Friday Finishes

This week I emptied two more

bags with unfinished projects.

YAY!!

I always have a pair of socks being knitted

(is this correct grammar?)

so I have something to grab and work on

while waiting in the car or wherever.

Today I have two pair of finished socks to share.

This pair is for little feet.

Oh, I really wish I knew what yarn this is...

I love it!

I think this is the first pair of socks that I have been able

to match the stripes.  They are a little off, but who's going to notice?

I did have to start another pair of socks, 

even though I said there would be no new starts until

my goals were met.

 I HAVE to have a portable project, right?!?!

I have a niece who LOVES pink and black zebra stripes.

This yarn was on sale, so how could I not buy it??

I hope my sister doesn't tell!!

 Yesterday I made the next two blocks for the Gravity BOM.

  

I don't remember if these are May or June blocks,

but I've made what I have.

Below are all of the blocks I've made so far.

This BOM isn't my favorite, but I am learning new things

and using new rulers, so it's all good!

:)

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are creating this week.

Happy Friday!

Cross My Heart

We have a Quilt Finish today!

YAY!!

"Cross My Heart" is quilted, bound and ready to be given to one of my nieces.

I had a lot of fun playing with the hearts

before deciding on this design. 

It's like the Hearts Wheel of Fortune!

I cut all of the hearts with my Go! Cutter 

after I ironed the fusible to the fabric.

 

Machine applique and quilting are not my forte, 

but if you don't look too closely....

:)

Happy Quilting!!

A Front Finish...

My goal from last week

is to not start anything new

Until I finish some of these

projects I have in piles, baskets and bags!

Today I have one finish to show.

Well, it's a "front" finish, 

but it counts!

Santa is on Vacation!

I love this Jolly Ole' Elf!

His legs are so chunky and cute with the flip flops.

One thing I do differently from the pattern when making these

stockings, is I use batting scraps to stuff the pieces

instead of polyfil. 

I started doing this with the very first stocking

because I didn't have any polyfil, but have

LOTS of batting scraps.

I place the piece of felt on the batting to use as a pattern

and cut the batting,

taking a little extra off

so the batting almost comes to the edge of the

felt piece.

The little boats and palm trees are so cute.

An adjustment I made with this pattern

is to not satin stitch all of the holly leaves on the blanket.

(Stitching is not my forte!)

I cut out little holly leaves from the green felt and stitched them in place.

This was MUCH easier and faster for me!

I now have two stocking fronts for which to make the 

quilted stocking bodies. These are on my list to finish before something

new is started!

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are creating.

Happy quilting!!

Finishes Before Starts

Why is it when I have a pile

(And I mean a PILE!!)

of quilts and projects in progress

I am ITCHING to start something new?

Do I feel the need to add to my stacks of quilts

waiting for machine quilting?

Do I really need another pile of fabrics

stacked in my Hidey Hole somewhere,

waiting to be cut or put away?

Do I need more bags/baskets/bins

with unfinished projects sitting around in here?

Unfortunately, once I get an idea in my head,

it is a fight not to start working on it right away.

NOT this time!

I am not starting anything new until

I have quilted three quilts

and finished a couple of little projects.

Things usually get finished around here, 

but lately... not so much.

SO....

Here is one project I started a while back

and am going to finish soon.

 

This is Bucilla felt stocking kit.

I have made a number of these and have a

number of kits still unopened.

This one was started a few months ago

and put into a basket where it sat.

 I love the palm trees on this stocking.

The curved edges of the fronds are not stitched down,

giving it a 3-D look.

I don't know how old this kit is and I can't remember

where I bought it.

It will be finished SOON!

Quilt #1 being quilted.

I have come to realize that I really

do not enjoy machine quilting.

My quilting is not wonderful

and I know it won't improve without practice,

(and I'd rather start something new then practice!)

But

hopefully this quilt will be finished by early next week.

I did finish a sock this week.

This is for a child, size 2-3.

Unfortunatley I lost the label for this yarn

and don't remember what it is.

I Love the colors and the softness!

These will be finished soon, as well.

Last week I ordered this new little ruler from

Simply Sock Yarn Company.

It's a Sock Ruler!

The curved end fits right into the toe or heel,

so I am now getting an accurate measurement

instead of wondering if I pulled the sock

or have the measuring tape in the right place, etc.

Hopefully I will be back with some

finishes soon

(And then can show you the start of something new!!)

:)

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are working

on this week.

Have a great Friday

and 

Happy Finishing!!

Caught Up

I am only participating in one BOM this year...

Thank Goodness!!

I hadn't sewn the last two months blocks for

Gravity,

but took care of the four segments yesterday.

They go together pretty quickly,

once I take the time to figure out what needs to be cut

and sewn.

I have not seen "Gravity" in person

and hope I like it finished more than

I am liking these segments.
(I LOVED the photos of Gravity and have been surprised
that I don't like the segments more.)
 

I haven't worked with solids much at all,

which might be the problem.
The colors are vibrant and rich.

These blocks use two rulers I had not used before,
so I am learning something new, too.

Now I am caught up and ready next month!

Happy Quilting!

Design Deck Monday

I have had this project finished

for a couple of weeks,

but couldn't show it until today.

As I have mentioned before,

I belong to a History of Quilting group

and each session, our leader gives us

a challenge project to do, if we chose to participate.

For this session, we discussed the

"Road to Richmond,"

in coordination with the release of Barbara Brackman's

"Richmond Reds" fabric line.

Our challenge this session was to come up with

a project that signified our personal

"Road to Richmond."

