Churn Dash and Final Block!

I have a few things to show off you.

The FINAL block of my
'snow days' quilt is done!

I cannot believe I've done 

14 blocks in eleven months!

Now the real fun begins.

I have many fabric blocks to make...

churn dashes, stars, & pinwheels.

I bought the fabric last year and

have been waiting (& waiting) to work with it.

And...

I hand-pieced my very first block!
Yes, I did...
I pieced it by hand!
And, even better?

I rather enjoyed doing it!

This is a churn dash block...

the first block of the Hand Piecing Quiltalong

I'm doing with Erin.

I will finish sewing the binding

on the baby girl quilt tonight.
That'll give me something else to show off you!

Have a good evening.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."Jeremiah 29:11

Sunday Night...

I never get as much done 
on the weekend as

I think I will.

But.

I got this done...a pillow cover for
sister Julie (the one who lives here with me).

The pillow cover is her (late) Christmas gift.

 The fabric was in one of the boxes

received from Cathy of 
Quilting on Turtle Hill.

I bartered with Julie...

I supplied the pillow form for her cover

and she bathed Tag.

Methinks I came out on the

better end of that deal.

 

I started quilting on the baby girl quilt.

But, because I took time out to watch the 

U.S. Figure Skating Championships,

I only got half done.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please say a prayer for my friend, Doreen.

Her latest ct scan showed that

the lung cancer is growing.

She's coming down here to

Madison to the UW Hospital

to see about a clinical study.

Doreen is being very positive

and believes all will be okay.

It's got to be.

Right?

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."Jeremiah 29:11

Hand-Piecing???

I cannot believe I am going to do this, much less that I am actually quite excited about it!

I very much enjoy having something to work on in the evenings while sitting in front of the tv.  There is still a lot of embroidery left on my 'snow days' quilt, but sometimes I want something a bit different to do.  Well, wouldn't you know...along comes Erin of Why Not Sew? blog fame with her bright (read fantastic!) idea of doing a hand-piecing quilt along.  I'm in.  Like Flynn.  (OH!  Remind me to tell you about that!)

So.  I am going to do it.  We'll be doing twelve 6.5 inch blocks...one per week. 

I looked at several different fabrics that would work, and decided to use these oranges...

I'll throw in a few aquas here and there with some kind of white as background.  I have the most fun backing picked out...just wait til you see it!  {grin}

And, ohgosh, a major oops!  Three days ago, I realized I haven't yet made a quilt for my niece/godchild, Michelle!  YIKES!  Her birthday is February 21...think I can get it done by then?  I ordered some Kona solids that I need for it and will get going as soon as they arrive.  

In the meantime, I am working on a few smaller projects.  I'll show you as I get them done.

Hope you're having a good weekend!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."     Jeremiah 29:11

GIVEAWAY!!!

Going through boxes is always interesting...you just never know what you're going to find.  Recently, while going through my rug hooking stuff, I came across this little mat.  I used to have it hanging on the wall, but when I moved here in 2007, I never unpacked it.  I look at it now and wonder what to do with it.  It is a fun little mat and very nicely done...I think it deserves a new home.

Back in 2003, when I was fairly new to rug hooking, I participated in a swap called, "Redneck Critter Rug Swap".  I no longer remember why it was called that.  I do remember that we swapped rugs of farm animals.  I didn't hook this mat...Faye Goode of Ontario, Canada did.

But, hey...want to see the one I hooked?  Here it is...

I put a cowbell and a ribbon on the cow...isn't it cute?  I have no idea who ended up with this...the poor thing.  See the rooster sitting on the fence?  It's all very primitive, wouldn't you say?  haha.  (Now you know why I moved on to quilting!  {grin})

The 'sheep in goat's clothing' is the hooked mat I am giving away.  The back is finished and the mat measures 12 x 12 inches.   

 The label tells the story 

 

 

If you would like this sheep in goat's clothing to live at your place, just leave a comment on this post.  And, just for kicks, tell me why you think the swap was called Redneck Critter Swap.  There are no wrong answers.  Just looking for something fun to read...{grin}

I will close comments and draw the winner on February 1.

Good luck!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."Jeremiah 29:11

The Princess and the Puppy...

 

 

 

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."Jeremiah 29:11

Still Swooning...

