On the Needles

I have Jenna's sweater finished - I just have to get a zipper and sew it in and she will have a new sweater for the cooler weather.  I'll post a picture when she can be the model.

I started a scarf for a friend.  We were in Massachusetts a few weeks ago and went to Eva's Yarn Shop in Fairhaven, MA and Barbara saw this scarf on display.  It is a wonderful shop with so many tempting fibers.  It is really hard to not buy one of everything!!  I have only done seven rows so far but here is a picture of the yarn and the pattern:

I will be working on it this weekend a bit although I have to get sleeves and labels on the two quilts I am entering in our guild quilt show at the end of October.  Jen just finished quilting a quilt for me last night that I am sending to a girl who was in my Girl Scout troop.  I bought the binding fabric yesterday so will get that made and sewn on today.  I guess I have enough to keep me busy over the weekend.  :)

Head over to Judy's blog to see what others are working.

Hope you have a productive weekend.

Carol

Design Wall Monday

I haven't done much sewing for the past few weeks - my sewing buddy is on a trip and I didn't have anything specific to work on.  I dug around in my mountain pile of UFO's and found some blocks that my bee mates had made for me.  I decided to get my act together and get working on them.  Sewing with Jen yesterday really helped get me motivated. Now I have all 12 finished (I made two) and am ready to sash them:

I am going to put narrow black sashing between the blocks and around the outside and then add a wide border of the floral fabric.  It will be nice to get these out of my mountain pile and finish them up.

I did finish my fourth Girl Scout quilt:

I will donate it along with four mug rugs to my service unit for Mother/Daughter Bingo next month.  It is the fourth quilt I have made (one for a previous M/D Bingo and one for my granddaughter and one for my service unit manager at the time) and I can't seem to use up the fabric.  I swear that it reproduces in closet in the dark.  I don't have a ton left but will be checking to see if I can make a couple of travel pillowcases to finish it up.

Hope you had a great Labor Day weekend and were able to "labor" in your sewing room.  Check Judy's blog to see what others have accomplished this week.

Get It Done Again

Boy is this year flying by!! I haven't posted for July or August but then I haven't accomplished a lot to my mind.  The last time I posted about my project was in May.  I can't remember what I did or did not finish so I am starting anew this month.

One excuse for not getting much done in August is that I went to a friend's house in Massachusetts with three other friends and we shop hopped around Massachusetts and Rhode Island.  It was great fun and we visited five shops that we had never been to before.  I showed great restraint in my purchases - mainly because I was flying and there is a limit to how much I could stuff in my bag (along with my new sweater and jacket purchased at the LL Bean outlet).

My goals for September:

1.  Make a pillowcase for a sweet little girl (not my granddaughter)

2.  Finish Jenna's sweater - I have one sleeve and a couple of inches on the other one so I might actually get this one done.

3.  Finish quilt top from blocks that my bee made for me many moons ago.

4.  Finish baby quilt that I started from a kit I bought when I was in Houston - at least 15 years ago.  No babies on the way but I played around with my embroidery.  

Go over to Judy's blog to see how others have done this month.

Check back next month to see if I actually get something done.

Where are the stripes?!?!?!?!

I went to Massachusetts to spend some quality time with four friends.  I took along two knitting projects so that I could work on the plane and in the car.

Here is the sweater that I am making for my granddaughter:

It is knitted from the top down and was very quick since it is all garter stitch.  In my haste to gather things, I didn't read the pattern carefully and, thus, didn't bring the double pointed needles necessary to finish the sleeves.  I'm working on them now and should have it done in the next week or so.

Since I couldn't work on the sweater I started the socks that I brought.  I bought some really neat looking self-striping yarn a while back because I thought it would look really good.  Well, here is how my first sock is turning out:

I am pretty disappointed!  I guess I should have signed up for Judy Laquidara's pooling challenge a couple of months back.  I think I might have had the winning pair.

Hop  on over to Judy's blog to see what progress others on making on their knitted projects.

