north winds quilting

Baltimore Christmas

2012-01-17T10:02:00.000-08:00

I've always wanted to make a baltimore album style quilt, but I knew I'd never do one because hand applique is just so slow for me. Then Pat Holly and Sue Nichols came out with their book on machine applique, and I knew it would be achievable for me.

Three of us bought this set of patterns last year for "Baltimore Christmas", and because we all had a lot going on already, we decided we'd start it in 2012. It is available as a 12-month block of the month program with fabric packs, but I bought a complete set of patterns only, because I have plenty of scraps to make this with on my own.

This is what Block 1 is supposed to look like.

These are the fabrics I've chosen for my first block. The pieces for the first angel are fused, and I'll add the pieces for the other three before I start any sewing. I'd like to do a machine buttonhole stitch, but some of the pieces are so small I may end up using a tiny zig zag.

There is a small amount of stem stitch in some of the blocks, so I'll have to achieve some proficiency with that too.

I hate to trace onto my background fabric for anything. In the past I read of a method where the pattern is traced onto template plastic or something similar, then it's pinned to the background fabric, and you can place the pieces under the template plastic with a pair of tweezers and line them up.

Wax paper is cheap and readily available, so I traced one complete angel on my wax paper; plus a few places from the other three angels, like the wings and feet; and a few registration marks to mark the quarter points and center of my pattern.

Once I fuse all the pieces for a complete angel, I can simply rotate the wax paper, line up all my markings, and I'm ready for the second angel.

Because each angel is not symmetrical, reversing the design for tracing is necessary to maintain the same orientation as the original pattern. Of course if there were lettering (and there's not), reversing the design would be crucial so the letters would read correctly. Tracing my design on wax paper allows me to flip the wax paper over and trace my actual pattern pieces onto the fusible. I traced my design onto the wax paper with a sharpie, so it shows up well through the fusible.

First Finish for 12 in 2012 Challenge

2012-01-17T09:22:00.000-08:00

I went back and counted, and I knitted 10 pairs of socks in 2011, so 12 in 2012 shouldn't be a big stretch. I wouldn't mind trying to get some other knitting done too, but the challenge will keep me on track with the socks.

These lime green anklets are for my daughter-in-law. I finished these the other day. After they're blocked, they're going in the mail.

This pair is already in the works for February. I loved this yarn when I saw it, but I wouldn't have guessed it would knit up like this. I guess I thought the striping would be more distinct, and I'm not sure if I like it or not. The other thing that bothers me is that the colors look nice and bright in the skein, but they seem dull in the actual sock.

I like to work on two socks at a time, switching back and forth; but I can't start the mate for this pair yet because I only have the one skein of yarn. So next up will be a pair for my sister-in-law.

These are the only socks I made last year that I actually kept. The others were all given away as gifts, and I only remembered to take pictures of a couple pair.

Orca Bay Part 3

2012-01-17T08:53:00.000-08:00

For the life of me, I don't understand how anyone can be bored in this life. There are always a million things I want to do or have to do, and I just don't have time to be bored!

The last week and a half has been busy, as always. We drove up north a week ago Saturday to do some shopping and visit with my son, and we've spent the rest of the time trying to finish up some renovation work in the basement.

All 350 half square triangle units required for Part 3 of the Orca Bay mystery are done. They took so much longer than I thought. The actual sewing was fast enough, but it took hours to cut up several hundred squares to make them. There are another 224 squares required for an upcoming part, so I just cut all of them at the same time, which will save me time later. My favorite method of making half square triangle units is to make it big and whack it off, so all that trimming after the units are sewn takes time too.

Next up are the red string triangle units for the flying geese. I've made probably 20 of these so far. The rest will take some time as I'm sewing 8-10 strings on each square foundation, and I need 64 of them.

Bonnie Hunter wasn't kidding when she said she liked "intense piecing".

Orca Bay Part 2

2012-01-06T20:10:00.000-08:00

All my blue string blocks are done-- finished the last of them late this evening. They were fun, and I'll make these little string pieced blocks again in another project.

Part 3 calls for 350 half square triangle units. I already have 120 sewn, and the rest will go quickly. I probably won't get back to them until Sunday though, because we are headed north tomorrow to visit my son.

It snowed most of the day today, light snow with about an inch of accumulation. The weather has been strange this winter. We had a warmup at the end of December, then it got bitter cold for several days. But we have NO snow on the ground other than the inch we got today, which might not bode well for plants that need a blanket of snow to protect them from the deep cold. Hope the weather is decent tomorrow.

Orca Bay Mystery

2012-01-05T16:41:00.000-08:00

Bonnie Hunter started posting the parts for her annual mystery quilt, Orca Bay, in November. There were 8 parts altogether, posted over a period of about 7 weeks. All of the parts have now been posted, and the full quilt has been revealed.

I started working on mine shortly after Part 1 was posted in November and finished probably 50 of 224 double hourglass units before Part 2 was posted. It was all sort of downhill from there. I did as Bonnie suggested, doing a few units from each part if you couldn't keep up. A good idea, and I was going right along up to about Part 5, and then things got too busy because of the holidays.

After New Year's I went back and started again with Part 1, and tonight I finished all 224 double hourglass units. Yay! I feel like all I've done for weeks is make double hourglasses. Doesn't really look like 224 little blocks, does it?

For Part 2, I need 72 cute little blue string blocks. I managed to get 40 of those sewn up last month, so only 32 to go. Tomorrow is a sew day at Koleen's, so I'll get the rest done tomorrow.

Happy New Year

2012-01-03T18:29:00.000-08:00

I don't usually make New Year's resolutions because I never keep them, but this year I'm making an exception because there are a few things I'd really like to do this year.

Resolution #1: Manage my time better.

All last year I quizzed my friends about how they structure their days because they seem to get so much more done than I do. Time management is an elusive thing for me, and I recognize that I waste a lot of it and really could accomplish so much more. So this year I'm going to try to make some inroads with this. I really don't have a strategy for accomplishing this yet, other than "Just Do It".

Resolution #2: Get back to blogging.

Back in July when I stopped blogging, it was because my husband went on travel for a month, and I was left with trying to keep up with yardwork and some other things along with all my regular chores. I was really busy last summer, and something had to give, and it was blogging. Prior to July I was rather feeling like I was spending too much time on the computer anyway, so I didn't mind giving it up. I checked my email occasionally on my iPod and rarely turned on my computer.

Truth is, I miss writing on my blog and miss reading all my favorite blogs. So I'm making the effort to get back to blogging. I just have to find the right balance so I'm not spending too much time at it.

Resolution #3: Complete at least one UFO a month.

Even though I haven't been so successful with this, I plan to keep plugging away at it. The One Project a Month challenge that Kris sponsors restarts at the end of this month, and hopefully she'll have a new blog button for it. I've already removed last year's projects from my sidebar but left the old blog button for the time being.

Resolution #4: Complete one pair of socks a month.

I actually may have made darn near 12 pair of socks last year, but this year I'll make it official. Denise Russart has launched a sock challenge, 12 in 2012, from her blog, and I signed up. There's no prize or anything, just the satisfaction of knowing I'm using up the yarn and getting socks made.

I have a few other resolutions for 2012, but I'm not feeling the same level of resolve for those, so I'll keep thinking about them. In the meantime, if anyone is still reading my blog after all this time, Happy New Year to you!

A Little Liberated Quilting

2011-07-11T20:29:00.001-07:00

This may not be liberated quiltmaking in the truest Gwen Marston sense of the word (even though she did publish a book on string quilts), but it was certainly liberating for me, and it's probably as liberated as I'll ever get. Making a string quilt is truly mindless piecing at its best. Anything goes, and it's a perfect portable project. I can run my mouth all day at sewing group and I can't screw anything up!

For the pieced strips, I cut foundations from muslin or whatever fabric I had laying around that I didn't really have a use for, 4" x 8", and pieced scraps on them using a sew and flip technique. Then I sewed the pieced foundations end to end until I had a strip long enough for my quilt. The pieced strips were then alternated with solid strips and sewn together to create the top. The solid strips were cut 3-1/2" wide.

I needed 150 foundations for the pieced strips. Each vertical row required 11 foundations plus half of another to complete the row.

A queen sized quilt, 93" x 93", requires 12 solid strips and 13 pieced strips, plus borders. I added a 7" wide border on either side and a 7" wide border on the bottom. My son who is receiving this quilt is crazy about that burgundy batik and wanted the wider borders. The top of the quilt will probably be covered up with pillows, so I didn't really want a top border.

The quilt is on the longarm now, and I got about half of it quilted today. Tomorrow I'll try to get the other half done. The plan is to have it quilted and bound by the end of the week for delivery to my son. Lots of work left to do still.

The idea of working in a series appeals to me, and this was a fabulous scrap buster, so I have four more string quilts planned. When I get around to it, the next one will also be a vertical strippy, only the pieced strips will be all different widths.

A Finish for July

2011-07-11T19:37:00.000-07:00

Finally, I'm blogging again. Last week my son and his bride were up for the week from South Carolina. The week before that I was getting ready for them to visit, the week before that I was gone to Vermont for Quilt Festival, and the week before that I was getting ready to go to Vermont. Now that I have an iPod and an iPad, sometimes I don't turn my computer on for days, so no blogging has got done.

I don't think I've done any sewing since the beginning of July. In fact I'm sure I haven't because I finished this little strippy on July 1, and that was the last thing I remember working on. It was one day too late for the June finish, but the One Project a Month Challenge is still serving its motivational purpose. I think I'll have another finish this month, maybe two.

I so enjoyed my son's visit. Even though the weather was really nice while they were here, we didn't do much of anything. Truthfully I think the kids were content to just laze around the house, playing on their phones or the laptop. We've discovered an app for the i devices called Words With Friends, like Scrabble, which kept us entertained all week.

The kids were accompanied by a 2-year old Jack Russell named Zeek and a 10-week old puppy named Cairo. Long drive for them from South Carolina, but they were well behaved. The puppy was adorable but required constant supervision because he chews on everything, and because he is a long ways from housebroken. By the end of the week, I was thinking that this is when I liked him best--when he was napping. The kids had the good sense to crate train both dogs, and oh! what a blessing that was.

The kids left Sunday to drive back down to South Carolina. I loved having them here, and I'll miss them, but I'm happy to have the house back to myself. I'll be cleaning most of the week, I suppose, but I'll get some sewing in too.

May Finishes

2011-06-02T18:34:00.001-07:00

It's been a long while since I've posted to the blog. We're nearly halfway through the year and I've written nine posts. That's pitiful, so I guess I'd better rectify that!

I was really busy the month of April working on these two small challenge quilts. They were due the first week of May, and I actually finished them on time, binding and all. Then I spent the month of May catching up on all the stuff I put off in April while I was working on the quilts.

The pink and green one, "O' Tacoma", was designed by our chapter president as a mystery quilt in three parts. I liked the fact that we had to choose only three fabrics, but the challenge of assembling the quilt more than made up for it. I really liked this quilt when it was finished.

My other challenge quilt, "Snow Day", was a Mix and Match challenge. Each participant drew slips from five categories, which determined the parameters for the quilt they had to make, and each quilt had to measure 24" x 24" at completion. The categories were Theme, Embellishment, Color, Fabric, and Block.

