A Little Sunshine for the Soul

I am traveling this week for work -- luckily I am in Dallas and the weather has been absolutely perfect! Sunny, clear blue skies with temperatures in the '70s. After dealing with the snow and cold in the Northeast this is definitely a welcome break and a little sunshine for my soul. The days have been long and there hasn't been any time for handwork but at least the weather is cooperating. Before I know it I will be back to the reality of winter but hey it is only a few more weeks until pitchers and catchers report for spring training so Spring can't be too far away -- I hope!

Happy Stitchin!

Officially Tired of Winter

Okay so I know I live in the Northeast and I know that it is January and it is supposed to be snowy and cold but . . . . I am tired of dealing with the snow and cold. We got our first snowstorm of the season on October 28. According to the folklore, the date of the first snowfall where you can see the tracks of chickens determines how many storms in the coming winter. So if you believe the folklore, we are supposed to get 28 storms this winter . . . I lost track of how many we have had so far but it sure feels like it has been at least 28!

Somewhere in the middle of the end-year mayhem at work there was a lull and I was home at a reasonable time. The days prior had been long and I had the urge to just sit and sew at the machine. I wanted something that was mindless sewing --- that left out the houses (too much accuracy needed) and it left out the blue and white star quilt for the same reason. Hmm while cleaning my sewing room during my time off after the holidays I came across a kit that I had purchased several years ago at the LQS known for its kits. The best part about these kits is that all of the fabric is cut for you -- all you do is purchase and go home and sew! That night I strip pieced all of the "A" blocks (48 in all). A few days later I spent a snowy afternoon at a friends house sewing and strip pieced the "B" blocks (just 36). Saturday evening DH was engrossed in some movie or another and I spent four hours piecing my blocks into rows and the rows into a quilt top!

Below is a close up of the blocks. It reminds me of Spring.

Ah but my dilemma . . . . I remember when I purchased the kit that I wasn't thrilled with the inner border but the shop owner convinced me that it made the quilt "pop". However even after several years, I am still not thrilled with the "green". I keep thinking it should be a purple or a blue. I know it is hard to see from the pictures but I am curious as to what others think. The floral is the outer border. In hindsight I wish I had just purchased more of the fabric used in the setting triangles and used that for a border.

I am hoping to make a decision and get the borders on before our firehouse sew day next month so I can bring it for show & tell and give it to my long arm quilter for quilting.

Happy Stitchin!

Ring in the New!

To start the New Year I thought I would start a new embroidery project. It is a block of the month called "Ring In The New" by Kathy Schmitz. They are 4x6 designs which are relatively quick to stitch. I have completed January and started February. Since I don't have a good track record in keeping up with BOMs I thought I would just continue to stitch them until all 12 are complete.

I have also started another BOM by Gail Pan. Did I just say I didn't have a great track record? What was I thinking?

With all of these new projects being started, I even found time to make two photo pillows which are first anniversary presents for the bride & groom. Last year I made a photo quilt for the happy couple. According to the bride's mother, they love the quilt and have hung it on the wall in their new home. AND I am still cutting the 1 1/4" squares needed for the border of my little houses quilt!

Happy Stitchin!

Under Construction

I hope everyone had a happy and enjoyable Holiday! As you can see Malibu loved playing in our tree this year. He was such a good kitty last year -- didn't even bother it once. Well he made up for it this year. He was sleeping under it, batting the lower ornaments, chewing on the branches and drinking the tree water (yuck!). Guess he made up for being a naive kitten last Christmas!

Now that the holidays are over I managed to find some time to finish up the last little house from a class I took with Megan in early December. The scrappy border uses 132 1-1/4 inch squares. I started cutting them tonight but this is definitely going to take a couple more nights of cutting and digging through fabric scraps.

As far as handmade Christmas gifts, I only managed to finish two quilts for my great-nephews who are 4 years old and 8 months. I used Hungry Alphabet panels that I had purchased a few years ago with no immediate need or use. Since I am on a mission to reduce my stash and make more giveaway quilts, I thought these would be the perfect gift for the boys. I also made pillowcases to match out of the remaining fabric (far be it from me to only buy what I need). I used the pillowcases to wrap the quilts.

Happy Stitchin'

Bitten by the Knitting Bug

Okay I have to admit it I have been bitten by the knitting bug. Years ago when my youngest DH was a baby I took on the challenge of knitting a baby sweater. I don't know what I was thinking as I had never knitted before attempting the baby sweater. Needless to say, it remains unfinished as I dropped stitches somewhere along the way and gave up. A couple years ago I tried again. This time I stuck with the basic knitted scarves which were so popular. The eyelash yarns and furry yarns were great. Not easy to work with and there were several scarves that were ripped out and started again when I dropped a stitch and couldn't find it in the eyelash yarn. When the cold weather came this year, I got the urge to once again try to learn to knit. Not quite ready for a sweater . . . how about a shawl? So while visiting my favorite LQS which isn't really that local, I stopped into the knit shop next door. Actually I was looking for a pair of bamboo handles for Caryn. However they did not have them. Since I was already in the store, I decided to look around and admire the beautiful sweaters wishing I knew how to knit. I stumbled onto a shawl that used the stockinette stitch -- thinking I could do that -- I know how to knit and I know how to purl. How hard could it be? But wait there is a buttonhole in the shawl . . . not sure I can do this. The shopowner assured me it was an easy pattern and the instructions explained the buttonhole step by step. Okay, SOLD!

Last night I finally kniited enough rows and had to put in the buttonhole. It took a bit of reading and re-reading of the directions. I had to pull out my only knitting book for clarification but in the end I managed to complete the buttonhole without dropping any stitches!

Happy Stitchin!

Polka Dot & Rick Rack Swap

A few months ago I joined the Polka Dot and Rick Rack Swap hosted by Sharon. I sent my package off to the Netherlands and in return I received one from Lorraine in Australia. I was thrilled to receive all of the goodies which were mostly handmade. I cannot express my thanks enough to my swap partner for all of her gifts.

It was like an early Christmas at Thanksgiving. Thank you Lorraine!

Miranda is calling . . . .

Okay so I have absolutely no business thinking about what fabrics I will use for my mini Miranda. So needless to say I shouldn't be setting up the rotary mat and ironing board . . . Thanksgiving is only two days away and there is still plenty of cleaning to be done and pies to bake. I'll just cut them and then put them away until after turkey day . . . . promise . . .

Good thing I don't have enough light/medium plaids to make the little quilt Kathie recently posted. After seeing Caryn's version, I had myself convinced there was more than enough time to cut and piece one of my own between the cleaning and baking. Of course I don't have to use plaids. Kathie's original version is just as nice as the plaids. Hmmm I think there is still time to pull something from my stash and have it pieced before the bird is on the table.

Happy Stitching!