2020 Part 1

2020 came in with all of the best intentions. My plan was to quilt 20 UFO tops in 2020. It was a great plan. I would squeeze in cross stitch as often as I could but I really wanted to finish quilts.

This is a cute Lizzie Kate design called 6 Snow Belles.

I planned to stitch all 6 on piece of fabric and it would be a Christmas present for one of my daughters.

(Spoiler alert--it did and it's so darn cute!!)

I love a good BOM.

This is from Kathleen Tracy.

I think this is both January and February.

I had a box of Thimbleberry scraps from a friend so used mostly those fabrics.

These were my choices for the Moda Blockheads 3 BOW.

I love the mix of the fabrics.

January was a baby shower for Granddaughter Taylor.

I had to make Dwight the Deer for her and her son.

I used recycled shirts on the back.

It is so snuggly soft.

March 10, 2020

Welcome to the family Bentley Waylon.

We adore you.

💓😍😍😍😍

I joined an ornament of the month club.

I picked this cutie from a magazine.

We didn't get much snow.

Just a day once in a while.

This sampler was my oldest UFO.

It was fun to just quilt the blocks and then join them.

Frolic was the 2019/20 Quiltville mystery.

I love that I used mostly stash  on this one. 

It was fun to just get it done before it turned into a UFO.

Smith Mountain Morning was gifted to Grandson Elliot.

Another Quiltville design.

This log cabin was gifted to daughter Crystal.

Moda Be My Neighbor was gifted to Daughter Dee.

I love knitting socks and I love using up all the scrap yarn.

Sadly these are still in the on the road knitting bag but are close to being finished.

There is still scrap yarn to be used up.

My friend Julie taught me about basting party.

Baste until you run out of pins.

So I get myself all set up and get busy.

Under the table fort are 3 dogs.

The roll of batting goes on the recliner and the table is pushed over to it.

See all those quilts over by the tv. I think they are all waiting their turn. 

I also think they are all finished quilts. 

I honestly don't know if these were before or at the beginning of Covid lockdown.

But that's a story for another post. 

Until then.....thanks for your sweet comments on my return.

Design Wall Monday

I finished and gifted both quilts to the boys I talked about here and here.

We delivered them to Gramma on our way to the beach.

Going to the beach means passenger seat knitting.

I've been working on these Circle Socks for quite a while.

They are so full of mistakes but I took my husband's good advice and 

didn't pull the needles. 

"They are socks. Is anyone gonna know you got the pattern wrong?"

"I'll know but I can live with it!"

Sometimes he gives me great advice. 

At retreat last year, I picked up a little embroidery kit.

I took it with me to the beach.

This was the only sewing I did while we were there.

I mostly had my nose shoved into a book.

Nora Roberts can really hold my attention!

It was a very relaxing few days.

I came home ready to quilt.

Instead I did a couple of experiments.

I tested all the colors from my box of Crayola Ultra Washable Markers.

I also tested a home made basting spray that I read about on Chatterbox Quilts.

If you are interested, search her blog for basting spray.

Then I washed my sample.

I was not happy with the markers.

They did not all wash out.

The red is a definite no.

Too many colors stayed in the white/cream fabric.

I don't think I'll be using these markers.

But the spray baste is a definite yes for small projects.

I sprayed the backing,

then layed it on the batting and pressed dry.

Then sprayed the top and layed it on the batting and pressed dry.

I was very happy with it.

I fiddled quite a bit with it before I did a bit of quilting.

Then I washed it and found no residue from the spray.

Wish I could say the same for the markers.

Check out Small Quilts and Doll Quilts Design Wall Monday.

Judy H's Heart Quilt is AMAZING!!

It's Funny How Time Slips Away

Not really funny, more like fun!

Blogging will happen when it happens. 

I've said before I am not a good passenger so I knit.

They are my passenger seat knitting project.

They are called Meandering Vine Socks.

I'm to the heel flap.

The whole heel has to be done at home,

I'll get to the mindless foot part before we leave again.

Before leaving home, I cut all of the border pieces for Midnight Flight.

The first couple of evenings, I marked the squares for the flippy corners.

And one afternoon, I sewed one half of the chevrons.

Then over a few days, I trimmed all of them

and after everyone left, I got out the iron and pressed them all.

During my sewing time, 

I couldn't find Jessie.

He had made himself a pillow fort. 

Silly little dog!

While I was sewing,

Ernie replaced the boards on this deck.

Most of the time it was a one man show.

One day he washed the bus.

My job was to watch the fire.

I'm good at my job.

We had lots of company!

Saturday evening, Dee, Vern and Taylor came to camp for a few days.

On Sunday Crystal and her kiddos came to spend the day with us.

She came home and ordered their own camping supplies. 

They will be our next camping guests.

This melts my heart!

I love being surrounded by my family.

I have a feeling this is going to be the perfect summer!

Smores and smiles are mandatory!

As are photo bombers!

There was a whole lot of love happening at the beach!

A perfect 4th of July campout!

Unless you were a dog.

We didn't go to the beach to watch the fireworks.

We stayed at the bus with the poor, terrified dogs. 

From the sound of it, it was a pretty spectacular show.

The landscape is changing at the beach property.

Lots of trimming and clearing is happening.

Bamboo is not our friend.

We tried to figure out why the previous owners did things the way they did.

Our conclusion is each to his own.

We'll fix it how we want it now. 

On and Off The Needles

I started writing this Friday and then all of the sudden,

no internet!

For hours!

I found the pattern for Groovy Socks on Ravelry.

Unfortunately, it is no longer available.

The pattern calls for a different heel but since these were my

passenger seat knitting socks, 

I used my regular ole heel instead of learning something new.

I'll do it on the next ones.

By the time we got to the beach, 

I was ready start do the toe decrease.

I told Ernie I was going to have them finished by the time we got home.

I was wrong,

I finished them at home.

I was too busy loving on...

...Daisy.

Our reason for doing a 1 day round trip to the beach.

We adopted this gorgeous chocolate lab from

South Pacific County Humane Society in Longbeach, WA.

OMGoodness, if I could have, I would have brought 2 more home with me.

I could easily turn into that crazy dog lady with too many dogs.

It's been a long time since I've done an On The Needles post...September!

I'll try to do better and maybe I'll finish that Frankensock I still haven't finished.

I'm linking up late to Patchwork Times On The Needles.