On the Edge

Good morning, my friends! Well, I should just stop talking about the weather. It's snowing as I write this, and it snowed most of the day yesterday. Fortunately, it isn't sticking...much. Here's how it looks outside right now.

Happily, today will be an NBS day for me (Nothing But Sewing). My housework is done. The laundry is done. I have nowhere to be. Checking my calendar, all it says is "sewing." Happy to oblige. (It doesn't actually say that, but I could always write it in if you insist on sticking to a schedule.) 

Yesterday morning, I spent a little extra time on the Domestic Affairs block. It's all finished now. I love her pretty and feminine designs. This was a BOM from Jenny of Elefantz in 2016, and I'm only just now getting around to stitching it. The blocks were free when I collected them, and now they are for sale in her Etsy shop.

Here are all the blocks I have for this quilt so far:

There were some things to do in the morning, but I moved to the quilting after lunch. Smitty so dearly wants to help when I'm quilting. It's such a comfy cozy spot with quilts all spread out on the surface of my table. He'd happily take a nap while I'm trying to quilt. And who can resist that sweet face?

Well, I did resist, and encouraged him to find a new job. Then I went to work on the last of the thread drawings.

There was still some quilting left in me, and so I meandered around all the open areas on the thread drawings, and then I finished off the border.

It's the same motif I started with on the first of the quilt blocks.

The motif has significance, but I can't tell you until the reveal day. You can take heart though. You probably won't see much more of this quilt until May 1st. For now, I have the binding sewn on.

When we go on our camping trip next week, I'll take it along for hand-sewing then. Here's how the quilt looks from the back. I found that backing fabric in a remnant bin on one of our last road trips. At the time, I said I thought it would make a good backing fabric, and it was perfect for this quilt.

It was late in the day by then. I hadn't yet made up a new slow-stitching project. I barely started tracing this one when I needed to stop for the day. I'll finish it up today, and it'll be ready for stitching tomorrow. It's from a kit I purchased back when we visited a quilt shop in Meridian, Idaho.

The kits are available on the Gingiber website. I really love some of the designs, but I don't like the fabric or the floss included with the kit. I've reprinted this design, and I'll use my own fabric and floss. It's okay that it isn't ready for stitching, though, because I want to finish off the binding for Mr. MacGregor's Garden. Now that Dominic has arrived on the scene, his quilt needs to be on its way to him. I spent the last of my sewing day clipping the binding for hand-stitching, and it's waiting for me downstairs.

Okay, so I didn't get any more blocks made for Calendula Patterdrip's Cottage yesterday. Today, I'll put as my top priority to finish the four bow tie blocks. If I'm feeling very energetic, I might also finish off the six pinwheel blocks to follow. For sure, I'll get some work done on the binding for Mr. MacGregor's Garden, and I'll finish tracing my next slow-stitching project. And if that isn't enough to keep me out of trouble, there's a new Tiny House to work on. Clearly, there's plenty of sewing for my Monday.

Last night, I took the time to start some Overnight Oatmeal. It's a nice way to start the morning. When it's snowing outside, it feels like comfort food. I can't always remember to start it the night before, and so it's a treat when I remember. And all of that to say I'm headed there now. Have a good Monday, everybody!