Yarn Yearning

This image obtained from Pinterest and is being used to explain my brief quilt hiatus

Yep, the Squirrel has gotten me obsessed with yarn which I've became reacquainted with while recuperating from my fractured left knee cap.  I haven't posted since January 11th for several reasons, I've been knitting and looming and then there was a vacation to Texas this past week. I didn't want to draw attention to this since I didn't want to jinx it and there was to be no referring to it as a "trip" since that's what I did on our last vacation.  Physical Therapy is almost over and I would say I'm 90-95% back to normal. Hopefully this post will explain my busy-ness and absence from my usual blogland activities.  I really wish someone would invent a foot pedal mouse so I could scroll down reading posts while using my hands for sewing and now for knitting/looming.

It first started innocently with knitting dishcloths and then once I was out of my knee brace I still wanted to knit some more especially after seeing two bloggers who also quilt and knit (Helen, whom I admired the sweaters and socks she knits and Mary, who knitted hats which reminded me of the hats my late mother knitted for my boys when they were little). After I knitted the first hat for my Hubby and bought all of these circular needles in different sizes and lengths, I discovered knitting looms which I think have been around for ten years and I had never heard of them until I saw them on Pinterest.  So after hats were knitted or loomed, I discovered cowls which again have been both knitted and loomed.  BTW, cowls made on a loom make a very nice and fast gift which I've given to my Physical Therapist and his Assistant, which is way nicer than my hands around their necks which I thought of giving them when I first started therapy,  and also to my Hair Stylist as an apology for not remembering my appointments.  I even made cowls for two of my dogs which I call Howl Cowls and if I ever make one for someone at my church, I'm going to call them Holy Cowls.

Now I've knitted two shoulder shrugs and in the process of looming a triangle shawl and knitting a poncho which I did while on vacation.  I never knew you could knit a long rectangle to make a poncho.  Over the past four months, I've learned so much about knitting and looming, thanks to Pinterest and youTube and, yes, I do have a yarn stash now along with many knittings needles and looms.  Like my quilting, I have a similar style, I like my stitches easy and my pieces square or rectangular.  I don't think I will challenge myself with knitting a sweater which fortunately I do not like wearing.

I'm ready to hop back on the quilt wagon now and can set aside my "Yarn Yearning" as my Hubby calls it and finish these four projects I finally got going, after taking a yarn break, right before we left on vacation .  I should have a finally finish soon so I can have something to post. Sometimes, you just need to take a break from quilting, but not too often, just like blogging, right?

Lastly, here is my Happy Flower appliqué project which I've cut the background squares before leaving for vacation with the intention of working on them while in Texas; didn't happen at all.  This project was inspired by Rene' Creates and I just read her recent Instagram post that she started a knitting project now.  There must be a Knit Bug or Yarn Yearning going around.

Hope you are having a great Super Bowl Sunday and if you're like me, it's a great day for quilting and taking a yarn break.

First Finally Finish for 2019: Classic Meets Modern QAL Quilt

It should be no surprise that my Classic Meets Modern (CMM) quilt is my first Finally Finish for the new year since the linky party for this wonderful QAL ends on January 15th.  Nothing makes the year go by fast when a block of the month is involved. This was a twelve month QAL which started a year ago last January and the last blocks were made in November. December was the month to sew the blocks/sections together and being the holidays, an extra two weeks was given to post the finished quilt which was very much appreciated.  

I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed participating in the Classic Meets Modern QAL which was hosted by Kelly Young of My Quilt Infatuation.  I can truly say that there wasn't a block I didn't like and definitely there were a lot of blocks I absolutely loved making, some which I've never made before and some of them were old friends.  I love the variety of sizes of each block, from as big as 24" to as small as 6", the patches were incremented in easy sizes, no 3/16" or 5/8", and I was able to die-cut many of the patches.  These blocks were definitely not fast to make: I did have to take time to read the instructions, make sure the patches were orientated to the right direction and yes, my seam ripper was used many times.  Old skills which haven't been used for awhile were revived for this quilt which was a good thing since I tend to make a lot of "easy" quilts. I had to tally the number of patches in this quilt which was surprisingly only around 630; to me I would have bet that the CMM quilt had a thousand pieces.  It also felt like a large quilt but it's only 60" x 72". I am amazed at how well all of the 28 blocks "clicked" together.  Kelly did a wonderful job of designing this quilt-it is clever.  If I had one tip it would be to press all the seams open, which I did not do all of the time and those were the blocks I had a little problem when sewing them to the other blocks. Unlike my usual disposition of once a Block of the Month quilt is finished and I am so over it, I am sorry to say good-bye to this one done.  My CMM quilt will have happy making thoughts and not the shivers which my Gypsy Wife quilt still gives me even after three years. BTW, the Classic Meets Modern pattern is available in Kelly's Etsy Shop (not an affiliate link).

