Nice Things

I finished the first lapghan, and as you can see, it passes Moxie's comfort test, so that's a relief.


I used a pattern from July/August Crochet Today and Caron yarn. It's a big granny square with a pretty border. And I love working with this yarn. It's very easy going with it. My lapghan measures about 36 inches square. I have another pattern for the next one, which I'll begin tonight maybe. I also have a pattern for an easy quilt to make. If that goes quickly, I'll make another, and they'll be part of my donation parcel to the hospital.


I won a $25.00 gift certificate from Sew Mama Sew to their shop for the June Make It and Wear It event, and I am so happy about that. I don't often get a concrete reward for things I make, but it's nice when it happens.

This is a little make-up holder that's part of the Make a Bag sal that Kelly from MAKE is leading. Isn't it cute? I love the size, and I think it's a great idea for a small purse item. I need to adjust the inside pocket sizes to suit me, but I like that it's a space saver.


God Bless You.

Strawberry Lady, Dancers, and Birds

Yesterday I completed the June pattern for Sylvia's My Little Heart cross stitch along. It's a cute lady with a strawberry skirt. I love her flip. If you don't know what I'm referring to than you weren't around fifty years ago (it's her hair style.)

I visited my sister last week, and we went to Katrina and Brenna's dance recital. Great job, kids. (They are my sister's granddaughters.) They worked very hard, and it showed in the performances. We're always impressed with the dance recital because it is high caliber dancing and fun to watch. And the outfits are gorgeous. Anyway, while I was there I began to make a lapghan for the hospital, and I'm at this point:

On Friday I received the layer cake that I won from Darlene of Quilting Daze. It is Heritage from Moda's Collection for a Cause, and the fabric is so pretty. There are four pieces that have birds in them which are my favorites:



There are a shades of cherry, colonial blue, and lots of chocolate, tans and browns.




My plan is to make a quilt for my bed with this fabric. Thank you again, Darlene, for the great giveaway.

Also on Friday, I got this book from the library:

What I saw that I liked is the simplicity of the patchwork patterns, most of them anyway. The other thing I liked was that Lise Bergene used decorative machine stitching to quilt some of the items, mostly the smaller ones. I imagine the quilt sandwish would have to be relatively thin for it to work, but I am going to try it. I also liked the crow's feet hand quilting.

God Bless You!

New Top

I made this top today to enter into the SewMamaSew Make It and Wear It June Challenge. It just needs the hem done to be finished. I have already entered the patchwork bag I made with Kelly from em ay kay ee. This top really isn't loose and baggy. In fact, it fits close at the top, but it has wide sleeves and a gathered lower bodice so it seems voluminous in the pictures. I wanted to use three different prints, but after putting it together I left the third print off. It was going to hem the sleeves and bottom.





I used Simplicity pattern 2363. It's a dress pattern that I shortened to make the top. I laughed when I tried it on because it was as short as dresses I wore many moons ago. HA! Simplicity Creative Group - Misses' Day to Evening Dresses

God Bless You.

Crochet Soiree Entry

This is my entry into the June crochet along at Crochet Soiree:


I don't have alot of red, white and blue so now I have something, not that I need it. I enjoyed the crochet along and will watch for others.
This is my new stash of autumn and Christmas fabric. It's new to me even if the designs are from last year. I love the little skaters. And shades of burgundy are very pleasing to me, so I bought a bunch. When I finish all of the online projects I'm involved in right now, I'm going to start making autumn and winter things. It may be too soon for others, but not for me.

Thank you to Jenn from Patchwork Possibilities for the pretty items I won in her recent giveaway. They are a really nice set.

Happy Father's Day to all of our good fathers who mean so much to us. God Bless Them.
And God Bless You.

A Win and Some Fabric Choices

I won a layer cake of Moda's Collection for a Cure, Heritage, from Darlene of Quilt Daze. She had a four day giveaway to celebrate four years of blogging. I'm happy I learned of her giveaway because I am delighted with her blog. Her quilts are inspiring and awesome, to say the least. And you have to love the Wabbit Daze Gang. They are too cute! I looked up the Heritage fabrics, and they are right up my alley. Thanks, Nibbles and the Gang (and Darlene and Mr. Daze, too.)

