February Edition of the Christmas Quilt Along Second Post

For me, this is one of those days that isn't going smoothly.  I got up late and wanted to join in the qal so I hurried to get something going.  I have made my little block, but it looks a little wonky.  That's okay, because when it's quilted it will be beautiful!  I don't intend to use it as an ornament, but to incorporate it into a mug rug or pin keep, something like that.

I'll be making another block reversing the colors.   I also have some cross stitch quilt block patterns that I want to make.  And I received the pattern for the first star block so I will enjoy putting it together this week. 

I'm stopping now for tea and to visit the other blogs.  I do have a recipe to share.  These are ricotta cookies.  I made them to use up ricotta, but they are so good, I'll be making them again.  They are not very sweet, but they can be iced, frosted, whatever you would like.  The link for the recipe is http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Ricotta-Cheese-Cookies/Detail.aspx

One more thing I want to mention is that Linda from Stray Stitches http://straystitches1.blogspot.com/  is having a Think Spring giveaway of some lovely floral fabric in joyful colors.  The winner will be posted on February 21.   You'll enjoy Linda's blog posts so be sure to visit.

God Bless You.

February Edition of the Christmas Quilt Along

The Christmas Quilt Along that Sue of Quilt Times http://www.quilttimes.blogspot.com/  hosted last year was so successful that she has teamed up with Cathi of Shakerwood Quilts http://www.shakerwoodquilts.blogspot.com/  to host the qal every month starting today.  I really haven't planned my Christmas items yet, but Sue and Cathi designed a beautiful star quilt to share with those who participate in the qal.  So, I will sign in and get my first block today.  But while my computer was warming up I did get to start a small quilt block ornament that I  wanted to make.

I'm making the block on the right.  The pattern is in the book 50 Country Quilting Projects (one of my Saver's finds) published in 1990.  That doesn't seem so long ago (to me at least) but everything is by template, not measurements.  So, I am measuring the templates to know what to cut.  Yeah, I make everything harder for myself:)

Now to get my block plans.

A Chubby Heart, a Mystery Quilt Guess, and Some Questions

If you receive the Sew4Home newsletter http://www.sew4home.com/ then you probably saw the chubby heart coaster tutorial in this week's issue.  (Their website has the best tutorials.) I like coasters and mug rugs because I always have a cup of tea or coffee or a glass of wine, so I have them all over the house.  I made a mug rug using the chubby heart pattern.  I embroidered some hearts on one side and made the rug reversible.

Since before Christmas I've been participating in the Christmas Mystery Quilt qal at Erik Homemade Ezine http://www.erikhomemade.typepad.com/  After this week's sewing I have a guess on what the design is of the quilt.  I think we may be making a quilt with a Christmas Tree.  This is all of the sewing so far:

The picture is dark but the only colors are cream, green and red. 

I think Erik will be leading a redwork sewalong soon.  I'll definitely be joining that qal.  

Late last year I was following the free motion quilting tutorial of Christina from A Few Scraps http://www.afewscraps.blogspot.com/.  I learned enough to give me confidence in doing meandering quilting and I love doing loops.  Well, I made this quilt last year but never quilted it, until now.  I've been working on each block separately, and have only two more to go. 

After this quilt I have another quilt top I made last year that needs to be quilted.  That one I will do in a very simple way. Then I won't have any unfinished projects needing quilting, and that's good because I'm involved in three qal's right now and hope to join in with Sue from Quilt Times in her mystery quilt.  And I'm sure that's not the end of my quilt making. 

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Now for the questions.  When you are quilting the quilt on your sewing machine, what have you found to be the best way for you to control the fabric you are not quilting?  I have tried rolling it up, and it helps somewhat, but I'm wondering if there's a better way, other than sending out the quilt, which may be my next course.  Does anyone use the roller clips that are sold to hold the fabric together and do they work?  Are there alternatives?  I'm open to suggestions and appreciate your help.

My next question is on binding.  You may have noticed the lump on my mug rug where the ends of the binding meet.  How do I avoid the lump? 

Hope everyone is well.  God Bless You.

Purple Mountain Majesties and a Forest

McCall's Quilting March/April issue has part 2 of the quilt directions for Lynn Lester's design.  I haven't made all of the trees yet so this is just what I've completed so far. 

