Making lots of plans on Slow Stitching Sunday...

Hello all ... well I've been quite busy the last 2 weeks but I don't have much to show for it... I took a long overdue vacation with my younger son at the beginning of the month. Five days in Florida with the mouse who dominates Orlando... we had a great time... stayed at a wonderful hotel in Disney World, the Grand Floridian... rode some fun rides... skipped "Its a Small World" so that song wouldn't be playing in my head interminably... ate some great meals and snacks... there is a International Food and Wine Festival in Epcot that was super tasty... and reacquainted myself with why I'm not fond of flying... oh my goodness ... both flights were packed... and noisy... and while we made a lot of memories we were both very happy to return... Dorothy was correct "there's no place like home"...

But back to reality meant catching up with the stuff which didn't give me a lot of time for stitching but I did make some great plans for projects I want to get to soon...

First I want to make a Quilty Stars Christmas quilt for my bed... I have this one block completed...

and I have all the color squares for the blocks cut out...

at least I think I have them all cut out... there is always that math element that gives me problems... so we shall see... I still need to cut the background pieces and then I can dive into this project. I want this completed...sewn and back from the long arm quilter before December 1... I think there is ample time for this one.

And I picked back up a project that has been languishing in my sewing room... I started it  for National Jelly Roll Day last September and I still really like it (which is not always the case when something has been hanging around for a while) ... I've gotten a some more blocks and a couple of rows  assembled...

The pattern for this jelly roll quilt is called Cherry Fizz and you can find it here on Runnstitch's blog... four more rows... I'm halfway there...I think I need to hit the quilt shop and look for a pretty back for this to push me across the finish line... it will be a throw  about 66" square... not too big...

On the cross stitch front I started November from Prairie Schooler...

my deadline for this is obviously November 1... which also seems doable... and yes every project seems eminently doable when I'm planning... it is the reality of life that is always the issue...isn't it? That fact that there are only 24 hours in a day is hard to get around...

And I had a comment about how do I paint/dye the linen... here is an explanation I posted before... I'm going to try to take a series of pictures as I paint a piece and I will post them here... bottom line... it isn't hard ... just approach it like it was a piece of paper... I like stiff linen for painting and I like stiff linen to stitch on since I stitch in hand...

OK -  first put on some gloves... I use the cheap latex ones... so here's how I painted the linen. I lay the linen on a piece of cardboard... the linen was dry... I use liquid Rit dye, I pour a bit in a mason jar and dilute it slightly as it is pretty intense direct from the bottle. I used a paint brush (for big areas I use a foam brush ... for smaller areas a regular artist paint brush)  and apply the dye directly to the linen taking a little care not to overlap areas too much ... I thought I might get brown splotches were the colors merge but my experience has been that whatever color is strongest stays dominate.... Since I start with dry fabric the dye doesn't seem to spread as quickly as I suspect it would if the linen was wet. Painting is really easy...nothing that requires talent... just slop it on. Lay the first pass of color on in a diagonal fashion... it gives it some motion, IMHO...The hard part is waiting for it to dry.  I clip my wet pieces to a metal shelf unit and let them drip dry....put some paper towels underneath so you don't stain the floor... After it is dry, I place it on some paper towels and  I iron it with a hot steam iron to "set" it to some extent. Now the back of this piece is not as intense with color... it is not a reversible piece of linen... it has a definite front and back. Sometimes after painting a piece I like the back side better than the front side...and that's ok... you have to be flexible.  As a trial run,  I did paint a smaller piece of linen ... after it dried and ironed it, I re- wet it to see if the dye would run... I got just a little bit of residual dye.  I don't wash my pieces after I stitch them so I haven't had any issue with this.

As for dyeing linen... I use diluted Rye liquid dye in a mason jar and just smush the linen in the jar... I start with dry linen ...again you have to be flexible as it turns out splotchy ... but I like splotchy... I like it A LOT!!... Hints - the fabric dries lighter than it looks when it is wet...start out light with the color...you can always go darker... try a little of the color on a scrap or a corner first... my experience has been better when I use no more than 3 color in a piece... any more and it gets too busy... I hope this explains it. It isn't a complicated procedure... just give it a try... my favorite colors of Rit dye are Lemon Yellow, Apple Green, Tangerine, Aquamarine... I pick them up at Joanns with a coupon... a little goes a looooong way. If you are trying to get a certain color that isn't in a bottle go to the Rit website... ritdye.com... and go to the Color Formula menu.. it gives you exact measurements for getting different colors depending on the amount of stuff you are dyeing (look at the drop down menu on the right side )... that said I never measure anything ... I'm doing such a small amount I just guess -estimate how much of what I should add ... which is why I can't do this for someone else as I have no clue how it is going to turn out ... I deeply admire those that dye linen for a living... they obviously keep great records and follow recipes ... I just wing it... LOL


I haven't started the October chart for Hands on Designs A Year of Celebrations... need to paint some linen for it... and I want to play with this new chart from The Drawn Thread... it is called Little Bits of Halloween... isn't it super???  I'm not sure which configuration I want to stitch...

the square...

or the vertical...

or the horizontal...

Right now I'm wavering between the square and the horizontal...

And there is a new shawl pattern calling my name...

the Storm Shawl which you can find the pattern here ... my friend recently completed one and it is so pretty... I have lots of skeins of variegated yarn ... the hard part is deciding which one to choose...

Sooooo... a have a long list of projects and I'm full of enthusiasm... at the moment... lets hope it continues... the weather still feels like Summer even though Fall officially starts on Monday... my flowers are hanging in there because I'm watering them ... a lot... but the lawn could really use a good rain.. not sure Mother Nature is going to cooperate any time soon... I guess I'll have to break out the sprinklers... which means I'll get an outdoor shower as I can never get them set-up without getting soaked...

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today... and check out what everyone else has accomplished... hope everyone has a great productive week ahead... my "plan" has lots on its agenda, however my "reality" also has a lot on its list of things that must be done... the struggle is real... LOL

happy stitching-
carol fun