I am joining Amy of Amy's Creative Side in her Sample Block quilt along. I picked out my fabrics from my stash, and I'm almost ready to go. I will use either these:

or these:

I would like to use this second set but I need eight fabrics and I only have seven. And I just bought some Christmas fabric so I don't want to run out to buy any. The first set is a good choice, too. I'll still look around to see if anything else will work with the second set.
I've been listening to Ross MacDonald's Lou Archer series. I am amazed at the similes he uses. I stopped in my tracks a few times at the genius of them. MacDonald writes about sex, but never with outright swearing or raunchiness. I much prefer that now.

God Bless.

Samples

Yesterday and today I've been crocheting for things to enter into the CAL at Crochet Soiree.I began with this hotpad:
I am making another to enter because the scallops should be beneath each other, not spiralling. I like the spiral effect, and I love the hot pad. It is double thickness, soft and pretty. The next one I make will follow the pattern exactly, but maybe in blue, or I'll reverse the red and white. Today I made this tea cozy: The other patterns are trim for dishcloths and doily coasters. I'll try all of the patterns and enter those that look the best. I need to practise the art of picture taking of these items. When I view posts by Bakerella and the like, the photography is amazing. I am not aiming for that caliber because I suspect there is a professional level of the art involved, but I would like to do better. So I am going to find out how.

I want to find a quilt shop or group in my area. Yesterday I did a search, and discovered two quilt shops that are relatively close that I didn't know existed. So tomorrow will be Adventure Monday. I am going to visit the closest one first and see what they offer. The other option I might have is if the community college or nearby university offer a summer course on quilting. If not, it's just me and the bloggers I follow.

God Bless You. And have a happy week.

Two Finishes

I appliqued hearts to the backing of the pinwheel quilt and added the binding, and it looks better. I need to finish sewing the binding, but I'm so close to the finish that It's done to me.

I also did the second session of the sew along making the bag, and I used it today. It passes my own personal tests of being light on my shoulder, easy to finds things, and easy to drop things into to free my hands when necessary. I probably would have made it an inch or two shorter, but for a summer bag, it's fine. I'll sew in a couple of snaps for security. I was just watching the Donna Dewberry Show during which she made a bag that I liked quite a bit. It has a flap over the top. The pattern is on her website supposedly, so I'll check it out and see if I want to make it.


I joined a crochet-along on Crochet Soiree on the Leisure Arts site. The only requirement is to make one of their free patterns in red, white, or blue or combinations of those colors. The patterns are for iced tea jackets that I love, a hotpad, and something else like that. So that's what I'm going to start next.

God Bless You.

Nice Giveaway at 44th Street Fabric

Click the post title to read about the giveaway going on at 44th Street Fabric. It's a fun kind of giveaway. I want all of the charm packs so I'm posting in order to get two extra entries.

I wanted to begin working on something for Christmas, and so this is what I got to start myself off. The panel is Tidings by Nancy Halvorsen for Benartex. I'm hoping inspiration will hit soon on just how to use it to best advantage. I love it.

The other item is a charm pack of Adoring by Sandy Gervais for Moda. I don't know what I'm going to do with that either, but I think the wreath quilt I saw on the Moda blog is a good candidate.

I joined Benartex Preview Club. It sounds like a good deal, and it will be something different from Joann's offerings.

I'm still working on the pinwheel quilt. I have some of the quilting done and the binding is all set to be sewn on. But I think the backing needs color (note to self: don't use white as a backing, at least not for a long time.) So I have been making hearts to applique to the back. I will handsew them on. I wish I could remember on whose blog I learned this tip, but I can't. But the tip was to sew a dryer sheet to the right side of the applique piece, cut a small hole in the dryer sheet for turning, press well after turning, and you're all set to sew it on. I'm not sure how many I will make, but this is what I've done so far.

The binding will add some color. I think if I make enough hearts I can do a kind of tumbling heart effect on the back. We'll see. (I fixed this. I originally typed stars, but meant hearts.)


I watch the DIYdish episodes and enter their giveaways. And yesterday it paid off. I received an email telling me I won some crochet patterns. I can't wait to see them.

God Bless You.

Another Giveaway at As Sweet As Cinnamon

Dawn at As Sweet As Cinnamon is also having a giveaway to celebrate her new blog header and name change. The header is delicious; you have to see it. I get a second entry to her giveaway for blogging about it, but if you visit her blog you will not be disappointed. It is so pretty. I wanted to mention that she blogs from Adelaide, Australia. Before I began my blog, I had very little Australian connection. I love the fellow on The Mentalist, for instance. Now I follow a few blogs from Australia because they are so talented and interesting.