The Theme for the quilt could have been one of the four seasons or a holiday. My Theme was winter.

An Embellishment, like ribbon, lace, yo yos, buttons, etc, had to be included somewhere in the quilt. My Embellishment was ribbon, and I cut small lengths of ribbon, laid them in the center of the star blocks like little pickup sticks, and stitched them down.

My Color, which had to appear in the quilt, was yellow.

The Fabric which had to be included could have been a novelty, polka dot, batik, solid, something like that, and mine was plaid. The snowmen, which were machine embroidered appliques, had patches on each snowman; so I cut a patch from a small scale plaid and stitched in place over top of one of the embroideries.

The Block we chose had to appear somewhere in the quilt, and there was an additional requirement that the block measure 12". My Block was Dutchman's Puzzle, which I placed in the middle of the quilt and then embroidered the snowmen on top of it. I used flannel for the snowmen bodies so the blue background wouldn't show through. They turned out pretty nicely, I thought. You can see the rest of the challenge quilts here.

My last finish for May was this small kids' quilt. The top actually got done quite a while ago, and I finally got around to quilting it.

April Fool's Day

2011-04-01T18:05:00.000-07:00

Need I say more?

Since we had stormy weather today, I spent much of the day cleaning up paperwork. Afterwards I went down to the sewing room to play in the fabric. I've never made a bargello quilt before, so when my LQS offered a class, I decided to take it. I am supposed to cut fabric strips before class; but the class is not until April 9, so I'll have some time to make any color adjustments. I think I'm pretty satisfied with the way the colors look now, though I'm still not quite sure about the third one from the right in the top row.

We are making this quilt as the class project, which is from a book called Twist-and-Turn Bargello Quilts by Eileen Wright. This looks a little complicated for a first bargello quilt, but I'm going with it.

Small Quilts

2011-03-21T18:04:00.001-07:00

I really like small quilts. George Siciliano and Sally Collins make the most exquisite small quilts I've ever seen, but I can't see myself making an entire quilt out of blocks that finish to a half inch or log cabins with logs measuring a quarter inch wide. No, three inches is just about the smallest block size I want to work with, and those use up the smallest scraps I keep very nicely.

Last year and the year before, I promised myself that I would make more small quilts, but I didn't. This year I'm keeping that promise to myself. Over the last month or so, I've finished four small quilts and have more in the works. They are all just tops so far, and I'll get to the quilting eventually.

The crocus that I was working on at the beginning of the month, courtesy of Eileen Sullivan of The Designer's Workshop, is finished now; and it measures 14" x 16". Old Man Winter is not done with us yet, and we got another couple inches of wet, heavy snow this afternoon. The crocuses give me hope that eventually it really will be spring. This is what I used for my paper piecing demonstration for my quilt group.

Last year at this same time, you may recall that I was asked to do a paper piecing demo, and I used this Pineapple Blossom block. The pattern is Bonnie Hunter's, but the idea for the colors came from one of Gayle Bong's quilts. This will probably prove to be one of my favorites. I love the colors in it, and I love that border fabric. It measures 22" x 22".

This one is called Strip Mine. The method is one I learned ten years ago when I took the class from Quilt University online. The class, taught by Patti Anderson, is still being offered. The fun thing about this little quilt is that the foundation used for the piecing is actually showing through as the white stars. This one also measures 22" x 22". The original blocks were six inches, so I drafted them into my EQ program and resized them to four inches. Four blocks make one complete star.

In December my Secret Sister presented me with this little pack of five fat quarters. (The dark green print was not part of the pack.) I decided that I'd use them up in a series of small quilts, but I'm not necessarily using every fat quarter in every quilt.

This is the first one in what I'm calling (for the moment) my Pink and Green series. It's a small quilt from one of Lori Smith's fat quarter quilting patterns, and I used four of the five fat quarters plus two or three fabrics I added to the mix. It measures 16" x 20".

Pink and Green #2 is also one of Lori Smith's fat quarter quilts and will finish to 16" x 20". Two of the sections in the photo have not yet been sewn together, and there are top and bottom triangle borders still to be added. I only used one of the five fat quarters in this piece.

Pink and Green #3 will be a small applique quilt, and Pink and Green #4 will be the Bra quilt, which you'll hear more about later.

Strip Tease

2011-03-20T19:33:00.000-07:00

Except for burying a few thread tails, my Strip Tease quilt is finished. It's not a pretty quilt, nor was it meant to be; but it turned out nicely just the same. It is a collection of fabrics that either I didn't like, didn't want, or couldn't figure out how to use in a project.

This is a very old ufo, started ten or more years ago as a project with an online group. Then it evolved into a quilt meant for my two little dachshunds. Both my dogs passed away a few years back, so now I'm giving it a local shelter that is trying to replace bed coverings on 17 of their twin beds.

The quilt was surprisingly easy to put together. I sewed strip sets with four strips to a set, then cut the diamonds from the strip sets. Next I sewed the diamonds together in long rows, as long as the bed it was meant for. Then the rows were sewn together. The seams nest together perfectly, so the rows are a cinch to sew.

The photo above shows the top before I trimmed up the ends. I guess I didn't think it needed a border, so there's none on there.

I used Bonnie Hunter's idea of sewing together 10-inch squares for the backing, which gave me the opportunity to use up more un-beautiful fabric. Same thing with the binding--I used half a dozen different dark green strips and sewed them all together.

At the end of Bonnie's article here about her scrap user's system, she explains the rationale for using 10-inch squares for a quilt back.

I used up just over 12-1/2 yards of fabric in this quilt, so it was a good stashbuster too. I plan to make another sometime soon, as there is no shortage of ugly fabric at my house.

The pantograph I used is one of Keryn Emmerson's, called Lida. First time I've used it, and I really like it.

Quilt Carry Bag

2011-03-17T18:19:00.001-07:00

There are no crocuses in my yard yet, but my daffodils are about 6 inches tall where the snow has melted around the foundation. I am so ready for spring.

My quilt group scheduled a workshop for this carry bag in January, so I sewed the strips together ahead of time and decided I would go no further until the workshop. The workshop got canceled--several times--because of snow, and we finally had it this past Wednesday.

Sewing the strips on was probably the fastest part. The finishing details, like hemming the edges and so forth, seemed like they took forever, but I finally finished it this evening. I used a Moda jelly roll for the strips, and because I liked how they looked in the roll, I pretty much peeled them right off the roll and sewed them onto the batting in the same order. I really like this.

The idea is that you can lay the bag out flat, pile your quilts on it, then draw up the ends of the bag with the cording and velcro the top shut for travel. The bag is fairly large, and since I make a lot of big quilts, I think it will work out pretty well.

Credit where credit is due: "Quilt Carry Bag", from the book Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott

A Crafty Day

2011-03-01T19:23:00.000-08:00

Today was my monthly meeting for embroidery group, and we learned how to make an embossed design. Embossing is heavy stitching on a napped fabric like terry cloth or fleece, which mats down the background so the primary design stands out. Monograms and lettering are a popular way to use the embossing technique, so I stitched out this little "home" design on a hand towel. It looks a little shiny in the picture because I haven't rinsed out the stabilizer yet. I really love the effect. It's hard to resist the urge to go around the house embroidering every towel I own.

I am in the mood to make small quilts these days, so this afternoon I worked some more on this crocus pattern. I'm making the mini size, which finishes to 14" x 16". I started it only three days ago, so I'm making good progress.

The pattern is from Eileen Sullivan's Designer's Workshop. She has a whole series of different flower patterns, and I think I probably own all of them. She just released two new ones, Daisies and Coneflowers, which are on my wish list.

February Finish

2011-02-28T20:46:00.001-08:00

The headless dinosaur strippy quilt is finished. Well, there are a few dino heads that didn't get cut off, but not for the main character, the T-rex. He shall remain headless.

It's a wonder the quilt got finished at all. My top thread shredded about 50 times while I was trying to quilt this top, and I was on the verge of throwing both the quilt and the machine right out the window. But I persevered and managed to finish it. Don't know what finally fixed the machine, I just kept fooling with things until it worked.

I like that Ebb and Flow pantograph from Willow Leaf. It's pretty easy to quilt, and it was the same shape as the dino tails, so it worked well for me.

Life has been very busy this month. We spent a week in Chicago, drove out to see our son's graduation from boot camp. His girl rode out with us from Maine, and the two of them got married over the weekend. Maybe a photo or two of those events later.

I've finished 3 more small quilt tops, I'm adding borders to 2 larger ones, and I'm in the middle of quilting a twin sized top right now, all of which you'll see eventually. Just had to get the February post done for the One Project a Month challenge.

First Finish 2011

2011-01-27T08:36:00.001-08:00

I got this little baby quilt quilted just before Christmas but didn't get around to the binding until mid-January. I think it's a sweet little quilt, and it was easy to put together, only takes 8 fat quarters. I have no one particular in mind to receive it, but it'll be nice to have a baby quilt on hand just in case.

Quilt design: "Crazy Eights" by Bits 'n Pieces

OPAM 2011

2011-01-27T07:52:00.001-08:00

Thought I fell off the earth? Nope! Just busy. I got done with work about three weeks ago and have spent some time catching up with things at home and socializing. It's lovely to be able to get together with my quilting buddies again.

I also spent a lot of time thinking about goals for 2011. Everybody has them, right? The last two years I wanted to bust more stash and make more quilts just like everybody else, and I didn't really do so well in that regard. Last year particularly I sort of set myself up to fail by taking on just too darned much.

So, at the end of the year, I gave myself permission to take every project I hadn't finished--Star Crazy, all the quilts for the 6-Quilt Stashbuster Challenge, the projects from the Power of Ten list, and whatever else there was--and throw every bit of it in the UFO pile. It already feels good to start fresh in the New Year and go where I want. I have a vague list of quilts I'd like to make this year, but I'm not setting any goals per se. Instead, I might pick one or two projects I want to work on each week, and leave it at that. No stress this year!

That said, I did sign up for the One Project a Month Challenge. I've done it the last two years and not been completely successful; but I had fun, so I signed up again this year. The rules are here, if you're interested, and the list of participants is limited to 200. They may be close to that limit now. That's not to say you can't still do it on your own. In fact, that's what I did last year because I didn't make the sign up in time. That's it! That's my only goal this year!

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T19:23:00.001-08:00

Goodbye to 2010 and hello 2011. Although my husband and I have been to the occasional New Year's Eve party, New Year's is not generally a holiday we celebrate. In fact I think I went to bed last night around 10:00 because I am still doing battle with a cold and laryngitis.

This morning we had fried dough for breakfast. We only have it once a year on Christmas Day, but my son worked Christmas Day so we had brunch at the restaurant where he works. When we were kids, my dad made fried dough every Christmas morning for us for as long as I can remember. I never had it or saw anywhere else until my husband and I moved up to Maine. We discovered they sold it at the local fairs up here. My folks were from Maine, but I don't know if this is strictly a local thing or not. After my dad died, my husband started making fried dough for our kids on Christmas morning. I guess someday we'll be making it for our grandkids if we ever have any.

