Happy Halloween

i made almost three of these blocks. from my stash which doesn't include pumpkin colors. so now a Halloween quilt in the making. block from old Better Homes and Gardens book called Holiday Quilts. i usually avoid the teenie square pieces. but it wasn't so bad.i don't decorate for Halloween. just this oldie but goodie pumpkin girl. i must have made her twenty years ago. i made the girl instead of the boy so i could make a face with a cute pompom nose. when i first washed her the color came out of the fabric. but she's still a cutie.

Be Warm

this is my Be Warm block before the "be warm" lettering is added. also missing is a round button for scarf. a carrot button for nose. beads for eyes. & beads for each point of the snowflakes. these things are sewn on after the quilt has been assembled.i wanted to use only yellow & black fabrics. but slowly purple, blue, & green kept creeping in. the lettering was going to be olive. then black. now i've decided on dark brown. so i'll be keeping the backgrounds as light as possible. mostly yellows, golds, & green. & any colors that suit the next block will be used.

Two Cute & A Whole Litter Of Cute

i'll be here today. Messie Jessie's dining room. her two Tinkerbells came back from the quilter. & that can only mean one thing. it's time to sew on binding. this will forever be her first quilt. & that first quilt has a twin.she chose a lightly quilted design with butterflies.yesterday was beautiful. one of those warm autumn days you dream of. so when Jess ran to help a neighbor i ran with her. mostly to be outside. but how many times in your life do you get to meet puppies. not just any puppies. St. Bernard puppies. a young couple came to pick just one puppy to take home. how could they decide. they were all too cute. except when attacking me & chewing on my shoes. i managed to capture these five all face forward.i requested these six line up in front of garage for group pic.none of these seven were listening to me.i count eight here not including Jess. first nine then eight now seven. not that i would. but this was my fav. i kept referring to her as the beauty with spots on her nose. just look at those paws.
the Dad Bison was looking on. their Mom Rosie for obvious reasons was not participating.i was supposed to go straight home & finish my cottage blocks. so they would be ready to mail today. but stopped at Starbucks on my way home. stayed to chit-chat with my aunt who lives nearby. until dark. so i'll be mailing them tomorrow instead two days later. it was rush hour but you can see how beautiful the view is from the patio.today it's raining.

Scrappy Sunday

Block #16

Ready For Christmas, Not Yet

Melanie and i have been working on a sorta secret project. we both started with the same pattern. & the same fabric bundle. i challenged her to work it up & see what we would both do with the same stuff. click here to see Melanie's.i can only wish that my living room was this tidy.an empty dining room table. a family must live here. or a quilter must not live here.my sister is laughing. she knows i cleared off table to take pic & then put everything back.do i need to tell you how much i like the back.mostly Moda Shangri-La fabric. a strip of Moda Roman Holiday fabric. an old Alexander Henry flannel. Cotton Way Pattern. December Table Topper #4012. DMC perle coton.more of the back. more of the stitching. more of my sister's clean floor.

Auntie Karen Is Happy

i am happy to report that my niece really wears these jeans. all the time. mending is love. but sometimes mending is lots of work and little of thanks. finding them in the laundry basket all the time surely confirms a job well done.

i found a few more pics which show some detail on the sewing.i took one step at a time. unpicked the side seams. tore two pieces longer than the length you need. as shown here. this Amy Butler fabric is strong. i would not pick a lightweight fabric as loved jeans get washed & dried so much. i chose a width of 2 in. for extension plus 1 in. for seams. (come back to see example of how i sewed extension seam).these jeans had that very smart buttonhole elastic to accommodate growth. not more difficult. but just one more step to consider. it would have been too easy to cut that out. i would recommend cutting the waistband in a different spot than the side seam. this avoids bulk all coming together at the same spot.the waistband extension was tricky. you always have to unpick enough stitches so that you can open it wide enough to get into with sewing machine. (translation: you always have to unpick more than you want to). i cut it longer than i knew i needed. then stitched one side. ironed it. pretended i was done. then carefully tried to mark how much i needed. then cut it. sewed the other side. ironed & tucked seam under. when satisfied it was the proper amount. sewed the waistband seam to body. for these i had to make sure the elastic went thru as before. & when sewing had to make sure elastic did not get caught in stitching.
do you think my summer pants would be this cute if i added a piece to make them longer. i like these fashionably incorrect pants when it's warm to get air on my ankles. but as soon as the frost comes. they look silly.o.k. you're right. they look silly all the time. but i complete the look with my silly shoes.

