Box of Shame

My daughter and son-in-law moved about 6 months ago

and one of their bedrooms is their
"Room of Shame".

In it are all of the boxes and things they

haven't found places for or are not sure

they are going to keep.

Well...

I have a

"Box of Shame".

In my box are projects started long ago

and forgotten about

until a cleaning frenzy hits

and the box is unearthed and brought to light.

It is truly shameful!

This box came to light as I was taking a break from

window treatment sewing

and I really wish I hadn't opened it up just now.

It's too much of a distraction!

AND an embarrassment! 

Part of a 12 step program is admitting you have a problem

and facing it head on.

So....

here are just a few things I found in my Box of Shame.

Years ago, and I mean YEARS AGO

I decided to make the "Flower Pot" quilt by Kim McLean.

The first side panel is almost finished.

Three circles need to be added to the stems of the flowers.

I have decided that this is going to become a wall hanging as it is.

I'm never going to finish the quilt, as much as I love it.

 

These two panels were also made for the "Flower Pot" quilt.

They will become pillows or little wall hangings.

This is a Hawaiian applique that is finished.

It just needs to be quilted.

Hand quilting is not my thing, so in order to get this out of the

Box of Shame,

I'm going to machine quilt this and call it done.

There are a number of other projects in this box

that will slowly get finished....or given away.

I may or may not share all of the projects in my box.

A girl needs to keep some things to herself.

:)

Phew... I feel better already!

Happy Quilting!

Quilting Time Out

Last week the Quilt Club my friends and I started

(after I taught a couple of them how to quilt) met.

They wanted me to teach them how to make the blocks for the

Canyon Dance quilt I made a couple of months ago.

Since I was going to need pieces and blocks to show them,

I took a suggestion from a blog comment, pulled my blue batiks

and began cutting.

I sewed a few of the blocks together while showing

my friends how to piece the blocks.

That night I kept sewing and finished these blocks.

The rest are cut, but the sewing had to be put on hold for a bit.

I just love all of these blue batiks together.

The Parish Hall at my church is in dire need to some updated window treatments.

I was asked if I would make them and after looking for fabric,

ordering the fabric and waiting, waiting, waiting for the fabric to be delivered,

they were started on Friday.

This is 30 yards of welting ready to be sewn onto the fabric pieces.

This will be the middle section of a simple valance.

The side sections are ready to sew today.

Until these are finished, there will be no quilting going on

in my Hidey Hole.

Hopefully the side sections will go together quickly!

I'm linking to Design Wall Monday today.

Happy Creating!!

99% Finished Tree Skirt

This week has been rather busy for me,

but I was able to sneak in some quilting time

and have the latest Christmas tree skirt almost finished.

The ties need to be added to the back and the label sewn on and then

it will be finished.

 

I made this with 60 degree triangles cut 8" tall.

Using larger triangles made it a quick project

and I like how it really shows off the designs in the fabrics.

 

This is the back.

Several years ago I found a good sale on this fabric and bought

a lot of it. I just love the poinsetta print. The colors are so

vibrant, too.

This one will be finished for the July wedding!

One of my friends, who is also a quilter, has started making Christmas tree skirts

as wedding gifts, too.

She was here yesterday and brought the skirt she is making

for an upcoming wedding.

 Christmas tree skirt made by Lynn.

 

Isn't this beautiful?!?

I never would have thought to use the yellowy/orange fabric

with the burgundy and green, 

but it brings in so much light to the design.

The ties need to be added and then she will be finished.

I need to find this pattern!

Happy Quilting!

New Christmas Tree Skirt

We are invited to a wedding in July

and it dawned on me the other day that

July will be here in just a couple of weeks!

I need to get moving on the Christmas Tree Skirt! 

Fabrics came out and cutting began.

I saw a tree skirt made with triangles here

and decided that would be the design I would use this time.

(It seems I have a "thing" for triangles lately!)