It could be anything and made from any fabric.

I moved to Richmond in 1983 from upstate New York,

after graduating from Nursing School.

So....

I packed my bags and headed south.

This is Amy Butler's "Weekender Travel Bag" pattern,

made from batiks.

(I obviously did not use the Richmond Reds fabrics.)

I did things a bit differently from the pattern.

I didn't want a super stiff bag, 

so instead of using the Peltex, 

I used two layers of batting and quilted all of the pieces.

I quilted and added piping to the end pockets as well.

(The colors are actually deeper then what the photos are showing.)

And do your remember this fun Nurses fabric??

It's the pockets inside the bag!

An unexpected treat!!

This bag was definitely a challenge for me and brought back

memories of my years of garment sewing.

One thing I would do differently is line the handles.

They seem very thin and I'm afraid they won't hold up over time.

Otherwise....I LOVE my bag!

Please visit Patchwork Times  and Main Crush Monday
to see what others have created.

Happy Quilting!!

Finished Log Blocks

I finished sewing the logs together for

my log cabin quilt made from recycled shirts

 this afternoon

and just love how all of these

Plaids and Stripes

play together.

After playing around,

this layout is my favorite.

Using the recycled shirts for the log cabin blocks was fun!

I have a good variety, so the mixture plays well together.

I love the pops of green, orange and yellow.

(I have moved the block from the 5th row down on the right.

I see a couple more I need to move, too.)

The one difficult thing about using the 

Go! cutter to cut the logs is not

having the plaids and stripes lined up.

Using men's shirts makes that a bit difficult anyway.

Hopefully these will be sewn together soon.

This is going to be a baby quilt for my new

Grand Nephew!!

This past week I was able to finish knitting

a pair of socks.

These look small, but they fit my size 7 feet.

I started another pair the other night.

This yarn was purchased at Tuesday Morning by my mom.

I'm trying to use up some of what I have so I can buy some

of these yummy new yarns I keep seeing out there!

The sparkle is fun in these.

Please visit Whoop Whoop
and
 Patchwork Times to see what others are creating.

Happy Friday!

Building Blocks

My pile of "deboned" shirts from Monday's post

are slowly being sewn into

Log Cabin Blocks.

I have the Log Cabin Die for my Accuquilt

and went to work cutting the logs.

This sure made quick work of the cutting,

although there were times when the accuracy wasn't

what I thought it should be.

I've been sewing round and round

and are making larger and larger blocks.

 

All of the plaids and stripes are so much fun together.

 If someone was wearing these at the same time,

I wouldn't be nearly as impressed with the look!

:)

 

Hopefully these blocks will be finished soon!

The wisteria is just gorgeous this year.

It's an American wisteria in a pot on my deck.

This variety isn't nearly as invasive or strong.

Happy Quilting!!

Designless Monday

This is the time of year

when there are not nearly enough

Hours in the Day

for me.

I am usually good around the holidays,

but spring time.....

My anniversary trip put me way behind in the

yard work, but the trip was so worth it!

Like a lot of us,

my creating with fabric has suffered

while I create with Mother Nature,

or clean up what Mother Nature left after the winter.

In addition...

I am working on a project for my

History of Quilting group

and can't yet share it.

Here is a sneak peak...

(and you will wonder what THIS fabric

has to do with the History of Quilting!)

Years ago (2005) I received this fabric from a friend of my husband's.

I had no idea what I would use it for and have kept

it all of these years.

Soon you will see what I am doing with these wild ladies!

Last night, since I was too sore to do much else,

I "deboned" a pile of men's shirts I had gotten

at one of the local thrift stores last week.

I hit pay dirt with the shirts this time!

I need to make two Boy baby quilts quickly

and will use some of these shirts

for at least one of them.

The plaids and stripes are just so much fun!

Please visit Judy at Patchwork Times to see what others are creating.

Happy Quilting!!

Lots of Socks!

Whenever we are going away,

one of the first things my husband asks me is

"What projects are you taking with you?"

I'm sure a lot of us are like that.

I start thinking about the projects LONG before

I think about the clothes I'm going to pack!

Well, on this Panama Canal cruise I took 

Yarn, Needles, one pattern and my "Knit Kit."

(My husband gave this Knit Kit to me for

Christmas a couple of years ago and it

is perfect for traveling!!)

Knitting projects are much easier to pack then

quilting projects.... especially SOCKS!!

Well.... on this trip I had some time to knit!

In fact we had a number of days at sea and I

sat and knitted and watched the water a LOT!

(In between the walks, mini golf, reading, etc.!!)

I finished this pair, using "On Your Toes" yarn,

purchased at "Tuesday Morning" a long time ago.

These are just plain vanilla socks with the

short row heels.

This pair was finished, knitted with

Supersocke yarn in "New York" colorway.

These socks were knitted using this pattern from 

Ann at Stray Threads.

Next, I started this pair of socks for a child.

Once again, I have lost the label for the yarn.

(I need to start putting the ball of yarn and the label in a baggie

so they stay together!)

 This yarn is fun to knit with all of the different colors.

And last but not least....

.... this pair is being knitted with

Ambiente  yarn.... so so soft!

These socks look like fall to me.

I have been knitting the short row heel and like these,

mainly because I don't have to have the pattern to knit them.

Hopefully these heels wear well.

When we got home, I was itching to get into my 

"Hidey Hole" and sew something!

 I signed up for another "Tuffet" class

and had the fabric for this next Tuffet,

so this is what I put together.

This one will be for my daughter...

The HUGE VCU fan!!

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are working on this week.

Happy Friday!