I started sewing after breakfast this morning around 9:00 and worked straight through til about 9:00 tonight except for meals. I'd like to get the Holiday quilt done while I'm still in the holiday mood. All the blocks are done except the center medallion. All the units for the center are mostly finished, and I'm working on sewing those together. Tomorrow I'd like to finish the center medallion and maybe sew some of the sashings together. My goal is to have the top finished by the end of the week.

Holidays at Home

2010-12-30T17:19:00.001-08:00

We had a sew day over at Koleen's yesterday, and I started this wallhanging called "Holidays at Home". Koleen's sister has a quilt shop down in New Hampshire, and last summer she had these Block of the Month kits for sale, so we each bought one. With the Champagne quilt I had to get done for my niece's wedding, work, and everything else, I never got a chance to start on it. I'm still very much in the holiday mood though, so I'm happy working on it right now.

The colors aren't very true in the cover photo, but they are in the picture I took of the blocks I've done so far. I love the blocks on the left because they look like gift boxes.

One of the fun things about the kit is this striped fabric that's included in the packet each month. From this striped fabric, you cut out half square triangle units and strip sections for the different blocks. Less piecing, faster assembly, but it still looks like you did all the work. I'm sure this isn't a new concept, but it's new to me, and I like it.

Hancock's of Paducah still has these kits if anyone is interested.

Catching Up After Christmas

2010-12-30T16:56:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas celebration with family and friends. We had a nice holiday except that we missed our son. My husband has missed a few Christmases over the years because of his job, but this is the first year one of my children hasn't been with me for Christmas.

Our elder son joined the armed forces on a delayed entry program back in April and shipped out to boot camp the first week of December. We finally got some letters from him today in the mail. He spent the first week wondering what the hell he'd gotten himself into, but he's doing just fine now that's he's adjusted to the routine and the mind games. He's a tough kid with a good sense of humor, so I'm sure he'll make it through with flying colors.

The kids got together and bought me an Ipod Touch before my son left for boot camp. My son has an iPhone that I sort of commandeer every time he comes up for a visit to play a game called Booley, so I guess he figured maybe I should have my own. I actually considered buying one for myself several months ago, but mostly I could care less about all that technology and thought it would be wasted on me. Now that I have one, I love it. I have a camera, email, a web browser, an app for FoxsNews, an app for Weather Channel, some kitchen apps, and a few games, among other things. And I've created endless lists for myself on this thing, eliminating tons of paper. I'm sure this will rank as one of my best ever gifts.

Two days after Christmas the blizzard rolled into Maine. The storm raged for nearly 24 hours, and we got 15 inches of snow; but we never lost power, which I thought was amazing. I took the day off work because I refused to drive 45 minutes down the interstate in it, but my husband went to work. He had no problem until he got home and got stuck in the driveway, so I threw on some snowpants, boots, and a coat and went out to help shovel out the car. Then I played around out in the snow for a while, while my husband snow blowed the driveway.

It was about 22 degrees that day with a wind chill of 8, and maybe that's why I developed a case of laryngitis... again. I had it just over a month ago and missed three days of work because of it, and I had to call out again today. Can't be on the phones all day with no voice. It was a very fine day to sew though.

Catching Up Before Christmas

2010-12-23T17:16:00.000-08:00

My work schedule really ramped up in December, and I've worked six- or seven-day weeks for most of the month. There's been no time for anything else, and I'm exhausted. I've missed all the Christmas events and missed seeing all my friends. I've done this nine seasons in a row, and I don't think I'll be going back next year. The Christmas tree didn't even get decorated until today. Two more weeks though, and then I'm done with work.

I may have touched my sewing machine once this month, but I did find some time for sewing last month. I wanted quick and easy projects, and what's easier than pillowcases and strippies? So that's what I worked on, plus a small baby quilt. I even got the baby quilt quilted, but it's still waiting for binding. In the dinosaur strippy, four of the five panels sewn into the quilt top only have dinosaur bodies, no heads. I managed to cut them all off when I cut out the strips. Think a kid will notice that?

I made time for some knitting too. I made a little santa dishcloth and finished a pair of socks.

Then I started another pair...

.... and another. Don't you ever get anxious to start the project just to see what it will look like? Same thing happens to me with quilting too. I suppose that's why I have so many UFOs.

I'm crazy about this magic loop method of sock knitting. I don't think I'll ever go back to double pointed needles.

Any Day Spent Sewing. . .

2010-11-26T18:03:00.000-08:00

. . . is a good day. That's what is emblazoned across the front of the shirt I finished embroidering earlier this evening. I probably say that to myself just about every day too.

This is the first "real" tee shirt I've tried to embroider since Barb showed us how to do it, and I am beyond thrilled with how it turned out. It is nothing short of a miracle that I managed to get the design centered, and not a pucker anywhere in the fabric around the design. I'm learning.

I did have one moment of sheer panic when the edge of the shirt rolled up around the hoop slid down under the needle and got stitched in. You know, kinda like when you're machine quilting and you catch the corner of the top in the quilting. You've all done that, right? Luckily it was just a few stitches, and I was able to extract the rest of the shirt easily enough. I think it put a tiny hole in it though, but I fray checked it, and hopefully that will fix it.

Next up -- more practice with freestanding lace.

Design from Embroidery Library

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-24T21:15:00.001-08:00

It is a sunny day here in Maine but very cold, below freezing. One of my sons is coming over later in the day, and my other son will be going to his girlfriend's mother's for dinner. Her mother had back surgery very recently and surely needs the company and help with the meal.

For dinner today we'll have roast turkey with stuffing, candied sweet potatoes with marshmallow crusted on top, a yellow squash casserole, boiled onions, cranberry sauce and a baked cranberry dish, and pumpkin roll for dessert.

I plan to spend some time in my sewing room today too, working on some embroidery projects.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and your families!

November Finish

2010-11-24T10:09:00.001-08:00

It took nearly forever to get the Jewel Box quilt done, but I finished binding it and made a label for it about a week and a half ago. AnnH quilted it with the Baptist Fans I am so fond of. This ranks right up there as one of my all time favorite quilts.

I learned how to manipulate text in my embroidery software so each letter in the title would stitch out in a different color. A very useful trick.

Quilt design by Jinny Beyer

Tulip Bells

2010-11-24T08:48:00.000-08:00

My work schedule ramped up in November, so it's been a busy month. I've actually been home from work for several days now with a bad cold and laryngitis, so in between naps I worked on this Tulip Bells block. At the last Tacoma Lakes group meeting, Barb showed us how to make this 3-dimensional block, and it was easier than I anticipated.

The idea is simple. Folded triangles are inserted at strategic places throughout the block, then the edges of the triangles are folded over and stitched down. In this photo, I've stitched one edge down and pinned the remaining edges.

Here, all the edges have been stitched down, creating the tulip bell. Pinning or pressing the edges makes the job easier, and using a stiletto helps hold the edge in place while sewing.

We used the Tulip Bells Table Runner pattern from Southwind Designs. Annette offers a number of other interesting quilt patterns using this technique. This block was purely a sample, and I haven't got enough background fabric to make two more blocks, so this one will wind up in the orphan block pile and become a pillow or something. But I would like to make a 3-dimensional quilt like this at some point.

Adventures in Machine Embroidery

2010-11-04T06:20:00.001-07:00

My good friend Barb started a little machine embroidery group last month. We meet once monthly, so Tuesday we got together and learned how to make free standing lace (FSL). Most of us seemed to be in the mood to make Christmas ornaments, but there are designs for FSL bookmarks, coasters, bowls and baskets, insets for v-neck tee shirts, all kinds of things. I've wanted to learn how to do this for a long time, so I was very excited about it.

The basic idea is to stitch out a design on water soluble stabilizer, then rinse away the stabilizer leaving just the stitching. Each stitch has to be locked so the finished product doesn't fall apart; so if you're new to machine embroidery, look for designs that say "free standing" lace. This is Peggy's design still in the hoop being stitched out.

The large santa face was the first one I stitched out, and I had a bit of trouble with looping. After changing the needle I had no trouble stitching out the mini ornaments. Aren't they cute?

Last month we learned how to embroider a tee shirt. Because I have lots of trouble with this finicky machine of mine, I pulled a shirt out of the rag bag to practice on. Under Barb's tutelage, I managed to stitch out a nice design with nary a pucker. I'm encouraged to try a stitch out on a "real" tee shirt.

Next month we're doing machine embroidered applique. Can't wait!

Sock Update

2010-11-04T05:44:00.001-07:00

After making what I think was a fair effort with the two-socks-on-two-circulars method, I decided to take Quilternity's advice (thanks Terri!) and put each sock on its own circular and switch back and forth between the socks. I can knit faster on one circular, and I really want to get on with the business of knitting socks. I'll have to count rows, but heck, it really only takes a few seconds.

I like this yarn too. It's Happy Feet from Plymouth Yarn. The color changes about every inch or so, so you get this tweedy effect instead of stripes. Even though it's mostly wool, it's a little stretchy, which I like too.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T12:55:00.001-07:00

Star Crazy BOM for October

2010-10-29T17:23:00.000-07:00

One of my quilt groups started a two-day retreat today, and I used the time to finish my Star Crazy blocks for October. Only one more Irish Chain block to go, and next month we'll make all the half Irish Chain blocks too.

Collectively we got quite a bit of work done today. The snowmen tablerunners are complete as is, except the blue one which is missing a few snowmen. The sunflower wallhanging will have a few more borders, and the crazy pieced hearts will become part of a tree skirt. ChrisP is working on a stack and whack, and BarbD made a mini Sassy Snappy Purse, perfect for a little girl.

Going in Circles

2010-10-25T14:37:00.000-07:00

I thought better of my plan to teach myself to knit two socks on one circular needle and decided maybe I'd better try one sock on a circular needle first. Having already had the benefit of knowing how to use a magic loop, it was a piece of cake to apply it to a sock. The only thing I really had to figure out was how to redistibute the stitches for the gusset. Easy enough, and I finished this little toddler sock with only the toe left to finish.

Then I was ready to try two socks on one circular. I had no trouble with the concept; but even with a 40" circular, I struggled with the stitches stretching between the two halves of the socks. I kept wishing I had, like, a 60" circular. After a couple of rounds I decided I didn't like this method, so I ripped it all out. Subsequently I found out at the knit shop that there actually is a 47" circular available, which the store rep preferred also for this method.

This morning I decided I'd try two socks on two circular needles. I spent most of the morning being confused as hell. I eventually figured out how to get the stitches for the two socks on the needles and divided correctly, but after that it was all downhill. I considered the possibility that perhaps I should be using the needles specified in the book, which were 16" and 24" long, instead of the two 40" needles I was using. When all else fails, it's probably a good idea to follow the directions.

So I hopped in the car, drove down to Auburn, picked up the correct needles, a couple more skeins of yarn, a book on sweaters, and drove back home.

It didn't get better with the new needles. After ripping everything out twice more, I finally cracked the code late in the afternoon. I finally realized I was missing one particularly illuminating piece of information in the directions, and now I am well on my way. At least until I get to the heel.

I don't know if I'll like this last method any better, but the gal at the knit shop convinced me I should give both methods a fair chance before I abandon them. At the very least, I probably wouldn't go back to double pointed needles again--I'd switch to one sock on one circular.

