Feeling Sheepish

I have a completed sheep pillow - Yay! This was a class I took at a hooking retreat in September. The back ground linen was dyed so that we could just hook the design and not feel the need to hook the background. I think the sheep is regal. The flower was proddied, and the stem was crocheted. The center of the sunflower was sculpted.

I used a piece of wool that was not good for the hooking on the back.

I used a yarn of roving as an edging around the pillow after it was sewn together. I just whipped it on with a thicker thread.

 This is exactly where I was last week on Cathedral Stars. 

Not much progress since Clue 1 of En Provence was released. I have 190 of 221 4 patches done, but I was hoping to do another color way, now I don't know. sigh....

Again, if anyone would like these charm squares I would be glad to send them to you. They would be a good start for a donation quilt.

 

I am linking to:
WOW
Midweek Makers
Jo's Country Junction UFO
Bee Social
Midweek Makers     woohoo

 

light the world

Since a new star first appeared above Bethlehem, Christmas has been a season of light, reminding us that Jesus Christ is the light of the world. This December celebrate His birth by making the world a brighter place. All we have to do is follow Him—His life, His example, and His teachings. In doing so, we can help #LIGHTtheWORLD.

This year, we have an amazing opportunity to share that light by choosing to do the things Jesus Christ did. Every day leading up to Christmas, you can focus on a different Christ-like behavior and serve others using the suggestions found on comeuntoChrist.org or coming up with your own way to serve. There are so many ways we can serve others and light the world. There is a wonderful video to give you a few ideas, and to help inspire you to LIGHT the WORLD.

I hope you check this out


I am still cranking out neutral 4 patches for En Provence mystery quilt. I am about half way there.

I discovered these charm squares in a clean up moment. I would love to pass these on to someone that might use them.? If you are interested email me or leave a reply and I will let you know Dec 1. 5 in. squares 33 of them

I am linking to:
Fiber Tuesday
Fabric Tuesday
Free Motion by the River

And for Val's Archive the theme is memory quilts.
This is a quilt I made for My Handsome Son. The pattern was called Smokey Mountain Stars a Bonnie Hunter pattern. We love camping in the Smokeys, especially Joey.

I added family pictures of some of our fun together that year as part of the plain star centers.

Strips and Corn

After  Thanksgiving company left, I had a chance to sit and sew for the new mystery quilt En Provence. I was a really good girl and only disappeared from the family a few moments to check how my sewing machine was doing.

I found these strip candidates already in my 2 inch strip bin.

Not much there I wanted to use. I think they are too dark - Probably why they are still in the bin. I started cutting...

I cut off different lengths and sewed them together, working on variety. I was afraid it would be boring sewing neutrals together, but it was great fun, making sure no two 4 patches were the same.

My favorite were the blocks of and old sugar sack that I had been saving for a special quilt.

I don't have any trouble twisting seams on this size square, but I do as the size gets bigger.

I have 65 completed, only 156 to go.

We added a new dish to our traditional Thanksgiving menu


Corn Casserole

• 1 (15 1/4 oz) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 (14 3/4 oz) can cream-style corn
• 1 (8 oz) package Jiffy corn muffin mix
• 1 cup sour cream
• 4 Tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9- by 9-inch baking pan or a 2 quart casserole dish.

Mix together the corn, Jiffy, sour cream and butter in a large bowl. Stir in the cheese. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 55 minutes, or until golden brown and set. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Note: You can bake for a shorter time in a 9x13, but the texture will be different than baking in the 9x9 or 2 quart casserole. The 9x13 will be thin slices where the 2 quart casserole produces more of a corn pudding. Either way is delicious. 
 I doubled it, but will only do the 9x9 next time with all the other "stuff" we had to eat.

 

I am linking to:

Making Monday

Moving it Forward Monday 

 Patchwork Times

Main Crush Monday

Quiltville

Scrappy hourglasses

I have had very little time at my machine. I have a few hourglass blocks made for the Bonnie Hunter Leader / Ender challenge. I think my slow Sunday stitching will be a long nap to recover from the joy of Grandchildren visiting.

