Getting It Done Challenge

March's Getting It Done List

• Continue to try keeping up with Block of the Month and/or Week, Midget Blocks, Rainbow Scrap Challenge and Judy L's Mystery.
• Buy the fabrics needed for the hunting club quilt.
• Get the long arm ready to use.
• Use the long arm.  Quilt 2 quilts this month.  

I didn't do too great this month. I did more knitting and crocheting than sewing.  

• I did finish the BOM blocks but haven't put the top together yet.
• I'm caught up with Judy L's Mystery.
• I worked on the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.
• A quilt kit was donated for the hunting club quilt and that top is finished, ready to quilt.
• I didn't touch the long arm!

April's Getting It Done List

• The long arm!  Get it ready to use.
• Use it!!! 
• Sew the Carol Doak blocks into a quilt top.
• Continue to work on monthly challenges.

Mae's Sweater

This is my super model, Mae,

showing off her Flower Sweater.

Isn't she just adorable!

Big Dog, DJ had to be right there with her.

Pooling Sock Yarn Challenge-Yarn 2

While working on my Sweet Georgia socks last night for the Pooling Sock Yarn Challenge, I decided to get out another skein of yarn to see if I could get it to pool on the leg portion by playing with the stitch count.

I chose this Opal yarn from Simply Socks Yarn Company.  This is a yarn that was gifted to my by a dear, sweet friend and is no longer available--the yarn, not the friend. The color is called Prince Henry, so that is what I will call these socks. I'll use size 2 needles and start with 60 stitches. If I don't get some pooling started soon after the ribbing, I'll add 4 stitches to see what happens.

I'm only going to knit these 2 pair of socks for this challenge.  Anyhow, that's what I'm saying right now.

This is the photo I took last night before I started knitting. I couldn't decide which size needles to use, 1 or 2 and ended up choosing size 2.

Pooling Sock Yarn Challenge

This is sock 1 of Judy L's Pooling Sock Yarn Challenge.

I'm using Sweet Georgia, Tough Love Sock Yarn 

from The Loopy Ewe.

The color is called Darkshore.

I'm knitting 60 stitches using size 2 needles.

It isn't pooling the way I would like it to.

I don't really care.

I'm hoping after the heel turn, the pooling will happen.

If not, no biggie.

Click here to see how other knitters are doing 

with their pooling socks.

On The Needles

I was so excited to start my socks for Judy L's Pooling Sock Yarn Challenge.

I'm so disappointed.....

there is little to no pooling.

I LOVE this yarn though!

Maybe it will pool after the heel.

I should knit all day to find out for sure. 

I made myself sew the zipper in Ernie's vest.

He is happy he can wear it now. 

I'm happy is finished!

He teased about wearing it to work.

Silly Man! That's NOT gonna happen!

Now he wants one with sleeves!

Sweetie, we call that a sweater

and no, that's not gonna happen either.

Unless I can make him a sweater like this one. 

The Flower Sweater is sooooo close to being done.

All it needs is buttons.

I'm making a special trip to town today to shop for buttons.

She tried it on the other night and is trilled.

You'll have to wait to see the whole thing until she can model it for you.

It will be worth the wait. 

This sweater is so darn cute, it makes me giddy!

See other great on the needles projects at Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday

This quilt top for the hunting club is so close to being done.

The final green border is cut and ready to sew on.

I love the way the outside quarter square triangles frame the top.

I'm positive this will raise lots of money for the club.

See other fabulous design walls at Patchwork Times.

Turkey Update

We've had the baby turkeys a little over 2 weeks now.  Sadly one didn't make it but the other 4 are doing great.  They aren't real friendly but are quite curious and look at us when we talk to them.  When I try to catch them, they run away so I leave them be, I don't want them to have a panic attack.

Saturday Doin's

I started the day in the sewing room.

I am using my orange basket blocks for my leader/enders.

I have 1 more basket block to sew before I work on something else,

like my Dresden block.

I am having a good time working on the deer quilt.

I have 12 quarter square triangles to square up for the last border row,

then the final border goes on and I can make the back.

I love my 6 1/2" ruler and the Brooklyn Revolver for trimming.

See those shelf liner hunks?
I use washable school glue to glue them onto my ruler to keep it from slipping.

When I' done, they peel right off and a damp cloth cleans the glue off the ruler.