I think tonight, I need to quilt something.

A Productive Weekend

2010-10-24T09:20:00.000-07:00

I finally got a chance to sit down and do some serious sewing this weekend, and I got quite a bit done. This weekend I ....

.... finished up the Conestoga Star blocks through the month of October and then sewed all the blocks I've made so far into rows. These blocks are part of my 6-Quilt Stashbuster Challenge.

.... added three more sets of blocks to a set I already had made for this little baby quilt. I bought the kit last spring on a shop hop just to have in reserve in case I needed it, and now I know someone who is having a baby. This is a very simple pattern called Crazy Eights, which requires only eight fat quarters. There are four different block patterns in the quilt, and you make four sets of eight blocks using each block pattern twice, then scramble them up to make the top.

.... machine stitched the binding on the Jewel Box quilt. I got the quilt back a couple weeks ago from my friend Ann who quilted baptist fans on it. I still have to handstitch the binding to the back of the quilt.

.... made another block for my Pineapple Blossom quilt, which is No 7 in my Power of Ten rotation. I wish it didn't take so long to get through that rotation; but the 6Q blocks take lots of time, and the Champagne quilt ate up a lot of time too. And now there's a baby quilt to finish.

.... and made the October block for the Bali Sea Star quilt, which is also part of my 6Q Challenge. I love batiks, and I'm going to love both the Conestoga Star and the Bali Star quilts when they're finished.

Not a bad weekend, huh?

Star Crazy BOM for September

2010-10-16T07:58:00.001-07:00

I am not behind making the Star Crazy blocks, I'm only behind posting them. These are the ones for the month of September. Haven't started October's just yet but soon. Even though I've done lots of knitting lately, I'm still quilting too, just not much to show for it. Today I'm sewing all day and hope to get caught up with the Bali Star 6Q Challenge blocks.

November Dishcloth

2010-10-16T07:42:00.000-07:00

Did I mention I'm on a knitted dishcloth kick? I may have to come up with one for every month of the year. In fact, I'm already halfway there. I have patterns for September, October (done), November (done), December, February, and March.

This is the one for November--a horn of plenty. I'm not sure how well you can see it, but "THANKS" is knitted into the top of the cloth.

I like a 10" dishcloth, so I added extra width and height to the borders to make it bigger.

Pattern: Thanks Cloth from Knitting Memories

Yarn: Lily Sugar 'n Cream, color Country Yellow

October Dishcloth

2010-10-11T16:45:00.000-07:00

I did get some sewing done Saturday on my day off, but I can't stay away from those knitting needles. JudyS has been knitting dishcloths lately, and she reminded me of a pattern for a pumpkin dishcloth that I got last year and never made. By the time I tracked down the orange cotton yarn for it, Halloween had come and gone. My son wants one too, so I have one more to make.

Pattern: Joan Barnett, Coats and Clark
Yarn: Lily Sugar 'n Cream, color Hot Orange

New Socks

2010-10-07T13:09:00.001-07:00

I may not have gotten a lot of sewing done in September, but I was definitely in the mood for knitting. I finished knitting a little pink baby sweater last month but still have to sew up the sleeves and sew some buttons on. Then I really wanted to work on a pair of socks, so I dragged out these that I started eons ago. When I put them away last time, I only had about four inches knit on the first sock, so I had quite a bit left to do. I finished up the second sock this morning. As a novice sock knitter, I was thrilled they turned out the same size. Those sock blockers from Fiber Trends were a big help.

I'm still in the mood for socks, and with three pair under my belt now, I'm ready to try two socks on one circular needle. I found a book about it at a quilt shop in Auburn, and the same lady also authored a book on toe up socks, which I'm going to try too. Seems like you could fit them better if you knit them from the toe up.

Yarn: Sockotta from Plymouth Yarn Co.
Pattern: Classic Socks by Yankee Knitter Designs

Annual Leaf Peeping Tour

2010-10-03T10:21:00.000-07:00

The leaf peeping websites indicated that the mountains attained 30% of their peak color this weekend, but we usually miss peak because we never go early enough in the season. The photo in the header was from this weekend. Does that look like 30% peak color to you? I'm glad we went this weekend. For once we might have hit it just right.

We seem to follow the same circuit every year and take the same set of photos, but I still don't get tired of seeing it. We prepared a small picnic lunch and some snacks and headed up to
Rangeley, had lunch at the state park, and headed home again. This is Coos Canyon in Byron.

Quite accidentally we stumbled across Pins and Needles quilt shop in Farmington. I knew of it from the shop hops we do every year in April, but I'd never been there. What a find this place was! Not only do they have great collections of batiks and 30s repros, but they also have a fabulous collection of yarns, including sock yarns. They do mail order too. The shop is not as far to go as I thought, and those ladies were just plain nice; so I'll be going back there again.

In Rangeley my husband spotted Threads Galore, another quilt shop I'd never been to. They are a smaller shop, and they also offer quilters retreats for groups of up to nine people in the house next door to the shop. That's pretty convenient! We didn't check out the facilities, but you can see some photos on their website.

I'd sure like to go touring at least once more before fall is over, but I work Friday and Sunday so I'm still debating.

Champagne and Roses

2010-09-24T18:31:00.001-07:00

September has really been a lost month for me. Most of the things I wanted to accomplish just didn't get done. Maybe I needed a little change from my routine. On Monday I go back to work for several months, so it's unlikely I'll catch up now; but in the grand scheme of things, I guess it doesn't really matter so much.

I haven't had the time to be on the computer either, so I haven't posted for a little while, nor have I been able to keep up with my reading. There are only so many hours in the day. I swear I don't know how other people get it all done.

I finished the Champagne quilt this morning, quilted, bound, labeled, boxed, and gift wrapped, ready for the trip southward. The quilt finished at 99" square and used about 20 yards of fabric. What a great scrap buster this was. All of the fabric for the top and the binding came from the scrap bag, except for three fat quarters, and I didn't really need to add those.

When I finished the quilt, I seriously thought about keeping it because I liked it so much. Ever do that, make a quilt for someone and then change your mind? So I've started cutting for another one to keep, but it won't be done anytime soon.

Mini Sampler

2010-08-30T06:23:00.001-07:00

I started this little sampler back in May, and I was sort of using it as a leaders and enders project. I finished the top a couple days ago and put the last stitch in the binding this morning over morning coffee. If the border fabric looks familiar, it's because I had some left over from the Morningstar quilt.

The quilt finishes to 16" x 20", and it is from Lori Smith's pattern "Fat Quarter Quilting: Sampler Quilts". I switched out half the blocks because I wanted blocks with mostly half square triangles units. Then some simple straight line quilting for a quick and easy finish.

Lori Smith has a whole line of fat quarter quilting patterns that all finish to 16" x 20". Quite a few of the individual blocks finish to 4", which is a very doable size for me. The entire line appeals to me tremendously, and I'll be making more of them.

Progress on the Champagne Quilt

2010-08-30T05:55:00.000-07:00

I finished up the rest of the Champagne blocks yesterday, right on schedule. I made 49 blocks so I'll be setting them in a 7 x 7 format. In the afternoon I sewed the first three sets of blocks into rows but haven't sewn the rows together yet. I want to get all the blocks sewn together by mid week so I can start on the borders. This quilt must be ready for quilting no later than September 15!

It was beastly hot here in Maine yesterday, 88 in the shade; and we are in for more hot weather the next three or four days. The leaves have already started changing color, so I'm hoping this is summer's last gasp.

PS I Love You

2010-08-28T18:40:00.001-07:00

It's been about a month and a half since I worked on anything in my Power of Ten rotation, but I got the urge to work on one of those quilts a few days ago, and this was the next one in the rotation. This was supposed to be a challenge for the same four of us that made the September Sun quilts. Two of the girls have got theirs quilted and bound already, and two of us are still struggling with fabrics.

In fact I've struggled for months trying to choose fabrics for it, as I always do when choosing fabrics for a planned quilt. I much prefer scrappy quilts or kits.

Some of these fabrics I ordered sometime last year for a pattern I was testing; but when they arrived I was disappointed they weren't at all what I'd pictured. The colors seemed so dull, and the scale of the prints was not at all what I expected. So into the closet they went. I actually considered them several times for this quilt, dismissed them, and came back to them in the end. Now that I've got one block together, maybe they're not so bad after all.

I need 13 star blocks and 12 snoball blocks for my quilt. No idea what I'm doing for fabric for the snoball blocks yet, but I think I've got the sashing and border fabrics picked out. I sewed one block last night to see how it might look, decided it would work just fine, and spent this afternoon cutting up fabric for the remaining 12 star blocks.

I've spent all the time I want to on this quilt for now, so it's going back into the closet, and the next project in my rotation is ready and waiting.

King's Crown Blocks

2010-08-28T11:45:00.000-07:00

I'm behind with absolutely everything I can be behind with (even more than usual). My 6-Quilt Stashbuster Challenge blocks for August won't be done either by the end of the month, so I'm sort of combining August and September. Besides I very much liked JudyS's idea of having a look at all of them at once. These are all the King's Crown blocks I've completed so far, including the ones for September. I'm likin' 'em!

Found a Featherweight

2010-08-22T12:11:00.000-07:00

See, I told you I had a lot to blog about. And I still have a couple more posts to do with quilt show photos, but I'll do those later this week.

I always wondered what it would be like to own a Featherweight, and yesterday I found one at the Quilter's Yard Sale sponsored by Cottonweeds, one of our local quilt shops. This is the same yard sale I went to last year and found a copy of Gwen Marston's Liberated Quiltmaking for $3. It was a good price, I think, too good to pass up; and who knows when the opportunity might arise again? So I bought it.

According to information I found on the internet using the machine's serial number, it is indeed a Singer Featherweight, model 221K, built in 1949 at the Kilbowie plant in Clydebank, Scotland. I know nothing about Featherweights and don't know if it is more desirable to have one built in the US, but it doesn't matter much to me right now. In any case, the machine looks to be in very nice condition, and she runs just fine. I'm going to buy Nancy Johnson Srebro's book on featherweights and shop for a few parts, like extra bobbins; then I should have a nice little machine to take with me on my sew days away.

I Won!

2010-08-22T11:38:00.000-07:00

At the Maine Quilts annual quilt show at the end of July, I bought seven raffle tickets for this quilt. I sat across the aisle in Raffle Alley in the Maine Machine Quilters booth all morning long, selling tickets for ours and admiring this one. Finally I walked over and bought one ticket, then went back the next day and bought a book of six more. Yesterday morning, JeanR called and told me I'd won the quilt, and I met her in Augusta this morning to pick it up.

The quilt is called "Scraps of Green", made by the Narrow Gauge Quilters in Phillips, Maine. It is machine quilted with a small ivy leaf, and I just love it. I haven't measured it yet, but I think it must be a queen sized quilt. After I take the sleeve off and give it a good wash, it's going right on my bed!

I won another raffle quilt four or five years ago, so I was astonished to have won another. I'm still holding tickets for three more raffles that haven't been drawn yet. You just never know, do you?