 I cut 60 degree triangles from a stack of Christmas fabrics

and began playing on my design wall.

 This came together so quickly and was so easy to make.

It really shows off the Christmas fabrics.

The colors are more vibrant than the photo shows.

Quilting has begun and will hopefully be finished soon.

It will be Christmas in July!

Happy Quilting!

Patriotic Finish 2018

As I posted before,

I've been making quilted Patriotic items for my 4 siblings and mom

for a number of years.

The table runners for 2018 are now finished and ready for gifting.

I got a little carried away this year with the cutting of the parts!

To make these,

I cut 3" strips of the red and blue fabrics and 2 1/2" strips of the white.

I sewed them into strip sets and then used a 60 degree triangle ruler to 

cut the strip sets into triangles.

Then the fun began...

arranging and rearranging them into the various designs.

These table runners are about 40" long.

This is my husband's favorite,

so it now is on our kitchen table.

The little toppers are about 25" long

and went together so quickly.

After I'd made 8  of the smaller toppers

(I told you I got carried away cutting them!)

I decided to make some larger ones to use up more triangles.

I like these better and wish I had made them all like this.

Oh well....

Here are all of the toppers I've made so far, starting in 2011, but 

skipping 2012 for some reason.

Wouldn't this make a fun collage on the wall?

I already have an idea for next years item. :)

I'm linking to Design Wall Monday.

Happy Quilting!!

Patriotic Table Toppers 2018

I mentioned in a post last week that I had started making my

annual Patriotic Table Toppers for my family.

A different one is made each year in memory of my dad.

Two weeks ago I cut strips and sewed them together

for this years design.

Well...

Let me just say that I overestimated how many strip sets

I would need by a lot!

So, what is one to do?

Make larger toppers and runners!

This is the original design plan for these runners.

They went together very quickly and are ready for quilting.

After making nine of these... yes nine.... I still had a pile of

60 degree triangles left.

That pile turned into a larger table topper and three longer runners.

This one is my favorite!

And my sister's favorite, too.

 

There are three of these longer table runners, too.

I think I have enough for the family this year.... and a few friends!

Hopefully I'll begin quilting these this week and have

finishes soon.

I'm linking to Design Wall Monday today.

Happy Quilting!

Knitting Something Other Than Socks!

As those who follow my blog know,

I am a sock knitter.

Lately I've been knitting socks for children from

yarn left over from knitting adult socks.

A friend gave me a skein of yarn a while ago that is 100% wool.

It couldn't be used for socks because 100% wool doesn't wear well,

so I was looking for something else to make with it.

Finally,

a few weeks ago I found the perfect pattern,

Workday Scarf at Ravelry. 

This was a quick and easy knit

and traveled so well!

 

It's one that can be worn in warmer weather,

but will be nice in the colder temperatures, too.

 

It worked really well with this beautiful blue wool yarn.

 

The subtle variation in color shines in this pattern.

Now I'm itching to make another one!

Happy Friday!

Two New Projects

Each year for the past six or so I've made my siblings

a red, white and blue table topper or runner for July 4th.

Our father died in July and he was one of the most

Patriotic people I know.

They are made in memory of him.

Before going to Missouri Star last month

I had decided on this years design and

found the fabric to make them at Missouri Star.

 One has been put together to make sure

the fabrics work and that I like the result.

I've wanted to make this table runner for a long time

and thought it would be fun in the patriotic fabrics.

I sewed 2 1/2" strips together instead of using a border fabric.

The remaining strips are pieced and ready for cutting with

the 60 degree ruler. 

These should go together very quickly.

Something else that came home with me from Missouri Star

were charm packs of the "Painted Garden" line.

I found tiny polka dot fabric to go with the charm packs

and have been working on these 

Disappearing Four Patch blocks.

Disappearing Four Patch is one of my favorite blocks to make.

This may be the 6th or 7th quilt I've made using this design.

 

This will make a sweet baby girl quilt when it's finished.