Carol

Look What Arrived Today

I usually don't enter blog giveaways because I figure my chances of winning are zip to none.  Jen has had a lot of luck but I don't.  I can count on one hand the times I have won something from a drawing or giveaway.

A couple of weeks ago Mickey Depre posted about a neat book she had taken out of the library about swimming dogs.  She asked people to leave comments for a chance to win some neat fabric and a pattern.

I decided to enter mainly because I thought the book was neat and, lo and behold, I won!  It was a great way to start off the day on Sunday.  My "loot" arrived today and here it is:

Thanks to Mickey!  I look forward to make the pincushion and I think Jen wants to make one too.

Have a great evening!!

The end of the day on Monday

I am pleased to report that the leak has been fixed.  The repair crew worked quickly and efficiently and were done by noon.  They did a good job on cleanup too.  The sidewalk and grass will be replace in ~two weeks. Here is a picture after they left:

We were very fortunate that the leak was not on our side of the meter but one of our pine trees certainly was well watered for a few weeks.

Happy Monday!!

We found a water leak last week and called the utility company.  Here is a picture of what precipitated the call:

A very nice man came out and agreed that we had a leak.  No digging could commence until the company came out and marked all the utility lines.  They came and we thought they were good to go.

The crew arrived on Friday morning and realized that the most important line of all had not been marked - the gas line.  They packed up their toys and said they would be back.  

The line was marked on Saturday morning and they are hard at work today.

The water is off for at least two hours since they still had trouble finding the cable line.  I think all is okay now and everyone is getting pretty muddy.

Have a good day!

Getting It Done

Another month has flown by!  I did pretty well with my goals this month.  Here is a summary:

1.  I finished all 16 of the blocks for the Block of the Month program for our day guild.  I did them all in batiks and "only" had to buy a few okay more than a few pieces so that I could finish them.  I love batiks so they are more than welcome to live in my stash.

2.  The birthday presents are just about finished.  The small ones are here:

I actually made two of the firecrackers. The quilt is next in line after Jen finishes a donation quilt she is making for the ALS society.  I hope to have it finished by the middle to end of June.

3.  I made the back for the graduation quilt and it is hanging by the front door waiting for Jen to quilt it.  She has been pretty busy at work and with the kids and, for some reasons, wants to work on her projects too so I don't mind waiting.

4.  I started a new project that will be ongoing for a while. Three of my bee mates and I have EQ and don't really know how to use it.  We decided to get together and work through it.  We have all made the centers of our quilts and are now working on the borders.  It is fun to work in a group as one of us can usually figure out the answer to a question.

I also stitched and knitted this month.  I am working on a pair of socks that I probably won't wear until the fall.  I am also beading my Christmas sampler - it is slow going but will definitely be stunning when it is finished.

I have completed all of my Pay It Forward projects and will get them in the mail in the next week or so and will post pictures then.  

Here is my premie quilt for May (made out of scraps):

I also finished the quilt I made for my great-nephew and he seems to like it:

My goals for June are:

1.  Finish Christmas quilt.

2.  Make a premie quilt (I am planning to do one a month this year).

3.  Work on another Christmas quilt that I started.

4.  Finish the socks.

Hope you have had a productive month too.  Go on over to Judy's blog to see how others have done this month.

Carol

Getting It Done - April

I'm a few days late posting my April accomplishments.  I got a good bit accomplished this month but not much was on my list of goals.

My April goals:
1.  Complete remaining Blocks of the Month - I did a couple but still have some to do.  I did find some great light batiks when I was in Maryland at Capital Quilts and I will be able to incorporate them in the blocks.
2.  Have baby quilt quilted and complete binding - Jen has it to quilt so I'm just waiting to finish it
3.  Finish March birthday presents - I completed one of two
4.  Make back, quilt and bind spring table runner - I actually completed this one!!

