Not Much To Show

I've been working on various projects, but in spite of that I don't really have much to share with you today.

I finished piecing this quilt top that has some little hexie flowers in the alternate blocks - wish I was able to machine quilt some circular feathers in each block, but since I can't I'll have to come up with another idea for quilting it. One block got sewn wrong - can you spot it? I'm not going to change it at this point - it will be my humble block ala Lori.

DD#2 is pregnant with a baby girl due in June so I have started working on a new quilt for her. This is the crib sheet she bought from Target and she's designing the nursery using all these colors.

I'm using only solids for this one - they remind me of ice cream sherbert - I was surprised at how hard it was to find them - in fact I wasn't able to find them all in 100% cotton so some of the pieces have polyester in them - hope it won't be too much of a problem.

There ya go - - -

Back & Forth

There has been mail crisscrossing the country lately - I've been on the sending end of some - and on the receiving end of others. Remember awhile ago I posted a request on my blog for a certain rug hooking book? Well, Fran reads my blog and emailed me - said she had an extra copy of the book that she'd love to share at no cost to me - she didn't even ask me to pay postage!

Well, I couldn't let such a kindness go unrewarded, so I stitched up a little Chinese Coins quilt and sent it off to her by way of thanks. She just let me know that it has been received so now I'm able to share a picture of it here.

And I was the lucky winner of a rug hooking pattern giveaway on Saundra's blog - I'm a big fan of Polly Minick - even got to meet her & her sister Laurie several years ago. I pulled the fat envelope out of my mailbox earlier today and look forward to getting this checkerboard hooked some day.. Thanks Saundra!

I know stuff gets lost in the mail all the time, but I've been very fortunate through the years and have only ever had one package go missing. It was a small hooked mat that I made for a one-on-one swap, and I had a sneaking suspicion that the recipient just claimed that it hadn't arrived so she wouldn't have to send me anything in return. Made me very cynical about participating in online swaps ever since. Have you ever had anything get lost in the mail?

Show & Tell

Last week I bought a metal bird cage and put together a spring centerpiece for my dining table. I found the runner at Hobby Lobby and I love the colors of it because it reminds me of my beloved yellowware collection. I cut some branches from our forsythia bush and put them in a vase and they bloomed in just a couple of days.

 The bird is sitting on a Robin's nest that I found in the yard last summer - didn't want to worry about critters hiding in it so I put it in a plastic bag in the freezer for a few days - figured that would kill anything yucky.

I totally finished my little cake stand basket quilt and I really like it - 4" blocks.

Found the perfect fabric for the quilt back in my own stash - brown - with baskets! Yay!

Picked my tiny hexagon quilt up from the frame shop and hung it in the living room. Hard to get a good picture because of the reflection in the glass, but you get the idea. I bought the frame for $2 at the thrift store and had my son cut it down to size - then I painted it a nice golden brown color. The frame shop mounted it and added the mat and the glass.

Last week I was looking at a little pouch I use for carrying my hooks & scissors - it's bright pink with neon embroidery stitched on it - my mother-in-law brought it home from a trip to China and gave it to me.

Well, the size was right, but it wasn't exactly prim so I found I had some orange wool that was too thick and heavy to use for rug hooking - I had always planned to use it for a penny rug. I just randomly stitched some #8 wool strips to the front and back - - -

- - - added a zipper with some cute charms attached to the pull - - -

- - - and the lining suggested the design I put on the outside. Fun!

My family rug is coming along - I hope to get the two borders finished in a couple weeks or so and then figure out how to finish the inside of the rug. This is getting too big & heavy to carry to meetings, so I'll have to prep a new project that's a bit smaller and easier to transport when I go hook with friends.

Myra is making a lovely springtime rug with beautiful flowers on it - it's an original design that she worked in watercolor first - so talented!

Yvonne is making a small mat using the traditional quilt design called log cabin - working exclusively from her worms.

Nancy is halfway done with a Maggie B design - the poison green really pops against the antique black background.

Sharing

My computer was having a few issues last week or I would have posted these pictures sooner. Seems to be all fixed now - I guess I should figure out how to blog from my iPad some day, huh?

I have finally finished the rug I started in the Maggie Bonanomi workshop last fall - I'm really glad to have this done - I've been doing more quilting than rug hooking lately so it took me a long time for such a small rug.

Here you can see how well the red yarn turned out after I toned it down to match the red wool strips.

At our rug meeting there was some nice show & tell. Victoria finished her Maggie B rug also - - -

- - - and brought a small Americana mat that is nearly finished.

Coralee learned to hook rugs when she lived back east and fine hooking was all that she was familiar with - I believe this welcome rug she is making as a gift for her sister is done with a #6 cut. Since moving to Utah she's discovered primitive hooking and I think her next project will be done with wider cuts.

Tonia found some wooden letters at Hobby Lobby awhile ago and bought enough to spell the word W-O-O-L. She traced each letter and is hooking it - then attaching that to the front of the wooden letter and finishing the edge with a strip of wool. What a fun project! Front - - -

- - - and back.

I've also made some progress on a couple small quilts - my basket quilt is coming right along - - -

- - - and got my hexies sewn onto their backgrounds.

And have started piecing the alternate blocks too.

My quilt group had our monthly meeting on Wednesday evening and Janet brought this wonderful Robbing Peter to Pay Paul after seeing the one I shared last month - I like hers a LOT more than mine because it's scrappy - and those plaid homespuns and brushed cottons are SO soft.

Kathy made the cutest 3-layer cake for us to eat - once you cut a slice the polka dots were revealed - and we used polka dotted plates & napkins - a fun theme! She is the queen of entertaining and her attention to detail is unparalleled!  (edited to add this link with instructions for making the cake)

I think this is the second hooked rug I ever made - I made it as a gift for Kathy so I snapped a  picture of it while I was at her house. I think I've come a long way since then with my use of color but I sure was proud of it at the time.

I hope I have a productive week and will have more to show you in a few days.