Cyn:-) 's Quilted Travels

LINKY TUESDAY at Quilting by the River... come join the fun

2012-02-07T07:35:00.000-08:00

Connie, at Quilting by the River is starting a Tuesday Linky Party... come join the fun. All the info is on Connie's blog.

That's all for today... I'm off to the Tuesday Quilters' Friendship Group meeting.
I hope where ever you are, you have time to create something that makes you or someone you love happy!
Quilty hugs,

FLIMSY FRIDAYS -- even tho' it's Monday, we're talking about it!

2012-02-06T15:39:00.000-08:00

Pat and some of her blogging buddies came up with a nifty idea: Flimsy Fridays. An effort to tackle some of those UFOs hanging about and other projects that only need a little of this-or-that to be complete. Go check out Pat's blog for all the info. Good idea, Pat!

This idea fits well with OPAM: One Project A Month. Please find the OPAM button on my side bar. Flimsy Fridays can get us to One Project A WEEK! Yippee. Please give it a try and let's see how far this can go.

That's all for today. Thank you so much for dropping by to visit. I hope where ever you are, you have time to create something for someone you love!

Quilty hugs,

BABY GONE WILD - Minky quilt is done, fini, finished!

2012-02-05T09:46:00.000-08:00

Sewing with Minky on both the front and back of a quilt required me to develop a new skill set. lol. A walking foot was a huge asset. I am glad this one is finished. I know I said I would never sew on this stuff again, but I hope to get a tiny quiltlett out of the scraps for my little kitty -- she likes the stuff!

The full pic didn't turn out as well as I hoped, but you can get a general idea of what it looks like. The back is all pale pink minky [the same as pink squares on the front]. Sandwiched into the edge seam is very large pink rick-rack. The quilt is tied with pale pink floss at every square's intersection and has pink silk ribbon bows in each of the four corners. With all the animal prints, I figured it could use some "girling-up". And I do have a thing for ribbons.

After a bit of hunting around, I found a bag big enough to stuff the quilt in. Tied it up a few ribbons, and voila! Done. Just something about ribbons. I love to tie and fuss with them. Don't know what it is, but they sure appeal to me. Probably just a girl-thing.

That's all for today. I hope where ever you are that you have time to create something that makes you or someone you love happy!

Quilty hugs,

Happy Mail: a package from DJ SP

2012-02-01T20:33:00.000-08:00

Happy Mail is so much fun to receive. My new DJ Secret Pal sent me a wonderful package for January. Just thought I would share it here. Wow... gorgeous F8ths, marking pencils, a tote pattern, and a beautifully hand written lovely note! Teriffic! I am a happy camper.

Update on Baby Gone Wild: All the squares are together. Now sewing up the last three rows. I hope to get the giant rick rack on the top tomorrow and even bat-it-up. Because it is Minkee on both sides, a simple stitch-n-birth will be the edge finish technique -- but with the rick rack tucked into the seam. After turning, I'm thinking of tying it with mini ribbon instead of floss or pearl, but will make that final decision Friday. After all, it doesn't have to be finished until Friday night! lol.

While sewing this afternoon, my little kitty Missy wanted to be in my lap, then on the machine, then on the quilt! lol.

Have you ever tried to sew with a "lump in your lap", or a cat in and on your sewing machine? I just couldn't resist - I stopped sewing & reached for my camera. lol

Take it from me, sewing with a kitty in your lap does not work out too well. I took the hint and stopped sewing so we could play for a while.

That's all for now. I hope you have time to stitch up something that makes you happy!

Quilty hugs,

BABY GONE WILD... sewing up some Minkee

2012-01-30T18:57:00.000-08:00

It is almost "baby time" in our family again -- time to whip up another baby quilt. The new mommy-2-be has chosen Pink & Brown as her color scheme, but also wants animals. While strolling thru the aisles at Road2California earlier this month, I spotted a stack of animal print Minkees and a light bulb went off! Eureka... this was it! lol.

So far just the 80 squares are arranged on this make-shift design wall*, but I think it might be ok this way and will begin sewing the squares together tomorrow. The outside edge will be very simple -- large pink rick-rack tucked into the seam... then just stitch the Minkee backing on and birth. A little tack-stitch at the intersections in lieu of quilting, and voila! Done!

That's all for today... I hope where ever you are that you have time to make something that makes you or someone you love happy.

Quilty hugs,

* Make shift design wall: A large piece of flannel tacked to a piece of wood that can be draped over the open doors of my TV armoire in the living room... not fancy, but it works! lol. And when I'm done it can be rolled up and stored behind a bedroom door. ;-)

TA DAH! Done... a little sachet bag

2012-01-28T20:37:00.000-08:00

Feels sooooooooo good to finish. This sweet little project only took a few bits of time off-n-on for two days and done! Super. I'm happy. Another notch on the OPAM list!

This project is from the "Little Bit French" section of Willowberry Design's site. Please find their button on my left side bar.

First I printed the design on some Sticky Fabri-Solvy -- just run it through your printer like paper. Peel it off the backing paper and stick on your background and begin stitching. No prep, no tracing. I love this stuff!

After the embroidery is complete, it is a good idea to carefully lift the excess Sticky-solvy from your project and trim it away.

Plop it into some water and swish it around for a few seconds and PRESTO all the stuff dissolves and nothing is left but your beautiful stitching! Super. Now just blot on a clean towel and leave to dry, or if in a hurry press it dry.

Trim edges to size -- I cut my background about 1/2 inch bigger than I needed. A slightly larger piece is easier to hoop. After a bit of a trim, I sewed the side seam - a French seam, of course! This one is about 1/8th inch finished.

Now, position the seam down the center back and create the bottom seam... again, it is a French seam.

This was a fun and quick project. I enjoy making small gift items such as this and keeping a stash of them handy for quick gifts.

Thank you for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed your visit.

Quilty hugs,

PLEDGE & A BLOG FACE-LIFT

2012-01-27T16:43:00.000-08:00

Well it's about time I rearranged a few things on this blog. Now it has 3 columns: 2 are for gadgets, which hopefully will make it easier to read and find stuff -- like clickable BOM Buttons, etc.. The middle column remains as the posting and photo area. It might take a few more tweaks before I'm happy with it, but this is a beginning.

PLEDGE: My sweet friend Marianna has written a Pledge on her blog and invited me to do the same. So, officially I have pledged to: STOP PROCRASTINATING... or, at least try not to. Marianna has a post on her blog and a button, too, I think. Currently we have used "list making" as a tool to stay on top of things more. This includes crafting and 'real life' stuff. Even housework needs tending to once in a while. lol. So... please wish us luck as we try to turn-over-a-new-leaf and make 2012 a more productive year with less wasted time. If YOU would like to take the pledge, too, please join us. All the info is on Marianna's blog.

I have a new embroidery project calling my name and I want to get a start on it while the light is still good. If you would like to join in with the "It's a little bit French" BOM, there is a clickable button on my left side bar.

That's it for now. Thank you for stopping by to visit.

Hugs,

PINCH ME! . . . I won

2012-01-26T17:15:00.000-08:00

It is so exciting! I won the drawing over at Elefantz! Thank you so much, Jenny! The fabric charms and the hand dyed cotton embroidery threads are sooooooo beautiful! And, it came in this gorgeous package all the way from Australia:

Jenny has a lovely blog and is currently running a BOM: "Promises & Borders". There is a clickable link on my left side bar. Go have a visit at Jenny's blog. You will find oodles of eye-candy and tons of inspiration!

I tell ya -- I am excited and thrilled all the way to my toes! lol. So, the next time you see a give-a-way or drawing, go ahead and sign up. You never know -- you might be the lucky one!

Thank you for stopping by for a visit and I hope you will come back. Until then. . .

Quilty hugs,

IT BEGAN AS SIMPLE... then moved on from there

2012-01-16T15:24:00.000-08:00

It really did begin as a simple idea: take 3 fabrics; cut into 5" squares; stack them up; make a couple of cuts; and, sew back together. Ok... I wanted to make more than two cuts b/c my beginning squares would be larger -- 6" rather than 5". Now I needed more squares [you need one more square than cuts you plan to make].

Well, so far so good, except I cut across a CORNER instead of cutting across the square! This tips the balance of the seam allowances which is why my finished 'squares' are rectangles.

I like to "clean up" the diagonal before sewing the last corner piece on... just keeps things neat and easy.

Now we have wonky sort-of-rectangles. Not to worry, a bit of squaring up and a touch with an iron will make them look pretty and neat:

I wanted to keep my blocks very simple, so I chose to do a feather stitch with my Janome6500 and King Tut variegated thread. The hearts are cut-outs left over from a H2H Swap I did a couple of years ago. I thought it would help settle the white areas down -- nope. Don't like it. Doesn't go well with my fabric, so I put them on my friend's blocks -- voila! Looks great [pic below]

This was a quick and fun project to do with a friend. We plan to take our "experiments" to Friendship Group with us tomorrow [Tuesday] to share. Perhaps they will want to make some too.

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed your visit and will come back again -- leave a comment and say 'hello' -- It is always interesting to hear the thoughts of others.

Quilty Hugs,

HOOKING MY BRAINS OUT . . . or how to make a dozen coasters in one day!

2012-01-10T10:02:00.000-08:00

Ok... the oodles of coasters are DONE! Yippee. The hearts were fun and quick to make. Truth be told, I do love to crochet! I started off by watching a YouTube vid by the Crochet Geek that my sweet friend Elly sent to me. Thanks again, Elly! Then I veered off and did my own thing.

The same process with the kitty coaster. One of the gals in my DD's office is just crazy about Hello Kitty, so instead of making her a heart, I tried to make a Hello Kitty likeness -- it's close enough, I guess. lol.

So now it's back to sewing. I still haven't started my little Scrap Houses yet! ;( I want to get started on them right away. Then there is the Batik quilt in the design process. . . .

I am grateful everyday that I am retired and of reasonably good health so I can sew, create, play with fabric, and visit with all of you on the Net! And, it's good that I can bend over again, because Missy really loves to play "chase the ball". Here's how it goes: I throw/roll the ball, she watches it intently, I go fetch it and bring it back to her! She is a cute and fun kitty, but we all know who is the boss in this house! lol

Have a wonderful day -- thank you so much for stopping by for a visit.

Hugs,

A LITTLE PURSELETT . . . The 911 Bag

2012-01-08T19:44:00.000-08:00

TaDah! Finished a couple of things today. First, a cute little purselett that I have dubbed "911", because I fill them with essential things a gal might need during the day at work: 'cotton angels', ponytail holder, small manicure set, bandaids, hand sanitizer, emery board, small sewing kit, etc.... All the gals in my DD's office love them. By the end of the year I hope to have made one for each gal.

Take 2 FQ. Fold raw edges to center. Fold over ends and top stitch for casing. Stitch up side... DONE! I do make tassels, or prairie points or similar to use as 'handles' to open purselett. Today I made strips similar to what we make for belt loops and added some buttons on the ends for fun.

Before joining the front to the lining, I made a small pocket for the 'cotton Angels' and top-stitched it to the lining.

Also today saw the completion of 10 new crocheted coasters. Pics for these Valentine's cuties will follow soon. I have really been on a crocheting binge lately... can't get enough of hooking! lol

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed your visit.

Hugs,

AMAZING PLANET - A Beautiful Sunrise in California

2012-01-05T09:59:00.000-08:00

This morning's view right outside my front door. Isn't it beautiful?

I grabbed my camera and ran outside -- I was in my jammies! lol. Wouldn't you know it... my neighbor next door had done the same thing! LOL. We enjoyed a good laugh together while we appreciated the stunning view!

Thank you for popping in to share this gorgeous sunrise with me.

I hope where ever you are on this amazing planet, that you have time to sew today - that's what I hope to do. Bye until next time. . .

Quilty hugs,

KINDA BACKWARDS...lol... OrcaBay Clue #6 laid out and ready to sew

2011-12-31T21:48:00.000-08:00

Well, backwards is better than "no wards", I guess. lol. I have OrcaBay's Clue #6 laid out and ready to sew. Creating the OhioStar blocks in positive & negative makes it more interesting to me. I like it. Bonnie is a wonderful designer.

I am making piles of the QSTs & 2.5" squares [oriented in their correct positions] and then will just assembly-line sew them up:

I just noticed that Bonnie has posted the BIG OrcaBay REVEAL! I won't give anything away... you must go to Quiltville to see for yourself. What a great quilt. Thank you, Bonnie Hunter for an interesting and fun mystery.

Happy New Year, everyone! See ya next year... golly, that's 2012! Yikes!

Quilty hugs,

ORCA BAY - Clue #7 and hiding fabric!

