Anna Levens Comes Out of Hibernation

After a very cold and miserable spring we finally seem to be into summer weather, and that means hand stitching on the deck, which also means that Anna Levens has resurfaced. I think the last time I posted about her was the August long weekend of 2024, so it's been a while.

I had picked it up very briefly over the winter and recently managed to get enough hexies together to sew another 42 to one long edge, so I'm hoping to keep the mojo going. I'm loving revisiting all these prints!

I still get a kick out of the basting papers that I use and the messages that they seem to send me. I punch my own papers from business reply cards that come in magazines and mailings so there's some interesting reading...

And some I take as prompts. There's still rhubarb in the garden so me thinks that it's time to bake a little something from them - scones, muffins, cake?....M

Love Me A Long Weekend

Our August long weekend is always a little bittersweet for me in that you realize that summer's half over, but it's a great chance to kick back for a little hand stitching.

After a fun-filled day with life-long friends on Saturday, Sunday was stitchin' time.

My little basket of Anna Levens hexies has resurfaced so I was busy basting, which always reminds me of Lori Holt from Bee in My Bonnet. She once wrote about paying one of her children five cents for each hexie that they basted for her; this is what 95 cents looks like 😏.

A makeshift needle holder keeps all of my essentials in one place (just love that little acorn print - wish I could find more!)....M

Happy Victoria Day Weekend!

After waiting yesterday for the rain that didn't come, we set up our deck furniture today and proceeded to enjoy much of our day out under the awning. It's been a glorious holiday weekend so far with more great summer-like weather promised for tomorrow, the perfect time to pull out one of my 'from here to eternity' hand stitching projects.

Anna Levens has been dormant since late last summer so hopefully a few newly basted hexies will give her a little boost.

And what's not to love about using thread that comes on a spool of that gorgeous coral colour??? It came to me via Roberta, who occasionally tucks little surprises into my quilts when she returns them to me so it was time to try it out.

It's by Presencia and is really lovely to work with - very buttery. Thank you Roberta!

Before long, the beginnings of a hexie string begins to emerge. A good day all round. 

If you are celebrating Victoria Day this weekend I hope that it includes lots of down time...M

Bliss

No wildfire smoke.

No sweltering heat.

No rain.

No construction banging and clanging.

Just a lovely day on the deck with Anna Levens, stitching my hexies....M 

Sew Slowly

Just a little over a week ago COVID finally caught up with me. It was inevitable I guess, but not in the least bit welcome. Needless to say, it's been a pretty low energy several days so my plans for Halo never did hit the ground, but occasionally I have picked up Anna Levens.

I haven't worked on this quilt for several months; it was folded up before the holidays and is only resurfacing now to work it's healing powers.

My hexies are basted on an as needed basis and I am amazed that my funky little paper clip is still in the bin after all this time. I use it to secure the fabric to my paper...

and keep it in place until I finish basting the entire thing. It makes all the difference in keeping things secure and minimizing slippage.

I'd hardly say that I made huge progress, but I have managed to finish assembling a row of hexies and getting it attached to one of the sides, which feels good....M

Anna Levens Returns

Minnie might be ready for quilting but fear not, there are lots more hexies that need some attention now that Anna Levens is back in the rotation.

Much as I love this quilt, it is not as easy to bundle up and move about as Minnie; because the hexies are paper-basted there is always the risk of the papers popping out, making it trickier to sew together. So, I only work on it when I have a bit more of a 'controlled' environment.

The large hexies have been together for quite a while and I've been working to fill in the ends and corners. I'm at the point now where I have several rows of hexies to add to each side. 

I decided to try sewing strings of five or six together and adding the string rather than adding one hexie at a time and I have to say that it worked quite well, so I'm going to keep going that way....M

One More Corner

Anna Levens accompanied me to the lake last week so I'm closing in on having all four corners of hexies for the centre panel filled in.

Just a few more rows to go on the last one. After that I get to work on adding a few rows to each side to make it wider and then it will be on to the borders.

Apparently, today is National Relaxation Day (who knew?) so stitching hexies will be my relaxation method of choice. The Official Cookie Tester got the jump on me, practicing his relaxation technique lakeside. Hope you are enjoying some relaxing stitching today....M

Anna Levens Continues to Grow

I've been spending more time with Anna Levens than Minnie lately, just to keep my hand stitching interesting. It's been a while since I shared what Ana looks like so here's a few pics.

