Christmas Ornaments 2018

For the past few years

my sister's family and mine exchange

Christmas ornaments on Christmas Eve,

while eating Chinese food at our mom's.

Some of us make our ornaments

and some of us purchase them.

It doesn't matter,

because laughter is always part of the evening.

Since we are into November already,

it was time for me to get my ornaments started.

I have a fair amount of wool felt and decided to use it for

this years ornaments.

Pinterest is a wonderful place for ideas!

 One niece loves butterflies.

I need to stitch the backing in place and remove the pins. :)

This one will be for either my mom or my sister.

 

This is the Sign Language symbol for "I love you."

I have a great niece and a great nephew

who will be receiving these.

 

There are a few more to make before I am finished with

this year's ornaments,

but I have started!

 

I'm linking to Design Wall Monday today.

Happy Stitching!

Knitting and Tie Blocks

With things being rather chaotic and MESSY

at my house,

I've been knitting more in the evenings.

It doesn't add to the mess that's already here.

After I'm finished for the night,

the project goes back into the bag

and clean up is done.

I started knitting this shawl with just one strand of yarn

and quickly realized that it would not work.

It was torn out and I started knitting with two strands.

This is much better!

 

 The cable and decorative stitching going down the side

are easy and fun to knit.

I think I'm about half way finished with this one.

Here is the link to this shawl pattern,

Anisah. 

On one of our trips,

I started knitting a pair of purple socks for my older daughter

with the tiny feet.

These are purple and gray,

but it's dreary here today, 

so the colors aren't showing in the photo.

 

This week I've been able to make more of the

Flying Geese blocks from the

recycled neck ties.

 

This quilt is coming together nicely!

 This will not be the final layout.

As the blocks get finished,

they are added to the design wall.

 

My friend had a couple of fun ties

and this was one of them.

Happy Friday

and

Happy Quilting!

(or knitting!)

Where Did October Go?

Here we are at the end of October already!

Fall has arrived,

although the leaves in my area are turning

brown and falling off of the trees.

It's less than two months until Christmas

and then another new year begins.

YIKES!!

One day at a time, Ramona.

One day at a time.

My sewing machine has been quieter than usual these past couple of months.

We are having major work done on our house

and things are a huge mess.

I thought I would be hiding in my Hidey Hole more,

but my days are too disjointed.

One thing I have been working on is the challenge quilt

for the History of Quilting group I belong to.

This session's challenge is to make a medallion quilt.

Our leader gave us a pattern to use if we chose to, 

and I decided to use it.

The fabric choices took a bit longer

until I remembered that I've had some Christmas fabrics

in my stash for several years, just screaming to be used.

Out they came.

For the medallion I fussy cut birds from one piece of fabric

and began building from there.

It was suggested to add sashing in between the blocks,

but if I had done that, the birds would have been cut in half.

The medallion blocks are block 2.

Block 1

Block 3

Block 4

Block 5

 

Block 6

 

Block 7

Block 8

 (This block is my favorite one.)

I added the two grunge fabrics and the

light fabric with the lines to my stash fabrics. 

It's a busy quilt without the sashing,

but I like the designs and colors moving through the quilt.

I wanted the colors to show more than the individual blocks.

(I may turn one of the bottom middle blocks before sewing them together.)

Once the blocks are sewn together,

I'll decide on the borders.

 

It will be nice to have a new Christmas quilt to put out this year.

Hopefully it will be finished before then!

I am linking to Design Wall Monday.
 

Happy Quilting!

Tie Blocks 1/3 Finished

I am giving myself a

WOOHOO!!

today!

The neck tie blocks are 1/3 of the way finished.

It seems like it's taking forever to get these blocks done,

but I think it's because I have had limited time in my

Hidey Hole lately.

All is well and I am making progress.

The blocks will not stay in this arrangment.

As I finish them, they are added to my Design Wall.

 

I thought the cotton shirting I'm using for the sky

was a really dark blue,

Well, I had to order more and it turns out it's black!

 

The friend for whom I am making this quilt

(they are his ties)

is a very conservative person.

He did have a couple of fun ties, though.

I could not cut these two up to make the

Flying Geese.

 They are going in as rectangles.

 

Onward and upward!

I'm linking to Design Wall Monday today.

Happy Quilting!

Pilot Stocking Finished

The other day I realized I had not finished the

Pilot stocking for my son in law.

I made this from a Bucilla kit, 

but instead of using the felt piece provided for the back,

I make a quilted stocking and stitch the finished front to the stocking.

