March Break

I’m not sure why I continue to blog – my posts are getting fewer and farther between, but it does give me a record of what I’ve accomplished – or not!

It’s been a productive month around here with lots of finished projects. 

First up is my Mystery Quilt from Border Creek Station.  This was a monthly mystery and was a lot of fun to do and the instructions were excellent.  They were so good, in fact, that I’m doing another one this year, but I decided just to do the lap size this year!

This is the accessorized version:

I still haven’t figured out how to keep my font the same on Live Writer and it is STILL driving me nuts!  Every time I insert a picture or put in a link, it reverts back to this tiny little font.  Grrrrrrr…….

Here’s my handsome model Bruno, modeling another ruffled scarf that I finished.  This pattern comes from Churchmouse. 

 

Our Guild is holding their Quilt Show this year, so I made a couple of items for their Tombola.

 

I was at Retreat last weekend and I always come back from that full of inspiration.  Unfortunately, there just aren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish everything that I’d like to do. 

On a completely different note, if you are an Adele fan and haven’t seen her “Live at the Royal Albert Hall” DVD, run right out and buy it.  It is absolutely amazing!!!!  Sandra & Darren gave it to me for Christmas but I just watched it a week ago and all I can say is WOW!  She has a mouth on her like a trucker, but it’s nothing I haven’t heard before and perhaps occasionally used

I got sucked into Idol again this year, and I’ve also added The Voice to my list on the PVR.  I really like The Voice – maybe just because it’s different, but there is some great talent on there and Blake Shelton isn’t too hard on the eyes either.  Maybe if I stopped watching so many singing competitions I’d get more done!  I do knit while I’m watching TV, so that takes away some of the guilt.

This has been the winter that wasn’t here in Southern Ontario.  Our crocuses were in full bloom on Wednesday and the daffodils are up about 3”.   Leo brought me these this morning and while they didn’t come from our garden, they are beautiful nonetheless.

I almost forgot – remember these?

The top pair were knitted from yarn from Knit Picks, I believe it was Stroll Tonal, and the bottom ones were Madeleintosh Sock.  While I absolutely love working with Madeleintosh, I won’t be knitting any more socks with it.  These were knit in November of 2011 and the sole wore completely through on them.  I’ve heard you should always knit socks with a bit of nylon in them and I’ll listen to that advice in the future.  I should have taken a picture of them, but I was so mad I threw them out before I thought about it.  Has anyone else had this problem?

Happy Valentine’s Day

I’ve dragged myself away from Pinterest long enough to work on this blog post.  If you haven’t already caught the craze, you have to check it out.  Of course, it’s another great time waster, but it’s so worth it!

Lots has been accomplished around here in spite of Pinterest.  I bought this cross stitch kit in Houston and knew it was just the right thing for Sandra’s shoe room.  What I didn’t know was that I’d have to take a mortgage out on the house to have it framed!


I’m not sure if you can see from the picture, but there are crystals on each of the shoes.

This is called Multnomah from Ravelry.  It was a very easy knit and I did it in Madeleintosh Sock.


Next up is another Circus Baby Quilt.  I will never tire of this fabric – it’s just so happy – but the bolt is almost finished. 

I was too lazy to take this downstairs and lay it out flat – I’m sure you get the idea.  I love the backing on this one – it’s balloons that imitate those on the front.


I quilted this using a Metro thread on top.  There was a lot of talk about this thread on the APQS forum and it quilts up beautifully and you sure can’t beat the price – it’s about $2.00 a cone!  I used a Super Bob in the bobbin.
I’ve had this pillow pattern for ages – it was one of the first patterns I bought when I started quilting about 8 years ago.  It's called Shaggy Chic by Atkinson Designs.


I decided it had aged enough in my drawer and also thought it would be a great addition to Sandra’s Shoe Room.  While we call it a Shoe Room, it’s really so much more – it’s her retreat filled with all the things she loves – shoes, jewelry, accessories and she is planning a sitting area where she can read or just sit and relax and admire her shoes.

I pulled all my FQs in pink and just went to it.  I must admit the cutting of this is a PITA, but if it turned out, I’d be happy.  Here is the before:



Here’s the after – after it had been put in the washer and dryer.


I just sent Sandra a picture of it and she loves it – so do I, so all that finicky cutting was worth while.  If you are looking for a stash buster, this is a great project as there are about 8 fat quarters in there plus fabric for the front & back!
Mrs. Paws (Ben’s groomer) is coming shortly.  He will be all beautiful for Valentine’s Day.  It doesn’t seem that long ago that he was clipped – it was right before Christmas and here he is in all his glory!

Is January Over Yet?

I’m not trying to wish my life away, but this has been one long, blah month. 

I’ve been on a mission to get some quilts that are in various stages of completion finished.  Here’s my first finish of 2012.