It's the weekend...YAY!

What's especially exciting about this one is that

Princess Kaylynn is coming for a visit!

We had a bunch of snow yesterday,

but the roads should be drivable by now.

I have some errands to run

and then I think we'll bake cookies.

I haven't been doing too much

sewing this past week, 

but I did finish Block 4.

I am really liking these.

In fact, they make me...

swoon.

{grin}

 Question...

When piecing your quilt blocks,

do you press your seams to the side

or do you open them up?

I have always pressed to the side

(the dark side...{grin})

but with this block, pressing

the seams open seemed a better way.

It sure helped to reduce the bulk.

But, I gotta say, it does take longer!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stay tuned for a giveaway coming

this way very soon! 

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11

Scraps...

Love 'em?

or

Leave 'em?

In this case, I am loving them.

From each swoon block that I make,

the scraps from the flying geese

give me 16 half-square triangles.

Each one measures 2 1/2 inches.

Once I'm done with all 9 
of my swoon blocks,

I'll have 144 of these little

half-square triangles.

I have a plan for them.

{grin}

 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."Jeremiah 29:11

Gasp!!!

I didn't have a very good start to my day.

It rained and then snowed.

The roads were awful.

It took twice as long to

get to work as it normally does.

As in, 90 minutes instead of 45.

I do not like winter.

Coming home, however...

much better.

The road crews must have

worked really hard.

The roads were all great.

Until I got to the last part.

But, that's okay.

The sun was shining.

And, tomorrow is another day.

Remember the sock story?

(click here & here if you don't

know what I'm talking about)

Well.  Seems there is another person

intent on getting me into trouble.

Again.

Sharon.

Yup, that's right...of 'snow days' fame.

It is her fault that I am doing

that quilt, you know.

She, of course, will say that it is my fault.

That, without me, she wouldn't be doing it.

Don't believe her.

Not for one second.

Anyway.

She told me she would send

yarn and a pattern.

Ya know, for me to knit

a pair of socks.

Oh, okay.

Thank you!

Well.

Next thing she told me was that she

had mailed a package...of stuff.

I had absolutely no clue what 'stuff'

she was talking about.

Until today.

The package arrived.

There are simply no words.

Okay...keep reading...I found words.

But, first, let me just say that with

each piece of 'stuff' that I pulled out,

my 'gasp!' got bigger and bigger.

I about swallowed my tongue!!

Seriously.

You might, too!

Ready?

Here goes...

The sock pattern and yarn.

Please note the 'heart & sole'

on the label...cracked me up.

A journal...I would like to 

use it to keep track of my quilts..

A ruler that I could certainly use!

And, the neatest little gadget!

I thought it was a needle threader.

It's to pull your floss through the

back of stitches when you're doing

stitchery/embroidery...how fun is that!

In the instructions, it reads, 

"great for finishing that one last stitch

when the floss is too short."

I needed this!

Thread!  Now, this is really getting exciting!

Thimbleberries thread for machine quilting.

Six yummy colors!

Two spools of Alex Anderson thread

for hand-piecing & hand-quilting.

One spool of variegated thread for

machine quilting.  

 

Micron tracing pen.

One can always use this!

 

Lotion.

Perfect for my skin in the winter.

Now.

This is the absolute icing on the cake...

this fat quarter bundle of 

Whitewash fabric by

Crabapple Hill Studio.

This fabric came out in the time since

Sharon and I started working on our

'snow days' quilts and

we were drooling in anticipation!

I love this! 

Here it is...all together.

Can you believe all this 'stuff'???

So.  

Did you gasp?

I wrote Sharon a long email 

expressing my pleasure & gratitude.

But, one more time...

thank you so very much, Sharon!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."Jeremiah 29:11

Not So Manic Monday...

Today is a state holiday, making this a 3 day weekend for state workers.  I'm not doing much...feeling kinda lazy, I guess.

But, I finished my 3rd swoon block early this morning.

I am loving these orange/aqua blocks.  Did I tell you that there are 81 pieces to each block?  Yikes!  With 3 blocks done, I am 1/3rd of the way done with this quilt top.  Doing one block a week is seeming to work out really well...no stress. 

I think I'll read for awhile. 

Are you working today?

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."Jeremiah 29:11

A Good Day!

