Projects

I've been busy as a bee stitching up several different projects. Today I made this little quilt that measures 9" x 11".  While looking around the house for a good place to photograph it, I discovered how nice it looks with some of my yellowware bowls. The ones with blue stripes have always been my favorite and I have many of them. It was fun to find the perfect striped fabric which I fussy cut for the sashing between the rows.

It worked up quickly since I had the pieced blocks left over from a small quilt I made for Lauren a couple years ago. Only had to make two extra and I had enough. I can never remember if these are hourglass blocks or broken dishes....

Last week I finally gifted DD#2 with a completed quilt. She will use it mostly for TV watching in the evenings when it feels chilly in her basement.

The colors are happy and it was a fun project to make for her, though it took me a lot longer than I thought it would. She was very patient with me and was very appreciative when I gave it to her.

I also stitched up a 'PLUS' quilt and gave it to the gal who does my hair. She's expecting a baby boy in June and told me the nursery colors are navy and gray. I think this will do the trick. She was very surprised when I showed up without an appointment to give it to her.

I quilted it with a simple and easy meandering design. 40" square.

I've finished the border on my hooked rug and I'm ready to tackle the remainder of the inside section.

I recently did a little cleaning in my studio and found six small crazy quilt blocks that I probably made 10+ years ago. I have no idea of what my original plan for them was, so I stitched them up similarly to a quilt I saw on a Facebook page. Not sure if the wool flowers and stems are showing up on such a busy background - any suggestions? Maybe I should unpick the stems and just have the applique in the center section? (please notice the mitered corners on the border - I haven't done that for ages!)

Done - And Getting Done

In my last post I shared a small quilt that I was doing the big stitch on. It's all finished now and I'm so pleased with the way it turned out!

Really fun to make those big stitches using a ball of crochet cotton that I found at the thrift store years ago.

I just use a whip stitch to attach my wool applique pieces after learning from Maggie Banonomi that that's what she does.

And I'm making good progress on hooked rug that I began in a class years ago - why on earth did it take me so long to get back to it?

I forgot to share this delightful little wool woman that I received as a gift last month. It was made from a kit by ArtGirlz and I just love the metal face & crown & hands that embellish this gal.

I have some show & tell to share from a couple of meetings I attended earlier this month. First up is the Polly Minick fish rug that Jeanette is working on - this is the third version I've seen hooked and each one has be just delightful!

She showed us this beautiful penny rug that she had finished.

Her stitches are perfection!

Sharon has a tradition of making very small gift items to send to her grandchildren on their birthdays each year. This is the year of the owl for her and a gift of cash will be included with these cute little guys!

I can't remember who hooked this little Americana piece - was it Sandy? Someone help me out here and I'll post better information. The stars have nice sharp points, which is something I always struggle with!

Angela brought two of her rugs that are in-progress - each one is just beautiful! Her loops are perfectly even and I doubt she ever has to steam a rug when she's done hooking it!

Marliss has made a lot of progress on her Sharon Smith rug since our last meeting. See what happens when you set yourself a goal? I need to take a lesson from her!

At my quilt group, Janet shared a tumbler quilt that she had just completed. She and her sister shared 30's reproduction fabrics to make the exact same pattern and it was cute! I forgot to take a picture of a small quilt and dress that she had made for her grand daughter's American Girl doll. Maybe I'll get to sew fun stuff like that when my little gal gets a bit older and shows interest in that.

Please go over to Tonia's blog and see her beautiful finished rug - she is SUCH a creative person!

HandiQuilter is headquartered here in Utah and this morning I took a little drive to their warehouse to have a look around because I had heard they have lots of quilts on display. A lot of them were art quilts and modern quilts, but I did find a few that appealed to me. Fun to see them hanging in the halls of their office!

This is the Plan!

Our rug guild is bringing in Anne-Marie Littenberg for a three day workshop in the middle of April, and I signed up and paid for my class as soon as it was announced months and months ago. This kind of thing was unthinkable just a few years ago, but how fortunate we are that it happens on a regular basis now that Utah rug hookers have banded together and selected some great leaders!  However, Anne-Marie specializes in landscape rugs and portrait rugs - neither of which really appeal to me. My life is kind of extra busy now, having helped a son & his family move recently, and will soon be helping a daughter and her family move. Plus, we've been house hunting too! With all that going on I just wasn't finding time to decide on a class project, so I have sold my spot and will not be attending after all. Can't wait to see the results of all the gals who WILL be taking the class though - and maybe I can pop in to take pictures for our guild's blog.

I DO need a project to work on during my monthly group meetings, so I have pulled out a rug that I started at least five years ago when I traveled Cambria, CA and took a class from Susan Quicksall. It has been lanquishing in a pile ever since because I lost my mojo on it. Have decided that it's time to finish it up. Here's what I accomplished in class - quite a bit actually!

This pile of wool was still set aside for using.

And this vintage suitcase was still full of cut strips. Hopefully, it will be completed soon!

And I decided to use a big stitch to quilt my Cheri Payne quilt. It's been years since I hand quilted and I've never done the big stitch so even though this is a small quilt, it's a big deal! LOL I'm using black crochet cotton and it's going quickly. Working on it in the evenings and it should be done in another day or two.