Havin’ Fun in the Rainy South

I went out to get the mail Saturday evening and was greeted by this.  Isn’t that beautiful?  God’s promise all over the sky!




And this is the reason for a reminder of that promise.  We had 2.5” of rain this weekend, added to the 4” we got last weekend and the 1.5” we got during the week.  We get a little bit of sunshine and everyone is out mowing their yards because the grass is growing like crazy.








Now, my plan for this weekend was to get a lot of quilting done but I am still having thread breakage problems and didn’t get anything done on that front.  I did get 6 rows sewn on the weave quilt.










And have started on the 7th.  I really want to get this done this week so I can move on to other things.









But I have been bitten by the knitting bug.  These are the first things I tried and had some success.  They are not beautiful but at least you can see they are slippers.









Next I decided to learn how to do circular knitting.  This is my first hat.  I couldn’t find a really simple pattern so I used parts of three and wound up with a “hat”  Cool, huh?













So I have started on a third project.  This is going to be a cowl with cables.  As you can see, this knitting thing has taken up a great deal of my time.













I did take a little time to work on my new green thumb.  The planter is a “plant shop” and I have had it for years but never did anything with it.  Now it is on the deck with these very healthy plants growing wildly and happily. 










And then, in my spare time, I have been reading.  I love murder mysteries and DH is really good at supplying them for me.  The funny thing is that this time I would stop reading to do some knitting.  I am really afraid that this knitting thing may take over my crafting time.

So, what will I be doing this week?  Well, I will be sewing, cleaning, and KNITTING.  Who would have thunk it?

Have a great week,  Gari

Happily We Roll Along

The quilting has begun  I spent quite awhile just looking at these blocks but finally Saturday morning I worked on this one block.  I decided that the background of the chicken blocks will be a medium meander so it doesn’t draw attention away from the chickens.







I want the chickens to have a feathered look so I am doing these kind of scallops on the neck and body.  Also I am doing squiggly lines on the comb to simulate wrinkles. 

















And here I am doing feathers.  I have never done such little feathers but I think they are going pretty well.  I still have this body to finish and then only 11 more chickens to go.  This may take the rest of the month.














And especially since I spent almost all day knitting.  I continued to practice for most of the day but then I pulled it all out.  I read this little pattern and began knitting these slippers.  I have half of one done and am not unhappy with what I have so far.  While I was knitting I was watching the Craftsy classes on knitting socks.  I have a long way to go before the socks will be on my needles but I am on my way.









I did play with my design wall and I think I have these blocks in place.  I actually have to add two more rows and then I will begin sewing the blocks together.  I think I will sew them in blocks of 4 before sewing them all together. 










Besides all this creativity I also took Saturday off and spent the day with my favorite, and only, daughter.  We did a little antique shopping, good eating, and shoe shopping.  All of that during a pretty severe thunderstorm.  We had a great time.

And now it is time to get those pesky housework chores out of the way so I can get back to quilting, knitting, and sewing.  I am planning at least 1 hour every day for each of the above: wonder if I can do it. 

Oh, No, Another Hobby?

I can’t believe I am investing time and money into another hobby but here I am.  I used to knit but then the arthritis in my fingers caused me to stop.  For several years I machine knit, a truly fun hobby, but the company that made my machines stopped producing and my teacher/knitting group disbanded.  To add to that it was at the same time I fell into quilting and it took over my spare time life.  But the knitting bug never quite left and I am trying again because I want to knit socks.  So what you see above is the yarn I got with my Craftsy knitting class.  It is sock yarn and it didn’t take long for me to know that that wasn’t what I should be relearning on. 





I was delighted to find this in my machine knitting leftovers.  It is a ball wander and I have put it to good use already.  This is after I paid a visit to the new yarn shop that has just opened in our very small town is South Alabama:  Pale Moon Yarns.  One should never visit a yarn shop when one already has a fiber addiction.










Anyway, I bought some orange, of course, DK weight yarn and #10 needles to begin my practice piece.  I have always knit the English way but decided that maybe my hands would do better using the Continental method.  I have to tell you that it is not easy, at 70 years of age, to make that kind of change.  However, I think that I do not hold either the yarn or needles as tightly with this new to me method and thus my hands have not complained as much.  I am still having some difficulty holding on to the yarn coming off the ball but am confident that I will get that figured out  with practice. 






Complete change of subject:

Some time ago our DIL sent me this owl butter dish.  She has been great at finding unique owls and this was no exception.  It has sat on the counter, unused, because we have been using tub butter and because DH does not like the butter to be left out (I do because I like soft butter).  Recently I bought light stick butter and just this week put in in this little beauty.






And it works GREAT!  I have had toast almost every morning just so I could use it.  However, I have noticed that she and DS have not been doing so much antiquing since their daughter (see header picture) was born last Dec.  Do you think that is the end of my great owl gifts?


I did get the rest of the Weave blocks sewn but have not decided on an arrangement, yet.  That will probably be one of my weekend projects. 

As for today, I am determined to begin quilting on the Funky Chickens.  I have been avoiding that room because I am afraid of messing up my beautiful quilt top.  Of course, this is not going to work so I did pick out the thread yesterday.  I will need to wind several bobbins this morning so I can begin quilting “ready or not.”  Oh, my……………

Design Wall and Musings

This is what is on my Design Wall this morning.  They are blocks from the Aunt Reen Jelly Roll Sew Along.  What you see is not the layout Doreen planed but one I kind of stumbled on.












This is the weave pattern.  It is much more organized that what I currently have on the wall.  I still don’t know how I will sew her together but since I still have several blocks to complete, I have a little time to decide.







