WIP Wednesday

This is the first Wednesday in about a month that I haven't had places to be, so I really enjoyed staying home and playing with my scraps. I was able to finish all the blocks for my Hugs and Kisses quilt. You can see the pattern here and can see that I put my own spin on this great pattern by Jaybird Quilts.

This will finish about 60" square and I was able to incorporate lots of novelty fabrics (I LOVE novelty fabrics) along with my stash of brights.

"Making" the fabric for this quilt was such fun that I couldn't wait to start another quilt. I assembled these two slabs - each is 8 1/2" inches wide and one is about 10 inches long and the other about 13 inches long.

I thought if I made chunks like this it would be easier to assemble a long strip for a full size quilt. Right now my plan is to do a strippy quilt with a bright dotty yellow fabric in between the "made" fabric, but that is certainly subject to change depending on my whims.

I'm linking this up with Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday - you can see it here.

Oh it was a very nice sewing day!
Happy stitching-
carol fun

Bright bright bright on Design Wall Monday

So I was going to start a new project when I stumbled across a basket with these blocks in it. It is so old it seems new all over again and boy is is BRIGHT BRIGHT BRIGHT! (Click to make it bigger and it is retina burning - LOL!)

Now I started with this pattern, Hugs and Kisses, by Jaybird Quilts.

True to form I took what is an easy design if you follow her pattern, and turned it into something more complicated and time consuming - oh I am sooooo good at that - LOL! Instead of using 2 1/2" strips I used fabrics of various widths and even pieced some tiny little bits together. It was fun but it takes time. Then because I wanted to use that sky fabric I didn't want to have seams running through it so I ended up making my own template and insetting it. Again another more time consuming step, but I do love the effect. It is kinda like you are looking through the Xs and out a window. Originally I planned to make this a lot bigger, but now I'm going to add two more rows to this and call it done. I already have enough parts cut and sewn together to assemble more than the 10 blocks I need. Should be an easy finish.... famous last words...we'll have to wait and see.

Here's some of the novelty fabrics I've gotten to play with...dragons, cats, mice and lady bugs - along with polka dots, checks and stripes  - yikes!

Oh look closely - there is a tiny polka dot chicken  not far from some sliced green peppers.

And last but not least my favorite swine - an oldie but goodie from KP Kids - oh I love them!

Hope to have some sewing time today, tomorrow and Wednesday. So far my calendar isn't too crazy and I certainly like that.

Happy stitching-
carol fun

Some Sunday Stitching

I have no business starting a new cross stitch piece as there are many UFOs within sight of my stitching chair, but I could not resist this sampler. This is the most recent release from Blackbird Designs Loose Feathers - Abecedarian Series. There is something about those giant birds and blooms that needed to be started - TODAY!

I'm using the suggested linen - 30 ct. Sheep's Straw from R & R Reproductions along with the suggested threads.  If you stitch this piece be aware that there is an error in the chart - that mega-sized bird that I just stitched is suppose to be done in GA Toasted Barley, not GA Otter Creek. Glad I found that out beforehand.  Oh how I love a BBD sampler! Always so quirky.

This is the 9th piece in the series and is called Rosy Morning.

I've been receiving these patterns  as an automatic order from a great shop in Pennsylvania, The Strawberry Sampler since last year. So far all I've completed is the first release. Numbers 2 through 8 are also wonderful but this one called my name loudly!!! Stitch me... stitch me!! I know - you aren't suppose to listen to the voices. I'm not crazy... I'm sure if my mother had the chance she would have had me tested - LOL! Anyway I am thoroughly enjoying sitting here stitching and enjoying this glorious weather -- temps above normal and lots of sunshine.

Hope your day is sunny too!

Happy stitching-
carol fun

Spring has sprung!!!

I've seen a robin on my lawn, my neighbor's dogwood is in bloom, I've heard two lawn mowers...I think Spring has finally sprung outside and I know it has sprung inside my home. I'm enjoying finding new spots for old pieces of decor. The shelving unit in my living room is one of my favorite pieces to decorate and it is filled with Spring-y Easter stuff.

The top shelf is filled with some pretty china and that cute ceramic bunny dish. I just finished that garland of Easter eggs yesterday - every one is a different pattern - I love that!

The next shelf includes a mercury glass duck that I picked up years ago at Hobby Lobby sitting atop my latest cake stand purchase at Homegoods. I am amassing quite a collection of cake stands. I find the colorful ones impossible to resist - LOL! I have my newest sampler from Lizzie Kate. love that purple-y blue frame and a couple of egg cups... and that little chicken I tuck in here or there in every display I make.

A bit more Easter decor, most of which also came from Hobby Lobby years ago... a paper mache bunny head, some glass carrots and my favorite egg cup - the one with bunny slippers.

