On a Roll....

On Monday and Tuesday I found myself with a few free hours in the

afternoons.

Appointments were canceled,

so what is a girl to do?

SEW!!!

In those few hours I was able to get the borders on my

Bible blocks quilt.

Woohoo!!

The blocks had been sewn together over the weekend

and I was toying with border ideas.

At first I thought I would use the four extra 

Bible blocks in the corners of the outer border

as corner stones.

 Putting those blocks in the corners was too much of a contrast.

My eye went right to those corners.

I am really pleased with the solid black borders instead.

The extra blocks may be pieced into the backing.

(I had to stand on a stool to take this photo....

hence, the crooked look.)

 

 

I cut and sewed strips of various reds

and used those for the narrow red border.

I'm debating on whether or not to quilt this one myself.

It's much larger than I thought it would be when making the blocks

and I've never quilted anything this large.

 

An over-all quilting design isn't what this quilt needs, though.

I'll see if I can get my courage up to do this!

Happy Quilting!

Socks and Such

It's the beginning of another week

and it's been another few days of working on various projects.

First,

the next clue of Libby's mystery quilt was released last Friday,

and, again, it took my iron longer to heat up than it did 

for me to sew the blocks together.

I really enjoy making Half Square Triangles.

I'm getting really curious about how all of these parts will go together!

Second,

I finished another pair of socks for a child.

These are a size 2-3 and went together so quickly!

It's so nice to be using some of the left over sock yarn from other projects

and making something useful.

Third,

I finally pulled out my stack of Bible book blocks

and found some fabric to use for the alternate blocks.

I went back and forth about what to use and finally decided on black.

The black really allows all of the reds to shine.

The photos make the reds look pinkier then they actually are.

I'm going to add several borders to this quilt...

a narrow black, then a narrow red, followed by a wide black

with four Bible book blocks in the corners.

I hope it looks as nice as it does in my head!

Hopefully this week I'll have a finish or two to share.

I'm linking to Design Wall Monday today.
Please visit to see what others are creating.

Happy Quilting!

Pods and Pillows

This week has been a bit disjointed for me,

but I did manage to find some time to spend in my Hidey Hole.

 In this disjointed time, I was able to get a couple of smaller things finished.

Yesterday a friend and I went to another friends house and 

she taught us how to make the "Sweetpea Pods".

These little pouches are so cute

and go together so quickly!

Two 10" squares make two of these little pouches

and go together in no time....

once you get the zipper pull back onto the zipper, that is!

 

Mary, my friend who gave us the tutorial,

gave me one for Christmas and it's perfect for

keeping my binding clips stored.

I should have taken a photo of her bowl of pods!

They looked so pretty and festive on her counter.

Last night, while watching March Madness, 

(for which my bracket is already not looking too good!)

I finished the two pillows for my daughter and son-in-law.

They need the forms, but the covers are finished!

The colors in the photos for this pillow are not right.

The background fabric has more green than is showing here.

None the less, I am really happy with this combo of fabrics.

 

These pillows are BIG!

I said in the previous post that they are 24" square,

but they are actually 26" square.

 

The pattern I used was found in a magazine years ago

and I don't have the name or edition number of the magazine.

Prairie points surround the outer borders.

 

I will get the pillow forms and send these to her...

or may hand deliver them myself!

Have a great weekend, everyone

and

Happy Quilting!

Something New

A few years ago I made my daughter some pillows for her new apartment.

They are Big pillows... 24" square.
I remember when I made them that I wanted to keep them for myself,

but, being the nice person that I am,

I gave them to her.

She has loved those pillows and has asked for new ones, 

using the same pattern.

This is the daughter who has banned me from making any more quilts,

so you know I jumped at the chance to make her pillows!

I have the top of the first one pieced.

This pattern was for a wall hanging and was published in a magazine

years ago.

(It's called "Coastal Mountains" by Penelope Taylor. I don't have the

name or date of the magazine.)

 

My daughter's decor is in aquas, teals and blues.

 

The top will be quilted to give it a little more body. 

I just love the richness of the batiks and the deep colors of these fabrics.

 

The second pillow is being made with lighter colors

and will, hopefully, be done soon.

Again, I may want to keep these for myself!

(Maybe I should just make some for myself!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm a little late in posting Clue 3 of Libby's Mystery QAL.

I was out of town over the weekend and just made the squares for Clue 3.

 

It's not too late to join in on the fun!

And the clues are super easy to make.

I'm also linking to Design Wall Monday.

Take a peak at what others are creating this week.

Happy Quilting!

Finished Socks

I haven't been sharing my knitting much these days.

There hasn't been as much to share,

but I do have a few finishes.

This top sock may have been shown before,

but the pair is finished now and ready to gift.

I liked making the cable so much,

I made the pair below the same way.

 

These were gifted to my sister-in-law.

These socks below are for a child.

Using DK yarn and making smalls socks sure speeds up 

the finishes!

These were all made in the last week.

I've been in awe of those who can knit an adult sock in a day.

I can almost knit a child size sock in a day! 

:D

 

I've decided to make a bunch of children's socks and

donate them in the fall.

These are almost instant gratification!

Happy Day!

Old McDonald is a Finish

It's funny how sometimes I look at fabrics I've purchased and think

What Was I Thinking??

This is how I felt with this fat quarter bundle of fabrics

I've had in my cabinet for quite some time.

Why did I buy this and what am I going to do with it?

On my list for 2018 was to get this stack of fat quarters sewn into something.

Let me just say....

I love this quilt!

The large triangles allow for the cute fabrics to shine

and the colors to pop.

I quilted it with a swirl design,

which took no time at all.

I had this striped fabric in my stash

and had to add a strip of left over triangles to the width of the fabric

to make it wide enough for the backing.