 

I quilted this using the Circle Lord Seven Treasures of Buddha template.

I’m trying to sell this one, just to recoup my costs.  I donate a lot of my quilts to various charities and give a lot away as gifts, but what do you do with the rest?  I want to continue to quilt, but my pile of completed quilts is getting bigger and I don’t know what to do with them.  Whenever I start a new quilt, the question I’m always asked is – who is is for?  Usually I don’t have a clue – it’s just a pattern or fabric that I like and I want to make it.  What do you do with all your quilts?

I started this one before Christmas.  It’s made completely from my scrap bin, other than the borders.  I got the backing for it cut today and maybe it will get quilted this weekend….maybe.

There’s also been a lot of knitting going on, but I don’t have anything completed to show you – no surprise there!  I was delighted to win the book, Sweet Shawletts from Julie at The Needle Emporium.   I haven’t received it yet, but I’m looking forward to getting it in the mail shortly.

If you live locally and haven’t been to this store, you don’t know what you’re missing.  She has the most beautiful collection of wool that I’ve ever seen in one place.  Unfortunately, some of it isn’t there any longer as it came home with me  

I also got a nice surprise from A Quilters Dream.  They sent me a gusseted quilted bag pattern to try and they included these gorgeous fat quarters to make it with! 

 

My friend Onalee sent me a link to this tutorial for a very easy, no-sew pet bed.  I just had to try it, so I made a couple last weekend and took one over for my grandkitties.  Abby just loved it and apparently she has been inseparable from it ever since.

It’s a tough life, isn’t it!

Normal is Still Good

I still haven’t figured out how to fix the font on my posts.  Every day is a new challenge with this computer – software isn’t Leo’s strong point and I know next to nothing about it, so I just get frustrated.  It’s taken me weeks to figure out Outlook as we used Outlook Express.  Enough moaning – well, for now anyway.

Some members of our Guild get together once a month to work on Cuddle Quilts to give to those less fortunate in the community.  My friend Lee and I took a bunch home before Christmas to quilt.  I didn’t get pictures of the first 2, but I did manage to remember to snap these two that I finished this weekend.  Doing these gives me a whole new respect for those who quilt for others.  Some of the seams have pleats, some seams were coming undone and they had pieced the batting, but rather than butting it together and zigzag stitching it, they put the two layers together, making it really bulky to quilt through.  I also have trouble working on something I don’t like.

 

Add cropping to the things I no longer know how to do with this new program

I have quite a number of finished tops waiting to be quilted and I’ve promised myself that I won’t start any new projects until I’ve quilted a couple of those tops.  This is the next one on the list – I’m piecing the backing for it now. 

 

I made a different version of this quilt several years ago – it just had a different border.  Actually, I got carried away when I started cutting and ended up with enough blocks for 2 quilts.

 

Needless to say, I liked the other version better which explains why it got finished and this one didn’t!

I’m so happy with my orchid – there are 4 glorious blooms on it!

 

Ahhhhh…..back to normal

What a wonderful feeling to be back to normal, or at least my version of it.  Leo's back to work, laundry is caught up, ironing is done, sewing room is clean - bliss!  Not even the fact that it was -13 degrees could dampen my spirits this morning.  It's a snow free minus 13 so all is good.

I wish I could figure out how to change the font and keep it changed on this post.  It keeps reverting to some blinding teeny tiny font that even with a magnifying glass would be hard to read! 

I did get some more pictures to share.  This is the Hitchhiker Scarf that I finished before Christmas, but just got the ends sewn in this morning.  It still isn’t blocked, but I’m not convinced it needs to be.



Here’s my favourite model, Bruno, showing it off:


I even had enough left over to knit a pair of socks.



I used Madeleintosh Sock wool for these and this wool is quickly becoming my favourite.  It’s so nice to work with and has great stitch definition.

I got inspired last night to clean up my knitting supplies.  All my long needles are in an old tennis ball container and it serves the purpose very well.  However, my circular needles were a different story and I needed somewhere to keep everything together and handy.  Enter the Yazzi bag that I bought in Houston. 



A lot of people use these for keeping their applique and sewing supplies, but I found it was perfect for all my knitting paraphernalia. 



It has lots of zippered compartments and I can keep everything in one little bag.

Still on the knitting topic, Sandra gave me a yarn bowl for Christmas.   I only heard about these recently from a girl in my Knitting Group, but if you live in a house with a cat, or are sick of picking your wool up off the floor, this is the answer!


There are two ‘holes’ in this one, the small round hole is if you are working with really fine yarn so the hole helps keep it in the bowl.  I’m probably the last knitter on the planet to hear about this, but I just love it and I’m no longer down on my hands and knees trying to find where my wool has rolled to!