Ernie spent the morning up in the woods with Doug and Jonah cutting firewood.

When he got home, I earned more good wife points by helping unload.

Funny thing about the first load of wood for the year, 

I found all those muscles in my sides and back.

This was a big old log.

Doug counted 117 rings before he lost his place. 

That old log has lots of rotten sections in it. 

I think now I will put on my pjs and work on Mae's sweater for a while. 

Pooling Sock Yarn Challenge

Judy L has issued the Pooling Sock Yarn Challenge.

Per the requirements set, 

here's my photo of my fabulous yarn from The Loop Ewe,

the needles I'm using, size 2 dpns

and today's date.

My yarn is called Darkshore.

Sweet Georgia, Tough Love Sock Yarn.

the tag says 

sweetgeorgia

passionate + relentless + unapologetic colour

My note says they are so glad to have me there.

You know who is getting the blame for my first order from The Loopy Ewe.

It's just gorgeous!!!

Chocolate brown, deep purple and aquas.

I have until June 1, 2013 to get these finished.

On The Needles

Today's project is on just one needle/hook.  I'm crocheting 5 year old granddaughter Mae a special sweater. It's called Flower Sweater-probably because of the awesome flowers.  I had great plans to use the fingering yarn that the designer suggested but my local JoAnn's didn't have anything that made me happy so I went with Caron Simply Soft. It is so soft!  That means a larger crochet hook-size 5.00mm/G and pattern modifications.

The pattern is designed for a 3 year old and 5 year old.   I started out with the 3 year old numbers. After the 3rd start, I got my increases where they lined up like they are supposed to. I don't know if it was me or the pattern and really now it doesn't matter. This is a really fun sweater to make. And my little girl is thrilled.

I tried it on her yesterday after the 2nd green yoke stripe and it was a nice fit with a little grow room. I measured her and know how long to make the body and the sleeves. She asked if it would be done so she could wear it today. Sorry, Sweetie, it will be done soon if your Poppy doesn't mess with Gramma's plan of sitting and stitching all weekend.

Today is my Baby Girl's birthday and I finished her 3S Shawl just in time. I hope she likes it.  It was a super easy pattern and I'l like to make one for myself using bigger needles and worsted weight yarn.  I know I have enough Wool-Ease in my stash to do that!  This is finish number 6 for the Sticks 'n Strings Challenge 2013. 

What's on your needles? I'll be linking up with Judy L at Patchwork Times.  See her post on the Pooling Sock Yarn Challenge????  Oh yeah, I'll be starting that as soon as my box of fun gets here!!!

Design Wall Monday

I spent Saturday-International Quilting Day-working on the deer quilt for the hunting club.

It's fun to work on a project that goes together so easy.

When looking for this pattern online for a friend, 

I found it at Checker Distributors on the South Sea Imports page.

They have several free patterns for panels.

The free resources page has oodles of links for more free patterns.

It's a treasure trove of eye candy.

See Judy L's fabulous Road To Round Rock Quilt Along 

and other great Design Wall Monday Posts 

here at Patchwork Times.

International Quilting Day

How did you celebrate International Quilting Day?  I had an at home Quiltathon.  I took a few breaks but for the most part it was nose to the cutting mat and sewing machine.

I spent a couple hours cutting for this quilt.  And then got myself all confused when I went to cut the second set of quarter square triangles.  There was a piece of fabric missing. The gal that sent me the quilt said she thought it was short a piece of fabric and she was right. No worries, eBay to the rescue and the exact missing piece will be in my mailbox later in the week.

This quilt is called Big Sky Country but I call it the deer quilt.  I think hunting club is going to be thrilled when they see it.

What a great quilting day.  Now I am going to park in the recliner and knit for a while.

Baskets Full of Oranges

Yesterday I spent some fun, fun time with my sewing machine and my basket blocks for the Row Quilt.  I love how they are turning out. I started out using them for leader/enders but soon I was using the next block for the leader/ender. You know how that goes.

I'm sure there are going to be some fabulous oranges over at SoScrappy today.

Turkey Farmers

Today we became turkey farmers. After the grand kiddos were out of school, we went to the local farm store to buy four turkeys. There were five in the tub and we couldn't leave just one there so he came home with us too.  It was so fun to look at all the baby chicks, geese, ducks and turkeys.  I say these are the only birds we are getting this year.  Time will tell.  This reminds my of my friend last year with her chicks.  

