Attached Strings and ancient UFO's

Finally my string block quilt is finished! Everything except the batting is from my stash, and please note that I was only digging in the blue box. I used very thick batting so machine quilting was out of the question. I decided to tie this one, and this is how it looks on the flannel backing:

The knots are tied with two shades of blue perlé thread (546 double surgeon's knots, to be precise).

My quilt ended up little oversized, but people are so tall nowadays so it may be a good thing.

 

Making string blocks was fun, and I have seen such lovely projects on other participants' blogs that I think I need to start a smaller string block project in the near future. Stephanie just recently told that there are over 150 finished projects already, and the deadline is at the end of June. Plenty of time to make something nice and fun.

Spring is really on the way here: On April 1st I saw the first finches, not just  one but a group of 10 boys. They normally feed on insects, but because of the snow and cold (not very cold any more) they were looking for the sunflower seeds and peanuts we give our winter birds.

 

Today it has been raining almost all day so there is much less snow left. Under the trees you can already see the ground. The lack of frost and the amount of light make me think of summer, and I wanted to start a summer project. Among many tempting alternatives I picked an UFO of the previous generations. I have told about this treasure here, but when I look closer I can see that there is more than half of the work still to do. The style and colourfullness make me think of dear Great Auntie Saima rather than my Grandmother or my Mother. What do you think of this:

 

The blue circle is finished, with thick perlé thread. The flowers and leaves are sewn with 6 strands of variegated embroidery floss. I finished a set of leaves and two flowers in one group yesterday and managed to make them look like the older ones. Here is a closer look to the edge:

   

(Blogger wants to tilt my pictures today!)

(I'm using the organizer from Anne Marie for this project to keep all the floss in one place)

The table cloth has been bought as a kit with no instructions but with some stitches here and there started so you can figure out what stitches to use and what colours. I need to find solid orange for the little flowers on the edge and the groups of dots in the circle. Other threads are still there. When the embroidery is finished, I will invite you all to the garden for tea and cake!