Harvest Button Napkin Rings

Sometimes when I’m in my closet gazing at fabric, I glance over at my yarn stash and feel sorry for the yarns waiting for the projects for which they were intended. This week I decided to get moving with these harvest button napkin rings (free pattern by Jennifer Dickerson). Measuring about 2″ x 6″ and stitched with a “K” (6.5 mm) hook, they come together quickly and utilize half double crochet stitches. Just add a button to finish.

From my stash I chose Vanna’s Choice (Lion Brand) yarn in the harvest colors of rust, beige, mustard, honey, chocolate, and purple.

My crochet muscles are a bit unpracticed, but I really enjoyed the familiar rhythm of crocheting while I watched TV.

For the buttons I Modge-Podged bits of fussy-cut fabric onto plain buttons (the cutting wasn’t too fussy – I think a ragged edge looks cute) and let them dry overnight. I used a tapestry needle and wiggled it around slightly to open up the holes through the hardened fabric. Then I secured the buttons to the rings with a needle threaded with matching yarn.

These are a gift for a friend -I hope they arrive in time for Thanksgiving!

Here is an excellent video on how to make these napkin rings!

Pumpkin Pillow

Back in August, Cynthia gave me good advice for paper piecing after I admired her paper pieced scrappy Basketweave Star and confessed to FPP (Fear of Paper Piecing). She said “Paper piecing is easy. You just need a technique that works for you. I have tried many over the years but I always go back to how I learned long ago and that is the Carol Doak’s method. She really is the master of PP and has a ton of tricks to share. For me, it is the easiest to understand and is very methodical. It is also the method I teach when I teach paper piecing…Give paper piecing a try!”

Fast forward to September 17 when my daughter messaged “There is such a cute pumpkin pillow on the Stitched with Love webpage!” Of course I had to make it for her. Stitched With Love is located in McKinney, TX, near my daughter but 3-1/2 hours from me. I called the shop to place my order since the pattern isn’t listed in their online store.

I was alarmed to find out it is a paper pieced pattern, so Lysssa at Stitched with Love suggested adding an Add-A-Quarter-Plus ruler to my order. Although she might as well have been speaking a foreign language, she explained why it would help me.

While waiting for the pattern to arrive, I took Cynthia’s advice and purchased Carol Doak’s Craftsy class. I love Carol’s personality – she has a dry wit that amuses me and an uncomplicated style of teaching. I haven’t finished the class, but I’ve watched enough to become familiar with the process. I have to admit the concept was so different for me, it took several viewings before the light bulb went on. I’m looking forward to watching the rest of the class to learn more tricks and tips.

In the meantime, life intervened and I was distressed and distracted with a sad situation in our life, and I had no interest in sewing. Last week I finally started the pattern and slowly but steadily worked on it. I really enjoyed it!

Now the pillow is on its way to my daughter’s beautifully fall-decorated house!

Gray Square Scramble Baby Quilt

My daughter co-hosted a baby shower over the weekend for her best friend Karlie. I decided to make and send a baby quilt, so the last couple weeks I spent planning and sewing. Karlie’s colors are rainbow, and she prefers simple to fussy; I found this Gray Square Scramble digital pattern by Corey Yoder that fit the bill. I scaled it down from twin size to about 48″ x 54″.

Here is what my daughter texted during the shower. Check out the darling cowboy hat and boots Karlie’s mother crocheted! (Can you tell we both like exclamation points? )

Moda Marbles and a soft gray dot for the small squares; light gray for the large squares

Patio Lights from Flight Patterns collection by Tamara Kate, one of my favorites, edged with leftover blocks from the front

My husband chose Kona Coal for the binding, and I think he made a great choice!

Quilting was diagonal wavy lines to contrast the straight lines on the large squares

My next project is this cute pumpkin pillow from Stitched With Love in McKinney, TX. My daughter saw it on their website and fell in love with it, so I talked to the store owner and ordered it. My daughter is visiting later this week, so I hope to finish it. This will be my first time paper piecing, so wish me luck!

Adoption/Giveaway Winner!

Thank to all of you who participated in the Fall 2015 Quilty Orphan Adoption.