The stripe worked well for the binding, too.

This fun quilt will be for my niece

who is due any day now.

I've had a quilt made for her for a while,

but that one will stay in my pile

for another little one.

The good news is I had enough left over triangles to make

another slightly smaller quilt!

Hopefully the smaller version will be finished soon.

Old McDonald had a cute farm!

Linking to Design Wall Monday today.
Enjoy!

Happy Quilting!

Libby's Mystery Quilt

Libby at Life on the Hill

is hosting a Mystery Quilt a long!

She has given the cutting instructions

and the first clue,

so it's not too late to join in on the fun!

We need a dark and a light fabric for the blocks

she will be having us make.

I purchased these fabrics a while ago

to make something else,

but that didn't work out.

Even though they aren't light and dark,

I hope there is enough contrast

to use them here.

Libby released the first sewing clue yesterday.

I think it took longer for my iron to heat up than it did

for me to sew these blocks together!

Thanks, Libby, for helping to feed my addiction!

Happy Quilting!

"Baby" baby Quilt is Finished

Yesterday was a good day to spend sewing,

with the winds being what they were here.

Thankfully, we didn't have the snow to go with the winds

like they did up in the north.

While playing in my Hidey Hole,

I decided to get two baby quilts quilted

and finished.

This "Baby" quilt top had been finished for a while

and was just waiting for me to move forward.

These fabrics came in a fat quarter bundle I picked up somewhere.

The yellow "baby" fabric and the birds caught my eye.

 

I didn't want to lose those two fabrics,

so chose a simple design for this quilt.

 

Then I just stitched in the ditch for the quilting.

 

Making the backing is my least favorite part of quilting,

so I usually just have plain fabric.

I needed this backing to be a bit wider than the width of fabric

and I had left over squares,

so the backing was pieced.

 

It's a finish!

I'll take it for a spin in the washer

and then add it to my collection of quilts waiting for babies.

 

Have a great weekend

and

Happy Quilting!

Old McDonald Had a Farm

And someone put it on some cute fabric!

Somewhere along the way I became the owner of a 

fat quarter bundle of this farm fabric.

I'm not one to purchase bundles like this,

but it must have been a good deal.

One item on my list of things to do in 2018 is to use this

bundle for a  baby quilt.

I wanted the design to show the cute pictures on the fabric

and to be fun and happy.

Out came my 60 degree ruler

and triangles were cut.

This fabric has it all!

Orchards, tractors, farm scenes, apples, fences, dots, and swirls. 

There was a lot of squaring up of the fabric before the strips could be cut,

so things would be straight.

The colors are so bright and cheerful!

I've sewn together more than half of the rows already.

These go together so quickly.

I've made triangle quilts before,

but never one with triangles this large.

I cut them on the 7" line of the 60 degree ruler.

With only two more rows of triangles to sew together

and then four rows to add to the top half,

I'm hoping this will be finished this afternoon.

There might be enough triangles left to make another smaller quilt.

Once this is off of the wall,

I'll play with the remaining pieces and see what can be made.

Today I'm linking to Design Wall Monday.

Happy Quilting!

Happy Saturday!

There is a reason I woke up extra early this morning.

Praise Be!

Have a great weekend

and

Happy Quilting!

Blooming Burst of Color

I just put the finishing stitches in this Blooming Nine Patch.

The blocks were sewn into rows

and the rows are now sewn into a quilt top.

And it is one bright, fun quilt!

I, obviously, have not trimmed the edges yet.

I was so excited to have the top sewn together,

I just had to share quickly!

 

 My husband said if I put this on our bed,

we won't need a night light!

I'm just trying to help him out!  :D

 The backing fabric has not been purchased yet.

A friend suggested polka dots.

You know I LOVE polka dots,

so that's what I will look for to finish this wild quilt.

As I've mentioned in previous posts,

this was a kit.

It's the third blooming nine patch I've made

and, by far, my favorite!

The pattern can be found in the book

"Tradition with a Twist"

by Blanche Young and Dalene Young Stone.

I did alter the pattern, but the idea is the same.

Happy Quilting!

The Blocks are Finished...

It has taken a while to get all of the blocks cut and sewn

for this Blooming Nine Patch quilt and they are done!

Now to begin sewing them into rows.

There are a lot of blocks and

a lot of rows! 

The rectangular pieces along the edges will be trimmed

into a straight edge once all of the rows are sewn together.

 

As I mentioned in my previous posts,

this was a kit.

When I first saw it a friend was thinking of buying it and there was only one left!

She decided not to get it and it hadn't been on the table for one second

before I snatched it up.

It was coming home with me!!

Maybe I'll cancel everything for the next couple of days and just sew!

Where is the snow when you need it?

(I kid, I kid...)

Happy Quilting!

Blooming Nine Patch

The past few days have seen a little progress on the

Kaffe Blooming Nine Patch

I'm making.

*****Edit.....I had called this quilt by the wrong name originally!
It’s not a disappearing four patch, but a blooming Nine Patch!
Thank you, Libby, for pointing this out! ******

The farther out the rounds of squares are,

the more cutting, sewing and cutting needs to be done.

I am thrilled with how this is coming together, though.

It's a bright and wild quilt for sure!

My design wall isn't nearly big enough for this entire quilt.

This is as wide as I've made it at this point,

but I can't get the length on my wall.

There is one more round of nine patches left to make and add.

This is the fabric that will be last and will make the border.

I added one more square to the length. The original pattern

called for three solid squares down the middle,

but I am using four.

Hopefully all of the squares will be made in the next few days.

Then the sewing of rows begins!

I'm linking to Design Wall Mondays today.

Happy Quilting!