A finish and some good progress

 Here it is the start of another week and if you live in Ontario a start of another couple of days of very hot and humid days.

Ontario is slowly starting to reopen which is great so now to see how things go.  It feels good to see that stores are finally being able to have customers and even just being able to pick something up without having to plan ahead is great.  Yes, curbside pickup was wonderful, but you didn't get to see the item before you purchased it.

Emily Ann Foster - this week I once again focused on Emily Ann as I really wanted to see her finished, and I am happy to say that on Thursday I put the last stitches in on her.  It isn't a very big piece as it is just under 10 inches square.  I am now going to be looking forward to framing this piece and hanging it up in our home. 

Emily was a gift from a friend, and I am happy to have her finished and have already shared the picture of it with the person that gave it to me.

 Of course, once Emily was completed it was time to start figuring out the next project or projects that were going to get attention.  I had one in mind as it is something else that I hope to finish soon.

The next project that was on my plate was another Hands Across The Sea as I wanted to see if I could move this one forward as well.

In Our Garden Many Flowers Bloom - I had started this piece earlier in the year as something to work on while I was also working on Mini Forget Me Not.  It is a rather quick stitch project and something that I have been able to make some good progress on this last week.

I have stitched on this piece since finishing Emily, and I should be able to have another finish before too long. I don't have much more of this piece to finish either so that is great.  I hope to have this one finished before next week.

 It feels so different seeing some quick progress on pieces after working on full coverage for so long. I will be continuing to work on some smaller projects for a while.

Pandemic - this piece hasn't got any attention since December of last year, so it was time to see if I could move it forward a bit as well.  I decided that I would try and get to the other side of the design so that I can see how wide it actually was.  it felt good sitting and just working on one row of this, and now I have reached the right side of the pattern.

 This project is going to be taking quite a while to do because it is larger and something that I can only work on a bit at a time.  I hope to continue to add a few stitches to this piece each month just so that I can see some progress on it before the end of the year.

Moonstone - this is the other piece that got a bit of attention this weekend.  It is like so many other projects hadn't been worked on since last year, so I felt I needed to try and get it moved forward. This is a full coverage design, so it does take a bit of concentration to make sure that I am not making mistakes on it.  I would like to see if I can continue to get more stitches in on this piece as well as I don't think it should take long to get it finished.

 Moonstone will only be around 4 inches square when it is done, so it isn't big, but there are still lots of stitches in this piece

 

I have been having some fun working on different projects this past week and will see what happens this week.  One of the other advantages was last week we had a holiday on Thursday, so that meant that I had some extra time to sit and relax and work on a project.

This week I will see what projects that I want to work on as I do have a new start that I would like to see if I can get moved forward.  I am loving working on smaller projects as it feels great to see a change in it each time you sit and work on it even if it isn't for too long.

I hope everyone is staying safe and well, and you continue to find bits of time each day to do something that you love. If you are dealing with the hot and humid weather take care of yourself and try and stay cool.  Have a great week and hopefully next week I will have more to show you.

Some progress this week

Here it is the start of another week and the weather is now getting very hot and humid here in Ontario.  I guess we shouldn't complain considering it is almost July, so it is something that we deal with each year.

 

Ontario is slowly starting to reopen which is good and this week we get to open a little more, so that is wonderful news. We continue to be extremely careful when we are out and about because yes we are fully vaccinated but given the different variants we are going to continue to wear our masks and stay extremely safe.

Unleash the Butterflies - here is a project that hasn't got a lot of attention for the last couple of years.  I worked on it a little in 2020 but before that it was in 2019, so it is now time for it to get some much-needed attention. I have decided that I am going to change how I was stitching this piece, so that will also be interesting.  When I was first working on this piece I was trying to finish a page at a time, and now I am just going to enjoy stitching and see how it goes. I am now going to be trying to work over to the right side of the design so that I can see how wide it really is and then will see where I go from there.  

This isn't going to be a big focus piece for me as I have decided that I am going to try and work on getting some of the smaller pieces that I want to stitch completed.  I do hope to move this forward a bit each week but will have to see as there is another couple of large projects that I would also like to add some stitches in over the next little while.

Emily Ann Foster - here is the piece that is currently my focus as I would really like to get this one finished quickly. Over the last week this has been the piece that I picked up when I had a few minutes, and I was happy with the progress that I was able to make on it.  It is a project that is stitching up very quickly and that is probably because right now it is just one colour.  I do have one other colour to add, but I am do that once I have finished all the red that I am working on.

I hope to have this piece finished before I post need week, but time will tell.  I have been able to get quite a bit of it stitched over the last week so now to see if I can get the rest of it done. 

 

Other projects - I do have quite a few other things that I would like to work on, so that means that I am going to have to figure out how to make progress on things over the next little while.