We don't know if they are girls or boys, we'll find out soon enough. It doesn't really matter. These are being raised for meat. I'm glad I don't have to explain to the kiddos about this.  I think it's best to dump that chore on to the parents. They are so darn cute! 

Friday Fun

  

This morning I sat down and spent some quality time with Back to Square One Mystery.  

You can find everything you need to know about this mystery right here at Patchwork Times.

I cannot wait for the next clue but I have to.

It's due April 1st.

On The Needles

I'm so close to being finished with the 3S Shawl.  I'm at the point of being a tad nervous about how much yarn is left. The instructions say to have close to 200 stitches on each side of center. I counted the other night and place markers so I wouldn't have to do major counting again.  With increases at the beginning and end of each row and the center increases, I think I am now about 8 rows from 200.

My next step is to weigh the shawl, knit 2 more rows and weigh again, then weigh the yarn ball. I would melt into a big puddle of tears if I didn't have enough to bind off and had to unknit.  There is no way I would just pull the needles on this one.  Know what I mean???

See other great On The Needles posts at Patchwork Times.

More Good News

Today I split my to do list up.

I  listed my must dos then added 45 minutes of sewing.

In 2 sessions, I completed my Carol Doak BOM blocks.

I'm ready for the big reveal.

I must say, I hope she has the center like I have mine.

I really like that.

Back to the list!

Good News Thursday

 Every day I am thankful for simple pleasures.

It doesn't take much to make me smile.

Like these daffodils ready to pop open.

And that red wagon that the kids play with and

I use to haul my basket full of wet clothes to the clothesline.

Every day my girls give me some of these.

Not that itty bitty but those always make me smile.

And when I make a mistake like this, 

I'm happy I have enough extra fabric that is doesn't matter.

The best new of all is that our health insurance has finally been straightened out.

I can stop fretting about that.

What kind of good news do you have today?

Share with us at Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday

It's almost time for the reveal of the 2012-13 BOM at the Carol Doak Yahoo Quilting Group.  And guess who is 3 blocks behind???  Yes, it's me!  Everything is cut and kitted up, I just need to sit and sew.  Today will be a good day for that.  If I put my nose to the grindstone aka sewing machine, I will have them done in a jiffy.

See fabulous design walls that quilters are sharing at Patchwork Times.  I think I'll spend some serious coffee time there this morning while I get used to that Daylight Savings Time thing!

Sandie has asked for info on the fabrics I'm using.  Sandie, you are a no-reply commentor so I'll answer you here. I bought both at our LQS where she has a room of 40% off fabrics, that's where I found these.  The back ground is Elizabeth Golz Rush for Robert Kaufman, Shell Grotto, Screen Print # 8484.  The pink is called In the Pink 2, designed by The Buggy Barn for Henry Glss & Co, Pattern 1746.

2 Fewer UFOs

Today was binding day.  I'm ashamed to admit that I started this quilt with intentions to send it to Joplin after the tornado almost 2 years ago.  It's called Island Chain from Scrap-Basket Sensations by Kim Brackett.  (Today I pre-ordered her newest book called Scrap-Basket Beauties.  I hope Amazon gets it in soon so they can get it to me.) 

This has been quilted for a while and recently the binding sewn on.  I had to fix some spots where stitches skipped.  The white fabric is some of that screen printed like stuff and the long arm didn't like it at all.  Tomorrow this quilt will go to a dear friend who is having some medical issues.  I have enough of these prints already cut to make another quilt. I wonder what I have for white background fabric.....hmmmm.

Brianna's Blocks is finished. I stitched down the binding on this quilt today too.  This has a very long history with me.  It is a therapy quilt and now that it is done, I feel some of the weight off my shoulders.  Now I will look at it in an entirely different way.

It's been a good finishing day!

Saturday Cutting and Sewing

Today is the first day all week I've done anything quilty.

I finally got busy with my orange scraps.

I didn't sew any of them yet but

my blocks for the Row Quilt are cut and kitted up

and the blades and center are cut for the Dresden Plate.

 I'm not quite finished with purple.

The Row blocks are finished but

I still have 3 star blocks to finish sewing.

Now I'm headed over to SoScrappy to see what other

Scrapphappy quilters have been doing.

On The Needles

Not much has changed since last week.

(Not even the photos.)

 The Greta vest has a few more rows added.