What is it about boys? and never recognizing a laundry basket? or expanding clothes on the floor?

 Stash report

Fabric Used this Week:  1/2 yards

Fabric Used year to Date: 50 1/2 yards

Fabric Added this Week: 150 3/4 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date: 313 3/4 yards

Net Fabric for 2016: 265 3/4  yards in the hole

and I think I need to add shirts I buy to take apart for fabric. I added 3
for total of 19

142 1/2 yards came from a goodwill bin
and 8 1/4 yards came from Joann Fabric black Friday sale
I have been blessed with fabric sales

I am linking to:
Patchwork Times
Slow Sunday Stitching
Sunday Stash

I am linking to:
Patchwork Times
Slow Sunday Stitching
Sunday Stash

Thanksgiving aftermath

Whoosh and Thanksgiving is over. Bittersweet... It's good to get my peace and quiet back and maybe sneak in a few naps, but I miss and will always miss my kids and Grandkids when they are not here. I am not a good empty nester. I am adjusting sigh...

I managed to get a finish just before chaos hit. I am excited about this rug. Every square was hooked by a member of my guild. The Shaun the sheep was hooked by my husband, and the center I did. We passed them around for almost a year. I was so excited when it found it's way back home. I did a six inch version of my center design on everybody's rug.

While I had two of the boys here, I had them put a walnut tree log into the truck. I plan on taking it to Hollingsworth lumber and having it made into useable lumber for my husband for Christmas. Unfortunately, it won't be a surprise. In all these years, I have rarely surprised him. He magically discovers everything, but I needed his wood knowledge for this. I do have a trick up my sleeve though. I am determined to surprise him this year.

 

Joann had a great sale on Wednesday this year -70% off Christmas and flannel. But my favorite part is  remnants were 75% off. Woohoo. I found some fleece remnants for rug hooking cozies.

Christmas fabric is not a good investment, but I love it. I am not afraid of using some in any scrap quilt. And I have a really great quilt almost finished, that I will leave on my bed all year. It will make me happy to see it every day.

I am linking to:

 TGIFF

Fnished or Not Friday

Whoop Whoop

Thanksgiving

cathedral stars

I am racing Terri of Kalico Kat Creations to finish Cathedral Stars into a flimsy. Since I taunted her with the challenge, I have only managed to get it out of the box and partly on the design wall. I had a lot more cleaning to do for Thanksgiving. A lot more. Who is making all these messes? WE are mostly empty nesters. sigh.... If we had a sink by our chairs in the living room, we would be all set.

 Our Thanksgiving menu:
Turkey
mashed potatoes/ gravy
cream cauliflower
green bean casserole
cranberry relish
relish tray with olive cream cheese dip
watergate salad
corn casserole
oyster dressing
pumpkin pie/ whip cream
lettuce salad
homemade rolls
pecan pie
pickled eggs

These are basically tradition foods and my children and Grandchildren act bereft if I forget anything. Corn casserole is new, so we will see if anyone panics at the change :)

I am linking to:
Jo's Country Junction
Midweek Makers
Bee Social
wow

Speaking of Turkeys

For Val's archive, the theme is turkeys. I was reminded by my little calendar quit hanging above my sewing machine.

I made these in the 90s. I loved them enough to faithfully switch them every month for years as they hung in the kitchen. Twice since then, They have been in the donate pile, as an extra nuisance, that I didn't need. But I just couldn't part with them. Now, they hang above my sewing machine, and I faithfully change them every month except December. Somehow, that month goes by too quickly for me to notice.

oops and December is missing in the pictures too. sigh...

My husband loves to needle felt. And since he has been off work for his thumb surgery, He has been making some awesome pincushions. I have them for sale in my etsy shop. His wool spheres make the best pincushions.

