Wednesday Working – Sheep and Quilting

Posted on 11/08/2023 by Andrew Reynolds

This week I’ve got three of the small figures for the nativity set done:

Two sheep and a cradle. I’ve started to cut the people figures. Hopefully I’ll have pictures of them next week. Generally I work an hour or two at on this project, but not every day. From time to time I get questions on how I cutting these pieces. Here’s a picture of the scroll saw that I use:

Here you can see me working on the figure for Mary. That tiny black line going through the pattern is the saw blade. It’s about the thickness of about five sheets of paper. It wears out fast so I buy them by the gross (144) and change frequently. Sometimes things go wrong and they break. It’s hard to tell from the picture but there’s only about three inches of clearance between the table and the blade clamp.

The other question I get a lot is how to do I see what I’m doing. Well:

I cheat and use a magnifier lamp. I think this one is about 5x. It has LED lights and I couldn’t see to cut without it. This week I went to see my eye doctor and like all of us older folks, I’ve got cataracts so the light is needed. The doc thinks I’ll need the cataract surgery in a few years. Getting old is so much fun.

Since winter is fallen here in the high desert, the garden is closed until spring which means I have more time for quilting. You’ve seen this quilt top before, but I finally started quilting it. Not sure this will show up well, but here’s the pattern I’m going with:

Basically it’s squares in squares. The quilt thread I’m using is a light color so it shows up best on the dark parts of the quilt. Here’s a close up of another part of the quilt:

This is the first thing I’ve done any quilting on. I’m doing this on a regular sewing machine with a walking foot since it’s just straight lines. This is just a wall hanging so I’m hopeful that it won’t take too long to finish.

That’s it for this week. Next week I hope to have finished the quilt and if I’m really dedicated, all the figures for the nativity done. If you need me, I’ll be at the optometrist getting my new glasses.

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About Andrew Reynolds

Born in California Did the school thing studying electronics, computers, release engineering and literary criticism. I worked in the high tech world doing software release engineering and am now retired. Then I got prostate cancer. Now I am a blogger and work in my wood shop doing scroll saw work and marquetry.
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22 Responses to Wednesday Working – Sheep and Quilting

  1. Lauren Scott, Author's avatar Baydreamer - Lauren Scott says:
    11/10/2023 at 4:48 pm

    Amazing work, and I wish I had your patience. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Diane Henders's avatar Diane Henders says:
    11/09/2023 at 7:18 pm

    The figures look great! And I’m encouraged to hear you say how quickly you go through blades. I go through a lot of blades with my scroll saw, too; and I thought I must be doing something wrong. But I guess it’s just “the nature of the beast”.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Andrew Reynolds's avatar Andrew Reynolds says:
      11/10/2023 at 9:24 am

      Remember that scroll saw blades are just thin stamped soft steel — they don’t last long. I find that I have to change a blade after about 10 to 15 minutes of cutting depending on the hardness of the wood I’m cutting. They break easily too — it’s rare for me to have a work session without breaking at least one blade.

      Liked by 1 person

  3. brilliantviewpoint's avatar brilliantviewpoint says:
    11/09/2023 at 6:41 pm

    Let’s start with the sheep. Absolutely beautiful, love them. The quilt is wonderful too!

    Liked by 2 people

  4. Mama's Empty Nest's avatar Mama's Empty Nest says:
    11/09/2023 at 7:39 am

    I’m enjoying your progress. Great work on both projects!

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Jacqui Murray's avatar Jacqui Murray says:
    11/09/2023 at 7:08 am

    Those are both amazing. You will not be bored this winter.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Jwillmail's avatar Jwillmail says:
    11/09/2023 at 4:42 am

    Wow, that scroll saw work…really cool!

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Sheila Landry Designs's avatar Sheila Landry Designs says:
    11/09/2023 at 3:01 am

    The sheep are looking great. I find I love to just get lost in cutting. I commend you on doing your quilting on your machine. Especially straight lines. I have only done smaller wall quilts -under 3 feet square – and I did the piecing on my machine and applique, but the quilting by hand. It isn’t easy on a machine to do layers. It is looking awesome.

    Liked by 2 people

  8. jfwknifton's avatar jfwknifton says:
    11/09/2023 at 12:07 am

    That was really interesting. Thank you!

    Liked by 1 person

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