I'VE BEEN SEWING AWAY...but not much to share

My sewing machine has been humming away connecting little bits of this and that, but I don't have a lot to show you just yet because what I am currently working on are gifts and surprises for others.

Friendship Star

This little friendship star is part of a pieced backing for a rather small quilt that I hope to finish soon. I am pleased with the piecing of this star. At least the intersections match up. Each square finishes at less than one inch... not much to hold on to when feeding it through the sewing machine. Thank heavens for stilletos!

Until next time. . .what are YOU working on? Do you like to create and send off surprises and gifts to friends? It's so much fun.

Linking to Connie at Free Motion by the River's Tuesday Linky Party. Come visit and see what everyone is up to.

Quilty Hugs,

MORE TINY STUFF: Crocheted squares

Attic24 had a cute post recently about making tiny crocheted squares and sewing them together to make dolly blankets for a UK Charity Drive. Mine will be a kitty-blanket for Missy. Check out Lucy's post at Attic24 HERE for the *pattern* which is really a few guidelines as it's only one round of crochet. I'm making mine a little differently, but that's the beauty of this project... you can just wing it!  What a fan-tab-ulous way to use up all the tiny little yarn bits I have.

Yarn, Hook, sm Scissors... everything needed in one small bowl!

The little bowl shown above now sits on my nightstand next to my bed so I can play a little hooky while I am relaxing and getting ready to go to sleep. Love little projects and with tiny bits of time here and there, all of a sudden you have a finished project. Love that!

Until next time. . . I am off to do some marketing and then hope to sew this afternoon and evening. What are YOU up to today?

Quilty Hugs,

TINY HSTs: Trim Technique with BlocLoc Ruler

First, please let me explain why I have been MIA for six days. It has been my birthday week with lots of celebrations and doings. . . now we return you to our regularly scheduled blogging. . . lol

Ruler on pink fabric so you can see it better

Have you tried the relatively new BlocLoc rulers? They are really amazing. Love the accuracy! A short demo vid to watch is HERE.  Sew tonight I was making little 1.5 inch HST and thought I'd share a few photos with you:

Align 'frosted' grove on diagonal seam - trim first two sides

Rotate ruler, slide down to desired size - final trim of last two sides

better with print center... or...

is it better with the Pink center???

Last Wednesday morning as I took a quick leap into the front yard to grab my newspaper -- I was still in my jammies -- up pulled the FedEx truck with a box. The most delightful little Orchid planted in a pink polka-dot latte cup was inside! Surprise. So fun. You know who you are... and thank you again very much!

Until next time. . . I will be printing shapes on fabric with Inklingo and working on the COTSG Mystery. What are YOU up to?

Check out what others are doing: linking to Connie at Free Motion by the River.

Quilty Hugs,

NEW FABRIC CHOICES 4 COTSG Mystery

It's a woman's prerogative to change her mind, right? So I did.   Picked out some new fabrics for the COTSG Mystery from Linda Franz and Inklingo. All of these fabrics are more than 2 yards each. Yippee. What do you think... enough value, texture, color??

 

Because fabrics can look so different based on what they are next to, I rearranged the fabrics and took another picture.  I'm not so sure it made much difference with these fabrics. I'm hoping that's a good thing. *g*

Until next time. . . I am off to go run my fabrics through the laundry and then cut up some freezer paper. What are YOU up to??

Quilty Hugs,

COTSG: Choosing Fabrics & Fresh Lemons

For the new Inklingo mystery - Case Of The Secret Garden - we need a light, medium, dark, and an accent. This is what I have so far:

While mulling over my fabric choices I decided to go out and pick some lemons off my tree. It is so heavy with fruit that a couple of branches are threatening to break. I brought a basket full inside. Hmmm, the lemons smell so gooooooood! Next thing I knew I was making an apple/cranberry pie with lemon and almonds. Yummy. It just came out of the oven and the whole house smells delightful with cinnamon, nutmeg and fresh lemons. I wish you were here to smell it... we could enjoy some with a cuppa tea.