These are the last of the blocks parts that still need to be sewn.  The only sewing I did over the four day weekend was on these blocks and it again proved that I get tired of sewing the same thing over and over.  But today I will finish these so I can have the whole set on the wall and then I will move to something else, for a while.






I did take a break from seam stitching to put this month’s fish together.  He is a little more subdued than some of the others but I see him as a camouflage fish.












And I also put Owl #5 together.  It is a little hard to see his outline on the background fabric but he will show up better when he is stitched down later.











Later today I hope to get to the last teapot BOM and perhaps to be able to cut out the ornaments for the Deck-ade The Halls Quilt Along.


Our son and daughter-in-law have been on a vacation in Teaton National Park and Yellowstone National Park.


We have followed them through pictures and loved seeing the three of them having so much fun seeing a whole new place. 








 And it has been nostalgic, too.  When our son was 6 months old, the same age as his daughter, we went on a two month camping trip from  IL to OR/WA/CA.  And we had a 6 year old, a 2 1/2 year old, and this son with his twin sister.  We had a great time then, just as they are having a great time now.  It is such fun to see our children enjoying each other and the world around them.  And I love the digital age that allows them to share with many pictures.  Thanks, guys!

A New Project

A few weeks ago I found this blog and she was just beginning a Jelly Roll Sew Along.  At the time I was working on other projects and couldn’t join in the fun.









But this week I was ready and started.  I have had this jelly roll for over a year, so long I can’t remember where I got it.  I don’t think I bought it because I didn’t like what I saw on the outside.  But I think I really like several of the fabrics in this line, which is probably no longer available.







 I spent most of Monday and Tuesday afternoons cutting rectangles and squares from all of the jelly roll and 24 background squares.  I believe I have said how much I don’t like the cutting fabric part of quilting.












One of the neat things that I learned while cutting all of that fabric.  I have these long magnets that I use on my quilt frame and I just now figured out that I can use them on this large cutting ruler so both it and the fabric stays still.  Why didn’t I think of this before?








Here are a bunch of rectangles stitched to squares.  But, oh, my, there are so many more to go.











  I put a few of the 6” blocks on the wall to see what this quilt is going to look like and I am pleased.  I guess that I will keep cutting and sewing.









I forgot to take pictures but I have prepped this months Fish and Owl BOM blocks.  Maybe tomorrow, before going to our daughter’s for BBQ ribs, I will work on fabric selection for them.  

Have a great 4th

and celebrate our Freedom

Blank Design Wall

I am not going to show you what my blank design wall looks like: boring.  Earlier in the week I had several blocks on there and they can be seen here.


And later in the week this is what it looked like.  Here we have the parts for the backing of the Funky Chickens top.





And here it is all put together and ready to go on the HQ.  I was excited to take it into the quilting room and get it on the frame.














And then the chicken top went on.  You know, when the quilt was in waiting I almost forgot how bright and fun it is.  But now it is out in the open and once again I makes me smile.  Of course once I begin working on the quilting, that smile may dim, a bit. 












I had some questions about what fabric I am going to use to make the cushions for our deck swing.  This is what is on the bolt end.  I think it is kind of a plastic-like coating over canvas and is sold as an outside fabric.





This is what I am using inside.









I got it after I read all of this on the side of the box.








And it is made/sold by the company.  I can’t say how either of these products work because I haven’t begun working on them but hope to soon.









Also during this past weekend we went to the movies (Superman) but before it started we had to walk off lunch.  We walked the mall (way hot here) and while there I found this, a new cover for my iPhone.  I have been looking for an owl cover ever since I got the new phone and there it was, and in ORANGE!!!  I am so happy!










And that’s not all the good that happened.  Our LQS had a fabric sale:  $2.99 a yard on lots of fabric.  I bought 34 yards.  I see mostly backing fabric with a little applique thrown in.









So, if you read my last post you saw this little pillow I made for DH.  Well, I came in from the studio and found it here, in the middle of the floor.  Since both DH and I were out of the house, I suspected that one of the dogs had pulled it down.






However, when I asked them they assured me they both had been in this chair, behaving.  Don’t they look innocent?  Yea, right!












So, today all the BOMs I am doing come out.  I have already downloaded the teapot (no I haven’t found the lost one) and the fish and owl will be on my drawing board this afternoon. 
I will be sharing on Patchwork Times and What a Hoot Quilts.

Have a great week!  Gari

I’m On A Roll

Here we see the beginning of my interpretation of Deck-Aid The Halls by The Fat Quarter Shop.  These are my gingerbread men, the first step.






And this is the second step, stars.  They are only 4 1/2” and are supposed to be attached to additional strips of white.  However, once again I am already thinking of ways to make changes, to make this my own.  In fact I am thinking of how I can make it very personal for someone else.  Think, think, think.








Then, as a complete departure, I made this pillow for DH.  The “newspaper” page was quite long so I wrapped it up and over the inner pillow.  DH picked out the fabric and asked for a pillow: it is really nice to be able to make something for him that he really wants.






I also started stitching the applique on my owl blocks.  I am appliquéing them with black thread and a new, to me, stitch.  I am not sure I like it as it is 4 stitches forward and then a bite into the applique.  I may go back to the one I have been using. 






The last thing I have worked on so far this week is the beginning of the backing for the Funky Chickens top.  I am doing it in strips and hope to have it on the frame by Friday.

I don’t know how long this surge of energy will last but I hope it keeps going for a while longer.

Have a great week,  Gari

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