successful...

Hmmm, maybe you can see in the picture above....on the right of the otter is some whip-stitching....to the left of him is the flat-back stitches. 

As you can see, I'm still "old school" and baste my pieces to the foundation paper. I'm not finding it easy to do the newfangled gluing method.....and that's ok, as I even enjoy the thread-basting process.

Thanks to SS for walking me through the flat-back stitch. I really do try to be open to different methods even though I may stumble a bit at first :)


So, today I am fatigued. It feels too busy, physically, lately. I've been doing some painting this week...this morning I'll do the last hour or so needed to finish the job then really take it easy for the rest of the day.

I'd really like to prep the next block on my Kim McLean Animal Album quilt.

Here is the first block, practically done....I just need to prep three more small circles....

I do love very busy quilts!!

The other day I posted a picture of me with my arms full of garlic, you can see that post here.

Yesterday we tackled braiding the garlic. It was fun, and the first attempt without supervision. There is definitely room for improvement, but I'm quite happy with the result...

I think we should have made two smaller braids instead of the one, but once we got going it was hard to stop!

Well, I'd better get to my painting. I've always enjoyed painting, but I'm ready to have it done with.

I'll leave you with a picture of how my Temperature Quilt is coming along. This is it complete from January to the end of July...

I'm loving this one, and may even think of doing another version for 2020!  

Have a lovely day, and hopefully you get a chance to sit back and relax a bit.

I am linking up with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching.

One Monthly Goal - August

August???....already???....

I thought I'd check in and share what is up on the design wall lately at my house. 

First up....my Temperature Quilt, which is across the top of the picture.

Those rows represent May, June, and July....I actually finished the July row this morning so I'm almost up-to-date.

All the rows for January thru' April are sewn together and by the end of August I'd like to have the whole thing all together so I can share it a the next Guild meeting.

I figure it will be nice to show this one in progress so other people who may want to do a Temperature Quilt for 2020 can start looking for ideas for their own quilt. The secret?....keep the block choice simple so as not to get bogged down with it. I only work on mine once a week or so and it's very quick to do.


Next up...a quilt that I haven't shared yet. It's one I came across on Instagram called Shades of Scotland Souvenir Quilt. 

Here are the blocks....

There will be 16 blocks in total. When I go to Scotland in the Fall each block will "photo-bomb" a photo of some Scottish scenery, so when I put the quilt together I'll have a nice memento of my trip!

You can check the idea out at #shadesofscotlandsouvenirquilt on Instagram. You can also follow me on Instagram at @sandra.croley if you'd like to see my version progress when I am in Scotland!

Mine won't be a large quilt....the blocks are supposed to be 6.5"....mine are only 5-7/8" due to a printing problem, which is ok since they will all be consistently that size.


Next up is a BOM I'm falling a bit behind on....Geometric Fun designed by Gosia  at Quilts My Way...

That picture represents blocks 1 and 2....block 5 has just been released, so I have some sewing to do! 

Here is my colouring page for this quilt...

Getting this one up-to-date will be my goal for August.



I've started a new "leader and ender" project this month to use up small scraps. 

The blocks are log cabins, starting with a 1/2" orange centre and 1" logs.

I'm not quite sure if this one will work because there may not be enough contrast between the lights and darks, but I will continue as I have a vision for this quilt and I will trust that vision...for now.


Finally, I'll share some gardening pictures.

My perennial bed is out of control with weeds and such this year, but that is a project for this month. 

I do love this lily, which was a gift four years ago. The lily has always been beautiful, but it's never been this tall!....

.....and I don't know why it gives me so much pleasure to succeed at garlic, but it does...

I know what is on the calendar for this weekend...braiding the garlic :)


I didn't know whether to share this, but what the heck!! lol....

I've recently run a unique 5k....which was held at a nudist campground. During the race the runners had dyed cornstarch thrown us. I'll never do a marathon or a triathalon, but I can now say I've done something that many people haven't!! 

I don't know who had it worse for bouncy bits...the women or the men, bwahahaha!!! Not a great picture, but it's all you're getting!

I am linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?,  Busy Hands Quilts for Finished or Not Fridays, and with Elm Street Quilts for One Monthly Goal - August.

Keeping up.....so far!