Here I found a spot for a few more pieces on my yellow table. Recently my older son pointed out that this table is actually just an oversized cake stand and I hadn't seen it before but he is so right. So this is another one for my collection - see I told you the collection was growing quickly.

I'm using the back of the couch as a quilt rack. This pansy quilt is one of my all time favorite quilts. I love pansies and each one in this quilt is made with a different combination of fabrics. I made good use of my stash of yellows with this one.

And last but not least this Spring-y quilt. I love how that yellow seems to glow against the taupe walls. This is a old fabric collection from Kate Spain called Verna and the pattern is from Fig Tree Quilts called Jam & Jelly. You can see it here.

All in all I am very happy with how my home looks this season. I'm already thinking about how I want to decorate for Summer - this is so much fun!

Happy stitching-
carol fun

Off and on the needles

I got in some knitting time this week and a pair of socks is now off my needles.

This is Regia yarn from the Design Line Garden Effects collection. You can see it here. I love the colors in these socks. It reminds me of a desert sunset. This is my basic vanilla stockinette sock with a random row of purls tossed in here and there. I guess that makes it a bit more than vanilla...more like vanilla with a bit of chocolate swirl... yeah that's more like it.

As for the Cladonia shawl it is coming along nicely.

I'm almost up to the lace part but boy are those rows getting long. There will be a total of 228 stitches on the needles when I get to the lace and I'm up to about 200 stitches. Now I need to go root through my stash for some nice green for the contrast trim before the lace.

Happy knitting -
carol fun

A finish and a bit of decorating

Well the week is off to a good start if you ignore the weather - too bad ignoring the weather doesn't make it stop raining - ugh! Anyway I finished a little quilt and I love how it turned out. Just like the picture I had in my head. Love when that happens.

This is a Schnibble called Hat Trick - you can see it here. I used the Basic Grey collection PB & J paired with some Basic Grey Grunge in a yellow and red. LOVE that Grunge fabric! Now my friend Kathy quilted this in exchange for me knitting her one of those Urban Lace Infinity cowls I'm so fond of. I really love swapping like this and hope to do it again. She did a lovely job on this using a pretty golden yellow thread and some cute octopus-like flowers. It is hard to see it pictures but she also included my name in the border. My name, Carol, is quilted twice on each side in that alphabet print - how cool is that?? VERY!!!

So after getting the binding on last night in time to take it to Show N Tell at the guild meeting I knew just where I wanted to display this.

I got this idea from a blog post by Lori Holt of Bee in my Bonnet. I thought it was a great way to display multiple quilts in a small space. This is the entry to my storage room off my sewing studio. You see it as you come down the stairs into the basement. Very welcoming I think!

To hang the quilts I sewed a little triangular pocket into the corner of the quilt.

And I lucked out when I saw this over the door hanger at the dollar spot at Target. Actually I think I may have paid $2 or $3 for it but it was worth it. Love the curvy shape and it was yellow. How could I not buy it? LOL

So I hope to start working on a new project today...yes there are a few, couple, several, okay a whole lot of already started projects but I just feel like starting something new, and that's what I'm going do!

Happy stitching-
carol fun

Checking in...

Well I didn't expect to be gone this long again, but the week got busy busy busy. Some of it was productive, I got the storage room almost whipped into shape and cleared some more stuff out of the garage. And some was social, I had a lot of visitors and that was so much fun.

On the knitting front, I started a new shawl. This pattern is Cladonia and this is the third shawl I've made with this pattern. You can see it here.

The white yarn is a  Cascade Heritage Sock yarn. The variegated yellow is from Jwrayco and is called Flowers on the Beach. Both were in my stash and I rediscovered them when I was reorganizing last week.

I think I will add some goldy green as an accent on the lace  edge part when I get that far.


On the social front I was surprised with several wonderful gifts.  On Monday I returned home from doing errands to find this box on my doorstep, Pretty box and bow!

And inside there were SEVEN skeins of that Amazing yarn that I love so much. I see more cowls in my future and maybe a shawl or two.  THANK YOU Mary Ann!  It made my day!

And on Tuesday  my BFF Stephie showed up to go to lunch with a goodie bag for me.  Inside I found this adorable chicken timer and a spatula with a chicken perched on the end.

But the chicken I love the best is the one that now lives in my kitchen sink.

Isn't this a hoot??  Twice this week someone has gone to put something in the sink and has been surprised to see this little chick.  It makes me smile every time I turn on the water.

So I'm hoping to get some sewing and stitching done this weekend. I haven't spent any quality time with my Juki in almost 2 weeks. I miss it!

Happy stitching... and knitting!

carol fun