Snow Bliss

Where I live snow is a rarity, so this weekend was quite a thrill for us. My dog has never seen snow and you would have thought by the way he was jumping and leaping that he was still a puppy. I think the snow brings out the kid in all of us!

With the snowstorm, my nesting instincts appeared and I found myself quite busy around the house. I finished my niece's birthday present, along with my sister's birthday present but I can't show it here just yet or I'll spoil the surprise! I have also been working on painting my bedroom... the project that never ends! I am one step closer though.

Because I can't show what I have done this weekend, I will share one of the items I made and couldn't blog about before Christmas. I knit this beanie AKA "Rib-A-Roni Hat" for my son, and also for my brother in law for this past Christmas. I found the pattern on Ravelry and was really happy with the results. I used Lion Brand Wool-ease yarn worsted weight.

My son actually loves it and wears it often. It's always nice when you get rave reviews from a teenager. They are hard to please!

Bitty Bags

I found a cute little pattern for these zippered pouches at Moda Bakeshop and you can find the "recipe" here. It's a great way to use up those scraps you have around. I use one of these little lovelies to put my knitting accessories in. The other one has yet to find a home.

Of course I can't leave well enough alone and the pattern morphed into these "Bitty Bags" you see below. They are a wonderful size for makeup or odds and ends you put in your purse.

I like the way I did the lining on these better than the Moda Bakeshop pouches. The first ones I did had the zipper exposed a bit and I didn't like it as much so I changed it!

How cute is this little cherry wristlet?!

And since I'm on the subject of Bitty Bags... my sister made this for me to put my ipod in but I put it to another use. It stores my flash drives that I bring back and forth to work and it is just awesome! I just had to share it with you. Thanks Kim!

Sock it to Me

Happy New Year to everyone! I have been very remiss in my blogging. I haven't posted since October... yikes!!! Typical excuses: work, family, Holidays blah blah blah... I've been getting "jabs" from my lovely sister Kim: "So I checked your blog AGAIN and still nothing. What's up with that?" Well, I got the hint Kim. I guess the first step is just to jump in again and do it!

So here they are. I finally finished these wonderful socks. I'm so happy I could screech! I spent so much time in the last few months working on gifts for Christmas, it was nice to do something for ME! I know I'm so selfish. I had blogged about them here as a work in progress.

I used a beautiful wool finger weight Araucania hand dyed yarn. The pattern was a simple one I got from my local yarn shop when I took a class there. By the end of the 4 week class I had finished one sock, but with Christmas creeping up on me I had to put the other sock aside so I could finish Christmas projects. I was not about to fall victim to the "one sock syndrome" so after the holidays I got to work and found that single sock a mate! Aren't they cute?

I'm so crazy I started on another pair which will probably be gifted to someone else of course :)

Well there ya go! Hopefully it won't be another 3 months until I blog again. I hope not because I have so much to share.

Have a great week!

Finished or Not Finished?

This quilt top is finally finished , or so I hope. I am having mixed feelings about whether I should add a white border around it about the size of the sashing. It's sized to fit a double bed so I don't have to have the extra few inches. What do you think?Now I have 3 large quilt tops to quilt! It probably won't be until after Christmas that I get around to quilting them with all of the Christmas gifts I need to make.

I'd love your opinion about the border...let me know what you think.

Christmas Tablerunner

I made this table runner for Christmas last year as a gift. It was wonderful because I used fabric I had on hand. I got the pattern from the Quilt Sampler Magazine by Better Homes and Gardens the Fall/ Winter 2007 edition.The pattern was from a much larger quilt featured on the cover. Inside they had also modified the pattern to suit a table runner. You really could do that with so many different patterns that you already have on hand. I'm all about trying to use what I have. Especially in this economy.

I quilted it in an all over meandering star pattern. Quilting with stars is one of my favorite ways to quilt. This 3 block table runner I made for my Mom. She wanted something to put on her coffee table and this fits perfectly!

I would love to make the actual quilt that is on the cover of the magazine but I've got to many other things on my to do list! There is never enough time.

Well, I'm off to stitch!!

