All posts by Sherry

Carol

Quilting
from Little Handfuls of Scraps by Edyta Sitar

Somehow I missed this page when I was alphabetizing the projects in the book Stacia, Deloise and I are working from.

It looked simple enough; scraps of fabric sewn together for the centre and more scraps of fabric around the edges. All in all those scraps of fabric consisted of more than a hundred 1″ pieces.

I thought I was making great progress when I had the centre done before lunch. I managed to get the whole thing finished before the day was over. However both Stacia and Deloise had their respective projects finished by noon, proving once again that I will never catch up to (let alone get ahead of) my sisters.

Happy Birthday Laurie

Cards, Quilting

September 26, 2024

Big Stitch Hand Quilted Mug Rug (from the Polkadot Chair)

I’ve only made a few attempts at hand quilting but one of the mug rug patterns that I’ve been using for cards was a chance to try it again.

The instructions used an extra layer of cotton rather than batting in the centre. This made it easy to try my big stitches but it also makes for a very flimsy finish. Fortunately the thread colour doesn’t show up much on the fabric as my stitches aren’t very even or evenly spaced.

I’m late getting this project posted to my website but I hope Laurie received it in time for his birthday celebrations.

An Irish Country Courtship

Books

Author: Patrick Taylor

Pat picked this book out for me at the Texada Library Book Sale. I was surprised to see that the author, originally from County Down in Northern Ireland, now lives on Saltspring Island.

The story revolves around two GP’s working out of the same clinic in a small village in Ireland. Their love lives are complicated and one ends well and the other not so well. The best part of the book, for me, were the stories of their patients. I could hear the accents from the beginning of the book and the author includes a glossary of translations for the lesser known phrases and words. From reading the author’s notes I think this is one in a series of books focussing on these two doctors but I’m not tempted to read another.

Goodreads Rating: * * *

Biscornu

Needlework

September 15, 2024

Biscornu (by Michaela Learner)

I read a post on Facebook that you could use lavender to stuff a pin cushion. I liked that idea and we have lots of lavender growing in the yard. I had a pattern for a small pin cushion made from a couple of squares of quilting cotton. Then, just a few days later, a pattern for a biscornu popped up in one of my Facebook groups so I decided that would be fun to make.

I was using scrap pieces of canvas for the two sides so the pin cushion is a lot larger than the pattern called for. It took a lot of lavender and I had to add a bit of stuffing to pop out the sides. I call it a pin pillow and have it sitting by my chair for evening stitching.

I love the aroma of lavender I get whenever I change needles (mostly because I’ve dropped and lost the one I’m using).