This weekend I needed to help Lem with a few things so I did not get all three blocks prepped as I had hoped. I did get them all traced onto interfacing.
Since I had the pattern enlarged I had to tape all the pieces together.


Some of them required being traced on the wrong side so that I could turn it over.

Then put the interfacing on the design and trace it.

Pin the interfacing to the fabric.



Baste it in place along the top.

Color selection is the next step.

Then using post it notes mark each stack and put it to one side till I am ready to cut it.

Using bias bars I made my stems.

Then traced each piece of the design onto freezer paper.

For the circles I selected the template from my Perfect Circles. Then you can run a basting thread around the outside, draw it up around the Perfect Circle and press.
Iron the freezer paper onto the correct fabric.


Mark around each piece with an Ultra Fine Sharpie.

Here it is........One block ready to stitch.

I even managed to get the May Thangles blocks done.
Maybe during the week I can find an hour or two to get upstairs to finish the June blocks and prep the other two Country Cousin blocks.

A week has passed since I prepped things for the basket. I finally finished block nine of Country Cousins.


I finished the two pear tree wallhangings.


And finally sewed together the last pillowcase. The embroidery design is from Kaaren at the Painted Quilt. I decided to make the pillowcases and use the scallop rulers that I purchased from Katie Lane. They turned out well and I will be making more.





I did not get the doll quilt quilted or the embroidery done on the other tea towel. Today I want to finish the Thangles BOM for May and June and get the last three blocks prepped for Country Cousins. We shall see.

Today I have a few finished to share. I had finished the embroidery last week but I did not consider it complete till I added the Rick Rack trim. It is a piece left over from my basket set. I think it adds just the right touch.






Peg introduced me to a dishcloth Knit a Long.................. This is my first one.


I hope to have something else finished by tomorrow or Saturday.

Some progress is being made. I did get my doll quilt basted and back into the basket.


And a few more elements are attached to block 9 of Country Cousins. This block had many small pieces to attach. I am so glad I did not try to do this any smaller. I am not sure I could have made those leaves any smaller. Nine more elements to stitch and the embroidery to be done. I will be glad to get on to the next block.

The basket that sits beside my chair with my hand work was getting empty. Only one project left. I can't always get upstairs to prep a piece of applique or trace an embroidery design during the week. No one was looking at the house today so it was the perfect time to get a few things ready to stitch.


First I got the binding sewn on one of the wallhangings.


And the binding sewn onto the second one. Now both are ready to have them stitched in place.


I got my mini quilt all ready to baste and then hand quilt.


It is now in the basket with the tools needed to mark it.


I need 11 circles to applique on the current Country Cousin block. The fabric is cut and I can now baste it around my Perfect Circles to get them ready to stitch.


Looks like I have enough for the upcoming week. It will be interesting to see just how much gets done.

I finally finished my basket set using the embroidery design from Kaaren at The Painted Quilt or you can use the First Friday Freebie button on the right side. I got a little behind with my embroidery but I am beginning to catch up.



And here it is in the basket. I can put my sewing projects in there and with the cover in place it looks so nice on the stool beside my chair.



Kaaren also introduced me to a Small Quilt Group. This was the recent challenge quilt. I think it looks lovely on the table.



While our guest were here we went to Fort Hill. This is the view over Orleans Cove and on out to the ocean. There is a brown spot about the center of the picture. If you enlarge the picture you can just see the deer that was running across the meadow.

We stopped to see what was left of Nauset Beach. It sure has gotten smaller the last few years. Several storms have washed away quite a bit of the beach. Someone was kind enough to take a picture of all of us together.

Well, our guest have arrived. It was wonderful to see some family again. Left to right is Lem (spouse), his sister Teresa, his brother Becton, and Becton's wife, Jane. They drove all the way up here from North Carolina just to visit us.

It has been delightful.............


I took the girls upstairs to show them the studio and some of my quilt tops. I pulled out one bag and after they were viewed I just dropped them where they were. The girls wanted to help fold them but I am going to make a list of what is in that bag for future reference first. I can so that after they are gone. Right now I just want to enjoy every minute I can with them.

It was not the best of weeks here. Wednesday I woke up covered in some weird rash and itching like mad. The Dr gave me something for the itching but that along with the back medication put me to sleep. I will say that I am well rested...........

I worked on my small Irish chain quilt but it is not yet done.