One of the reasons why I wanted to participate in the CMM QAL was that I thought it would be a great pattern to finally use my Zen Chic's Figures stash which was waiting for just the right quilt to come along.  These fabrics were on my 2018 Must Use List. In addition to these fabrics, I used light prints from other Moda lines since I wanted to use a lot of light prints to make the bright colors pop.

As for the machine quilting, I thought straight lines, 1" apart would be just right since I wanted my CMM quilt to be all about the pattern and fabric and really it's the only type of quilting I'm comfortable with doing.  I usually say a prayer before I start machine quilting and I may have done several for this quilt because I really did not want to mess it up after months of working on the blocks.  I'm happy to say my lines were mostly straight and even and maybe there are a few wavy spots but, all in all, I think the quilting does not distract from the wonderfulness of this quilt.  I was going to use a Connecting Thread's light blue but then remember that I had a brand new spool of Aurifil in light gray with blue tones which was perfect.  I'm amazed at how much Aurilfl thread can be wound on a bobbin, (I've been known to fall asleep while waiting for bobbins to fill up) and I only needed four bobbins to do all the quilting and binding.

The binding I ended up using is a navy blue and white diagonal check from Moda's Pedal Pusher by Camille and Jessica Jung which is one of my favorite go-to prints. I think it adds a nice traditional but modern feel to the CMM Quilt.  I thought I was only to use one of the darker blue print from the Figures line but I did not have enough left and maybe it was a good thing since I think it would have distracted from the lightness of the quilt.  When I was sewing the finishing blocks, I was on fabric fumes and these blocks were made with whatever fabric I had enough of remaining.  I could have made a scrappy binding but I'm still a" No-Go" in that department.

And would you believe I made a pieced backing for this quilt being on a fabric diet this year.  I used yardage of a Dear Stella navy blue herringbone print with remains of the Figures fabric.  Pieced backings are and still will be one of my least favorite things to sew and you can probably tell that it is by my lack of imagination on this backing.

This is all which is left of my once mighty Zen Chic's Figures stash.  I do think I can use these to make slab blocks from Kelly Young's Stash Statement Book which is another wonderful technique and I think Kelly may be doing a QAL using this method.  I hope so since I really love this fabric line and I have other fabric lines with the same colors which when combined together will make great slab blocks.

Another photo of my CMM Quilt.  Master Quilt Holder hasn't done this in awhile and was getting tired after only six photos.  Thankfully, the weather co-operated and I was able to take some photos outside.  This is the time of year when taking quilt photos is stressful and my thinking goes into overdrive as to how I can get better photos.  This time it's emptying the living room and turning it into a photo studio.  Maybe I should start reminding Master Quilt Holder that I still want a clothes line in the backyard and after today's photo session, he might be more receptive. 

We're expecting some snow this weekend which makes for some good sewing time and I already have a project lined up.

Happy Sewing!

Linking up with:  My Quilt Infatuation CMM Finale, My Quilt Infatuation, NTT and Cooking Up Quilts, Main Crush Monday

Here's Looking at 2018

I've been reflecting on my last post of 2018 for the past few days and realizing it's New Year's Eve, now is the time to write a post especially after reading the other reviews and planning post. I don't want to be late or a no show in joining the other end-of-year posts. But before I do my review, I thought I should briefly write about my final quilt/throws for 2019 which were Christmas gifts for my granddaughter Micah and her parents.

