The Quilted Snail: June 2024

Tuesday, June 18, 2024

For the Birds Blog Hop - My Day

This month's challenge was to make something that featured birds - Angry birds, crazy birds, whimsical birds or flying geese. If it's a bird, this is their time to show their colors.

This theme gave me the needed ideas to get the stitching finally finished on this piece. It was put into the CQ piece 10+ years ago, and I don't even remember what state I was living in at the time when I did that. Might have been Indiana.....or Massachusetts, or Wyoming..............lol.

I've loved this piece of cross-stitch since I saw the original kit. This was stitched probably stitched 20 yrs or so ago (and before you ask....yes I have ones older than that.....LOL). It was put into the CQ piece 10+ years ago, and I don't even remember what state I was living in at the time when I did that.

I added the hand-dyed dragonfly and the flowering vine along 2 sides of the cross-stitch at the time I made the piece.

Tree branches with hanging flower clusters and leaves were added. I used beads for the flowers. Then added 2 hummingbird buttons to this section. These hummingbirds remind me of one of my best friends who I've known for a lot of years, and who has been helping me with the house I inherited last year.

At the bottom of the piece I added another tree branch using some of the same ribbons I'd used in the tree above it. Then added a bird's nest with a couple of eggs made with freshwater pearls. Mama bird is off somewhere out of sight because I couldn't decide what kind to make....lol.

The final bit added was this prickly pear cactus and rock. Both were made using a padded satin stitch. two blooms are on the cactus. This one holds a lot of thoughts and associations - my home here in AZ, my immediate family who are now gone, one of my best quilting friends , also now gone.

This tree was made with several different fancy ribbons that came in a CQ assortment. It also was one of the first things added, but took forever to decide what to add to it if anything. While looking through all the various things I'd collected for using with the postcards I make I found this owl charm and thought it was perfect. The owl reminds me of one of my best friends and her family. The tree also reminds me of all the places I've lived that have real winters.

At this point, the top is done, but not a finished project. That will come in the future because I've got multiple commissions with due dates in the queue that are on a time crunch....lol, nothing new for me i'm afraid.

Don't forget to check out everyone else who is blogging today -

June 18

Homespun Hannah's Blog

Gratitudes:

1. Colonoscopy is done and I'm back to a normal diet again. =)

2. For the blessing of AC in this 112+ degree heat out here in Phoenix.

Saturday, June 15, 2024

ScrapHappy - June 2024

It's that time of the month again to share what we've been working on made from our scraps.

Don't forget to check out what everyone has posted this month -

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynda, Birthe, Turid, Tracy, Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys, Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen, Sunny, Kjerstin, SueL, Vera, Ann, Dawn2, Carol, Preeti, Viv, Karrin, Amo, Alissa , Lynn, Tierney and Hannah

This month first found me using part of a panel that that I'd picked up as a remnant several years ago (don't remember how many, but it has seen at least 2 moves). The squares in the panel were 6.25" and easy to square up to a 6.5" cut size. Alternate blocks are string-pieced ones I made from batik scraps 10+ years ago. Black border was cut from scraps of black Kona leftover from another project. Binding will be cut from the same scraps.

I had pieced these strips together several years ago. They were all from a group of strings from one line of fabrics that I found at a TX quilt shop. Words sewn onto the postcards are scrapbooking pieces found at Dollar Tree. Two of them will be sent out shortly.