Hexies #34 and #35

2010-08-22T11:04:00.000-07:00

Here are two hexies I finished two weeks ago while the chimney was coming out. I haven't finished the one from last week yet, but I hope to have two more finished by the end of next week.

JudyS wanted to see a picture of all the ones I've finished so far, so here they are. They're not arranged any way, just took them out of the box and slapped them on the wall, so there are pockets of the same colors and fabrics next to each other. The sashing hasn't been sewn to anything yet either, I just wanted to see how it might look.

No More Chimney

2010-08-22T10:01:00.001-07:00

Now you see it.....

.... now you don't.

I've had plenty of stuff to blog about lately but the last three weeks have been pretty nuts, and I just haven't had enough time to get on the computer or even behind the sewing machine. Come to think of it, that may be a normal state of affairs for me, it's just usually not this bad.

One of the things that wreaked havoc with my schedule was the removal of our chimney two weeks ago. I sat upstairs and tried to handpiece most of the week so I could be available for whatever the work crew needed.

I was sad to have to take out the chimney and fireplaces, but we've had nothing but trouble with it. Over the years, the mortar has come away from the stones; and we've tried to seal it, but eventually the water soaks through the chimney and runs down into the basement, saturating the carpet and everything on it. We could have had it repointed, but eventually we'd be right back where we started, so we finally decided to get rid of it.

Wet walls also mean carpenter ants, and we thought we got rid of them once but discovered during the renovation they're still there in the walls surrounding the chimney. There's also the occasional bee that wanders down the chimney, and a few weekends ago a bat flew down the chimney and was sailing around my sewing room. At midnight. You know, they don't make a sound when they fly. He was netted and released.

Undoubtedly the scariest part of the whole ordeal was the yawning hole they put in the living room wall when they took out the fireplace and hearth. At one point they actually had that jackhammer in my living room. It was a little disconcerting to be able to see down the street through the hole.

They also leveled my beautiful sedums. We even asked if we should move them and were told the crew would work around them. Not! It's not much of a problem to replace them if they don't grow back next year, but it's a disappointment to lose them just the same.

The job is as finished as it's going to be for now. My husband still needs to put up some sort of siding and do the finish work inside the house. Both the roof and the siding will be redone within the next year I hope, and all the patch work will disappear.

Hexies #31, #32, and #33

2010-08-08T07:43:00.000-07:00

I am making great progress with these hexagon blocks. I take great pleasure in the variety of fabrics I'm using in the blocks, and it's so enjoyable to watch how each one comes together as I'm handpiecing them. I'm starting two more this evening.

It has been a very pleasant weekend here in Maine. There may a little humidity creeping in today, but it was 59 degrees this morning at 7:30, and I sat and handpieced this morning with a sweater on. I love this weather!

Star Crazy BOM for August

2010-08-06T17:46:00.000-07:00

Today was our summer picnic for Casey's Quilters, and the only time we will meet this month. We had a great day, except that I was hot much of the day--crazy hormomes, I guess, because it wasn't really so hot at Helen's. By midafternoon a cold front rolled in and cooled things off. It's supposed to be in the 50s tonight, thankfully.

I got all nine of my blocks done for August's Star Crazy. I could make a whole quilt with these little 6-inch blocks with blocks in the center--love 'em. I think we must be done with half square triangle units now since we only had to make four this month. We've been making 48 every month.

Four more months and we're done!

Blocks, Blocks, and More Blocks

2010-08-02T19:24:00.000-07:00

I finally finished my 6Q Stashbuster Challenge blocks for July--all of them. In fact, including the blocks for the 6Q Challenge, the Champagne blocks, the Star Crazy blocks, the hexagon blocks, and half of the McCall's Mystery blocks for June that I was behind on, I made 84 blocks in the month of July. That's a lot of blocks! And that doesn't include the blocks from the little Teddy on Vacation quilt.

I've finished 28 of the required 49 Champagne blocks for my niece's quilt. I'm just a few days behind with those, but I'm still right on schedule to get the top done by my target date, mid-September.

Hexies #29 and #30

2010-07-25T05:53:00.000-07:00

Two more hexagon blocks finished this week. I can hardly believe I've finished thirty blocks. I just love, love, love the Jo Morton Civil War reproduction fabrics.

We had a little rain yesterday, and hubby said it was pouring when he got up this morning. Last month we picked 30 pounds of strawberries and some beets at a local pick-your-own farm. Now it is blueberry season in southern Maine, so we're going blueberry picking today, rain or shine.

Summer Color

2010-07-15T16:39:00.000-07:00

I took a ride to the nursery this morning to get a big bag of sunflower seeds for the birdfeeders. Even though food should be plentiful this time of year, the gold finches and chickadees are still cleaning out the tube feeder every couple days. It's worth it, I suppose, because my husband and I get so much enjoyment from watching them.

We discovered other creatures are enjoying the birdfeeders as well. Last week we came home from someplace and scared a skunk away from the feeder. Two nights ago there was a huge racoon rooting around under the feeder. I suppose I'm okay with that so long as they don't get into trouble (like trying to get into the trash or something).

I also bought a couple of coneflowers for the garden. I love these flowers, and I've wanted one in the yard since we moved to Maine. What I didn't know was that they come in other colors besides purple. I bought a peachy colored one and an orange one because my husband complained that everything in the garden is either purple or yellow. They were also available in a creamy pale yellow, which was so pretty. Maybe I'll get that one next year. I'm not very handy in the garden, but coneflowers are perennials, so I expect they'll take care of themselves.

Everything seemed to be in bloom all at once at the nursery, so I took a few more photos just because everything was so beautiful. I don't know what most of these plants are called, but I labeled the few I knew.

Begonia

This was some kind of fancy violet.

Kalanchoe, I think.

Orchids

Oh, if only I could grow these magnificent plants.

Pitcher plant, a carnivorous plant.

Buttercup Baby Set

2010-07-15T16:25:00.000-07:00

I'm finally finished with this little layette. Good thing, because the baby shower is Sunday. It was fun making the layette and quilt, and I really hope the expectant parents will like them.

I guess I'll take a little break from knitting, but when I start up again, I found another pattern for a layette with some leaves knit around the neckline of the sweater and on the bonnet. It's a really sweet pattern.

Yarn: Vanna's Choice Baby, Lion Brand Yarn
Pattern: Buttercup Baby Set, Creative Knitting Magazine May 2009

Breast Cancer Quilt

2010-07-13T09:59:00.000-07:00

Last fall the Tacoma Lakes Quilters decided to make a breast cancer quilt for donation. In the end we got so many blocks that we had enough to make two quilts. I did make a couple blocks that wound up in the other quilt; but my job with this one was to apply the binding, which I finished this morning.

We wanted the quilt to be very warm, so we used an extra-loft poly batt and tied it. I'm not complaining, mind you, but I have to say it was something of a chore to sew that binding on with that thick fluffy batt. Well, now it's done and ready for someone who needs it.

Star Crazy BOM for July

2010-07-13T09:55:00.001-07:00

This is the last of the 8" star blocks that go in the center section of the quilt, but there are still more Irish Chains to make. We made a few 6" blocks in January, but now we begin making the rest of the ones that go in the borders. I just love these little block-in-a-blocks. In the 6" blocks, the little centers finish to 3".

Teddy On Vacation

2010-07-13T09:43:00.001-07:00

This is quilt #6 in my Power of Ten rotation in the sidebar, and I finished the top the other day. I purchased this as a little kit in April when we went on the Maine Shop Hop. The pattern is the same as the ones a bunch of us made a few months ago from the Downy kits from Quilts for Kids, so it was pretty quick to put together. I don't know yet when I'll get it quilted.

I think I have enough checkerboard blocks left over to make another quilt, but I haven't got enough of the print left. So when I'm at Marden's next time, I'll look for a juvenile print to go with them.

Hexies #27 and #28

2010-07-13T09:08:00.001-07:00

I meant to get these up on the blog Sunday morning, but I just didn't get a chance. I have enough hexagons sewn to assemble a couple of rows now, but I'd be struggling to find the time to do it. I still have plenty more hexagon blocks to make though to keep me busy.

It is much cooler in Maine today, and we are expecting some showers this afternoon.

In the garden, my tiger lilies are almost ready to bloom. I've waited several years for this moment. Last year the chipmunks climbed up the stalks and ate all those black pods (what the heck are those anyway?) in between the leaves. In the process, they pushed the stalks down and broke them. The year before, red beetles ate every leaf on the lilies before I even knew what hit them. I looked out the window this morning, and one stalk is pushed way over. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that nothing will happen to the rest.

The Champagne Quilt

2010-07-08T08:06:00.001-07:00

I borrowed this quilt from my good friend Sherry to use as a model to create my own Champagne quilt. Sherry has made four of these and given away three as wedding gifts. I have a niece who is getting married at the end of September, and I thought this would make a lovely wedding present for her.

Sherry used strips that finished to 1-1/2" wide in her quilt, both in the blocks and in the border. Since I'm under a time constraint here, I'm using strips that finish to 1-3/4" wide, which will give me a 12-1/4" block. An odd measurement, but it'll work just fine. Unlike Sherry, I'm adding a tan inner border, then I'll make the same piano key border. I have quite a few scrappy strips that were cut 2" wide, so I'll use those up in that border.

I'll need 49 blocks for a queen-sized quilt, and I have some made already. Since I have so many other projects ongoing right now, I thought I'd employ a Block of the Month strategy (sort of) for this quilt too. If I can make a block a day every day, I'll have all the blocks constructed by mid August. That'll give me another month to sew the blocks together, add the borders, and get it over to my good friend Koleen who is going to quilt it for me.

Doesn't that sound like a flawless plan?

Jewel Box Top Done

2010-07-08T07:41:00.000-07:00

The summer is going by quickly, and I'm glad because it is just too darned hot! The heat and humidity makes me cranky, so I'm hoping cooler temperatures are in the forecast.

Now that the whining about the weather is out of the way, I finished my Jewel Box top the other day. Except for the fussy cutting and match points required with the border print, this was really a pretty simple pattern to make.

I'm going to wait a bit to quilt it until I finish the next top in my Rotation, which is one of those Downy quilt patterns. I want to use the Downy quilt to practice the pantograph I plan to use on the Jewel Box quilt. Shouldn't take long to get them both quilted.

Credit where credit is due: quilt design by Jinny Beyer

The 6-Quilt Stashbuster Challenge

2010-07-01T05:42:00.001-07:00

Hey, how about a new challenge?

My good friend Koleen has already drafted her list of quilts for 2011 and 2012 that she wants to make. Each list contains about 25 quilts. She made a list for this year too, and she's just about halfway through it. She's very ambitious and very determined; and trust me, she'll get it done. In fact she'll probably have them all finished before the end of the year.

So wouldn't you think that's enough quilts for the year? No! In April Koleen told me she was challenging herself to make six nickel quilts, from the book Nickel Quilts by Pat Speth. The plan is to choose six quilts and then make one block a month for each quilt for 12 months. If the quilt has more than 12 blocks, then you divide the total number of blocks by 12 and make that many each month. So for example, if a quilt had 36 blocks, you'd make 3 every month for a year.