2011-12-30T15:20:00.000-08:00

Well, here it is, my first FG of Clue 7 in the Orca Bay Mystery [please see Bonnie Hunter's site for all the info and to join in].

What I learned: when attaching the 'winged units' to the red-string triangles, be more careful of how the seam allowances line up - especially across the top. This first one is a tad wonky. Also, I think less agressive pressing will be good -- it's just too easy to knock & stretch all these bias edges. Thank Heavens my block is not as goofy as it looks in the pic above. The picture angle is crooked. ;(

Hiding fabric! Yipes!!! I found 14 more pieces of black hiding in the closet. Who knew? lol. Perhaps I should look in there more often during DAYLIGHT when I can actually see something. One of the 'blacks' that I pulled out to cut more wing-triangles, actually turned out to be a 'purple'. But since it reads as mostly black I'm going to use it anyway. Why not, right?! Discovered a couple of neutrals, too.

I'm wondering how everyone else is coming along with their OB Clues? Should be a lot of eye candy on the Net come this weekend. And Sunday will be the BIG reveal on Bonnie's site. Can't wait to see the whole thing! I wonder if it will look anything like what I have pictured in my head? Probably not! lol

My little kitty Missy was being just too adorable this morning, so naturally I snapped a couple of shots of her... kitties are so cute! Notice all the shreds of cardboard bits around her on the rug -- she loves to tear it up! Naturally I let her. It helps to groom her nails, she loves to do it, and I do own a vaccuum and can always clean it up later. . Poor little thing, see how thin she has become? She has almost no hips at all! She is in a battle with Chronic Renal Failure and some days are better than others.

Thank you for stopping by to visit. I hope you will come again. Meanwhile, I hope you have lots of time to sew up something that makes you or someone you care about happy!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Quilty Hugs,

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2011-12-24T18:16:00.000-08:00

Isn't this a sweet WH? My wonderful friend SteffiniD made it and gifted it to me two Christmases ago. It is one of my all time favorite quilts!

The 'tree' above is a Swedish Dowel Tree that stays up all year around in my house. I just love it. My youngest son and I made it together - a couple of decades ago! Bill [who was in Jr High at the time] did the woodworking and I made all the tiny ornaments, or "quiltlets" as they have been called. My Mother is gone now, but we keep this tree up all year round because she loved it so and we all loved her!

From my home to yours, the very warmest of Merry Christmas greetings, and the Happiest & Healthiest of New Years!

★˛˚˛*˛°.˛*.˛°˛.*★˚˛*˛°.˛*.˛°˛.*★Merry*★* 。*˛.
˛°_██_*.。*./ ♥ \ .˛* .˛。.˛.*.★* Christmas*★ 。*
˛. (´• ̮•)*.。*/♫.♫\*˛.* ˛_Π_____.♥Everyone ♥ ˛* ˛*
.°( . • . ) ˛°./• '♫ ' •\.˛*./______/~＼*. ˛*.。˛* ˛.*。
*(...'•'.. ) *˛╬╬╬╬╬˛°.田田門 ╬╬╬╬╬*˚ .˛ ...

Hugs,

PS: The text picture above is courtesy of one of my handy-dandy-talented kids!

JUST TAKES 2 -- New Project Beginning Soon. . . come join in!

2011-12-22T10:58:00.000-08:00

A new project is about to be offered on the Internet -- FREE -- for all who wish to join in.

It will be co-hosted by Gay of Sentimental Stitches & Brenda of DearJane fame. Above is their darling button... go grab a button for your blog and sign up with your email addy to receive the free block patterns. It's gonna be FUN!

It's almost Christmas, it's almost Christmas - such a wonderful and colorful time of year. I love all the decorations! But, today I can sew just a little bit more and finish one more thing! lol. How about you -- can you squeeze a little bit of sewing into this busy time of year?

Thank you for stopping by for a visit. I'm so glad you dropped in and hope you will come back soon.

Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukah to everyone!

Hugs,

WAIT! IT'S NOT SPRING ...YET! Orchids are giving an early show. . .

2011-12-20T22:12:00.000-08:00

Isn't this gorgeous? I couldn't resist trying for a very close close-up of the center of this cymbidium orchid. Aren't the colorations amazing? Orchids facinate me.

This particular orchid lives inside my house during the winter months -- we don't really have "winter" in Southern California, but outside the wind can sometimes stir up trouble and damage the flowers. To be safe, she spends a couple of months living next to the front window in the living room. It is a thrill to watch the plants set their buds and then bloom with spectacular color and majesty.

That's all for tonight. Thank you for stopping by for a visit. I am off to dream of flowers and fabrics -- my goodness, such good stuff to dream about!

Hugs,

MONDAY'S OB PROGRESS - Clue #5

2011-12-19T15:20:00.000-08:00

To be on the safe side, I check my s.a. before sewing: My Janome6500 set at 1.8 spi, straight stitch w/needle position at 41 works out just right -- the seam is 1 to 1.5 threads inside the 1/4" s.a. Great! I love it when a plan comes together.

Using the EZ Angle ruler as Bonnie suggests, I cut a few triangles from 2" strips and prepared to sew some Clue #5's together.

Hey! It worked just great. I'm happy.

They measure what they are supposed to so now I can crank out the other 348! No problem. lol.

I am having a lot of fun making the units for Orca Bay Mystery -- especially the string blocks. Those are my favorites! Some people say string quilting is messy, but I say, "hey, what mess?". lol

Missy looking on and keeping me company. When I am finished pressing a stack of blocks she hurries back to this end of the pressing surface where it is so nice and warm and curls up, usually some purring is added.

That's it for today. Thank you for stopping by. I hope you have plenty of time to play with some fabric and sew, even if it is almost Christmas!

Hugs,

OMGosh, I cut it the WRONG Way!... no problem, a fix is possible

2011-12-14T20:43:00.000-08:00

Gee willikers, I couldn't wait to trim up a couple of the Red String blocks for Bonnie's Orca Bay Mystery over at Quiltville, and cut them into triangles to see how they would look. Excellent, enthusiasum is always good. lol. GADFRY! I cut 'with' the strips instead of ACROSS the strips! Oh, gee, I felt so dumb afterwards.

Thank goodness someone on the QuiltvilleChatYahoo group had a simple fix to offer: ADD another strip bringing the square back together again and then cut it properly! BINGO! It worked just like a charm. It's nice to have quilting friends bail ya out when ya get into trouble like this. lol

The Quilting Fairies were smiling on me yesterday. Whew! I didn't relish making those blocks over again.

Clue #4 of Orca Bay: 64 Red string pieced 5.5" blocks.
Progress: 54 DONE and the last 10 are in process.

Hey, that's pretty good... afterall, it's not Friday yet! lol

Thank you for stopping by to visit... it is back to sewing for me.

Hugs,

TATER-BAGS, Tater Bags, and a little touch of Blue. . .

2011-12-09T13:01:00.000-08:00

My local Friendship Group has been sewing up a storm making Tater Bags. We've made so many, I have sort of lost count! lol. Now that the Warm and Natural Company has made "tater batting", they are even nicer to sew and use.

I like to include a tag with each gift bag giving directions for use, care, etc.:

There are a ton of free patterns on the Net, and also a FREE pattern is included with one's purchase of W&N batting. Some of my bags are made from strips cut WOF, and a few are made from FQs. For the FQ ones I had to make up my own method, but it all worked out. [If I could figure out how to add a PDF to a blog post, I would share the pattern I wrote. Hmmm, someday... lol. If anyone else knows how to do this with Blogger and would share with me, that would be GREAT!] These bags are quick and easy -- giftees love them!

It's back to sewing on Bonnie's OrcaBay Mystery project. Twelve more Blue String blocks completed this morning -- only TEN more to go and Clue#2 will be done! Yeah... done is good. Then it is on to Clue #4 and RED. . . good golly, Miss Molly, but this quilter does love red!

I am still facinated by how messy string-pieced units look during the sewing process, then trim them up and the Ugly Ducklings turn into Swan Blocks! Guess it doesn't take too much to keep me entertained! lol.

Because I started to run a little low on Blues, I raided my CW fabric bins this morning for more variety. Today was an exeriment to see if these different kinds of styles would play nice together -- I think it might work. What do you think of the blocks above... they look ok to you?

Well... that's about it for today. Thank you so much for dropping by for a visit -- loved having you! If you leave a comment [which is always appreciated!] feel free to leave your blog addy URL in your comment's signature line so I can visit you!

Hope everyone has a lovely day and has tons of time to sew, sew, sew!
Hugs,

ORCA BAY: Clue #2... yes, I know I'm working a bit backwards

2011-12-05T16:52:00.000-08:00

Today sees the completion of 10 string blocks for Clue #2. Yes, I'm working a bit backwards -- lol -- I did Clue #3 yesterday. Not to worry. As long as they all get sewed up sometime between now and ??? whenever, it's all good! LOL. Check out all the info at Quiltville -- you'll be glad you did.

I wasn't sure if I would like the Blue String blocks -- blue is a great color, but my personal fave is RED! But now that they are sewn together, I find myself really really liking them -- even loving these cute little blue blocks! Glad I tried a color outside my usual. The "stretch" will do me good.

Isn't it weird how the blocks look so yucky and strange after sewing [pic on left]... but TRIM [pic on right] and they look wonderful!

Yup... me likey these little blocks. Perhaps "stringing" is my thing; scrap blocks certainly are! I made a Spider Quilt last year -- Katrin talked me into it! LOL. Katrin started a Spider Ring and it was so much fun.

Tomorrow will see more of Clue#2 HST blocks and the beginning of Clue#1 QST blocks. The method I am choosing for all triangle blocks is Inklingo! I love the predictable precision I get when using Inklingo. Rather than run paper through my printer, PP, and pick off paper; I iron fabric to FP, run through printer, cut, sew, press, DONE! Love it. A big thanks to Linda Franz for her invention. I have no affiliation, I am just an extremely Happy Camper!

That's all for now... I am off to my closet to pull more black, blue, neutral and some reds. If I do some prep now, I can sew more tomorrow... or at least that is my plan.

Thank you for stopping by to visit. . .

Quilty hugs,

ORCA BAY MYSTERY on Quiltville - My Progress So Far. . .

2011-12-04T16:58:00.000-08:00

Hello,
Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville fame has designed another wonderful Mystery Quilt Project. It is called Orca Bay. Check out Bonnie's site for all the info here. The first three clues have been posted, but it is not too late to join in.

Today I completed about 30+ little 1.5" HSTs. All in blacks and neutrals. Cute little things. Only about 300 more to go. NO problem, though. I am using Inklingo to print my little triangles... no math, no measuring, no special rulers. Just print, sew, cut:

Perfect little HSTs. I am definitely a fan of Inklingo - it is such a wonderful quilting tool!

That's all the quilty stuff for tonight. The light is gone and twilight has set in, so will go grab my crochet stuff and hook a while. Are you following the GGW CAL on LuAnn's blog? Jump over and see what fun we are having.

Thank you for stopping by to visit. May we always have the time and the inclination to make something wonderful for ourselves or someone we love. . .
Quilty hugs,

TaDah!!! More little projects finished -- The Click-It Purse

2011-11-17T10:41:00.000-08:00

Last night's sewing finish was a "Click It" Purse. I bought the pattern over a year ago during a Quilt Run, but failed to make it until last night. No grass grows under my feet... right?! lol

The 'magic' that keeps this little item securely closed is: ...

a piece of metal measuring tape! Did you guess what it was?

This little purse [roughly 8.5" square] takes TWO FQs + two 8" pieces of metal tape. Be sure and round off the cut ends and smooth them with an old file or emery board. It might be a good idea to put a piece of masking tape over the ends as well... don't want the metal tape to "poke" it's way out of the fabric.

This little purse is for my DD to keep in her desk at work. I'm calling it the "911 Bag" because I plan on filling it with emergency items that could be useful: 'cotton angels', bandaids, small sewing kit, lip balm, small tube of Tylenol, Kleenex tissues, nail file, brush/comb,... etc etc.. I think DD will be pleasantly surprised to have this little surprise gifty. Probably wouldn't hurt to make another one for myself and keep it in my car.

A quick visit to a local bead shop was all I needed to creat a 'fob' to hang on the Prairie Point [these are "handles" to open purse]. I found some numbers -- 9-1-1 -- a few crystals, a couple of blue beads, some findings and voila a "911 Bobble" of sorts... just for fun.

That's all for today. I hope where ever you are that you have time to create something you like.
Hugs,

CUTE, QUICK, USEFUL... what could be better?

