How Many Parts Will It Take to Catch Up...Part Two.

Wow, would you look at this...here I am again...so soon!  Woohoo!

Now, just where was I?

OH!  I made one final pineapple block...

The small square in the center is from yardage that Joanne (see the fabric here) gave me years ago...I had made Tag a quilted pad with it.  This little square was about all I had left.  The Chocolate Puppy. Tag.  

Okay, now let's move on... to more family news.  Two of my nephews (hmmm, I guess they are my only nephews) had babies within the last few months.  And, both of those nephews are in service to our country!  Proud of them!

Here is Baby Alex...

And, here is Baby Jackson...

How precious, hey?  

Before the scrappy log cabin blocks and the scrappy pineapple blocks, I made this quilt.  Dana of Old Red Barn Co generously shared how she made her quilt like this.  I love it...and it's what got me on the scrappy quilt-making path.  

I bought some succulents...love these babies! 

I have shopped online and I have shopped at my LQS...and I have gotten gobs of fabric!  Some of it to finish up WIPs and some to start new projects with.  Ohboy.  

Someday, I hope to have this all used up (she said, laughing hysterically!).

Well, I think that's all the most important stuff.  ~grin~

Perhaps, now that things are settling down, I'll be able to get back into the habit of writing a blog post at least once a week.  My hope, anyway.

I am on Instagram...kelonie is my user name.  I always post photos there.

Bye for now.  See ya 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

The Meeting...

It was a great meeting...

Bren and I met on the Wool Snippets message board about 13 years ago.  We started chatting via instant message and eventually began talking with each other on the phone.  Never together in person...until yesterday.  Now that I live in Colorado, Bren and I live a short almost 3 hours apart.  She patiently waited until I got (mostly) settled before she demanded begged for us to meet.  The date was set for yesterday.  What a great day!  We lunched, we shopped (more on that below) and we laughed and we chatted. I met the kids and then it was time to leave.  A really fun day and it was so nice to actually spend time with each other.  We plan to get together often...working together and apart on various quilting projects.

We shopped at Fancy Tiger Crafts in Denver, a craft store with yarn and wool and quilting cotton. What a fun shop!  We both found some 'cannot leave without it' fabrics.  Here's what I came home with...

This is Liberty voile...I had never seen it in person before.  To touch it...ohmy.  I bought 1/2 yard of it...not sure what I'll be making but I could not resist.

 This will be used to make a cover for my crockpot...which needs to sit on the kitchen counter because there is no space for it anywhere else.

  I think these are just delightful fabrics!  Will use them to make some kind of quilt...not for sure what pattern, yet.

I absolutely L-O-V-E this fabric...kind of a gray green with dark circles around the x's.  Nothing spectacular about it...but it definitely wanted to come home with me.  I cannot remember if I was going to use it with the above pieces, or not.  

This is Sherlock, one of Bren's cats.  He is very outgoing and friendly.  Nosy, too.  ~grin~

Kelley, of With Hook and Needle fame, sent Bren a quilt top to machine quilt...and she received it yesterday!   I was so happy it got there so that I was able to see it!  The quilt top is for Kelley's Mom and is all hand-pieced...absolutely beautiful work!  (I am fortunate to own a quilt that Kelley hand-pieced.)  Here's the quilt Bren received yesterday...

sorry, a bit blurry.

The landscape...beautiful mountains near Denver.  

I had a wonderful day with my good friend...and am already looking forward to the next time we're together.

"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

She Did It Again!

Yup, she surely did!  

Cathy sent me another box.  A box stuffed full of fabric she no longer wanted.

Here is most of it...

See that jellyroll on the right?  It is Allspice Tapestry by Joanna Figueroa for Moda!  

Look at these corduroys!  How fun are they going to be for doll clothes?  

And, here is a little sewing rollup...perfect!

Thank you so very much, Cathy.




"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

All Finished!

I am getting stuff done. Besides kleenex cozies.  Seriously.

Up first to show you is the chocolate brown linen bolster pillow cover that I made this morning...

This was very easy to make...I cut a piece of linen to fit around the bolster pillow insert with seam allowance of 1/4".  I used the full width of the linen (about 55") and did not hem the sides because the selvages made for a nice finish.  I sewed the seam, finished the seam edges, and stuffed the insert into the tube.  I tied big knots (which I need to tidy up a bit) at each end of the pillow.  ta-da!  Finished!

Next up is my son's wedding quilt.  I won't even go into the background of how/when, etc.,...just suffice it to say that it's long overdue.  Remember au.then.tic by Sweetwater?  I LOVE that fabric collection!  I quilted this at The Electric Needle last week, finished sewing the binding last weekend, laundered it yesterday...and today I made and sewed the label on.  Here it is...all finished!

Only that quarter of the backing has the black prints...the rest of the backing is the numbers that you see at the top of the backing. I absolutely LOVE those numbers.  This quilt measures about 60 x 66 inches.  I think that Paul & Rachel will be pleased with it.   

On Wednesday, I made a 26 inch dog bed cover for Kim's Richard. It is made with the same fabric as this dog bed cover I made for Kim's Tahoe last summer.  Finished!

And, then I put together this 14 x 28 inch throw pillow cover for Kim.  Finished!

And, lest you think the kleenex cozies were forgotten...never fear! Finished 3 of them!

I also finished the other quilt that I quilted last week.  It is on its way to Cathy...will show you once she receives it.  Finished, but no peeks until then!

