It's Monday again...

I think someone has put the calendar on

Fast Forward!!

Here we are zooming to the middle of  March already...

March MADNESS is here and I am EXCITED!!

 (For all of you College Basketball fans,

I hope your team did well and will be playing more this month.)

Okay...

Back to quilting...

This week I am working on a quilt

from a kit I purchased at one of my LQS's.

I had cut the pieces a while ago and was able to

just sew away this past week.

Bow Tie blocks are so quick and easy to make.

These aren't my favorite colors, but I like them together.

This quilt is going to be donated to an organization as a 

Silent Auction item. 

I need to get it finished before April!!

I also made more blocks for the March Scrappy Challenge.

From afar there is not a lot of contrast between the

two colors since they are the same value,

but I like how they are coming together.

Once more blocks are finished,

I'll play with the layout.

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

Happy Quilting!

Knitting Needles Friday

There isn't much to show this week

Knitting-wise.

I started another

Sock Monkey...

The legs are done and I am almost finished with

the body.

It's a bit cumbersome to knit with the legs

stuffed, but stuffing them after the body is finished

is not fun!

Here is the pattern I am using:

...purchased at Michael's.

Visit Patchwork Times to see other knitting projects.

Have a GREAT Friday!

The Party is Over...

The "Mardi Gras" party that is!

We only partied a few days into Lent,

but this quilt top is now finished!

This top is too big for my design wall so I had to pull out

my design floor again!

I was going to add another border in

Purple

but Mardi Gras is telling me she's done.

For one who is not a huge fan of purple,

I am really pleased with this quilt.

The greens and purples are wonderful together!

(Thank you, again, Linda!)

I ordered the backing and will get that pieced and then

off to my Long Arm Quilter.

Happy Quilting All!!

Playing while it's snowing

Well, we ended up with about 6" of snow yesterday...

a lot for my area of Virginia.

So while the snow was falling,

I was sewing!

I finished making the nine patches for the borders of

my "Mardi Gras" quilt.

Hopefully I'll get those sewn into rows in the next couple of days.

The other day Judy posted the

Scrap Challenge Block for March.

Well...

since I have all of these purples and greens out,

and since I cut too many 2 1/2" squares of each color,

I am using these for my scrappy blocks this month.

Judy is using 3 1/2" squares, so my blocks will be smaller.

Here is what I have so far:

My block

I made four blocks yesterday and played

a bit with them.

 

These are going to be fun!

Purple and green are taking over my "Hidey Hole"!

Happy Quilting!!

Design Wall Monday

As the sleet, freezing rain and ice hit my windows,

I'm planning on what I am going to accomplish today.

No one is going anywhere,

SEW...

I hope to sew!

UGH!! Go Away Winter!!

My "Mardi Gras" quilt is still on my design wall,

waiting for borders.

 

I have made 3/4 of the 9 patch squares that will be used

as one border.

The 2 1/2" squares are almost ready for the rest

of the 9 patches.

The purples are waiting to be cut down into squares.

 

The greens are ready to go.

I had to order some more green and purple for the other borders.

Those colors are difficult to find right now... in the

right shades anyway.

This week I added another

Dresden Plate to my collection.

I still am not sure of my plan for these.

Whatever it ends up being will be bright and cheerful!

Visit Patchwork Times to see what others are creating.

Happy Quilting!

February Scrappy Blocks

For February's Scrappy blocks

I went

Super Colorful!

I pulled out my bin of

Kaffe Fassett scraps and started sewing.

A friend asked for a new table topper,

so I made six blocks....

Added some bright blue polka-dotted sashing...

Quilted and bound it and it's finished!

My friend Loved it and put it right on her table!

Visit Patchwork Times to see what others

created with this block.

Meet.....

Monique!!

On Knitting Needles Friday I have a

New Friend

to show you!

I finished my Sock Monkey 

and am pretty pleased with her.

The pattern called for some weird looking hair that I didn't like,

so I put a hat on her in place of the hair.

I need to come up with something else in the future to replace

the pattern's hair for the Lady Monkeys.

How about those lips??

:)

I do need some more practice with 

the Eyes and Nose.

Are there any tricks to embroidering these on a

stuffed animal?

This was a fun project!

Here is the pattern book I bought at Michael's,

if you are interested.

The red on top of the female monkey is the hair!

The Mohawk on the male monkey is a hoot.

I did start another pair of socks this week.