Micah's Patchwork Blankie features yardage of a Finding Dory print backed with the prettiest teal Minkee plush which was put together quickly in time to be gifted when Micah came to visit during Christmas.  It was my oldest son's idea (Demando of the Slinky Quilt fame) who had the bright idea when he saw this print in my studio that I should make a quilt for Micah to go along with the Hank Octopus toy (sitting on the ladder, top right) he would purchase.  As you can see there's not a whole lot of Hank, smaller than a beanie baby, who arrived after the blankie was finished.  I told Demando I could have just made a mug rug instead but according to Demando, his niece likes a toy she can hold in her hand.  Besides a Quilt Detective, he's now a Toy Expert.

Last year when I was visiting Micah's house during Christmas, I realized that I've never made her family a Christmas quilt so I planned to make one using most of my Sandy Gervais Holly Jolly collection and other fabrics from her Christmas line.  Since I was short on time, my plan was to back it with the green plush polka dot fabric but I wanted it to feel more substantial so I put fleece in between which makes for a very heavy quilt.  I used fleece before in between before for the usual cotton tops and backs but paired with the plush it makes a very warm and soft and heavy quilt. I thought Micah's parents would not appreciate it but turns out that Micah likes sleeping on top of it with the plush side against her body.  It's not the first time with her family that the backing was preferred over the top.  By the way, this quilt was made with all different size strips and made like my Staggered Strip pattern which you will see more of later in this post.

And now for the review of the 35 projects for 2018, which 33 are finally finished and two are flimsies, which seems to have fallen into categories/groupings or phases.

I participated in eight QALS which six of the quilts are finally finished:

Postcards from Sweden
Wishi Washi, Dot is Crazy
Squiggles, Regatta, Adult Playtime Plus

and two are flimsies for very good reasons:

The Classic Meets Modern hosted by My Quilt Infatuation quilt completion date is January 15 so I'm pretty sure this quilt will be my first finish for 2019.

                           

My Fireburst Mystery Quilt hosted by Tish in Wonderland is still in a "I Don't Know How to Quilt It Yet" phase and I was also distracted with having to complete the two Christmas quilts.  Hopefully, I will finish it in 2019 because I think this would look nice in my son's house.

                                Spa Spurts, Kaffe Fassett Ernie Quilt, Hinto Minto Quilt

                                Smiling Sloths, Big Cat Crossing ,Echinacea

My favorite pattern seems to be any using 2.5" strips since I made six quilts including my Staggered Strips and Squares pattern which I made four variations of it. These quilts were made possible by my die-cutting and 2.5" strip die.

Four Baby Quilts were made and I used the Jungle Boardwalk pattern I created for the 30 Blocks in 30 Days Blog Hop.  It's a great pattern to use for the focal prints and for future Chicago Cubs fans.  As for the Mauve-lous Panda Quilt, I couldn't bear to cut up the very cute Panda print.

Besides the two Christmas quilts backed with plush fabrics, five other quilts were plush-backed and I have to admit I am now a big fan of making patchwork throws now.  It's a quick finish since light quilting is done and they make good snugglers.  I should admit now that my stash of plushes have increased so I am pretty sure I'll be doing more of these in 2019.

Going clockwise from the top left:
Slinky, Stacked Squares, June Quilt and Kaffe Fassett  Appliquéd Flowers

And these four quilts which three were UFOS and one refusing to be one (Slinky) since it needed to be finished now and not later.

Last but not least, are the Micah Makes which does not include her Christmas Quilt nor the other Christmas Quilt made for her parents but decided it should be hers also.  As for being my only grandchild and long anticipated granddaughter she has this right and also to interrupt any project I may be working on.

Until my accident in October which involved wearing a knee brace for six weeks and curtailing for sewing somewhat, I had a pretty good track record for finishing anything I started with the exception of the two QAL which had a later deadline.  With that being said, these projects are now part of my 2019 UFOs. (you can read about it here)

In reviewing my 2018 "production", I'm more than happy but when comparing it to my project lists, only 20 of them were planned and 15 of them can be considered "DrEAMi"--the Squirrel is strong in my studio.  I'm good at making plans and even better at not following them so I've decided in 2019 that my best laid plans are not to make them.  Although I enjoy making lists while watching the Rose Bowl Parade, an annual tradition, I don't think my planning will be as intense as in years past.  Last year was "making it easy" and this year will be "taking it easy" with few commitments and resolutions.  The one commitment I will make for 2019 will be to resume making baby quilts for the Blanket Ministry at my Church and the one resolution will be to once again repeat the 2017 Fabric Fast by decreasing my stash by 100 yards.  I have enough projects to do with this year's UFO's and the ones on my 2017 lists to keep me busy and focused.