Cotton Dishcloths

Last summer I purchased some cotton yarn at our local AC Moore to make some dishcloths. I was sick of purchasing paper towels and using them to wipe down the counters. I'm all about reusing. I just throw these into the wash with a load of towels. You can even pre-soak them in white vinegar and water (vinegar is my friend!!) to freshen them up.

I used a large skein of natural along with a skein of sage green and a multi colored yarn. There are so many patterns out there to chose from, but I did my own thing. I chained about 28 stitches and used a single crochet throughout because I wanted the stitches to be dense. When my piece was square I simply made a border by stitching a couple rows of single crochet around the square doing 3 stitches in each corner.

There are so many fun ways to make dishcloths. I've done several different ones but have already gifted them and never took pictures. This was a wonderful project to do while I was watching TV. A very mindless project which I need at the end of the day when my brain feels like mush!

Works in Progress

So I got a bunch of stuff done in August and now that I am almost half way into September and I haven't finished a thing. I have a bunch of things in the works, but nothing complete yet. I even have one of those "mistakes" I need to unravel and start over again. I have been knitting a beanie for my nephew, and it's just too big. I was in denial and just kept knitting hoping foolishly that it would miraculously work. I just hate checking my gauge for knitting and I suffer the consequences! I should know by now but I'm just a rebel!

I'm taking a sock knitting class at my local knitting shop. Yes, I've knitted socks before. I have even posted about them on my blog. The thing is I wanted to push the envelope a little farther and work with actual sock yarn. The yarn I'm using is a gorgous hand dyed wool. The photo doesn't do it justice. I'm so excited to finish them, but it is very slow going.In my quilting world I'm working on a version of "Stacked Coins". I'm modifying it a bit and flying by the seat of my pants. That's usually how I work best. I'm using charm packs of "Chocolate" by Moda. I'm hoping I'll have enough fabric to do a queen sized quilt.

Well, I better get back to work if I want to finish anything this month!

Finished in August

Here is my last entry to "finish it in the month of August". I made 6 Christmas pillow cases for my nieces, nephews, and son. I actually finished these over the weekend but had problems with getting the photos taken so I could post. Always excuses I know! I got the fabric from The Fat Quarter Shop's Christmas Cloth Store. They have an awesome selection and it was so hard to choose. That place is my online "Candy Shop"!!
I'm so glad I got these done ahead of time because they have to be shipped across the pond to Denmark and Germany along with some other handmades. I'm really trying to do another hand made Christmas this year. I have many things to create, and I've got a great start!

So to sum up my August finishes:

1. "Seeing Stars"quilted, binding done, labeled

2. "Kaleidoscope" quilt top complete

3. BOM flying geese sashing strips and borders, quilt top complete

4. "Falling Leaves" wallhanging, wiped off dust bunnies and finished applique...top done

5. "Sew Square Pear" Tablerunner quilted and complete

6. 6 pillowcases made

7. Pink knit socks...I know it's not a quilt but they got done!

8. Something I can't talk about because my sister is reading this!!

Whew!! I'm just amazed at how much I got done. Thanks to Kim for the kick in the pants! Check out her blog Kim's Big Quilting Adventure to see what everyone else has done. There were some very busy girls that completed some amazing projects in August.

Home Stretch

Today I'm in the "Home Stretch" of Kim's Challenge to Finish it in August. This was a very simple table runner that I did for my very own table. I used panels for the centers of the block. I wish I could say it was applique like the BOM I did from a previous post. Yes folks, I took the easy way out. I did get to practice my free motion quilting skills following the lines on the center blocks. Panels are a wonderful way to practice those skills. Then I meandered the rest of the runner with a loopy pattern.
Here is a peak of the fabric I am using to eek out the rest of the August challenge. It is August 31st, so I still have a few hours left.Is this not the cutest Christmas fabric? Check back tomorrow to see what I made!

Fall Is In The Air

It might be 90 degrees outside but inside I'm thinking of fall. I took a class for this wall hanging several years ago and never finished it. I don't even remember the name of the pattern or who designed it. So with Kim's challenge on her blog Kim's Big Quilting Adventure, I pulled this one out of the UFO pile and FINISHED IT! No it's not quilted, but the top is done...yay!

The leaf blocks are made out of prarie points with many different colors of fabric. If you have never tryed prarie points, you can see how there are done here on about.com

There is even a prarie point border.

