"Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning, the devil says...."Oh crap! She's up!" Unknown

Monday, August 31, 2015

Another Applique Block

Boy, I am slow going this morning!
After spending a wonderful week at the beach
with my family,
Monday morning came too soon!

While at the beach,
I did get another applique block stitched.
I am really enjoying doing applique again, 
but I'm not sold on the
"Starch" method of preparation. 

There are little bumps in the edges at times.
I know it is operator error...
I didn't get the seam allowance turned under smoothly,
but I don't have that problem with needle turn.
Practice makes perfect...
or at least makes it easier!



No pretty beach background today...
just my design wall.


Two finished,
a lot more to do!
  
My sewing machine is in the shop getting the yearly maintanence done.
Hopefully it will be finished soon....
so the shaking can stop!!
 (hehehe)

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are creating.

Happy Quilting!!

Friday, August 28, 2015

Knitting Friday

This sweater I am making
is the never-ending project!
It seems like I have been working on it for Years!
(It has definitely been over a year... I think!)

Anyway,
I finally blocked the sleeve insets and will
now begin knitting the bands around these insets.


In case you have forgotten...
Here is the sweater pattern and the body of the sweater I am knitting.




Hopefully it will be finished before the cold weather hits!


I also finished a pair of ankle socks this week.




These were fun to make!
I loosely used this pattern to make them.

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are knitting,

Happy Friday!

Thursday, August 27, 2015

First Block Finished

I started appliquing the
Red, White and Blue blocks
and have one finished. 
I'm surprised at how rusty my applique skills are
after not doing it for a long time.

This block may get a "Do Over"...
Especially the larger leaves.


Isn't this a great backdrop?
It's near the beach.
:)


Onto the next block.

Happy Quilting!

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Friendship Quilt

As I have mentioned before, 
I belong to a 
"History of Quilting"
group and enjoy spending a couple of hours
once a month with the wonderful group of ladies.

Each session we are given a challenge project to make if we choose
to participate.

Two sessions ago we were given the pattern for the
"Friendship Block"
and were asked to put something that spoke to us
on the 5" square in the center.
It could be a quote, a picture, applique, a Bible verse...
anything.
At the final meeting of the session we would exchange the
blocks with each other.

During this session,
one of the ladies was being treated for breast cancer.
We decided as a group that she would be the
recipient of all of our blocks.

We "exchanged" the blocks at the meeting
and then gave them all to her at the end of this gathering.
She was very touched.

Well,
fast forward a few months.
I volunteered to sew the blocks together for this friend.

The top was delivered to her this past week and she was so pleased.


 It isn't a great photo of the top since I had to use my
"Design Floor"
but you get the idea of what it looks like.
It was neat to see what each of us chose to put in the middle of
our blocks.

The best thing about this group is the friendships made.


Happy Quilting!
        







Monday, August 24, 2015

New Applique Project

It has been a long time since I have worked on
Hand Applique
and I have the "itch" to do some.

In the past I have only done 
Needle Turn Applique,
but this time I am trying something new.

I have read about the
"Starch Method"
on a number of blogs
and decided to try this.
There is a lot of prep work
before the stitching even begins,
but once the prep is finished,
the stitching goes very quickly.
So,
I gathered my supplies...
 

 

 Isn't this little travel iron cute?
I have the Clover mini iron, but have not been able
to get it hot enough to do anything.
 
I ironed two pieces of freezer paper together,
using my teflon pressing sheet.
(The freezer paper was ironed so both shiny sides were facing down,
one of top of the other.) 
Then I traced the necessary pieces onto the freezer paper and cut them out. 




I then ironed these pieces to the backs of the fabric, 
leaving plenty of room to cut my seam allowance
and cut each piece out with a scant 1/4" seam allowance.


 

These pieces are ready to have the seam allowance pressed to the back.




The starch was brushed onto the seam allowance of each piece
and allowed to dry a bit.
Using the travel iron, I pressed the edges over the
freezer paper, clipping curves and "v's" where necessary.



I am a rookie at this, so it isn't as neat and precise as it could be.

Ready for applique!







I have my sewing machine on my cutting table
and decided to use my acrylic machine table as a 
light box instead of getting my actual light box out.
 (That's my mini travel Ott light under the machine table.)


It worked really well to get the pattern traced onto the backing fabric.

Now that the prep work is finished,
the stitching can begin!

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are creating.

Happy Quilting!

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Gravity Grows...

The fabric for the August
"Gravity" blocks arrived
and the blocks have been pieced.

I really like these colors and design.



I just realized these fit with my
"Christmas in August"
theme I have going right now.

Happy Quilting!!

Saturday, August 22, 2015

More Christmas

Last year for my birthday a friend gave me a kit to make 
a quilted wreath wall hanging
that you add lights to once it's finished.

This kit was pulled from my cabinet of
"To do " projects and is almost finished!


I wasn't sure how to quilt this, so looked on line to see what others had done.
Most had quilted just the outside and inside of the wreath.
That worked for me, too.


All that is left is to stitch the battery pack pocket on the back and
cut the openings for the lights.

This will be a nice addition to my Christmas decorations
and bring some sparkle to my house.

Thanks Ellen!!

Happy Quilting!

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Christmas in August!!

A few months ago
I showed these felt stockings I made from
Bucilla kits.






These kits are so much fun to make
and are pretty foolproof,
as long as you follow the directions.

This week I made the quilted stockings that I attached
these felt stockings fronts to to make them very sturdy.
 This way they can be stuffed with goodies at Christmas.


 
 

I make a "quilt" from my fabric and then use either the
felt backing that comes with the kit or the felt stocking front
as a pattern.



