Another Snowy Friday

We were visited by another snow storm yesterday

and were left with a layer of sleet/freezing rain,

followed by 3-4" of snow. 

Thankfully I made my Joann's run earlier in the day!

I was completely out of white thread!

(and so was my quilt shop!!)

How did this happen??

Hopefully after today I'll be able to show you why I

needed the white thread.

In the meantime,

I have a completed pair of socks and another pair started!

Earlier in the week I finished the

"Maryland" socks for my daughter.

These are for her little size 2 feet and were knitted using a

solid black and solid red yarn together.

She loves them and was glad to have them yesterday.

A few weeks ago I found this publication put out by "Threads"

 in one of my local quilt shops...

It cost $6.00 and is full of lots of socks to make...

some beautiful and some unique!

The one thing I really like about this book/magazine is the patterns tell you

how long to knit the foot of the sock for specific sizes

instead of saying "measure your foot and..."

If I'm making a pair of socks as a gift or for someone who lives out of town,

I can't measure their foot.

 

Anyway...

Here is the pair I started from this publication...

The pattern was supposed to extend down the foot, but I find

wearing socks with a pattern like this on my foot is uncomfortable.

This pattern is the "Alpaca Texture Sock"

and is really easy to knit.

I cannot remember the yarn name or manufacturer as I lost the

tag.  I need to put the tag and ball of yarn in a

baggie after I wind it into a ball, so I can have that information!

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are knitting.

Happy Knitting!

Hearts, hearts and more hearts

On my Design Wall today is the 

completed Hearts top 

I was working on a few weeks ago.

The borders have been added and the backing is pieced.

I cut the hearts with my

Accuquilt Go! cutter and

love the precision and ease of cutting with this.

Before cutting the hearts,

I fused some Mistyfuse to the back of the fabrics.

This is my first time using Mistyfuse and I like it

better than some of the other fusibles I have used.

It took some time getting the hearts measured and placed just right.

Now to get this one quilted!

This seems to be a theme here...

I am getting tops made, but the quilting is not getting done.

SOON!!

For those of you who are good at naming quilts....

any ideas for this one?

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are creating.

Happy March! Happy Monday! and Happy Quilting!

350 Blocks Project~February

February found me sewing a lot,

but not all can be counted as blocks.

I am participating in the

Prairie Moon

350 Blocks Project for 2015

Here are my blocks for February.

First I made this top:

25 blocks total in this top with 8 I didn't use in the top, but will use in a pillow.

Next came this quilt:

Even though I do not like this quilt,

it's 16 blocks made.

I am participating in the "Gravity" BOM

and completed the first two blocks for this.

And finally,

I made six Patriotic Heart blocks

that will become mini quilts.

My February report is 57 blocks made.

I need to start getting these tops quilted!!

My completed quilt list for 2015 is very short.

Happy Quilting!!

Hearts and Socks

I've been able to get back into sewing a bit

and worked on a small project this week.

No pulling and pushing fabric around,

so my shoulder stayed quiet.

Thank you for all of your suggestions on chairs.

I'll be out shopping for a new one soon!

Can I just say...

I love making these hearts.

I made a couple a while ago as a challenge

and knew I would be making more at some point.

These are my Patriotic Hearts.

 

As I mentioned in prior posts,

I make my siblings and mom a Patriotic quilt

each time we have a family reunion.

 This will be the quilt given to them this summer.

I'll add a small border of white fabric,

then quilt and bind them.

(Wouldn't a bunch of these make a great quilt!?!?)

Four almost done,

two more to go.

My Accuquilt Go! cutter made quick work of cutting

the pieces for these little quilts.

Now onto knitting!

I finished the first sock of this pair for my daughter.

These will be for her tiny size 2 foot.

The yarn I am using is

Poste from Simply Sock Yarn Company.

With these socks, I am knitting the red and black yarn together

for thicker, warmer socks.

This yarn is soooo soft!

The Simply Sock Yarn Company provides great customer service

and has a nice selection of sock yarns.

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are knitting today!

Happy Friday!

Out of Commission...

Not much sewing has been going on here....

I had my shoulder injected

and am hoping this takes care of the pain I've been having.

One thing I need to find is a higher chair for my sewing machine.

I'm short and my sewing machine sits on a desk in my

sewing room, not down in a cabinet, so I have to reach up a bit to sew.