Katherine Lee Bates wrote the poem Pikes Peak in 1895 after a trip west.  When it was published it was retitled America, and then when it was set to music the title was again changed to America the Beautiful.  It is one of the most loved patriotic songs we have and it's great to sing.   Don't you just love the word grouping "purple mountain majesties"? 

Still plenty more  trees to put together.

SewCalGal http://www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com/ has a giveaway of an Accuquilt Go!  which ends on February 14th.  As I'm writing this there are 404 comments so I see my chances of winning becoming fainter, but I'm still trying.  Good luck to everyone who reads this and enters.

God Bless You.

One Down and Many More to Go, Hopefully.

I live in New England, and if you know anything about what the weather has been like for us this winter, you may think I don't do anything but shovel snow and then sack out on the recliner with my blankie and cat to recover.  But I have in fact been sewing and crocheting, as well.
I wasn't going to show this quilt until I realized it is the first completed from start to finish project of 2011, so here it is.  As I mentioned in a previous post, I plan to make something from every quilt magazine I receive.  The February/March issue of Quilters Newsletter has a feature on quilts that were made by inspiration of the Mosaic Tiles of Andalusa, Spain, specifically the Alhambra Palace in Granada.  I didn't want a quilt with a white background, as beautiful as those quilts are, so I used fabric I had on hand to make something I needed, a table cover.  This is the quilt pattern I meant to follow:

My quilt looks like a fifth cousin removed a few times, if that's the correct reference. 

And as in life, it isn't exactly what you thought it would be, but it has it's merits.

I wanted a coffee table cover and I have one. 

And I have an accomplishment.

That's it for now.  More shoveling tomorrow, as another Nor'easter is hitting us right now.  This is the third snowfall this week.  I laughed yesterday when I received a call from the senior citizens group I joined to inform me that the February meeting was cancelled.  Not taking any chances:) 

Hope all is well with you. 

God Bless You.

Antique Tile Quilt Block

Block six of Janet Wickell's Scrap Happy Sampler Quilt is the antique tile block.  http://www.quilting.about.com/

My blocks so far in the order I made them.

God Bless You.

Scrap Block Five

I'm doing well keeping up with the blocks for the Scrap Happy Sampler Quilt from Janet Wickell of  http://www.quilting.about.com/ .  The latest block has the curious name of Swamp Angel.  I wanted to know where the name came from and it is either from the Civil War, or the 19th century name for mosquitoes, or a waterfront gang.  I am tending toward the Civil War and mosquito nickname due to the name given to a battalion that fought some battles in the

summer of 1863.  If you know more about it, please let me know. Here is my block:

So, we are already up to five blocks.

I am crocheting a lapghan that is coming along nicely.  I like the pattern:
1/24/11: This pattern is here:  http://www.happyyellowhouse.com/htm/simplyred.html



I won a book from Pink Chalk Fabrics.  It's called One Yard Wonders, and I look forward to getting it and maybe making a wonder.  I'll show it to you when I get it.  Thank you Pink Chalk Fabrics.  They have a giveaway every week.  Visit their shop and blog to learn more.  http://www.pinkchalkfabrics.com/

God Bless You.

It's My "Fifteen Minute" Time

My blog is listed on the Favorite Sewing Blogs of We All Sew.com http://www.weallsew.com/needle-thread-happiness/ and I'm very happy about that.  It's just a link to my blog, but this is the first time my blog has been chosen for something like this, so it's nice to be found out and recognized. 

Thank you We All Sew.  

What is funny is that I have been getting the feeds from We All Sew for a while because it's a good resource for other craft blogs, and I find it fun to see what others are making.  (We All Sew is sponsored by Bernina.)

God Bless You.  

Winner and Goshen Star Block

Congratulations to Sarah, the thirteenth commenter on the giveaway post.  An email is on the way.  A huge Thank You to everyone who left a comment.  I enjoyed reading each one and sharing my little celebration with all of you.

This is my version of the Goshen Star block, the fourth block Janet Wickell has given us for her Scrap Quilt Along.  The look of this block changed dramatically with where the light, medium and dark fabrics were used.  In my version I love the way the light and medium fabric in the bands look like handkerchiefs, at least to me.  Here are all four blocks so far:

It's going to be a very colorful scrap quilt.

I also made the fields block for the America the Beautiful quilt, so I'm done with that until I get the next issue of Quilting.

From one end to the other.  My block is 57" long.

I've been trying to get a good picture of Moxie, and this is the best I could do today.  She is such a cute cat, but I cannot get a decent picture of her.  I'm just going to keep trying.

