Stitching in the Dark

 Here is my personal PSA on sight. Don't take it for granted! Eat your carrots and spinach. Wear your sunglasses and see your eye doctor when you can. I have been struggling with my newest glasses when it comes to reading and stitchwork. I mean really struggling with seeing while doing any sort of handwork, mainly embroidery. It didn't matter if I had an Ott light, bright light or sunlight, hold the hoop close, hold my hoop away from me, my eyes would focus for a half hour or so and then everything would go blurry. So frustrating. I thought my stitching days were over! Now you need to know, I see my eye doctor annually and I'm older. In my early 60's. My eye doctor knows that I quilt and design for a living and has tweaked my prescription many times. This last visit he mentioned he could make me a single vision lens using my bifocal prescription, what my husband calls his computer/reading glasses. I was really skeptical and held off on getting a pair. Well, I got to a point that I couldn't stitch easily at all... so I bit the bullet, took in an older pair of frames from my previous prescription and asked for the single vision lens using my bifocal numbers and let me tell you, it's a game changer! I can easily see what I'm stitching regardless of the lighting conditions. My reading/quilting/ embroidery glasses are worth every penny. So,
if you're struggling, talk with your doctor and see if they can help.

Have a wonderful day and find some time to stitch!

Cindy, Josephine and Bonaparte

August's Block

 

Happy August! It's hard to believe that summer is almost coming to an end. We just got back from our family vacation to Swan Lake a couple of weeks ago. We had a wonderful time; the weather was perfect. It was a great break from the day to day and our vacation flew by too quickly. Did you know August is my anniversary month for Quilt Doodle Designs. Fourteen years ago, I started designing patterns, the idea came to me at quilt retreat. I had no idea that doodling drawings to make appliques at retreat would lead me on this great adventure. I've met so many talented quilters and have had the chance to visit quilt shops and guilds. I look forward to all of the adventures to come! I'm looking forward to popping in at Missouri Stars Birthday Bash in September. My friends at Marcus Fabrics will be there and I'm looking forward to visiting their booth on Friday during Missouri Star's birthday celebration. I've been there a couple of times and am always in awe at all the fabric and sewing goodies that they have to offer! My Songbird Holiday fabric can be found at Missouri Star. 

Now let's think about this month's block...  this block is the last of the snowmen blocks. You should have a healthy stack of snowmen blocks, thirteen total. 

Here's a quick recap, if you are just discovering this year's block of the month, it’s sort of a mystery and I am encouraging everyone to use fabric from their stash. You will want the same background color for the quilt to tie it all together but, other than that the sky’s the limit. So, to begin with go dig thru your fabric stash and look for the following. 

Fabric Requirements

Blue background fabric- 2 yards

white fabric (snowman faces) - 1/2 yard

green (trees) - 3/4 yard

pieced border - red- 3/4-yard, pink - 1/2-yard, light green- 1/2-yard, light blue- 3/4-yard

orange- snowman noses

scrappy hats- 10 plus fat quarters or a combination of fat quarters and fat eights in a variety of colors such as red, blue, yellow, pink, green, purple. 

Now let's get stitching!

Snowman Hat Rectangle- Sew a background 2” square onto the top two corners right sides together corner to corner. Trim excess fabric leaving a ¼” seam. Press.

Trace 1 noses onto the paper side of the Heat N bond fusible web. (Or whatever fusible brand you prefer) Iron onto the back side of the orange fabric. Cut out all the carrot noses. Iron on carrot nose onto the snowman block using the quilt on the front cover for placement. Applique stitch using orange or brown thread around the raw edges of the carrot design. I like to use a small buttonhole stitch.

August's Block

We will wait until the quilt is completed and then quilted before we put on the snowman faces, which will use either buttons or yo-yos.

 

Tell your friends! Spread the word! Post the button on your blog!

 Each month's pattern is a free PDF instant download. If you miss a month, the patterns are available for $2.50 on my website and also in my Etsy shop.  

If you don't have a printer, you can purchase a PRINTED copy of the monthly patterns.

HERE

 There's also a Facebook Group, please join and post your progress! It's also fun to see everyone else progress too! Make sure to post your blocks so far! 

 I hope that you have a wonderful day and find some time to stitch.

Have a wonderful day,

Cindy, Josephine & Bonaparte