Snow Day!

I live were the weather is too warm for it to snow( I wish it would rain), but I did grow up in a place that does get snow. This cute bundle of joy reminds me of my youth and sledding until I was so cold that my toes were frozen.

This kit can be found at The Quilt Vine: http://quiltvine.blogspot.com/2013/12/snow-day.html. I'm planning to incorporate the paper piecing star blocks into the quilt that I make with this cutie since they look more like ice crystals or snowflakes. But first, I must finish the project that I'm presently working on.

Jean Quilt with a Mondrian Theme

I finished the jean quilt with two shades of brown strips and black binding.

I love the batik fabric that I used on the back.

Shades of Blue

I'm making another blue "Mondrian" quilt. This time, I'm quilting it differently from my last one that I made: http://color-my-world-with-warmth.blogspot.com/2013/08/mondrian-quilt-in-shades-of-blue.html

Since jean material is very thick, durable, and heavy, I'm not using batting for this quilt. The last jean quilt was heavy enough without the batting.

The quilting technique for marking is shown below. Tape is first placed next to the brown strip, stitching is ran next to the tape, and then the tape is moved next to the stitch line.

After running a straight stitch next to the tape, I move the tape again over to the new stitch line and then stitch next to the tape. This is repeated until the block is filled.

After the sections are all quilted, I then attach the sections together by using the quilt as you go technique.  First, I attach the brown strips to the top side. Then on the back side, I attach by machine a strip side to one of the sections that are being join together. The other side of that strip is then hand stitched into place on the adjoining section so that no stitching will be seen on the top side of the quilt.

Hush My Darling

In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight...

Sometimes when I'm quilting, lyrics to songs pop into my head. While quilting yesterday, I thought of my niece and her new king, a beautiful baby boy. The next thing I knew I was singing The Lion Sleeps Tonight from The Lion King over and over again.

My back fabric is a jungle scene. To tack down the binding, I used the arrows decorative stitch. These jungle creatures look friendly and kind, but they need to be kept corralled so that the new king always has pleasant dreams.

This was a fun quilt. Most of the blues came from the stash of fabrics that my mother had sent me. So, I can say that Great Grandma had a bit in making of this quilt. Piecing was done on my Eldredge Two Spools, Quilting on Davis NVF, and decorative stitching on the Singer 224.

Inventive

I wasn't clever enough to come up with this technique of tape marking quilt lines, but I'm sure glad that Jacquie at Tallgrass Prairie Studio shared her information on this technique:http://tallgrassprairiestudio.blogspot.com/2009/11/straight-line-quiltinghints-and-tips.html

Since I don't like marking my quilts because there is always at least one chalk or pencil marking that will not come out, I'm happy to discover this method. After quilting next to the tape, I then ran a line down the quilted line and then placed the tape next to that new line.

This process didn't take very long. I used the same tape until it was no longer sticky and then replaced it with another. In total, I used three pieces of tape for this 40 x 53 inch quilt.

Persistence

I enjoyed knitting two socks at a time. To my surprise, it took less than a week to make this pair. I'm not the fastest knitter, and I don't care to be, but that was fast for me. Luckily, I was able to complete the project in time for my daughter to take them back with her to college so that I didn't have to mail them.

This pair is a Christmas gift for her boyfriend. I hope it keeps his feet warm since the weather there is freezing.

 

New Endeavors

On New Year's Eve, I started working on my first knit 2-at-a-time socks project. I finally got brave to tackle knitting two socks at the same time. Since I prefer knitting from the toe up and the book that I own, 2-at-a-time Socks, only demonstrates from cuff down, I had to watch a youtube tutorial on how to get started. Once I figured out that technique, my worries faded. Knitting two socks simultaneously is not difficult at all and very rewarding to see two socks materialize at the same time.

And on New Year's Day, I started piecing the baby quilt that will be for my niece's baby boy that is due very soon. The piecing for this quilt is with my Two Spools.

Duck Cloth and Wool

I finished the socks that I was knitting for my husband in time for him to wear the socks on New Years Eve. Since shoes are not worn in the house, the family wears socks. At night, my husband always switches out of his socks that he wears during the day and puts on the socks that I have knitted for him. I call those knitted socks his lounging socks. These socks made of wool should keep his feet very warm this winter.

The other gift that I made for my husband this Christmas was this magazine holder that fits on a towel bar. Magazines were always congregating on the bathroom floor, but no longer. Since I could not find a pattern to use, I design the magazine holder myself. The material used was duck cloth, and all the sewing was done with my Davis NVF.