2011-11-16T11:26:00.000-08:00

Spent quite a bit of time sewing yesterday -- the Yarn Goddess is now whining. lol. Finished up several projects. My fave one is of this teeny tiny tote to carry iPod earbuds, change, what-have-you. Handy little gadget and it only took 4 Charm Squares, plus a small corner of a 5th for the loop, and a 3/4" sliver to make the zipper pull. Well, OK, 5 Charm Squares. ;-)

The idea came from: Erin. She wrote a great tute... go check it out. Thank you Erin for such a nifty design!

I constructed mine slightly different -- see below:

I cut two Charm Squares in half [front and lining] and installed the zipper without cutting into 1/2-circle shape. So easy to line up the ends... straight is better than a curve, eh?! Next, I added two rectangle batting bits and edge-stitched the zipper... I also chose to lightly quilt, as I was using Cotton Classic batting. [Adding the batting AFTER zipper installation keeps the edges flatter so they don't get 'poofy'.]

Now, stack two more Charm Squares [backing/lining] and a scrap of batting -- tack-press a FP circle on top and cut through all layers. [Quick little bit of FM quilting is optional.]

Last... layer circle bits on top of zipper/rectangle, and using circle edge as guide, stitch around with a 1/4" s.a.. Trim if needed and overcast edge for neatness. Turn right side out, press, edge stitch, and you are done!

Hope you like this little project. If you decide to make one, I would love to see it. Also, Erin has a Flicker site to share pics [link on her blog].

That's all for today. I hope where ever you are that you have time to create something you like.

Hugs,

WOW... I've Been Off Planet: Some Crochet to share. . .

2011-11-11T14:17:00.000-08:00

Hello,
I've sure been off planet the last two weeks. My left foot had a bit of surgery and it's taking it's own sweet time to heal... you know the drill: stay off it, elevate, blah blah... ok. End of update, now for fun stuff:

Been crocheting more and sewing less -- just been working out that-a-way. Above, is Missy [my little 6 pound kitty] relaxing on one of her new blankies. And below is the other one I made in Pink... and, wow, is it PINK! lol

Open, these little blankies cover her beds in the house, but folded in half they pad her carrier purrrrfectly! They are quick to hook up and make good use of all the smallish bits of yarn leftover from other projects.

Please don't forget to go check out the other blogs sharing their crochet in the on-going CAL's -- it's nice to see what others are up to: LuAnn, Elly, Katrin [just to name a few].

That's it for today... thank you so much for stopping by to visit. I hope where ever you are that you have time to sew, crochet, knit, or otherwise make something that makes you or someone you love happy! Bye for now. . .

Hugs,

TA DAH!!! All FOUR Halloween Bags are D-O-N-E!

2011-10-27T21:40:00.000-07:00

Breathless! That's what I am. I have been scurrying about from room to room sewing and pressing like a mad-woman making sure I finished the Halloween Bags for 3 DGC and one DGGC. Whew!

They are done. Packed into their little packages; postage printed and applied; and we will all go to the postoffice together tomorrow morning at 0700! Sending them Express Mail to guarantee they will arrive by Mon the 31st.

A wonderful friend -- Joyce M. -- shared some extra Halloween blocks with me, so turning the blocks into bags was pretty quick and easy. THANK YOU, JOYCE! The kids are going to love their bags!

Our LQS didn't have any Halloween fabrics, so a quick trip to JoAnn's was in order. The fabrics are fun and look good with the blocks, eh?!

My house is a total wreck and poor Missy is feeling a bit neglected, . . but mission accomplished! I sure wish I could learn NOT to procrastinate. I wonder if there is a 'pill' for that? There is for everything else! lol.

Ok... that's enough nonsence from me today -- lol -- thank you so much for dropping by for a visit. I hope you will come back. Until then, be happy... it sure beats the alternative!
Hugs,

SUPER QUICK PILLOWs. . . In about 15 Min! ;-)

2011-10-22T09:33:00.000-07:00

Need some pillows super-fast? No problem. If you can be happy with 'covers' and not anything fancy-smancy, then this method will work for you. My DD has a beach/ocean theme in her new apartment, so this pretty shell fabric will look nice on her new white couch.

Process:
I am making 4 pillows. Two 16 inch, & two 18 inch square [pillow forms from JoAnn's].

CUT fabric: two strips WOF x 16" and two strips WOF x 18 inches [or whatever size your pillows are].
Fold fabric exactly in half [long-wise, two short ends meet] and press. Fold over double a nice hem on each short end. Stitch. I stitched both the edge and the fold for extra durability and it looks nice that way. Press.

Line ruler up on FOLD side at one-half the size of pillow [remember, it's folded in half]. Here it is at 8 inches.

Flip the hemmed edge over the ruler [this marks the size of pillow]. Pull ruler away from the fold you just made and press this new fold in place. Stay with me; you'll see how this little trick works so fast to 'mark' the edges and size of your pillow.

Open up and re-fold using the pressed-fold line you just made... where my scrubby finger is pointing.

Now a couple of pins to hold edges in place; stitch the two short sides; press seams; turn, and voila! Stuff your pillow form inside and TaDah, you're done!

No kidding. . . each pillow will take less than 15 minutes to make.

That's all for today. Thank you so much for dropping by to visit. I hope where ever you are that you have time to create something for yourself or someone you love.

Hugs,

Small QUICK Bag. . . and Keeping Me Honest

2011-10-21T13:30:00.000-07:00

Tuesday's Friendship Circle was a blast! Several members shared some cute and quick projects. The one I made is a small bag to corral essentials in my purse. Hopefully, keeping things neat, easy to find, and quick and easy to change to another purse. I made mine in pink!

This bag is soooo easy to make: Use pre-quilted fabric [or make your own... I used a few Charm Squares & machine quilted]. The size isn't important. Mine was "almost" 9 inches square, but rectangles are good, too. Install a zipper on two opposing edges. Fold and center the zipper and stitch a seam; then refold opposite direction and create last seam. Make sure your zipper is halfway open when sewing the last seam so you have space to 'turn' it right side out. The s.a. are zigzaged as I didn't want to drag out my serger. A zipper fob is just for fun. Next time I will add a 'tab' at top/bottom of zipper for a better finish! Live n learn, ya?! These make super gifts! See Jill's bag [below]... she used 'tabs' at both ends of the zipper and I think her's has a cleaner finish. Jill started with a rectangle, so her finished bag would be just right for cutting tools.

"Keeping Me Honest": Some of you know that I have been diagnosed with Type-II Diabetes. Now I am making a lot of life-style changes, not the least of which is dietary modifications. I thought I could keep myself 'honest' if I started posting about this... so, if you aren't interested just skip over this part. lol. Yesterday's lunch was:
A salad concoction that I arrived at mostly based on what was in my frig and the leftover Butternut Squash from the night before. Here are the salad ingredients: 2 handfuls of mixed greens [baby spinach, romaine, arugula, endive, radicchio, etc.], 1 Roma Tomato, 1 Cup baked Butternut Squash/cubed, 1 Persian Cuke, 2 Oz water-packed Albacore Tuna, 1/4 C low fat Cottage Cheese, 2 Tblsp Salsa [the last two are my "dressing"]. A sprinkle of mixed herbs on top with a dusting of Garlic Powder. It was VERY tasty! Filling and satisfying, too. If you choose to try it, please let me know how you like it.

Along with better food choices also comes the dedication to move more. Last night I walked for 1.5 hours at the Street Faire. Yippee for me! If YOU are making life-style changes, too, perhaps you will add a comment to this post -- I would love all the support I can garner to stay on track. And, if you have a blog, please leave your blog addy as part of your signature line in your comment. That way I can visit you and give you support, too. It's always easier to do this kind of thing with friends! Do you agree?

I can't resist sharing this picture of Missy. . . she has found a new place to explore and "hide" in. There is a very small space under the sewing machine cabinet, behind the small chest and where two FeatherWeights are stored. I don't know what she thinks is so interesting in the trash bin! lol. . . . kitties are so much fun!

Thank you for stopping by. I hope where ever you are, you have time to create something that makes you happy! Sew, Quilt, Knit, Tat, Crochet, occasional Cooking. . . Life Is GOOD!

Hugs,

Monday AGAIN Already???

2011-10-17T14:12:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends in BlogLand. . .
This is just a quickie post to say "Hi" and leave you with a chuckle -- Monday's need all the help they can get! lol

After I hit the market for some produce, and then JoAnn's for some supplies for tomorrow's project at Friendship Circle, I plan to sit on my tushie and crochet on Laura's soon-to-be Granny Gone Wild afghan. What are all of you up to today???

Thank you for stopping by. I hope where ever you are, you have time to create something that makes you happy! Sew, Quilt, Knit, Tat, Crochet, occasional Cooking. . . Life Is GOOD!

Hugs,

GRANNY GONE WILD CAL: My Rectangle Granny

2011-10-07T20:20:00.000-07:00

Grannies, grannies, every where grannies! LuAnn of Loose Threads has just launched a new Crochet-A-Long. LuAnn is making a multi color square granny. I am making a rectangle shape in Blue, White, & Yellow for my DD's new apartment. This is where I am as of yesterday:

Making a square into a rectangle didn't go as smoothly as I hoped it would. lol. First, I tried making a chain, joining into a ring... nope, don't like it.

Second attempt: I made some "eyelets" and crocheted clusters from the eyelets... nope, don't like this either.

Third try: after some discussion with crochet friends and some trial and error, LuAnn suggested a regular chain, BUT put some clusters down the chain without crocheting on both sides of the beginning chain! YES! Success... it works fine and lays well with no ruffling of edges! Thank you, LuAnn for the suggestion... aren't friends great?!

FINALLY, I begin: Because grannies have 3 double crochets in each cluster with a chain-1 in between, we can proceed with a chain of any number as long as it is a multiple of FOUR. Because I wanted a specific width-to-length ratio, I chose to Chain16. From there it is easy:

The rectangle beginning: Ch16, DblCr in 4th Ch from hook [this creates an 'end' loop], DblCr in next Ch [2 times- this completes the first 'cluster']; Ch1. Now, *Skip next Ch, DblCr in each of the next 3 Ch, then Ch1* rep betwn ** until two Ch from end. Skip 1 Ch and DblCr in last Ch [this forms the end loop for the other end]. Proceed as for Granny, changing colors on successive rounds [if that is your plan]. A granny is made by Crocheting 3 DblCr in each Ch1 Space [cluster made], Ch1. In the corners: Cluster, Ch 1, Cluster; Ch1. That's all there is to it.

I hope you will join in so we can keep each other motivated! If you just want to root us on, that is great too! Click here to go to the Flicker site to see more pictures.

That's all for today... thank you for stopping by to visit. Until next time, I hope you will create something that makes you happy!

Hugs,

TA DAH!! It's Finished. . . now, back to quilting ;-)

2011-09-23T10:20:00.000-07:00

Well, it's done... my Giant Granny from the CAL on Sucrette's blog is finished. It took exactly 3 weeks to make -- one to do the crochet, and two to decide how to finish it and put on 3 more rows to balance the colors. Isn't that funny? For me, design always takes longer than the actual "making" of something.

It turned out quite BIG! Here it is covering half the loveseat in my living room. lol...

First, I tried making the edging shells of Treble Crochets ... that seemed pretty heavy for this blanket.

So, I pulled it out and redid it using Double Crochet instead. This looks much better [pic below]. Do you agree? The smaller edging doesn't dominate the whole blanket; just sits nicely on the edge and behaves itself. lol. It looks a bit unruly now, but will look better after it has been blocked.

This afghan is too big to get the whole thing in one picture, but I think the pic below shows enough of it that you can see the colors.

This was a very fun project to do. It was even more enjoyable because I have been crocheting along with friends: EllyD, LuAnn, Katrin, and Sucrette [this is a new URL for Sucrette]. All these ladies make fabulous art! I'm looking forward to sharing another project together sometime.

Well, this is the end of crochet for awhile -- I must get back to sewing, quilting, and finishing up those last two placemats and I have a new embroidery project all ready to go: [the drawing comes from BariJ's site. I redrew a few of the lines to more closely fit my needs -- artist's license, eh?!]

Thank you for stopping by to visit. I hope you will come back again... until then, may you have loads of time to quilt, sew, stitch, crochet, knit. . . whatever makes YOU happy! What do you like to do the best?

Hugs,

PS: There is a link to a Flicker site on Sucrette's blog [or click on the button above and on the right side of my blog], if you would like to see what the other Giant Grannies look like.

QUICK UPDATE ON GIANT GRANNY SQUARE C.A.L.

2011-09-14T14:51:00.000-07:00

Making this Giant Granny Square has been a lot of fun. And, hey, it keeps me busy and off the streets so what's not to like?! lol.

To share my progress with you, I've u/l a few photos. Notice in the first two, my little "helper" snuggeled into the yarn -- I left my seat for a few minutes and when I came back I saw her. Couldn't resist taking Missy's picture!

