Granny Stripes from Purl Bee

OMG!!  I simply have to make this blanket!  I couldn't afford to make this in the Merino yarn she used (over $19.00 per skein), but I'm sure I could find something that would work :)

You can find it at http://www.purlbee.com/granny-stripe-blanket/

Holy Crap!!

I can't believe my last lame post was in MAY!  Now it's near the end of August and I'm in my yearly summer's-almost-over depression :(  Don't get me wrong, I love fall...LOVE it, but it doesn't last long enough and winter is looming, which in Michigan DOES last long.  On the up side it's almost...wait for it...QUILTING SEASON, YAY!! 

Over the summer I did very little quilting.  I did do quite a bit of piecing, however :)  Oh, and quite a bit of crocheting of all sorts of stuff, mostly of the baby wardrobe variety, although some rugs and tons of dishcloths came off the end of my hook.

In my Harry Potter Paper Piecing (say that 5 times fast) adventure I've completed my final block and started embroidering book titles on the books.  OY, I'm really not liking doing this by hand and it shows in the quality :(  When I'm enjoying embroidery it shows...unfortunately it also shows when I'm not so I'll have to ponder this dilema.  Ofenjen and her co-horts are taking us on another adventure beginning in October @ their new website Fandom In Stitches (click on the button on the upper right to play along).  This one will revolve around The Hobbit, which I, of course, have never read, so I borrowed a copy from my sister and will be well-informed by the time we begin :)

It's Sew Kiki

I just started reading the blog It's Sew Kiki ,it's so nice to see someone blogging about Connecting Threads, I've been a customer for more years than I can count and buy (almost) exclusively from them since they've been making their own fabrics.  All of their fabrics are so great feeling and high quality!  That reminds me, I have a bagful of Cheep Talk that needs to be made into something :)

Spring Has Sprung!!

The last couple of days have been sooo nice!  The youngest grandson took his first trip to the park today and it was a big hit according to his mom :)  I walked yesterday with my 2 oldest grandsons B and L, well...I walked...they rode bikes...CHEATERS!  Today I spent time in my studio making another bib for C (the youngest).  He is learning how to feed himself and his clothes are paying the price!  Luckily he loves his new fashion statement, it's like a woobie (blanket) he can wear :)  I made it out of flannel and he walks around the house rubbing it with his little hands.  My sister Arlene and I were talking today about how you work and slave over a beautiful project and the little monsters barely give it a second look, then you throw something together out of necessity and they think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread :/  Hey, I'll take whatever love I can get, here he is loving me :)

...and guess what...it worked!!!

I also worked on some piecing for B's Harry Potter POD quilt

I love that orange fabric, I have to use 2 different fabrics because I don't think I'll have enough of either to complete all the letters, but I think they're a pretty close match.  I am paper piecing his name to add to his quilt somewhere!

Next I'm going to paper piece a shamrock that was generously given to our group by our fearless leader Ofenjen.  I think this calls for an Irish Chain so that I can use it for a label! 

Sooo, The Husband got a job...

...which allows for more quilting time!  I spent the whole day yesterday in my space with three goals in mind.
#1  Finish POD blocks:  POD stands for Project of Doom which is a collection of paper pieced blocks for a Harry Potter themed quilt designed by a grotesquely talented woman by the name of Jennifer Ofenstein http://community.livejournal.com/hp_paperpiecing/100793.html
She generously contributes her designs for anyone who wants them (for personal use only, of course) and though I've never read a Harry Potter book or watched the movies I thought my grandson would love this and I'm certainly having a ball working on this project!  I should have taken
 after pics of the "studio" ,   here's a before shot,

...and the other side :)

the place was a disaster area when I finished :D  It's small, but it's mine and I love it!!!!


Now for a look at just some of those POD blocks I'm sooooo enjoying...

#2  Finish wallhanging from Sister's Weekend:  DONE!!  Quilted and hanging on the wall :)

#3  Make a large bib for youngest Grandson:  DONE!!  Well, the practice bib is done anyway :)  Next I'll make one for him with bunnies on it for Easter.  I found this pattern at http://thismomsews.wordpress.com/2006/05/11/babychildrens-accessories/


I have no clue what to do next!  There's always the Valentine's Day wallhanging I could quilt, but let's face it, that'll probably stay on the shelf til next year .  I have a ton of my Dad's ties that need to be made into something!  I was thinking a Dresden Fan, but now I'm leaning toward some paper-pieced pattern, which one?  I have no clue, but it'll sure be fun looking for ideas!

Sister's Weekend!!!

My sisters are my BEST friends, they have been with me through all the ups and downs.  They've seen me at my worst and best and loved me through it all!  This is the time we look forward to all year, when we can revert to being 10 year olds and not worry about the families, jobs or calories :)  The fun starts Friday evening when we all gather at our oldest sister, Kathy's home.  The first night is spent just chatting and munching and game playing.  This year we played Sew You Want To Be A Quilter and may I say I don't know as much as I thought I did :(  I did lear n
alot though  and kicked all their butts...just sayin' :D

Here's proof of our gluttony

Although we call it Sister's Weekend it isn't usually just us sisters, our friend Patty, who is like a sister to us, always comes and this time our nieces Stacy and Emily showed up Saturday evening and spent the night.  They don't quilt or sew but they passed the time by playing Yahtzee and watching Paranormal Activity 2 :)

Here are the surprises I made for everyone...

This one I made for Emily, she's a shabby chic kind of gal.

Stacy's, the prints just reminded me of her

...and this is Midge's, looks like Peeps, don't you think

I loved the mystery quilt we made, but we found a couple of mistakes in the directions which made the going a little rough :(

here's the final product, or as far as we got on them...

...aren't we a pretty bunch :D (from left to right) Arlene, Kathy (oldest), Myself, Midge, Patty and Julie.   The name of the quilt is Fly Away Home and was posted by Kris over at Quilt Bus  http://www.quiltbus.com/fly.htm.  The flying geese units in the stars are folded/dimensional and I loved doing them, I can see using this technique again, fun stuff! 

Sunday morning we were missing our families and anticipating a snow storm so we headed out early.  It didn't end up snowing until about 2pm and by this morning here in Waterford we had 10.5 inches on the ground.  It should be a perfect day for cleaning the creation chaos in the studio and start thinking about my next project...happy quilting!

Strips and Strep

I took a little time off last week for a bit of strep throat which my son was kind enough to share with nearly every adult in the family.  How is it that the kids avoided it?  I even had my youngest grandson all day before I got really sick and he seems to have fought it off regardless of the kisses I showered on him!  The up-side to this story is I was able to retire to my studio for 2 whole days!  I made a wide assortment of things which I can't show now since they're prizes for our aforementioned Sister's Weekend, but I will post pictures as soon as I can do so without ruining the surprise!  I used up lots of my 2 1/2" strips and plenty of charm squares which now gives me a legitimate excuse to buy more :)  Last year we were on a pillowcase kick, so everyone made pillowcases that weekend to remember it by.  This year it's a mystery quilt that I found online, I will naturally take plenty of pics of our creations.  I'll see you next Monday for the low-down on our quilty weekend!