Needleturn and a new sock...

I chose an easy needleturn applique project to practice with.

 I don't think it will ever be my favourite method of applique but I am determined to get more comfortable with it!

 

 

I had 2 charm packs so that will be perfect to do this cute Orange Peel quilt!

 

 

After doing a bit of reading, I realized I had never finger pressed when I had previously tried needleturn so I thought I should try it.

 

 

So far it seems to be working! Two and a half blocks are done! So far so good! I do not find this as fast as my usual freezer paper method but this is going to give me the ability to do ANY applique!

 

 

And I have a new tool for knitting...thanks to my Dad!

 

 

One sock done! My new yarn bowl is perfect, but I must admit, I do miss searching for that rolling ball of wool!

 

 

Happy Stitching!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More UFO's done!!!!

Despite being away for a week and working faithfully on my hand quilting, I have managed to get a couple small UFO's completed! This little quilt (just 22" square!) has been lying around just waiting for binding. I even had the binding cut out!!!

 

 

And I love this striped binding!

 

These next UFO's were two tote bags made from a small batik jelly roll! They are a perfect size!

 

 

It was a fun and easy bag pattern to make too!

 

 

 

 

 

And just because I like to have a pair of socks on the go...this pattern is Jaywalker Socks by Grumperina! I have made them before and really liked them. It's an easy pattern that doesn't require your complete attention! Just what I am looking for!

 

 

And now a hand quilting update...I am almost finished border #2. I am hoping by next weekend I'll have the last 2 sides marked and started. Yes...I will have it finished in time for the quilt show in Moose Jaw at the end of April!

 

Back to my UFO's!!! Happy Stitching!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quilting is Dangerous!

 

Last week I stuck a needle in my finger- right along the nail...OUCH! Well, after a few days it was really hurting and turning red all around.  Then it filled with pus. Yuck! (You probably didn't want to hear that part) It is not a good thing to try and hand quilt with an infected finger.

So while I wait for it to heal I have been keeping busy with other things.

 

I wound all my skeins of sock yarn into balls. I am ready to knit socks! Lots of socks!

I also took a bit of time in my sewing room with my flock of geese! All the 8 geese units are done. All that is left are 13 two-geese units...just 26 geese in all. By the time they are finished I will have made a total of 902 geese! Now that is a lot of geese.

 

 

I am close to having a working finger again so it won't be long before I'm hand quilting again!

 

And last but certainly not least, I want to show off what my wonderful brother made for me....

 

A coffee scoop and...

 

 

...a new pen!

 

 

Thanks!

 

Happy Stitching!

It's Time for Bed!

I love my ugly bed socks! Not everyone thinks they are ugly though...my Dad said they weren't that bad. I wondered, "If they fit him, would I have to fight him for them?" Luckily his feet are slightly larger than my big feet so I didn't have to worry about that!

The best thing is they slip off really easily so they are perfect for sleeping.

I have also been busy sewing my Wild Goose Chase blocks.

5 more done...

I am up to 13 blocks- that is more than 1/2 done (not including the sashing).

I have been using one of my favourite gadgets for this project- a sandpaper board.

While I am marking my lines, it helps to keep the fabric from moving.

 My Dad made this one for me. Pretty great Dad, eh?

Maybe I'll be making a pair of socks for him next!

Happy Stitching!

Still Quilting...

My hexagons are slowly getting quilted but I find I have spent so many hours working on it already that I can only quilt for an hour and a half or so and I need to do something else.

So I have a couple of something else's I have been doing.

First I finished another pair of socks. Can a person have too many hand knit socks? These were the Spring Forward socks from the Summer 2008 Knitty. And yes, I did make 2 of them!

When I finished them I went into my yarn box and discovered many small scrap balls of sock yarn. I have been wanting to make another pair of bed socks so what better to use...

And here is the first ugly sock all done and the next sock started. They are going to be easy to take off in the middle of the night when my feet get too hot! And the best thing is that I'll only see how ugly they are when I put them on.

And yes, I needed to start a new quilt. I had been eyeing this Wild Geese Quilt from the Bloomin Workshop and then saw a couple similar quilts in a magazine and online somewhere (of course I couldn't find it again!). I figured it was meant to be! I love the setting. The wild goose chase block is so often set on the diagonal and that's ok too, but I really like this setting.

So far 8 blocks are done - many geese left to make including all the sashing!

And 2 are on my little design wall that is behind my sewing machine.

I'll be making 25 blocks set 5x5 and it is going to be perfect on my bed!

While I am asking questions, how many bed quilts is too many? Is it ok to make one for every month?

Happy Stitching!

I'm in Love!

It has been a long time since I felt the stirrings of love....no it's not a person who has captured my heart but a quilt...a beautiful, beautiful quilt that I can't seem to stop touching. My Wagon Wheel quilt top is finished!

I spent my days off this week working away at it and as usual it always takes longer when you are excited to see it finished! And now I have a long wait until the hand quilting starts. It will be October before I get to basting it and in the meantime I will be looking for a quilting design worthy of such love. I am thinking feathers....

And love has struck twice this week ( busy week!). I finished my socks I've been knitting and when I tried them on they felt amazing.

 I can't wait until winter sets in so I can start wearing them. It is a little warm right now for wool socks! This pattern is Embossed Leaves by Mona Schmidt from the book 'Favorite Socks'.

I think I'll put away my knitting for a bit ( it's my in front of the TV thing to do) and pick up my hexagon quilt that I am hand stitching. More on that later...

Happy Stitching!

Summer Interrupted Me!

I've been busy enjoying summer pursuits...gardening and margarita's! (Not together!) I finally decided to take some time and get back to working on my wagon wheel quilt.