[When Missy saw me with the camera, she ducked her head...

she seems to be saying, "... you can't see me!"]

This afghan is BIG! It covers the whole top of my Queen size bed. I plan on crocheting about 3 more rows to balance out some color and lights n darks, then will put the edging on. The edging will be white. I'm trying to think up a simple edging, but so far have not decided. I hope you like the pictures. If nothing else, this blankie is colorful! lol

Now it's time to get back to sewing. I have a few placemats calling my name saying, "come finish my quilting!" And then there are a few Siggies to make. Sewing, Quilting and Quilting Friends bring a lot of happiness into my life. I'm so grateful we share this craft with each other!

Thank you for stopping by to visit. I hope you will come back again... until then, may you have loads of time to quilt, sew and stitch!

Hugs,

Tuesday Quilters... A Little Picture Show

2011-09-11T20:30:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Our Tuesday Quilters Friendship Group has been busy as usual. Here are some of the pictures from last Tuesday:

Above and below, Jill shows us how she uses an old mouse pad, her scanner/printer, and some plastic sheets to make quilt stencils. Neat idea!

The next 2 pics show Deb auditioning fabrics to use as b/g to set her EPPd stars... pretty!

The next 3 pics are all about fun and fabulous Pillow Cases that Suzanne made for her family that will be visiting very soon. Wonderful idea for everyone to have their very own, personally designed pillow case. The young ones, especially, will love this!

Below is Rosemary's newest Log Cabin WH:

This lavender beauty was sewn by Deb and will soon be quilted:

Mary Ellen has been busy making circles, circles, and more circles! lol. Soon she will give us a demo on how these circles will be set side-by-side. When connected, the quilt will be complete... all quilting, edgings, etc. We are all looking forward to her showing us how she does this.

That's all for now. Thank you so much for stopping by. . . I hope you will come back and visit again real soon.

Quilty hugs,

GIANT GRANNY UPDATE . . .

2011-09-07T14:04:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends,
This has been a really busy week. I did find time to put almost 40 rounds on my Giant Granny Square. I'm wondering if this Brilliant and Zingy Orange might just be a little TOO much??? What does everyone think? If I add Orange on round 40, will Orange be all I see when the blanket is finished? Hmmm, would love your opinions!

Here it is at round 39... I can barely get the whole thing into the picture frame. lol

Thank you for stopping by to visit. Tomorrow [after Guild Meeting] I hope to put up the pictures from the Tuesday Friendship Quilter's Meeting. . . until then, may you always have the time and inclination to create something for yourself or someone you love.

Quilty Hugs,

PS: The bright color at round 19 (in pic above) is actually a 'gold'... it sure draws attention to itself. That's why I am a bit concerned about adding bright Orange! lol. I guess my color-insecurities are showing like a dangling slip!

GIANT GRANNY SQUARE CAL. . . With A Lot Of Help From My Friends!

2011-09-01T18:22:00.000-07:00

You know the lyrics of the song. . . "With A Little Help From My Friends"? Well, that's exactly what I received this week -- in spades! I received a LOT of help! On Tuesday, MaryEllen gave me a HUGE laundry basket of yarn! WOW!! Thank you, Mary Ellen!

And then, many friends provided lots of "hand holding" to help me remember how to crochet, as I haven't done any in quite awhile. Thank you for the help, the Tutes, the encouragement: EllyD, LuAnn, Katrin, and Sucrette [who began the CAL... Crochet A Long]. Thank you so much.

This is how much I have done so far this evening... not much, I know, but it's a beginning:

To change colors in the next round, I'm guessing we cut the yarn and pull it through the sl st just made, turn, attach new color and crochet the following round. Not sure if that is correct, but that is how I plan to do it. lol

That's all for now. Thank you so much for stopping by for a little visit. I hope you will CAL with all of us, too. The info may be found on Sucrette's blog [click on her link above].

Bye for now. . .

Hugs,

SMALL, but DONE! . . . An Easy Stitch n Slash Project

2011-08-23T10:29:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago -- maybe a couple of months -- several of us were making "Sew n Slash" projects. Rosa made a neat rug for her bathroom, and Joy and I made potholders. The one above shows my last one. Don't know why or how this poor little thing got left unfinished. . . probably just got forgotten under a pile of other stuff. LOL. Right now it is in the dryer getting all "fluffy".

The method is really easy and quick: LAYER several pieces [I used five, 8" squares of FLANEL] all RIGHT SIDE UP. PIN in a couple of places to secure; STITCH DIAGONAL lines about ONE INCH apart; Carefully CUT [or use Rotary Slasher] inbetween the stitching lines through all but the LAST layer. BIND or finish how you want. Machine wash and dry to fluff out the layers and make it "bloom". Below, after its bath and run through the dryer:

That's all for now. Thank you for stopping by to visit.

Hugs,

PS... Please note: the "date" of this posting shows "Sat, 20 Aug", even tho' today [Tues., 23 Aug] is the day I'm posting. Not sure how to change that. I began on Sat., but was not able to finish until today. Does anyone know how to change the dates? Regarding blogging, I still have a strong learning curve going on. lol.

SOME FINISHES! A Spider, Pillowcases, Receiving Blankets & some organizing. . .

2011-08-16T19:13:00.000-07:00

Ta Dah! Finally, a finish -- the little Spider quilt, which I have named: "Itsy Bitsy Spider" [after the childrens' song]. It gave me the shivers, but I put a spider drawing on the label... couldn't resist. And added a Spider Plant, too, just for fun.

Thank you everyone for your input. I agree with your good advice and put a red binding on it. I like it. I am thinking about embroidering a couple of little black spiders in the upper left & lower right hand corners. What do you think? Would that be too creepy?

[note: the quilt is straight, but my photograph is a bit wonky! I need more practice, or maybe a class!!]

Sorry it's been almost two weeks since I posted, but I have been mostly off the puter these last two weeks. First, I had some lovely company from out of town [out of the Country, actually]. Did a little reorganizing and refurbishing around the house, and even been working on cleaning out the garage! Wow.

Have completed a number of small projects. The first one [below] is a reversible receiving blanket for my soon-2-b-born great-granddaughter Nailay [means 'I love you' in Native American]. The blanket takes TWO, one-yard-pieces of flannel. The process: trim up the sides; sew together all around leaving about 12 inches open to turn; turn; slip stitch opening, and voila! A blankie. Oh, I did sandwich 1.5" of cotton eyelet lace in the seam and used a saucer to round the corners... this makes up pretty fast.

Making pillowcases is so much fun. Talk about almost instant gratification! lol. Below is a case made from material depicting the famous Route 66 highway that runs mostly East to West across a lot of the USA. I made this for my DD Laura to commemorate our drive on Rte 66 a year ago last May. She is stoked! I tried something different this time: after turning the "tube" [which encloses all the seams in the hem] I topstitched the flange. Then I finished it off as usual. Hopefully this little trick will make it all behave better in the laundry ... we'll see. ;-)

Below is a very fuzzy picture--sorry-- but you can make out some of the attractions that are along Route 66.

Below shows my beginning efforts to put up new shelves. I hope to eventually get everything sorted into nice looking baskets and have those sitting on these shelves. As you can see, I need to shop for and install a couple more shelves. lol. The top shelf, although not especially pretty looking, is organzied and done... the other one needs a lot of work yet! lol

That's all for now. Thank you so much for stopping by to visit! I hope where ever you are, that you have time to make something that makes you or someone you love happy!

Hugs,

SCRAPPY SPIDER IS QUILTED & A Quick Salad Idea Using Avocados. . .

2011-07-28T13:01:00.000-07:00

Remember the Spider Web Ring that Cattinka put together a few months ago? Many of us joined the SpiderWeb fun. Thanks again, Katrin! Making the blocks was fun... and, I used up a lot of scraps that were just laying around not doing anything. lol.

Above is my little WH. It is machine quilted, but not bound yet. I'm thinking maybe a RED binding... what do you think? Also, the SpiderWeb quilting design does not cover all of the Yellow Border-- so I am thinking of embroidering a few small black spiders in the Yellow... is that a good idea, or should I leave well enough alone? Please tell me what you think. Thank you. [Sorry for the wonky picture. . . I'm not sure how it got so crooked. ;-( ]

Recently we acquired an InfraRed Gas Grill. My DD Laura is getting very good at grilling! The other night she made some Alaska Wild Samon -- while she was doing that, I created an Avocado and Tomato Salad to go with it... no dressing, just a sprinkle of some mixed herbs on the top. We had just returned from a trip to the Carlsbad Farmer's Market with fresh produce, so that dictated our ingredients. lol. It was delish. We ate all the fish before I remembered to take a pic! lol.

Until next time, I hope you have the time and inclination to create something that makes you or someone you care about happy.
Hugs,

I FOUND IT.... I found it!

2011-07-27T11:33:00.000-07:00

Yep, I found the picture that was 'lost' the other day when creating the post for the BowTie placemats. Guess where it was? Still in the camera! . So without further ado, here it is:

My house has a tiny little area off one end of the kitchen that we call the "Morning Room". Kind of a joke, really, as the area is so small. Because the window faces the street, it is a nice little place to sit and enjoy morning coffee, while watching the day begin.

The pic below shows how I finished the backing. I did a very simple layer, stitch around the edge [no binding!], and turn. Makes for a nice and very quick edge finish. After the item is "birthed", just sew up the little partial seam and ta dah, it is done! I like that.

Thank you for stopping by to visit. . . until next time. . .

Hugs,

TWO DOWN & 2 TO GO!

2011-07-26T07:14:00.000-07:00

Quite a few quilters have been having a lot of fun lately sewing up BowTie blocks. There is a sew-a-long on the Net and FB right now. The challenge is to make One Block A Day during the summer months... get the scoop here and here. It's not too late to join in the FUN!

TWO placemats finished! Yippee. I like the way they turned out. I might put a tad more quilting in them. Definitely stitch in the ditch around the plaid border to hold the backing snugly in place. Then maybe outline around the BowTie shapes. Above is a pic of one. The pic of the two finished ones sitting on my morning room table is currently MIA. Don't know where it is hiding! lol

Because I planned to attach the backing with a "stitch around the edge & birth" technique, I just created a very simple machine quilted grid on the top layered with Warm&Natural batting using a walking foot. Masking tape made a quick and easy line to follow . The tape was laid down using the block intersections and a ruler for the corners [which were rounded later] . Quick and easy-peasy.

I make sure to remove the masking tape as soon as the line is quilted -- if left on it can leave a sticky residue that is a pain to remove. Ask me how I know this! lol

Until next time, thank you for stopping by. I hope where ever you are that you find some time to stitch something that makes you happy!

Hugs,

TO BORDER, or NOT TO BORDER. . . that is the question

2011-07-22T12:18:00.000-07:00

This is a real "quickie" post:

Hmmmmmm, not sure if the six-bowtie-block placemats need a border or not. What to do? Set a plate on it and check for size! If it doesn't pull up too much in the quilting, then it will be fine without a small border. Then again, washing will shrink it a bit also. Perhaps just a small one-inch border which will leave extra room on the mat for the silverware, etc. . .

What do you do when 'weighing' border options?

Until next time, thank you for stopping by. . .
Hugs,

INKLINGO HEXIE SWAP . . . GFG Blocks in process

2011-07-20T20:54:00.000-07:00

Hello!

The first few groups of sewn Hexie blocks just had their pictures taken! All of these hexagons are from an Inklingo Swap held in 2006. All are hand sewn. It has been so much fun to sew with other quilters' stash pieces. We all agreed to send six printed & cut hexies, in each of six different fabrics. The yellow/gold centers are all from my own stash.

Do YOU recognize any of the fabrics as the ones you sent? If you do, I hope you will leave a comment and let me know. As I don't have email for everyone, I am unable to notify all the participants that their hexies are up on my blog.

First set is from: CathyM, Kittery, Maine:

Hexies from - DeborahW, Marysville, WA:

These are from: SandraR., Sandy Springs, MD:

This is how I pressed my blocks -- don't you love how the seam allowances twirl around the intersections? I just love using Inklingo for piecing hexagons!

Most of the Hexies I received are now sewn into blocks, and I hope to get all their pictures up here on my blog very soon. I have not decided how to set all these GFG blocks. Probably something traditional with a green 'connecting' path in hexies, or maybe one-inch diamonds. Perhaps putting them up on a design wall would be a good idea. They are fun to work with.

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you will come back and visit again. Until then. . .

