Celtic Solstice

My hand piecing kit

I'm still in Florida helping my dad with all the day-to-day things that have to be done after mom passed.  I will be leaving to go back to Ohio in mid-March. In the meantime I've been catching up on my handpiecing.

I brought along my hand sewing kit.   I've got my needle keeper, my needle threader, my thread, pincushions, my scissors, a tiny box for small pins, and yes of course a seam ripper,...and my beeswax candle that smells deliciously of honey.  Inside my needle keeper I have John James appliqué needles (number 11) and John James milliners needles (number 11). As I handpiece, I switch back-and-forth between the two. My favorite thread for handpiecing is Aurifil 50 wt.  I also use Mettler 60/2.   Both of these threads are cotton.

While I've been in Florida, I've been working on my Celtic Solstice.  Celtic Solstice was Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt for 2013. I began this quilt in September of 2013 and followed along with the clues.  I chose my own color palette based on the fabric I had the most of.  (I am quite determined to use up my stash.) As the clues developed, I printed out my pieces using Inklingo.  During the next year between other projects I pieced together Celtic Solstice at a leisurely pace, first putting together the 3 inch blocks then joining the 3 inch blocks into the 9 inch squares. Once I finished my 9 inch squares I join them together in fours.  The project box that I brought to Florida with me consisted of 9 inch blocks and some joined four block squares.

4 blocks joined

During the last few weeks I have finished piecing the center of the quilt and am now working on the pieced border.

Without other projects to distract me, I should be done with the Celtic Solstice top in the next few weeks.