Mod Bear Paw Top

I finished my Mod Bear Paw Top according to the pattern, but I think I'm going to add borders. I may also add some paw prints up the back if I have enough leftover fabric. This is a baby sized quilt right now (39 x 47) .

I really enjoyed constructing this quilt.  I had been dreading the big bear blocks, but they went together quickly.  Making the HSTs took a while, but this wasn't a difficult quilt, and Lorna's  instructions are very good.

http://www.patchworktimes.com/2016/10/17/design-wall-october-17-2016/

The Spirit of Cross Stitch

The Spirit of Cross Stitch was held in Richmond this weekend.  I volunteered to man my needlework guild's table for three hours on Friday.  I have belonged to the Virginia Guild of Needlewomen for the past 11 years.  This independent guild is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and we want to be visible to the stitching community.  Most of the members are older than me, and I am in my mid fifties.  It is important for the guild's future to attract new members, especially young members.

I brought a bunch of my completed VGN projects for display.  I only brought those I could stand to have strangers touch.  For the record, you should really ask permission before you grab someone else's project off a table.  Your hands may be clean, but there are still oils on you hands.  Think about what my white biscornu would look like at the end of the day if everyone who walked by the table touched it. Most of the participants of the Spirit of Cross Stitch had great needlework manners, and looked with their eyes only.

We don't just do 'regular' embroidery at VGN.  Along with cross stitch and surface embroidery, we've had classes in needle felting, hardanger, beading, finishing, antique needlework tools, dyeing threads, and smocking.  I have learned a lot from my guild.

After my shift, I went into the merchandise mall, which was a real treat because LNS are rarer than LQS in central VA.  I got to see charts and a whole host of completed models.  I managed to control myself and only bought two things:  one chart, and one small kit.  I actually completed the kit this weekend.  This is a Halloween necklace by Rovaris, a French company.

The class for this piece was about $80, out of my budget.  I just bought the $23 kit and figured out the finishing myself.  It wasn't hard.  I'd do a few things differently next time, but I'm happy with the way it turned out.

Linking up: http://www.supermomnocape.com/2016/10/17/vintage-embroidery-monday-stitchery-link-party-80/

Design Wall: Mod Bear Paw and Talkin' Turkey

It rained and rained all day Saturday, so I spent most of the day sewing.  I got the rest of my Talkin' Turkey blocks done and a fair amount of Mod Bear Paw.

Linking up:  http://www.patchworktimes.com/2016/10/10/design-wall-october-10-2016/

https://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.com/2016/10/mod-bear-paw-qal-constructing-big-bear.html

http://www.shecanquilt.ca/2016/10/october-scraptastic-tuesday-link-is-open.html

Quick Trip to Savannah

We spent a couple of  days last week in Savannah.  We knew Hurricane Matthew was on the way, but we planned to be gone by the time it arrived.   A lot of tourists had already cancelled, and the city wasn't crowded at all.  We walked down by the river, ate at The River House, went to a roof top bar, had ice cream at Leopold's,  went to Tybee Island, toured Fort Pulaski, ate at the Flying Fish, toured Bonaventure Cemetery,  walked thought Forsyth Park, ate at The Pink House (best food we had in Savannah), took a trolley tour and went to the Cathedral.   By the time we were ready to leave on Thursday morning, the hotel we were staying at was closing due to mandatory evacuation.

Bonaventure Cemetery:

Forsyth Park:

Several people warned us about how bad the traffic on 95 would be going home, but it turned out the most of the people who were leaving the coastal areas were heading west, not north.  We sailed home in less than 8 hours, which included 4 stops.

I didn't get any sewing done at all last week, but one of my projects did get quilted:

http://www.joscountryjunction.com/charity-quilt-finish-15/

What Happened to September?

It seemed like I was doing a lot of sewing this month, but I didn't do very well at completing my September goals.

I wanted to :

1. Bind Scrappy Mountains Majesty.  NO

2. Finish Scream House    NO

3.Finish Olga's Tart.  DONE!

4.  Keep up with RSC.  Since Red is this month's color, I should be able to make good progress on Talkin' Turkey.  

I got 6 more blocks done, but I wouldn't call it good progress.  Last month I got 15 done.

5. Sew strips to red flannel backing and get Geese In the Puddle to longarmer.  NOPE!

6.  Finish Emily's quilt top and get it to the longarmer.  DONE!

7. Keep up with Mod Bear Paw.

I made good progress on this one.  Stopped this one yesterday to work on Talkin' Turkey since I hadn't done any RSC block this month.

In October, I want to

1. Bind Scrappy Mountains Majesty.

2. Sew strips to Goose in the Puddle's backing to make it wide enough for quilting.

3.  Keep up with RSC.

4.  Keep up with Mod Bear Paw.

5.  Get the rest of  Talkin' Turkey blocks done.  Figure out the rest of the parts.  Decide if I have enough cut.

That's probably enough since I will lose a week of sewing to vacation this month.

Bad to the Bone

I found a Halloween ornament I started many months ago and got it finished this week.  Here is Sue Hillis' Bad to the Bone:

The back is a glow-in-the-dark skeleton print I had leftover in my stash from another project.

Linking up:  http://www.supermomnocape.com/2016/10/03/vintage-embroidery-monday-stitchery-link-party-78/

http://myplvl.blogspot.com/2016/10/tuesday-archives-134-halloween.html

More Mod Bear Paw

I got tired of making bear paw blocks, so I switched to the big bear.

My husband thought it was a jaguar.  I think it will look more like a bear when I get the sashing sewn in so that the proportions are better.

I have to put this away for a while because I've made next to no progress on my other September goals, and time is running out.