Design Wall Monday...

...Really it was Design Bed Sunday. I have finally come up with a workable portable design wall idea.  Now I need to catch someone going to Lowe's or Home Depot.  It won't be a large as I want but right now anything will work better than the bed.  I wish I would have done this before I created this mess.  Back to the design bed!

***edited to say: My design wall plan is to cover a big hunk of the foam insulation with a flannel backed table cloth and lean it against a shelving unit.  

Saturday I posted about laying out the Pineapple Blossom blocks.  Kathy commented that she put sashing between her blocks.  Head smack to me!  I forgot to lay mine out with the sashing blocks.  When you are working super scrappy, you need all the fabrics layed out.  

Sunday was the layout-part 2.  Several rows are now sewn together with the remaining rows pinned all nice and neat, ready for the machine.  Today I will sew more rows, lay them out again for a final check on color placement.  It's so much easier to take a block out of a row than it is to take it out of the finished top. Wish me luck that I find it before the end.

See other fabulous design walls that have linked up to Judy L's DWM.  I love Monday in Blogland.

Sunday Stitching

Today is my 5th post about Ms. Owl.  She has been my project for my Binding Friends group and rarely gets stitched on at home. I'm hoping post #6 will be the completed pillow.  I was amazed at how much personality the eyes gave her. I'm not all that thrilled with the little flowers on her tummy so I an going to redo some of them.

My friend's daughter is working on her own Ms. Owl.  She is using black fabric and bright thread.  I cannot wait to see hers.  You can get your own by going here.  You will need to open the picture in a new window or tab and then print it and tape it together.  

I am so in love with this piece.  Today I am going to go stash diving and find the fabrics for the pillow.  I'm not even sure how I want to "dress" her, I just know I want her to live on my bed.

Visit Kathy's Quilts-Slow Sunday Stitching to link up your post or to see what others are stitching.  This is a fun link up party Kathy, thanks!!!

The Layout

I made some time this afternoon to lay out the Pineapple Blossom blocks.  I am now letting it rest and will come back to it later to make sure I like the looks of it.  I'm sure there will be some twisting and turning somewhere.

This quilt has such fun fabrics.  Old fabrics and new fabrics. I just now see where my aqua spots are going to need some moving around.  

The quilt blocks were not the only things layed today.  One of my spring chicks layed her first little egg today.  I am thrilled.  The first one of the 8 chicks.  5 of my young hens are Buff Orpingtons They are such good chickens and great layers.  We should be overrun with eggs soon.  Simple pleasures....

On The Needles

Last week while shopping, I realized how close Christmas is for a person that loves to hand make gifts.  This year the kiddos will be getting new hats as one of their gifts.  I saw this Amazing yarn and knew that it would be the perfect yarn for the little girls.  It's a wool/acrylic blend, a little fuzzy and very soft and warm.  After spending too much time on Ravelry, I found the perfect patterns for each of the kiddos. 

This pattern is called Rainbow Hat and can be found here. The instructions say size 5 needles and to cast on 112 with fingering yarn.   This is worsted weight so I cast on 80 stitches.  It's a perfect fit.  

These were my wool toe up socks but with each stitch, I liked them less and less so I took them apart.  I think I am going to skip toe up, keep doing what I love to do--cuff down and call this my lesson for July.  I will cast on the gray socks as soon as this hat is finished since those are the needles I need for these socks.

And just for the fun of it, this is Miss Blue.  She is a very naughty girl!  She decided she liked this flower pot for her afternoon nap.  See how bright white her ears are?  This means I get a pretty white egg from her. She is such a good layer that I don't want to upset her so I leave her alone.

What's on your needles?  See Judy L's gorgeous shawl and see what others are doing here.

Early Morning In The Quilting Room

I love leaders and enders and find it out of my comfort zone not to have a L/E project going. I've been working on the bow tie leader/ender challenge for quite a while and am now at the block count down. I needed to have 71 more blocks to finish my layout.

This morning, I decided to take my first 2 hours and get my remaining bow ties ready. I hope I didn't go crazy and cut way too many but if I did, I'll put them on the back.  And everyone knows if I don't have enough, I have lots of fabric to cut more from.

I start by cutting my background fabrics and lay them out for easy pick up.  Then I cut the bow tie fabrics and lay them out.