BTW, do you know the trick of getting the most juice from your lemons n limes? Put the lemon into the microwave for about 10 seconds! That's it. The peel is easier to zest and the juice just pours from it. Since I only needed a little juice for my pie, I used this little citrus juicer I made... way back in 1980! lol. But it's handy and easy to use. Do you have something a little ancient in your kitchen that you really enjoy using?

Until next time. . . I'm off to check out that cooling pie and dig through my stash a little more. What are YOU up to?

Quilty Hugs,

WHICH CENTER LOOKS BEST???

Finished FP-PPing the Twirly Dresden. Now it needs a center. Which one do you like best... the black or the mottled color?? BTW, I noticed something when taking the pics: by just rotating the color circle in the center, the whole thing looks different. Color and how it works just amazes me!

 

Just an FYI: if you ever tear your FP while you are working, don't despair. Tear off some bits of FP from scraps and press them on... works just like tape except better. Tape can gunk up one's iron.

Thanks again to Vicki for sharing her drawing. Please CLICK HERE to see Vicki's post and view her great drawing! Which, btw, she is kindly offering as a FREE download. Thanks, Vicki!

That's all for tonight. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you'll leave a comment about which circle you like best... I'm having trouble making up my mind and would appreciate your opinion. Thank you.  Until next time. . .

Quilty Hugs,

RAINBOW SCRAPPY SATURDAY13 - PURPLE!

Purple is a great color, don't cha think? I love it but must confess that I don't use it very often. Hmmm, I wonder why? Do you have colors that you like but don't seem to use? Maybe I have gotten too comfy with certain colors and have painted myself into a limited 'color box'. Sorry 'bout the pun; couldn't help it. lol

This block is PP'd using the FP-on-top method... one of my faves. I have some odd bits of batik in purple and black - hope I don't run out before the block is finished. The pic below shows the shape this block will take when complete. Vicki, of Quilting Lodge fame, is generously sharing her drawing with everyone. Check out Vicki's blog HERE to get your own copy. Thank you so much, Vicki!

Linky Party:  To see what others are up to with Purple this month,  have a visit with SoScrappy. Thank you, Angela for hosting this fun Challenge again this year!

Until next time. . . hope you enjoyed your little visit here and will return soon and often.  Now I'm off to bed for as Scarlett said,  "..tomorrow is another day."  Meanwhile... what are YOU up to this weekend?

Quilty Hugs,

YARN, HOOKS & FMQ CHALLENGE

Happy Saturday! It's a good day to finish up some more small projects. First up: another small afghan to line Missy's bed. I love these. Way easier to wash a few small afghans and quilts than to clean her beds! This one has a center of afghan stitch in variagated cotton, and the borders in various washable wool blends using hdc, dc, and final round of dc shells. The big deal with this project is what I used to create it. An antique hook that was hand-made by my Mother's Father. It was made about 1910. I came across this hook early last week while cleaning out some more boxes of my Mother's things. It called to me, so I grabbed a ball of cotton and proceeded to begin crocheting. You know how these things go, right? I've just been missing Mom a lot lately and using her hook was comforting.

 

Missy seems to like her new bed.

Note the awful interior corners of this afghan. I inadvertanly picked up an extra stitch for the corner when I began the borders. I didn't discover this error until I was finishing off the shell edging. Nope! Wasn't going to take it out... so it remains a little wonky looking. Missy doesn't seem to notice or care so it will stay this way.

Another afghan covered bed atop Missy's 'tree house' perch where she loves to lay in the morning because the sun streams in right on her bed... so warm.

I drew my first scribble this morning in preparation for the new FMQ Challenge 2013. Libby Lehman and the TQS has graciously offered Libby's Thread Play tute on their website and it is FREE to view for all of February! Big thanks to SewCalGal who is organizing this once again. Click over to her site... she has all the info listed including links. I learned so much last year. This year I plan to put more effort into the tutes that are offered every month. If you haven't checked this out yet, go have a look. It's super! Oh... and it's fun!

Until next time. . . I have a doodle-cloth to batt up so I can practice some FMQ. I still have those placemats to finish, but I need to "warm up" first. What are YOU up to?

