February UFO Challenge

My February UFO was Home Tweet Home by Rena McKay - I bought the 9 patterns and used fabrics from my stash. This was a lot of fun to make. I embellished it a bit with beads and embroidery floss.

So this one is "in the books".

My January UFO is still in process. It's the Victorian Crazy Quilt - I sent it to the longarm quilter and she used a pink varigated thread and a rose pattern. I got it back yesterday. What's left to do is all the fun embellishing - the lace, and ribbon, and beads, and embroidery. This photo is not a photo of it post-quilting, but you get the idea.

I don't have a UFO #8 so I'm just going to make up a project to do a pretend it's UFO #8.

Design Wall Monday 2-27-12

Jump over to Patchwork Times today for Design Wall Monday - always a great source of inspiration.

The Mid-Atlantic Quilt Show in Hampton, VA -  Wow! Wow! Wow! My friends, Lori and Ruth, and I went on Thursday. It was phenomenal, and inspiring, and awesome, and amazing. The quilts were spectacular. I took a gazillion photos. If anyone reading this wants the link to my Picasa album of the photos of the quilt show, just email at SallyJH123@gmail.com - I'd be happy to share them with you. But the main thing that happened at the show was I bought a sewing machine. A BabyLok Symphony. It will be shipped to me in a couple of weeks - can't wait! I sat down at the machine, sewed a bit, and it was love at first stitch.

Spiral Tablerunner using the 9-degree wedge ruler - pattern by School House Quilts. It took me a while to get my mind around this one but finally I just let go and followed the instructions step-by-step and the project came together nicely - can easily be made in a day. I would do the quilting differently if I make this again, and I probably will make it again - on my new sewing machine.

At the quilt show I bought these fabrics (1/2 yard pieces) and plan to make a quilt for me - the design is still coming together in my mind but I'm thinking I'll use the "swoon" block by Thimbleberries. I'll purchase a white tonal fabric for the background and maybe a very light gray fabric to use somewhere in the block or as a border since there is light gray in the daisy fabric.

Isn't this wine bottle tote adorable? The free tutorial for it is available from a blog called Needle and Spatula - her blog is fun to read. My theme for Bunco this year when I host is "Wine" so I am planning to make these totes for prizes. The tutorial is excellent - easy to follow. I made this in about 1.5 hours. I found out about these perfect fabrics from a blog through Design Wall Monday (Tamera Quilts) and asked her where she got them. She gave me the fabric line name and I did a Google search for them. One yard of each should do 4 wine bottle totes but I'm only making 2 to start.

Crayon Batik Dyeing - we're trying it again ... I'll let you know how it goes. We're tweaking the process a bit. This time, instead of using black paint I'm using green paint. It's hard to tell right now because the design is covered by the paint but it's supposed to be 4 whimsical birds. I'll give an update on the 3/5/12 Design Wall Monday.

Design Wall Monday 2-20-12

Happy President's Day. Patchwork Times is hosting Design Wall Monday today.

This week was devoted to finishing the Art-rageous Quilters challenge piece, titled A Walk Thru My Garden. The parameters were few - use a specific green batik somehow in the piece (some of the leaves in my piece), use a facing technique to bind the piece, the size should be 12 x 30 inches.

So, here's my finished piece and a close-up of the beads/lights. The lights are supposed to represent fireflies. The few trees represent the few trees remaining after Hurricane Irene did a number on my backyard down by the creek. The piece is due March 3rd and at the same time we are starting another challenge that is called a grab bag challenge. Each participant puts supplies for a quilted wall hanging in a big baggie - your name is NOT on the bag and you will not know who gets your bag. The finished piece is due March 2013 and should be about 20 inches square. You must use 65% of the contents of the bag you're given. The catch? Whatever you create will go back to the person who created that grab bag. Your bag can contain anything for making an art quilt - beads, fabrics, thread, ribbons, lace, buttons, paints, yarn, whatever floats your boat. Should be a very interesting challenge.

Knitting sox ... have decided to learn how to knit sox toe up. I'll let you know next week how it goes ... So far, so good, though. Something I recently learned about circular knitting needles ... Did you know that if you drop them in just-boiling water they will straighten out nicely (and instantly) instead of remaining looped up like they are in their packaging?

Design Wall Monday 2-13-12

Art-rageous Quilters presented a challenge last March - create a quilted wall hanging 12 x 30 inches with the theme "A Walk Through My Garden". There was a specific green batik fabric that had to be used in some way in the piece. The only other "rule" is that it has to be faced instead of using traditional binding. So, it's due March 3 and I'm still working on it! My garden is actually my backyard that backs down to a creek; it's not a landscaped area but is instead an area I just try to keep under control. The front part by the house, I've done some clearing and planting and have tried to create a whimsical feel to it. So, this is my representation of "A Walk Through My Garden" - the lights are supposed to be fireflies. Progress, but not finished yet. I'm still pondering the best way to add the lights.

Several weeks ago for a Design Wall Monday posting I talked about a crayon batik dying project my friends, Lori & Ruth, and I were going to attempt. Hmmm ... not quite the result I was hoping for. But I'm going to finish it hoping it will improve as I keep working on it. We are going to attempt crayon batik dying again but are discussing ways to tweak the process. All that is left to do on this small piece is to quilt it and bind it. Will do that this week.

This has nothing to do with Design Wall Mondays but I did finish knitting a pair of sox AND I got my fabric stash organized. So here are the sox, and here is "fabric stash organizing" in photos: the first photo shows clear plastic tubs of fabric just tossed in, no order whatsoever. The second photo, I've sorted fabric by color, novelties, seasonal, solids, etc. And the third photo, the fabrics are packed back into the tubs but neatly and by color, and I even put all the little fabric crumbs in ziplok bags to match the larger fabrics. I enoy doing applique projects and those little fabric crumbs come in quite handy.

Take a few moments to visit Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday 2-6-12

Please visit Patchwork Times today for Design Wall Monday.

The Romancing Eastern North Carolina Shop Hop was Wed.-Sat. I snagged this darling fabric from Cotton Fields and now I'm looking at it trying to decide whether to give it to my cousin, as was my original intent, or keep it and make something from it.

Started knitting a pair of sox. The Artrageous Quilters challenge piece remains untouched but this week I will defnitely work on it! :-)

I finished the Home Tweet Home and Keep The Heart Truth Growing wall hangings. Both are hanging in my office.

Wow! The talent and inspiration I see on Design Wall Mondays is incredible. There are so many incredible quilters and crafters out there.

January UFO

The top is finished - it's not quilted or embellished yet - that will be done in February and March. Lots of embellishing with beads, lace, ribbon, and embroidery for this piece. It will be quilted using a rose motif. The story behind this lap quilt is that it is made from blocks my mother made that were not used in a bed-size quilt. I cut them into smaller pieces for this crazy quilt. It also contains some scraps from that same bed-size quilt, plus some other scraps from my stash. It will be given, one day, to her great granddaughter, Mary. It is named "Rebecca".

The UFO Challenge is hosted by Judy at Patchwork Times.