Koleen is the one that came up with the September Sun challenge, and I enjoyed it; so I said, I'll do this with you! Then we challenged Barb and Sherry to do it with us, and poof! a new Challenge was born. Now a few more girls in our quilt group might do it too but on a smaller scale.

The 6Q Stashbuster Challenge was scheduled to start June 1, so I spent most of May choosing the quilts and cutting as much fabric ahead of time as I could. All my quilts are scrappy, so most of the fabrics I'll pick and choose as I go along. Here are the six quilts I chose.

The first one, above, is "Dutchman's Puzzle", from More Nickel Quilts by Pat Speth. These are 8" blocks, and I'll need 61 blocks to complete a queen-sized quilt, so I'll make 5 blocks a month.

This one is "King's Crown", also from More Nickel Quilts. These are also 8" blocks, and I want a queen-sized quilt, so I'll make 5 blocks a month for this one too.

Next is "Conestoga Star", from an old issue of Fons and Porter's Love of Quilts. Several years ago I bought this gorgeous kit for it, all batiks, and it's been sitting around ever since. Time to do it! These are 12" blocks, and I'll need 25 full sized blocks and 20 half blocks for the borders for a queen-sized quilt. So I'll make 2 full blocks and 2 half blocks each month. I like big quilts.

The foundations for these blocks were not included in the kit, and I wasn't about to trace them all out from the magazine, so I'm using a block called Dusty Miller from the EQ6 block library. The proportions are slightly different, but the block is the same. I printed out my foundations on freezer paper, so they'll be reusable too.

I like this pattern a lot, so I might make another scrappy one for next year's Challenge, only not in batiks.

I've wanted to make "Bali Sea Star" from the cover of Kim Brackett's Scrap-Basket Surprises since I got the book. More of the quilts from this book are already on my list for next year. These are 12" blocks and I need 20 blocks, so I'll make 1 block a month, and some months I'll have to make 2.

The Crazy Log Cabin blocks were part of a block exchange from about 10 years ago. Four of us from across the country exchanged one block a month. See how the logs are crooked? It's a foundation pattern we printed out from EQ's Sew Precise program.

I want to make this as a queen-sized quilt and set the blocks together like the quilt on this postcard. These are 6" blocks, so I need a total of 225 blocks for my quilt. I already had about 40 blocks done, so I'll need to make 16 blocks a month to get them all finished in a year.

The last one is a mystery quilt that McCall's did last year. It was presented in 6 parts, so the number of blocks required every month is variable. It finishes to something like 86" x 101", probably a king-sized quilt. If you have the magazines, then you already know what it looks like. For everybody else, I guess you'll have to wait and see.

Part 1 of the mystery is comprised of 20 Friendship Star blocks and 12 Diamond blocks. I had planned to make the 12 diamond blocks for June, but I got a late start and haven't got any of them done yet.

All together I should have made 43 blocks for the month of June, and here's what I actually finished. And I still have the Star Crazy BOM blocks to do every month. Am I nuts? Probably. Think I can do it? Maybe. I might have to scale back a little, maybe drop a quilt or something, but I'll make a valiant effort. Am I having fun? You bet!

Imagine how much stash I'll bust when they're all done. Heck, maybe I should make all my quilts this way. Start your own 6-Quilt Stashbuster Challenge today!

I Love My Stash

2010-06-30T20:25:00.000-07:00

I rooted around in my stash the other day and came up with this red-violet marbled print to use for the middle border in the Jewel Box quilt. It's exactly the color I wanted, and I think it's perfect. I could have wasted lots of time trying to hunt something down in the quilt shops, so I'm happy I had it in the stash. I've gotten some mileage out of this particular piece of fabric--I used it in the Monticello quilt that I made a few years back too.

The first two borders are sewn on, and the outer border is cut and ready for sewing. I have to mentally psych myself up to cut and sew these border prints because the corners have to be matched precisely and mitered for them to look right, and I'm not really very fond of mitering. I will love this quilt when it's finished though, so it's worth the trouble to get it right.

June Finish

2010-06-30T11:49:00.001-07:00

But first, someone left an anonymous comment inquiring whether or not I had finished my pink and brown Neapolitan quilt. No, but funny you should ask, because I had planned to include it on my Power of Ten list, and it will replace the Double Hourglass I just finished.

Even though I wanted to work on some other blocks today, I made myself sit down and finish this quilt, plus I needed a finish for June. Made it just under the wire. It's actually been quilted for several weeks, and all I had left was the binding. I quilted it with the Plumage pantograph from Willow Leaf, which I just love. I probably say that every time I use it, huh?

This is a giftie for one of my son's friends, and I had to have it done in time for her baby shower on July 18. The baby ensemble I've been knitting to go with it is also nearly finished. Still have to sew up the seams on the bonnet and booties, and I have one sleeve left to knit. Thankfully there are no seams to do on the sweater because it was a top down pattern. The sleeves were supposed to be knit flat, but I put them on double pointed needles to knit in the round. The very first project I knit was on DPNs, and I've done mitten thumbs on DPNs; so these little sleeves are a piece of cake.

Jewel Box

2010-06-21T20:09:00.001-07:00

Anyone who has been reading my blog for a while knows what a terrible procrastinator I am. Oh wait, we did that already. This quilt has been a ufo for at least 12 years. Sad, isn't it? I haven't worked in my Rotation for a while because I've been busy with other things, but this is quilt #5, a quilt called Jewel Box by Jinny Beyer.

I actually made this exact quilt for my niece when she graduated from high school. Back then my younger boy was still in elementary school, and he was crazy over the color purple. He loved this quilt and was heartbroken when I shipped it off to my niece, so I said I'd make another one for him. Poor kid, he's all grown up now and still waiting, but he still loves this quilt.

After I worked on this quilt for a half hour or so, I remembered why it became a ufo. Each of those purple medallions is constructed from four fussy cut pieces; so there is lots of matching and pinning that has to be done, which is very time consuming.

I had all the blocks done before today, so this evening I sewed all the rows together. The center is now complete and ready for the borders. The borders will look like those pieces on the side in the photo, but I have no idea what I'll do for that red violet in the middle. It's perfect for the quilt, but I don't have enough of it to border all the way around. That could prove to be enough of an obstacle that it will wind up back in the ufo pile.

Finished the Hoodie

2010-06-21T13:07:00.001-07:00

Anyone who has been reading my blog for a while probably knows what a terrible procrastinator I am. So it probably shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody that I sewed up most of the seams for this little hoodie weeks ago, then let it sit around waiting for the last sleeve to be set in and for the buttons to be sewn on. My niece had a little boy yesterday on Father's Day, so I figured it was high time to get it finished. It went out in the mail this afternoon!

Yarn: Cotton Kisses, Plymouth Yarn Co.
Pattern: Adorable Baby Hoodie, Creative Knitting Magazine May 2008

Candlemat

2010-06-20T17:36:00.001-07:00

I finished this little wool candlemat this morning too. I started it last Wednesday at the Tacoma Lakes Quilters meeting. A number of us bought these kits and had ourselves a workshop.

I was determined not to let this become a ufo, so I worked at it until it was done. I don't normally work in wools, and I don't do buttonhole stitch or any other embroidery, but I found this little mat very appealing. And I did the buttonhole by machine. I wasn't sure how well it would work on wool, but it turned out just fine.

Credit where credit is due: design by Pickering Farms Designs

Hexies #24, #25, and #26

2010-06-20T17:12:00.000-07:00

I finished three hexagon blocks this week, so now I'm only behind by about three blocks, I think. I like the addition of the green and gold. My quilt is already not looking much like the original, so no matter. Before I'm through, there's no telling what might wind up in it.

I started two more hexies this morning and hope to get another three finished this week.

Hexies #22 and #23

2010-06-13T14:28:00.000-07:00

I am way behind with my hexagon blocks, but I'll get caught up again, like always. I lost a month when I sliced my finger open with the rotary cutter, but I'm thankful it was only a month.

After studying the photo I took of all my blocks together, I thought they would benefit from a little more color, so I'm adding some green and gold. I haven't been able to find very many civil war fabrics in gold, but there must be more out there somewhere. I'll find them!

Star Crazy BOM for June

2010-06-13T14:12:00.000-07:00

We had a sew day at Helen's on Friday, and I finished my blocks for June. It feels good to get them done early for a change.

We're halfway there now; and judging from the photos of upcoming months on the Quiltshow website, we're going to be very busy the last six months of the year. We still have to make 34 six-inch border blocks to make, plus 6 irish chain blocks, 12 irish chain half blocks, and a boatload of half square triangle units. Lots of piecing in this quilt.

EQ7 Arrived

2010-06-07T09:24:00.000-07:00

Oh, happy day, the UPS man has just delivered my EQ7!

But I have chores to do that must get done today, so playtime will have to wait.

If you EQ, have fun today!

Rooster Tales

2010-05-31T08:42:00.001-07:00

I started this quilt a couple of years ago in a Bethany Reynolds Stack-n-Whack workshop. After making seven blocks, I didn't much care for it so I buried it in the closet. A few weeks ago I decided it was time to either rejuvenate the project or get rid of it, so I added it to my Power of Ten rotation.

Over the last two days I spent a few hours here and there sewing the last five blocks. I'm adding these red and blue triangles to the corners of the blocks, and the top row is sewn together. Now I've decided I like the project well enough to finish it. No idea what I'll do for borders yet. I'll leave that for the next work session.

Even if the fabric is nothing special (like mine), it's still fun to see what the kaleidoscopes will look like when they're assembled.

Memorial Day

2010-05-31T08:31:00.000-07:00

"True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost." ----Arthur Ashe

Interchangeable Bag

2010-05-29T10:04:00.000-07:00

I had such a fun day yesterday at quilt group. We had a workshop to make these interchangeable bags, and all of them turned out so cute. It's a great way to use those novelty fabrics that are too small for a pillowcase and you can't think what else to do with them. What's unique about the bag is that the knobs at the ends of the handles unscrew so you can slide the handles out of the fabric casing and switch out the bag bottom with another one.

The bag bottom was pretty easy to make, and it wound up being about a four-hour project. Now that I know how to do it, I expect the next one would go faster. There are four pockets inside the bag, which are just the right size for a cell phone, a tissue pack, keys, or whatever. If you wanted to, it wouldn't be difficult to alter the pocket dimensions to accomodate the things you like to carry in your purse.

There are a couple of commercial patterns available. We used this one called "Sassy Snappy Purse" from Pleasant Pond Studio. You can contact the designer at pleasantpondstudio@gmail.com.

Knitting Problem Fixed

2010-05-29T09:23:00.001-07:00

The original photo probably wasn't the best to identify the problem with the hoodie; but if you guessed that the neck shaping was done incorrectly, you were right. This is a better photo of the front of the hoodie. Looks like a turtleneck, doesn't it?

The instructions were crystal clear that shaping was to begin at the center front, and I did it exactly backwards so that the shaping is at the shoulders instead of the neck. I can't tell you what thought process went through my head; but, hey, at least I was consistent--I knitted both front sections the same wrong way.

This is how the neck should be shaped--like...well, a neckline. Even the top buttonhole wound up where it's supposed to be. It wasn't nearly as complicated or time consuming to fix the knitting as I anticipated. Now maybe I'm ready to start sewing the seams together.

