Design Wall Monday - 3/31/14

Saturday was the last day of shop hop so I worked at the LQS. It was nice and busy, especially nice given the weather they were predicting.

You see we had this little snow storm Saturday night. Oh , I don't know 3" or 4" of the stuff, it's hard to tell cuz it was super wet and heavy and compacted itself pretty good. It was still nasty enough Sunday morning that they cancelled the controlled burn the fire dept was going to do. That allowed me to stay in bed and finish a book. Heaven!

Yes that is Squeaky's ear as she watched the antics from the window box.
Zorro is gonna have a surprise come summer and the snow isn't holding that mower upright.
I was impressed with his climbing ability - he did it exactly as the squirrels do it too!

As soon as I got up tho, Zorro wanted outside. First he had to make sure there were no squirrels in the feeder and then he had to inspect my car. Luckily he has long, fuzzy belly fur to keep him warm. He wanted out several more times during the day too.

Next order of the day was to finish the sashes for my nephews. I know it's hard to guess but I am pretty sure they liked them.

Last order of the weekend was to make more mugrugs and the best part of these rugs is that, except for the blue star fabric, everything else is scraps. Whoo Hoo! I think that gives me about 10 that need quilting so I best get on that...

Don't forget to pop in tomorrow - it's out next official Bibliofile Files linky party!

Design Wall Monday - 3/24/14

Other than a birthday party where we got to learn belly dancing at the local dance studio - it was fun and much easier than expected, but my hip is bothering me again  - I had most of the rest of the weekend at home to sew. And very little of that involved hexies. Amazing, huh?!

I started the weekend by making this mugrug, seminole piecing style, as part of my gift for the party. The gift was completed with a new tea cup, a couple tea bags, chocolates and white choco smores gooey cake bars.

Just the day before I was mentioning to Denise and a couple other people that maybe the new tea house in Mt Morris would be interested in selling some mug rugs. I was already in mug rug mode so I just kept going! Even if they are not interested, mugrugs make great gifts and you can never have too many on hand.

I pulled out the finished mugrugs from my inventory box to see what I had and then started pulling fabrics for more. Finding fabrics buried in my FQ boxes and scrap bins is fun; deciding which pattern to use and designing new ones can be a bit tedious. That's why I tend to make multiples of the same design with different fabrics...makes life easier...

Of course I had my little helper to keep some of the scraps in place. I didn't photo the messy pile of smaller scraps I need to clean up - I hope you'll understand! I will suggest you check out Chantal's posts over the weekend on how she deals with smaller scraps. I can't wait to get home and "clean up."

Of course I still have this pile of fabrics to work thru...which creates more scraps. LOL! It's a never ending battle but at least one we enjoy. Happy Monday!

Design Wall Monday - 11/18/13

This past weekend was the last minute push to get more things ready for 2 bazaars this week. Since I'm also sick it was a fun weekend to spend holed up at home, in my jammies with lots of junk food :^)

I love making mugrugs - the fabric combos and designs are endless...

In looking thru the FQ bins for new combinations, I found this pineapple fabric and couldn't resist whipping up another star for the Salt & Pepper project. So much for making progress on a hexie UFO :)

Mugrugs

Too much cutting apart and not enough sewing back together can make a sane person insane so I worked on a couple mug rugs this morning and then went back to cutting.


Yes, there are chunks of my mat missing and yes, it is time to buy a new one.



This tiny Dresden (yes, that is a hexie in the middle...who wants to make perfect circles?) will go on a blue background and be backed with a sunflower fabric that matches the golds and blue.

Can you believe this is a disappearing 4 patch? It was super easy...finding the proper backing will be harder than it was to make the block!

Design Wall Monday - 3/25/13

Today is just a quickie post to share a table topper that I'm making as a class sample. It's a bit big for a mugrug but it might be ok with a really big snack or a snack to share. LOL.