Her tent and her tunnel take up a good piece of real estate, but she's worth it.

God Bless You.  Here's to another fun year of blogging.

America the Beautiful

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED.

Although I love the song we are not singing America the Beautiful today, but you can if the spirit moves you.  The post title refers to the project I have worked on the past few days. 

Around Thanksgiving I subscribed to McCall's Quilting and another two quilt magazines.  I also received a subscription for another quilt magazine from my sister for Christmas.  And as I was trying to put some organization into my sewing area and noticed all of the books and periodicals I have for crocheting, cross stich, sewing and quilting, I decided that I needed to do more than just read my new subscriptions.  So, my goal is to make a project from each issue I receive.  The January/February Quilting issue made it easy for me.  They have a series sampler quilt that will be published in six installments, and I love the pattern so that is what I'm making.  The quilt is called America the Beautiful and it is designed by Lynn Lister.  The first three blocks to do are the Shining Star, the Barn, and The Field or what I think of as The Fruited Plain. 

The Shining Star took me almost all of yesterday afternoon to make. What takes you the most time when you begin a quilt? For me it is choosing the fabric.  I think it's because I like to play with fabric, and so I literally do that with my scraps.   

I still need to applique the star, but after that the Barn Block is done.

I haven't begun the Fruited Plains (Field) Block, but that will keep me busy later today.

The next block that Janet Wickell has chosen for her scrap quilt along is the Goshen Star Block.  So I get to play with my scraps again:)

I mentioned in an earlier post that this month I have been blogging for one year.  I'm having a small giveaway to celebrate being part of a nice community of bloggers.

This is Arianna by Jennifer Young for Benartex.  There are 35 5 inch squares.  This is one of the groups I received as part of Benartex' Preview Pack Club.  It's a pretty collection with pinks, aquas, browns, blues, yellows and khaki.

Leave me a nice comment.  Please don't just say, "Thanks for the giveaway.  Count me in" or  any variation of that.  Would you like to tell me what takes you the longest when you have a project?  Or what you subscribe to?  Or a qal or sal you've joined?  I'm interested.  

The winner will be chosen on Monday, January 10th.

Thanks for visiting.  God Bless You. 

Happy New Year 2011

Thursday I got back to sewing non-Christmas things.  I caught up on the qal I'm doing with Erik Homemade Coffee Break eZine.  Then I made the two blocks I was behind on for Janet Wickell's scrap qal.  And I have a suspicion that Janet is very fond of half-square triangles.  The two blocks we had to make are the Arizona quilt block and the Twinkling Star quilt block.  While I was making the twinkling star today I was very tempted to ditch it and make a block of my choice.  But I persevered and it came out okay.



Road to California, Arizona, Twinkling Star

See all of those little 1.5 inch hst's?  OY!

I will say that I think this scrap qal is challenging and for that reason will probably be an interesting quilt when it's done.   

I began to crochet a lapghan to donate, and I turn to it when the hst's drive me crazy.  I have a few quilts to finish, and I'm determined to do them.  

Hope you are all enjoying the holidays.  God Bless You. 

Blizzard, But Life Goes On

 We had a blizzard here that dropped more than 15 inches of snow beginning on Sunday afternoon through Monday morning. Yesterday was clean up day, and there was alot of shoveling and plowing going on even though the wind gusts were strong. Thankfully my neighbor used his snow blower to clean out my driveway entrance and sidewalk, and he also helped other people on the street. God bless him. I did the walk and front porch and the inside driveway.

No sewing going on here. Hopefully, tonight maybe.

This is the snow mound on the left side of the driveway.  It doesn't look too bad in the picture  Walking is dangerous because there is so much ice, and so people stay in the street, which are all salted and sanded.  But then when you reach your destination you need to find a clear path to get to the sidewalk again or else climb over a snow mound.  The kids do that:)  That must be why they call us hardy New Englanders. 

Moxie's tipped toed out a few times, but only lasts a few minutes.  This morning the windchill was 6 degrees, the temperature 17.  But, by this weekend it will be in the 40's.  If you don't like the weather, wait a minute.

I've been out twice today to my church to serve morning Mass and to serve at a funeral.  And now I think I'm taking a walk to the library to get something to read. 

God Bless!

Merry Wednesday Before Christmas

I received a very pretty gift in the mail from Sue of Quilt Times (http://www.quilttimes.blogspot.com/ ).  It's the mug rug pictured below.   I love it.  Thanks, Sue.  (And the card is cute, too.)