Mindless sewing at it's best!

Happy Quilting!

Bible Book Block Quilts

Back in April I posted photos of my finished

Bible Book Block quilt.

It was the year long project for the History Club I belong to.

The quilts were in a quilt show at the quilt shop

where the History club meets,

and it was so neat to see them displayed all together.

I took these photos at the show at the beginning of May,

but am just now sharing them.

It's so fun to see others interpretations of the same patterns

and the colors and fabrics used.

Unfortunately, I don't have names of the creators of each quilt,

but they are all beautiful.

Let the quilt show begin!

 

This quilt is the one I made.

Aren't they all so different and beautiful?

I so enjoy seeing and being with these woman each month.

It's a great group and very inspirational.

Happy Quilting!

Little Time for Sewing

It's been a crazy couple of weeks here,

but I am here.

Not much sewing is going on in my Hidey Hole,

but my yard looks good!

Now if we could just get outside and enjoy it.

The rain storms have been unbelievable.

I don't have a lot to show, but wanted to

hop in and say all is well.

Here are some more socks I've made!

These are all children's socks,

made from leftover yarn I had.

They knit up so quickly!

This quilt was started a couple of weeks ago

and is still hanging on my design wall.

It is not an attractive quilt by any means,

but is made with denim and  pieces from colored jeans.

My brother and SIL sent me two boxes of colored jeans

a couple of years ago to use in quilts.

This quilt will go back to them to use outside with their grands.

They won't have to worry about being gentle with this one at all.

What did they call these?

Utilitarian quilts?

I hope you all are doing well and getting into the summer mode.

Happy Quilting!

Hands2Help Quilts Finished

This year I participated in the

Hands2Help Charity Quilt challenge

run by Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

for the first time.

My plans were to make two quilts and donate one to

Little Lambs and one to Quilty Hugs.

With my mother being in an accident and other unexpected

occurrences, I was able to make one new quilt

and pulled a baby quilt from my stack of 

"waiting for babies" quilts that I've made.

Quilty Hugs will receive

"Deep in the Forest"

made from the Canyon Dance pattern.

I made this one thinking it would be great for a male or female.

All of the greens just sparkle.

This was such a fun quilt to make!

Little Lambs will receive this baby quilt

that I made earlier this year.

I really like the fabric that says "baby" all across it.

This was a very quick quilt to make.

I even pieced a backing!

Something I really dislike doing. :)

These will be mailed to their recipients and will, hopefully,

give some comfort to those who receive them.

Thank you, Sarah, for organizing this wonderful event.

Please visit her blog to see the beautiful quilts being donated.

Happy Quilting!

I've Been Exploring!

In 2010, I went on my first quilt trip

with a company that specialized in such trips.

On this trip, I met two women and we became fast friends.

You'd have thought we'd known each other for years.

Just about every year since then

we have gotten together,

either on another quilt trip tour

or we've met somewhere on our own.

On Tuesday we met in Kansas City, MO

and spent all day Wednesday at

Missouri Star Quilt Company

in Hamilton, MO.

Hamilton is about an hour away from Kansas City,

so we left after breakfast and meandered our way up the road.

 

Missouri Star has taken this little town over

and really has brought life back to it, from what I read.

This is a map of the main street in Hamilton.

The quilt shops are the buildings in orange.

Each shop was so well laid out,

so well lit

and the people are so friendly!

We were asked so many times where we were from

and if we came for just the quilt company.

 

 

These little banners lined the streets and said different things.

These three murals were on ends of the rows of buildings

and added so much charm and color to the street.

Of course, I found some treasures to bring home,

but did keep things under control.

(I really am trying to use what I have!)

One day was plenty of time for us to spend here.

We enjoyed a nice lunch

and wandered up and down the street for the day,

going in and out and back in and back out

of the various shops.

At the end of the trip,

we started thinking about where our next adventure

will take us.

Any suggestions?

Happy Quilting!!