Quilty Hugs,

NEW MYSTERY: Case of the Secret Garden

Linda Franz of Inklingo and Quilted Diamonds fame is launching a brand new mystery! This is the Case of the Secret Garden, or COTSG. It's going to be a lot of fun. It's just getting started. Clue #01 was posted yesterday and each new clue will be posted every Monday.  Hope you will join in. Clicking the button on the upper left side of this blog will take you to Linda's page where all the details are.

I'm off to go dig through my stash and decide on some fabrics! WOWZER... I only need FOUR fabrics: A light background, 1 medium, 1 dark, 1 accent. I can do this.

Until next time... I hope where ever you are you have loads of time to stitch something that makes your heart sing!

Quilty Hugs,

MUG RUGS: Great things come in small packages

Six friends and I decided to do a MugRug swap! Sew fun!! This is what I have received so far... definitely some very happy Happy Mail! Aren't they wonderful?!

I can't share the six different ones I made b/c not all recipients have received theirs and I don't want to spoil any surprises. I'll put pics up when the swap is over.

by: Marianna

By: Rosemary

By: RosaR

I love every single one of them! Thank you so much, ladies.

Until next time, I am off to my local sewing circle for a couple hours of stitching and chatting. What are YOU up to today?

Linking to Connie's Tuesday Linky Party: HERE

Quilty Hugs,

MOEBIUS IS DONE. . . Lace PATTERN given

Moebius cowl is done. I am pleased with how it turned out. Not so pleased with my self-taken pics! lol. What an old wrinkly neck!

As promised, here is the lace castoff [original patt from Barbara Abbey's lace book and tweaked by Elizabeth Zimmerman, and then me...]. Typed out below:
When garmet is at length/width desired, and right-side facing, cast on 5 stitches to left needle [I used a cable cast on, but a provisional cast on would work also and might be easier to weave the beg and end together... knitter's choice]. Remember you will be working back and forth on the 5 new caston stitches [pls the few increases] perpendicular to the edge of your knitting and gobbling up one stitch every other row [which in essence, casts them off]. Set up row: Knit the 5 stitches and turn work. [set up row is only worked ONCE and is required to get you to the proper end of the stitches as all ODD rows 1, 3, 5, 7 knit away from the work, and all EVEN rows 2, 4, 6, 8, work toward the work].
Row 1: Sl 1, K1, YO2, K2tog, K1. Turn [Slip ALL first stitches on all rows!]
Row 2: Sl1, K2, P1*,  [*this is from the double YO... careful don't lose the second loop], K1 , K2tog [the 2nd stitch will be from your project which will "cast it off"]. Turn
Row 3: Sl 1, K3, YO2, K2, turn
Row 4: Sl 1, K2, P1, K3, K2tog [one of edging and one of project]. turn
Row 5: Sl 1, K1, YO2, K2 tog, K4. turn
Row 6: Sl 1, K5, P1, K1, K2 tog. Turn
Row 7: Sl 1, K8. turn
Row 8: Cast off 4, K3, K2tog. [edging has returned back to 5 stitches at this point.] Turn and repeat rows 1 - 8 for pattern.
It is helpful if the number of stitches you have in your project that need to be casted off is divisible by 4... but a little fudging can make it all work out. I hope you enjoy making this lace edging.

Elly is the friend who found a pattern to make this cowl. Please go to Elly's blog --scroll down in her post to see her wonderful cowl...it is lovely!  Thank you, Elly! The pattern is also on Craftsy and Ravelry. I went to YT and watched Cat Bordhi's great vid on how to do the Moebius cast on. [the link is in former post]. After a few rows I decided I would do a lace castoff rather than the I-Cord castoff noted in the pattern. To set up for this, I added some eyelet "holes" during the last 9 rounds of cowl, so the lace edging would look more "planned". I hope you enjoy making one of these and that you will share a pic when you do.

And now back to our regular scheduled programming: quilting! lol. Until next time, what are YOU working on? I'm cutting a ton of batik strips from my stash.

Quilty Hugs,