Mystical Lanterns Update

I like to keep my hands busy when I watch TV so I usually knit or crochet. I've been plugging away on my Mystical Lanterns blanket and have about 135 of the 158 'lanterns' done. I'll also have 14 half-lanterns to do as well.

When I get tired of crocheting, I weave in the ends with the eye end of a #16 tapestry needle. The other day I started sewing the lanterns together using a somewhat 'invisible' ladder/mattress technique on the back leg of the outer stitches. A little bit of the white yarn will show through but not as much as if I used whip stitch.

Here, the white whip stitches can be seen. I prefer the ladder technique.

Three columns have been completed and a fourth was started.

This is the layout of the completed blanket. There will be lots of yarn left over so I may add extra length and width.

Today at our guild stitch day, one of our members purchased one of my project bags. I want to make more of the retreat mats in time for our Elim retreat.

Here are pics of the one I forgot to include in my previous post:

I still need to make a thread bed for this one.

I have one panel to make half of a Mondo Bag which uses 2 1/2" squares. I'm going to figure out how to make a second panel with the gridded interfacing that I already have then made a Mondo bag from some of the random charm squares in my stash.

I have lots of cute Peanuts fabrics but don't know what to make with them. They were impulse buys on various shopping trips at the now defunct JoAnn Fabrics stores.

Some would make cute pillowcases but they're not soft fabrics; probably only suitable for the edges of the opening. If they were flannel, they'd definitely make nice pillowcases, but they're not.

I've made a couple of things from them but other than tote bags (and I don't really need any more of those) I'm kind of at a loss for how to use them. I welcome any ideas.

Being a long weekend, we only had 11 people at our guild stitch day. We usually have 16 or so. I did some work on a couple of projects and unpicked almost as many stitches as I put in. I didn't plan well for the day and seemed to need to do a lot of counting rather than just filling in spots. I grew quite tired after lunch so left early for home and vegged out on the couch and watched YouTube videos on a variety of topics for the rest of the afternoon. 

I don't have anything planned for tomorrow so I may make my way to Fabricland in Pickering and see if they have any fusible fleece or batting.

Springhouse Retreat

I was invited to participate in my nieces' quilting retreat at the Springhouse Retreat outside of New Hamburg. I forgot to take a photo of all the stuff I was taking but suffice it to say it was almost every bit of crafting supplies I own.

The drive there (via the $$$ 407 $$$) was thankfully uneventful and I arrived at about 10 am, then unloaded the car.

There is accommodation for 12 people in 6 bedrooms: 2 triples, 2 doubles and a couple of singles. 11 or us were in attendance. We each had a 6 foot table to work on. I took a couple of shots before everyone was in the room. The arrow is pointing to my niece, Rosa. It was a photo I sent someone and neglected to remove the arrow. I sat to her right and my other niece, Ana, sat across from Rosa. Our organizer, Jo-Ann is also pictured.

This is the other side of the room. Pictured are Marion, Patty, and Lynne. The others (Tracie, Beth, Lisa, Mary, and Ana) were doing other things at this time. The cutting tables were between our banks of work tables. There were several ironing stations set up. The room was very well lit but I still used my lamp when cross-stitching.

This is the photo from their website:

Each bedroom is named for a quilt block pattern. Rosa and I shared the Sawtooth Star room. Again, their photo. 

Our bedding was actually white. Accessories actually matched the name of the room.

After I got set up, my area looked very chaotic. I did, however, accomplish a lot.

Ernest was in charge of quality control.

On the end of one of the cutting tables were some of the snacks folks provided. I think the chocolate-covered JuJubes were my favourites. It almost made me want to drive to Glencoe to buy some.

On Tuesday morning, I set out for Heart N Home Creations quilt shop in New Hamburg - a mere 10 minute drive away. Then I headed west to Stratford to shop at Ye Olde Fabric Shoppe.

I had no plan in mind but did manage to pick up three half-yard bundles, thread, some yardage of fabric and a couple of charm packs.

Back at Springhouse I did a bit of stitching on:

The Robin Pickens Autumn Courier, 

and the Hands On Designs 'This Bee's Got Knees' (Thomas' favourite one this week).

I also bought cording to make piping for the needlepoint pillow. I had planned to get the pillow project finished but needed to concentrate more in order to install the zipper with the backing and the piping all at the same time. It was too much for my brain with all the other activity going on so just making the piping was sufficient. I'll watch a couple of YouTube videos on the subject first to summon my confidence for the project.