3S Shawl also had a few more rows added.

I'm hoping for more quality knitting time this weekend.

See what others have on their needles at Patchwork Times.

The Kindness Of Quilters

When I was making my Getting It Done List for March, I listed buying fabric to make the quilt for the hunting club.

Later in the day I received this email from a lady in Missoula, MT who asked to be anonymous.  I really want to tell you who she is because she is so very kind.

I have a quilt kit of wildlife fabric -- not only deer but other more-or-less local wildlife that I'd donate for your quilt raffle if you'd like it.  I'm trying to downsize my stash, but I want it to go where it is appreciated and will be used, so I thought of you when you've been talking about getting started on that quilt.  Let me know and I'll mail it off to you.

I told Ernie about it and he was shocked.  I was too but I know about the kindness and generosity of quilters.  

Yesterday this kit arrived in my mail box. I'm sure our group of hunters are going to be thrilled with the chance to win this quilt.  It will surely be appreciated and used.  I guess I should change my March list to say start this quilt. 

Thank you my friend in Missoula, MT.  You are a genuine sweetheart. 

Design Wall Monday

Ready for my sewing day today is 

Judy L's Back to Square One Mystery. 

When that is complete,

I'll work on the remaining purple blocks for

Rainbow Scrap Challenge Row Quilt.

Or I'll sit and knit.

It's one of those kind of days already. 

See other inspiring design walls at

 Patchwork Times.

ScrappyHappy Saturday

March is orange month....which surprised me, I thought it would be green.  I'm ok with orange.This month's block for my row quilt is a basket block.  I have printed off my block, backgrounds and oranges are gathered along with a couple browns for the baskets. I'm excited!

Another Dresden Plate block will be made along with some stars and 4 patches.  Fun, fun, fun!  I don't have a large selection of orange so I'll just use what I have.
 

Purple month is over but I'm not over purple yet.  I have more turnstile blocks to make for my row quilt and a couple more star block.  I'm a little behind but the blocks are all cut and ready to sew.  I was using them for leader/enders but I think I'll sit down and sew them and be done. I'm glad I got the Dresden Plate block done.

See other great Rainbow Scrap projects at SoScrappy.

On The Needles

A day late and $5 short......that's how my week has been.

I couldn't resist, I had to cast on for the Greta vest.  The yarn I am using was from my friend's mom's stash. It is some yummy wool and will look great with most of my wardrobe~~jeans and t shirts.  I took it with me Thursday and knitted my way north to Puyallup to SewExpo.  On the way home, I got some serious extra knitting time while we sat in traffic for over an hour.  I even said "Yeah traffic jam, I just hope it isn't an accident."  It was, I felt bad for saying yeah!

The 3S Shawl is coming along too.  I work on this one during tv time. I saw both of these patterns on Denise's blog at Justquiltin.  Between her and Judy L, I will never run out of things I want to knit.  Oh and at SewExpo, the yarns......it was all I could do not to drool on them. I even found some mink.  But I left it all there.  I'm trying so hard to use what I have.

Notice both pieces have a little lavender pin on the round stitch marker.  That is to tell me that is the right side and on both pieces is the increase row.  My brain needs these.  Works for me!

I'm linking up with Judy L's On The Needles post from yesterday.  Now I feel almost caught up. 

Getting It Done Lists - Past and Future

I did OK in February considering I spent several days sick and out of commission.

  February Getting It Done List

Continue to try keeping up with Block of the Month and/or Week, Midget Blocks, Rainbow Scrap Challenge and Judy L's Mystery.  Pretty good, I need to work on Midget Blocks.

Turn Easy Street Blocks into an Easy Street flimsy.  DONE

Quilt Twisted Mystery that didn't get quilted in January  Didn't touch

Quilt Ultimate Scrap Quilt Like Julie's that didn't get quilted in January Didn't even look at

Bonus project--work on Reach For The Stars Blocks  No Bonus for me this month

I did pull the Hopscotch Butterscotch UFO bin out and turned those blocks into a quilt top. So that's one empty bin on my shelf!  

March's Getting It Done List

• Continue to try keeping up with Block of the Month and/or Week, Midget Blocks, Rainbow Scrap Challenge and Judy L's Mystery.
• Buy the fabrics needed for the hunting club quilt.
• Get the long arm ready to use.
• Use the long arm.  Quilt 2 quilts this month.