This morning I was back into my sewing room for a while at least. The heat drove me out of my attic space by early afternoon. It was almost 31 degrees C (close to 90 degrees F) when I finally took refuge in the air-conditioned downstairs!

Despite the heat, I managed to get 3 more blocks done today, making it 9 more blocks since I last blogged!

I have 15 blocks out of 25 completed! I am loving this quilt and I find myself really thinking about how I would like to quilt it. All I've decided for sure is that it will hand quilted.

In the evenings, I have been knitting socks...I have no idea why since I can't wear them in the summer. (I know this for sure because I tried one on to take a picture and it was HOT!)

This is Dead Simple Lace Socks from the book Socks from the Toe Up by Wendy D. Johnson.

I really enjoy toe up socks, especially when I am using smaller balls of wool like the Kroy Socks FX. It has a lot less yardage than many sock wools and I find it preferable to run out of wool on the leg rather than half way down the foot.

Here is a bit of a close up..

Hopefully I'll back up to my sewing room again soon....

Happy Stitching!

Inspired!

I finished 4 more blocks this week for my Wagon Wheel quilt! I am up to 6 blocks! Just 19 more to make enough blocks to make this quilt big enough for my bed!

After becoming smitten with this quilt I decided to cut out all my pieces I needed to make all my blocks.

Now I am ready to sew!

At night, in front of the TV, I have been mostly knitting. I finished another pair of socks this week.

These Hedgerow Socks are a pattern I have been wanting to knit for quite a while. They fit great but I'll have to wait for several months before it is cold enough to actually wear them!

One great feature that I love in this pattern is that the pattern goes straight down to the bottom of the heel!

I'll have to get another pair of socks started this week so I can use up a bit more of my stash!

But for today I am hoping to get a couple of more blocks done for my quilt!

Happy Stitching!

Triangle Exchange

I finally have started the tree of life quilt using the friendship triangle exchange triangles! Here is one block done. Twelve to go! I always try to make one complete block before starting...just to make sure.

After this was done I got started making the trunk sections.

Just one thing about this method of making 1/2 square triangles...it is not my favourite way to make them. (It is a good way for an exchange with friends though) They are ok but they are all not exact. Just small variations in cutting and sewing makes them all slightly different sizes. It is still easy to make them all fit together but I prefer sewing together slightly larger triangles, pressing the seam open and trimming to size. Then they are exact.

And I finally got the socks off my knitting needles. They fit wonderfully and the wool is so soft.

The pattern is from the book Sock Innovation and the pattern is Wanida. The wool is Lorna's Laces.

And finally I am slowly making progress on my big stitched churn dash quilt. I am almost done the centre. I will soon be doing the outside edges. So close! I am so excited but I know from experience the edge always takes longer than you think it will. I'll have some pictures the next time I post.

Happy Stitching!

One quilt done!

I finished binding the quilt I wanted for my bed. Two more quilts to go! This one is a history of my 20 years of quilting so every time I look at it I think...'I used that fabric in a quilt I made for ...' I realized I have made A LOT of quilts for people I care about.

I am enjoying the memories!

And to feed my current sock knitting addiction, I started a new pair of socks.

I'll give all the details and a better picture when I am done the pair!

This weekend I am hoping to finish a little spring quilt in the hopes that it will please the weather gods and spring will make it's way here!

Happy Stitching!

What a Productive Week!

I have no idea where it came from, but it happened! I got things done and what a great feeling it is!

I had been knitting at the beginning of last week. I finished the Diagonal Lace Socks I started at Christmas and the Hemlock Ring Throw I started just two weeks ago!

A close up...can you see the different shading? Sometimes hand dyed wool drives me crazy! But it was so soft and my feet will love them!

I went from my smallest needles (2mm) up to 6.5mm for the throw.

No wonder it took just over a week to knit! It took less knitting time than the socks did!

And yes it is my prerogative to change my mind about the miniature double wedding ring fabrics. Now those beautiful greys and taupes are going to find their way into a mini pineapple (3" blocks) and because I have gone pineapple crazy I am going to make a scrap one with 2" blocks.

And I FINISHED piecing my "History of Ann" 9 patch scrap quilt! Here is a sneak peek of it on the ironing board. Once it is quilted is is going straight onto my bed! I can hardly wait.

And still there is more to tell...

I spent yesterday on my hands and knees basting this quilt. I am 'big stitching' it so I hope it won't take me forever to get it done.

And finally in my mail box this week, a new book and I am in trouble because I need to make every quilt in the book. The question is, which do I do first?

So now I am off to clean up my sewing room before starting something new.

Happy Stitching!

It's Sock Season!

Along with quilting I also love to knit! I haven't touched a knitting needle since February but with winter on the way I suddenly felt the urge to get working on a pair of socks! As I was sorting my sock yarn, I realized I had enough for 11 pairs plus a few more pairs of thicker socks. I know there are MUCH bigger sock yarn stashes than this, but for me it is a lot.

That will keep me going in socks for a while! But I still find myself browsing online for more. So far I have resisted. Do you think I may have a sickness?

So here is my first pair for this year...I made them to fit me but I have enough so I think I'll be passing these on to someone who might enjoy them for the winter. Although you can't see them well because of the striped wool, they have a diagonal pattern. Want to make them? Find them on Ravelry...they are called Anastasia Socks.

I have already begun pair #2. These ones ( also from Ravelry) are No Purl Monkey Socks. I don't normally make the same socks twice but this pattern is an easy knit for a striped yarn that won't show much pattern.

Maybe socks will end up being this years Christmas gifts!

Happy stitching!