& while i'm on the subject. the subject of jeans and cutting them up. i can't wait to see the jean apron tutorial that Des is going to make Karebear put together. see here for those cute aprons i am talking about. & i sure hope that tutorial doesn't have any Mamma Mia music in it. hehe. tutorial posted here.

Lucky Me

i can't remember what i did to deserve more gifts. but this is what Melanie sent me.a beautiful "peace" stitching. i'll be hanging it on my "going out" door. to remind me to be nice to others. dish towel with hand stitched design. luv it. i'm a sucker for a new towel. luv them. a fantastic Duchy cookbook. still looking for these biscuits so i can make one of the recipes. i know they sell them here. it was wrapped in xmas paper with a note that i did not have to wait. i ripped it open like a little girl. had no clue about the history of the Duchy name. it's just like Melanie to give you something you have to read and of course helps you learn more. that's her.

i also have two very nice awards.

this one came a few weeks ago from Melanie of Jelly Bean Angel.
thank you Melanie !
i am passing on to Polly at Quilter Polly and Tine at Sodeste. both of my recipients are extremely busy individuals but manage to keep sewing as an important part of their lives. and i love them for that.
the Blogging Friends Forever rules are:
1. only five people allowed.
2. four have to be dedicated followers of your blog.
3. one has to be someone new, or recently new to your blog, or live in another part of the world.
4. you must link back to whoever gave you the BFF award.

this one came today from Eileen of Eileen's Attic.
thank you Eileen !
i am passing on to Sarah at Anyone Can Quilt and Melanie of Jelly Bean Angel. both of my recipients have the most amazing photos of Autumn and of their life.oh goodie. no rules. please pass on to a few fav's so we can meet them too.

and i finally drove to the beach. very much needed car repairs prevented me from just running there on a whim. but today i had about three hours of this.

it was cold this morning. when i left the city the schoolkids were wearing hats & coats. i was the only one wearing shorts. it was 61 degrees. but the sun was blazing hot.

Scrappy Sunday

Block #15

Scrappy Sunday

Block #14

Press'N Seal

i had been having trouble. more like lack of confidence. in stitching snowflakes on my block. the fabric wasn't see-thru. & my pencil marking lines were not so accurate. more like guesses. snowflakes go on the 1st block. so i just left it. today i was working on my 4th block. i had another picky day at class. that's right. i'm picky. which fabric should be which part of an owl was driving me crazy. the important thing was that i made decisions. that i was happy with. & finished the fusing part before leaving class. so it's ready to be stitched.

Nedra on Cactus Needle mentioned here that a friend showed her how to use Press'N Seal to mark random lines on your work. & when done just pull it away. you can't really see the plastic on my work. so i crumpled it up so you can see what it looks like. but you Mommies guys out there probably know what it looks like.
i did have to fiddle & pick at it to remove the plastic. so i would not recommend this for heavy stitching. not posting proper pic of block. i wanna finish first. telling you right away in case you needed this info. no sense you not working on something for 3 months just because i did.

Waffle Weave Muslin

my sister caught me one year on one of our beach vacations knitting those cotton washcloths. very sarcastically i said i was thinking about making them for xmas presents. Not. but she was perplexed. not sure if i was or was not. i can't be alone this year. wondering if simple gifts like knitted washcloths would get us thru the holidays. even though i really like them. i find them to be heavy and messy to use. i don't mind making practical or simple or even cheap gifts. but they have to be usable (w/o burdens) in a normal household. that being said. i found some cute washcloth patterns here. i might make this one first. let me know if you make any before i do. i haven't starting my knitting yet. & times a ticking.then when i saw this dish towel tutorial on Crazy Mom Quilts i said i'll have to buy some of that stuff and see what happens. i just bought a yard. with a coupon it came to $3.60. after washing & drying & trimming. i was warned it shrinks alot. (& it did). i ended up with 4 pieces that measured 12-1/2" x 19" (sideways). the harvest mums were so beautiful. so out came my fav words. "i'll have what's left". a little more than i needed. so i changed the ribbons on my tools.

i'm going to spend the rest of the evening watching t.v. and hand sewing. & trying to decide if i made them big enough.definitely Not xmas presents. they look more like thanksgiving thank yous. i know a few cooks that work very hard making food for so many.

Cottage Fever

it's contagious. even Messie Jessie wanted to make one.did she really make two. no. just kidding. she only made one.i think it's gorgeous and so does her daughter.she also finished her summer quilt top. but was daydreaming about making more cottages. enough to make a quilt. what else is she gonna do while she waits for her Tinkerbells to come back from the quilter. that's right. breaking news. two daughters will soon get to snuggle under Mommy's quilts. it's about time. chilly. especially at nightime. it's chilly.

and what's Karen been up to. well i started quilting my secret project. Melanie's latest peek sure surprised me. hope that i am surprising her. i see signs that we both adding our own special touches. that's very cool.

