Heading to Retreat...

I'm off for a week-long quilting retreat. I'll have my laptop with me, and I hope to post some progress pictures as I work on things.

As I always do, I'm packing way too much to work on. But I never know just how productive I'll be, nor what I'll feel like working on. I'm taking a number of UFOs with me, but also a few new things to work on, in case I need that "spark" of starting something new.

At the moment I don't have any quilty pictures to share, but here's a picture of Max, sleeping on the arm of my recliner the other evening. Well, on a blanket that was tossed on the arm of the recliner. Pay no attention to the clutter on the end table beyond the kitty ;-) Max is my shy boy -- if anyone besides DH and I is in the house, he makes himself scarce. So this is likely as close as anyone will ever come to meeting him.



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More Beading....

Since I got my beading stuff out some time back to fix a couple pairs of earrings that had come off their fishhook wires, I've been wanting to do some more beading. I did a bit the other day, when I made those watches, but I was still wanting to play in the beads some more. The night before last, I was up much later than I should be, and started going through some beads looking for something. I can't recall now what I was looking for, but I never did find it. I did, however, make some new stuff.

First, here's a pair of earrings from these fun, sort of stained-glass tropical fish charms:

More fish, but these are enamel on sterling:

Hugs and kisses for my ears:


A variation on the theme, hearts but no hugs or kisses ;-)


And finally, this pair, which needed nothing but these amazing glass beads. I just love these:




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Just For Fun Sewing

This is a pattern/kit I've had for a few years now. I know I got it from a Brother sewing machine dealer at a show I was at -- probably the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo, and probably in Cleveland, Ohio, but I'm not positive as to the location, and have no idea about the year. I'm thinking it may have been as long ago as 2005, since the copyright on the pattern (from Quiltmaker magazine) is 2004. Anyhow, they were giving out these kits, which contained the pattern, fabric, Insul-Bright and Warm & Natural batting, and even a small spool of thread, at this machine dealer's booth. I thought that was really generous, and I've always intended to make it up, but hadn't gotten there. So I finally did it. They intended you to back and bind with the blue background fabric, too, but I figured if I put plain muslin on the back (and bound one with something else), I could make two potholders! One for me, and maybe one for a giftie. I still need to add rings or binding loops to them for hanging.



Then, I've been playing around with some small pieces of some hand-dyed fabrics that I was given way back some time in the mid to late 1990s. I never knew what to do with them, and then recently saw a tutorial on someone's blog (and I'm so sorry that I can't remember whose) for mug mats. She made hers somewhat large, they were 9 or 10 inches square, which was a bit big for me, so I decreased the sizes of the pieces and included fewer squares. I just wanted it as more of a coaster, not a snack mat. Anyhow, I started playing around, and this is what I've ended up with. A fun little thing to play with, when I wanted to sew but didn't want to think too much. These are for our house, but I've also made and already gifted several others.


And as a variation on the theme, I made this slightly larger one, which is about 9" square. Larger than the (about 6" square) mug mats, but smaller than a placemat. I'm planning to use this one when I have a bowl of soup or a small plate with a sandwich or salad that I'm eating at the computer. I just love the teal fabric in the background of this one.


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Quilter's Accountability Report

One QA report gets posted on a Thursday instead of a Wednesday, and my brain gets reset! I was thinking this was due tomorrow, until I got the e-mail with Bari's post in it. I haven't posted a report for several weeks, because I was with my parents while my mother had surgery and recovered a bit. But I did have some sewing with me, and I DID get a few things accomplished.

Let's see how I did. Here's the list I posted, along with the status of each project:

1. Piece Max & Miss Kitty top. I forgot to take this one with me ;-(

2. Piece Diadem top. Done


3. Finish piecing Improvisational quilt. Done -- not only pieced, but totally done -- quilted and bound.
4. Quilt and bind Strippy Mini. Done.

5. Quilt and bind Mini Bow Ties. Done.
6. Quilt and bind Colorwash TATW wallhanging, and add a sleeve. Leave with mom for Mother's Day. Done, but I didn't leave it there. I realized that they have nowhere to hang it, since my dad paints. He's got lots of paintings they have no room for, so they don't need wall quilts.