I pick the background fabric for the block and pin them together and put them in the yellow basket.  Then cut some more.  My scrap 2 1/2" bin is quite low now.  That's a good thing.

When I am sewing, I have a stack of 5 block kits by my machine.  I work on these 5 until they are finished.  Then I work on 5 more.  When I have 10 blocks, I pin them together and put them in another bin.  Then I want to see what they look like in a 4 patch block........you know what I'm talking about.  

When I get to this stage in the l/e project, I want to just sew the whole thing together.  But I'm trying to resist and keep working on my pineapple blocks.  I have a few more to go before I can lay the top out.  I'l love to have that ready to take with me tomorrow so my Binding Friends can help me with the layout.  We have so much fun doing that!  Ohhh, that would make a great Wednesday post.  Note to self, take camera, use camera!  

Design Wall Monday

A better title for this post would be Decision Stall Monday.  I was having a difficult time deciding what to do for the borders on this quilt.   Last night I had a very serious discussion with myself and told myself to figure something out and get this quilt done.  I scare myself sometimes with the serious discussion!

So this morning after Ernie left for work--way too early--I decided to do simple borders.  I don't think there are enough of the 1 1/2" strips to make anything I had thought about doing.  So I pulled out fabric for borders and binding.  I think they will work out just fine.

Turbo agrees.  Or else he was irritated because I bothered him right after he got into a good deep sleep.  Sorry Turbo.  The bed is all yours now.  Please straighten the quilt after you get up.

What's on other design walls?  Find out here.  Be sure to check out Judy L's newly designed blog.  It's pretty fabulous looking!

Hand Stitching On Sunday

Only a little bit of progress on Ms. Owl.  

I had planned to work on her at group on Wednesday but plans change.

That's OK.  She isn't going to fly off any time soon.

I'm going to spend some time this morning reading about other hand stitching projects. 

They are linked up to here at Kathy's Quilts Hand Stitching On Sunday. 

I see hexies. 

I'm still resisting.

What are you hand sewing?

On The Needles...

...Or should I say, Off The Needles, On The Needles and Ready to Cast On The Needles.

Off the needles are my Simple Skyp Socks which are my 12 in 2012 Sock Challenge socks for May.  I was quite shocked when I finished them last night-yes I worked hard to finish them to show off today!--and wound up the end of the skeins.  There was hardly any left over yarn!  I used the same length I use for my plain ole socks and never realized how much extra yarn those yarn overs would consume.  I'm not complaining, I was just surprised.  I'm also surprised by how funny the top sock looks in this picture.  They really are the same size.

I had a good bit of time-like 4 hours-to work on my to go sock (12 in 2012 socks for June) while on the way to and from Sisters, OR on Saturday.  Another road trip this month and maybe this sock will be finished.  I think it's time to learn to do the magic loop.  I don't know how many times I dropped a needle and had to unbuckle to pick it up.  And that always makes me nervous!  I love buying new knitting needles.

It's time to start the Toe -Up socks (July's 12 in 2012).  I found a nice simple pattern in this book that calls for size 5 needles. I know using the bigger needles and 48 stitches per round will make this pair go super fast.  The yarn is what is left over from making Ernie's socks.  The socks that he doesn't wear except for when he is sitting in his recliner with super cold feet. He doesn't want to ruin them!  I'm going to wear mine!!  (And thanks to the tip from Paula, the Quilter, those socks fit perfectly.)

***  10:00 am  Happy to say I have learned the magic cast on and I have 2 socks with toes.  Now I must do some housework instead of holding down the recliner. 


I laughed when I read Judy L's post this morning because I plan to use this video on You Tube to learn the cast on.  I tried last night to learn from the book but turning pages and reading confused me!!!  I love that you can look up almost anything on You Tube and there will be a video for it.  Thank you video makers!

What's on your needles???  Check out what others are working at On The Needles at Patchwork Times.

Play Day

 I bought this cute bag pattern a while back thinking I would have it made in time to use for the trip to the Sisters Quilt Show.  I didn't!

Monday I wanted to sew and I decided that if I was ever going to make this bag, I probably should do it now.  I went to my stash and pulled out 4 fabrics....the lining is red.  The instructions are easy to follow. The bag will be fun to use. The main pocket is quite roomy and has 2 small pocket inside plus there are 2 secret pockets. (See on the tan where it looks like a wrinkle?  It's not...it's an inside pocket that I need to go in and lay flat after my playing with it.)  Will I make it again?  Yes I will. 

