On The Needles

Meet Lillian.

I am so easily influenced by others.

Mickey Depre  shared a link this cowl on Facebook the other day

and the search was on.

Here is a great article about the designer, Don Waalen-Radzevicius.

Each of his designs has a family back story.

Lillian has 2 sisters that will probably be living at my house soon.

Anne and Margaret.

How's that progress for not going to start anything new until Greta is finished?

The good part is that the yarn came from my stash.

I'm using Felici Sport Yarn from Knit Picks.

Great progress was made on Greta.

I vowed to knit at least an inch every day and so far, so good.

I have several shows that I record, 

so each morning I watch one or two and knit on Greta.

What's on your needles?

See great projects at Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday

Grandmother's Choice Sampler is now a finished quilt top.

I love it! And so does Jessie.

And I'm quite happy to have it on top of Mt. ToBeQuilted.

The backing is cut to size,

the binding is sewn, pressed and ready!

Next step is to get the longarm table cleared off and get that baby warmed up!!

The instructions called for mitered borders and since that is the size I had precut,

mitered corners we will make.

I've done it several times before and every single time,

I sew it wrong.

And then I sew it right and its perfect.

I am so happy to have this top complete.

Next I pulled out Sanctuary.

This quilt design is from Kim Brackett's Scrap-Basket Beauties. 

I haven't worked on this since I posted this picture in October.

Borders are now on and this too has found a spot on Mt. ToBeQuilted.

It was a great sewing week.

See other great design walls today at Patchwork Times.

On The Needles

Off The Needles

Rivel Cardigan

I think I have a major front band shortage.

She hasn't tried it on yet but I think the front is going to pull way up when it's on the body.

Have you ever ripped back after you have blocked something?

Is it going to be a night mare?

I thought I followed the pattern of pick up 3 stitched within 4 rows.

Maybe I didn't.

How do you really know when you have enough stitches to make the band fit correctly?

I do love the elbow length sleeves.

Greta Vest got quite a bit of attention this week.

I knitted a few rows each night.

After Denise showed off her vest,

I am really anxious to finish mine.

We have an event March 8th,

I wonder......

See other fabulous On The Needle Projects

at Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday-UFO Edition

I'm embarrassed to say it's been one year ago today since I joined anything to my Grandmother's Choice Sampler.  After finishing some BOMs last week, I needed to pull something to work on. This is what I chose, I needed to make 12 more blocks. I'm really glad I added sashing to the rows and sewed the rows together. Otherwise I would have a big box of blocks and possibly I would have found it too overwhelming to think about.

I also stated right in the beginning that I would not make all of the chosen blocks. If it was something I didn't want to make, I would choose something different. After all, it is called Grandmother's Choice and I am a Grandmother and I choose not to be frustrated with my quilting. :-)  So I sat down at EQ7 and found my substitutions and printed out my blocks, pulled fabric and have these final 3 blocks to make. A good rainy day project for today.

I'm getting down to the last of my fabrics. The borders and binding are all cut and the backing is cut to size. Hmm, is there possibly a finished quilt in my near future???

Check out other fabulous design walls at Patchwork Times.  I see Kathy is working on her sampler also. This makes me happy.....and maybe a little competitive but I like the idea of sewing with a friend.

On The Needles

I started teaching Jessie to lay in my lap while I knit.

He did pretty good.

Only a couple times he tried to paw the Greta Vest.

Several more rows were knit during his training.

We'll try again today.

After he got bored with his training, 

he went to his blanket to sleep some more.

I picked up the Rivel Cardigan and finally started seaming it together.

Sleeves go in today.

Then the "fun" part, the front/neck band.

See other fabulous On The Needles projects at Patchwork Times.

Thursday Fun

I played in the sewing room today. 

I finished my The HEXIE Blog February BOM .

I made the Wishes Quilt Along February BOM.

I'm all caught up on the 3 BOMs I'm doing this year.

While at the beach the a couple weeks ago, we visited Boardwalk Quilts.

Right away we spotted this cute little panel for a soft book.

Grandson Corbin is Monkey crazy so we had to get it.

I can't wait to give it to him.

It feels good to get these projects marked off the list.

It feels better to have my blocks caught up before the middle of the month.

You know what I mean, don't you.

Design Wall Monday

I had a FAB-U-LOUS!sewing week.

Yesterday I finished my Celtic Solstice top.

Now to make the backing!

All week I've been stitching on Pieced Hexies.

I have the last 4 basted, ready to stitch together.

Then it's time for a quilt top.

