BOM updates and Easy Street

Well, it seems that I have forgotten to show you my September block for the BOM with Quilt Story. The theme for September was paper piece and I decided to make the Circle of Geese block by Forest Quilting.

I also finished the December block - Star and the January block - Squares and Rectangles. 

Only one month left to go...February's theme is 4 patch and March is the reveal. Looking forward to putting this one together! You can hop over to Quilt Story to see Heather and Megan's blocks and here for the monthly link up. 

Easy Street is coming along but boy are there a lot of pieces. I just made half of the blocks because I didn't want my quilt so big. Without knowing the mystery layout, I figured I may need to add blocks in the end. Sure enough now that we know the layout, I am cutting a few more from each step to complete the layout. Instead of 4 x 4 blocks on point, mine will be 3 x 3. 

Here is what I have so far.

3 more blocks to go and then I need to do the borders. I don't think I have enough of any of the fabrics for the borders seeing that I used fabrics from my stash and scraps (except for the black on white and the gray) so I will probably need to buy something. (To see all my pieces for each step, go here.) This is my first Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt and I am excited to see it all put together! I'm linking up here.

I'm back...

graphic by Madame Samm

Welcome 2013! 

I hope this year will be blessed with peace and love around the world. Have you made any New Year resolutions? One of mine is to go to the gym...got a gym membership for Christmas! Another is to work out of my stash as much as possible...limit fabric purchases. That is always a challenge.

It has been a struggle to find time to post about what's been happening around here for several reasons. Besides it being the holidays, I was having trouble with uploading photos and also needed to update my blog interface as it couldn't be read on mobile devices. Took me a while to figure things out but I think I works now. 

I did do some sewing for gifts. I saw this cute bag on Pinterest. It is called It's a Cinch Bag by Katy @ Sweet Verbena. I made it for my mom.

The main fabric is linen and the lining and handles are a heavy weight cotton, all from my stash! It has a zipper closure and a zippered pocket in the lining.  

It is quite large! Plenty of room for lots of stuff.

I also made 3 new Christmas ornaments. It is my family tradition to make and exchange an ornament each year. 

I saw so many cute ones I couldn't just make one. 

Gingham stars and Homespun Candy Canes were found on Pinterest. 

A Spoonful of Sugar

Eyeballs By Day, Crafts by Night

I found Scrappy Stocking on Threadbias.

Jenny @ Stumbles & Stitches

I also have been trying to keep catch up on the Easy Street Mystery quilt by Bonnie Hunter. 

I never was able to catch up enough to actually link up but I was poking along. I only made half a 'recipe' since I didn't want the finished size so big. I will have to make a few more of each block once I consider the layout. Here are my complete steps.

4 patch

flying geese block

shaded 4 patch and green triangles

 more flying geese and green squares

 house block

double bar and large squares (waiting to be cut into quarter triangles)

Tomorrow I will start putting together the blocks and layout. 

I also have another baby quilt started and I'm waiting to find space/time to sandwich my completed Craftsy BOM flimsy. That's for another day.

Merry Christmas to all!

graphic by Madame Samm

May you all have a very Merry Christmas 

and 

find peace and love in the new year!

"She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." Matt 1:21

Pillow Talk

Thanks for joining me here at my blog for some pillow talk! Yes, today is my day to share my version of the Holiday Lane Pillow. 

 Before I do, however, I must send out thanks to  Madame Samm at Sew We Quilt for the amazing ideas that keep us coming back, Pauline from Quilt n Queen, our hostess for the Holiday Lane Hop who kept us organized, and Jill Findley from Jillily Studios for her fantastic pillow design. 

When I first saw the Holiday Pillow design, I knew that I wanted to take part in this hop. Since I have been trying to limit my fabric purchases and create out of my stash, I had a bit of a challenge searching through my stash for just the right fabrics. 

I found some scraps left over from a Christmas quilt I made several years ago. I added some additional fabrics in similar muted tones. I found a cream colored  Christmas fabric that looked like snow swirling to use as the background fabric and added some creamy white wool for the snow. Once the hard part was finished...the creating began!

I added some additional embellishments...beading on one of the trees, some Christmas lights on some roofs and window, embroidered and beaded a wreath, more windows and a little button doorknob. 

This pillow is much larger than I originally though but I really like it. Here it is with the coordinating quilt. 

I hope you enjoyed your time here! Please join me in visiting the others on the Holiday Lane Hop today!