The winner of my adoption/giveaway is

Kaitlyn (Kat) Drinkwater

Kat blogs at Kat and Cat Quilts. She is an RN at a medical center in Texas and started a quilt charity for families of dying patients called Covered in Love. You can read about it here, and it will touch your heart.

Here is what she wrote on her blog about Covered in Love:

I want to build a stash of quilts for our hospital so that when a person is dying as an inpatient their nurse (perhaps accompanied by a family member) could come choose a quilt. Placing a quilt on the hospital bed would warm up the room and it would later be taken home by the family as a memento and transitional object.

Kat has a monthly block drive for these quilts, and the some of the blocks and stash I offered in my adoption actually match the palette of this month’s block! Kat also likes cats, so that makes me like her even more.

Thanks to Cynthia Brunz at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework who sponsored the linky party for this event, and if you haven’t yet had a chance, go to her blog and see what the other participants have to offer.

Fall 2015 Quilty Orphan Adoption

In 2010 when I started quilting, my daughter and I made a trek to Hobby Lobby where she chose fabrics for a quilt. She gave me free reign with a pattern, but I couldn’t find one that looked simple enough for me, and I was clueless as to how to design one. When I finally made some blocks and arranged them on a design board, I was not satisfied with what I had done and could not find a good block arrangement. The blocks are not square, and I don’t remember how or why I cut them that way (what was I thinking?) In the meantime my daughter’s life changed and along with it her color choices, so I finally tucked it away for a future project. A chance at resurrection came in the form of Cynthia Brunz’s Fall 2015 Quilty Orphan Adoption Event Link Up – yay! I think this is such a great idea and am very happy to adopt out some of my neglected fabrics in the hopes they will find their forever homes.

I realize that Hobby Lobby doesn’t sell the finest quilting fabric, but perhaps someone has a use for my fledgling-quilter odd-sized blocks. If you can’t use the blocks perhaps you have a charity group that could use them. I also have some Moda fat quarters to add to my giveaway. Leave me a comment letting me know how you might use the fabrics/blocks, and I will pick a “parent” (winner) next week. I would prefer to ship only to the US but will consider an international home.

Here is what I am listing in my adoption (giveaway) – all are 100% quilting cotton. Click on the photo for a larger image:

65 four-patch blocks ranging from 7-1/4 to 7-5/8, and not all are square

15 fussy cut blocks approximately 7-3/8 x 7-1/2

78 – rectangle pieced blocks about 3-5/8″ x 7-3/8″ – sew end to end and use for a border?

42 inches striped eggplant, cream, mauve, blue, green (has been laundered)

1 yard plus 6 inches olive green with 1/2 inch brown dots (has been laundered)

1 fat quarter in rainbow stripes, pattern unknown – came as a gift with a fabric order

6 fat quarters – Contempo by Moda

2 fat quarters, pattern unknown

1/2 yard Simply Color eggplant and white

* * * GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED * * *

Be sure and check out the beautiful projects and fabrics offered by other “adoption agencies” on Cynthia’s linky party!

My DIY Guy

Before he retired last year, my husband used to talk about how he was going to “make things with wood”. Now that he has organized his garage and acquired new table saws, he is ready for projects, and I came up with a few ideas to help him fulfill his carpentry dream. Here are some of the things he has made in recent weeks.

He made a holder for my acrylic rulers

He fashioned a large rustic bird-feeder to make feeding easier for the growing population of cardinals, blue jays, robins, and smaller birds that frequent the other two feeders. When we first moved to this house, we rarely saw any birds, in spite of the fact our yard backs up to thick trees and a small creek.

He placed a bird bath close to the feeders and planted a crape myrtle, one of our favorite trees. Next spring I hope to fill this little garden with wildflowers and herbs. I can see all this from my sewing room.

He built this gorgeous shelf above the tub in my bathroom. He based the design on a picture I liked from this blog

BEFORE: I wanted a small island in the kitchen, so he refinished and re-purposed this buffet. The wood on it was nice, but we wanted more of a contrast with the wood of the kitchen cabinets, so he painted it dark espresso and made a new top for it (pictured below).

AFTER: Although the drawers are missing in the “before” shot, he replaced the pulls on the drawers with ceramic knobs.

He got to practice his “round-over” and sanding skills to make this nicely finished top for the island

With the island in place, we reorganized and simplified the kitchen, so it all looks less cluttered, and we are loving it. It’s always fun to have a new look in your home. Now he wants more projects!

