Final Finish and Some Un-knitting....

My final finish from my Q1 Finish-Along list is a gift for one of my bestest blog buddies, Janet O., who blogs over at Rogue Quilter.  She received it yesterday, so I can blog about it now!

If you don't know Janet O., then go visit her NOW (link on her blog name) and introduce yourself!  She's a lovely person and friend, a wonderful quilter, and always has an uplifting comment and a sweet attitude.  Can you tell how much I love her???

Janet has gifted me with several really sweet treasures - she's the most thoughtful creature!  So I've been wanting to return the favor for a while now.  The problem was that I couldn't think of the perfect thing for her ... you know, the one thing she didn't have (how could I be sure?), or the newest tool that she's been dying to get her hands on (how would I know?), or ... well, you get the idea :)  I decided to make her something personal, but again - what?  Are you beginning to get the picture that I'm not quite as talented a gifter as she is?

Then she mentioned in a comment on one of my posts that she didn't have a Ruler Tote.  Eureka!!!

My next question was - what fabrics do I use???  Janet favors the primitive fabrics, darker than my style but still colorful.  The one color we both love is black!  So although I don't have much in the way of primitive fabrics, I did have some nice blacks in that style, and I was able to pull some reds and golds to go along with it.  I really hope she likes it!  I made it just like the one I always carry to retreats.

Brighter colors for me of course - and cats!!! =^..^=

It has pockets in the front for rulers ....

And heat-resistant fabric on the back for a portable ironing station ....

The inside will hold an 18"x24" rotary cutting mat and as many large rulers as she can carry!

I hope you enjoy this gift Janet!  I know I could never find a gift that would adequately say "Thank You!" for your friendship and encouragement over the past couple of years, but hopefully you will smile and remember how special I think you are each time you use your new Ruler Tote!!!

Tomorrow I will post my Q2 Finish-Along List - hopefully I will do a little better with that one :*)  Are you joining in on the fun?  I have to admit, it has really helped me to stay focused and concentrate on getting some of my projects finished up instead of flitting around from project to project, always starting and never finishing!  And there are prizes .....  (I thought that would get your attention LOL!!!)

http://makezine.com/craft/diy_knitting_needles/

And since it's Friday, and I haven't linked up with Patchwork Times's On The Needles in weeks, I thought I would update you on the mess I have percolating in the yarn department :*)

I picked up my Raspberry Smooshy Socks last week after not touching them since the end of October last year.  Knitting kinda took a backseat when I became obsessed got involved with Millefiore and Arcadia Avenue :)  So I picked them back up thinking if I could finish off the heels quickly, I'd have nothing but the cuffs left for a mindless take-along project.  Indeed, I did finish them up and was congratulating myself and feeling pretty good about my growth as an experienced knitter because those tricky heels actually worked out perfectly the first time!  .....

.... only to find when I tried to reconnect at the ankle that I had made a mistake way back yonder in October!  An unfixable mistake no less!  For those of you who knit socks, you'll understand when I say that I increased on BOTH sides of the sock while working the gusset instead of just the heel side.  See how wide the front is in the next picture?  UGH!!!

So I had to tear out those perfect heels (sob!), and carefully keep all the stitches from dropping - because if I didn't do it right I would have to START ALL OVER.  I used another set of needles to pick up the stitches before the place where the mistake started, and only then did I start to rip back to there ....

Thankfully, this was successful and I have begun the increases for the gusset once again, this time only on one side - whew!  Still a lot of stitching to do on these but at least I am moving in the right direction again :)

I really want to make my aqua pair, so these need to get done pronto.  Don't you love this yarn???

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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Number Three's the Charm!

Well, this tiny 2015 Finish-Along finish certainly has it's share of charm, although every time I look at it I think maybe it could use a little more quilting ..... hmmmmm.....

