Second Finish of the Week

 Well, I got around to taking a photo of my second finish for this week!  It is a table centerpiece using Nancy Halvorsen's Bittersweet fabric!!!  The colors are quite sumptuous indeed.  I used the Little Twister tool to make the pinwheels.  It is a really fun tool to use and the effect is great!!!

I have a Christmas tree quilt pattern all mapped out to use the Little Twister tool again.  It comes in a variety of sizes!!  You can use a charm pack, or a layer cake and then there is a teensy one too which makes a really fun wall hanging or mug rug!!!
Thanks for stopping by!!

The Scarf is Done!!!

 I can't believe it but I have two finishes in one week!!!  That makes me feel a little better about my huge pile of UFO's!!!!  Now to keep up the trend.

Don't you just love this super cute ruffle scarf?  So easy to make - cast on 8 stitches and knit garter stitch!  The yarn does the work for you and it makes up in no time!!!
I will post my other finish when a get to taking a photo of it.  Might be later today.  I hope you are having a fabulous Friday!

A Little Something from Nothing!!!

 I am currently working on a Road to Tennessee quilt!  The pattern can be found on Moda Bake Shop!  You need charm squares and smaller square to sew to two apposite corners of the charm square.

 Draw a diagonal line from corner to corner across the small square!

 Place them on the charm square, pin and sew following your drawn diagonal line.

 Here comes the fun part.  This blog is not about the Road to Tennessee quilt but about the leftovers.  When you trim your triangle points off, what do you do with them?  They probably get swept into the trash can!  Your scraps cost as much as your yardage!!!  So what to do with them?

 I took them over to my machine and stitched the long sides string piece fashion!

 Once done, separate them and iron the square open with the seam towards the printed fabric.  Clip the little ears off.   They will be your only scraps from this projects and since they are so small I don't mind throwing them out.

 Next, you take the little squares and stitch them together into rows.  Iron them so that when you are sewing your rows together, the seams will interlock.

 Next, pin every interlocking seam after making sure that they match up evenly and stitch your row together.

 See!! Now isn't that cute!!  When I am finished with this project, it will be a doll quilt.  I plan to put borders around it.  I feel good about not having to throw out fabric!!!

If you are interested, the fabric I am using is "It's a Hoot" for the charm squares, and a Moda Solid in a pale yellow (Butter)!!
Have a great day and thank you for stopping by!

Some Yummy Yarn and Fabric

 Hello!  I have a couple of things to share!!!  Firstly, I bought some fancy yarn to knit a scarf with.  There are signs of fall in Texas.  Our highs are dipping into the upper 70's for a change!!!  Can you believe I am thinking of scarves.  This is the knitting and crochet season for me.  So, isn't this red yarn just too yummy?  Every row is a knit row (6 stitches only) and look how sublime the scarf is.  It looks so much more complicated than it really is!!!

Secondly, I bought some fabric from work today.  Have I mentioned that I don't bring much money home!!!  This fabric is Sunrise Silhouette by Jo Moulton.  I absolutely love Roosters.  I see a table runner and some place mats and mug rugs in my future.  The colors are so rich!!!  Just beautiful.
I hope you are all well and your projects are progressing fabulously.  Thanks for stopping by!  Talk to you soon.

A Fall Finish

 Hello!  I have not blogged in so long!!!  Life has been busy.  Fall semester always seems to be a whirlwind of activities!  Work has been busy too.  I have managed to sew a few fun things though.  I really enjoy making small seasonal quilts for fall and halloween.  This little quilt really appealed to me because of the vintage postcards.  They are so charming!! It was fun to make and is really bright and cheerful!!  I just love it.

English Paper Piecing is taking the world by storm at the moment.  If you have not tried it I recommend you find out what makes it so appealing and addictive to "sew" many people.  It is portable, a good stash buster, and just plain good old fun to make.  What you will need to make this block is 1" 6-point Diamonds, 1" Half Hexagons and then 2" 6-point Diamonds for the connector pieces.  I am making this out of solids.  Different colors in different shades.  The connector pieces will be in black!!!  Stay tuned for progress with this project.
I actually completed a quilt top, pieced the back and basted the quilt this week for my son.  It has been a WIP for many months now.  I really need to complete a few things!!!  I am the queen of starting projects.
Definitely not the queen of finishing things!!
I hope you all have a great weekend and thank you for stopping by!

Something to make one's piecing life easier!!

 Hello People!!!  I feels so behind the times, because I am only now getting myself prepared to start some Farmers Wife quilt blocks.  Many of you have been making them for ages.  I want to show you what some of the ladies from our quilt store have done.  I have shamelessly copied their great idea and made some design boards to facilitate the block construction.

 What you will need is a foam core board, cotton batting or flannel, some scrapbook paper, and lastly some duct tape.  Cut the foam core board into 10 by 10 inch squares.  Place some scrapbook paper on the back of the board and your cotton batting or flannel on the front of the board.  Adhere all the layers together with duct tape.  Mine is cute Zebra stripes!!!  It comes in many colors etc.  What you have now is a beautiful board that you can place your cut block pieces onto without them sliding around.  You can get six boards from one foam core board.  You can cut out six blocks and have them stacked one on top of the other to take to your sewing machine, and the order of the pieces will not become jumbled and chaotic.

See!!!  Works like a charm!  Till next time stay well and happy!!!

Putting Myself Out There!!!

 Hello folks!  I am going to be teaching some classes at work.  An embroidery class seemed like a good idea to add to our list of fun classes.  There seems to be a real resurgence in stitcheries!!  Perhaps some people feel intimidated by embroidery and feel they don't know too many stitches!  This is what this class is designed to address.  We felt, french knots, lazy daisies, chain stitch, stem stitch and  boullion knots were a good repertoire to learn.  Then most stitcheries would be well within the scope of my students.

Here's the thing!!!  I had to come up with a pattern that would cover all those stitches.  Well, I sweated over that and finally got something down on paper.  Then the embroidery began.  When I finished it I was not really sure how much I liked it.  A few days passed and I decided to just take the plunge and finish the project.  I added a few more flowers and french knots.  Then I trimmed the embroidery down and finally stitched it into a pillow cover.  Tomorrow I take my sample into the shop!!!  I hope it will be acceptable and that it will be met with enthusiasm and not "What on earth is that".  I am nervous, but I am hoping for a positive reaction.  Will let you all know how that went!!!