I am now sure what I will be working on this week as I do have some other things that do need my attention so will see how things go.  I will continue to piece up something each day and even work on it for a few minutes as that does help me relax. I hope everyone else continues to find the time each day to do something that you love.  It doesn't matter for how long you do it as long as you take a bit of time for yourself each day.

If you are dealing with the heat please try and stay cool and also remember to continue to protect yourself so that we can all get back to doing all the things that we love and want to do.

A finish and some progress

 Here it is the start of another week and the weather can't decide if it is summer or spring.  We have had the hot and humid days, and then we have had some cool days, so will see what this wee is like.

Covid-19 and the restrictions are still in place here, so it means that there isn't a lot of things that you can do.  Yes, patios are open with limited capacity and some restaurants are only taking reservations, so that makes it difficult to go out and eat when you decide late minute.  Also, people are making reservations at a number of restaurants and then decided at the last minute, so that also doesn't help.  There are some restaurants that are doing 50% reservations and 50% walk-ups and I like that idea, so until things really get back to normal we will be finding out where restaurants have that as their seating option.

We continue to work remotely, and just being able to continue to assist our clients is what is important. Now to see what we can move forward, as we both have some other ideas that we want to investigate over the next couple of months.

 Mini Forget Me Not - this has been the focus piece that I have been working on and am very happy to say that on Saturday I was able to put in the last stitch.  It has taken quite a while to finish this piece but given the size of it 10 inches x 15 inches it was going to take some time.  I started this piece on July 20th, 2020 and finished it on June 19, 2021.  There are 46,464 stitches on this piece and I enjoyed working on it when I did.  It ended up that I worked on this piece 173 days, so am happy to see that it is now finished.

 I am now going to need to figure out a frame for it, but that is something that I can do over the next little while.  I may have a frame already but am not sure as just finishing it was a major accomplishment. It felt great having it done, but then there was the thought of what am I going to work on next.  I have lots of things to work on, so that wasn't a challenge, it was just not knowing what I really wanted to do.

Emily Ann Foster - this project got bits of attention this past week because I was using it when I needed a break from Mini Forget Me Not.  It then became the piece that I worked on yesterday, as I wanted something relatively simple to do.

 I don't think this piece is going to take very long to complete because just sitting and working on it some yesterday I saw a change in it. I hope that I can continue to work on this piece and get it done soon, as I have a bunch of other projects that I want to work on, so that is something that I am going to need to try and do.

 Other projects - now that Mini Forget Me Not is done I am going to be trying to move a bunch of other projects forward in the next little while.  I hope that this week I can figure out the various projects

I hope everyone is finding a bit of time each day to do the things that you enjoy doing.  It doesn't matter how much time you spend, it is just making sure that you do something for yourself each day. This week my schedule is starting to fill up, so not sure what I will be working on, but I will ensure that I have a bit of time each day to do something for me.

Have a great week and stay safe, and hopefully next week I will have some more things to show you.

Some more progress this week

Here it is the start of another week, and I am happy to say that things are starting to move forward here in Ontario.  On Friday we were finally able to move to a slow reopening and that makes me feel good.  Sure it is still a long way from where we need to be but at least we are starting to move forward.  Also, this past week both my husband and I were able to get out second Covid-19 vaccine which makes us both feel a lot better.

 

Work is still remote, and it will be as that is something that we have been doing, so I don't think it is going to be changing in the near future. We have worked remotely for years and just sometimes need to go to a client site, but more and more of our work is done away from the client site.

Mini Forget Me Not - so here is the piece that continues to get most of my attention, and it is making me feel so good.  As of last night, I had 95.85% of the piece stitched.  This week I will continue to move this project forward as I would really like to see it finished before too long. The one thing about this piece is now a lot of the colours that I am working on are all over the rest of the piece, so it does take longer to see much progress on it.  I would like to see if I can at least get more of this piece done this week.

I hope that before too long that this piece is finished, and then I will start to work on some of the other things that I currently have waiting for some attention.

Emily Ann Foster - this piece came out for a bit of a visit yesterday after I felt that I had done enough on Mini Forget Me Not.  Sure this piece is just two colours, so it does stitch up a little quicker, so that makes me feel good.

If things go well this will probably be the piece that I focus on after finishing Mini Forget Me Not.  I am looking forward to seeing the progress on this piece as well so now to make sure that I can get some stitching in this week.

Other things - I continue to work on a few other projects but they are very slow right now as I am focusing on getting Mini Forget Me Not moved forward.  I hope to get back to these other projects soon and then there will be pictures of them as well.

I hope everyone finds a bit of time each day to do something for yourself.  It does't matter how long it is but making sure that you find the time is very important.  Have a good week and please stay safe and take care of yourself.

 

A bit of progress

 It is hard to believe it is Monday already.  I am not sure where the last week went but now to see how this week goes.  

Covid-19 is still resulting in our lockdown, but it sounds like things might start to open up by the middle of June as case numbers are finally starting to go down.