 It's Saturday...YAY!

The beginning of a 3 day weekend.

Errands are run,

cleaning is done,

pizza is picked up

(papa murphy's = the BEST!)...

we are set!

I have finished putting

together the star blocks...

here's what I have.

I may leave it...

or move a few blocks around...

must walk away from it for a bit.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For those of you wondering how Tag

is getting along with Kisa...

they are doing well.

The dog vs. cat saga.

Kisa occasionally spends time out of the

bedroom and Tag, though very interested,

sometimes leaves her alone.

Other times, he wants to chase her...

and she obliges by running away.

haha!

He tries his hardest to get her

to play with him,

but she absolutely refuses.  {grin}

Here's a photo...

the gate is not attached to anything...

just leans against one side of the door frame.

It is there to keep Tag out of Julie's bedroom.

There is more than enough room

for Kisa to come and go as she pleases.

Just so ya know...Tag could very easily

get through, but he does respect the gate.

In this photo,

they are inches apart from each other...

just watching each other.  

And, waiting.

Kisa wants to come out...

Tag is not going to move.

She is not afraid of him at all.

He wouldn't move,

so she walked right over his

front legs and made her

way down the hall.

And, he just laid there and watched her!

Good boy!

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Julie is making soup today.

Chicken and Potato Florentine.

It's smelling good.

Is it soup, yet? 

 She doesn't appreciate my humor.

 {grin}

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."Jeremiah 29:11

Knitting. Really???

So.  You all remember my post about knitting socks, right?  (click here to refresh your memory)

Well, I told me Mum the story.  She is, after all, the queen of all knitting.  Have I mentioned that before?  She is the one everyone goes to for help with their knitting.  

She, being the queen of knitting, said to me, "I'm going to send you something!"  Know what she sent?  Apparently, she took a class on knitting socks many years ago and never finished the pair.  So, that's what I got...one completed sock...   

 

along with yarn, needles and pattern to complete the other one.  I had to laugh.  I mean, really.  How does she know I can even do this?  She told me she has faith in me...that knitting is like riding a bike.  


I suppose she could be right.  I should try to find photos of what I've made before.  Anyway...we shall see if she is right or not!

We are finally getting some snow.  From temps in the upper 40's yesterday to low 20's today...along with 3-5 inches of snow.  

It took me a long time to get home from work.  If the snow continues, tomorrow may turn out to be a snow day! 

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."Jeremiah 29:11

Bee Block and Stars for Baby...

The weather is unseasonably warm, which is absolutely fine with me!  In the high 40's...in January!  And, no snow.  I do wonder what that will mean for the next few months.  It's a bit scarey.

My aqua and red bee block swap continues after a month off.  Here is the block I made for Sally.  She was so nice...sent all the pieces cut out and also sent along complete instructions with colored photos!  This was a very quick and easy pinwheel block to put together for her.

I started a baby quilt yesterday.  Should have been done last week, but I just didn't get to it.  A baby girl quilt.  Pink, but not too much 'in your face' pink.  Ya know?  So, there is a lot of white surrounding the pink not-too-wonky stars.  I've only got blocks made...am in the middle of deciding where to go from here.

That's all I have going on right now.  

Almost time to go squeeze into the big easy chair with the brown boy and watch one of my favorite shows.  

(That would be Hawaii 5-O.) 

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."Jeremiah 29:11

Recycling...

One of the blogs that I enjoy reading is Courtney's Sassafras and Winterberry.  Courtney is a teacher.  Courtney knits socks.  And hooks rugs, etc., etc....you should go visit (click on the above link).  Here are some socks that she is working on...aren't they fun?  I love them.

 

Yep, I snagged this photo right off her blog. 


When I saw that photo, it reminded me that I've been wanting to knit myself a pair of socks.  (Yes, I do know how to knit.)  The main reason being this...when I sit in my big easy chair and put my feet up on the ottoman, there is bare leg showing between the top of my sock and the bottom of my pajama legs.  In the winter, this bare spot is chilled, so I need to cover up with a quilt.  Not a hardship, I promise.  But, sometimes, I am warm enough...it's only one little spot on my body that is chilled.  Anyone else have this problem?  Yes?  No?  Well, okay, I am weird.  But, I already knew that. 