Of all the socks I've made,

These are my least favorite.

The colors don't do a lot for me,

but I will keep going.

The yarn is super soft!

Visit Patchwork Times to see what others are knitting

AND

Happy Friday!

Making a decision...

I've been playing with some ideas

for borders for the

Mardi Gras Quilt

and I think I have a plan.

It's hard to tell what these borders will really look like

because I only have a little of this shade of green.

I'm going to buy some more and then will really be able to

see how things will look.

I do like the green break with the 9 patches,

followed by the purple border. 

What do you think?

Also,

I started a new hand project the other day.

I bought the patterns to make the Sue Garman

"Classic Santa" 

quilt and I'm planning to make each

Santa out of wool.

Here is the first one ready for the embroidery.

These guys should be fun to make.

:)

Have a great day everyone

and

Happy Quilting!

 

Design Wall Monday

This weekend didn't allow for much

Sewing Time,

But I did make use of what I had.

Friday night was an away basketball game

SO

I had three hours of sewing time while I listened on the radio.

This is what I completed in that three hour time frame!

My "Mardi Gras" quilt top is sewn together!

(Thank you, Gloria, for the name!)

For me not being a "purple person"...

I love this quilt top.

Now for the borders...

I'm playing around with this border design,

but am not sure that I like it.

Is it to busy?

Maybe I need a solid border in between these borders.

I'll keep playing....

This week I do have a finish!!

My Little Christmas Quilt is Finished!

I machine quilted this mini,

but machine quilting is NOT a strength of mine.

I need practice, practice, practice!

Love the colors in this one.

Visit Patchwork Times to see what others are

working on this week.

Happy Quilting!

Knitting Needles Friday

This week I have a finished project,

a "I'm bored with this so I'm putting it down for a bit" project

and an "odd looking at the moment" project.

:)

First, the Hermione Everyday Socks are Done!

I made these for myself and they fit,

but the socks look so short in this picture.

I don't have huge feet, but not tiny feet either.

These socks are the ones I'm bored with right now.

All I have to do is add the

Afterthought Heels and I'll be finished.

(Maybe this is a good reason NOT to use the Afterthought heel??)

Hopefully I'll force myself to get them finished...

Soon.

The Odd looking project is this:

A Sock Monkey!!

My "knitted pantyhose"

(a comment from a couple of weeks ago)

have progressed to a completed body...

without a face....

AND

armless...but not for long.

The second arm is about half finished.

This will be a "Lady Monkey"...

Hence, the ruffle around her neck.

This Sock Monkey is knitting up very quickly with the 

wool yarn and the larger needles.
So much fun!!

Visit Patchwork Times to see what others are knitting!

Happy Friday!

Ready to Gift...

A dear friend asked me to make a 

Bright Table Mat for her

Kitchen Table.

Do you think this will suffice?

(My Design Wall is occupied by my Purple and Green Quilt, so

out came the Design Floor!)

This Table Mat was made with the

Scrap Challenge Block for February.

 

All quilted and bound.

It sure has brightened up MY February.

Happy Quilting!

Something new...

I am often looking for ways to make

quilting easier or faster

and this is one reason why 

I enjoy reading blogs.

There are some GREAT ideas out there in blogland!!

The other day I read about this

cutting technique for HST's on a blog.

(I'm sorry, but I don't remember the blog

from which I read this.)

First, I am a trimmer...

I make my HST's larger than are needed

and then trim them to size.

Things are much more accurate this way for me.

I line the angle on the ruler up on the seam and trim, trim,

 turn, line up again, trim and trim.

And in the process I hope the ruler doesn't move, giving me an uneven cut.

This method is what I found the other day..

Before pressing the HST open, 

line the ruler up by placing the line for the size HST you want

on the seam line of the triangle.

(The 2 12" line is on the seam of the triangle.)

Trim up one side.

 

Trim the other side,

press open, trim the dog ears and you are done!

How much easier is that??

I happen to find this Quilt in a Day ruler that can be used for 

1/2" and 1" measurements, but if I want a triangle in smaller measurements,

I'll have to get another ruler.

(I have no idea why I bought this ruler, but it came in handy!)

A bunch of HST's are trimmed and ready to be sewn into blocks.

All of the blocks are sewn together for this quilt now...

Lickety Split!

(Well.... maybe not too Lickety Split, but faster!)

Have a great day and Happy Quilting!!