 I am linking to:
Fabric Tuesday
Fiber Tuesday
Free Motion by the River
Val's aarchives

Design Wall Monday

 I have been rescuing old crosstitch from our local goodwill store for some time. I see them as a testament to women's creativity. I did hundreds myself when my children were little. I could decorate my home with works of my own hands. But, the idea that no matter how busy we become, women still can make something beautiful and send creative energy into the world. Now, I prefer to quilt. But when I find these tossed aside at the thrift store, I know how much work has been invested, and I hate seeing them go to the pound. I don't know if I have the eye for putting them altogether and making them look like they were meant to be together, but it won't hurt to try.

 I have added 2 more rows to my Bonnie Hunter leader /ender project.

 And I need to make turquoise hourglasses for my swap. so I have cut 300 turquoise 1/4 square triangles. I need to cut the same number of neutrals. This will make wonderful, mindless sewing for my away from home groups. I have one scheduled for this week, but I may have to cancel to get the house ready for family and Thanksgiving. When the Grandchildren come, they get into everything, so I do need to get "everything" hidden. LOL

 I ran across this interesting fabric for sale by way of charity donation. Mari of Academic Quilter is destashing by holding a Gratitude Sale with payment through a charity of your choosing. I have been tempted and it is available through this week. She has some lovely fabric available.



I am linking to:
Patchwork Times
Making Monday
Moving it Forward Monday
Main Crush Monday

Soft Yarn, Squishy Yarn - Yum

For all the bloggers out there, a question. I love receiving comments, and I want to answer back. Which is the best way - to reply in the comment section or as a reply to email? I'd love to know how you do it or like it.

For my slow Sunday stitching, I have this yummy yarn all ready to start a pair of socks. The yarn is Misti Alpaca. with 50% alpaca, 30% merino, 10% silk, 10% nylon. It just sounds so lovely for the feet.

I saw these vintage beauties this week.
 All of the blocks in the quilt were navy and brown except

 

except this one - I wonder what the quilter was thinking that she added just one very striking block, and that green is not a subtle green. I bet she was a fun person. :)

 

 Stash report

Fabric Used this Week: 1 1/2 yards

Fabric Used year to Date: 50 yards

Fabric Added this Week: 0 yards  3 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date: 163 yards

Net Fabric for 2016: 115 1/2 yards in the hole

and I think I need to add shirts I buy to take apart for fabric. I added 2
for total of 16

I am linking to:
Patchwork Times
Slow Sunday Stitching
Sunday Stash

Rug Binding

I have this on the frame to quilt. I hardly remember making it.  I am not really a fan of extensive quilting. I am old school and think the piecing is the part that should take center stage. Still, this a small wall hanging, so I might experiment with rulers. But, it is on the frame...

I have most of the 144 right slant flip and sew rectangles sewn for midnight flight by Bonnie Hunter

I love tinkerbell peeking at me. It is found in this book.

I worked on the binding of my rug. I decided to use a 2 1/2 in strip of wool and machine stitch it as close to my hooking as possible. I, then, needed to hook one more row around to meet it.

After I turned it back, I hand basted a cable cord as close to the wool strip as I could.

I pulled the wool strip to the back, over the cable, and hand stitched it to the back.

I sewed each of the miters closed.

Now I need to steam it and clean it with a lint brush. It will take several passes to get all the stubborn strings, and reveal the places I didn't cut close enough. I love this rug. Hopefully, I will show it finished soon.
I am linking to:
TGIFF
Finished or Not Friday
WHoop WHoop
Crazy Mom Finish Fridays
Fort Worth Fabric Studio

Finally Fireflys

Of all the animals in the fancy forest quilt, the fireflies have been the most stubborn. I have let too much time pass between spurts of working on them, and then I have had to reconnect and made a bunch of mistakes. But, bit by bit, I now have fireflies in my forest.

All the creatures are finished, and it is ready to put together. But, this is the part where I put it away and forget about it. SO we will see.

Our weather has been so very nice -Blue skies, warmer temperatures, and the smell of leaves in the air. So far, I have kept  up with my knit the sky scarf and have enjoyed adding the pretty blue days.

In the evening, I am trying to finish the binding on a hooked rug.

I am linking to:
Fabric, Thread, and yarn
Oh Scrap
Needle and Thread Thursdays