Monday, March 28, 2016

A fairly speedy finish on Design Wall Monday...

This is one of the fastest quilt tops I've ever put together... and if I hadn't gotten sick it would have been done even quicker!


The pattern called "Hi Again" came from the March/April edition of Fons&Porter's Quilting Quickly which looks like this...


The fabrics are a properly aged collection called Boho Chic by Urban Chiks... I think it was released about 2013. I love the big bold prints.


I will be making this quilt pattern again... I've already got another layer cake in mind...and tomorrow this is going off the the long arm quilter...yeah!

I have another project I should work on , but there are several other patterns calling my name...we'll see which project win.

I'm linking up with the Patchwork Times today...take a minute and check out what everyone else is up to.

happy stitching-
carol fun


Sunday, March 27, 2016

Hippity hoppity happy Easter...

It is a lovely day here in my little corner of the world...peaceful and quiet for the moment. My roast is in the oven and all of my other dishes are prepped and ready to serve... we are dining at 3pm at my son and daughter-in-law's home and her family is joining us...it will be wonderful! Hope you are having a wonderful day too!

In searching the internet for a vintage Easter image I came across this... a chicken riding a bicycle pulling a cart of color eggs... and if that doesn't say Happy Easter I don't know what does...LOL!


And I do have some stitching to share for Slow Stitching Sunday...



This is Prairie Schooler April one of the monthly charts they designed. I have always loved these pieces and when I heard that the gals from Prairie Schooler were retiring I scoured the internet and purchased all 12 of them. But I was at a loss as to how to display/finish them. And then I saw this on Priscilla's blog...


OMG... this is perfect... she shows you how she altered this stand from Michael's and how you will be able to change out the months...this is the answer to my dilemma. Since I already had the charts I started stitching and then I ran to Micheal's to pick up one of these stands... on which I was able to use a 40% off coupon...score! Now I'm not certain I will have April done by the beginning of April but I should make it before April is over. And then I think I'll skip ahead another month or two... this is going to be a long term project but I know I will be happy happy happy with the results.

I'm stitching this on a 32 count linen I had in my stash... I don't think I'll go as dark with the next chart...but I do like the idea of using different linens for different months. I'm linking up with Kathy's Quilts today and Super Mom - No Cape on Monday.

Now off to check my roast... it smells tasty!

Happy Easter!
carol fun

Friday, March 25, 2016

I'm coughing so I still must be alive...

So about 2 weeks ago I was introduced to some nasty little virus that has laid me low. First the aches, then the chills, the stuffy head, and the coup de grace...the cough...I have NEVER coughed so long and so hard in my life. If it was physically possible to cough up a lung mine would be sitting next to me in my easy chair. I went to an urgent care clinic which was a depressing visit, as I was told that since it is a virus, antibiotics wouldn't help...and oh that cough may last SIX WEEKS!!!! I am at 2 weeks now...it is a little better but it is still there. Today is the first day I've felt that I could go without the over the counter medication...so far so good...but the cough is still here.

Now the constant coughing hasn't lent itself to extreme productivity  in the crafty realm, but I did get some knitting done...mindless sock knitting...oh how I LOVE you...you've kept me sane. First I finished off my Opal Frankensocks...as I remember there are at least 5 or 6 different skeins of Opal in this pair.


The toes and heels are a yellow ombre Austermann and I just got lucky that the colors repeated in the same fashion on both socks...no adjustments were made by me as I was not capable of that kind of higher level thinking. I think they are nice happy Easter socks which is a tradition from my childhood that I hold near and dear.

My sainted Grandma always gave me socks for Easter...the kind with the frilly lace around the ankle or pretty contrasting colors...very feminine and they made me feel wonderful. Also to add to the gift she would put a silver dollar... a real silver dollar in the toe... I don't know why she did it but I saved them and they are in a safety deposit box. I suppose it was her way of spoiling me and I hope to be able to do the same for my future grandchildren. Do you have any Easter traditions to spoil grandchildren with? I'm stockpiling ideas!

Also I started another pair of the two alternating yarns socks. These are DROPS Fabel 677 and 910... you can see them here.



I don't think I'll ever tire of this vanilla sock knitting variation. You have NO idea what the sock is going to look like and no two socks are going to be the same. These greens and blues with a touch of beige  are lovely together.  I have a ton of this yarn in my stash and can't wait to try out other combinations.

So are you prepped and ready for Easter?  We are doing dinner mid-afternoon at my son and daughter-in-law's home... a mere two blocks from my house. Now the weather is lovely and I could walk but I'm bringing several dishes and don't want to stumble on my way over so I'll drive. Can't wait to make some deviled eggs and have the opportunity to use my Fiestaware egg plate... there aren't enough occasions to use it to suit me...LOL!  I did all my grocery shopping yesterday evening and hopefully I haven't forgotten anything so I won't have to deal with the crowds. I went past the Honeybaked Ham store today and the traffic trying to get in and out of the parking lot made me happy that I had been there yesterday. Oh I'm so smart...every once in a while...LOL!