The pattern is from Whistlepig Creek Productions.  If you click on the purses and bags link, you will find the pattern to either order or you can buy a pdf file.  I found mine in a quilt shop.  I think I'm going to wander around the website and see what else they have that I might need.

I'm digging through my Gramma's button box to find some great buttons for this bag.  I have a few more to audition, then sew them on. My little bag will get a test run this weekend.  It's our annual date at the Great Oregon Steam-Up.    

Today I am linking up to Connie's Quilting by the River Linky Party Tuesday.  I will be wandering in Blogland for a while today.

Design Wall Monday

My temporary design wall is empty. I've been working a little bit on my Pineapple Blossom blocks so I will have something to put on it soon.  I need 48 blocks and have that many sets of background squares cut and marked but I didn't cut enough color pieces.  I think I forgot to double the amounts for the 2 smaller sizes or else I can't or didn't count.

My 2" strip drawer is getting low and I may have to take the time to cut some more strips from this yardage that I haven't put away yet.  That should give me plenty more variety in the last 20 blocks.  I couldn't resist putting a few blocks out just to see what it looks like.

After our trip to the Sister's Outdoor Quilt Show, I am so excited to get into the sewing room and not come out.  I posted a few pictures here.  

See other fabulous design walls here.

My Day At Sisters

We left Marian's house at 4 am to arrive early enough to watch the quilts being hung.

This volunteer group was so much fun to chat with.

This paper pieced beauty was one of my favorites of the day.

This display was the first one I looked at inside The Stitchin Post.

The yarn was all so yummy.

It was so much fun watching and listening to the excitement from 2 gals when they spotted Judy L's book.

When one of them told me I "must buy this book and read her blog, she is wonderful!", I had to tell them I already knew that and I'm proud to call her my friend.  I think they were a bit jealous!!

Speaking of friends, it is so fun to see a quilt from a distance that you know was made by your friend.

This wonderful 1600 jelly roll race quilt with the appliqued chickens was made my my friend Cheri.

There was some fun chatter about the quilt and the quilting.  It's pretty awesome Cheri.

My favorite of the mini quilts.  The thread painted tail is amazing!

Inspiration for the hunting club quilt for next year.

This one made my scrappy heart sing.

I think I must put this design at the top of my want to do list.

And this little guy is Willie, a 6 month old Shit Tzu.

We all laughed when the dad told us about his name.

Willie be a good dog or Willie piddle inside.

I have lots more pictures, these are a few of my favorites. 

It was a wonderful day spent with wonderful friends.

I am so full of inspiration, I need some 48 hour days.

Hand Stitching On Sunday

We are back at our Wednesday Binding Friends gathering after a few weeks off.  Oh how I missed those gals!  I made great progress with Ms. Owl while chatting and laughing and catching up.  She will soon be a pillow.

This is a view from the chair that I sit in when I stitch or knit out on the deck. Bubbles are a very important part of our outside time.  I even blow them when there are no kids around.  There's just something about bubbles!  And sitting out in the fresh air.

Visit Kathy's Quilts to see what others are stitching.

On The Needles...

Surprise! My Skyp Socks are still on the needles!!!   I made lots of progress this week.  I decided it was time to get serious about them.  I have so much more yarn that is screaming to be used!

The heels are done, I'm working the gusset, on my way to the foot.  I am not even going to guess when they will be done.

This is my first pair with different lengths of circular needles.  I don't like using the short ones.  My hands are big and I feel clumsy with them.  I love the longer ones! So I am going to visit KnitPicks and order the longer ones.  I don't have a problem with which is the front because I mark them with a plastic pin. You can see that in this post. For me, the pin is always on the beginning of the right side. Before stopping, I try to work to the end of the round.

I did learn that if I continue to use the short needles, I must pay attention and do the heel work on the longer set.  Didn't even think about that until it was time to pick up the gusset stitches.  Another lesson for me!

See other fabulous needle work by visiting Judy L.   Happy Friday the 13th!

Blocks and A Top

This week my sewing time has been grabbed in a few minutes here, a few there. 

 Or one episode of The Guardian on Netflix. 

That Simon Baker is adorable!

How did I miss this show when it was on TV?!?

My blocks for the 2010 Moose On The Porch Jelly Roll Sampler have been turned into a fabulous quilt top. It feels good to put that empty bag away.  