I cut the front and back for the stocking from the quilt I made.


A hanging tab is made.

The front and back are stitched together around the outside.
Biased binding is made and stitched onto the front of the stocking
and turned to the back and stitched down.


The tab is stitched to the inside before the binding as added to the top.


This is the completed quilted stocking before the felt front
is stitched to it.

And here are the two completed stockings!

These are very sturdy and can now be filled to the brim with goodies.

Yay! Two gifts finished for Christmas.

Happy Quilting!

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

The Floor Mat...

I gave my sister the floor mat I made for her
and was promptly told
"There is no way this is going on the floor!"

It's hers...
she can do with it as she pleases.
:)

I have to say,
I was worried that in washing it,
the pictures in the panel would be lost.



Before washing...
 (This is square and straight... for some reason the photo makes it look uneven.)


And after.
It's softer, but still very recognizable. 

Happy Quilting!



Monday, August 17, 2015

Chenille Floor Mat

Have you ever purchased the items
necessary to make something
and then put it off 
FOREVER,
thinking it's going to be too difficult or take a long time?

Two years ago or so I was in a quilt shop and saw
this great chenille floor mat.
I asked the owner how to make it
and purchased what was needed to make one.
I was going to make one for my sister.

Well....
I'd plan to make it, but wouldn't because I was
afraid it would take too long
or be too difficult
or not turn out the way it should.

Yesterday I finally decided
"Today is the day."
I pulled out the fabric and cut the four layers plus the canvas for the bottom.
A piece of batting was cut and the 
stitching lines were drawn on back of the canvas.

The stitching began.


This went together so quickly!
 

And turned out great.



I haven't washed it yet, but will before I give it to my sister.
(Act surprised, Deeda!)
 

Here I was almost dreading making this floor mat,
put it off for two years
and it took all of 
Three Hours!!

Happy Quilting!


Sunday, August 16, 2015

Beautiful Dresdens

I have mentioned before that I belong to a
History of Quilting group that meets monthly.
This is one great group of women!
The talent in the room is amazing
and we have a great time at our meetings.

A few sessions ago we were given a challenge to find inspiration
in an antique quilt and create something from that inspiration.


This was my creation for the challenge.

Our wonderful leader, Linda, was inspired by my quilt
and asked if she could use my design to create something of her own.
"Of Course!!"

Well, yesterday her quilt came back from her Long Arm Quilter
at our monthly meeting
and it is gorgeous!



Isn't this wonderful??
(I apologize for the blurry photo... )
I love the colors Linda used and the different Dresdens.


The quilting is so much fun, too....perfect for this quilt.

Each month I get so excited when it's History Club Saturday.
Talk about inspiring!!


Keep those creative juices flowing!!
Happy Quilting!

Friday, August 14, 2015

Finished Cowl

With all of the socks I've been knitting the past few months,
I needed something different to work on, knitting-wise.
After looking through patterns on Ravlery,
I decided to knit a cowl...
something I had not made before.

The knitting moved right along,
since I was using size 8 needles and
worsted weight yarn.

It's finished and I love it!


I had not used the provisional cast-on before and was surprised
at how easy it was to do.
I think I stitched the ends together backwards,
but I don't care...
once it's on, no one will notice. 

:)
 

Hopefully I won't need to wear this for a long time!




I haven't made too much progress on my anklet,
but will get back to working on this more.

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are knitting.

Happy Friday!!

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Cathedral Window Finish

I cannot tell you how much fun this little quilt was to make!


It measures 16 3/4" square and was made with 2 1/2" squares.


Stitching around the window panes
(I'm not sure what the gray pieces are called, but this works, right??)
was a lot easier and faster than I anticipated.
I was able to stitch from one to the next without having
to stop stitching and cut the thread each time.


My husband suggested that I make placemats with this pattern...
I think I just might have to do that!


You can use any size square to make this pattern 
as long as they are all the same size.

Watch this tutorial and have a ball!
 

The quilt as you go aspect is awesome, too.
Once the gray panes were stitched down,
all it needed was binding!

I see more of these in my future.... maybe a lot more!

Happy Quilting!!

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

The Windows Have Arrived...

.... but the instillation isn't complete.
:)

I started this Cathedral Window quilt last week and
had gotten this far.


I'm using this tutorial to make this cute little quilt.

This week I haven't had a lot of time to play in my Hidey Hole,
but I have worked on this little quilt.

The windows are installed and ready for stitching.


The tutorial shows how to stitch the windows in place and quilt it
at the same time.
I'm thinking I should have started with larger blocks...
 it's going to be a challenge to stitch the edges down by 
machine on these little things.
 
 
The idea of stitching the edges down and quilting it at the same time
is a great one.
I'm just not sure I can be as precise as I want to be.

We shall see!!
Stay tuned.  :)

Happy quilting!!

Monday, August 10, 2015

Miss Muffet's Tuffet

Miss Muffet has another Tuffet! 

A few months ago I finished this top for a tuffet
and was waiting for a class to fit into my schedule
so I could put the tuffet together.



Saturday I headed over to one of my local quilt shops
and made this new Tuffet.



This is for my oldest daughter's birthday at the end of the month.



She's a HUGE VCU fan...
Black and Gold!

These are just too much fun to make.
I see at least one more in my future.

There are a number of choices for the feet
and I thought these modern feet looked good with these batiks.
Too Much Fun!!


I'm glad Little Miss Muffet 2 has a Tuffet!





Is this not the most unusual flower??
I think it's a Passion Flower... growing on a vine in one of my pots.
I planted it there, but it has bloomed very little.



Please visit Patchwork Times and Main Crush Monday
to see what others are creating today.

Happy Quilting!!