Yarning along

 I got out my swift and ball winder today and went to town.  I had more yarn to wind but my wrist was getting irritated so I called it a day.

Some of this yarn I bought for specific projects but who knows what they were! I'll try to do better in the future!

Sewing littles

 

Red asked for a book sleeve to keep paperbacks safe in his backpack.  The fabric was a fat quarter from Walmart. It was 99 cents but it washed up nicely. 

 

I also made three cases for my readers.  I keep a pair with each stitching project and I wanted something better than the little ziploc bag they came in. I used off cuts of soft and stable for padding.

A scottie mug rug for my desk

Yahoo Mail: Search, Organize, Conquer

Two more mug rugs

Yahoo Mail: Search, Organize, Conquer

Woven wreaths SAL

At last I completed the December block for the Woven Wreaths Stitch A Long.  I'm pleased I was able to keep up with the stitching and not leaving this as a UFO.  I'm planning to finish it as a little wall hanging.

In the mail!

I fervently hope this is the last thing I need to mail for Christmas.  The runner and two mug rugs are off to my aunt.  The bottom picture shows the one I gave to my QBFF this morning.  Pretty cute!

Also I used this self-binding tutorial.  It was very easy to follow and I will use it again.

Snowman

I decided to make some snowman mug rugs for my aunt.  And then I though, ya know, it would be easy to make a little runner to go with them.  So here I am trying to decide how wide to make the borders.  the sashing between the blocks finishes at 3/4 inch.  I had borders that were 1.5 inches.  But it was too much white.  So I auditioned various widths and decided to cut the borders down to 3/4 inch too. The pattern is at Not So Plain Jane. I was planning to do self binding with the backing fabric but I don't think I will have enough fabric to do the runner and the mug rugs.  Guess I'll find out tonight.

Franken block

So I decided to try my hand at making Block 12 so I can finish sewing the Mineral Matrix top together.  We actually get the kit for Block 12 tomorrow but my QBFF convinced me to get going on my own version!

Getting closer

I started sewing the rows together.  It's going together well except for the triangles on the edges.  I never do those well.

I'm also trying to make Block 12 from just a picture.  It goes right in the middle of the quilt and I want to finish this sucker.  Well, there will be one more finishing kit this weekend for the borders. . .

Finishing kit No. 3

36 identical blocks for Finishing Kit No. 3.  This was some really boring sewing!  After completing these, I started pinning this rectangle blocks to all of the finished 12.5 inch monthly blocks as well as pinning to the blocks from Finishing Kit No. 1.  I got up early today and did some stitching before I left for work.  

We have one 12.5 inch block to receive in December.  Wouldn't you know it goes in the exact middle of the quilt??  My QBFF suggested I do the math and make it without the pattern so I can polish this off!

Blocks for the Saturday sampler

These are the latest blocks for the Saturday Sampler.  I made the one with the friendship star this morning.  I think it is really pretty.

 

Here are a stack of finishing kit blocks.  This was finishing kit no.1.  

I started sewing the blocks for finishing kit no. 2 this morning.  I've got finishing kit no. 3 waiting in the wings.  We have to make over 30 nine patches for that one!  Plus more strip piecing for the settings.  I'm really hoping I can finish this to top status before we begin on the new one in January.

Layout

So I decided it was time to get this quilt laid out.  DH and Red helped because I just couldn't get it right.

Over the weekend I added more small blocks on the left side of the rows and began to add the horizontal sashing.  I was moving very slowly this weekend. I'm ready to finish this and get back to Cupola Views.

Toddler tote

Made this little tote for my grand nephew second birthday.  I made it washable and reversible.  Apparently he is fond of hamburgers. 

ETA:  the little fella liked the fabric.  My niece was excited and exclaimed "his first Auntie kern totebag!" So I guess it was a hit.

Ripping out

So I was minding my own business stitching the gingham border on Vintage Housewife when I realized something was off.  If you look at that half finished block on the bottom I realized that there was supposed to be another row of two blocks to match the giant red block next to it.  I need some time to focus, count, and eventually rip out the stitches.