Just in case you think I’ve forgotten how to quilt, I have been working on a penguin log cabin quilt.  I saw this idea at our Guild’s Show & Tell and thought it was a great way to use up novelty fabric that you have no idea what to do with.



Since I’ve taken this picture, all the blocks are sewn together and there is a narrow black border on it.  I’m going to finish it off with a wider red border.  This whole top was done from scraps from my strip bins.  Unfortunately, it didn’t even make a dent!

I’m off to try and figure out how to ‘fix’ the font on this post as every time I start a new paragraph it reverts to the small font.  I just love technology .

Another Year Bites the Dust

It's hard to believe that another year has come and gone, and harder still to believe that a week ago we were all waiting for Christmas.


We got a new computer, out of necessity, a couple of weeks ago and I’m still trying to get used to it.  Everything I go to do is different, including my blog post.  I use Windows Live Writer for my blog and it is all different.  I don’t like change which I guess is a sure sign I’m getting old!

I have to share the most amazing gift I received from Sandra.  She always puts so much thought and effort into her gift giving and I can only imagine the hours she must have spent putting this together.  She copied pictures from my blog and Facebook and made this mosaic picture of my baby.  I hope you can click on it and make it bigger and you’ll see that each square is made up of one of, or parts of, my quilts.  Best Christmas gift ever!!!!




I finished up a baby quilt yesterday for Darren & Sandra to give to one of their friends who just had a baby.  I had the top finished ages ago, but it still needed to be quilted, bound and a label made and sewn on.  It will be given to the recipient tonight.












I completed a couple of knitting projects over the holidays, but I haven’t got around to blocking them yet, so I don’t have pictures. 

You might recall I was waiting for my orchid to bloom and it didn’t disappoint.  There are 4 gorgeous blooms on it and I hope they last a long time as 4 years was a long time to wait for the blooms!

An Apology

In my attempt to ‘keep it real’, I may have been a bit harsh in my last post.  I received a very nice e-mail from the designer of the bag pattern I was bitching about from A Quilter’s Dream.  She was sincerely interested to learn how she could make the pattern better and also offered to send me a pattern of one of her gusseted bags to see if I liked it.  Now that’s customer service and I appreciate the time she took to contact me and try and make things right! 

I’ve had another busy week, but at least I have some things to show for it.  I finished these socks:

The lighter ones are Knitpicks Stroll hand painted sock yarn, and the darker ones are Madelinetosh Tosh Sock.   I love working with the Madelinetosh yarn and I’m anxious to see how it wears.  I find the Knitpicks is very soft, but pills quickly. 

I made this little Santa bag – it’s wired around the top and can be used to hold cards, candy canes, chocolates, you name it.

Since I was starting to get into the Christmas spirit, I made this little doorhanger kit that had been lying around here for about 5 years!

My Aunt asked if I’d make her a couple of these to give to her neighbours.

With all this Christmas going on, we Leo put up the tree today.  This is the first time in 3 years it’s seen the light of day – poor little Molly’s never seen it.  I had a light bulb moment when I went to inspect his work.  Every one of the ornaments holds a special memory and a lot of those memories include people no longer with us.  Maybe that’s why I haven’t been so enthusiastic about Christmas lately.

Finally, I am thrilled to show you this next picture.

My orchid is going to bloom!!!!!  I’ve had this for 4 years – I know it’s been 4 years as my sister-in-law gave it to me when we hosted Sandra & Darren’s engagement party over 4 years ago.  I made the mistake of cutting off the dead blooms and you can see the dried up stalk towards the back.  I was just about ready to give it the old heave-ho, when I noticed a new stalk growing and then the buds appeared!  I can hardly wait until it blooms as I can’t remember what colour it was.

This is more exciting than an Advent Calendar – I check the progress every day to see if the bloom is opening.

Ahhhhhhhhhh

This is the first weekend in a month that I’ve slept in my own bed and it feels great.  I don’t have any plans for the weekend and I intend to keep it that way.
Last weekend at Retreat I made this bag.

While the finished product isn’t bad, the pattern was awful.  Here’s a link which I provide only so you WON’T buy it.  I’ve made quite a few bags, but the instructions for this one have so much waste and the way they get you to put it together is not easy and could be done so much better.
I also got all these strips cut out to make a miniature log cabin wallhanging.

I read in one of Judy Martin’s books that an organizer like this one is a good idea to keep all your strips of the same size together.  Now that this is all cut, I think I’ll just put it away and I’ll have my next Retreat project all ready to go!
I’ve made one of these before, so I' know what I’m in for.  The blocks finish at 4”.

Our Guild does a secret Santa exchange and each year we pick a letter and the gift must start with that letter.  This year it was D, so I stitched out these little fingertip towels yesterday:

The meeting isn’t until December 14th, so I’m actually ahead of the game for once!  Now if I could only get my act together and get some Christmas shopping done…