Sewing like this puts pressure on my shoulder and the problem joint.

Does anyone have a wonderful chair that raises higher than

the normal desk chair?

I've even tried sitting on one of my bar stools. It was higher, but not

very comfortable!

Anway,

Enough about that!

My younger daughter was home over the weekend

and she wanted to play with my

Accuquilt Go! cutter.

I pulled out a stack of patriotic fabrics

and she cut away.

Then we had fun putting them on my design wall.

This is what we have...

For several years now I have made small

Patriotic quilts for my siblings and mom.

I think this may be this years design.

 

I'll cut some white squares to finish off the design.

The Accuquilt Go! cutter sure made quick work of cutting all of these squares.

Hopefully I'll be stitching these together soon!

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are creating.

Happy Quilting!

A Knitting Finish!

This past week I told myself I was going to finish the

Sari Silk Crescent Shawl

I had started a long time ago.

It was about half finished when I picked it up again

a couple of weeks ago.

With the weather being so cold,

I've stayed home more

and Knitted!!

It's finished!!

This was a very easy, mindless pattern to knit,

but it is Heavy!

I just love the colors in this recycled Sari silk yarn.

Before I had to stop knitting for a while,

I had started a pair of socks for my daughter.

She had asked for Maryland socks for Christmas

(her sister is a grad),

but I couldn't find any to buy.

Instead, I bought red and black yarn and started knitting.

Now that I am able to knit a bit again,

I've started back on these.

This yarn is sooo soft!!

These socks will be nice and thick and warm!

They should be done quickly...

they are for my daughter who wears the size 1 or 2 shoe!!

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are knitting.

Happy Friday!

I Don't Like It....

Thankfully this doesn't happen too often....

I get the blocks made for a quilt and lay it out

And....

YUCK!!

I DON'T LIKE IT!!

At this point it's too late and too much trouble to take the blocks apart.

I love the fabrics individually,

but not together with the gold background.

The name of this fabric line drew me to it...

"Prayer Shawl" by April Cornell.

I can't tell you when I bought it.

All I know is it was quite a while ago!

 

This will have a border added to it, will be quilted

and will be donated to the Women's Shelter that I have donated

quilts to in the past.

You can't win them all!!

Happy Friday and Happy Quilting all!

Stay warm!!

Hearts Abound

I know Valentine's Day has passed,

but it is still February, so I am not too late with this!

Last week I started cutting hearts with my

Accuquilt Go! Cutter and began playing with them on my

Design Wall.

I first added Mistyfuse to the back of the fabric

and then ran it through the cutter.

Boy... does the cutter make fast work on these hearts!

After playing with them for a while,

this is what I have...

The hearts are just pinned on right now.

When I know for sure that this is the design I want,

I'll measure and make sure they are all placed evenly in the design.

These batiks are so rich in color.

I'm debating on whether or not to replace the white/pink hearts.

They seem to get lost in the design.

**Edit**

I took the white/pink hearts out and added another medium pink heart.
This looks ssoooo much better!!

Since I am snowed in today, I hope to get the hearts ironed onto the backing

and then work on borders.

The bright pinks look nice on this white, wintery day.

Happy Quilting!

Snow is Coming!

A big storm is headed my way today!

Not Boston Big,

but South Big!

We may be snowed in for a few days,

so I need to get to the store.....

 

to get thread, rotary cutter blades, sewing machine needles, fabric, patterns....

I don't want to run out of anything!

:D :D

Actually, I could be snowed in for several months and would be fine

in the quilting department!

This morning I'm going to share what I began making in a quilt class on Wednesday.

Last week I posted this picture of the Kaffe fabric strips

I had cut for the class.

Well...

First these strips were sewn together into wedges using the

Foundation Piecing technique.

Then the wedges were sewn together into this...

In the second class we will stuff this and upholster it to a base with feet

and end up with a 

Tuffet!!

Here is a picture of a tuffet from the quilt shop

where I am taking the class.

Quilter's Corner, Midlothian, VA

Isn't this just too cute?!?

Making the wedges was not difficult at all,

as long as I paid close attention to where I was stitching and trimming.

The assembly of the tuffet itself will be more challenging, I think.

The instructor is excellent, though, and has taught this class many times.

I do see more of these in my future!

If you live in the Richmond, VA area,

Quilter's Corner in Midlothian offers the Tuffet classes.