I was three stitches off! I'm really glad I hadn't started filling in the block!  I fixed it and continued stitching on.  As you can see, I'm actually stitching the border below the large red block now.  All nice and orderly and in the correct place.

More stitchalong

I saved September and October for my flights this week.  This pumpkin is so sweet!

Lab pillowcase

I made this pillowcase a while ago for my nephew.  He didn't seem thrilled with it even though he is crazy about labs.  Recently he asked me to make a second one because he has a double bed.  I said I thought you didn't like it.  He said, well I thought it would scratchy but I washed it and it is really soft.  So could you make me a second one?

Well.  Do I have enough fabric for a second one?  Nope.  Am I going to find some fabric and make a second one? Yep.

Paint pots

 Well I have no idea why but when I got home yesterday I pulled out my isosceles triangle die and got to cutting out my "A Christmas Story" yardage.  

I had to finagle my die because I wanted the fabric to be in the correct orientation!

Now I have to decide what colors I will use with the focus fabrics.  I went through them and then had my son and DH vote on them as well.  I plan to cut some samples tonight so I can finish the cutting for this quilt.  It will go into the waiting box after it's all cut.

I think I'm going to cut out my Mary Poppins fabric too.  That way it will be ready to go whenever I have spare time.

I think it's crazy I'm cutting this fabric out because I have two big quilts on the go right now!

September block

This is the September block for the Saturday Sampler at my LQS.  I really like this fabric combination.

Candy corn!

This was a little kit I bought at The Quilters Cottage during the Boo Bash Shop Hop.  We had so much fun!  This was a really easy foundation pieced block.  I will definitely make it again.

Sweet pumpkin

This was a free pattern from The Quilty Shop as part of the Boo Bash Shop Hop.  It came in a cute orange metal pail with cutouts to make it a jack-o'lantern. I did change out the border to this orchid purple from Hey Boo.  Very easy to make and it's so cute I didn't want to put my mug on it!

Two blocks

So tonight I got two blocks together.  Sewing the small blocks and then bordering with the thin strips is finicky.

More sampling

Working on some small pieces.  I will need at least 25 of these. I just did the minky in the middle to try it out.  I know how wormy minky is so I used lots of pins.  I also placed a pin at the top of the minky square so I can keep the nap going in the same direction.  I know that if I don't it will drive me crazy!

a little bit on sashing

So I need to decide on the width of the sashing between the 3.5 inch squares. One picture shows a 3/4 inch sashing and the other shows a 1/2 inch sashing. So I will cut the sashing 1 1/4 inch or 1 inch respectively.  It's funny how that quarter inch makes such a difference.  I thought I would like the 1/2 inch but the 3/4 inch is really growing on me.

 

 

Decisions decisions

 

I'm still feeling poorly so my sewing has dropped off the cliff in terms of productivity.  I decided I need another fabric for my Ghostbusters quilt.  I've got a layout in my head and I've drawn it out on paper but still was missing something. . .hence the fabric tryouts.  I fiddled around for ages and my son really liked this kind of reflection-y print. (It's from Quilting Treasures: Open Air, Black Pool Water.) It was the winner!  The green square below is the lime minky that will feature in the quilt.  It always looks washed out in photos for some reason.

Ready to go!

All of my pieces are cut, labeled and quilted as necessary!  Monday eve I'm hoping to start putting this together!

A little quilting

 I've finally started the By Annie pattern Out to Lunch. I'm actually making it as a purse for my mother's birthday.  Which is tomorrow.   But I won't get to see her until Friday so I've got a few days to get this done. This is my first By Annie pattern. Next time I will quilt the fabric and then cut the pieces out. The pattern has you cut, quilt and then cut again.  I'll figure out how to skip a step after I do it by the instructions. I had to quilt three sections of fabric and it took forever!  The instructions said to just do straight lines but I thought the cross-hatching would look better.  

Vintage Housewife

I'm still stitching along on Vintage Housewife.  I was going to start stitching the fun stuff in the remaining boxes but decided that future self would really appreciate it if I got started on the gingham border!