Green

The word of the day is green.
Here I am with the quilt:

 ready to quilt the top and bind the edges.  I've washed and ironed the top and backing.  I've watched a couple of YouTube videos on doing the binding.  I pinned the top, batting and backing together and I am ready to quilt.  But I need some green thread that matches the backing material.  I don't have the right green color.  Rats.  Everything is closed today since it is Easter so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to get some.

I got another few rows of detached buttonhole stitched.  This is going kind of s l o w l y.  I guess I should aim to get one hump a day stitched.

On the Drawn Thread pocket, I've gone rogue.  The two green flosses on this are very close together.  I used them both on the top design.  You can hardly tell them apart.

So when it came to the latest "spot"  I grabbed a different color.

I used some Gloriana Winter Woods.  I hope I haven't ruined it.  I guess it's my way of personalizing this.

I can't wait to see Claire this afternoon (via Facetime).  Maybe we'll get to see her open her Easter stuff.  This Easter I haven't eaten three packages of chocolate covered marshmallow bunnies.  No jelly beans. No circus peanuts.  But it's okay, I have lots of fun stuff to do.
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Quilt Top

I got the quilt top sewn together.

It looks good.  Now I am going to go back to YouTube and see how I should add the sashings.  I could just do what seems logical as I've made quilts in the past.  But I want to see what is recommended.  Can I get this done today?  I kind of doubt it.  But I need to get started on it.

I got about ten rows of detached buttonhole done on the carnation of Spring Casket Keepsakes.  I hope I'm not mucking it up too much!

I worked a bit on the back of the Drawn Thread pocket.  It is fun to do just a small square of a certain stitch.  This is sort of like a spot sampler.

It is supposed to be a stellar day today, in the 70's.  I want to make a pineapple upside down cake using an angel food cake mix.  How bad can that be?
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What YouTube Didn't Tell Me

I started the Jelly Roll Race quilt yesterday.  I was proud of myself when I got all the strips sewn together.  Wow, that is one humongous strip.

I tried to follow exactly what I saw on YouTube.  I took each strip as it came off of the jelly roll.  I sewed them in a consistent manner.  But what I discovered was that every other strip was sewn the wrong way.  The YouTube video didn't tell me about how to sew the strips together.  ARGH.  So I had to go back and take out the stitching and restitch the strip so that there was a right side and a wrong side on the entire strip.

So finally I was able to start the second strip sew-together.  This whole quilt was supposed to be very fast to stitch, like 45 minutes.  It took more than 45 minutes to correct my mistakes.  Let's hope it goes better from here.

I got all the couching done on one half of the carnation.  So then I started the detached buttonhole.  My challenge is to keep the stitches nice and even.   I think it will look better as I go along.  The cornflower has many smaller petals so it will be easier to stitch when I get it.

I ordered the frame for the birth announcement.  I think they usually send me a tracking number so I'll know when to expect it.
The weather is lovely today.  It is so nice to have a warm sunny day!
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Couching

The birth announcement is all done.  There is one spot that I wanted to put something.  But I couldn't find something to put there.

I found a starfish chart but I would have had to stitch it over one and it wasn't the same style of design.  I also have a red starfish charm I could put there but I'm just going to leave it blank and hope it looks okay.

  It will need a 7 by 14 inch frame which is not standard.  So I plan to order that today from American Frame.  They send stuff right away and the price is right.

I couched vintage metal thread yesterday on the Spring Casket Keepsake carnation.  The good news is that I'm almost done.  The bad news is that I have a whole other one to do.

 Once I get the metal thread couched there is more thread couched around the outside. Then I can do the detached buttonhole.  So I hope to finished the scaffolding for buttonhole stitches today.

Tidbit:  We saw a darling new design pocket from Cynthia (The Drawn Thread) at Spring Fling.  It is supposed to have a matching scissors case.  She is hoping to release it in May.  Put my name on the list, I want one!
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Progress

Today's progress report:
Birth Announcement : almost done.  Just the bottom border and a few fish.  I can finish this today.  Yeah!

Spring Casket Keepsakes:  Some couching got done but lots more to do.

I went shopping this morning.  I got a hairbrained idea.  Dylan's birthday is coming up and at the end of this school year he goes onto middle school and I won't be his mentor any more.  So I want to make him a quilt.  I sat by a lady in the airport in Minneapolis that was telling me about jelly roll race quilts.  So I watched a video by Missouri Quilt Company on YouTube about how to make a jelly roll race quilt.  It looked so easy.  I had a Kaffe Fassett jelly roll but I already sewed parts of it together.  So I went looking for a jelly roll of fabrics fit for a soon-to-be 12 year old boy.

I got a jelly roll of African batik fabrics, material for the backing and batting for the inside. ( I should have just bought a quilt!)  I want Dylan to have something I made that is just for him and that he can keep and remember.  Now I have to get busy!
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Flap

I worked just a bit on the Drawn Thread Spring Fling pocket.

The flap is done and I'm working my way across the back side of the pocket.  There are many different stitches.  I wanted the center shape to more resemble a heart so I cut off the corners by a stitch or two.  If I put in a couple of threads a day, I can make progress on this.

The goal today is to get the vintage metal thread all couched down for the carnation Casket Keepsake.

The mermaid is all stitched and I just have to finish the border and put in a few fish to call this done.  I hope to make good progress on this today.  I think this is cute.

I was dismayed to see snow this morning.  Snow is a four letter word. The sun has come out and the snow is mostly melted now.  I can see that the grass has turned from brown to green.  I was able to go walking outside for the last three days.  I haven't been able to do that because of the weather since last December or so.
I am looking forward to the end of next week.  BFF and I are going to two Lauren Sauer classes in Indiana.  It will be so fun.  I made it my goal this year to stitch Mistress L's Band Sampler after seeing Paola's.  It is quite a large project and will take a long time to stitch.
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Quick Post

I'm off to see Dylan in just a few minutes.  So this will be short.
I got back to working on the Spring Casket Keepsakes.  The bases are all done and I am starting the couching of the vintage metal thread that will hold detached buttonhole stitches and eventually become the petals of the flowers.  It will take a while to get that done.
I decided to stitch the mermaid in spite of her boobs.  How wild and crazy is that?  Not very, it's just floss.

I'm crossing my fingers that I'll be able to find a frame when I'm done.
We'll see.
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