Hugs,

I GUESS I CAN'T COUNT From 1 to 10. . . BowTie Block A Day Update

2011-07-15T15:53:00.000-07:00

The plan: make several Bowtie blocks using Fruit and Veggie design fabrics and set them into placemats for my breakfast table. Easy? Sure. The Bowtie blocks finish at 6 inches, so if they are set 3 blocks across by 2 rows, that will equal SIX blocks per placemat. Right? OK, I handled it that far. . . so why do I have EIGHT different Fruit/Veggie blocks? Hmmmmm, someone -- me! -- can't count, that's for sure! lol

First layout attempt... notice the two 'extra' green blocks on the far left...perhaps not all the placemats will be the same afterall. lol :

More later... the placemat saga will continue. lol. Tomorrow: Hexie blocks for my WIP GFG.

Thank you for stopping by. . . until next time I hope you have both the time and inclination to sew up something that makes you or someone you love happy.
Hugs,

A LITTLE QUILT SHOW... the gals at Tuesday Group have been busy.

2011-07-14T20:24:00.000-07:00

The gals at Tuesday's Friendship Group Meeting sure have been busy, especially Rosemary! She made several quilts in the last couple of weeks. Here are a couple:

Rosemary also does beautiful embroidery!

The happy quilt below was made by Joy. She cut up a 'cheater' panel; added wedges to skew the blocks, then added sashing and a great pieced border. Very effective. She also designed some embroidery for the center block to embellish it. This is Joy's original design -- great quilt, but I'm sorry I took such a poor photo:

Jill brought a fun gadget to share. It is a portable, hand-held scanner that she can carry in her purse. Her goal is to scan fabrics as she shops for them in order to create a personal fabric history. Then she can upload the scans into her new EQ7 program creating her own personal Fabric Library to design with. Sounds like fun.

So, just for fun we scanned some of my Fruit and Veggie fabrics that I had in my sewing kit... just to see how it works, you understand...lol. . . we learned a little about the scanner by trying it out. . . here is the Corn FQ:

Today is a very short post. Tomorrow or Saturday I hope to post pics of my Hexie blocks. . . I have a TON of them! lol

Until then, thank you for stopping by. . .

Hugs,

BOW TIE BLOCKS #9. . .

2011-07-13T15:10:00.000-07:00

Bowtie blocks: up to 9 now! These little things almost sew themselves together -- really quick! If you want to join in just click here for the info. Today I made "broccoli" and "cherries" to go with the lone "strawberry" block. More to come: corn, oranges, watermelon...etc.. These squares are already cut and can barely be seen, stacked on cutting board below. Hopefully these will make fun placemats for the kitchen table.

Missy gets a little better each day. Now that we don't have to give her the antibiotics anymore, her little tummy has settled down somewhat and her spirits are higher, too. Ever tried to give oral meds to a cat? Trust me... it's no fun! Not for the cat and certainly not for the caretaker. Her beautiful fur coat has almost fully recovered. There is very little separation & spiking. Even the gloss is returning. Here is Missy hanging out and keeping me company while I was sewing Bowtie blocks earlier today...

Tomorrow I hope to get all the pics from Tuesday posted. Some of the gals in our Friendship Group shared some lovely quilts and I will share them with you [permission given ;-)].

Until then... thank you for stopping by. I hope you have time to sew today.

Hugs,

THINGS ARE GETTING BACK TO NORMAL. . . Thank Heavens!

2011-07-11T19:54:00.000-07:00

First, let me apologize for being off blogger for so long -- almost 2 1/2 weeks! Things were very hectic around here with Missy being sick and then Laura had surgery. Life is settling back down now and getting back to normal [whatever 'normal' is...lol]. Thank you for being patient with me.

Have you joined the Bow Tie A Day group over on FB? The idea is no stress, no worries, just make ONE block per day and at the end of summer -- TaDah! -- you'll have enough blocks to make a quilt. Neat, huh? Check it out; it is fun. There is still time to join in and catch up. Today is only day 21. I have several blocks to go to catch up with the others, but I'm not worried about it -- I just plan on making placemats with mine.

Today was spent prepping 40 Siggy blocks. All the centers are finished. Tomorrow I'll sew on the setting triangles.
My plan is to keep several Siggies ready, so I can mail one right back just as soon as I receive one. Several Siggies have arrived recently. They are a lot of fun. One of these days I'll get them sewn into a quilt! lol

Missy is doing much better. Here she is resting, which is what she does most of the time these days. But her spirits have improved a lot. She is even "perky" at times. Thank you everyone for the kind words and emails you've sent -- it's nice to know we weren't alone while battling her illness. She will be on a special diet the rest of her life, but if love has anything to do with it, she will be happy!

Thank you for stopping by. . . I'll try to post more pictures next time. Meanwhile, I hope where ever you are that you have the time and inclination to make something that pleases you or someone you love. . . .
Hugs,

Missy goes to hospital

2011-06-22T11:58:00.000-07:00

Little Miss Diva -- Missy for short -- has been in the hospital for three days now. Sure do miss her around the house. She is such pleasant company.

Missy has a bad UTI [urinary tract infection] which is putting a heavy strain on her kidneys.

She has an IV to help rehydrate, and two antibiotics for the bacterial infection. Vet is cautiously optimistic about her chances.

Our Vet has been generous with visitation privileges. I don't want Missy to feel she has been abandoned or forgotten, so I visit her 2 to 3 times each day. Today I hope they will let me hold her instead of just sitting beside her.

Prayers are appreciated. . . thank you!

I have several photos of some one-inch Hexie blocks I made using Inklingo and will post them soon. The setting is being worked out in EQ7 -- or at least I'm trying to design it there...
more later. . .
Hugs,

HOME. . . It's Great To Be Home!

2011-06-18T00:06:00.000-07:00

Travel is nice, but it is wonderful to be home. Things have been a bit hectic here. The next day after returning from Hawaii -- which was wonderful! -- my DD, her Hubby, and my Great Grandson came to visit for a few days. It was a whirl-wind visit, but it was great just the same. We managed to visit, camp, BBQ, shop, hit a few restaurants; also, Auntie and Andy even took a small trip around the Harbor in a Paddle Boat!

I caught the girls "being girls" in a candid shot at the Harbor.

Here is evidence of our BBQ necessities! LOL

Roasting marshmellos for Sa-Mores -- what a great way to finish up a lovely evening!

Tuesday was Friendship Group Meeting and several members shared their current projects:

Suzanne shared a quilt made by kids. They 'rubbed' crayons over leaves. Wonderful!

Deb's batik Star Quilt... Deb does amazing and beautiful work!

Another of Deb's beauties: A mini DJ -- the blocks are half-size. . . that's only 2 inches, folks! Wow.

Some of Susan's "10 Minute Blocks" made from 5inch batik charm squares. Nice! [Click on 10 Minute Blocks and you will see a U-tube vid on how to make these cute and easy blocks.]

The Southern California Quilt Run is on this weekend and next weekend. Many shops are participating and they are spread out over 3 or 4 counties. This means a lot of driving! I will be volunteering at a LQS. It's been a lot of work, but Thursday and Friday were fun days. Had the opportunity to meet many wonderful quilters who drove long distances to visit with us in San Diego County.

My current goal is to get busy on the big pile of UFOs that are stretching to the sky! It is time to get going on some of these many projects and not begin any new ones until some of the WIPs are finished! Yes... I'll hold my breath. LOL

Thanks for stopping by. . . I hope where ever you are that you can visit with those you love, and of course find some time to stitch!

Hugs,

Hawaii ... Blowin It @ Pali Lookout, the Byoto-In Temple & A "FrozenForrest". . .

2011-06-01T12:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was fun. We visited the world famous Byoto-In Temple and grounds. Took some nice photos as we walked around -- I put a small album on FB. It was fun to feed the Koi and the Black Swans. As soon as we approached the edge of the stream the Koi swam over to meet us. We hand-fed the black swans - one even nibbled Sid's fingers! Ouch.

Then we visited Pali Lookout on the way home. It is VERY windy there! We had a ton of fun. Sid was really 'hamming' it up for the camera... but the strong winds are no joke. I nearly got blown off my feet. lol

Recently, while finishing up the EQ7 Lessons [EQ Mystery, Yahoo Group], I designed a fun little quilt to represent Sid's time here in Hawaii. If you haven't had time to read the 22 lessons in the manual, check it out -- great info! I had a lot of fun with these lessons.

If the weather cooperates, we hope to visit the Giant Swap Meet and then Pearl Harbor today. We might even go to the Exchange -- we are looking for MuuMuus to wear to the Luau tomorrow night.

Following our BBQ feast on Memorial Day, Sunday, Bill created what he calls a Frozen Forrest: Coffee, coffee Ice Cream, Kalua, Vodka... whirl in blender, swirl chocolate syrup into cup and pour drink inside! Wowzer... these are delish! As you can tell from the cup, I drank a few sips before remembering to take a photo. LOL

All for now. Where ever you are I hope you can be with those you love,

Hugs & Aloha,

A Little Friendship Bird AND... Hello from Hawaii!!

2011-05-29T20:05:00.000-07:00

Aloha!Audie and I safely landed in Hulaland about 5:30 pm yesterday, Hawaiian time. Flight long and a little bumpy with turbulence, but we are thrilled to be here!

Above: a little quilt I made and donated to my Quild in about 2004. My DDIL Donna held the winning ticket! She still has it hanging in her house -- love this girl! "The Friendship Bird" has always been a favorite design -- I should make another someday. *g*

Below: Audie and Sidney on a small beach in Lanikai. Yes, the water IS this color! It is beautiful.

Bill takes a pic of me on the same beach 'cove' in Lanikai... 29May11. We had just come from a yummy breakfast at Cinnamon's! Long wait, but excellent food. Yummo.

We parked the large truck the only place that was open... under a coconut tree! Yikes... some of the nuts were falling and we drove off just in time. Couldn't resist this picture, of Audie and Chris, though!

That's all for now... ALOHA ... will post more pictures later. Tonight we're headed for Waikkiki to walk the Boardwalk and listen to the bands... maybe even stay for sunset on the beach. I haven't been to Waikkiki since 2003, but I remember that it's lovely there.

Thank you for stopping by to visit -- I hope where ever you are that you have the time and inclination to make something that makes you or someone you love happy!

Hugs,

SPIDER WEDNESDAY & Other Strings n Things, & 10-Minute Quilt Blocks

2011-05-25T08:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Tuesday Friendship Group and Deb brought her Spider top -- isn't it gorgeous? A big "thank you" goes to Katrina for organizing our SpiderWeb Ring . . . it has been a lot of fun! Go visit Katrina's blog to see a list of the whole Ring of quilters making Spider blocks.

Now to decide -- border or not to border? Here's one option:

I finished the embroidery on Sidney's SBS block and decided to make the little bird dark blue with a turquoise-green eye. Now just a small pieced border to finish it off. I'll take it with me to Hawaii on Saturday and finish sewing it while waiting in the airport. With a long two hour wait until flight time, it will give me something pleasant to work on.

Rani is new to our group [but long-time friend] -- she makes beautiful quilts. This is her latest batik squares:

Also Rani's -- very colorful and with applique:

Pat has been busy sewing up more 10-Minute blocks from 5 inch batik Charm Squares. If you would like to see how to make these click here for a short how-2 video:

Pat is auditioning her layout [above] and the tape is to keep it all together -- she rolls it up and takes it home and everything stays in place! Good idea.

That's all for this morning -- I hope where ever you are that you find time to create something that makes you happy.

Hugs,

Do You Have A Favorite... An OLDIE BUT GOODIE???

2011-05-23T21:20:00.000-07:00

Do you have a favorite quilt? You know what I mean... the one always hanging around where you can see it? One of my favorite quilts is quite small. It hangs on the back wall in the kitchen area. I made it a very long time ago -- in the 1980's, I think. It is all made from bits and pieces -- just leftovers. It's one of those quilts, that the further you stand back from it, the stronger the movement-illusion becomes.

A friend and I had been fooling around with dying and marbeling just to see what we could come up with. After my 'main' project was completed for a Challenge, I had some bits left over... what to do with them? I strip pieced the bits onto little squares of muslin. I used mostly the hand-dyeds, but there were a few 'commercial' fabrics mixed in. The fun little quilt above was the end result of this experiment.

The feathers on the black border are quilted in teal thread. I love to draw feathers and used "paper folding" on this project. It is easy to cut a piece of paper for the border width and length, then fold it in half [long way]... open it back up. Now fold end to end, again and again [you are making "sections"]... now just draw a feather shape that you are happy with inside ONE of the sections, then simply keep folding the paper back over itself and tracing -- voila! Perfect and consistant feathers. Now transfer your design to the quilt top, layer and quilt. Works great.

Thank you for stopping by to visit. . . I hope where ever you are that you have both the time and the inclination to create something that makes you happy.