I stitched in the ditch inside and around the heart, but I left the white alone because I didn't want to disturb that lovely fabric design.  I'm glad to have found a nice use for the orphan heart block.  It made a delightful decoration for us during the month of February and kept me mindful that spring was just around the corner, especially when a glance out the windows showed layers of snow and ice!

Don't you just LOVE that background white?????

This block was one of a group of BOM heart blocks we did at our Guild in 2009.  The quilt was designed by my friend and vice president that year, Carole Crane (she finished hers of course - complete with a ruched inner border no less! - and I believe won several ribbons with it ♥)  I made about half of the blocks, and then put them away in a box.  That was the year I served as president, and time was not something I had a lot of.  Of course, in the twinkling of an eye, I had forgotten all about them.  So when I cleaned out my studio this past winter, I unearthed the box and decided to use them or lose them!

I wanted to keep this project SUPER SIMPLE .... so I auditioned a few deep reds for a small border, and narrowed them down to these two.  The hearts were more in line with Valentine's Day and I would have loved to use up that fabric, but I really loved the red stripe - and you know color always trumps everything else in my studio, right?  So I used the hearts on the back :*)

It took me maybe one afternoon to stitch this baby up - don't you just love that kind of project???  Thanks again to Adrianne who blogs at On the Windy Side for being the hostess with the mostest for the -

You can see my Q1 list HERE if you're interested.  I finished 4 of my 10 listed projects for this quarter - one was a gift that I hope my friend will receive by tomorrow or the next day so I can post about it and add it to the finishes.

4 out of 10  is pretty darn pitiful - and I sure do hope to do better next quarter!  But I have to remind myself that this is 4 finishes that I wouldn't have done if not for the incentive of the 2015 Finish Along!  Why don't you join us?

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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A Small Finish :)

I was almost embarrassed to turn in this little baby quilt last month at our Music City Quilt Guild meeting!

Our Guild makes baby quilts for the Middle Tennessee Down Syndrome Association, who delivers them to new parents whenever a sweet new DS baby is born.  We call it Phyllis's Angel Babies, after one of our members who was gifted with a DS grandchild, Ron, and was able to help us understand the challenges facing the families of these darling children.  Phyl left us last year after her own battle with cancer, but her daughter, Alecia (mom of Ron), is also a Guild member and is the Director of MTDSA.  She says often when she delivers a quilt, it is the first time anyone has said Congratulations! to the new parents.  Isn't that sad?

Each summer, we plan one of our monthly sit-n-sew meetings to work on the Angel Babies quilts.  Last year - yes, last year! - the coordinators cut a huge amount of donated fabrics into strips for us to all sew up into Bargello baby quilts using Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville's free Scrappy Bargello pattern.

I got mine all pieced a few days after the sit-n-sew, and sat it on the corner of my quilting machine table so I could finish it up .....

And there it sat for almost a year!!!!  

Yikes!!!  *Hanging head* .....

So at my recent retreat to Sewanee in February, I took this along and made it my first project priority.   I sandwiched and quilted it with simple straight lines following the block intersections ....

And then I sewed the binding down by machine ......

...... much sturdier than hand-sewn which makes it perfect for babies and little children, and takes a fraction of the time to finish!

It makes me sad that it took so long for me to finish this quilt, and it helped me to see that sometimes I am not setting the right priorities in my life and my quilting activities.  As with most things in life, once we see a truth we are able to make positive changes, and I choose to use this experience to spur me upwards toward better choices!

This is Finish #2 from my 2105 Finish Along Q1 list ... and my most important one by far!!!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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Charmed, I'm Sure!

Ahhhh .... the month of LOVE!!!

February is a month that evokes all kinds of emotions and feelings in me.  On the one hand I always dread the bitter cold that seems to fill the February days.  Old Man Winter knows he's on the way out, so he huffs and puffs and does his best to make sure we'll remember him until he returns!

But Valentine's Day helps to rescue the month for me!  This holiday is a warm, bright spot in the middle of the chill of February!  It's a little whisper that says "Hold on! Warmer, brighter days are ahead! Just around the corner, in fact!  Love is in the Air...."