I won this group of vintage Christmas fabric from Colleen of  Lucky Duck Dreams. (http://www.cyarnell.blogspot.com/ ) The fabrics are just what I like.   Thank you Colleen.

And as you can see on the left, there were more pillow cases in the works.

I won this book during SewCalGal's Christmas Quilt Show. ( http://www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com/ )  It's really neat.  The blocks can either make a quilt or be used to make runners,  mats, stockings, etc.  It's a sweet book by Melinda Bula.  

Thank you, Darlene.

 I also want to acknowledge Barbara from Cat Patches ( http://www.catpatches.blogspot.com/ ) who has a Fun Friday contest each week.  I won a fat quarter of red fabric which I can't show to you because I've already sewn with it.  It was the perfect color for what I was doing. 

Thank you, Barbara. 

I apologize for not being able to keep up with the posts of the blogs I love to follow.  I'm not one of those women who can do it all.   But I will catch up one day soon.  I want to know and see what you are all up to.

I hope you are enjoying this time of year and this beautiful celebration of faith.  I am. 

I also want to mention that on January 3rd I will be celebrating the one year anniversary of my blog.  I'll have a giveaway, if not on that exact day then soon after. What a wonderful year it's been for my sewing life.  It would be even better if I catch up on all of my projects.  Maybe that's what I'll get for Christmas; time and motivation.

God Bless You. 

Christmas Pillow Cases

I've been making pillow cases for the little ones in my family.  I've got fabric featuring Mickey Mouse and friends, Pooh and friends, Rudolph and that kid whoever he is and, one of my favorites, Bugs Bunny.  Somewhere in blogland one of the bloggers posted about how she makes her children and now grandchildren pillow cases and puts the gifts into them.  I loved that idea, so I'm doing it this year. 

  I am using directions I got from Janet Wickell at about.com quilting because they enclose all of the seams. http://quilting.about.com/od/quiltpatternsprojects/ss/easy-pillowcase-pattern.htm

  The side and bottom seams are french seams and the band is sewn in such a way that the seam is encased when the band is turned.  I'm so impressed that I think I should never again buy another pillow case. 

I planned on showing some items that I received from blog giveaways, but alas, my camera is uncooperative.  Hopefully at a future date I'll be able to show them.

God Bless You.

Christmas Doings

When I saw the December design that Sylvia created for the cross-stitch sal I couldn't have been more pleased.  And when I went to the comment section of the post and read what the other stitchers said, I saw that I was not alone.  Slyvia designed the perfect ending for the project.

I don't know if she plans to start another sal for the new year.  I hope so.  Now I need to get my project in a frame so that it doesn't get lost and forgotten.

In yesterday's mail I received my third envelope of 5 inch squares from Benartex, and they are so pretty.  They are from the Mayfair collection by Michelle D'Amore.  Very romantic and elegant.

Yesterday I made my little pilgrimage to the LaSallette Shrine and enjoyed it very much. I attended a concert where we sang along with Father Pat, liked the music so much I bought his CD, petted the little donkey, Clopper, who is guarding the stable, and ooh'd and aah'd when the lights went on.   This picture shows the lights reflecting in the pond that circles what's called the Rosary Bridge. 

 All of the lights on the tree in the middle are shaped as doves. 

Now I'm off to another of my Christmas doings.  The local public high school has a two day craft fair each year to benefit the scholarship fund.  The auditorium has something like 200  crafters selling their stuff, so I'm going to see what they've got.  It's usually interesting and fun. 

God Bless You.

Special Post for Napkin Challenge

This is a special post for Nina Lise's Napkin Challenge.  If you can, visit http://www.mrsmoen.blogspot.com/ to see what the other bloggers have made. 
Many of you have seen these pictures from previous posts (probably ad nauseum), but here they are again as part of the entry requirement.

I'm so glad I joined this challenge because it was interesting and fun, and made me do something I didn't think I could do.  Thank you, Nina Lise, for this great idea of yours and for this fun exercise in creativity.

First, lets start with the napkin.

I played with it a little.  The skinny ribbon and fun fur didn't work.

So I made a fabric ribbon and turned the block to point.  Much better.



I decided to make a wall hanging/table cover from the block.

All finished.

God Bless Everyone.  Don't forget to visit Mrs. Moen's blog.