You'll recognize the pattern as the same as the hexie puzzle that I've been working on for ages but this one is all batiks. I have an awesome batik for the back that has the same ROYGBV colors. You'll recognize the black batik as the last 5" of the black used for my Obsession quilt. I'm sad to see it go but there is just a tiny bit left so it can go into the scrap bins..

Design Wall Monday - 3/11/13

Sewing wise, this weekend was pretty random. I worked on my hexagon puzzle project but no pictures because it doesn't look much different than last time. I had hoped to have the top done and quilted to demo the way I want to finish the edge by the end of the month but I'm not sure it's gonna happen...

I did work on this pieced hexie which is a sample for Hexie Night at the LQS. Now I just need to make it in to something ... and of course I can't decide what that should be ...

Next up are mugrugs in the works. I might be able to participate in a show before a conference I am attending next month so I want to beef up on my stock. I also plan to make more luggage handle wraps and name tag holders. The name tag thingers should be a big hit instead of the generic plastic things they give us.




Feline Friday - 3/1/13

Do you like to make mugrugs? Do you have a stack laying around?

Please feel free to ignore the mess in the background

Well...who knew but they also make nice catmats when you have a tiny slip of a tabby!

What has your cat appropriated lately?

Design Wall Monday - 11/19/12

I've been playing with mugrugs lately - they are quick, can be made of scraps and I've even been sewing down bindings with some of the fancy stitches on my machine.

I've also got a few more that weren't finished before the bazaar this past weekend.

I am thinking mug rugs and a new mug might make nice gifts this year!!!

Hey did you link up to HeLP for Hexie-aholics yet? There is still time...

Puttering

I did some puttering last night...
Another block for my Crazy 8s quilt - a very scrappy quilt with cat fabrics in all colors.

I stitched another pile of selvage pairs

I also fixed up a mug rug I wasn't happy with. I had seen one online made with a twister template of unknown size. I had used the lil twister to make mine but I thought it was way too big. I dug out my bitty twister, trimmed it and I'm much happier with the size. That leaves another cat toy that Squeaky loved playing with last night.

I even cut out another Rose Star block altho I didn't take any pictures...just know that there are stripes. LOL.

I had a good time but I never washed out the dyed fabrics from guild which were "setting" overnight. They will need to be washed tonight...cuz it turns out I am going to the Adirondacks for the weekend to crash with my family who are already there!!! Woohoo!!!

NewFOs and UFOs

Somehow I never started the NewFO I thought I would in January...not to worry tho as I did start 5 other projects! One is done, I hope another is done this weekend and one is probably long term altho a little addictive.

This is the NewFO I finished already. A mug rug that was donated to my local library for their V-Day fundraiser. I had planned to also make one with hexies instead of the hearts but forgot until I was typing this post. I haven't picked colors for the hexie version yet.

This is the NewFO that I hope is finished this weekend. I haven't specified what it is but several people have made some very close guesses.

This is my addictive NewFO. I had thought it would be long term but it's too easy to grab for a few minutes here and there. This could be a good thing so that I don't have parts sitting around forever. Maybe I should aim for the end of the year? I'll still collect selvages but I'm not sure what the next project will be and I need to see how many I have left when this quilt is done anyway.

This NewFO would probably be pretty easy to get finished and since I hope to keep up with the doll-quilt-a-month-a-long at http://sentimentalquilter.blogspot.com/2012/02/february-small-quilt-challenge.html (this is the link for the next doll quilt) I better get caught up and keep the quilting simple. I had thought about fans but we shall see when I get the red backing on what strikes me.

The last NewFO isn't done yet because I wasn't sure how I wanted to proceed. This is a cover for my Kindle and my original idea was to make the hexies go all the way around without any seams but I wasn't sure how to make that work along with the tutorial that I working from. I've now decided that the best way to proceed will be to make the hexies a little bit bigger, quilt this to the batting and then do the seams as on the tutorial. I think it will be safer for the Kindle. Now if I could just figure out what's wrong with my wifi connection all will be honky dorey.