Christmas, Then Halloween

it's official. Christmas is coming before Halloween this year.i've completed 5 cottage blocks. & have all my other pieces cut out ready to sew. i love mine. & i love all of the ones i keep seeing out there. check out the virtual quilt that T of Purple and Paisley has posted here. it would appear that i am not the only one who believes in this thing called Christmas.

The Influence Of Red

i was daydreaming the other day about a ride to the beach. & was overwhelmed at the response to such a whim. i didn't go. but that would have been the day. a storm is looming nearby and we will have much rain for most of a week. only Monday looks clear. now what do you do on a rainy day.

garnet sweet potatoes. red lentils. red onions. a few of my fav ingredients. so when i saw this simple recipe i knew i had to make soup.celery and salt are my substitutions for stock cube. most cubes have too much salt for me. if you make soup you have to have a stick blender. i highly recommend this Cuisinart one. it's made of stainless steel. & comes apart for easy cleaning. no need to drag cord over to sink for cleaning. if i reheat soup i will add ricemilk instead of water.

the view from my window. i live on the third floor. this tree is beautiful. & changes every season. i forgot it has berries. it brings the birds. & they sing to me all year long.i've been thinking about an old red project i was excited about years ago but abandoned. i made this simple runner. always left it near a sunny window. so now it looks like an antique. old. & faded. then i bought all these red fabrics to make a similar runner. to honor a local CT artist. i can't find that cd cover with the beautiful pic of Kate Callahan. but i was annoyed that i could not copy cd cover onto fabric paper so that it measured exactly 6". it kept reducing it 98%. perhaps the new printers we have won't do that. you can listen to her on her myspace page here. those 3 selections are not on her 2 albums. The Influence Of Red. The Greatest Of Ease. check them out on iTunes. you won't be disappointed.i will leave you with another local CT artist. Chuck E. Costa. you can listen to him on his myspace page here. he has a few albums. his selection "when the city comes" even made it onto a Starbucks compilation. but find & listen to "peace is war". hope he figures out this blog stuff. but untill then his rendition of "little boxes" should make us all feel better about our scrappy cottages.

my soup is delicious. and it's still raining. & here's a look at my little boxes.i didn't think i would use ric-rac. but know i don't know how i couldn't. should i redo those windows and sew on that mini red ric-rac. it would be so much cuter.

It Really Is Autumn

my Mom is spending a few September days at the Cape. the kids are playing football and practicing their cheers. my sister leaves homemade apple pear cake for school lunches unattended on the kitchen counter. yummm. warm sunny days with a t-shirt turn into chilly nights with a sweatshirt. stitches on the knitting needles. sewing without the air conditioner on. this is my favorite time of year. i've waited all summer for this. what am i doing inside. i should be outside. enjoying as much of this as i can. i need a drive to the beach. just pack a book & a sandwich & go.

Old Puppy Finds A Home

while having my morning coffee. while stitching letters for my current project. while browsing blogs. i found this post from Brown Dirt Cottage with very familiar fabric. it's old. it's cute. i've been keeping it in the back room on top of a pile. so i see it everytime i go in there. so i go get it. to take another look at it. then lay it on top of my little project. which i cannot move until i get further on it. & it matches. oh no. it matches.

Fun With Quilting

i do luv being thrfty with quilting. even if it's just for fun. this phase can't last long. with all those beautiful fabrics showing up in the stores. so i am enjoying the excitement of it before it passes. my Secondhand Comfort quilt is pinned. ready. but standing in line. as i need to finish up some other things. decided to hand quilt. & i have an idea to use as many beautiful colors as i can all over. that will of course necessitate a trip to the embroidery store. yeah. perhaps more than one trip. yeah yeah.i received permission to take those summer capri jeans on the right. they will not fit my growing niece next year. & will make a scrumptous Baby Secondhand Comfort quilt. & those printed cargo shorts on the left are going in Nora's Xmas Quilt. it's not a secret. the only secret is whether i will finish it in time for xmas or not. i'll tell you about Nora's xmas present from last year on another day.

i've signed up for my very first block exchange.it's cute. & it's xmas-y. how could i resist. many of you know Nanette. but i've been lurking on her blog Freda's Hive for many many months. she designed an easy block. & has already posted a tutorial. you should join too.i'm guessing that the blocks we make will be identical. but with all the stash xmas fabrics i have found. i could probably make my own scrappy xmas cottage quilt.