Medallion QAL-Part 2

Part 2 of the Gwennie Inspired Medallion QAL is themed Childhood. I went with a favorite childhood memory of star gazing.

I grew up in the country where the nights are dark except for the twinkling stars. We loved to go out and watch the stars! They were so bright. It's not that way now, too many big city lights and too many homes with outside lights, mine included. I can still see stars, just not as many from my favorite swing out on the deck.

My most vivid memory of this was at Gramma's house (where I now live!) with cousin Sandy.  Gramma let us take an old blanket outside to lay on. I swear we saw a falling star. It took our breath away. I was hooked at star gazing!

This was fun to work on. I had seen this star somewhere on a blog and had drawn it up in EQ7. I paper pieced these. I had added a skinny border to the basket block to bring it to be a 9" block. I sized these to finish at 4 1/2". That's what I love about EQ7, I can make my blocks any size I want. :)  I think I'll add another skinny border to balance my stars but I'll wait until I find out what part 3 is about.

There's still plenty of time to join in. This month the link up is at Cynthia's blog--wabi-sabi quilts.  I am in love with this quilt already found at Me and My Quilts. Her basket is the perfect quilter's basket!!

Design Wall Monday

There are Mondays that I think I didn't sew much last week.

Then I look at the pictures.

I finished the broken dishes blocks for Jamestown Landing.

They are all clipped into groups for the next step. 

 I got out the string bucket thinking I'd make 10 or so blocks.

I needed 70 more and Saturday afternoon, 

I sat down and knocked out 40 of those.

I love mindless sewing and Netflix. 

I'm not binge watching Lost.

In the evenings, I'm stitching away at Millifiore.

I had this rosette all kitted up to take on our next road trip.

I will be kitting up the last 2 blocks this week so I have something to work on.

I'm going to spend some time in Blogland this morning.

Visit Patchwork Times and see what others are working on.

I think it's great that Judy L has continued  to do Design Wall Monday for such a long time.

It's my favorite day on the internet.

Slow Stitching Sunday

It's mostly been a good slow stitching week.

I've worked on Millefiore and The Splendid Sampler.

These are for rosette 10a.

I love pink and black together!

I believe I only have to sew 2 of these.

This goes together pretty fast.

This is for The Splendid Sampler.

Those itty bitties are very itty bitty.

This block will finish at 6".

But first I have to take off my hexies and put them in the center.

When I was trimming the block, 

I was being so careful to get it all centered,

got distracted with the cat and didn't recheck.

We moved the ruler and I didn't notice until after I trimmed.

No tears were shed but they were right there.

This was a fun block to do.

Go to Kathy's Quilts to wish her a happy anniversary and

to see some great Slow Stitching projects.

Design Wall Monday

It was nice to finally finish this Splendid Sampler block last night. 

I just needed to finish the butterfly and add the frame.

Why did that take me so long!!!

Today I will start those adorable little tiny hexies.

I stated sewing the foursies for Jamestown Landing.

I  need to spend some quality time with the iron before this pile gets out of control.

After completing this Millefiore rosette

I am cutting and kitting for the final 4 small rosettes.

3 almost down, 1 to go.

I'll be spending time in Blogland this morning, 

checking out Design Wall Monday links at Patchwork Times.

Slow Stitching Sunday

This is rosette 11b for Millefiore.  I'm pretty excited to only have 4 small rosettes to go--10 a, 10 b, 12 a and 12 b.  I have decided on the colors I want to us, I just need to pull fabric and kit up the pieces with the papers. I worked on this one a little bit in the bus but mostly at home. I really feel the need to get these last ones kitted up for our next trip. I never know what mood I will be in--either stitch or knit--while I watch movies. LOL

It's been a lot of fun working mostly with my stash. Once in a while I buy a fat quarter or so to add to what I have but mostly this quilt is from stash.  The gray triangle fabric was one I spotted at JoAnn's a while back and knew I wanted to include it somewhere. It was perfect to fussy cut those triangles.

I'm hoping to have this attached to the quilt this week. We'll see what happens.....

Check out the fabulous slow stitching projects at Kathy's Quilts.  There are some beautiful things happening in Blogland!!!

On The Needles

I've been in hat knitting mode. Mostly because of the road trips we have been taking. Each direction is at least five hours......so 4 trips have resulted in 3 hats and the beginning of number 4.

This pattern is called Neon Knights. 

This is for 10 year old grandson Elliot, made from stash Lion Brand Wool-Ease.

He's pretty subdued most of the time so I thought it would be the perfect colors for him.

He loves it and I was quite surprised that he wanted the pompom.

He wants another in bright colors. 

(He's going to have to wait for his turn to roll around again.)

I'll make this pattern again with black yarn and bright colors, using more stash yarn.

That will be for 6 year old Leland who does NOT want pink in his hat!

Any other color I chose will be fine.

This one is called Floppy Brimmed Sunhat. 

This one is for 8 year old Clella. I added the flower. She loves it!

Wherever It Points

This is the 3rd hat from this pattern.  

This one will go to 4 year old Estella. 

If it's too big, then I'll make her something different. 

4 year old Corbin gets this one. It's called Jumping Jacks from the book Kid's Knitted Hats. 

You can see it on the back cover of the book I linked to. 

I had a heck of a time with the 2 color ribbing so I gave up after 4 attempts. 

I am using Red Heart Worsted yarn for this so I made a few adjustments. 