Mini Forget Me Not - this past week I decided to work on one area of the piece so that I could see how much of it I could get done.  I decided to pick one colour and then see how far it went and am very happy with the progress that I was able to make.

I continue to work on this piece each day and being able to do that means that I have been able to make some good progress on it. I have passed the 85% complete on the piece and now have just under 6,000 stitches to go.  Yes, that is still a lot of stitching, but I am enjoying how it is turning out.  This week I will continue to work on sections of the piece at a time so that I can see how much more of it I can see completed.

I am looking forward to seeing this piece finished and now to see if I can get it done before it's anniversary of when I started it.  I think I can but will have to see how it goes.

Emily Ann Foster - this piece got some more attention as well this week, and it was a lot of fun stitching on it.  After I finished the second row of the motifs I decided that I was going to work one thread on each row until I got to where the bottom section starts.  It has been a lot of fun working that way because it means that I am seeing what each motif section looks like as well as getting some alphabets done.  I am now at the point where I have the numbers and one more motifs row because I stop and work on these sections until they are done.  

I am going to continue to work one thread at a time on each of these rows as it is a lot of run seeing the progress that way.  I would like to see how much of this I can get done, but I won't be focusing on it until Mini Forget Me Not is done. This piece is stitching up pretty quickly, so that makes me feel good.  I am looking forward to seeing it done as well, but it is going to have to wait for a bit.

Other stuff - I am working on a few other projects but a lot of them are in more of the planning and starting stages.  I know that once I have finished Mini Forget Me Not I want to have some other projects to work on, so that is part of what the planning is about.

We continue to work remotely and are now waiting to hear when it is time for us to get our second vaccine.  Have to admit that I can't wait to hear that it is our turn so will see when that happens.  I hope everyone continues to find a bit of time to do the things that you enjoy each day.  I am going to continue to work on Mini Forget Me Not each day and will see what it looks like next week. 

Stay safe and remember even a few minutes each day of doing things you enjoy is good for you. 

Some good progress this week

 Here it is the start of another week and I have to say that I was able to get some things moved forward in the last week so yes a little more to talk about than normal. It felt good seeing some good progress on things this week and now to continue to move everything forward.

We are still in lockdown but at least some outdoor activities are now available, and they are saying that if everything continues to go like it is we should be able to start to reopen around June 14th, but it is going to be a very slow process once it starts to happen.

Mini Forget Me Not - this piece continues to get some attention every day, and I am happy that I have been able to continue to do that. It means that at the end of the week I can see some progress on the piece which makes me feel very good. I have reached 82.96% done, and I am looking forward to seeing what it looks like when it is finished.  

I think I am now at the point where I will be starting to fill in more of the flowers and the fairy as I don't have a lot more of the big sections of colour to do.  Right now I am trying to get a bit more of the top areas done so that I can work on the lower sections all at once, but will see if that really happens.

 This week I will continue to work on this piece and see how much more I can get done as it would be nice to see that I have started to get the flowers stitched.

Emily Ann Foster - this is a piece that I just recently started as the pattern was a gift for my birthday. This piece is stitched in just two shades of red and so far I have been enjoying it, and I am looking forward to seeing how quickly it can stitch up.

English paper piecing - I am happy to say that I finished sewing all the motifs onto mom's throw last week.  It made me happy to see that I was able to get them added and now to start the next part of the project which is the quilting of the piece.

I have a good friend that has been helping me figure out how I want to quilt the throw as well as how to add binding.  I have never quilted before, so this is a big project for me, but I am loving how it is turning out.  I know that the quilting is going to take me some time but at least it is slowing started to take shade, so that is great.

This week I hope to be able to start the quilting on the throw as it would be nice to see this piece done.  Besides working on mom's throw last week I have been working on making a placemat using some other motifs that I have.  The placemat is all joined, so it just needs to be quilted and the binding added.  The placemat is actually what I am going to be using as a practice piece for the binding so that I have a bit more confidence on how to do it before doing it on the throw, The second placemat is just about finished as well, so that will be nice, so I will have two placemats finished soon as well as the throw.

I have been having a lot of fun working on these projects and am now starting to get the fabrics organized for the other three throws that I will be making.  It is going to take me some time to get all the motifs done even for one of them but at least I am starting to feel better about them now.

Other stuff - I continue to work on a few other projects but nothing gets a lot of attention as I am trying to focus on getting some of these projects moved forward.  I will see once the weather warms up somewhat I work on as I love having projects that I can work on while sitting on the balcony and I think I may have some of those already on the go.

We continue to work remotely for our clients and that won't be changing for a long time because we did it even before Covid-19.  

I hope everyone has been having a great week and if you are enjoying a long weekend like I am hope you are having a great one. Please try and find a few minutes each day to do the things you enjoy doing as it does help you be able to focus on all the other things going on around you.  We continue to stay safe and will be looking forward to when we can get our second vaccine which hopefully will be sometime next month.

Have a great week and enjoy your bits of time when you can do the things that you love.