Now that my end-of-year post is finally finished, it's time to partake in a very quiet New Year's Eve observance.  In the past, we have always celebrated with my two peeps and their husbands but this year's has been postponed until the one peep's new house is ready for entertainment.  Since rain and icy roads are predicted in my neck of the words, I do appreciate not having to travel tonight.

Wishing all of my friends and fellow bloggers a very and safe Happy New Year filled with blessings, good health, amazing energy, laughs, etc.  I'm looking forward to seeing what 2019 brings.

Best of 2018 Linky Party

The Fourth Annual Best of 2018 Linky Party hosted by Meadow Mist Designs is now going on.  I had such fun participating in it last year and didn't want to miss this party.  I think I spent more time on deciding what my best or my favorite five were and what their respective categories were going to be.  Here they are, going clockwise, with the links to the posts:

1. Most Popular Post:  Kaffe Fassett Stripe Quilt
2. Most Popular Tutorial Post:  Staggered Squares and Strip Quilt
3. Post with the Best Quilt Photo:  June Quilt
4. Best Post About An Old Quilt:  The Picnic Quilt
5. Post with the Best Finish: Kaffe Fassett Applique Quilt

I had a pretty good year, despite being sidetrack with my fourth quarter injury and recover, and will be doing a final post by the end of the week.  But before I do, I first need to read up on the other Bloggers Best of 2018 Linky Party.  

Happy Reading!

November Block Busy-ness

I could have used another title to describe my November activities since all I have to show are blocks, blocks and more blocks.  Because of my knee injury and the inability to go downstairs to my studio until the end of the November, my projects were limited to those which were already precut and waiting to be sewn.  Thanks to the superior navigation skills demonstrated by my Hubby in finding them (Thank you iPhone and my idea for him to take photos of my project cart and certain shelves in the studio) I was able to show him which ones to bring upstairs so I can sew in my formal Upstairs Sewing Room, a.k.a., the dining room.  I really had my doubt if this was going to work since this is the same Hubby when I ask him to get something out of my purse, he brings my purse to me rather than search inside my purse. Seriously, I think he's afraid something is going to bite his hand.  But a good Retriever he turned out to be and I was able to work on the following blocks or as I like to call my UFOs for 2019.

Classic Meet Modern QAL hosted by My Quilt Infatuation

Just a couple of glitches with completing the filler blocks; one being these blocks were pre-cut before my accident and I thought I would have no problems finishing them by the 15th but they were not on the project cart. I didn't know if I should laugh or give Hubby, who was feeling confident in his newly acquired Retriever skills, a big hug when he offered, if I just gave him a sample of the fabric, he would go through each of my fabric bins on my shelves in order to find  where I put these blocks.  To prevent him from having a heart attack after realizing the enormity of this task and really seeing how huge my fabric stash is, I told him "No" and I would have to think about where these blocks could possibly be. This wouldn't be the first time I've "lost" and never found something. It took me several days to figure out that I put them in a FQS Blue Sampler Box and told Hubby to look on a certain shelf for a box marked "CMM".  The first time he looked, he said there was no such box on the shelf, which threw me for a loop,  but then later said there was a blue box on a table marked "Classic Meets Modern". In my Hubby's defense, I hadn't given him a lesson on Quilt Acronyms and what's really funny is that when I first was going to mark the box, I was going to write "CMM" but thought better, in case I forgot what it meant, I wrote it out.  And the second problem was that I was short three patches and couldn't finish some of the blocks until this past week.  I'm glad the blocks are all finished and ready to be sewn together in December.  I am loving how the quilt blocks and the Zen Chic's Figures fabric line look together.  You can check out the Classic Meet Modern QAL here.

