Happy Birthday Tracie

August 15, 2024

Improv Summer Sun Mug Rug (The Polka Dot Chair)

I’m definitely more of a “pattern girl” than improv but I thought I’d give it a try. It worked out okay but were I to do it again (and I won’t) there are things I’d do differently.

I was late getting this card in the mail but I hope it isn’t too late for Tracie to get some of those final summer rays.

Elodie

From Little Handfuls of Scraps by Edyta Sitar

This was my July project for stitching with Stacia and Deloise. It took me until the middle of August to get it done but who’s keeping score. I was determined to get it finished before our August sewing day so at least I met that challenge.

I thought the baskets were fiddly to sew but that border was even worse. I’m missing points on pretty much everything but done is done.

I had my roll of batting out for another project so got it sandwiched without having to sew together small scraps. The quilting is very simple so it went quickly.

It hung for a minute on the stairwell until I replaced it with another long overdue project. I’m still hoping to find a home for it somewhere on the stairwell.

Farmhouse

Farmhouse (by Coach House Designs)

I purchased this pattern at the CQA show in Vancouver in 2018. I remember struggling to find the fabrics shown on the pattern; they came from various shops, mostly in the US. In late fall of 2019 I started sewing and completed the first two rows of small stars on a quilting retreat with Stacia and Deloise. A journal entry from August of 2020 mentions the trouble I was having with the appliqué on the dresses. By March of 2022 the top was done.

The project showed up on my UFO list for 2023, saying it was ready for quilting. As with many of my UFO projects it never got done. I turn over my UFO list in January every year so Farmhouse showed up again in my list for this year.

This June its number was drawn and I started quilting. It took all of June as well as July to get it finished. And even when I thought I was finished I realized I needed to add a sleeve as I hope the quilt will be accepted into the Guild’s 2025 quilt show.

Happy Birthday Christy

July 5, 2024

Pattern from The Polka Dot Chair

July’s mug rug involved hexagons which I love doing. It went together quickly and it reinforced how much I enjoy a hand stitching project.

It is much larger than any of the other mug rugs I have made but it will allow room for a cup of tea and one of Christy’s favourite doughnuts from Crumbl.