Hugs,

WHAT ARE YOU DOING TODAY? . . . I'm Embroidering An SBS Block

2011-05-22T17:53:00.000-07:00

What are YOU doing this gorgeous Sunday? I'm finishing up the embroidery on a SBS block for one of my granddaughters. It's not quite done, but here it is so far. . . please ignore the basting threads:

A couple of years ago I made Sid a quilt using several embroidered blocks, adding sashing, cornerstones, borders, etc., to bring it up to twin size. This block is similar to the ones in her quilt and will be a 'picture' for her bedroom wall. I hope to create a small pieced border for this embroidery using some of the material left over from her quilt. My plan is to carry it with me on my upcoming trip to Hawaii and frame it to hang in her room. Easier than mailing it, ya?!

That's all for now. Thank you for stopping by. I hope where ever you are that you have the time and inclination to create something that makes you happy!

Hugs,

BEARS n STRINGS n FRIENDSHIP. . . fun at Tuesday Friendship Group

2011-05-18T14:17:00.000-07:00

First, as today is SPIDERWEB Wednesday, I should note that I have nothing new to report! ;( My top is finished, but not quilted or bound [please see pic of last Weds]. Perhaps by next week?!

Today is mostly about posting pictures. . . I hope you have fun with this "picture show". . .

Carolyn's red/pink/white/cream -- layout designed by her mother Darlene. They quilt together; isn't that nice?

Above: Pat's version of the "10 Minute block" made with 5 inch charm squares. If you are interested in making some of these blocks, go to U-Tube and search for "10 Minute Quilt Block". The video there explains everything!

Above: Susan's Batik Strings with the inner border, flange, and outter border added. This is a gorgeous quilt, but I didn't get a very good picture. I'm still learning about digital photography.

Two counted cross stitch blocks by Jill, a member of the Tuesday Friendship Group. The back of her work looks as good as the front! Wow, such neat work!

Below: Jill again. This time with one of her quilt-as-you-go blocks. I think the pins she used to baste with are nifty.

Chelsy is Pat's special friend and comes with Pat to all our meetings. Here she is 'helping' to pick out some sashing for Susan's string quilt...lol

Jill makes these tiny handmade and fully jointed bears... all the joints move and all are made by hand with the facial features embroidered. Darling! Hardly bigger than a small spool of thread.

Below: a sweater made combining quilted squares and handknitted pieces. Made by Jill.

That's it for now; thank you for stopping by to visit and I hope you enjoyed the pictures . . . it is time for me to get back to sewing some blocks that need finishing.

I hope where ever you are that you find the time and inclination to create something that makes you happy!

Hugs,

Cyn; -)

BLOG CANDY GIVE-A-WAY -- hurry, you only have 8 days!

2011-05-15T22:57:00.000-07:00

Hurry on over to Cattinka's blog and enter to win one of her lovely handmade Key Caps! This is her Blog Candy in celebration of reaching more than 200 regular readers/followers. Go congratulate Katrin and leave a comment -- YOU could be the lucky winner!

Aren't they wonderful?? Good luck to all. . .

I've been working on embroidery lately and will get some pictures up very soon. Until next time -- thank you for stopping by and I hope you have the time and inclination to create something that makes you happy!

Hugs,
Cyn; -)

SPIDER WEDs., and more strings n things, & a Touch of Crazy!

2011-05-11T19:05:00.000-07:00

SpiderWeb Wednesday is here! Thank you Cattinka for starting and managing our 'web'. It's been a lot of fun. The block was drawn in EQ7 and so were the four setting corners in the border--they were all made with PPing. Not sure how to quilt it... does anyone have any suggestions??? I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts. Thank you.

Many of the gals in my Tuesday Friendship Group are also making Spiders and other string projects. This is Susan's Batik Strings set 4-blocks-together and then sashed:

Rosemary made a couple of quilts! She's one of our High Achievers! The quilt below is her take on an Amish String HST. This quilt will have more borders added to it:

I love Crazy Quilting of all kinds. This is a pic of a name tag I made about 1987 or 88. It is worn and frazzeled, so it is time to make a new one... here's the oldie [but goodie?? lol]: Oh, I should mention that this piece has 'real' fresh-water pearls & 14k gold 'liquid' beads sewn on it... nope, don't wanna wash it.

Thank you for stopping by to visit. I hope where ever you are that you have both the time and the inclination to create something that makes you happy. . . until next time. . .

Hugs,

Cyn; -)

A "Different" kind of Mother's Day Gift. . . I love it!

2011-05-10T21:25:00.000-07:00

This year my youngest DD bought me some unique items for Mother's Day. What genius! All of this stuff creates a higher table and saves my back. Yippee Skippee... it works!

Here's what we used from the local hardware store:
.
* Four 12 inch by 1.25" pieces of PVC Pipe [#40 heavyduty]

* Four 1.25" Rubber End Caps

* Vasoline and a bottle of Alcohol [not the drinking kind...lol].

I've had an old table that works well for projects, except it is too low and can be tough on a tall lady's back! Pictures are worth a thousand words, so here they are to show what we did... some Vasoline swabbed inside the rubber caps makes it easier to get them on the ends of the PVC pipe--the caps are a very snug fit so they will stay on.

A bit of Alcohol on a paper towel cleans up the black marks lickity split!

The pipe and rubber cap inserted over end of table leg. Notice at far left of picture how the table leg is shaped... where it curves, is where we took the measurement from to decide the length to cut the PVC pipe.

Voila! My old-too-short-table now stands 37 inches tall and is perfect for me! What a back-saver. A real bonus to this solution - - it is not permanent! The PVC slips right off when the table is folded for storage.

My next project is to make a "giant ironing" cover for this table to create a nice place to press large projects, backings, even holiday linens.

Today was our Tuesday Friendship Group meeting at one of the LQSs and we had a lot of show-n-tell. Tomorrow I'll post the pictures... a lot of them and some fun projects, too.

All for now. Thank you for stopping by to visit. I hope where ever you are that you have the time and inclination to create something that makes you happy!
Hugs,
Cyn; -)
PS: I'm sorry it's been almost 10 days since my last post, but I blew a disc in my back and have been in bed... yuck, what a waste of time. Some physical therapy for a few weeks and I'll be right as rain!

SPIDER FINISH. . . It's not Weds., but. .

2011-04-25T21:53:00.000-07:00

Hello! As I don't expect to have Internet access on Wednesday, I will share my SpiderWeb quilt top finish now:

The poor little thing had it's pic taken on the tan rug, so the s.a. on the pale yellow stars are really shadowing through. It will be fine once the batting and backing are sandwiched together -- I hope. This quilt measures about 30" square, which will be just fine as a table topper in my breakfast room.

For my "process". . . I decided to also string piece the final border corners and modified my original 4.5" block in EQ7 adding some lines and deleting others:

As you can see by the stitching lines, I only used this pattern as a general guide and didn't follow the lines exactly. I adjusted the lines based on the piece of scraps I had left to work with. Here is a final corner block:

I sure wish I had more of that "stone or pebble" fabric. . isn't it great?

Mitering the border corners didn't look right to me. . . I did lay one corner out and look at it. . . hmmmm, nope, don't think that's going to look right:

Because my strip sizes were so random, the corner didn't look good to me so I abandonded the mitering idea and created sort of a "fan" block for the corners. It's not perfect, but it works.

Now I'm thinking about how to quilt it. On the machine, for sure with all the seams! Probably something minimal and not too fancy as there is a lot going on in this quilt already.

Thank you for stopping by to visit. I hope where ever you are that you have the time and inclination to create something that makes you happy. . . .until next time. . .

Hugs,

Cyn; -)

SPIDER WEDNESDAY. . . And: Strings, Strings, Strings!

2011-04-20T11:59:00.000-07:00

This is my progress so far on the little Spider Block table topper I'm making:

Late last night I finished sewing the four pieced borders:

This is how I pressed it... with seams twirled inside the blocks, and s.a. pressed open block-2-block:

Yesterday was the meeting of our Tuesday Friendship Group. Many of the gals in this group are now making various versions of the Spider block. This is Joy's block... what a cutie with the Pink ric-rack in the wedges:

Here is how Joy lined up the rickrack for sewing:

Deb sewing a triangle piece. A finished triangle sits on her machine:

Rosemary made TWO kinds of string blocks. . . Amish Shadows, and diagonal stripping:

Rosemary's layout for her batik blocks:

Our ever-smiling Renee', shows another version of stripping:

This is the pattern she drew [Renee is also a great teacher!]:

And some of Renee's blocks-in-progress:

An iron beside the sewing machine is a handy help with this kind of strip piecing:

Some 'lost' blocks found in Deb's Grandma's attic. . . trust me, Deb will do something wonderful with these rescued beauties:

Well, now that I've exhausted your eyes with 13 photos, I'll close for now. . .

Thank you for stopping by and I hope where ever you are that you have time and the inclination to create something that makes you happy.

Hugs,

Cyn; -)

PS: Want to see more Spider blocks? Click here for Katrin's blog -- she is the clever gal who started this whole "Spider Web Ring" thing.
On this side of the BigBluePond, Rosa is also making a Spider -- check it out -- nifty!

"Baby", Missy, 'n Me, go for a ride!

2011-04-18T20:13:00.000-07:00

Finally got the RV out of storage and took it to Chad at Desert Sport RV in Vista, CA, for a little pre-season service and to replace the batteries. It was about time to get all new ones -- sometimes it's just best to "bite the bullet" and do something... so I did. Everything runs like a top now! Yippee.

Packed up Miss Diva, who wasn't too sure about the whole RV trip thing, a few fresh groceries, my new EQ7 manual [for some light reading...lol], and hit the road. Drove to the local Harbor where if one is lucky, one can find a camping space -- we were lucky and got one right on the water. The weather cooperated and it was beautiful. I had a wonderful time, so relaxing and restful. Missy the cat? Not so much. She mostly stayed in the back bedroom. . . I think she just felt safer there. When I went to bed, she jumped up and in it with me like a shot and stayed there all night. She was purring away most of the time, so perhaps she did like the peace and quiet away from the dog afterall. Taking her on a couple more short trips ought to tell the tale if Missy will agree to be an RV kitty or not... we'll see. I can only be very patient and hope. Fingers crossed! lol

This is a quickie... I'll have more on Wednesday. Thank you for stopping by. I hope where ever you are that you have time to create and sew, knit, crochet. . . or ???., what ever makes YOU happy.

Hugs,

Cyn; -)

PS: "baby" looks a whole lot better after she's had a bath. She picks up a lot of grime while she's in storage. This photo was taken b4 her 'spa treatment'. I wish i had a picture of us at the Harbor, but I forgot the camera! Nuts.

SPIDERs - better late than . . .

2011-04-14T07:08:00.000-07:00

Here it is Thursday already. I missed posting on Wednesday Spider Day. . . have been out busy with my oldest son exchanging batteries on my RV. Sheesh! There are SIX batts in my rig. . . and the cost of batts these days. . . oh well, you get the idea. Enough of that.

Nine blocks are stitched together. The connecting seams are pressed open as I think the top will press and lay better this way. The s.a. inside the blocks are twirled -- this set up opposing s.a. and made it easier to sew the blocks together.

The pale yellow used in the center of each block will be repeated as a narrow first border, followed by a pieced border incorporating all the different fabrics used in the Spider blocks. I'm leaning toward a red binding to finish it off, but will make that final decision later. Are you making a Spider quilt?

Here's Miss Diva who has wedged herself back under the covers. She's such a cute fluff ball. ; -)

Time to hit the 'rain-room' and get ready -- today is Guild day.

Thank you for stopping by. I hope where ever you are, you find some time to create and sew today. . .
Hugs,
Cyn; -)

It's NOT Wednesday. . . but here come more Spiders!

2011-04-08T20:07:00.000-07:00

The little Spider blocks I've been making are becoming addictive! lol. I made a few more today. So far I have nine useable blocks:

It does cause quite a mess during the PPing process with scraps, threads, and paper flying everywhere. . . but that's ok.

A little squaring up; stitch blocks together, then perhaps just a simple little border and I'll have a topper for the breakfast table. What kind of border would you put on???

Wowzer, between these loud colors and a cuppa coffee, that should provide a good morning wake up! lol

Thank you for stopping by. . . I hope that where ever you are, you find some time to stitch and create.
Hugs,
Cyn; -)

Blooms 4 Thursday. . .

2011-04-07T16:02:00.000-07:00

While grocery shopping yesterday, I came across a basket of Daffodils. Just laying there... all dry, no water! So naturally I rescued a bunch and brought them home -- a little water and voila! The buds opened into gorgeous blooms this morning. Yellow flowers are so "happy", don't you think?