Here is the table runner and a closeup of the quilting (not a great picture) that Jen did for me:

Here is the birthday present that I finished:

Here are the "non-goal" projects that I finished:

I have had these banners on my design wall forever and when I finally got back upstairs I decided to get them done.  I have a weakness for seasonal projects whether it be quilting or cross stitch.  I have to keep reminding myself not to buy any more.

I made this Girl Scout doll quilt for my granddaughter.  I had already made her a large one but she loves her American Girl doll so this is perfect.  I still have enough fabric left over to try to make a doll Girl Scout uniform too. 

This is a premie quilt that I made with leftover blocks from the baby quilt that was on my list.  We have a neat young lady in our guild who is collecting premie quilts so I will be making more - maybe one a month.

My goals for May are:

1.  Finish blocks for Block of the Month (sound familiar?)
2.  Finish birthday presents (sound familiar again?)
3.  Prepare back for quilting for graduation present and have it quilted (I'm trying to help Jen reach her goal of quilting 20 items this year - I'm such a helpful mom aren't I?)
4.  Start a new project since I have nothing else to work on (I haven't had anything stronger than Diet Coke tonight!!)

Hope you had a good month too.  Go on over to Judy's blog to see how others did this month.

Carol

I'm Upstairs!!!!

I am so excited to be back in my workroom.  I fell at the end of November, spent three weeks in a non-weight bearing cast (over Christmas, my birthday and New Year's) and then six weeks in a boot.  Now I am in athletic shoes and doing much better and can climb stairs again.  

After four months, my daughter and her friend come over yesterday and moved  all my stuff upstairs.  It is amazing how much comes down over four months - you kind of lose track until it is time to bring it back upstairs and put it away.

I have been busy last night and today.  I have had four seasonal wall hangings on my design wall for way too long.  I got the bindings done, batting cut and backings ready for them.  Now I just have to do some quick quilting and sew on the bindings and I'll be ready to finish them off.  I also got a baby quilt ready for my daughter to quilt.  Her goal is to quilt 20 items this year and so far I have four for her to work on.  Aren't I helpful???

Last night I also started knitting a scarf that I have tried to work on several times.  I couldn't figure out why the pattern wasn't working.  As usual it was my fault - the finished size is 52" in length and I kept reading it as cast on 52 stitches.  Once I got my act together and reread the directions I realized that I should cast on 57 stitches.  It is going very smoothly now!!

I'll be posting pictures soon.

I hope all of you are having a productive week/month.

Carol

Getting It Done

Another month has flown by.  I had a great time on our retreat and got a good bit accomplished although I didn't make much progress on my March goals.  Here is a summary:

1. I finished the PIF scarf.  I just have to block it and then all five projects will be ready to put in the mail.

2. I have been working on my cross stitch project but found that I didn't have any of the beads I needed.  I now have most of them and hope to get started beading this month.  It will take a while - there are a  lot of beads on this sampler!

3. I didn't even get to working on the BOM blocks.  It will be a high priority in April.

4. I did get part of the quilt cut out.  I took it with me on the retreat but instead worked on the baby quilt that was a goal for a previous month.

Here are a few pictures from the retreat and my projects that I worked on this month:

I didn't have time to do any pre-cutting before retreat so I cut out this top and finished it there.  I used contemporary fabrics instead of the standard blue, yellow, pink and green.  I am pleased with it.  Below is a premie quilt that I made using squares left over from the border.

I also made a Girl Scout doll quilt for my granddaughter - I have made three lap size quilts as well as pillows from the GS fabric that I picked up on sale and I still have more left.  I think I see another doll quilt for Mother/Daughter Bingo.

After I got home I made this miniature Christmas quilt (the center star is ~3") that I picked up at Quilt Festival in Houston and these bunny towels.

Now I have to get serious about my April goals.

1. Complete remaining Blocks of the Month

2. Have baby quilt quilted and complete binding

3. Finish on March birthday presents

4. Make back, quilt and bind spring table runner

These are not terribly difficult and I should be able to accomplish them.  Keeping my fingers crossed.

Go on over to Judy's blog (http://www.patchworktimes.com/2013/03/31/get-it-done-april-2013/)

to see how others made out on their goals.

