Adding my flavor to a traditional quilt

I was hoping to have my One Block Wonder quilted by this post.

Almost done with the center so it shouldn't be too much longer.  It's garden harvest time at our house right now which takes away from quilting.  Today is tomato sauce and salsa day!  

Yesterday was apple pie, vegetable soup and bread bowl's.  I have never made a bread bowl before.  It was very fun.  If you click on this a new window will open with the recipe I used from chef in training.  I started following on Facebook and this recipe popped up one day.  

The next quilt to go on my longarm is a sampler quilt.  This one is also from the learning fiber arts group.  Quite a few members contributed to this, they would each tell how to make their favorite blocks.  Mine is very scrappy because I did it over a number of years with whatever fabric I had at the time.  I pulled it out a few nights ago because I knew I didn't quite have enough for a quilt yet.  I found I was only missing two.

I finished up those two blocks and had it strewn all over the floor when my son came home from work. I was trying to figure out how to tie it all together with the sashing.  Just could not figure out what color to use.  He looked at it and said, "Does it have to be one color?"  Light bulb moment for me!  Here is the result.  

Now for the corner blocks.  Julie suggested half square triangles for where the colors meet.  I think that will be perfect.  Any thoughts for the border?

Have a creative day

Janet

Old and new! Or old is new?

I'll start with something old.  Another UFO is complete.  This one is from 2008!  It started with a desire to learn how to make curves.  This is one of the techniques I tried.  I had two squares of fabric, layer them on top of each other and cut the curves.  I alternated the fabrics so I ended up with two curved pieces.

Around this same time I purchased a book by Susan Cleveland called Piping Hot Curves.  I thought my two curved pieces would work perfectly for this next step in my learning new skills.  I cut circles from one fabric and pieced them into the other adding piping around the edge of each circle.

A group online decided to have a round robin.  For this challenge we sent a center block and the next people added borders. Some very talented people added to mine.  Michelle Craig, Reneta Datzova and Julie Broderson, all from Learning Fiber Arts (a yahoo group), added borders to my block.

I'm glad I waited until now to try to quilt this piece because I knew less about quilting at that time than I did about curves and piping.  I really like the finished wall hanging.  Very cheerful.  Thank you Julie, Michelle and Reneta.

Now on to the "old is new".  I noticed my selvage basket was overflowing.

I have been saving selvedges ever since I discovered Selvage Blog.  I love the idea of taking something I would have thrown away and making something fun, functional and beautiful from it.

In the same online group(Learning Fiber Arts), Miriam had shown us how to make a bag using selvage fabric.  I took her techniques and used them with a pattern from Craftsy called Phoebe bag by Beki Lambert.

I had fun making this partly because I have been working on restoring my mom's old sewing machine. I managed to sew part of my bag on this machine.  The Singer still needs more work.  She started complaining part way through making the bag so I switched to my newer machine.  It was a blast from the past as this is the machine I used when first learning how to sew.

I like this bag.  It has an inside pocket and a magnetic snap closure!  Ooh, and the pattern is free!  Thank you Beki Lambert for wonderful instructions!  And thank you Miriam for teaching me how to use my selvage edges.  Lot's of fun.

On a side note. I had always thought it was spelled selvedge, not selvage.  For consistency in this post I spelled it selvage, but it really can be either way.  Fun fact.

Have a Creative Day!

Janet

Re-Start

I've been missing in action for some time now.  I fell and hurt my shoulder, upper arm last winter because I was trying to get a great picture of the ice sculptures.  I was unable to do much without pain for quite awhile.  It took a lot longer than I expected before I could really quilt again.  Getting older is not for the faint of heart.  Thought you might like to see one of the photos I did manage to take before I fell.  Ice sculptures sound good on a hot summer day.  I think the sculptures are amazing.

                                      

I did finally finish the quilt I started before I fell.  This began as a small mystery quilt and ended as a queen size snuggler.  I am really happy with how it turned out.  Learning more with each project.  Here is the finished quilt.

                                

I have two more finished projects for the next post and here is what is on my longarm today.

    

Have a Creative Day

Janet

Preparing for the deep freeze!

I don't know about you but when I heard the wind chill was supposed to drop down to -50 to -60 degrees Fahrenheit this coming Monday, I prepared.  First thought was meal planning and grocery shopping so I wouldn't need to go out.  Second was other necessities.  Third was to make sure I had things to do.  

The third is actually ridiculous because I always have plenty of craft materials to keep busy long past my days on this planet.  But, that's where my mind goes and I usually follow along.  Last week I saw a YouTube video from Michael's about making a scarf using your arms for the knitting needles.  (Yes, I said your arms). What better way to prepare for sub zero temperatures than to make a nice warm scarf and the idea behind it fascinated me.  I am not really a knitter, I know how to knit and purl and can actually do a cable stitch if I have to but I am not a knitter.  Somehow this idea called to me.

I stopped at Michael's and bought enough yarn for two scarves. Now the temperature doesn't really get cold until tomorrow afternoon but before breakfast today, I already had one of the scarves finished! It is so fast and easy.  Now granted if you have small children or pets that need to go outside, you may need to make sure you have someone else around to help.  You won't be tied up (literally) for too long.  

I used two skeins of yarn for mine.  I can wind it any number of ways and it is very warm.  The demo video scarf is shorter.  Here it is wrapped around my neck twice and draped over my head.  

Look for Arm Knitting for Beginners by Michael's Stores on YouTube. My computer is broken and I am doing this on my iPad. I haven't figured out how to make a direct link.  I told my son these may be my new calling.  On Christmas Eve I went to the store for a couple of last minute items.  I struck up a conversation with the young man who was gathering up all the carts in the parking lot.  Not a long discussion but long enough to see he was extremely cold.  The wind chill was dipped below zero that day as well.  Wouldn't a scarf like this make a nice surprise for one of those workers?  Or they could be given to the homeless shelter, possibly the food bank, or a women's shelter.  Hmmm, I should have bought a lot more yarn!

Have a creative Day

Janet

Quilting and Shopping

What could be better than quilting and shopping?  Shopping with my daughter and husband at the Restore!  My daughter was looking for an old window frame to repurpose, so we drove to the Restore in St Croix Falls.  They had so many things to look at in the store.  Including this beautiful old sewing machine.  I didn't buy it, which is probably a good thing because it needed a lot of work.  It was gorgeous though. (someone else bought it while I was there, just in case you were thinking about running over to buy it)

I did buy a bag of crocheted items.  I think they are pretty amazing.  They need a little work to fix them up but they aren't in bad shape.

I bought a pair of candle holders too.  Forgot to take a photo of those.  We stopped to look at the falls after and the river sprite.  It is a very pretty town.

There was an artisan show going on across the street from the falls.  One of the artist's selling work was Julie Crabtree from Bratach Sith Fiber Studio.  I really loved her work and discovered she has taught at the Textile Center in Minneapolis in the past.  I will have to watch for her next teaching opportunity.  I also liked the work by Three Sisters Studio.  Check out either or both links to see their work.

In the mean time I have been enjoying family time, Thanksgiving and a birthday.  I made a photo album for my daughter and I have managed to squeeze in a little quilting here and there.  Hopefully, I can finish up this quilt soon and start on the next.  I've discovered the actual quilting shows up better in the photo if I change it to black and white.

And of course I have been watching the neighborhood wildlife.  We are so excited, our white squirrel made it through the summer.  With snow on the way, it should be easier for him to stay hidden now.

Have a Creative Day
Janet