I have never done so much sewing in such a compressed amount of time before, and was pleased at all I accomplished.

The Lori Holt project bag from one of her panels turned out really well. I didn't quilt it at all.  I happened to have all the required materials on hand. I do like a vinyl window in my project bags so cut part of the front panel to accommodate it.

I got this Lori Holt companion fabric last November when Barb and I went up to Quilter's Cupboard for her birthday discount.

I also used that fabric to line the parts above and below the zipper. 

I made a snappy thread catcher with the piece I cut from the front. The snaps were added after I got home today.

The second Lori Holt bag wasn't quite as successful as I grossly miscalculated the size of the vinyl I had. I'll sell it at a discount. I did, however, quilt the interior fabric, thanks to thread provided by Beth. I didn't particularly like the printed panel that went with the bag so swapped it out for the yellow fabric. The same, teal fabric was used for the back and binding. 

Retreat mats seem to be quite popular so I cranked out three of them. This one with French General 'Joie de Vivre' fabric.

The butterfly fabric was from my stash.

I guess I didn't get a shot of the third retreat mat.

The French General charm pack and fabric got used for a quilted, checkerboard project bag (with a vinyl window).

The retreat house is on a working farm. While motoring on the driveway to the main road, to head to the fabric shops on Tuesday, these black Angus cows were strolling along the fence beside the pond. It is a very quiet, rural setting - very conducive to relaxation.

The retreat centre is very popular. Most bookings are either Monday to Thursday or Thursday to Sunday. It's booked solid for about a year in advance.

My departure today was at about 2pm, heading for the Len's Mill Store off the 401 in Cambridge. I needed to buy more vinyl and while there, picked up two DMC colours missing from my 'Bee's Knees' stitching project. I also needed more fusible batting but all they had was wet fusible and I wanted heat fusible. A trip to Fabricland in Pickering for the batting will be in the near future.

The rest of the drive home was fairly uneventful until I neared Ajax on the 407. It was rush hour at that point and we were slowed right down for the last 15km or so. I ended up getting off one exit early and had a 'comfort stop' at Wendy's and a chocolate frosty. I confirmed with Scooter (who had been housesitting during my absence) what he wanted on the pizza I was going to order, then picked up the pizza on the last leg of my journey. 

Scooter helped me unload the car and carried my suitcase upstairs. I'll deal with the rest of the unpacking tomorrow.

I really enjoyed spending time with the Lambton County ladies and my nieces. I hope they'll invite me again.

A Delivery

I was out running errands yesterday and had the opportunity to deliver Tilly to Shelley.

Can you tell Shelley likes the colour blue?

Today I've been doing odds and ends around the house - starting to make lists and set things aside for the retreat next week. Scooter is coming tomorrow and will housesit for me during my absence.

I keep finding projects to take that I can start, like a wool felt appliqué tomato pincushion project I must have picked up at the Pastime Pieces retreat. 

I also just located some upholstery fabric in the basement that would work as a backing for a needlepoint pillow I finished years ago and blocked sometime in the past year. The needlepoint was still pinned to the blocking board so I have liberated it and added it to the pile of projects to take. I will make the cording out of some cotton clothesline.

I used that upholstery fabric  years ago to re-cover the padding on an IKEA Poang bentwood armchair was in Skip's 'dowry' (items he brought into our household).

Tomorrow I'll finish packing and do some shopping for my breakfasts and lunches at the retreat. Dinner is communal and I'll take some bagged salads (not Taylor Farms, though).

I started sewing some of the Mystical Lanterns together - just for something different to do on that project. As all the outside rounds are different colours, I'm using the 'invisible' ladder stitch. 

The pattern calls for half lanterns for the top and bottom but not the sides. I'll have enough yarn to make some so will do more thinking on that.

I've made almost 130 lanterns out of the 158 called for in the pattern (excluding half lanterns). It's easy to crank out two or three in the evenings when I'm watching TV. With still having leftover yarn from the Persian Tiles blankets, I'll decide if I'll do extra columns.

With all the random colours, the needlepoint pillow and Mystical Lanterns would look quite nice together, don't you think?

Thomas and Tilly

I had a special request to make a girl kitty cat with a blue sweater and bow. Her name is Tilly.