Have a great month.

Carol

February Accomplishments, March Goal

To  borrow a comment from Judy Laquidara, where did February go?  I can't believe it has passed so quickly.  This month had several significant happenings - my oldest grandson turned 11, the second oldest turned 8 and it has been six years since I fell, broke my hip and had a replacement!  All of those things seem like they just happened not nearly that long ago.

Enough - I digress..

My February was good - I got a good bit accomplished!  

I completed my blue and white stars quilt top.  I don't have a good picture of it and will post it later but take my word for it - it is done!!

2012 Buck A Block top assembled.  I love the colors.

Seasonal wall hangings - I finished two (one this afternoon).

Blocks of the Month for guild - I made a couple but not as many as I wanted to.  I will post pictures next month.

I made good progress on the PIF (Pay It Forward) scarf that I am knitting.  It is about half completed.

Bind PIF table runner.  I finished it too.

I finished stitching the letters for the Christmas cross stitch sampler.  Not really picture worthy at this point.

I didn't make any progress on the birthday present or the baby quilt although I did look at the baby quilt fabric.

I cut out and assembled the Girl Scout quilt top in two days.  Once I got started on it, it went very quickly. Of course, it was not a difficult pattern.

Since my daughter nailed me last month for listing more than four goals, I am going to politically correct this month (although I am pleased with all that I accomplished!!).

March Goals 

1.  Complete PIF scarf.

2.  Start adding beads to Christmas cross stitch.

3.  Make the rest of the blocks for Block of the Month.

4.  Start Christmas quilt that will be a present for next Christmas.

I am heading off to a retreat on Sunday with seven of my friends.  We will work, eat, talk, eat, drink, eat, sew and have fun but I plan to get a lot accomplished.

Check Judy's blog to see how others are doing  Judy's Get It Done - March 2013

February Goals and Update on January Goals

Well, here are my January goals and notes about my progress:

My projects for January are:

1.  complete blocks and assemble 2012 Buck A Block top - the blocks are done and I have assembled 2/3 of the top.  I plan to finish it in the next few days - maybe over the weekend.

2.  complete and assemble Presents top - Done!  Here is a picture of it:

3.  start working on project for my best friend's birthday in March - I worked on it a bit but have no real progress to show.

4.  begin quilt for my great-nephew (he is one month old so I have time to get it done before he knows that I didn't have it ready when he was born) - I have all the fabric together and have looked at it several times but, again, no progress.

Other hopefuls:

I have been doing a good bit of knitting recently so hope to work on a scarf and one or two hats.  Maybe since there is 14+" of snow on the ground I will be motivated to get them well underway. I finished a potato chip scarf for a Pay It Forward that I posted on Facebook.  I also started another scarf (not the same pattern) for the PIF and will continue to work on it.

I also plan to continue working on my Christmas alphabet cross stitch sampler.  It will be stunning when it is completed.  I didn't start it until I finished my daughter and son-in-law's wedding sampler: I made pretty good progress on this project.  I have eight letters left to stitch and then the buttons and beads will be added.

I did accomplish a few other things during January.  I completed a tree block for a bee friend.  I completed the first Block of the Month for 2013 and made good progress on three seasonal wall hangings that were not on my list. I also took a Fair Isle knitting class with my friend Stephanie.  Since I have been working on the PIF projects I have not devoted a lot of time to completing it.  It won't take terribly long and I plan to get back to it soon. I am also coordinating the Block of the Month for our daytime guild with my friend Kathy.  I made five of the blocks. I also worked on my Blue and White Stars top.  This has been hanging over my head for a while.  My friend Kay and I have been working on ours for about two years - there are 15 segments with lots of different fabrics and a large variety of blocks along with a million flying geese!!

Goals for February:

1.  Complete Blue and White Stars top.  I worked on it today and finished the last segment.  It is partially assembled so it shouldn't take me long to finish it.  Then I will make the binding so that I am ready to finish it after I get it quilted.

