PLACEMAT COMPLETED

I finished my picnic placemat and packed it ready to donate to my guild's boutique collection on Wednesday evening.  The pattern is found here.  It is the September BOM download.

I used an orphan 12 inch finished block, then added the side pieces.  On the right side is a pocket to hold knife, fork and spoon. 





It has ties to roll it up, ready for use.

I chose to use a "quick turn" method to finish the placemat with no binding.  Then I had more time to play with the quilting!  It is difficult to see, but I stitched a knife, fork and spoon in their places.....

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

Today I'm making a picnic placemat using a 12 inch finished block in the centre.  It is the BOM project for my guild, and will be donated to the boutique for next June's quilt show.  Our coordinators for BOM will be adding lots of interesting patterns over the next few months - small gift items and also good for the boutique!
I'm making a hanging sleeve for the Mickey quilt, and have also completed my small applique project, as well as the Hexagon Hydrangeas quilt that I showed while it was in progress.  It came from a photo by Lori Kennedy of the Inbox Jaunt, and the paper piecing pattern was by Peggy Reimer.

Now I have to get busy and make more hanging sleeves and decide on what type of label I'll use.....

Check out all the creativity at Judy's blog, Patchwork Times.

STASH REPORT SUNDAY

Used this week  10.75 yards

Used year to date  178.75 yards

Added this week  0 yards

Added year to date  36 yards

Net used 2014  142.75 yards

I love it when I have some small finishes.  This week I finished my appliqued heart wreath wall hanging,  my hydrangea wall hanging, and I made a Mickey pinkeeper for my SDIL2. 

When she and our son visited us in Florida last fall, she became an avid pin collector, so I thought she needed a place to store and display her collection.

I used a cotton blend batting, and left the print under the Mickey logo, to add an extra layer of stability.  The black area is quilted in a simple grid, and the background is stitched in echos of the shape.  Hopefully, it will be big enough for all of her pins, and room for future additions.

Check out the stash reports at Judy's blog, Patchwork Times.

ON THE NEEDLES

The start of a slipper..... I'm using up all the small balls of yarn, making stripes!

 The slippers on the right are a "desert boot pattern, that takes a button on the ankle cuff.
The orange slippers are from the same pattern that I've started above.  The pattern is from a Patons knitting book of my Mom's from the 1940's.  The book also has a page of "2 needle Mitts" in many sizes....

My latest pair of mitts in the raspberry colour - all the items are knit of hand-spun 70%alpaca 30% merino yarn from our cousins' alpaca herd!

See what others are knitting at Judy's blog, Patchwork Times.

A LITTLE PROGRESS

DH and I spent the morning in our front garden, making it more tidy, trimming back some of the irises and removing dead leaves.  I finally spent some time in my sewing room.
After hunting through all my striped fabrics, and auditioning a few, I finally chose this border for my appliqued flower heart.

 

This floral stripe won the honours.  It has the right colour tones to coordinate with the flowers.  I even managed to make 4 mitered corners - all lined up perfectly!  Now I need to think about quilting designs.  I plan to enter this wall  hanging in my guild's quilt show next June.

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

Another Monday with nothing to show!!!!  I'm finishing the quilting on a donation quilt, and then I'll finally get back to items on MY list!

I have been knitting - lots of mitts in various sizes

and 2 pairs of slippers, with another one in the works.

Check out all the creativity shared at Judy's blog, Patchwork Times.

STASH REPORT SUNDAY

Used this week  3 yards

Used year to date 168 yards

Added this week 0 yards

Added year to date  36 yards

Net used 2014  132 yards

Two small finishes this week - 2 more "panel quilts" for donation.  I didn't have any suitable backing fabric, so my guild's community quilts stash came to the rescue - therefore I only claimed the top and binding.  I'm sure the "Hugs" program at our local hospital will like these two.

Check out everyone's stash progress at Judy's blog, Patchwork Times.

ON THE NEEDLES

I finally decided it was time to block the finished items!

The first scarf, made in ecru alpaca/wool yarn is made using the Asherton reversible scarf pattern.










The close-up photo shows the texture provided by the stitch pattern.












 
I love knitting lacy patterns.  This one uses a pattern called Liesel.

The yarn is 100% alpaca, in natural dark brown.








Next is the "Combo Cable Scarf", pattern from Caron yarns.  Stitched with 70% alpaca 30% merino yarn, dyed in a colour called Jade - more of a greenish gray.

This shawlette is made from the pattern "198 yards of Heaven".  Stitched in raspberry 70% alpaca 30% merino yarn.

Lately I've been working on mitts and slippers - popular now the cooler weather is on the way.  We had a light frost on the roofs this morning!


 

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

Another panel quilt for the hospital program - as requested.  This is one that was in my stash, and I've layered it with some flannel from my guild's community quilts stash, and some leftover batting.  Now I'm off to machine quilting.

I'll be happy when I can get back to creating new projects!!!!

Head over the Judy's blog, Patchwork Times, to check out all this weeks' creativity!

STASH REPORT SUNDAY

Fabric used this week  3.5 yards

Fabric used year to date  165 yards

Fabric added this week  0 yards

Fabric added year to date  36 yards 

Net used 2014   129 yards

I managed to finish a panel quilt for my guild's community quilts this week, and provided binding for 2 more small project.