God Bless!

Giveaway at Shakerwood Quilts

I visited a new blog today. Shakerwood Quilts is having a giveaway. I learned of it on Bejeweled Quilts by Barb so I thought I would see what it was about plus I loved the name of the blog. It is a lovely blog, and the prizes are beautiful and different. I would really love to win this giveaway, and I get an additional entry for blogging about it. Despite that, if you visit this blog you will enjoy the scenery, and you can enter the giveaway which ends on June 14th at 6 p.m.

Pretty Things All

A little story. We have to go back to the SewMamaSew giveaway a few weeks ago. As I mentioned previously, I did not win anything in the giveaway. But I did receive something from two of the bloggers I visited. You have already seen the owls I made from Carmen's pattern that she gave to everyone who commented on her blog. I also visited the blog, Flamingo Toes, and became a follower. Lo and behold, next day I received an email from Bev whose blog is Flamingo Toes. She told me I was her 100th follower, and asked me if I would like to receive one of her dishtowels as a gift. Of course I said yes. If you visited her blog during the giveaway event, you would have noticed the beautiful things she makes. Really, her prizes for the giveaway were gorgeous. Anyway, in today's mail I received the dishtowel Bev made for me. It is beautiful, as you can see. She has excellent taste in choosing the fabric and design, and she even made the bag she mailed it in (On her blog, http://www.flamingotoes.com, she mentions the tutorial she followed to make the mailer.) Thank you so much, Bev. I absolutely love it. I want everyone to visit your blog to see the charming things you make.

I am doing the Bag Sew Along that Kelly from the Make blog has organized (see the button on the left.) Our first session was to create the outside of the bag. This is mine. The nice thing about this Bag Sew Along is that we will be making coordinating accessories as well as the bag. I like that very much.

When I pulled my mail out of the mailbox today my July/August copy of Crochet Today was folded so that the outside cover was what faced me, and this is what I saw first.Is she cute or what? It's a Pomp-a-Poodle made with Red Heart's yarn that has pom poms in the strands. I had my doubts about that yarn when I first saw it, but I have now seen a few items made with it and everything looks good, so I will have to try it out. I've always wanted a poodle, so maybe this is how I will get one - HA.

God Bless.

A Tarnished Old Penny and Other Good Things

Guess what. Today while I was gardening in one part of the yard I found a one hundred year old penny. I wasn't even sure it was a coin when I picked it up, just that it was round and flat. I needed to use salt and vinegar to clean it up well enough to see the date, and it is clearly from 1910. I love it when I find little things in the yard, usually marbles from our growing up years. So I'm taking this as a lucky penny, something I really needed today.

Here are pictures of the pinwheel quilt which is in the sandwich stage.
I wanted to make things easy on myself so yesterday I went to Savers and bought a 100% cotton Ralph Lauren twin size white sheet (costing a steep $3.20) for the quilt back. After fitting it, I have leftover cotton, something else I love. So now I need to quilt the quilt. Magazine and online patterns all have the same instruction at the end of the making of the quilt top, and that instruction is "Quilt as desired." I don't know what I desire, as far as quilting a quilt goes. I've mentioned previously that I refer to Eleanor Burns' book It's "El"ementary for help when I'm stuck. The quilts in her book are wall hanging size for the most part. Her technique is to roll the quilt to the middle and begin outlining blocks from there for machine quilting with a walking foot. So I guess that is how I'll begin and see where it takes me.

I am at step five of the Erik Homemade Scrap Pile Clean Up Quilt, and this is what it looks like so far:

A few weeks ago I was wondering about my decision in making this quilt, and suddenly now I think it looks as if it has lots of potential. I like the dark and light contrast in this quilt. Hope it lives up to my hope for it.

This may sound funny, but I am yearning to shop for Christmas fabric and make something sweet with it. I very much liked the quilt shown recently on the Moda Bakeshop site that used Christmas fabric.

Today was the last day for pinching pierogies. Next week we make golabki. Week after that is the festival.

I learned that one of the local hospitals was requesting volunteers who crochet, knit or sew to make laprobes and shawls for the patients. Today I found out the specifics of what they need, and now I can begin to crochet some lapghans for them. I have done premie caps and blankets, but didn't think they needed adult items. I miss crocheting and will be happy to get back to it. During the recent quilt bloggers festival, it occurred to me that if it were a crochet bloggers festival, I could reach back into my afghan pile and pull out items I made in the 70's.

God Bless You.