Or another re-design because I love stitching these together!

I finally started my Tell It To The Stars BOM from Patchwork Times.

Wednesday I made these 2 blocks.

They weren't hard at all but 

I spent more time with my seam ripper than I did at the machine!

Just another of THAT kind of day.

Thursday I did the blocks for February.

I did 2 for each month because that's what the instructions say to do.

You know Judy L designs the most fabulous quilts so I will not question.

If it says make 2, I will make 2. LOL

Today I will sew a Monkey Counting Book for 2 year old Corbin.

The boy loves monkeys and while shopping last weekend,

 I found a soft book that was made just for him.

I will spend time watching all the Olympic coverage I can find.

Someone in my house doesn't enjoy it.

BooHiss.

Find other great design walls at Patchwork Times.

I love Monday in Blogland!

On The Needles

Last week I pulled out my Greta Vest and started working on it again. I haven't worked on it since April!  I've made some pretty good progress on it.

We went to the beach for a few days last week and I thought for sure I'd  have lots more knit on this but with the clam digging, running around and relaxing, I didn't even open the box.

I did make good progress on my latest to go socks. I wound more yarn from the second skein into a ball so I could sort of match the stripes. I took forever to find the repeat.

Rivel Cardigan is being sewn together. Hopefully front band will be started this weekend.

I can't wait to see what everyone else is working on. Check out On The Needles at Patchwork Times.

Tell It To The Stars Blocks

February Tell It To The Stars Blocks

January Tell It To The Stars Blocks

Information on Tell It To The Stars project can be found here at Patchwork Times.

Thanks Judy L for another fabulous year long project. 

Design Wall Monday

We left here Thursday morning for a much needed long beach weekend. I had such great intentions of making more Pieced Hexies. My only sewing time last week was spent getting these ready to stitch. I had kitted up 7 designs thinking I would get them all finished and have nothing to sew. So I grabbed my knitting box along with my to go knitting bag.

I did not open my sewing box. Not one time! We were so busy with running around and clamming and resting that I even did very little knitting.

When we got home and things were somewhat put away, I wanted my recliner-clamming is hard work on an out of shape ole broad! So when the Super Bowl came on, I decided to work on these. I am so glad I started on them again. They are so much fun to make!   You can find Mickey's books at her website.

Saturday we visited the local Humane Society and as soon as I saw this little guy, I knew he had to be part of our family. So we adopted him. He is a 4 year old long hair chihuahua. We changed his name because Pretty Boy sounds like a bird name. He is now Jessie Sam-Buzz Domke. Today I'll make an appointment with the vet to have a well baby check up and a neuter. I'm not saying he was from a puppy mill but I have a suspicion. He is fitting in nicely and even stayed on my lap while I was stitching.

See other great design walls at Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday

Finally we got to put all the flowers on the floor and play. Mae was so excited as she and Elliot played with the flowers. Leland was "too busy". Meaning he was cuddled up with me on the couch explaining his game to me. He is so funny!  It wasn't long before Elliot found something else to do too.

Mae was very excited. We twisted and turned and exchanged things around. I see the bottom row needs more twisting. I laughed at myself as we got to the end. I was so careful with counting and guess who counted wrong. Looks like I need to make one more.  Good thing I have lots of fabric.

The top two rows-the rows on the left-are about half stitched together now. I've clipped each row with it's number so I don't confuse myself. I will probably sew each row of blocks together and then stitch it to the top before doing the next row. Another exciting step taken in Mae's Flower Garden.

See other great design walls at Patchwork Times. I love Monday in Blogland!

Slow Stitching Sunday

I thought about titling this post The Dangers in Blogland because I have stumbled upon another BOM. This is 3 new projects for me this month! Julia at The HEXIE Blog has started a new BOM.

I'm straying a bit from the instructions and using 3/4" hexagon papers because that is the punch I have and since this is a scrap/stash quilt, I figured everything including the supplies should come from stash. You can find January's block here. It really didn't take too long to stitch the 30 hexies together. I machine blind stitched them to the background. Since my hexies are smaller, I cut my background square 14". It worked out perfect for the amount of fabric I had. I cut all 12 pieces and had 1" leftover for the Pineapple Crazy bin.

See where it's puckering a bit. I need to go back and fix that. That is going to drive me crazy!  I'll put some tissue paper behind for stabilizer.

Today Kathy talks about taking care of your hands. I noticed the other day that whenever I use olive oil or coconut oil, I spread it with my hands. Then I rub my hands together using the oil for hand lotion. I have nice soft hands. If you do this, be careful what you touch until it is all soaked in or you wash it off.