Be careful.... they are addictive!!

:D

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are creating today.

Stay warm and safe everyone!

Happy Quilting!!

Knitting Again!!

I decided it was time to try knitting again

and here I am!

(I found that knitting was REALLY bothering my shoulder and arm...

I move my left arm too much and slouch too much when I knit.)

So, I decided to work on something with big needles,

anchored my left arm between me and the arm of the couch,

and it's working.

My shoulder isn't any worse.

Here is what I have been working on lately....

It is the Sari Silk Crescent Shawl

and it's so easy to knit.

I've never knitted with recycled Sari silk before

and it's very different. 

There are lumps and bumps

and fat parts and thin parts,

and knots and threads,

but the colors are gorgeous.

I'm thrilled to be knitting again and

hopefully I will be able to move back to socks soon.

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are creating.

Happy Friday!

Falling Leaves

It's Friday...

and it's FREEZING COLD

outside for we southerners!

(I know I have nothing to complain about

compared to all of you in the Northeast! 

I continue to pray for warmth and safety for you all.) 

I am playing with some beautiful

Fall Leaves

in my Hidey Hole this week.

On Monday I showed the

USO

(Un-Started Object)

I pulled out to begin and, hopefully, complete soon.

After working on this for a few days,

I can't help but wonder why I waited so long to make this quilt!

I spent several nights tracing and cutting out the leaves

and now need to fuse them onto the background.

The stems for the leaves are cut and will be added

when I fuse the leaves to the background.

These colors are so rich and warm looking.

I think this is one reason why I love to quilt...

Quilts add an explosion of color,

even on the bleakest days.

Stay warm everyone

and

Happy Quilting!!

Fabric is Cut

The Kaffe Fabric has been cut

and is ready for my class tomorrow.

What I will be making isn't what you think it will be...

and I'm so excited!

I've wanted to make one of these for a long time.

Pictures to come!!

Happy Quilting!!

USO's

Looking at my Design Wall today

you would think I was confused....

It's almost the middle of February and I am looking at

Fall Leaves.

Wishful thinking???

(If this were the case, I'd have a beach scene on my Design Wall!)

No....

It's a kit I have had for

Four Years

and decided it has waited long enough!

Once I start a quilt,

I usually finish it within a few months.

UFO's are not my problem...

It's the USO's that are my problem....

Un Started Objects!

I see something or think of something

and want to make it, so I purchase the items needed.

Then they sometimes sit... sometimes for years... until it's their turn.

So, yesterday I pulled this project out of the bin and started working.

The background is pieced.

Fall leaves are being cut and placed on the background.
(This photo is truer to the color of the background batiks.)

I ran out of the fusible web,
so this is as far as I was able to get last night.
Hopefully by the end of the week it will be an
Unquilted object!


Also yesterday I started pulling fabrics for a class I am taking on Wednesday.
Out came my stash of Kaffe Fassett Fabrics.
You KNOW how much I love his fabrics!

I am so excited about this class and look forward to sharing photos of what
I will be creating.

Happy Monday Everyone!

Please visit Patchwork Times for some Eye candy today!

Friday Already?

Wow this week flew past me!

I do have a little quilting/sewing to show for it,

but not much!

Last year I showed these wool applique blocks I made..

 I made six more and set them aside, knowing I wanted to make a quilt with them.

Now is the time!

This week I have been making blocks,

using these appliqued blocks as the center.

In the quilt group I belong to, we were given this pattern

and were asked to put a quote, saying or whatever 

we wanted in the center as a friendship block.

We were going to trade them with the other group members.

(We actually gave them all to our leader as a surprise!)

I made mine with a wool applique block like these

and knew right away that I wanted an entire quilt made like this.

 

Let me just say that my seam ripper has become an extension of my hand!

I don't know if I have ever had to rip out as many seams as I have with these blocks.

These blocks are 16 1/2" square, so this is going to be a large quilt

with the 12 wool blocks I have appliqued!

It's funny how you can look at a block for two days and not see the mistake...

then all of a sudden it hits you!

The top red HST was backwards on this block until I fixed it.

I have two more blocks worth of HST's almost ready...

just need to trim the dog ears.

This is the pattern I used for the wool applique.

I really, really like Lisa's patterns.

Happy Friday

and

Peaceful Quilting to all!