January Quilter's Dozen

I finished the January wallhanging for the Quilter's Dozen that I am doing. This one is my least favorite so far, I think because I tried a different kind of quilting, echo, and I think it takes away from the applique. But I have to at least TRY new things. So it will have it's turn hanging for a month.

Just running errands today. I probably should take a nap so I can stay up til after midnight, lol. Tomorrow I'm doing the Planet patchwork NY mystery. I have all my stuff ready to go. I think it will be fun!

Later,

Tea Towels Revisited

Last year I made an appliqued tea towel every month to hang on my oven door.( You can see most of them here .) Finished them up, so now, along with some of the ABC Quilters, I am starting another years' worth of them!! Now I will be able to change them every 2 weeks instead of monthly. These are so addicting, and are pretty much instant gratification. And needless to say, FUN. This one is for February.

I am putting the binding on an octagonal quilt that I will post as soon as it's finished and hung.

Whew!!! I'm kinda glad Christmas is over, it always wears me out, lol. I'm looking forward to a new year, with a new president, and alot of projects to do. Should be a good one.

Later,

My First Venture into the REAL Knitting World

I learned to knit when I was in Brownies (2nd grade) and never forgot how. But I had only ever made scarves and afgans with a straight knit and purl, never anything different. Well, I saw this scarf at the Morehouse Farm site and just had to purchase it, along with some of their really nice yarn. I didn't want to mess up the nice yarn, so I made a practice scarf using some old camo yarn I had laying around. It came out nice and actually looks like an alligator. I used much bigger needles than called for so it stretches too much when worn, but my hubby, Dave, loves it anyway. I have started on the "good" one and it will be much nicer.

I'm having fun with knitting, and maybe when the next scarf it done, I will try something else. It gives me something to do with my hands (other than eat!) while I'm watching TV and don't have any hand quilting work to do.

Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas.

Til next time.

Almost forgot! Only 164 working days til I retire!

December stuff

I have been doing the monthly wallhangings from a book called Quilter's Dozen. Finally I have finished the December piece. It had alot of small applique pieces so it took longer. But as always, these patterns work up so nicely.

Not alot of time today, CPR recert this morning then company for dinner. Don't ya just love all the "busy-ness" at holiday time??

Til next time.

166 working days til I retire

Pillowcase Tutorial

My daughter asked me to make her some Green Bay Packers pillow cases for her hubbys' Christmas present. When I looked for the pattern and method I like, I found that I had made a tutorial on how to make these. They have a nice cuff with no exposed seams inside until after the body is attached. So, without further ado, here is my first tutorial.

These are so nice, and if you use good quilt shop fabric, they are luxurious feeling.

Hope the instructions are clear.

Until next time,

My Newly Found Clover Mini Iron and a Sweet Swap Wallhanging

I don't know if many of you have a Clover mini iron, but I just HAD to have one years ago when they first came out. I remember having to wait to get mine because they had so many orders, lol. Anyway, I had never used it in all these years. Last night, as I was working on small applique pieces for my December Quilter's Dozen, I remembered I had it. So I got it out, let it warm up for a LONG time (my biggest complaint had always been that it didn't get hot enough) , and lo and behold, it works great! What I like best is that unlike the regular iron, it doesn't make such a large area of "hotness" while I am pressing around the pieces. Maybe I will actually get my money's worth out of it!!

Of course the tiny iron rest that comes with it doesn't work well. Someone told me about a holder and after I looked at the picture I had Dave make me one. He did it in about 20 minutes. And he's not even handy, lol. Here's a picture. It works great. So now I am all set to applique up a storm.

I was in a swap with my ABC Quilters group. We were to make a 12-14" block and make it into a wallhanging. I got real lucky with having Naomi have my name. She made the cutest Christmas tree. I love it. Of course, here's a picture.

Now I must go and watch the Panthers beat (hopefully) Tampa Bay.

Til next time,

Only 168 more working days til I retire.

Oh Christmas Tree

We put up our main Christmas tree yesterday It is beautiful with all the glass ornaments that we have collected throughout the years. I have always kept all my ornaments from quilt group ornament swaps separate though. Until this year I have always hung them on a small tree in my sewing room. Suddenly I have too many, and had to find a different way to display them. A few years ago I saw a picture of this somewhere on the internet and decided that this would be the way to show off all my pretties. So take a look at my tree. It is on the wall right beside my chair in my sewing room so I can look at it all the time.

Cool eh? I absolutely love it. Next year I will add one more branch.

Hope you all have fun this holiday season.

Til next time.

A Winter Trio

I just made a sweet little trio of wallhangings from a pattern by Patchabilities. They are small, about 6" x 22" and so quick to make. The hanger is from Ackfield Manufacturing . They have lots and lots of wire hangers for quilts and the prices are good. Anyway, here's a picture of the finished project.

I had to crop the picture because there were cobwebs on the wall that I didn't notice until I took the picture, lol. I will be cleaning those off today!!!

Now, on to the next project. What to do, what to do.

Bowed Psaltery

Betcha you don't know what a Bowed Psaltery is!! I didn't either until I started looking for a musical instrument I thought I could learn at my age (late 50's). I had played French Horn all through my schooling years but never played after I graduated. So, I looked at Dulcimers and violins and decided they were too hard to self teach. The psaltery was recommeded, so I checked them out, and bought one from a fellow in Tennessee, Rick Long, who makes them and demonstrates them at the Folk Art Center in Asheville, NC. I have fallen in love with this instrument. It has a special place in my sewing room, lol!! Here's a picture of my baby.

A friend of mine from work, John, plays the electronic keyboard. He is good!!! I showed him my instrument and he thought we should record some stuff together. He plays the accompaniment and records it, sends it to me, then I record my part along with his. It is fun!! If you would like to hear the 4 songs we have done, here are the links. We did Good King Wenceslas, Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth, Going Home, and Morning Has Broken, so far. Be prepared, the psaltery is a Appalachain-y sounding thing, not what you'd expect. And remember, I've only been playing this since June!!

morning.mp3
Drummer Boy.mp3
gkwfinal.mp3
going home finally.mp3

It takes me forever to learn the songs as I have to memorize them. You can play the psaltery and look at the music because there is just about a half an inch where your bow touches for each note. I'll bet I did drummer boy 40 times before I got through without a mistake.

I hope you enjoy the music. Just a little break from the Quilting Word.

Until next time.

Only 170 more working days til i retire!