We met on Tuesday to get more quilts pin-basted.  The program that we donated to at our local hospital was almost out of baby quilts.  The co-ordinator even bought some printed panels and delivered them to be completed!   The 6 of us pin-basted 8 quilts, and added borders to 3 more tops, so they'll be ready for matching with backing fabric next month.  I ended up bringing 5 quilts home to machine quilt.  I managed to finish 4, and passed them along to our binding person, who will hand stitch the bindings.  I have one more to finish, and then I need to layer and quilt 2 more cute panels from my own stash - I found coordinating backing fabric while I was helping on Tuesday....

Check out everyone's progress at Judy's blog, Patchwork Times.

ON THE NEEDLES

Two finishes - a "Hurricane Hat" from Ravelery  made in a 70% alpaca 30% merino yarn in a coral colour.  The second is another pair of mitts using the the greenish gray yarn.  I borrowed the design from the scarf in the same colour to decorate the back of each mitten.  I think I need to learn to knit mitts on 4 needles instead of the 2-needle version that I usually make.  Maybe I could adapt the method of knitting socks on a cable needle to mitts......

NEW BABIES

I was in touch with our cousins today, discussing knitting patterns, and asking how their move to their new home went.  Just a few days after their arrival, two of their female alpacas presented them with new members!  These babies, or crias are 1 week old.

They were worried that they'd come before the move, and moving all their animals was a huge undertaking already.  They have 2 horses as well as around 20 alpacas, and they had to keep the males and females separated during the move.  The expectant moms rode in the back of their van!  (That is how they take them to shows...)
 
I guess I better get knitting - there will be more yarn spun soon!

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

Yesterday I rummaged in my closet and found a panel that I wanted to quilt.  I found backing fabric and pin-basted the layers together.
This morning, I felt inspired and began quilting, and by lunch-time I had the binding made and stitched on one side.  Before I knew it, I had another small quilt to donate to my guild's community quilts program.  We donate baby quilts to be used as part of a layette, but they also need funds to purchase many of the items included.  It seems that "panel" quilts sell well at the hospital gift shop - so well, that they can't keep them in stock!  We had a request for more, so I thought I could add one....

I didn't have any cheddar fabric for the binding, but found a bright gold to use instead.  I find machine quilting panel quilts is a good warm-up practice for my free motion quilting skills!

Check out all the creativity shared at Judy's Patchwork Times.

BUSY WEEK

We had a busy week, with some members of DH's musical group visiting, and joining in on the concerts at local nursing homes and seniors' residences that DH and his friend perform.  He calls his group "3 for a Quarter" because they play oldies music, that remind people of the old juke boxes that charged 1 song for 10 cents or 3 for a quarter.  Usually they perform in our home area as a duet, but when we head south for the winter, the group grows from 2 up to 5 or 6, depending on availability.  DH and 2 of the group headed to the Syracuse NY area on the long weekend, and met a 4th member to play as 5 different places in 2 days.  They all headed north to our home area, and continued with 4 more performances here.  Our US member stayed at our home, along with his wife, and we had fun getting to know each other better, and showing off our town!  My first guild meeting was this week, so we took the non-quilter to the meeting, where she really enjoyed the trunk show by our guest of the month.  She even was asking me how hard it is to make a project,  so I might convince her to join our group when we all arrive at our southern location.
We ended the week on a down-turn after hearing of the death of a long-time friend.  DH returned to university in 1978 as a mature student.  His friend carpooled with him for 4 years, and they were room mates on basic officer training, and French language training for 10 weeks each time.  We attended his funeral on Friday morning, along with his family and many friends.  He will be missed.
I did managed some knitting while our company was visiting, and now I'm catching up on laundry (I'm sure it reproduces in the basket when the lights are out!)  We seem to have tons of laundry for just 2 people!!!!

STASH REPORT SUNDAY

Fabric used this week  4.5 yards

Fabric used year to date  161.5 yards

Fabric added this week  0 yards

Fabric added year to date  36 yards

Net used 2014  125.5 yards

I found some fabric that was leftover from a "stack n whack" project - stilled with 4 layers pinned together.  I quickly cut squares, stitched them together and added triangles on all sides.  Before I knew it, I had another quilt ready to donate to my guild's community quilt project!

I don't often sew with pale pastel colours, but I'm sure someone will appreciate it!

Check out the stash progress at Judy's blog, Patchwork Times.

ON THE NEEDLES

I'm still knitting for our cousins.  This is another dyed 70% alpaca 30% merino yarn.  I couldn't seem to get the colour right in the photo - it is a green/gray colour.

I picture this scarf on a man, but who knows where it will end up?  We had a busy week with company staying for a few days, but I did manage to fit in a few minutes of knitting from time to time!

Check out all the knitting shared at Judy's blog, Patchwork Times.

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

The large floral heart is completed.  Now I just have to figure out what to do next.  I am thinking about making a small wall hanging, with just some simple borders.  It looks very traditional to me!

 I also completed a small quilt, to be donated to my guild's community quilts program.  The 4-patch centres were made from some leftover pinned fabric from a "stack n whack" type project from a few years ago.  There were 4 layers of matched fabric, enough to make 20 blocks.  I used two different fabrics to add triangle corners, then sashed with blue and used white with pink windowpane fabric for cornerstones.  I found the cute "cat" flannel in my stash, with colours that echo the colours of the top...

Check out the creativity shared at Judy's blog, Patchwork Times