Back to Stitching

I am quite happily back stitching these days. The recent long weekend helped.

I've made good progress on the cross stitch scene. It's nice to have added a bit of color.

I set the London quilt aside a while ago--I'd overdone it and made my hands miserable. It's really hard because the project is like popcorn--I can't stop. I did a lot this weekend. First I covered more paper hexagons but then I realized I had a pile of them and I needed to get to adding them onto the quilt.  I added half-hexagons all along the top edge and just worked along expanding the river and the rest of the top half.

After taking this photo, I decided I needed to expand it two rows more on the left, to accommodate where the river turns south. The river is pieced with small hexagons and goes up to the edge of the design right now. I decided that I want mostly larger hexagons along the edges. So I did that on Monday. (you can see the lines drawn on my paper cartoon--that's the Thames. really)

Now I'm back to covering more hexagons. I need a lot more small ones. And I've been adding in some new fabrics and I need to cover more papers with them. 

As I go, I'm taking out my basting and removing the papers from patches that are completely surrounded (stabilized).  This combination of making and unmaking is really pleasing to me for some reason.  As I'm going along, I 'm trying to think of ideas for the quilting and embellishment. And the side edges. I want to add long borders on each side with straight edges. Right now I'm thinking of pages from a London newspaper (b&w type) fused to muslin....