Happy Flower EPPs

What was intended as a road project turned out to be a great project to do while laying in bed during one of the many Pajamazon Days (wearing pajamas all day-so named by Hubby who still had his good humor) I observed during my recuperation.  This EPP project was inspired by Rene' Creates and I die-cut the 1" hexagon sides and squares and the appropriate sized fabric hexagons using mostly scraps and stash of Cotton+Steel, Felicity Miller's Charleston and Lily and Loom fabrics.  I've finish basting 70 flowers and now will be appliquéing them to 7" squares of gray and light low volume prints which still need to be picked from my stash.

C+S Blue and Yellow Quilt/Hold the Pickles Blocks with Alternate Block

Here are rugshots of these 30 blocks which were already die-cut and ready for me to finish sewing. You can find the tutorial for the Hold the Pickles Blocks (on the left)  by Sevenoaks Street Quilts here.

Postcards from the Jungle (HRT Blocks)

Another rugshot of blocks made from fabrics my good quilting friend Carol, has been gifting me over the year which were purchased during her travels. Most of them came from Jinny Beyer's store in Virginia and I finally decided to finally make something with these fabrics by die-cutting rectangles and HRTs several months ago.  Once the top is assembled, it'll be ready for quilting since I've already have the green batik backing which was purchased from a friend of MMM quilts who was having a destash sale earlier this year.  I guess that was the impetus to finally use Carol's gift of these beautiful green fabrics, which she knows is my favorite color,

Malka Strips

2-1/2" strips of Malka Dubrowsky and a low volume prints have been die-cut for several months now and was another project waiting to be sewn.  I'm not sure if these strips will be used for another Ernie Quilt or a Staggered Strips and Squares.  In either case, it will be nice to have finally have a quilt made from these colorful prints which have been sitting in my stash for more than five years.

Pie Making Day 2x4 Quilt

The 2-1/2" x 4-1/2" patches were cut from a jelly roll and weren't enough to make a decent sized lap quilt so thankfully I had some yardage of the Pie Making Day fabric line which I can cut additional patches.  Once this top is assembled, I'm pretty sure it going to be a throw (just backing it with Minky) similar to my Gee Whiz Patchwork Throw which is now living at my dear friend, Dee's house.

Memory Lane Blocks

Now this is what I call scrapping the bottom of the project barrel with these blocks.  I ran out of Upstairs sewing projects so I decided to finally sew these blocks together. I die-cut these blocks from a fabric line purchased over fifteen years ago and have been sitting around for a couple of years.  I still love these prints, red gingham or any gingham print is near and dear to my heart and the yellow floral print is just yummy.  It's not my decor right now but once this top is assembled to a 50" square, it'll make a nice picnic or party topper.

Thirties Tart

I started these blocks in early October and was inspired by Shannon's of The Fleming's Nine, Sweet Tart Pattern (not an affiliate link).  There was no way I could duplicate the beautiful quilting she did on her quilt so the best way for me to do anything else besides straight-line quilts was to QAYG each block which one of the benefits is that it used up a lot of batting scraps. Ten blocks were already done so the past few days were spent in the studio finishing up the last twenty.  I'm hoping my modern quilt with 30's fabrics is going to work but won't know for awhile,

Before I was laid up in October, my track record for finally finishing any top made this year was, I think, 100% which is a major first and may never happen again for me. Now it looks like I'm going to start the New Year with at least six UFO's. One thing I'm definitely putting on my 2019 list, is to die-cut more strips and squares and prepare more quilts for sewing. It also doesn't hurt to have more EPP projects since learning they're not only for the road trips. I am thankful I had these projects waiting but sorry I had to have an accident in order to get them finish.

There were a few days when I was in between sewing blocks that I decided to take up some knitting after I was given the okay to finally walk on my injured knee using a cane.  This was the reason for my first trip downstairs to the studio which was to bring up my knitting bag.

Besides the project cart, I have a project cabinet located at the bottom of the stairs which stores mostly non-quilting projects and supplies. I didn't know which door my knitting was in and I didn't have the heart to send Hubby downstairs to look since I thought it would be too similar to having him look for something in my purse.  And lo and behold, I found it immediately. 

I'm a self-taught knitter and only knit scarves and dishcloths/washcloths. Usually I only do the garter stitch but found other stitches to knit online.  I have a Craftsy/Bluprint subscription so I'm thinking I'll be taking some knitting classes online.  I've ordered some circular knitting needles in the hopes of making a stocking cap for Micah.  I still remember the ones my mom knitted for my two boys when they were little and hopefully can now make them for my granddaughter.