I feel proud of myself this week! 

I've actually kept up with the first month of my latest starts :)

I've already shown you the block that begins the Eleanor Burns Quilt in a Day BOM called Fun on the Farm....

I'm still not sure if the piggy block needs some embroidery or not....I'll probably just call it "done" as it is.


I've completed the first block for the Save the Bees sewalong...

I like the embellishing on the Bees block. I think the petals could use a little something, but I'm not quite sure yet what that something is.

I've also finished the first block of my Summertime Sampler, I just need to get some little beads for the eyes.

I also learned something new this week, thanks to a quilty friend of mine. Here I am with my first garlic braid that I've ever done...

Why does this give me such pleasure?,.....I don't know!!!, but it does.

Today I am linking up with Busy Hands Quilts for Finished or Not Fridays and with Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?.

Another Beautiful Summer's Day!

It's another hot and humid weekend. I've had a bit of applique-time this morning, will have a bit of breakfast as I write this post and get outside to do a bit of yardwork before the day gets too hot.

I also have a bit of unexpected planting to do. We made our way to a local garden centre on Saturday to get a gift card for my son's upcoming birthday. So nice to get him something he really wants since I find it difficult to come up with birthday ideas for grown "children"! 

I thought that if I saw a nice phlox on sale I'd buy one for my own garden. Well, we found a phlox, a butterfly bush and a beautifully coloured echinacea. Garden centres are just as dangerous to visit as fabric stores!

Hmmm, the picture really doesn't do this one justice as it is quite a deep red in real life.

I had a few days this week where I didn't have the time to prep any applique and had to resort to some embroidery. I have to say, it's nice to have the embroidery as back-up, but I much prefer to applique.

I did finally get started on another block for my Simple Folk quilt. 

Sometimes I take a few moments to baste pieces to the block which will need other pieces stitched under it. I know I could use fabric glue, but the basting only takes a few moments and I do prefer it.

Most times it is vines and stems that are basted down. This block has a stem and an urn that I basted...

I love the flower on this block!

Today I am linking up with Kathy to see what others are doing for Slow Sunday Stitching. Kathy is working on a sewalong that actually starts tomorrow (which I am also going to do, lol).

Stay cool and enjoy the day!

One Monthly Goal - September

My goal for September....drum roll, please.....

Once again, my monthly goal will be the row of houses for my Down the Rabbit Hole quilt. 

I think the houses have been my goal a couple of times in the past, but this month it's gonna happen!!!

Yesterday I finished binding my Along Came a Spider quilt (yes, my Tula Pink City Sampler has a new name), so I took a bit of time to prep the next round of the Rabbit Hole...the wedge row.

It's a bit easier than I thought it would be but I'm having trouble picking fabrics for some of it...

I posted my quandary on the Down the Rabbit Hole facebook page and I had a good suggestion. I'll post a picture when I try it!

Here's how it looks so far....

It's been a disappointing Summer for my perennial garden, but the Hibiscus has given a nice, bright show this week....

....and I've been asked for some puppy pictures, so I'm happy to share a few....

Today I am linking up with...

Elm Street Quilts for OMG - One Monthly Goal
Busy Hands Quilts for Finished or Not Friday
Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop!

Have a wonderful first day of September!

Rabbit Holes and Pineberries!

I did manage to get a few stitches in this morning despite sleeping in a bit. A perfect morning for it as it is rainy, cold and gloomy! I'm supposed to go for a run in an hour, but it's hard to imagine getting motivated to get ready and out the door!

I've been making steady progress on my Down The Rabbit Hole BOM. 

I still need to prep a few of the circular flowers.  I do have some ready but I'm not sure they will show up against the background.

Here they are placed on the piece....would love some feedback. I probably will replace them, it wouldn't be much at all to do so.

Hmmm, looking at the picture, I think I can see my answer clearly!


We've had a bit of a start to Spring gardening. We've planted something called Pineberries...

They are like a strawberry, but white and with the flavour of pineapples. Most of them have been planted in the garden, but we've read that they can do well in containers, so we've put two in a pot...

They seem to be happy, so far!

I am linking up with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching and with Quilting is More Fun Than Housework for Oh, Scrap!.

Have a lovely Spring day!