Today I'm linking up with other Slow Stitchers at Kathy's Quilts. Tomorrow I will show you great progress on my Grandmother's Flower Garden.

On The Needles

Sometimes I think the Rival Cardigan will never be finished! I had such good intentions last Friday and had planned to have these sleeves ready to sew in. Nope, did not happen. I got caught up stitching on my Grandmother's Flower Garden instead and only spent a couple evenings knitting.

These are the longest short sleeves. I've only knit a couple rows past the decrease for the cap, these will go right at the elbow. My plan for this morning is to stay in my jammies and watch a couple of my DVR'd shows and knit. That's all I'm planning for this sweater this week. Just this morning....... Maybe that will cause some magic to happen. With my luck all that will happen is someone will show up in an hour or two and catch me in my jammies.  LOL

See other great On The Needles projects at Patchwork Times.

Reminder

I found this on Pinterest. I am going to print it and put it on my refrigerator for days like today. Sometimes I need an in my face reminder.

Wishes Quilt Along

Do you read the Jolly Jabber, the blog at the Fat Quarter Shop? So many ideas and great projects! I spotted their Wishes Quilt Along yesterday and couldn't resist participating. Make A Wish is a fabulous organization and I want to do my small part to help.

I am using stash fabrics and just happened to have a bin ready to go from a different project I just couldn't get in to. Not having enough of any one white fabric, my blocks will be be made with a variety of whites.

It really took very little time to make the first 14" block. I followed their basic instructions. Instead of cutting 8 different fabrics, I chose to use 4. After step 2, I had 4 extra half square triangle halves and couldn't toss them into the scrap bin!  So I cut the pieces to make another block. If nothing else, it will live on the back of the quilt. Or I can make an extra block each month and have 2 really cute quilts to donate.

January Scrappy Challenge

Judy L at Patchwork Times is doing a Scrappy Challenge this year--you can read about it here. I have no problem being scrappy or using scraps so this will be fun for me. She first talked about it here.  When I read hot pads, I thought that would be a good idea for me. I need new ones. I need a  large one for the table.

Today I had planned to finish the borders on Celtic Solstice but I just wasn't in the border mood. I needed something quick and easy. That's when I spotted my print out of the block for January. Perfect! All of the sudden, I had my scraps cut and ready to sew!

A new 12 inch hot pad was born. Chopped off points and all!  I love the vintage green and yellow fabrics. I might be a little sad when they are all gone. I quilted it with a squiggle stitch-it's fun to play with the stitches on the machine. Then I narrowed the stitch and used it to stitch down the binding. Not fancy just fun and functional.

Design Wall Monday

 Very little time has been spent in the sewing room this week. Instead I have either been working on these hexies or knitting. I am so close to getting everything ready to lay into rows.  The half hexies on the right side need greens on the bottom. There are 2 of these. The left half hexies are done.

 I layed these out this morning to see how many more greens I needed on the whole right side flowers. I'll just pick 3 more flowers and finish them off. Then we can be ready to do the final lay out. When this is all sewn together, I will decide what to do with the edges. I just don't see myself binding all those little angles. What I do see is a nice border.....maybe pink. Something more to think about.

When I did sit down at the machine this week, I worked on my Chevron border for Celtic Solstice. My goal for the week is to get this top finished and get the backing made. The other day Jo shared a link to a really cool way to make a backing. I've already pulled some hunks of blue to use and I'll make the center a star block and use it for my label. My back will be more scrappy than the instructions since most of my pieces are less than a yard. 

See other fabulous design walls around Blogland at Patchwork Times.

I've also linked up at sarah did it!: HeLp for Hexie-aholics.

On The Needles

Off the needles this week are the fronts for the Rivel Cardigan! 

WhooHoo!!

This proves what a slow knitter I am.

I thought it would take just a little bit to get these finished,

it took 2 evenings of about 2 hours each night.

The cables take me so long.

I am done with cables for a while.

Wednesday night I cast on for the sleeves,

knit a few rows then went to bed.

Last night I started the body of the sleeve.

With these being short sleeves, 

I'm hoping to show you the front band progress next week.

Again, wish me luck.

I spent the weekend with 4 Grandkiddos 

and needed to take something to work on.

I wanted to mark the second skein with where I started on the first,

I pulled and pulled and pulled and still have not found this section.

I guess if I don't find it soon (before I forget what it is),

I'll just unwind it and start at the beginning and have fun, unmatched socks.