I am having a blast with the color work on these hats. 

After Leland's Neon Knights hat, I have some bulky camo yarn to make Warm Quick Hat for Jonah.  

I think that is enough planned knitting for a while.

 I love making hats for the kiddos. 

I love having to concentrate on something on these road trips.

 Especially on the freeway. 

See what others are knitting at Patchwork Times Oh the Needles.  

Oh Judy L, those cables are fabulous! 

They still terrify me. 

Design Wall Monday

Not much sewing happened this past week. 

I finished all the half square triangles for Jamestown Landing.

I think there were 230 left to trim.

So I packed them up and took them on a road trip!

An additional day of halibut fishing!

What a treat!!

Jason Bourne kept me company as I trimmed them all up.

This was the view from my chair in the bus.

These guys weren't much help.

They only wanted to eat, nap and walk.

So we did.

This is another view from my chair.

It's kind of hard to see but that's

The Strait of Jaun de Fuca.

We stay at Snow Creek Campground in the upper section.

The view is gorgeous!

Hopefully this week there will be some time in front of the sewing machine.

I have a plan for the next fishing trip and it needs to be worked on in advance.

See what others are working on at Patchwork Times.

I Wasn't Going To Do It But...

...my friend Mel posted her center block on her blog and I had to follow the link.........Darn it Mel!!! *giggle giggle  You've inspired me to join in! 

Lori at Humble Quilts is having another Quilt ALong. You can find the beginning info in this blog post.  As soon as I saw Karen's block picture in the link up post, I decided I was going to jump in. I went directly to my go to basket block on the free pattern page on the Quiltville blog. I knew I wanted to add neutral strings for the corner triangles.

I am so glad I joined in this QAL. I'm excited about the next step. My first part will be to add a border to get this block into a usable for me measurement with a border that works for step 2. The wheels are spinning.  I love that there are no rules, only guidelines!

Thanks sew much Mel, I can't wait to see how we do step 2. Sewing with friends is the best!!! Who can I persuade to join in???  And Thank You Lori for hosting another QAL, they are always sew much fun!

I'm going to add my link to the others at Humble Quilts.

Design Wall Monday

I finally was able to lay Millefiore outside to see my progress in full

Needless to say, I was pretty excited.

I made my (final?) decision on colors and hope I don't change my mind again.

I think Rosette 11a may be my favorite,

but I've said that about each one.

I made a bonus block for The Splendid Sampler.

I still need to set up my machine for the applique blocks.

Maybe today.

It wouldn't be any fun if there wasn't a great big whoopsie in my world.

I paper pieced the center of Micheal's Block.

Then I started to sew the units together and found this.

I decided since this project was all about learning, 

I would cut the itty bitty pieces and make a new center.

I was shocked at how easy it went together.

I was really excited when I counted my half square triangles for Jamestown Landing.

As soon as this last bunch is trimmed, 

I will move on to the next step and start making the blocks!

I'm thinking it might be time to recover the ironing board first. 

I'll be linking up with Patchwork Times today.

I love touring Blogland on Monday.

Slow Stitching Sunday

Since I spent so much time stitching during our weekend away, I've been in a slow stitching mood. I am working now on the small outer sections for Millefiore. This is section 11a and I think my favorite color combo from the quilt. There is one more hexi to sew on and then it's on to 11b which is orange and gray. I'll move right on to the next section instead of sewing this one onto the top.

I am so close with this quilt top. I am constantly thinking how to quilt it. I'm pretty excited about it. I wonder how many needles-I don't like a dull needle-and how much thread I have used. Hmmmm

Kathy is talking about needle disposal today. I use empty pill bottles and have one in each of my sewing spaces/bags. It holds pins, needles, staples and blades. Anything that I don't want to cut myself on. When it's full, I glue the lid on before putting it in the trash.  For rotary blades, I use a blade case and tape it shut when it's full. It just makes my whole body shudder thinking about ramming my hand into something sharp.

Today I am liking up with Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday post. I love reading these posts and seeing the fabulous work of others.

On The Needles

I knew it had been a long time since I've done an On The Needles post but I didn't realize how long ago it was. September 18!!! The knitting slump has been over for a bit but I've been too lazy to post. I'm in hat mode right now.  I found this cute pattern for a Floppy Brimmed Hat and knew I had to make one for Clella. I found a fun Red Heart With Love yarn and knew it would turn out cute!

And it did! But she hasn't tried it on yet. I've said before that I am an awful passenger and I must do something to keep my focus off all the the road hazards and big trucks. So the first photo was taken at the end of our driveway and by the time we got to the campground, the hat was almost finished.

A while back someone posted this hat pattern called Wherever It Points. 4 skeins of yarn is supposed to make 4 hats. Hat one is the blue brimmed hat. I wish I would have used the green for the center band instead of the top but it's finished and someone somewhere will wear it. I'm about half done with hat 3 and wonder if there will be enough yarn left to make the 4th one. I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease.  Crystal has already nabbed the white brimmed hat.

I did start a Rainbow Trout hat but a little ways in to it, I ripped it out. It isn't a travel friendly pattern for me so I will start over on it at home and work on something else on the road.

Maybe I should start a pair of plain Jane socks for the travel bag. Those are always fun to work on and I do have some fun yarn.

Check out what others are doing at Patchwork Times. I love the color of Judy L's yarn.