Still Slow Stitching

Here it is the end of May already. I have not completed a quilt. I have not cleaned up the studio. I have put in a lot of hours at work and not had enough down time for myself. I totally forgot my youngest daughter's birthday.  Fortunately she has forgiven me. It has been such a whirlwind of a month.

What I have gotten done is 17 more EPP flowers. That's not quite a flower a day. But then I had some really long days with no stitching at all.  I am finding that I can just about do a flower a day if I will put down the social media. I've gotten bad about social media again.

What I am really pleased about is my pairing of fabrics for the flowers.  I was blessed with a very good eye for color. It is definitely a God given gift.  It is one thing to know that colors go together, it is another to be able to put them together and have them pop.  That has been the case with some of the flowers I did this week.  I was very pleasantly surprised by some of them.

The tan and brown ones turned out a lot prettier than I realized they would. I was so pleased with them. The dark blue with the bright blue center is much prettier in person. I tried pink and yellow for centers but the bright blue makes them pop so much better. The black with the red center was a surprise. I was going to use green but it just didn't do anything for the black print. I tried red, thinking it would bring out the red hearts, it did but it also brought out the green ribbons. It looked so much better than green or white would have. The light blue with the dark blue center ia also prettier in person. The dark blue was really the only choice for that one. 

Hopefully, my hours will start to be shorter again (shorter as in 8 hours) and I will get back on track with my quilting. I still have the cobblestones and pin wheels quilt to finish. Then there are 3 quilts that need borders and backs before I can put them on the machine. Plus Emerson is rather impatient to have his quilt done. Then there's Dorian's quilt and Wren's Quilt to make.  I am struggling with too many planned/obligation quilts and not enough spontaneous quilting. I need more time in my day. 

Any suggestions for adding hours to the day? Preferably ones that don't cut into my sleep. 

EPP & Needles

 I have made 30 EPP flowers so far. I didn't realize how many I had made until I was emptying out my EPP kit. I am quite pleased with them. These are all from scraps. Frankly I have lots more scraps to use. I am not sure how many of these I am going to need for the quilt that I have in mind. I just know that I will probably make not stop when I get enough. This is a good way to use small scraps. I am sure I will find other uses for them as well. My daughter suggested turning them into pockets on tee shirt or child's apron.

As for the quilt, I am going to applique the flowers onto white 5 inch squares. Then mix them with a black and white four patch squares. Sort of a checkerboard style quilt. I plan to use different colors of thread to stitch the flowers down. I would really like the black and white squares to be made from a black with white pin dots print and a white tone on tone print.  I just need to find the fabric I like first.

Another realization of just how much hand stitching I have been doing lately,  is the needle that I am using. I don't know how many people realize that needles are not as rigid as they seem. Just the warmth and pressure from your fingers will cause them to bend. If you look at the needle in on the blue square of fabric, it is definitely curved.  I don't grip the needle tight and I didn't have to struggle to pull it through the fabric. But it is definitely bent.

I have been using this same needle for months now and it has actually formed to the way I am using it. I am doing a lot of overcast stitches and the basting stitches are more of a back stitch. So the bend in the needle actually makes it easier. I can't help but I think that it is kind of neat. 

Despite using it for months, the needle is still sharp. I know because I got distracted and stitched through a layer of skin on my index finger. I didn't feel it until the thread started to drag.  No blood, it was just the upper layer of skin. I did cut the thread and not my skin though. I don't need the open spot with all the hand washing and sanitizing I do at work.

Have you ever used a needle until it has bent from use?

Not Much in the Way of Stitching

I just didn't get much done this week. I was not feeling well at the start of the week. Then I worked late that last few days of the week. Add to that my husband was home. Since he sleeps in later than I do, stitching in the morning is not an option. Plus, I tend to sit with him in the evening instead of blogging and scripture study. So I switched the scripture study and blogging to the morning.

I had every intention of stitching in the afternoon/evening. That did not happen. What I did get accomplished was, I made the back to the cobblestones and pinwheels quilt. The backing and the top are loaded on the machine. I have not decided on a quilting design, but am leading towards a meander. I have not done a meander before so it should be a good experience.

I am thinking of getting the borders done for the next three quilt tops done this week. Then possibly quilting the cobblestones and pinwheels quilt next weekend. I am probably being a little unrealistic but I am going to try tp do it anyway. It doesn't hurt to set goals and not reach them. But you will never get anything done if you don't set goals. 

How are you doing with your quilting goals?