Christmas Lights

2010-05-27T09:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I worked on Quilt #3 in my rotation, which is Bonnie Hunter's "Christmas Lights" quilt that appeared last year in Quiltmaker as a mystery quilt. It's been sitting on my design wall since then, and I finally got the last 8 blocks sewn together. Next time I work on it I'll be sewing the rows together.

Later in the day, I realized one of the four patch units in the bottom row was turned the wrong way, but it's fixed now. I wish all my mistakes were so easy to correct.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

2010-05-27T08:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, this is a test for all you knitters out there. I've been working on this little hoodie for my niece for the last month, and I was very happy to finish knitting the second sleeve this morning. Obviously I still have to seam it together. My niece is due on June 1, so I thought I had just enough time to finish the seams and get it in the mail. Not!

As I was contemplating how to start sewing it together, it suddenly dawned on me that I made a very big mistake in the knitting. Anybody see the problem?

String Quilt

2010-05-25T18:51:00.001-07:00

I redid my Power of Ten list (in the sidebar) last week and resolved to make it work better for me than it did last year. I got the idea from my good friend Barb, and I dutifully made up my list but it never really got off the ground. The original idea was to choose ten quilts and work on each one in succession for only three hours, but I may or may not have a chance to work on the quilts every day.

The first quilt in my rotation is the Double Hourglass. I blogged about this one not too long ago, and all I've done since then is get it loaded on the frame. It won't actually come up in the rotation again for a little while, but I'd like to try and start quilting it on Sunday. I don't like to have a quilt on the frame for too long.

This string quilt is the second quilt in the rotation. It's called "Loose Change", and my son saw it in a book called String Quilts With Style by Bobbie Aug. He loves the pattern, so I'm making it for him. It started out as a leaders and enders project, but I was having such a good time with it that I wanted to spend more time on it, so I added it to the list.

Not only is this quilt a great way to use up a bunch of scraps, but I don't have to struggle with fabrics and colors. I can just pick up a scrap of fabric and sew it on. I keep the scraps I'm using for this project in a shallow plastic bin so they're easily accessible. As the scraps get used, I replenish the bin with bits and pieces from other projects, from friends, and from my regular scrap bins; so there is an ever changing variety.

The blocks are pieced on a foundation that is cut 4" x 8". I'm going to sew them together just as they are in the photo from the book, with a burgundy batik in between the string pieced blocks. The original quilt called for 90 blocks, but I'll need 144 blocks for my queen sized quilt. I have a stack of about 80 done now. Got a ways to go.

Second Finish for May

2010-05-22T16:08:00.000-07:00

I put the last stitch into the binding of my Hourglass Log Cabin this morning. The top sat unfinished for nearly a year while I tried to decide how I wanted to quilt it. The quilt measures only 24" x 24", so it seemed a little silly to load it on the long arm, nor did I want to stitch in the ditch or hand quilt. I'm no good at free motion quilting either, so there weren't a lot of other options.

I considered trying to machine embroider a quilt design in each set of four blocks but decided there might be too much of a learning curve. I'd still like to try that at some point, just not right now.

I finally decided to try stitching a design through the Golden Threads paper. Golden Threads quilting paper is a thin, translucent, gold-colored paper that is used as a no-mark method of creating a quilt stencil. It's available on a 20-yard roll in three different widths, and I'd guess it's available in most quilt shops. It's like tracing paper, but it seems to be more durable. I pinned and repinned the paper, stuck tape on it, rolled it and rerolled it, and generally abused it in the quilting process, and it never tore. However when I was ready to remove it, it tore off very easily and cleanly. It even came off pretty easily in those tight places where there was a concentration of stitches.

Here's how I did it. I chose a design from Electric Quilt's Quilting Designs series. After I drafted the log cabin into my EQ program, I imported the quilt design and sized it to fit my blocks. Then I printed out the design and traced several sequences of the pattern to create a small continuous-line pantograph. Next I pinned it to my quilt ready for quilting. Because the paper is translucent, I could see exactly where I wanted to position it. The pins poked me too many times, so I switched to double sided tape which worked just as well.

I used a walking foot to quilt the design, which meant I had to pivot the quilt round and round to stitch on my line. It might have been tedious except that I got pretty engrossed in it. I suppose you could do this on a larger quilt too, but if the quilt were too big it would more difficult to roll it up and maneuver around the needle. Free motion quilting would probably make it much faster.

This method worked so well for me that I'm excited to try it again, so I dug out the Pineapple Blossom quilt to work on, which will also measure 24" x 24".

Star Crazy BOM, May

2010-05-14T18:29:00.000-07:00

With this set of blocks, I'm all caught up now and glad for it. I like these little 4-inch blocks in the centers so much that I'm tempted to start a miniature quilt. I bought a couple of Fat Quarter Quilting patterns by Lori Smith on our road trip Wednesday that make up into small quilts 16" x 20", and the blocks finish at 4 inches square. They're so cute!

There were 15 of us that went on the road trip to Pickering Farms quilt shop in New Hampshire, and we did have a great time. The owner Diana has a great collections of 30s reproductions, Civil War prints, and more; and I stocked up on the Civil War prints. Most of the new ones are for an upcoming mystery quilt I want to do.

Star Crazy BOM for April

2010-05-11T19:24:00.000-07:00

Here are my April blocks, and the companion triangles are done too. I love the star in a star block--my favorite so far. Tonight I cut out all the pieces for the May blocks, and I'll start knocking those out on Thursday. Almost there!

The Tacoma Lakes Quilters are taking a road trip tomorrow to a quilt shop in New Hampshire. Lunch and supper on the road, and it should be a fun day.

My finger is healing well. It's still bandaged to protect it, but I downsized the bandage so it's not so awkward that I can't get back to some handpiecing. I'm two weeks behind with the hexagon blocks, and I'll get those caught up too.

Star Crazy BOM, March

2010-05-07T18:04:00.001-07:00

I'm behind with my blocks, but I'm not worried about catching up. Now that I've finished the two big quilts that had the deadlines, I have more time to work on these blocks.

I finished the March blocks this evening plus the requisite half square triangle units, another 48. There sure are a lot of those in the borders. I use them as leaders and enders while I'm sewing the blocks, and that makes them go much faster.

I have lots of cutting to do over the weekend for some new quilts, but I hope to get some more Star Crazy blocks done on Monday.

May Finish

2010-05-05T11:26:00.001-07:00

The deadline for the Morningstar quilt challenge was today, and I put the last stitch into the binding at 8:00 am. We had a lovely show and tell of fifteen Morningstar quilts at the Tacoma Lakes meeting this morning, and there were a few we hadn't seen before. The ladies all did a great job.

I used the Frisky Feathers pantograph from Willow Leaf for the quilting. Since I hadn't stitched it before, I practiced on a little strippy first. Still have to bind the strippy, and it will become a donation quilt.

I like to play around with my quilt labels, and I get bored pretty quickly with the same ones every time. The other day I happened to see a post on the Selvage Blog about a quilter who used some selvages in her label. I still like my embroidered labels the best, but it did occur to me to use the selvage from the border fabric to bind one edge of the label. I like having both the copyright date and the color dots on this selvage.

Yes, I know tomorrow is May 6--I actually finished a day early. Too late to change it now!

Morningstar

2010-04-28T18:41:00.001-07:00

Today was a sew day at Koleen's, and I worked on my Morningstar quilt. I've been working on this quilt on and off since February, and I am delighted to have the top finished finally. The deadline for completion is next Wednesday, so I must try to get it quilted over the weekend.

The Morningstar quilt was this year's challenge quilt for the Tacoma Lake Quilters. We found the pattern on the P&B Textiles website here.

I think there must be 15 or more of us that made the quilt, and all of the quilts will become part of an exhibit at the Maine State quilt show in July.

I have only a few photos of some of the other quilts, all of which were taken by my good friend Margo and posted on her blog. It's fun to see them all together and to see how different the same pattern looks with different fabrics and color placements.

Credit where credit is due: Morningstar quilt design by Linda Hohag.

Rotary Cutter Mishap

2010-04-27T06:44:00.000-07:00

No graphic photographs, just a friendly reminder not to get complacent about rotary cutter safety.

I have watched people cut fabric upside down and backwards with a rotary cutter, and it gives me the willies. I've done it once or twice and realized I don't have the same level of control that I have when I'm cutting the usual way, so I stopped doing it. However I've gotten into a habit of cutting from right to left with the ruler parallel to my body so I can see the cutting line a little better. Last night the cutter veered up on top of the ruler, and I sliced my finger wide open. It bled and bled, and it bled some more this morning. I am on my way to the doctor's office in a short while to see if stitches are warranted.

Use your tools in the way they are intended!

Update: I am back from the doctor's office, and apparently the decision about stitches must be made within the first several hours after an injury occurs; so no stitches, thankfully. The doctor said he didn't think they would have been necessary anyway. As it is now, I have to keep my finger bandaged for two weeks, can't get it wet, watch for signs of infection, you know the drill. Could have been worse, but this was bad enough!

Hexie #21

2010-04-27T06:21:00.001-07:00

Figuring that I need about 82 full sized hexagon blocks for a queen-sized quilt, now I'm about a quarter of the way done. Slow but steady will get me there!

My good friend Koleen came up with a 6-Quilt Stashbuster Challenge. The idea is to choose six quilts and make a block a month for each quilt, or however many blocks you need to finish a particular quilt in a year's time. That would mean making multiple blocks each month for each quilt if I'm making bed-sized quilts. It's an interesting idea I'm considering, particularly since the block-a-week hexagons are working out well.

Hexie #20

2010-04-18T10:30:00.001-07:00

Just for a change, I thought I'd get one finished on time! This block is for the current week, and I have the pieces cut out for the next one which I'll be starting tomorrow.

It is grey and cold in Maine today. Down in the basement I am working a walker bag, my Morningstar quilt, cutting for a breast cancer block, and a couple of embroidered quilt labels. I need to make a trip to ACMoore too for some supplies for a project for quilt group on Wednesday. A busy day ahead!

Hexie #19

2010-04-17T17:18:00.000-07:00

I finished this hexagon block a couple of days ago. It's actually the one from last week. The pink inner ring is brighter than I intended, but I like it.

JudyS wanted to know what they would look like all together, so I took the ones I finished and placed them up on the design wall. It's the first time I've seen all of them laid out myself, and I realized the brighter pink will add a little sparkle. Good idea, Judy

The Last Downy Quilt

2010-04-17T16:57:00.001-07:00

This is what we got up to this morning. The daffodils are blooming, the tender young leaves on the hostas are unfurling, and it was about 38 degrees and snowing. Is that depressing or what? I thought about going back to bed, but instead I went down to the basement and finished binding my Downy quilt, reorganized the fabrics in a couple sewing cabinets, rearranged all the stuff on top of the cabinets, cleaned up all the workspaces, and just puttered around. I love puttering around in the sewing room.

This is what it looked like outside at noon time. Big wet snowflakes coming down pretty hard, but most of the snow on the ground was melted. By about 4:00 the sky was still dark but the sun was out, and the temperature shot up 5 degrees. Big deal. Tomorrow morning is supposed to be more of the same. Where is spring?