This sweet purple orchid sits quietly in the north west corner of my living room most of the year, but come Spring it sends off a bounty of buds and blooms. I've had this plant for years and it faithfully says "hello" every Spring. Don't ya just love it? No care, no feeding... just a drink of water now and then. Orchids thrive on neglect! My kind of plant. lol

The lovely cymbidium* orchid [below] 'lives' near the front window in my living room. Although it hasn't been here long, it too has sent up a bounty of lovely blooms.

That's all the pictures for today. I'm trying to finish up a couple more Spider blocks so I can work on the border... I'm thinking more scraps in a 'key-board' sort of layout.

Thank you for stopping by. . . I hope it's wonderful where ever you are!
Hugs,
Cyn; -)
*I just know I didn't spell that correctly! Ever have one of 'those' days?

Spidey Wednesday. . . a few more blocks

2011-04-06T10:10:00.000-07:00

It's Spider Time! The name "spider" gives me the shivers, but I love these fun little blocks!

A few more blocks have come together since I joined the Spider Web. The current 'plan' is to make three more blocks from my 4.5" drawing and finish it up as a table topper for the breakfast room table. I plan on switching to an 8" block to make a larger quilt... this small block has been a bit fiddley, but has allowed me to use up some very tiny scraps! That's good, ya?!

More Spider News: my Tuesday Friendship Group has been 'infected' since I shared my blocks with them yesterday. Next week when we meet we will share and exchange scraps. What fun! Look at what you started, Cattinka! lol. Thank you so much -- this is super fun.

It's rainy, windy, and cold here in So. Calif today, but any day we wake up is still a good day IMHO! I hope you are having a wonderful day sewing and creating, where ever in the world you may be!

Thank you for stopping by and please leave a comment if you like the Spider blocks, or if you are making one, too. Thank you.

Hugs,
Cyn; -)

JUST ONE STAR. . . Will You Make Just One??

2011-04-04T21:31:00.000-07:00

Moda is coordinating the receipt of Just One Star blocks from around the Nation and the World, to be used in the "Quilts For Valor" project. They hope to create 100 quilts in 100 days.

JustOneStar

The DEADLINE to get your block to Moda is: MAY 1st, 2011. Please don't wait until the end of April. Take just a few minutes -- like only 30 minutes! -- to make a block that will create a quilt of comfort for a hero... a Soldier. They give so much to protect us, let's show them we care. All the info you need, including the pattern, is only one click away. . .
Thank you for helping... please pass the word.

Hugs,
Cyn; -)

Hello ... and... SPIDER Virus strikes So. Calif!!

2011-04-02T21:27:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends. . . It has been ages since my last post. It feels good to be back again. Thank you all for your kind emails and well-wishes. Update: I am healing well. No more surgery until sometime later this summer.

QUILTY STUFF!!! . . . The SPIDER VIRUS is going around putter-land these days and now it has struck in Southern California! lol. Cattinka was my first 'exposure' to this disease, and when I mentioned this to Rosa, she became infected too! Now I have the virus! Will YOU succomb to it? Go visit Catinka for the 'scoop'. Below is first block:

Second block: [sewn together after its Photo Op]

And this is the MESS they leave behind!

I'm just a novice PPer and have a lot to learn. Practice, practice, practice... ya?! For reasons still unclear to moi, I drew my PPing pattern as a size 4 1/2" block! Yikes! I must be crazy. Note to self: switch to larger size!

More pictures next time. . . thank you for stopping by.

Hugs,

Cyn; -)

MORE SURGERY. . . Off putter x 3 weeks

2010-10-20T07:33:00.000-07:00

Good morning. We all got a big surprise yesterday when we went to my post op appointment -- they will begin the reconstruction phase on my face today! Wow, wasn't expecting that, so I feel at little bit at lose ends. I have good doctors so I'm sure it will be ok, it just caught me off guard... so I'll deal with it. Because of how they will do the repairs to my face, my eyes and forehead will also be involved and that means NO glasses for at least 3 weeks. So that also means no sewing, knitting, stitching, or computer play time... that's gonna be the hard part. Please wish me well and I'll be back with you in 3 weeks, I hope.

Meanwhile to keep this post within the scope of my blog, here is a pic of the latest purse I've made. This one is crocheted and is lined with pockets for cell phone, pen, emery board and small kleenex keeper. It's a present for my DDIL Donna who watched me put finishing touches on it this morning. She likes it!

I just have one more FF block to make -- so far I have 8. These have been a lot of fun and I appreciate having the 1/2 Hex Collection from Inklingo to make the hexie flowers with -- if you haven't looked into it yet, you might give it a look-see. I have no affliation with Linda Franz, I am just very appreciative when a fabulous new quiting/sewing tool comes on the market... Inklingo is right up there with the rotary cutter in my humble opinion. Here's a pic of the 'back side' of one little hexie... I just love the way the seams swirl at the intersections... pressing options are limitless. Love that!

That's it for now. Be well and I'll be back in three weeks.
Hugs,
Cyn; -)

Another Purse... & ANTIQUE GFG QUILT

2010-10-17T09:43:00.000-07:00

My time and goals of late have been to bring some little projects to completion. I wonder why I get so excited about doing/making something and then let it sit and languish somewhere uncompleted? Shoot... I have absolutely no idea. Does that happen to you? I can understand it with long complicated projects like making a Dear Jane quilt, but not knitting or crocheting up a little purse! lol... of course in all fairness, sometimes not having or finding just the right fabric for the lining, or perhaps stumbling over a couple of design decisions can muddle things a tad. . . that's what happened with this knitted purse. I knitted it in the round; made the bottom with Emily Ocker's Beginning and swirled the increases to make it pretty and then knitted it straight up until it was deep enough to make some eyelet openings to later run I-Cord draw strings through and then finished it off with a bit of a ruffle to give it a "girlie touch". I was inspired by a picture I saw in an ad for Lion Brand Yarn. Actually Lion Brand has a ton of free patterns available on their site. So, this little purselette was easy peasy... but the lining slowed me down. SOLUTION! I remembered I have a wonderful gadget by Olfa -- their Circle Cutter -- OMGosh this is a neat tool. If you don't have one, please do yourself a favor and run out and get one! I see a bunch of circles in my future! LOL. So after cutting a few circles out of TemTex to stiffen the bottom, I made a double pocket on the lining to hold Kleenex and Cell Phone in neatly in place and then sewed the thing up... slipped it inside the purse and whip stitched around the top edge to hold lining in place. Very straightforward. Below are some pictures of my process.

Note the muslin double circles folded in half and put edge to edge--that's so I can remove or replace the TemTex as the whim strikes me... I'm happy with that little idea and will probably use it again in future purses/totes. A little zigzag around the edge to tidy it up.

I did a purl round to set off where the circle of increases ended and where knitting straight up the sides begins... this also made it easy to put the lining in later.. no guessing... I like that! lol.

Last night I printed up the last of my FF hexes, cut them out and hope to sew them today & applique to their b/g squares tonight... then the fun part: embroidery! I sure do have the embroidery bug lately. . . do you like to embroider? What kinds do you do? If you are interested, there is a button on my sidebar so you can click over and see what some of us are doing with these FF blocks... cute, small, quick & fun.

This is a GFG quilt that my neighbor brought over yesterday. Isn't it gorgeous? The color choices are amazing! Every intersection is perfect and this is stitched hex-to-hex... no EPPing! Keep in mind that this was pieced sometime in the 1940's before rotary cutting and Inklingo. This was made by someone with serious and extraorinary quilting skills! So here's my neighbor's dilemna: "... what do I do now?" As she wants to actually use it, binding it will be necessary. Once the edges are stabilized the stain removal process can begin. Can you believe this was rescued from a tattered box in a garage?! Unbelieveable! My first inclination would be to LIGHTLY trim the sides by about 1/2" to true them up, then bind with a bias binding... the scallopped top and bottom edges could be saved with even more careful trimming before binding. I wished she had shown this to me before she ran it thru her washer a few times as the edges could have been saved... I don't relish doing all of that mitering, but it would have been beautiful... of course, facing is always an option too. Now, before doing anything, I'll be doing some online research today to hopefully find some local people who can advise about other options for this beautiful antique quilt. She wants my help to fix it, but I want to gather more info first. The repairs are no problem, but when it's an antique I think gathering some opinions from the experts is always a first good move. We do have a couple of very well known and admired quilt appraisers and quilt judges in my area... I'll try and reach a few for their thoughts. I'll post more pictures of this beautiful quilt as we go along. If you have specific recommendations, or know of some experts in the San Diego area, I would very much appreciate some contact info... please comment here on this post or email me. Thank you.

Missy lounging in her supervisory spot at the end of my bed while I sew. Note how she has taken over my hand knitted shawl. . . she now thinks it's hers and uses it all the time! lol..

That's it for now... I hope everyone has a lovely day. I'm thrilled to be moving around more and actually sewing, etc.. Prayer is incredible and I sincerely appreciate all the prayers and well-wishes I've received... I am doing well and the healing process is moving along. Reconstruction surgery will be in about 10 days to two weeks... then I'll look normal again... well, what every "normal" is... lol

Hugs,

Cyn; -)

SIGGY TIME. . . It's raining Siggies in California!

2010-10-14T05:57:00.000-07:00

Happy Mail is so much fun to get and it's raining Siggies here in Califnornia! Here are 5 that haven't made it to my blog yet... enjoy, these are some fun ones!

Sorry for the sloppy edges on the pics. I had them all cropped up real pretty and now my laptop won't let me get them! Sheesh... some days! I know it's probably some little stupid thing I'm either doing or not doing that's throwing the wrench into the works, but I don't know what it is... so I'll just live with it today.

There are so many wonderful talented and sharing people in the world. I am so lucky that these five people chose to share their art with me. . . I hope you enjoyed this little art show this morning.

Have a nice day everyone and may all your edges be straight! LOL

Hugs,

Cyn; -)

PS: Surgery went well. Better than I had hoped for, actually. I am lucky to have so many wonderful people praying for me... thank you, everyone! There will be a couple of days rest while we wait for the final pathology reports to come back and then more surgery and the reconstruction process will begin. I will be on and off the putter during this time and will post on days that I feel up to it. I am fortunate that I feel well enough to sew a little bit some days and that helps fill the time and ease my nerves during this whole process. Life is good!

POT LIFTERS... One More Time... and last post b4 surgery

2010-10-11T04:21:00.000-07:00

Good morning, all! This is a super quickie post to share my neighbor and friend Joy's bindless potholder with you. Joy alternated her folded bits, then stitched down. I like her version better than mine and will make mine like this from now on. Everything else is the same except for the layering [see yesteredays' post for construction info].

Here's a pic of my campanion Miss Diva who keeps me company on these long nights. Missy is not too sure about posing for pictures at this un-goshly hour! LOL.

Seems that lately I've been doing more stitchery than sewing. Here's something I made a several years ago but have yet to finish. Think i'll just put a pieced framing unit around it; sew it up into a pillow and call in fini!

This will be my last post for a little while. Not sure how long. I have surgery early Tuesday morning... then the inevitable time for healing, etc.. Please pray for me... hope to talk with you all soon.
Hugs,

NO-Binding Pot Lifter

2010-10-10T08:03:00.000-07:00

Well, wadda ya know... the epiphany I had earlier this morning actually worked! Here's a pic of the finished Pot Holder:

Not great, but for a proto-type it is ok. It will look better [i hope] after it takes a trip through the laundry and softens up a bit.

Here's what I did:

Cut: 6 squares ea 9.5" [because that's the ruler on the mat at the time...lol... slightly smaller would be fine, too.]. A 9.5" sq will equal finished size of about 8.5". AND, a square of batting, Insul-Bright, or what ever wadding you like to use. [This is also a good place to recycle old torn washcloths, cut up flannel shirts, etc.... waste not, want not.].

Press: Four of the fabric squares on the diagonal. Save for next step.

Layer: Sandwich a piece of batting in between TWO of the fabric squares; Right Sides OUT. Carefully layer the pressed triangle/squares corner to corner [see pictures]. DO NOT WEAVE as you did for the MugRugs... first lay two on oposing corners and then the other two.

Sew: Around outside edge. I used a 3/8" s.a. and trimmed to 1/4", but you do what is comfy for you. Next time I will use a WALKING FOOT... the Insul-Bright was very poofy and things didn't line up as well as I hoped they would.

Trim: Outside edges & zigzag all the way around. Here's a good place to try out your top-stitch thread color, which is what I did.

Turn, Smooth, Press, & Top Stitch: Fold diagonal edges back Cathedrawl Window style and TOP STITCH in place. Voila! DONE! Enjoy your binding-less potholder. The whole thing took about 45 minutes and that's 'cause I had trouble re-threading the s.m. needle! lol.

Here are my step-by-step pics:

Have a nice day,

Hugs,

Cyn; -)

Pot Holders & Siggie Lines. . .