2.  Complete 2012 Block of the Month top.  Again, I have all the fabric for the borders and should be able to finish it this month.

3.  Complete most/all of the Block of the Month blocks for guild.  We are going to present 16 - one for each month and four bonus blocks scattered throughout the year.

4.  Complete at least one of the seasonal wall hangings.  

5.  Continue working on the PIF scarf.

6.  Bind the PIF table runner that I cut, assembled and quilted at bee work day last Monday.  The binding is on and I will sew it done at our bee next Monday.

7.  Complete stitching letters for Christmas sampler and maybe start adding beads.

8.  Work on birthday present and baby quilt.

9.  Plan and cut out pieces for a Girl Scout throw for Mother/Daughter Bingo in April

I think that is it for now.  It is enough to keep me off the street I guess and maybe out of the quilt stores.

I am out of my boot and able to get upstairs again being slow and careful (no surprise there!!).  I hope to get my sewing machine, etc., back in my sewing room this weekend and then work on getting it straightened out.  I haven't been up there for ~two months and everyone has been great about bringing stuff down and taking stuff up.  Of course, I just kept saying "Oh, put it on my cutting table."  You can guess what my table looks like now.

Have a great month and check Judy's blog to see progress others have made.

On My Needles

Well, I'm a bit late posting this blog but this was my first opportunity to get some pictures of my projects.

I finished yoga socks for my daughter.  They were a surprise so I couldn't post a picture earlier as she follows Judy's blog. She really likes them - so does her yoga instructor. The pattern is a freeby from  Patons Kroy Socks and uses their sock yarn.  They go really quickly since you don't have to turn a heel or finish a toe!! 

I also accepted a Pay It Forward from a friend on Facebook so now I am going to make five gifts for people who sign up for mine.  I have started the first project - a potato chip scarf.  The yarn is Lion Brand Wool-Ease worsted weight.

Finally I am taking a Fair Isle class with a friend next weekend and there was some pre-work for the class.  We grabbed a quick lunch on Friday and then came back here to knit.  The pattern is the Snowflake Cowl from the Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2012 magazine.  The yarn is Cascade Pacific chunky and it is so soft!!

I am also including a picture of my first quilting finish for 2013 as I got it done last night. It is one of my January projects.

That's it for now.  I have to get serious about putting away the Christmas decorations.  Since I fell at the end of November and tore a bunch of ligaments in my foot my activities have been a bit restricted (try three weeks in a non-weight bearing cast over Christmas and New Year's!) but I am now in a boot so have to play catch up.  It's a cold, rainy day - no real reason to do much else so I'm off to undecorate.

You can check Judy's blog to see what other knitters are working on On The Needles - January 11, 2013

Holy Cow!! It's January!

I can't believe that it is 2013 already!  Where did 2012 go?

For the past two years I have participated in Judy Laquidara's UFO Challenge.  I didn't do as well in 2012 as I did the previous year.  This year, Judy is changing it up a bit.  Each month we are listing four projects that we hope to work on during the month.

My projects for January are:

1.  complete blocks and assemble 2012 Buck A Block top

2.  complete and assemble Presents top

3.  start working on project for my best friend's birthday in March

4.  begin quilt for my great-nephew (he is one month old so I have time to get it done before he knows that I didn't have it ready when he was born)

Other hopefuls:

I have been doing a good bit of knitting recently so hope to work on a scarf and one or two hats.  Maybe since there is 14+" of snow on the ground I will be motivated to get them well underway.

I also plan to continue working on my Christmas alphabet cross stitch sampler.  It will be stunning when it is completed.  I didn't start it until I finished my daughter and son-in-law's wedding sampler:

It took me a while to finish this as it is one stitch over one/one thread (30 count) and there were a lot of color changes.  I am very pleased with the result as was my daughter since she had to wait a few years for it.

I'll be interested to see what I post on February 1.

You can go over to this post to see what others are planning/hoping to accomplish this month:

January 2013, Getting It Done

Happy New Year to all!