I made a Tilly yesterday but her legs were too long and I didn't know an easy way to shorten them so I knit another Tilly today.

Thomas had to get in on the photo shoot outside. 

This patch of echinacea has thrived in this spot practically since we moved into this house 30 years ago this month. 

Here's the same patch on the day of our backyard wedding in late June of 1998. Although they come back every year, they never grew that high again.

Last winter I left the spent flowers in place so the American goldfinches would have something to eat in the late fall. The centres were all that were left on the stems by winter and after a snow they'd look very artistic with the stack of snow on top. I did cut them down in the early spring but enough seeds must drop for them to just keep blooming year after year. But I digress...

Back inside in the photo studio (kitchen counter with a foamcore background).

Then ChatGPT generated a photo of Tilly and Thomas going for a walk in the woods.

I think my friend is going to love having her own little buddy kitty cat, Tilly.

I crossed a few things off my 'to do' list these past couple of days: planted an Icelandic poppy I got on sale that had been sitting on the deck for over a week, did a bunch of weeding, rehung the curtains in my bedroom after the new window install, got a replacement valance clip at Blinds To Go to replace the one that broke when removing the blinds for the new window install in the family room, reinstalled the blinds and valances in the family room, made a purchase at Marks, picked up floss at Michaels not already in my stash to kit up 'The Bee's Got Knees' project to take to the retreat next week, mailed something to the US, deadheaded daisies and bellflowers in the garden, swept a bit in the garage, did a load of wash, cleaned some stuff out of the fridge for garbage day tomorrow. I did some sewing Monday and yesterday but none today.

Now I'm making a list of what projects to take to the retreat next week; lots of sewing, crochet, knitting, and stitching. I'll have total craft ADHD for 4 days.

A Busy Weekend

Yesterday I attended the Peel Stitch-In at the Meadowvale Village Hall in Mississauga. When I arrived it was pouring rain so I sat in the car until it was finished then got in line for the 10am admission time. I spotted Clare ahead of me in line so sat with her when we got into the hall.

Also at our table were Margaret and Julia. The spot on the table where Julia was sitting was kinda sticky so she  purchased the retreat mat I had taken in case anyone wanted to buy it. I took some project bags, too, but there was a vendor there selling sewn items so put them away for another time.

I worked on the Robin Pickens Autumn Courier piece for a while

and got some done on my sashiko piece.

The door prizes were drawn at 2:30 

and I won!! However, I'll probably give the chart away after all. 

At a couple of points during our time there, we all got emergency alerts on our phones about a tornado in our general vicinity.

I looked for a basement door and found a locked one. I didn't think the 150+ year-old board and batten building would hold up well in the event of a tornado. We did have a plan to duck under our table, though.

Fortunately it didn't pass near us. 

I left at about 4 and had a very uneventful drive home on the $$ 407 $$.

Today, the skies are much clearer thanks to the wind shifting and coming from the southwest. I got two loads of wash out on the line. 

I really like that my Wamsutta fitted sheet has these labels on the sides. I wish more manufacturers would do the same. They're so helpful for queen or king sheets.

Today I had the urge to make another retreat mat in case someone from the Monday stitching group wanted one. Once again I agonized over what fabric to use from my stash that would be cute enough.

I like using the 30º lines on my cutting mat for my quilting lines. I draw one in each direction using chalk (that rubs off afterwards) then use the guide on my walking foot for the rest of the lines.

First I measure out 2 1/2" from the needle and lock the guide in place on the walking foot.

Then use the guide along the stitched line for the next one over.

This saves so much time not having to draw each quilt line. Next mat, I'm going to try curvy lines.

All done!

Inside. This time I fused the magnet in place on the back of the thread bed before attaching it to the interior fabric.

Again, the pocket was anchored by the binding and a dividing line was sewn down the middle.

Of course, I attached my 'logo' to the binding on the left.

Then Lorna texted me that the final FIFA game between Spain and Argentina was on. We tuned in at about minute 75 - the most exciting part of the game!

That Argentina goalie was a beast and I kept realizing I was holding my breath but at last, Spain won! We were so happy for them.  (click twice on the play triangle)

The heat wave has finally broken so I turned off the A/C, brought the clothes in from the line, and opened a bunch of windows, including the new windows that were installed last week. The fresh air smells so good. Climbing into bed with fresh linens and sleeping with the windows open is going to smell so good tonight.