Tuesday November 27

Cindy's Crafty Creations

Woolie Mammoth

Lily Patch Quilts

Insanity Defense

Ginger Snaps Quilts

quiltingbydawn

Scrapbook-Chickadoodle

Mama Spark's World

Marla's Crafts

Annie Oak Designs

Count it *all* Joy

Stitching by the Lake

A Stitch in Time

A little bit of knitting

I have been doing a bit of knitting lately. I came across this very cute and easy to do knitting pattern for a little sweater for a newborn baby. I knitted one in pink and one in blue. I really don't have anyone in particular in mind to gift them to even though I do know quite a few babies arriving soon. 

They were just fun to knit and very cute and soft!

Edit: Here is the pattern.

I also knitted this hat and scarf set for a 5 year old boy. One of the schools I teach at adopts some families for Christmas and this was one of the items on the wish list. 

I also knitted this bandana cowl pattern. It will keep me warm in the winter!

I have continued crocheting around fleece to make blankets and finished one more baby blanket, one lap size and a good size throw. You can see one here. One will be gifted, one donated and the other may stay here for the winter.

Come back tomorrow for my turn on Holiday Lane!Edit:http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/puerperium-cardigan

Catching up and FNSI

Work has been very busy most of the fall so I haven't spent as much time as I usually do in my sewing room. 

So I took a little time off of Blog Hops to do some catching up. 

I had fallen behind in both the Craftsy BOM and the BOM with Quilt Story. 

For the FNSI, I made these 2 blocks that I will use in place of the April Craftsy BOM blocks. 

Disappearing 4-patch

Disappearing 9-patch

The April blocks were supposed to be English Paper Piecing. Since I am already have a long term paper piecing project in process, I decided not to do those blocks and replaced the blocks in the quilt with these. They are the last of the blocks I needed to make!

After sewing the blocks, I started knitting this scarf.

This will be a scarf, hat, and mitten set that will be donated for a 5 year old boy. One of the schools that I work at adopts families for Christmas and this was one of the needs. The pattern is very easy and goes fairly quickly. 

 Between Hops, I managed to complete these Craftsy BOM blocks.

October blocks were paper piecing.

September blocks were curved piecing.

I am now working on sashing and the borders!

I also worked on the BOM with Quilt Story blocks. 

October was Pinwheel. 

November is Log Cabin. 

Each month has a theme but you could choose any block that fits the theme. My blocks are also half the size...measuring 6". I do have a plan...hope it turns out like I envision in my head. 

I have the week off for Thanksgiving Holiday! I hope to get a few more things done as well as joining in the fun of the Holiday Lane Pillow Blog Hop! It starts on Wednesday! Check here for the schedule.

Something new, something old and...

Let's start with something old! Remember this? 

I wasn't sure how to quilt it since there was large negative spaces. So I set it aside while I worked on projects for the Leafs Me Happy and Wicked Blog Hops. But it was time to get moving on it since the baby shower for my nephew's baby is this coming weekend!

 I decided on a template pattern that fit nicely in the pieced blocks as well as filled the negative space. I also choose a border pattern that coordinated. 

I FMQ in yellow thread to bring out the yellow in the blocks and gingham border. I'm very pleased with how this quilt turned out...simple and sweet...Cute as a Button!

Click on the picture of a closer look at the quilting.

I made the binding from a pink polka dotted fabric from my stash.

Something new that I have been working on is a cute fleece baby blanket with crochet edges. I thought this was a nice change from the fleece blankets with the tied fringe that have been popular for sometime. 

I first saw this on Pinterest. After doing a bit of research, I order a skip stitch blade from the Skip Stitch store. Once I received it in the mail, I followed the easy video instructions and made this cute baby fleece blanket. 

I love how this finishes...it is so soft and cuddly. This will be a present for another nephew and his wife, expecting their 2nd child. See the cute Just Ducky label I added. On the back side I embroidered my name and the year.

I'm crocheting another one in yellow. It was so fun and easy to do.

And finally, I have been working on some quilt blocks for those affected by Hurricane Sandy. Erin at My Patchwork Life is asking for help by making 12" disappearing 4 patch blocks. These are easy to make and she has a great tutorial on her blog. She is asking for blocks made from a multi-color FLORAL and a coordinating fabric that provides good contrast to the floral and reads as a solid. I just searched through my stash and came up with these. 

Seven blocks made in no time at all! If you are interested in helping, stop by Erin's blog.