2010-10-10T06:06:00.000-07:00

Good Morning... at least it is morning here and now at my end of the keyboard. Just a tad before 6:00am., actually. Sure am an early riser today. lol.

Today, while finishing up a little potholder, I decided to try some different corners and binding techniques. And, what better project to 'donate' to a learning and practice curve than a poor little potholder?! If it turns out badly I don't have anything to lose, and I still have a little functional something to lift hot pans with. Win - win! lol.

As you can see the corners don't match... I was trying out various corner ideas in preparation for making a stack of potholders for Christmas. While trying out some different options, I had an epiphany of sorts: sense I don't relish the idea of sewing bindings on about 25 potholders, why not make them a'la Mug Rugs? Why not indeed! I think it will work and NO bindings to sew on.

Ok I'm off to my sewing corner to give this new idea a try... I'll post some pics later and share how it turns out.

Hope everyone has a lovely day. Oh, almost forgot... if you don't see a post from me for maybe as long as two weeks from this coming Tuesday, it's because I'm having surgery. As soon as the wind gets back into my sails, I'll be back on line. Wish me well... ta ta for now,
Hugs,

PS: see my new sig' line? Ain't it purrrrty? Thank you, Brigitte, for tutoring me on how to do this!

OH, YOU SAID "WHAT"??? . . . & Cute Knitted TOTE Grocery Bag

2010-10-06T09:41:00.000-07:00

Good morning... this card is just too funny NOT to share. . . . . rofl . . . Ok, now that I've tickled all our Funny Bones. . .

Here's this morning's tale: Being a little out of my mind this morning [read: heavy meds...lol], and felt biten by the Fly Lady bug, I ran across this pattern idea [pic below] from Knit Picks as I was sorting through a huge stack of catalogs to shred the mailing labels off before tossing the whole lot into the recycle bin. Anyway. . . I just love their products: good stuff and decent prices; nice people, too. So. . . I am going to run off and go order me one right now! lol.
.
OMG... while I was testing the link to make sure it is working ok, I discovered that the pattern & kit are NO LONGER AVAILABLE! Yipes! This is sure a case of "Me Snooze, Me Lose"! When I called and s/w Susan, she said they will be re-offering this pattern in new yarns some time later, perhaps in the Spring. *big sigh!* It sure is cute, though, isn't it?

I am not familiar with the "mesh stitch" shown in the pic, or I'd give it a go w/out a patttern. . . anyone out there know how to do this Mesh stitch? The Mesh Stitch panel looks knitted with an alternate panel of just just plain garter stitch. Is that what you see? If you click on the pic, it will get larger. The bottom looks to be very firm... maybe a slip-stitch stitch like: Sl1, K1 on alternating rounds? I could cast on about 8 stitches & begin with Emily Ockers' beginning, increasing to a functional circle size using the Sl1K1 pattern and see what happens, eh?! lol. I learned about Emily Ockers' trick by reading Elizabeth Zimmermans' many wonderful books. I'm such an EZ fan! *grin* Any helpers out there is blogland today that can help? Thanks. I think it's ok to ask for help on this, as it was offered as a FREE patt when purchasing their CotLin yarns and, of course, I would purchase their cotlin yarns to make it.

What projects are you knitting or crocheting these days? Gee, the Holidays are right around the corner; guess I better get crackin'! lol

I think I'll go stitch my last couple of Hexies for the FF BOM and bring myself up to date on that project. Do you ever fall behind on the many FREE BOMs offered on the net by wonderful and sharing bloggers? I have good intentions, but can't always follow through.
Have a lovely day.
Hugs,
Cyn; -)

JUST FOR FUN: POOR LITTLE KITTY & Other Happy Mail. . . .

2010-10-04T20:11:00.000-07:00

Most of you know that I have a very soft spot in my heart for kitties. Well, since I've been under the weather a little bit lately, I've been lucky enough to receive some wonderful Get Well cards. My sweet cousin Sandy, who is also a kitty-lover, sent me this card recently and I think it's just toooooo darling not to share:

Right now, everyone who happens to come visit at my house better be on their "Ps" n "Qs"! LOL. Why? If they don't watch their language, I have just the gum to offer them, thanks to my great friend Rosa -- lol. What a hoot, eh?!

Quilters and bloggers are such wonderful and sharing friends... dear Rosa is both. Thank you, Rosa!

The last couple of days has seen a bonanza of Happy Mail at my house. Here are pics of my two recent DJSP gifties... Aug and Sep.

The one [to the right] is August's and includes authentic 30's fabrics. They sure are purrrty! A very clever "match book style" of emery boards to carry in my purse. I love this! Also for my purse, is a very small note pad. It has a nifty strap so the notepad will stay CLOSED when inside of my purse instead of all messed up! Now that's smart... love it! Thank you, SP.

Here's September's fun gifty package:-- FIVE FQs!; a Photo Sponge [I don't know what this is but will have fun figuring it out]; Candy... yummo!; and a Sugar Bear. I had only heard of these and never seen one... now me gots one... I'm happy! LOL.

What a clever invention. What a fun assortment of goodies. Thank you, dear Secret Pal.

Here's a close up of this great fabric! The perfect fabrics for this season of the year... I love it! Oopsy, pic won't come out of the bottom of the post... so that's where it is! LOL

I just can't resist sending the pic I took of Missy this evening. [pls see pic below]. I was laying out everything on the foot of my bed getting ready to blog -- I think that was her 'signal' -- and when I turned away to reach for my water bottle, up she hopped into my chair and sat looking right a the screen of the laptop. Sure wish my shutter speed was faster; the first shoot was the priceless one as she was intently staring at the computer screen! LOL

That's it for now... I need to take my night time meds and hit the sheets.

Hope all is well out there in blogland... I'm sending you all my very best!

Hugs,

Cyn; -)

PS: Well, as u can see i am having more than a little bit of trouble posting and getting things lined up tonight./.. please bear with me as I think I will just have to leave this one as it is and I'll try harder next time.

New GIVE-A-WAY! ...

2010-09-23T08:09:00.000-07:00

Kaaren, at The Painted Quilt, is having a Give-a-Way for an AccuCut GO cutting machine & three dies!

WOWZER, this is not to be missed. Also, Kaaren offeres a beautiful BOM embroidery showcasing Raggedies [see the button on my sidebar]... just lovely... go ck it out! I have no financial offiliation with her patterns, but I do think when someone goes to all the trouble to make, post, and offer tutes and free patterns that we should all make an effort to promote their blogs. Just my opinion.
Good luck,
Hugs,
Cyn; -)
ps: There's a cute little vid about a another new product... click on the link at Kaaren's blog... no, I have no affiliation, but love their products.

Happy Mail from Germany! -- Thank you, Brigitte

2010-09-22T23:28:00.000-07:00

Four beautiful DJ blocks -- all perfectly made -- sent all the way from Germany! Thank you so much, Brigitte. Brigitte's needleart skills are amazing... every seam perfect; every seam intersection, perfect! Golly, sure wish I could sew like this.

Look carefully on the right side of the photo: A lovely and darling handmade card! All hand-painted, colored, calligraphied... wow! I'm lucky if i can legibilly sign my name to the monthly checks when i pay the bills! LOL.

Thank you, thank you, Brigitte. Here are some closeups of her beautiful blocks:

Perhaps I shouldn't try posting so late at night... can't seem to get the photos to line up where I want them. It doesn't detract from their beauty however, but I apologize that it might make it more diffiuclt for you, dear reader.

That's all for now... I just wanted to share these gorgeous blocks... I'm so excited!
Night nite everyone. . .

Oh, BTW, while I've been on this sewing hiatus, I have been working on other handcrafts that are easier for me to manage right now. I have some new projects to share of knit, crochet and tatting items I've been working on lately. Pictures to follow soon. . . . Thank you for stopping by and visiting. . .

Many hugs,

Cyn; -)

More Lovely "HAPPY MAIL" - Thank you, Tich!

2010-09-21T18:05:00.000-07:00

Isn't this T-Towel puuuurrrrty? I love it! It comes to me all the way from Orkney Islands,Scotland from my dear friend, Tich! I will get a better pic of it up soon to share [after I get it framed], but right now I'm just so excited that I can't wait. *smilies*

Tich sent me the most lovely Comfort Package: It included this beautiful Tea Towel, some scumcioulicious Orkney FUDGE!; several Dear Jane blocks and two packages of Seed Beads! These seed beads will be wonderful on my FF blocks... I am tempted to take the others apart and put these on all of them, not just the new ones!
Oooops, the secret is out... see the Open End of the Box? Yup.. we've all been at it, for sure! LOL. Everyone here sends big "Thank Yous" from their sweet teeth! lol

Tich, your piecing skills are fabulous... thank you for such beautiful DJ blocks; these will make a perfect addition to my DJ.

OMGoodness, am I the lucky ducky or what?! That you, Tich... I love everything. There is NO way that I'll ever use the tea towel in my kitchen for anything utilitarian! lol... NO WAY... I plan to have it put on bars and it will hang proudly in my kitchen. The colors are fantastic. Talk about brightening up one's day. I am Happy Dancing, here! LOL

That's it from my end of the keyboard. I hope all is well and happy at yours!

Hugs,

Cyn; -)

TICKLED PINK!! . . .

2010-09-19T20:28:00.000-07:00

These shoes are made for walkin' . . . .--feel free to hummm along here-- lol, but these LACES are for pure F-U-N!

These laces came recently as a "Happy Mail" surprise from my good friend, Rosa. Aren't they fun? Thank you, Rosa! Now I'm Pickled Tink!

This is just a quickie post so everyone doesn't think I've fallen off the edge of the planet--again! lol. As soon as I learn how to better read and post from my iPod, I'll be able to post more regularly, even while laid up.

See who's keeping me company? My darling little kitty Miss Diva, who follows me from room to room now. LOL... it's really cute! To show what a dainty little kitty she really is: the LC quilt she is laying on has finished blocks of less than 9 inches and Missy weighs less than 9 pounds! She's tiny. She's not to be messed with, however, for whatever she may lack in size, she more than makes up for in "attitude"! lol

Hope everyone is having time to stitch and enjoy the last benefits of summer!
Hugs,
Cyn; -)

BookMark is Fini! . . . & Shirt Sleeve Squares

2010-09-04T20:02:00.000-07:00

Oh, I am so happy! Thanks to the wonderful and friendly advice from Jane in the UK and Susan in Texas, my bookmark is finished and all the ends are tidied up! Thank you, thank you, ladies!

I put a little pink ribbon through the middle, but now that I am looking at it -- the ribbon might actually be detracting from the tatting. Shoot! I'm not sure... what do you think?

Today was a massive sewing and laundry day.

The set up: while straightening a bit in DD's room [read: looking for some of MY stuff, as this room used to be my sewing room! lol] I "found" four shoeboxes full of strips, bits, and Shirt Sleeve Squares... sort of a bazillion of these squares. This could be a no-brain and no-cutting sewing day, so I sewed and sewed and sewed until I had a stack of "two-sies".

I thought about it some more while folding a laundry load and decided if I put them into "foursies" [4-patch] I could either use them that way, or sub cut into "wonky" pieces and mix with other bits to make wonky-blocks. "Wonky" really appeals to me today. LOL. I now have a fairly large stack of 4-patches and I will decide their "fate" tomorrow! lol.

Now all of these 'squares' are "sort of the same size" but not exactly the same size. What to do? Sew into 4-patches matching the center seams -- both ends -- as much as possible knowing that later they can be trimmed up. That last was my "process thinking". I'll make them CaveMan style, as Ricky would say. . . but actually I am just being a bit lazy and only want to trim up these blocks ONCE! lol. I'll let you all know how it turns out.

Oh, I am sure the Eagle Eyes among you have spotted the larger-than-normal seam allowance. As this Shirt Sleeve material has a looser weave than the cotton we all know and love, I thought a fat 3/8" [almost a 1/2"] seam allowance would be a good idea. It does like to fray a bit. And. . . if anyone's interested in how I came to be the caretaker of 100's of Shirt Sleeves, I can tell the tale in another post. ; -)

I hope all of you had a wonderful day and were able to spend some of it on the crafts we all love.

Hugs,

Cyn; -)

GIVE-A-WAY. . . . Gorgeous Mug Pouch!

2010-09-04T13:35:00.000-07:00

If you want a chance to win a Mug Pouch, made by Susan of Season's From My Window... hurry on over to her blog and SIGN-UP! Susan does beautiful work... you'll love it! Drawing is next Friday... don't wait.

Made by Susan of Seasons From My Window, Sep 2010

More later... I'm sewing a ton of squares together and only have about 100 more to go! lol
Hugs,
Cyn; -)