The coloring reminds me of Easter eggs.

See other great On The Needles projects at Patchwork Times.

I love Judy L's sweater!

Design Wall Monday

(another old pic)

I spent the weekend with 4 Grandkiddos. I took along my hexie box  to work on the last 2 hexagon flowers for Mae's Grandmother's Flower Garden. I had white and green hexies to glue baste so I worked on those for a while then I wanted to stitch while they watched a movie.  I hadn't been stitching long when Mae came to sit by me and talk about her quilt. She is quite excited about laying it out this week.

Then she wanted to play with the basted hexies. So I gave her the last baggie kit for the half flower and told her to make it just like the one I had with me. Pretty soon she was adding whites and then I gave her the printed hexies I was working with. She made up her own designs and was having lots of fun. I asked if she wanted sew a little but she passed on that. Maybe next time. I was to hurry and get this done! Because she is so excited to look at it!

So hopefully some time during the week, we will get this all layed out and the rows will start being sewn together. I have one row already sewn so that should speed things along. :)

See other fabulous design walls at Patchwork Times.

On The Needles

 My first knitting finish of 2014! Celebrate!!  I started these socks in June to take to my Wednesday group. They were knit on here and there but mostly not. When Ernie had his surgery in November and I grabbed these to work on while I waited. Then I put them away again. The other day I pulled out the Rivel Cardigan to focus on and absolutely could not concentrate on it. So out come the socks.

This yarn is Patons Kroy Sock--color is Fern Rose Jacquard.

Last week, one of the On The Needles posts was from Dora Quilts. She mentioned Norwegian Purl. I had never heard of that so I Googled it and spent some time Friday learning how to do it. It come in handy on the socks. You really can teach an old dog........

Now I need to cast on another pair of socks. My To Go bag is empty.  Which yarn will I pick???

Next I decided to focus on the Rivel Cardigan and get busy! This is an overdue birthday present and I feel bad about that. Especially since she picked the pattern and the yarn!  I just need to sit down with some quiet and concentrate. In no time it all came back. The bust has been shaped and I'm now working toward the shoulder. I moved the lifeline up yesterday morning so I made some progress last night.  Cross your fingers and wish me luck. I'd love to be able to show you the sleeves next Friday or at least the progress on the sleeves.

See other great projects at Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday

My blocks for the Quiltville mystery, Celtic Solstice, are finished. They are now in nice clipped together row stacks waiting for me to start sewing rows. The border pieces from clue 1 are all sewn together.

When we first found out about clue 2, I told my friends doing the mystery I thought these would be for the border. I was wrong. Not paying close enough attention, I made all left side parts. So I had to make enough right side parts to make my chevron blocks.  I put all the "extra" left side parts away thinking I might go ahead an use them for a border, depending on Bonnie's design.

Sunday I sat down and played in EQ7 to see what my quilt would like like with a few extra borders. Still not sure how to use the border section of EQ7, this is not accurate for the amount of pieces I need. I'll just to the math and figure that part out.  I like it so much that I am going to do it. Today is a good stay home and sew day.  That is after I cruise around Blogland for a while.

Today I'm linking up with Patchwork Times-Design Wall Monday and Quiltville's Mystery Monday Link-Up.

On The Needles

I have finished Hitchhiker!

(old photo) 

Finally.

It just needs blocking.

Next project to complete is the Rivel Cardigan.

These are my completed knitting projects for 2013.

Thanks Doodlebugs and Rosebuds Quilts for this idea.

My favorite project was Mae's colorful sweater.

My proudest accomplishment was Ernie's vest.

He wears it all the time.

See other great On The Needles projects at Patchwork Times.

Hello 2014

While everyone else is putting together their Celtic Solstice quilts, I focused on finishing up my Back To Square One Mystery. Isn't if fabulous! After our water woes of the last 4 days, I needed to celebrate (my word of the year) with sewing and laundry--sew until the dryer beeps, switch things around, fold, repeat.  And oh did I celebrate getting the water fixed. Happy New Year to us. New water pump and holding tank and some other parts.

Judy L designs the best quilts and she kept us guessing on this one. I need to get some backing for this and hope to quilt it soon.

Tell It To The Stars is her 2014 Mystery and I have my fabric for this already. I am not starting it quite yet. I have one more UFO to finish before I start anything new. It will be the final project I had for December's Getting It Done Challenge. And when that is finished, I will write my post with my January goals.

Now I have to put away a whole bunch of clean clothes.  And smile as I pet my pretty quilt top.