I played with scraps this week, too.  I put them into two larger containers (rather than 3 small ones).  I would show you a photo, but then you would know how OCD I can be about some things.  Let's just say that they are organized...and leave it at that.  But, hey...whilst doing that, I cut fabric for 22 more kleenex cozies!  I know you're excited to hear that.  

It was a good week for getting things done.  I have a few more things on my list...dresses, antique quilt repair, ring bearer pillow, t-shirt quilt, and another pillow cover for Kim.

What's on your list?

Hope you have a safe and wonderful holiday 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

The Gathering...

I mentioned a month or so ago that I had come late to the Anna Maria Horner party (see those words here).  I  just received my May Gathering and am so in love with it.  Actually, I am pretty much in love with everything I see of her work, whether it be fabric or handwork or patterns.  In my mind, there is a fine line between being obsessed and addicted. 

Obsession...
: someone or something that a person thinks about constantly or frequently.

Addiction...
: an unusually great interest in something or a need to do or have something


I will admit - without hesitation - to being addicted.  It is only because I am addicted that I have the last 3 'gatherings'...having them makes me think about them.  Frequently.  So, I think I am a bit obsessed, too.  Don't you?

At any rate...here is the May Gathering...

photo borrowed from Anna Maria's website

This gathering includes 6 cotton prints, 4 cotton wovens (from her newest collection, Loominous), and 2 cotton solids.

I cannot wait to use the fabrics...I think I have something special and very much far in the future in mind.  Time will tell.

I have 3 months left of this addiction and/or obsession...that will give me a lot of Anna Maria Horner fabrics to play with!

In the meantime, I am working on my to-do list and hope to have a few things to show you sometime 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

In the Mail...

You've heard me say before that I love receiving packages in the mail.  That excitement has not diminished one iota.

In today's mail, I received a package from my sister, Julie.  She asked me to make a few things for her using these fat quarters from Joann Fabrics (and no, the florals will not be mixed with the puppy prints). 

And, on Saturday, I received my April Gathering of Anna Maria Horner fabrics.  12 fat quarters... 9 cotton prints, 2 cotton solids & 1 cotton voile print.  Love them all!

I will never complete my list of things to sew, will I.  But, hey!  No complaints about that! 

Hope you are having a great Monday!


"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

What's a Girl to Do?

In my last post, I wrote about having several big projects ahead of me.  I was planning on getting a  good start yesterday.  However.  I didn't get much sleep the night before, so I decided to take the day off.

Late in the afternoon, though, I found myself at loose ends...a bit of time with nothing at all to do.  So, what's a girl to do?  I pulled a few fabrics and made this basket...

It is called the One Hour Basket...and was so easy and fun to make.  You will find the tutorial here.  I didn't have quite as much fabric as the pattern called for, so my fabric basket is a bit smaller than the pattern makes.  It measures 8"L x 6"W x 5"H.

And, know what?  It was the perfect way to spend an hour.

"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

Snow Days Revisited...Again...Seriously!

You will be happy to know that I am working on my Snow Days quilt.  Again.  Seriously!    

For those of you who have not been reading my blog for the past 4 years...here is a quick recap.

Sharon - of MoosecraftUSA blogging fame - and I started a BOM in February of 2011.  Snow Days.  She actually did the BOM thing...where she received a box of fabric from the host shop each month.  I received the pattern for my birthday and bought my own fabrics.  

Here is the pattern cover...

And, here are the fabrics I purchased...

To continue.  I finished stitching all 14 blocks within 11 months.  woohoo!  And, then I did nothing for a year.  In 2013, I pieced all of the fabric blocks that go around the border of the quilt...those that attach to the stitched blocks I had completed.  Since then, I have done very little with it.  So.  Here we are in 2015...I must be able to work on this in only the odd-numbered years.  (huh?)  

Today, I cut stitched blocks to size and sewed them to pieced blocks.  I have four more to go, but I am done for today.

Here are the blocks that are now ready for the next step.  (Ignore the measurements written on the paper tags...those are the sizes I needed to cut the stitched block.)  Without further adieu...

 

There is more stitching to do on some of the blocks.  Extensions of the tree branches.  That will keep me busy in the evenings for awhile.  And, I need to piece all of those center blocks!  I will get this done!  

Hope you're having a pleasant and productive 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

Scraps...

I played with scraps today.  That was not my intention when I started going through my tote full of miscellaneous fabric...I just wanted to sort it out so I would know what I had in there.  But, while sorting through everything, I decided to take out the pieces that were small (as in less than an eighth of a yard).  I ended up with quite a pile when I got done...

this is just a small portion of the pile

I set some of the pieces aside to use for doll clothes.  The rest was cut up into strips...

1.5", 2.5" and larger strips

  and squares...

2.5", 3", 4" and 5" squares

There is another container that holds 6" squares and larger pieces that I did not want to cut up. The containers measure 12 x 6.5 x 4 inches...and, with what I put in there today, they are full!  

I only started dealing with my scraps this way about a year ago.  Before that?  I put my scraps in two 16 quart enamel pots that I had once used for dyeing wool...and boy, they were stuffed full!  The last time I went through my stash, I gave away most of what was in those pots, as well as other fabric pieces I knew I would never use.  My neighbor was very happy to receive LOTS of scraps and pieces of fabric.  

I have done a bit of sewing this week, but am unable to show you tonight.  I'll be getting a few more things done this weekend, so will be happy to share it all with you next week.

Have a great 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