My January UFO was my Blooming 9-Patch, probably started 4 or 5 years ago. I had hoped to finish the top (which turned out I just needed borders) and get her quilted this month. I purchased the border fabrics and got part of it on but had to stop when I was just a little short on the light purple fabric. I did buy another quarter yard but I still need to finish the borders. I bought batting (on sale!) and I should have enough scraps to piece the back. I would like to think this doesn't now go to the bottom of the UFO pile but who knows.

My February UFO is RollRollCottonBoll which was Bonnie's 2010 mystery project. I've actually listed RRCB for 2 months in this year's UFO Challenge so I don't have specific goals this month other than to make progress. I have 4 steps left: neutral string blocks (and y'all know how much I love them!), assembling the 600 HSTs from those 2 skinny bins into sashing and attaching them to the blocks which are under the red and neutral fabrics, assembling the center of the top and then the borders (parts are in that black dish to the left). OK - no real pressure this month and I like that!

Design Wall Monday - 1/9/12

Project #1 over the weekend was to make this little mug rug from a new pattern I picked up. A quick wash and the frayed edges of the hearts are even cuter. This could be one of my donations to the Library for their annual chinese auction.

If I make another mug rug I might make it so the heart points are in the center of the mug rug - in other words fold the charm square on the diagonal to cut the heart instead of just in half like normal. My next project in this style will be to cut hexies instead of hearts. I am sure almost any shape would work with a little effort.

Project #2 was to finally start working on the sleeve for my Kindle. I have all the purples I cut out stitched together but I think it will need to be just a tad longer. Now I need to do the greens for the back side.

Design Wall Monday

Chaos - that's the only word I can think of to describe this mess...it is organized tho!

From the left on the wall:

• a kitty panel on the bottom - waiting for inspiration
• Tumbler table runner - waiting for time to piece it
• Tumbler flag - top is put together and I have purchased backing. I know how I want to quilt it and I know that I want to keep the angled edges which means it has a "tucked in" edge that is edge stitched and no binding. Any recommendations on the best way to do this? I am guessing sew the three layers around edges and then turn right side out but do you quilt before or after that?
• 2 more civil war blocks completed yesterday
• 3 dresden plate mug rugs that need quilting and binding
• Several hexie diamonds that I have started stitching together with the black sashing
• The angel panel has been there a year and a half - I like to look at her but have no plans to do anything with her yet. Anyone have ideas?
• Top right is a border design that has also been there ages. I don't like it very much and that's why it's still there and I'm sticking to it...

On the table:

• The white baskets have a pieced border I am working on.
• One green basket is leftovers from a "camping" tablerunner I made for Mom and Dad's new camper - they need to be trimmed and put away. Actually I have enough to make a second runner.
• The next two green baskets are bits that need to be trimmed and selvages that need to be put in their box
• The stack of blue fat quarters on the cutting mat are for another Civil War block
• The bag of Snickers is what keeps me sane. Not really. Ok, maybe.

Project Snippets

I've got a few things slapped up on the design wall...



... on the left: tumbler blocks cut from charm squares with my new ruler

...on the bottom: several in-progress rug mugs (they are addictive but that is the last of the veggie fabric!)

...on the middle/right: I now have two of four sections of the hexie BathroomQuilt completed. (Above are hexie diamonds for another project) They are not actually joined yet until I do one of the side sections to see how much "white space" I need between the four sections. I'll be at a conference next week so this will be a good travel project.

Design Wall Monday - 4/18/11

I am 90% done with the "Delicious" quilt top - I just need to add the sashing & cornerstones to 2 sides. It's a lot brighter than I had expected so I'm glad I used the brown for the sashing to tone it down a bit.

Mexican Standoff

I knew the kids would have fun if I laid this out for a picture and left it for a while...didn't expect Smokey to be afraid of the folded bits tho...

I have very little left overs (by design!), but they made for a very neat mug rug. It's a gift so I can't say much more...