Oh Scrap! – Offset Scrappy Log Cabin Blocks

I have an affinity for rainbow quilts, and when I saw a tutorial for a scrappy offset log cabin block on Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework done in rainbow colors, I loved it. I made one block, was hooked, then added three more the following week. Today I added four more colors to the mix.

I haven’t yet decided on my design or whether to add another color, but I would like to end up with a nice-sized lap quilt. Cynthia made 36 blocks in 9 colors and added 6 blocks of background colors for a 54″ by 63″ quilt, shown here. She is a very prolific quilter, and she keeps me inspired!

I am linking to Cynthia’s Oh Scrap! linky party

Farm Girl Friday SAL – Week 17

It’s Farm Girl Friday, and here are two more blocks to add to the collection! This week’s blocks are Pinwheels and Postage Stamp. They were both easy to assemble and sew. Each block is 6 inches.

I’m not big on pinwheels, but I have to admit these are pretty cute.

Postage Stamp is a great stash buster! Individual blocks are 1-1/2 inch squares.

I almost have enough for a small quilt. I love the look of the blocks grouped together.

Be sure and visit Lori’s blog for neat variations of how to use the blocks! Also view other participants’ blocks and variations on Instagram #farmgirlfridays. You can access the schedule by clicking the Farm Girl Vintage icon in the sidebar.

“In other news” I am in the process of quilting the Little Joys quilt. I made a scrappy binding for it, so I’m excited to see how it all comes together. A little late to the party on the Little Joys Quilt-Along, but hey, I’m still ahead of the game on Christmas projects!

And yes, I was still distracted this week. This gorgeous quilt by Kelly at My Quilt Infatuation and this book, Modern Rainbow by Rebecca Bryan are my latest obsessions. Sigh.

Have a fun weekend!

Farm Girl Friday SAL – Weeks 15 and 16

Every couple of days I see a new quilt pattern I’d like to try, and that makes it so easy for me to fall behind on my blocks for Farm Girl Fridays. I was complaining to Bernie of Needle and Foot about how tedious it is to cut the background for these little blocks, and her response was “Keep going with that Farm Girl Vintage. I am loving it and quilting along with you vicariously. It is adorable.” Bernie’s blog is so fun to read, she makes the most gorgeous blocks, and she is even writing a quilt pattern. I love the inspiration and encouragement I get from other bloggers!

Out To Pasture

Pumpkin Patch

Peas and Carrots

Pie Cherries

Here are all the small blocks so far

Farm Girl Vintage is my first experience in sampler quilting. Each time I make a block I am amazed at how all the little pieces of fabric are sewn together to create a “picture”. Lori Holt’s instructions are so well written, and I am more and more impressed with her creative mind. Be sure and check her blog for lots of ideas! Also view other participants’ blocks and variations on Instagram #farmgirlfridays.

Hope all of you have a restful weekend!

Distractions

Lately I find myself distracted from other ongoing projects, and the culprit is inspiration from other blogs! On Stitch Mischief I found this scrappy variation of Camille Roskelley’s Norway pattern and immediately downloaded the pattern to try my own scrappy block. I love everything about Jade’s design and will probably shamelessly copy it, but I also want to make the pattern version of it.

Another distraction is buying forbidden fabrics! I did very well the first part of this year with my moratorium on purchasing fabrics, but I have slipped back into fabric addiction. I justified my purchases though. I needed this Hello Bear fat eighth collection to make a quilt for this little guy – my great-great nephew (yes, great-great!).

Love the quirky characters of Hello Bear – it will be perfect for a two-year old boy. I found it at one of my favorite Etsy shops.

I will need more Moda Marbles to make a quilt for my granddaughter, patterned after the pillow I made for her birthday. I had to search a bit to find the quantity I wanted and found it at this online shop.

This fabric, Wishes by Sweetwater, was on sale, and I need more low volume prints, so into the cart it went!

And this print I simply fell in love with – Flight Patterns by Tamara Kate.

I did catch up yesterday on my Farm Girl Vintage blocks, and today I hope to finish up the Little Joys quilt. I hope all of you are having a happy, undistracted week!

I am linking to Cynthia Brunz’s Oh Scrap!