February calendar photo by Wendy Bentley

.... and where Love is, there is warmth and goodness and joy of life - right?  Valentine's Day never fails to charm me out of the winter doldrums.  And what could be more "charming" than these lovely heart charms made by Julie at Me and My Stitches?

They have definitely helped pull me out of my yearly winter stupor hibernation :*)  Yes, I'm admittedly part bear!  I go into my house in October and don't come out until April LOL!!!

Charms by Julie at Me and My Stitches

The large heart is one I purchased a couple years ago from Julie - I love those soft spring colors!  The smaller bright pink heart is from Julie's Charming Club.  I decided to join Charming this year because she is offering a collection of bright charms for the first time!  I have to say, so far I have been absolutely delighted with them!  You get a new charm bi-monthly and the chance to add a few others throughout the year as she offers them.  I jumped on the chance to add the delightful Pineapple charm this month ....

Charms by Julie at Me and My Stitches

If you love these charms too, be sure to go HERE and get on her email list so you can be notified when the next Charming Club starts!  The spots are limited and go quickly :*)  Of course, you don't have to wait to add one of her beautiful pieces to your jewelry collection - just click on the Go Shopping link and find your perfect Valentine's Day gift!!!

February also means I can take down the winter quilts with snowflakes and snowmen, and replace them with sweet loving little hearts everywhere....

February's Bertie's Year quilt is one of my favorites and I'm SO enjoying seeing it every morning in my breakfast room ♥♥♥

My little Ackfield table frame is newly adorned with a little Valentine quilt as well ....

It is a very simple quilt - an orphan block I added borders to and quilted to fit the frame.  It could possibly have used a little more quilting, but I'm calling it done and moving on.  This is the second of my completed 2015 Finish Along projects which I'm happy to mark off my Q1 List!!!  Next up is quilting the Baby Bargello :*)

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

Teresa

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First 2015 Finish!

Indian Summer is finally finished!!!

This quilt was started in either 2007 or 2008, I can't remember which.  Either way, it is much too long.  The pattern is by Judy Niemeyer and was the perfect easy paper-piecing project for a newbie like me back then.

It is STILL one of my favorite quilts!

Which makes it even harder for me to understand why it took me so long to finish it.  I even quilted it last year - it's waited an entire year to have its binding applied!!!  Oh well.  I think the problem is that I really don't enjoy applying borders or bindings, so I avoid them.  I'm seeing a definite a pattern of putting these tasks off until the end of time unless something or someone lights a fire under me.

Can you believe I still had the binding fabric with the quilt???

The "fire" in this case was my Music City Guild UFO Challenge list.  I decided the only way to get some of these languishing projects off my To Do shelf was to assign them a number in the UFO Challenge - and sure enough, Karen called #10 for this month - binding Indian Summer!  And as much as it pains me to to admit it - if it weren't for that Challenge, this quilt would still be sitting on that shelf unbound ..... *hangs head in shame*.....  I could sure take some self-discipline lessons from some of you!

I suppose all's well that end's well, and thankfully this quilt's journey to completion has finally come to an end!

Yes, I sew most of my bindings on by machine!

As you can see, the front looks like a hand-sewn binding ....
but the back gives it away.  Still neat and tidy, but not hand sewn.
Which is perfectly fine with me!!!

I'm totally HAPPY with this quilt!  I've always planned for it to take up residence on the downstairs sofa in the great room.  I've been giving a little thought lately however to hanging it in the upstairs hallway to add some color.  Color is something it certainly has in abundance!!!

This is my first finish on my 2015 Finish-Along goals list for Q1!  You can see my list HERE if you like.  I had hoped to get at least one done in January, and I almost made it.

I'm also linking up with the following fun linky parties:
(You can check them out by clicking on their buttons in my sidebar to the right)

Tuesday Linky Party
WIP's Away
Binding Blitz

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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