Well I'm going to enjoy the sunny afternoon, still a bit chilly but temps are going back up tomorrow. Maybe I'll knit a bit or cross stitch or take a little nap...



I'm sure the master can give me tips on how to do it right!

happy stitching and knitting -
carol fun

Monday, March 14, 2016

No sooner were the words out of my mouth....

then BAM!!! I was sick! I was just saying last week how I had gotten through the winter without a cold or the flu... and then Thursday night rolled around and I was hit like a ton of bricks. Chills, achy-ness and a cough that would not stop. I've coughed so long and so hard that my abs hurt... and I don't have abs. I dragged myself through some obligations on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and as the afternoon is upon on Monday I'm beginning to feel better. I don't know what this was... it didn't seem like a cold as I didn't have any respiratory symptoms  and it didn't seem like the flu as I wasn't nauseous...but it has lasted waaayy too long.



The sunshine and my daffodils have definitely perked me up. I worked in my yard a bit today. I pruned or maybe butchered my rose bushes. I have read that you are suppose to cut them back to 18" but I find it very hard to cut back stuff that has some new growth. Perhaps I should have gotten to this sooner but I'm keeping the faith that I'll have lovely roses later. If nothing else I've postponed the luncheon buffet for the deer and that will be okay too, and it made my day when a neighbor stopped their car and told me how pretty my flowers looked. I LOVE my neighborhood!


So before I got sick I was distracted by a squirrel in my sewing room and sewed up these 18 blocks.



The pattern is called Hi Again and I found in in the March/April edition of Fons & Porter's Quilting Quickly. You can see the cover here. The quilts are made with pre-cuts and there are several I'd like to make. This one is super easy. Now my layer cake is from 2013, it is the Boho Chic collection by Urban Chics... you can see the whole line here. I've done other quilts with their fabrics and I like how this pattern really shows off the big prints.



This is my favorite print...yellow tulips!!


I plan on making 36 blocks and adding little taupe cornerstones... simple...and kinda modern looking. I think it will look great draped over the couch in my living room. Hopefully my energy will return and I will attend to this quilt and several others that require my attention. I do know I won't be making any further statements about the status of my health... I think I just jinxed myself.

Hope you are feeling well and that you and I have a productive week!

happy stitching-
carol fun


Tuesday, March 8, 2016

My day with Bonnie Hunter...

Yesterday I took a workshop with the Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville fame... we have been waiting for her visit to our guild for the last 2 years... yes you have to book her that far in advance... she's popular! Very popular!!  The workshop was Sister's Choice and I showed the two blocks I had done prior to the workshop and here's what I got accomplished yesterday.... 4 more blocks for a grand total of 6... I plan to make 25... I have a ways to go yet.


The prints are Tucker Prairie by One Canoe Two and the black and white prints are from my stash with a heavy emphasis on novelty prints.


Those star points are reading orange, but in real life they are a lovely coral color.


I have all the pieces cut for these blocks... but other projects beckon at the moment.

Here is a picture of what was accomplished by about 45 quilters in a couple of hours....


So many different fabrics and design choices.  Bonnie mentioned that  one might think that my black and white prints would be too busy for this block... a thought I had when I made the first one... but my choice of the more solid reading fabrics for the star points made it work...ooooohhh... such a nice thing to say.

You can see more of the workshop in Bonnie's blog post today. I'm one of the quilters in the first picture... the redhead in the upper right corner in the orange sweater.  I'm also in one of the pictures on her Facebook posts... this one....  short plump one in the dotty orange sweater. Honestly I wasn't trying to photobomb every picture... in fact I spent more time chit chatting and goofing off than I spent sewing. It was a good workshop but I'm not a good workshop taker... I'm that problem student... the one who's focus wanders...who talks too much... who goofs off... been that way ALL my life. I still say a prayer  every night for the nuns that put up with me.

In the evening Bonnie gave a lecture to the guild and if you look at the album of pictures either on FB or her website you can see we had a great turnout...and I even saw the back of my head in one of those pictures...boy I was everywhere. Bonnie talked about her system of organizing your scraps and Leaders & Enders. I applaud her system for its structure and cost savings but.... it is not for me... I'm too crazy and scatterbrained... I blame it on my Italian heritage and getting hit in the head too many times with a softball... I was a terrible player.

Anyway her quilts were wonderful...so many many many many pieces... pretty much the antithesis of how I sew these days. Give me a pre-cut and let me do as little further cutting as possible and I'm happy. I have about one really scrappy quilt a year in me right now. Last year it was that Go 4 It quilt... this year... I don't know yet.  I did order a String Fling 2 book from Bonnie ...there is a quilt in it I like.... not sure I'll make it as big as she did but I do have some scraps I could use. Right now I have them sorted in my newest purchase from Hobby Lobby...