I'm working to complete the centre panel, filling in the corners. The top two corners have five rows of hexies beyond the large framed hexie so I'm attempting to fill in the bottom two corners in a similar fashion.

I'm working in a bit of a V formation just to help keep the rows relatively short.

Once the last two corners are squared off I think that I will add four or five rows to either side so that the seven large hexies are framed in a similar fashion all round. 

All of my hexies were starting to look the same so this week has been about cutting more to add to the variety. Time to sit and stitch a bit....M

Adding a Row or Two

I ran out of paper hexies to baste so I've started adding a couple of rows to one corner of Anna Levins. 

I'll probably keep going until all of the basted hexies are used up again.

Thought I might be stitching out on the deck today but after a few days of 30+ degree temps its quite breezy and downright chilly outdoors, so I think I'll sit in and watch golf.

Happy Victoria Day weekend!....M

Within Arm's Reach

Last night I was too lazy to walk into the next room to find my Little Trees bag so that I could stitch as we watched TV so I plucked my little basket of Anna Leven's hexies from the magazine rack that sits beside my chair. I haven't touched this project for almost a year; interestingly, the top paper hexie seemed to have a 'welcome back' greeting for me.

Recently, I had cut more paper hexies and there were lots of fabric hexies already cut so I was able to happily stitched away.

With Candied Hexagons all wrapped up (I'll share pics later) it's time to work on this quilt again. 

Earlier in the week, around Mother's Day, I was reminiscing about mom and decided to pull out her Oatmeal Mincemeat Cookie recipe and bake a batch. It's been years since I've made them but I won't wait that long again. The Official Cookie Tester is a big mincemeat fan so I thought he'd enjoy them, and enjoy them he did. As it turns out, he got to sample two versions.

In the midst of whipping them up I was interrupted by phone calls and emails so when I got back to the mixing bowl I was a tad distracted. As I was dropping the dough onto the cookie sheets I felt that something was missing but couldn't quite put my finger on it. Note to self: Oatmeal Mincemeat Cookies contain oatmeal!

I mixed oatmeal into the dough and the next pan looked like they should. To be honest, both versions were very nice and received rave reviews from my Tester. The first pan tasted more like a spice cookie without the chew of the oatmeal; I'd make them that way again....M

A Little Gardening, A Little Stitching

My planters and herbs are finally prepped for the season. I was all set to plant a few weeks ago and then it got insufferably hot, followed by very, very cold, so things were delayed a bit, but today was the day. As is the way with gardening, there was weeding needed in a few beds as well so what started out as a quick project ended up taking most of the day. Ah well, it was a beautiful day to be outdoors.

Big plans to make a Rhubarb Torte for dinner got shelved because I ran out of time but after dinner I did find time to sit and turn under more EPP hexies for Anna Levens.

At times I find this step frustratingly slow but today I quite enjoyed it. It's been a while since I've done any hand stitching and it felt wonderful to pick up a needle.

I'm almost out of paper hexies which makes me think that I probably have enough to lay out another row of them and attach them to the flimsy. I love seeing it grow, even if it is slowly - sort of like my garden....M 

More Hexies

Slow and steady has been the approach on Anna Levens lately and it is paying off. A couple of days ago I finished off filling in the second corner of the centre panel with EPP hexies so now I'm working on the third.

Initially I thought that I was going to be working on the baby quilts that I showed you the last time but the weather has been so spectacular today that I just couldn't get myself to go downstairs. Instead, I'm hanging out with Anna and seeing if I can get another row or two added to the cause. Not a bad trade-off....M

A Visit With Anna

Anna Levens has been on the sidelines for a while just waiting to be picked up again.

Since today is another Sunday Snowday (third weekend in a row we've had a storm), it seems like the perfect hand stitching project to settle in.

You will recall that this quilt sometimes speaks to me, reminding me of where I left off. Do you see the 'maybe you were here' message in the centre hexie? 😉 I use business reply cards from magazines to cut my paper hexies and it can result in some very entertaining reading as I stitch.

Even if I'm not working on it I do love looking at it, both front and back. I love the palette and the honeycomb that the hexies create is almost mesmerizing.

I'm working at filling in a corner so that it is squared off; one of these days I'll be able to share that with you. In the meantime, we're nestled in with our morning coffee and content with watching the falling flakes create a winter wonderland. Hope you enjoy some slow stitching this Sunday as well....M