I finished quilting the bottom piece for my basket. I did the machine quilting on the top piece and sketched in a bit for the hand quilting on the embroidery. I cannot draw anything but I did try a bit of freehand design using Kaaren drawing as a guide. Thank you Kaaren for giving us a lovely design every month to stitch. You can visit her at The Painted Quilt and join in on the fun.

I want to stop at Murray's tomorrow for some rickrack and bias tape to finish the edges. There is one small scrap of the fabric left so I must improvise the binding.



I even got the applique done on the second wallhanging. It is layered and basted and ready to quilt.
In between when I did not have time to go upstairs and sew I picked up the Jan Pakek July block to applique. It is all finished.......... Perhaps today I will get the August blocked prepped and ready for my basket.


Judy at Patchwork Times has many more friends sharing what is on their design wall today. Check it out for inspiration.

Judy at Patchwork Times has Design Wall Monday....... A great way to see what is going on in the world with other stitchers. Judy also has a special Memorial Day offer that you need to check. She is posting a pattern just the right size for QOV. If you make the quilt and mail it to her she will finish it and send it on its way.

This weekend I started my Mini Irish Chain. I only got one row done but other things did need attention first.

I got out my redwork piece from the First Friday Freebie hosted by Kaaren at The Painted Quilt. Karen used her piece on a notebook cover. I have something else in mind.

Several years ago I found several of these baskets. They are just the thing to put all the pieces of a project into to take downstairs to work on. It keeps everything together and if I need to prep more things I just take the basket back up stairs. Keeps me from dropping little pieces of applique.



I am making a quilted piece to put into the bottom of the basket..................


Then making a cover to put over the project in the basket.



It was a productive weekend even though I only got to play in the studio for a few hours.

Yesterday Lem took a picture of the wisteria in the back yard. It smells so good when a breeze blows by.



Last night I took the final quilting stitch on the first of two of these little darlings. I then began the second one. This morning I finished prepping all of the elements for the second wall hanging.
I will put the first one aside till the second one is appliqued and quilted. There is another project I need to work on.


And here are the fabric choices for the next project. Kaaren at the Painted Quilt mentioned a group she belong to that made doll quilts or miniature quilts. I have recently become interested in these little lovelies so I checked it out. Of course I had to join too. I would not want to miss out on any fun things. They do challenge quilts. This gives you the opportunity to work at your own pace. The current challenge is an Irish Chain. After work yesterday I unpacked a few boxes to find the fabric I wanted. This is what I found. You can't tell from the picture but the cream fabric has stars sprinkled on it. Now let me add that to the list on the sidebar that is growing like Topsy.

A week later and I am ready to quilt this project. In fact I have already begun. It took longer to baste it than I thought it would. I even began quilting it last night. I could possibly finish this project this week. Wouldn't that be grand.

As I mentioned earlier, I really want to get this small piece begun and even finished if at all possible.


I got all of the pattern pieces cut out and ready to stitch.




And even got a piece or two stitched in place...............





This is what is on my design wall today. Go over to Patchwork Times and see who else has reported to Judy what they are working on.

I am not really sure where the week went. I had lots of ambition but that is all. There were things to do but I seemed unable to do any of them. Perhaps it is the changing season but for some reason all I could do is sleep. Went to bed early but got up late feeling like I had not slept at all. I do hope that doesn't happen again.

Saturday I got out the CW buckshot pincushions I began in January. They are all stitched but need to be stuffed. I had stuffed one earlier but I am not pleased with how the top finished so I put them aside while I thought of a better way to finish the top. I now have an idea and Saturday I got out all of the things needed to stuff them. I ran out of pellets after and I will need to use pellets for the last two of them. Then I ran out of stuffing. I did pick up more on Monday and perhaps I will actually get the pincushions finished some time soon.



I also finished my Nine Patch Quilt. It still needs to be washed and the label added but I am pleased to say that it is done at last.






I finished the March embroidery that Kaaren at The Painted Quilt is so good to provide for us. I have a button on my side bar and if you like embroidery look at the lovely ones she has provided for free.


I got the house done for the July Jan Patek 2008 BOM. Now to add the roof and chimneys and applique it to the background.


I finished the April embroidery from Kaaren. She made a notebook cover with her design. I am making a basket cover using mine. Her words at the top or different. I changed them for my project.



At last I got the flimsy made for the next Country Cousin block, the fabrics have been selected and I have started cutting out the pieces to applique.


Maybe next week I can get more stitching done.