I cut out eight assorted leaves and appliqued them onto the cream fabric. I used the raw edge method for the applique. I thought about hand stitching the leaves on ...for about a minute! Then I came to my senses and decided to get this done in August.

I used the free motion foot on my machine and did some "drawing with thread" on the leaves and stems. I have to say this was alot of fun. What took me so long?

One more down

Yipee...Yahoo!!!! That's what I have to say. I finally finished this quilt top. It was a BOM offered by my local quilt shop a few years ago. To say I have been moving slow on this is an understatement. I can't tell you the number of times I have put this away to do something else.

It wasn't so much putting each block together but the 1 1/2" border squares and flying geese sashing that got me. I was determined to finish this top in August and I did!

Now for the quilting... any ideas?

Getting busy

Okay, so I entered this challenge on Kim's Big Quilting Adventure Blog to "Finish it in August". Here is my latest project to check off my list.

This quilt called "Kaleidoscope" has been on my to do list for awhile. I made one for my sister a few years ago and had alot of fabric left. When I went to visit her, I got to sleep under it and decided I just had to make one for myself. It still needs to be quilted, but Yay... I got the top done! All the fabric was from my stash except the black border which I will also use for the binding.

I've been madly knitting (happily actually) a pair of slipper socks for my friend's birthday. I used a wonderful wool acrylic blend of yarn that is machine washable. I even crocheted a little picot edging to add to the girly appeal. They are done and she loves them.

Now I'm off to finish my next project...

Seeing Stars

Okay, so this is another quilt along hosted by Crazy Mom Quilts. It is the Star Quilt Along which you can find here. It started in April of 2008 and ended in July 2008. I was pretty good at keeping up with it until it came time to the quilt sandwich and quilting. It was in my WIP pile for awhile and I finished quilting it a few months ago. We will just ignore that it is August 2009.

I know, it's suprising that I used pink and green fabric...not really. I used fabrics from Moda's "Simplicity", Lake House Dry Goods "Cherry Baby", and others from my stash.

Once again I quilted in a meandering pattern so it wrinkled up nicely after washing...Love it!

One more checked off on my WIP list. . . What have you checked off your list?

My Workspace

Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts inspired this post. She asked where is our workspace and would we share it with her? Here is my little piece of the world...my workspace. It is actually a temporary space at the moment because I am peeling wallpaper and painting my bedroom where my previous workspace was. This is my sewing and cutting table AKA dining room table. I am actually really liking this space for quilting. The light is good and my table is huge. Much more space than my cramped bedroom. The downside of course is that it is my dining room table and you can see this space from my front door. I live in a 2 bedroom condo so space is at a premium.My fabric stash resides in my clothing closet. Yes you read that right, I share precious clothing space with fabric. Wow, I must really love quilting! To heck with shoes, give me some fat quarters any day!!

The drawers are pretty organized by style of fabric, ex: 30's prints, modern, Americana etc... There are also some baskets on top of these drawers that have current projects in them.

Well, that's my world. Hop on over to Amanda Jean's blog where you can see other bloggers studio space.

Watercolor Window

For My Mom's birthday I decided to make this quilted wallhanging called "Cat Nap". It is actually from a kit by Whims Water Color Quilts. My mom had purchased this kit at their booth during our local quilt show a few years back, but never got around to putting it together. She passed it on to me and got it back for her birthday!

The kit came with plenty of precut 2" squares (plus some) to create your "masterpiece". They recommend using this Quilt Fuse, a fusible nonwoven product that already has a pre-printed grid that you can lay out your 2" fabric squares on. Once you lay it out, you iron them to the quilt fuse, turn it over and fold on each grid line. Using a 1/4" seam allowance you sew them all in one direction first, press, then sew in the other direction and viola!

A cool trick that I never thought about before was reversing the fabric and using the back side. It gave a much lighter value and worked perfectly for this style of quilt.

This wall hanging was simply quilted in the ditch around each window pane in nylon thread so it wouldn't show. I also did some straight stitching to look like the sun's rays which they suggested in the pattern.

Here is my beautiful Mom with the finished product.

Happy Birthday Mom!