As I was making the stocking,

I took photos to show what I do.

First I make a little quilt,

using fabrics that will coordinate with the

stocking on the front and the back.

This is the felt back provided in the kit.

I trimmed the edges to smooth them out

to make the binding process easier.

 The back was used as a pattern for the quilted stocking pieces.

I cut one side out first and then turn it over to cut the other

piece. This way the plaid fabric will show on the front and the back

and the dots will be on the inside of the stocking.

The stocking pieces were then sewn together,

polka dot fabrics (inside fabrics) facing each other,

with a 1/8" seam allowance.

This is what I have after stitching around the edges,

leaving the top open.

The 2 1/4" binding strips are cut on the bias

because of the curves and stitched to the front of the stocking.

The binding is turned to the back and machine stitched in place.

I use an extra piece of the binding,

folded in fourths and stitched on both sides,

for the hanging loop.

The loop ends are finished and sewn to the corner of the stocking.

After the stocking is finished,

I stitch the felt front to the stocking,

using an applique stitch.

Now we have a sturdy stocking that can be stuffed with

little goodies to be opened on Christmas morning.

You can see that the quilted stocking is a bit larger than the

felt front, but it doesn't really matter.

The felt design is the focus and the fabric is barely noticeable.

Now this is ready for Christmas!

Happy Quilting!

Tie Blocks Grow

This past week was a pretty busy week,

but I was able to get a lot done on the

neck tie quilt.

All of the ties have had interfacing

ironed to the backs

and the shapes have been cut out,

ready to assemble.

It takes a while to make each block

since they are paper pieced.

This is where having a sewing machine with an

automatic thread cutter would come in very handy.

 I don't have one. :(

 

I'm using the same fabric for the sky on each block...

a very dark blue shirting.

 Initially, I found a photo of a quilt like this on Pinterest,

not realizing that it was from a book called

NeckTie Quilts Reinvented by Christine Copenhaver.

I happened upon the book one day and ordered it.

There are some beautiful quilts in this book made from ties.

This combination is one of my favorites so far.

I haven't decided if I will just keep making these blocks

until I'm finished with them,

or if I will intersperse these with blocks for another quilt.

It took me over two hours to make six blocks yesterday.

Not my usual rate of production, for sure!

Right now I'll keep moving forward on this quilt.

I'm linking to Design Wall Monday today.

Happy Quilting!

Tie Quilt Pattern Decided

A week ago or so I wrote a post about a new project

I was starting.

A quilt made from a dear friends' ties.

I debated over and over about the pattern to use,

perused the internet and Pinterest

and went back and forth.

Finally I decided on what I would do.

I am paper piecing Flying Geese.

(I know!! I know!!

I said I wouldn't do paper piecing again for a long, long time,

but these pieces are larger and won't be as

difficult to tear out.

Plus, with the silk fabric,

it's easier to get a more accurate block.

Remind me of this when I am cursing myself

for doing this again.)

Here are four blocks I made to make sure

I like the design.

I do!

I even like the one that isn't matchy, matchy.

There will be some of each....

color coordinated and those that aren't.

 

More pieces have been interfaced and are ready for trimming.

Now I need to make 86 copies of the paper part!

It's going to be a slow process,

but there is no deadline.

Happy Quilting!

New project

A dear friend of our family

retired last year from a career in the banking business.

He wore a tie every day that he went to work.

After he retired, I offered to make a quilt

using some of his ties.

He delivered this duffel bag FULL of ties

a while ago.

90 ties to be exact!

 

It's taken a while,

but the ties are all deconstructed

and ready for pressing and playing.

 

I know what I want to do,

but am waiting for the interfacing to arrive.

Stay tuned!

Happy Quilting!

Little Socks

For quite some time I have been knitting

children's socks from left-over yarn used to make

adult size socks.

One left-over ball makes one pair of little socks.

There are 19 pair of socks ready to be mailed to the

Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

 I sent some knitted items to them a couple of years ago 

and thought this would be a great place for my little socks.

The labels have the size and the

laundering instructions on them.

In this box will go two pair of mittens I made as well.

I don't enjoy knitting mittens as much as I enjoy knitting socks.

It's odd because they are easier.

It might be the darn thumb!

 

 

One of these little socks had been finished for a long, long time...

waiting for its mate to be finished, too.

 

That finally happened the other night

and Doodlebug put them right on her tiny size 1 feet.

Now to begin another pile of little socks!

(I have LOTS of left-over yarn balls!)

Happy Quilting!

(And Knitting!)