I spent a few hours last night looking online for free sock patterns...wow...who knew there were so many to choose from?  I also looked online at knitting needles.   

Again...wow!  Ya know, back in the day when I learned to knit, there were aluminum needles and plain wooden needles.  Now...so many to choose from!  I was completely enamored of the colored wooden needles I ran across...and would more than likely have felt bereft if unable to knit with them.  I mean, really...look at these.  Aren't they gorgeous? 

Then, I looked at yarn.  Wonderfully soft yarn.  Colors so yummy, you could do nothing but smile when you had those socks on your feet.  Cashmere yarn...alpaca yarn...ohmy. 


Then, I woke up.  I mean, like, you know, it occurred to me how much it would cost to buy everything I needed to knit myself one pair of socks.  Albeit wonderfully warm, soft, colorful socks. 


So.  I rethought the entire 'bare space on my legs getting chilled' thing.  And, decided that what I really needed was leg warmers!  But, again...the buying of needles and yarn was cost-prohibitive.  hmmmm...


My next step was to look on Etsy to see how much it would cost to buy a pair of knit leg warmers.  Wow...I saw some that had a price tag of $54.97 on them.  Plus shipping.  Okay.  That isn't the answer.  

Next thought...what could I make leg warmers out of?  I ran across an article about recycling t-shirts.  Hey...how about t-shirts?  Yeah...recycling t-shirts into leg warmers!  They don't necessarily need to be warm and soft...they just really need to cover that bare leg.  Ya know?  (by the way, thanks for the t shirts Kimmer!)


So.  That was my project for the day.  Making a pair of leg warmers.  Mission accomplished!

The toe & heel of that pink sock (bought at Wal-Mart this a.m.) are orange.  Perfect, hey?

See the little paw prints near the top?  How cute is that!

So, how about you?  What are you working on?

edited to add:  yes, I know buying a pair of longer socks or knee-highs (do they still make them?) would have easily solved the problem.  Just sayin'.  That I do know that.  More fun to go through the above process though, don't you think?


"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."Jeremiah 29:11

Nesting Time on Lilac Hill...

Warning...long post with many photos!!!

Be sure to click on the photos...
you should be able to see more detail on some of them.

 I'll admit it right away...
just so you all know this
was not an original idea of mine.

I read about Nicole's idea
on Sister's Choice Quilts

back in November, 2010.
It totally captured my imagination.

Course, as time went by,
I had other things to think about
and I forgot about it.

Until the 'Snow Days' quilt

adventure with Sharon began.

Then, as I was browsing through

Crabapple Hill Studio's patterns,

I spied the 'Nesting Time' embroidery.

I fell in love with it.

And, remembered that I had seen it before.

I even remembered where! 

I wanted to make

something very special for my sister, Joyce.
A combined birthday and Christmas gift.

I thought this would be perfect...and
I knew (hoped) she would absolutely love this!

I worked on the embroidery in August,

which was the month

that Sharon and I designated
to work on Christmas gifts.

And, remember, I had pneumonia.

So, I started the embroidery...

and finished it 10 days later.
The design area of this pattern
is 15 x 21 inches.

And, then it sat.

No reason to have it ready
too far before it was needed!

In the meantime, I received 

several Lilac Hill fat quarters from

my doll quilt swap partner (click here). 

How fortuitous, hey?

See how these things work out?

Here are photos of 
Nesting Time in progress.

 

 

 

Now it's time to add on some fabric...

 

 

I got this far and thought...

'how on earth am I going to quilt it?'

I looked online at many, many

quilts that had embroidering or 

that had an embroidered center.

Nothing stood out as 'the way' 

to quilt something like this.

So, I went with my gut.

I did free-motion quilting...

pebbles in the crock, 

small stippling on the background,

and straight-line quilting on the border.

This is how I wanted it to look.

Imagine how amazed I was when

it turned out just as I had pictured it?

Hallelujah!

The backing is a piece of yardage

from the Lilac Hill collection. 

This measures about 28 x 34 inches.

Perfect for a wallhanging.

Joyce received it today.

(yes, a little late, after all.  Had to redo the binding,

which involved waiting for more fabric to arrive...{sigh})

She was very surprised.
And, she is very happy.

So am I.

(Thank you to Nicole.)

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."Jeremiah 29:11