It isn't real deep or tall but it sure holds a lot of bits and bobs. I have it sitting right behind my sewing chair so I can just reach around an grab some scraps. Stay tuned for how this turns out. Oh I found another cool link up site... She Can Quilt... you can see it here ... I'm linking up with them today and spending some time seeing what everyone else is working on. I'm always open to new ideas...but sometimes the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. I'll ogle other people's scrappy projects and see what trouble I can get into.

happy stitching-

carol fun

Sunday, March 6, 2016

A little of this and a little of that on Slow Stitching Sunday...

The sun is shining... and that is a good thing... it puts me in a more energetic mood and right now I need all the energy I can get. Lots of stuff that needs to be done. But first I'll show something that is finished...


this is, as it states in the middle of the piece...SPRING... it is from the Lizzie Kate chart entitled Seasons #171 which you can see here. So far I've stitched Summer and Spring and I've got an idea for how to display these little gems where I can change them out seasonally. Check back with me on that... in a week or so... and now that I look at the picture I see I'm missing a border at the bottom...oh well, it shouldn't take long to fix.

I can do it while I'm watching Downton Abbey tonight. Yes I did already watch the last episode on DVD...twice...but I'm going to watch it again and probably cry again.  In my humble opinion, it comes to very nice ending... not everything is wrapped up. I read somewhere, I think Julian Fellowes might have said it... the lives of the characters go on, the camera just moves away.  I've also read that there is a plan for a movie...oh I hope so!

And as I'm writing this post, I'm baking some cookies for dessert tonight,,,don't be impressed, they are the break n' bake kind from the grocery... and I put the meatballs in for dinner. And I've been prepping my stuff for the Bonnie Hunter workshop I'm taking tomorrow.

Here's what my blocks will look like...


the class is Sister's Choice and while Bonnie probably has some tricks or ideas for putting it together, I'm walking my own path. I 'm using the Corner Clipper Ruler for the star points and I'm using a jelly roll... Tucker Prairie by One Canoe Two... instead of all scraps.  I have gone with a variety of black on white prints for the background pieces. My plan is is sash these blocks with white on black fabrics (I have a stash of those too and they need to be used) and the cornerstones will be whatever is left over from 9 patch blocks.

According to my calculations... and we all know my math skills are minimal, right?? You could conceivably get something like 37 blocks from one jelly roll. I'm not up to making that many blocks. I'm planning on 25 blocks and maybe a border... a nice throw sized quilt.

Most of the time I don't come up with a name for my quilts until I'm standing in line at the guild meeting to share at Show N Tell, but this time the name already came to me. "I don't have a sister, and these choices are ALL mine!"  That sums it up nicely, dontcha think?

Well I'll link up today with Kathy's Quilts and tomorrow with Super Mom - No Cape on Monday. I hope to post something tomorrow from the workshop on Instagram... you can check me out here.  My name on Instagram is carolfun53.

Hope you are having a nice Sunday afternoon!
happy stitching-
carol fun

Saturday, March 5, 2016

A day late...

and probably more than a dollar short! Oh well... I had every intention of posting yesterday but somehow it just zipped by me. This week I've been knitting a bit and I've finished one pair of socks that has been hanging around for a while.


This is another of my version of the ragrug socks. I alternated every round...one turquoise...one orange. I don't know why this is so satisfying but it is. Not knowing what is going to appear keeps me mesmerized...LOL... if I was at one of those hypnotist shows I'd probably be the person clucking like a chicken at the mere suggestion!  Anyway, the turquoise is Drops Fable 340 and the orange is Regia Color 120. As these were both in my stash I consider these FREE socks.

And speaking of FREE socks... I started this pair...


These are bits and bobs of leftover Opal sock yarn. I think I've used 5 different skeins here. The heels and toes are an Austermann ombre yellow/orange. Again all of this yarn was in my stash so they are FREE socks!. With these socks I'm not alternating every round, instead I'm knitting lots of rows before I break the yarn and start a new one. Sometimes I'm knitting 5 or 6 rounds, sometimes as many as 20. I'm just keeping and eye out that I'm not repeating a pattern. Again these are flying off the needles as I'm entranced by what is happening.  I started the first sock a week ago and I think it only took about 5 days. Fast for me, but I did have a bit of car sitting time to work on it. I can't wait to finish this pair and start another scrappy sock!

Well I've got a lot of stuff to do in the next week. Monday I'm taking a class with Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville and no, I don't have all my stuff ready yet.  And I have family for dinner tomorrow evening... making meatballs... a favorite!The usual running around in the week and tickets for a comedy show to attend on the weekend.

Oh... and before I forget Nordic Mart is having a sale on the Drops Fabel yarn that I love so much... you can see it here.  Great prices...and even though I have a healthy stash of this yarn I may have to add a few more skeins... can't pass up a bargain!

Today is gray and cold and yucky... they are promising a change for the better starting tomorrow and even tease of temps in the 70's by mid week... oh I hope they are right... come on SPRING!!!

happy stitching-
carol fun