I'm thinking about finding something for an outer border. 

I may have to shop for that.  

I think this will make a perfect cuddle on the couch quilt.

This is the July block for the Carol Doak Yahoo group mystery.  

And this is the block for August.  

I have never been ahead in a block of the month project.

I like it.

Don't let me fall in September when she posts the new block.

Design Wall Monday

 In the never ending quest to reduce the amount of UFOs that live in my sewing room, I pulled out this set of 12 complete blocks from the 2010 Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt Along at Moose on the Porch Quilts. I got the sashing on these 4 blocks yesterday and hope to work on the remaining 8 today.  I always ask myself why I wait so long to finish up these projects because I really like them!  I know the answer, there is always something new and shiny to distract me.  

I continue to work on my bow tie leader/ender project from Quiltville.  I have sewn all but one of my bow tie blocks into sets of 4.  I have 30, I need 48.  I need to kit up 71 more bow tie blocks for this project. I need to pay attention to the background fabrics since I chose to do light and not light for that. (I better write myself a sticky note.) Close yet so far!

See what others are working on by checking at Patchwork Times for the Design Wall Monday Post.  I love Monday in Blogland.

Hand Stitching On Sunday

I am working little bits at a time on Ms. Owl.

I think this is the last of the green.

Next up will be more flowers.

What color to do next???

Little things thrill me!

I love Kathy's Quilts Hand Stitching On Sunday link up.  

It is so fun to see what stitching projects are being worked on.

I wish I could spend the day stitching in the shade.

I can't, today we are building fence.  

Not the kind of fun I had in mind.

I Should Have Been Quilting, But...

After finishing my snowman embroidery project last week, I figured I had better get the pillow made before became a UFO.  Yesterday I should have been quilting but instead I played with fabric strips and bordered my piece.

After lunch, I was going to start quilting bur there was that pillow top laying there begging for a back.  So I caved and played with more strips and added a zipper.  This morning I made some piping and put the top together.  

Then I grabbed a chuck of icky feeling fabric that I've stashed away for when I need to make a pillow form (Have you bought pillow forms lately??? WOWZA!!).  I got out the bag of polyfill and started filling my form.  I touched something that startled me and pulled out this little paper bag with a stuffing tool inside.  I've used this polyfill quite a bit and have never found a surprise inside.  

I'm happy my pillow is complete and now I will put it away for winter.  Today I must quilt.  

Design Wall Monday

Today there is nothing new happening on a design wall or table.  After finishing my wall hanging, that by the way looks amazing hanging on my bedroom wall!, I decided to pull out UFO #3 from the Challenge.  My beloved Golden Harvest quilt top that was finished one year ago.

I laid it on the table and just admired it.  The thought of quilting it terrifies me.  Why???  I don't know.  Maybe it's the fact that so much work went into it but so much work goes into all of the quilts.  Maybe it's because it screams to be custom quilted.  Maybe it's because I'm a coward.

But I'm thinking that as soon as the quilt that is on the frame now is complete, this masterpiece is going on! I can do swirls and curls, that's what I want to do.  I'll just draw it out and do it.

Yeah, that's exactly what I'll do!

And then the 2 bags of leftover fabric with that backing fabric as background, I'll play with some New York Beauty blocks that I been designing with in EQ7.  That will be lots of fun!

Head on over to Judy L's and see what everyone else is working on.

Hand Stitching On Sunday

Kathy at Kathy's Quilts has started a new link up called Hand Stitching On Sunday.  After finishing my little snowman embroidery, I started on this cute owl piece.  I have always love to do embroidery but it's been a while since I have stitched anything.  (If you are not a regular reader of Kathy's blog, you should be.  She does such fabulous work.)

I first saw the owl on Pinterest and pinned it.  Followed the links until I found the page to download the design.  I went here today to link on the download page and unfortunately my virus protection said it was malware.  Not the page I linked to but the page from there with the download on it.  Make sense???  Insert sad face here.  I hope it is just a glitch in the system.

While clearing out my sewing room, I came across my embroidery box.  In it were several pieces that were started as BOMs.  Some completed blocks, others not.  I have the completed set of blocks together with the fabrics waiting it's turn at the sewing machine.  Now that I'm excited to sit and stitch a bit, I'm hoping a few of these projects will get completed.

Visit Kathy's blog post today and see what others are hand stitching.