7. Finish mom's jacket, and leave it with her. Never got to it at all, but I'm taking it on retreat with me. I leave on Sunday for a week.

I'm delighted with what I got done, given that I was also going back and forth to the hospital, keeping out-of-town family in the loop, and (a few nights) cooking dinner for my father. I got some knitting done, too. It was a productive time for me.

Next week I'll be on retreat from Sunday evening through the following Sunday afternoon. I still want to quilt one or two large quilts, and take them with me to bind. I also plan to take a few smaller things that I can quilt on the regular machine, to finish up while I'm there. Here's my list for next week:

1. Quilt and bind Oak Leaves & Reel

2. Quilt and bind Sugar and Spice

3. Quilt and bind Thimbleberries Goose in the Pond

4. work on mom's jacket

That's enough for the first part of the week -- the next list will have some of the smaller things on it. Check out Bari's blog, to see how others did on their lists.

Thanks for stopping by to play. Come back again any time.

Finished socks

Sunday afternoon, I finished this pair of socks. DH wore them to work on Sunday night. He says they fit great, and he's really happy to have them.


The yarn is Sockaholic from Knitters Brewing Company, and the colorway is called "Dirty Martini." It's a nice colorway, and I like the sort of spiral-y, stripey effect I got.

I've recently cast on about four more pairs of socks, so I have lots of mindless knitting available for waiting room time, and all those other sitting-around times. That's so much more portable than quilting, since I do all my quilting stuff by machine.

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More Beading

Today I made these three beaded watches.






They were kits that I got as a set from somewhere, quite some time ago. I think they may have come from the Mary Maxim catalog, but don't quote me on that. Anyway, I wanted to do something crafty this afternoon, and I didn't have a lot of time. In about 2 hours, I made these three from start-to-finish. Although now that they're done, I'm thinking I may want to redo them on elastic cord, instead of having them on wire with a toggle clasp. But that can wait for another time. For now, they're done and usable. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out, and it was a fun way to spend part of an afternoon.

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Quilter's Accountability Report, a Day Late...

Well, Bari was going to be a day late this week with her QA report, so I figured that gave me an extra day to tackle my VERY long list. Let's see how I did this week.

1. Finish charity top from blocks made by mystery guild member (from previous QA post and above). Done.

2. Add borders to As Time Goes By quilt, make backing and binding (from previous QA post and above). Inner border added, I just decided between two possible fabrics for the outer border this morning.

3. Make top for this month's UFO for the Judy L UFO Challenge project. I'm 0 for 3 so far, so I'd really like to get the April UFO done. I realized, too late, that I can't do this one at the moment -- it's at the house in Ohio, and I'm not.

4. Finish the Winterscape top (January's UFO Challenge project), make backing and binding. Nope, didn't touch it.

5. Make the backing and binding for the TB Goose in the Pond (February's UFO Challenge project). Done -- well, the binding was already made, but I did get the backing made for it. No picture, it's just a quilt back. Pictures when the quilt's finished ;-)

6. Finish the Bargello top (March's UFO Challenge project). Nope, didn't touch it.

7. Quilt the Oak Leaf and Reel quilt that I have loaded on the machine. (See the picture, admittedly not a very good one, on last week's Monday's Design Wall post.) Nope, didn't get to it -- where did the time go this week?

8. Quilt and bind the Quilts for Kids quilt (which can also be seen on last week's Monday's Design Wall post). This should really be #1 on my list, and I think it's the thing I'll tackle first. Done and in the mail.




For next week, I'm going to be on the road quite a bit. My mother's having surgery on Tuesday (April 19), so I'll be going to be with my parents for a while. I don't know if I'll be able to post for the next couple weeks, but I'll set some goals for while I'm gone, all the same.

1. Piece Max & Miss Kitty top.

2. Piece Diadem top.

3. Finish piecing Improvisational quilt.

4. Quilt and bind Strippy Mini.

5. Quilt and bind Mini Bow Ties.

6. Quilt and bind Colorwash TATW wallhanging, and add a sleeve. Leave with mom for Mother's Day.

7. Finish mom's jacket, and leave it with her.

That ought to keep me out of trouble! Check out Bari's blog, to see how others did on their lists last week.

Thanks for stopping by to play. Come back again soon.