Sometime this afternoon I got the Downy quilt washed and dried for mailing on Monday. Cute fabrics, huh? This is the last of the Downy quilt kits, and I'm glad to have them behind me.

Hexie #18

2010-04-08T20:04:00.000-07:00

This is my hexagon block for last week. I like this one so much I could make a whole quilt out of these. I've started on the one for this week already, and I'm liking it a whole lot too.

The Downy Quilt Kits

2010-04-07T18:10:00.001-07:00

Several weeks ago, one of my quilt groups decided to get onboard with the Quilts for Kids campaign, sponsored in part by Downy. I first saw mention of these on Pat's blog, but they seem to be popping up all over the place lately. The Quilts for Kids folks will ship a quilt kit to you that includes precut fabrics for the top plus the backing fabric. You supply the batting and the labor and ship it back to them. Most of our group wanted to participate; but since getting them quilted was an obstacle for most of the ladies, I offered to do it.

All my other quilting has been on hold for the last couple weeks, as I've tried to get these little quilts done. I've quilted nine so far, including three more that got finished yesterday. I have only my own left to do, then I'll be done. I haven't even finished my Star Crazy blocks for March yet nor my hexagon block from last week, and I'm not sure when I'll get them done now. We're shop hopping Friday and doing another charity project Saturday. Busy week!

Quilting ten little quilts all right in a row was a great opportunity to get some practice in and try out some new pantographs. My favorite was this one called Plaza from Willow Leaf Studio. It was fun to do, and I wasn't sure if I'd like the red thread on this quilt, but I actually liked it a lot when I was done.

This one was a pantograph called Crazy Puzzle from patternman.com. Meandering is just about the only free motion skill I possess at the moment, so I forget now why I got this panto, but I sure do like it.

Margo took some pictures of the rest of the Downy quilts today at the Tacoma Lakes chapter meeting, but she hasn't gotten them posted yet. I'll link to them when she does. They're all so cute.

EQ7

2010-04-07T18:07:00.000-07:00

Did you notice this advertisement in the latest quilt magazines to hit the newstand? It's coming!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T08:24:00.001-07:00

A Finish!

2010-03-31T21:28:00.000-07:00

At long last my September Sun quilt is finished. I thought the day would never come. After I finished piecing it I asked my good friend Koleen to quilt it for me, not only because I was overwhelmed with the size (89" x 89"), but also because I was just sick of looking at it. She quilted it with the Plumage pantograph from Willow Leaf Studio, and I love it.

Four of us worked on this quilt as a challenge, and three of us have now finished. Our fourth challenger is vacationing in Arizona, and hopefully hers will come together when she gets back. Amazing how different they all look, isn't it? I lifted these two pictures from Margo's blog, who is our official photographer for the Tacoma Lakes group. (Thanks, Margo!)

Hexies #16 and #17

2010-03-28T18:20:00.001-07:00

I didn't get to quilt today because I was helping a couple of new EQ owners learn the program, and when I got home my husband wanted me to go to Home Depot with him (we're renovating a bathroom). By the time we got back, the rest of the day was gone, so I cut out another hexie kit for this week and called it a day.

Good thing I finished this week's hexagon block this morning. The brown and cream one is from last week, and I just never got around to posting it. I'm looking forward to working with blues for a while.

Double Hourglass

2010-03-27T18:42:00.001-07:00

I discovered this Double Hourglass pattern on Pat's blog, and she found a tutorial for it here. Subsequently I found a couple other tutorials for the same block, but Cluck Cluck Sew had the fastest, easiest method.

I played around with a few blocks, then decided they would work fine as a gift for an expectant mother I know. The mother likes bright colors, and I really wanted to get rid of these calicos, most of which are 10 or more years old, so it worked out perfectly. All the fabric for this little quilt came from my stash, about 4 yards I'd say. Yay!

The quilt has a six-inch wide white border, which really doesn't show up well in the photo, but that little narrow green strip is at the edge of the border and will be the binding.

I found some butter colored yarn that was pretty close to the same yellow in the quilt, so I'm knitting a layette to go with the quilt. I have not yet sewn the seams on the booties or turned the edge on the bonnet (it has a scalloped edge), and I haven't even started the sweater yet. But the mother is not due 'til August, so I have plenty of time.

I have been working hard on four quilts, and I'm close to finishing a couple within the next several days. I just finished the Double Hourglass top tonight and hope to quilt it tomorrow, and I am handstitching the binding down on the September Sun. I'll be really happy to get that one off my plate!

Hexie #15

2010-03-17T19:32:00.001-07:00

Last week was really busy, and I was gone four out of the five weekdays, either touring the countryside or sewing with friends. By Friday night I was so tired I could hardly get out of my own way. Consequently I didn't get a chance to finish the hexagon block for the week, but it's done now.

Even though I didn't finish the block on time doesn't mean I wasn't thinking about hexagon blocks. I did a little shopping last week too and found a bunch of civil war fabrics that I liked for my quilt. I spent the weekend washing and pressing them, and I can't wait to make up some blocks with the blues and browns. I'm getting a little tired of red and tan right now.

I also found a few more batiks for the Star Crazy blocks, two gorgeous Jinny Beyer border fabrics, a sweet little floral for a couple of pillowcases, and a few other little odds and ends.

My niece and my son's friend are both expecting this summer, and I wanted to make little sweaters for the babies. I have a pair of booties and a bonnet already made up in a butter colored acrylic for the friend but still have to make the sweater.

I also found a couple balls of Cotton Kisses, a cotton blend that makes up into either a cardigan or a pullover. Each ball of yarn is a complete kit with the pattern instructions and little ducky buttons tucked inside the ball of yarn, which I thought was a cute idea. I'll be using this textured yarn for a little button up hoodie for my niece.

Hexies #12, #13, and #14

2010-03-07T11:44:00.000-08:00

These are the hexagon blocks I finished for the last three-week period. The red, pink, and blue one is a departure from the geometric prints used in so many of the other blocks, but I liked the fabrics. We'll see how it works out.

Star Crazy BOM -- February

2010-03-06T19:34:00.001-08:00

The February installment for Star Crazy is done now too. I actually had it finished by about 2:00 this afternoon, posted it on the Star Crazy blog, then realized I turned two of the corner four-patch units the wrong way in one of the Irish Chain blocks. Frogging it had to wait until after a dinner engagement. I was too lazy to take another photo, but it's fixed now. I like these blocks!

Star Crazy BOM -- January

2010-03-06T07:55:00.000-08:00

These are most of the fabrics I am using for the Star Crazy BOM. Luscious, aren't they? I'm using batiks, and I'll be throwing in some scraps here and there if they'll work in my color palette.

Here are the January blocks all done, plus some of the half square triangle units that go in the borders. There are a boatload of these units in the quilt, and I think we will probably make 30 or 40 of them every month. These little jewels finish at 1-1/2".

I have two of the four blocks for February done and hope to have the rest of that installment done by the end of the weekend.

I'm Back

2010-03-06T07:19:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted, huh? Three weeks ago right when I was really on a roll, I had a bout of sciatica, an inflammation of the sciatic nerve which begins in the lower spine and runs down the back of each leg. The pain radiates over the buttock and rear thigh and can extend into the calf and foot. For me I suppose it is another first in the inexorable march towards old(er) age.

Anyway, I was out of commission for a full week and had to take it pretty easy for another week before I felt like myself again. Sitting down was especially painful, so there was no sewing, no blogging, no computer. You can't keep a good quilter down for long though, and I stood for hours and handpieced. I finished a couple more hexagon blocks and will post those tomorrow, along with the block for this week.

I finished more pillowcases before the sciatica, and last week I was back in the sewing room going full bore. I have two projects with a May 1 deadline, a baby quilt to be finished by August, and the Star Crazy BOM to get caught up with, and I'll be dedicating myself to those in the upcoming weeks. Oh yes, in another burst of enthusiasm I started three more knitting projects!

Hexie #11

2010-02-14T09:24:00.000-08:00

I was a busy girl in my sewing room this week--making up for lost time, I guess. I started a few new projects (you can never have too many UFOs) and experimented with some new blocks. I also worked on my September Sun some more-- got the first round of borders on and have three more to go. I would sure like to get that top done this week. Projects are beginning to stack up on top of each other on my design wall.

The consensus seems to be that blue will look fine in my hexagon project (and thank you for that), so I made another blue block this week and have fabrics chosen for several more. Here is the first sashing strip as well.

Star Crazy!

2010-02-08T06:38:00.000-08:00

I didn't do one thing I was supposed to do in the sewing room yesterday. I was supposed to be embroidering a label for the Pinwheel Party quilt and quilting my mini log cabin. Instead, I sat down to blog a little in the morning and wound up blogging all day. Well.... I haven't had as much time to blog as I'd like, and I was really enjoying myself.

I got myself into a little trouble though surfing the web all day. I forget where, but I discovered a blog called Star Crazy Log, which is composed of a group of quilters who are all making this quilt called Star Crazy by Sue Garman. It's a Block of the Month designed by Sue for Alex Anderson's Quiltshow, and you can only access the pattern if you have a membership. I had seen the quilt on their website last year and thought it was spectacular. I just didn't do anything about it.

I've got about 60 UFO's in my closet now, but that's not nearly enough. So I bit the bullet, joined the Star Crazy Log blog, bought myself a membership to Quiltshow, downloaded the first couple of blocks, and spent some time yesterday pulling fabrics from the stash. I've got the rest of this month to catch up, then I'll be right on schedule for the March BOM. Normally I don't have the patience for BOM's, but I've got so many other irons in the fire right now that this may be a good thing.

There's nothing difficult about this quilt. It's all squares and half square triangle units--it's just that there's lots of piecing. Paper piecing templates for the half square triangle units are provided with the downloadable files, but I'll use my standard method of "make it big and square it up".

I have a good collection of batiks but not so many brights, so I may have to add a few (uh oh, stash enhancing). Even if I have to buy a few fat quarters though, it'll still be a great stashbuster and scrapbuster--the pattern calls for 10 yards of background fabric; and amazingly, I've got that right in the stash. One gal on the Star Crazy blog is using 30's repros, and I bet hers will be beautiful too.

Hexies #9 and #10

2010-02-07T06:55:00.001-08:00

Not only did I complete two hexies this week, one for last week and one for this week, but I had them done before I went to bed Friday evening. So yesterday I spent the day printing and cutting hexagons. I kitted up enough for five more blocks and planned out color combinations for another dozen or so. It also occurred to me that maybe I should start piecing some sashing strips, else I'll have a thousand cream colored hexagons to piece all at the end, which would be boring.

For the sashing I wanted to use this cream colored fabric with the red flowers on it left over from another quilt, especially since I have quite a bit of it left. I laid out a few blocks and some of the sashing pieces to see what it might look like, and I like it. I also realized that some of my color combinations may not work so well, like the blue and pink one, and I may have to replace them later on. On the other hand, they may look just fine when I have 80 blocks put together. I'm determined to have some pink in this quilt too, but maybe not that blue. Hmm, maybe a darker blue.

Today I'll work on a couple of sashing strips and start on another hexagon block tomorrow.