Just one more week of wearing my leg brace and hopefully I'll be more mobile once physical therapy starts.  Sewing on the machine with my left leg straight out or resting on top of the right foot pressing the pedal will not be missed. Christmas quilt projects will need to be started and finished in a matter of a few week. Of course, they're both for Micah and her family.  And I have not yet started Holiday decorating and still need to buy presents so Hello Stress. I'm going to miss my Pajamazon Days.

My Fall Preparation

I've been away from my blog for several weeks now, mainly because of my Granddaughter Micah's visit earlier this month and then our trip to Washington, D.C. last week.  The title of my post is a little tongue-in-cheek since it doesn't have anything to do with decorating for the Fall season even though I've included a photo of one of my favorite wallhanging from a Jan Patek pattern done raw appliquéd in the style of Sarah Sporer finished in the last Century.  Rather, it has to do with my being laid up for the next five to six weeks because of a fractured knee cap which I suffered in the first hour of being in Washington D.C.  No, I was not on my iPhone but tripped over an uneven sidewalk walking to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.  The pumpkin in my wallhanging really reflects how I feel right now.  The reason why this post is titled My Fall Preparation is because after the accident and having a brief pity party, I realized that my past decisions and activities have prepared me for this temporary hiatus from the downstairs sewing studio due to my unfortunate fall.

Before the interruptions of the granddaughter visit and the vacation, I finished my October blocks for the Classic Meets Modern QAL and the Fireburst Mystery top hosted by Tish in Wonderland.  The remainder of the CMM top consists of only the filler blocks and very unlike me, I've already precut them and can now be sewn on my upstairs sewing machine in my almost formal sewing room, aka, the dining room.

I also started two 2x4 projects, one made with Moda's London Calling fabrics and one made from a  RJR Pie Making Day jelly roll and I can also continue sewing the blocks upstairs.

What was intended as a road trip project, the Happy Flowers EPP inspired by Rene' Creates is now a great project to do and will keep me busy for awhile laying either on my recliner or on my adjustable mattress bed which we thankfully purchased last year.  It really has been put to great use this past week and boy is Tiffany Haddish funny.

And other past activities which contributed to my Fall Preparation is I recently finished my son's quilt so he's been very helpful and even photographed the pumpkin wallhanging for this post.  Best past activity of all for my Fall Preparation is marrying my hubby almost forty-five years ago and he's has been more than helpful and absolutely wonderful.  I'm pretty sure he, the Master Quiltholder, is going to be able to navigate my downstairs sewing studio, if I draw him a good map to find the sewing projects I need upstairs.  Thankfully, I keep all of my projects on a cart so it's going to be easy for him, I hope.  Maybe, a future plan would be to teach him how to sew but that would be asking too much, right?

Like my dear friend, Dee, who said "God must have wanted to slow you down for a reason", I have to admit I'm really catching up on some major zzzz's now and there won't be any late night quilting till the A.M. for awhile.  I made a very abbreviated stop at Dee's house near Cleveland, OH on the way home from D.C. to gift her the Gee Whiz Quilt.  We became fast friends in 2016 right before the World Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians and I still feel a little guilty about winning the great quilting bet of a layer cake of Pat Sloan fabric.  Most important, we stayed friends. (can you see my Walker next to me--I named her Sandra for you know who--pun intended).

I don't think I will be posting for awhile now since I only do when I have some sort of finish which usually happens in my studio downstairs. I definitely will be reading other bloggers' posts which will make the healing time go by nicer.  I will say that I'm moving up and down the stairs to the second floor is pretty good using my derriere and legs, (who would have thought I's be reusing those toddler skills now) so maybe in a couple of weeks I might be tempted to venture downstairs to the studio.  The first step might be the trickiest and definitely Hubby will need to be around.  

I hope everyone has a Happy Halloween today.  Usually I don't want or say this at this time of year, but I'm really looking forward to the holidays and December coming quickly when hopefully my knee will be healed.  Wish me well!

Linking up with: My Quilt Infatuation, NTT