Wednesday, September 22, 2010

A Little Cutting

I did empty a couple boxes!~ LOL and then I got distracted. :-))

I cut up this little pile from my Thimbleberries stash because next Wednesday is Thimbleberries Sew Day! Are you going to sew with me? :-)



And then I cut these strips for scrappy 4 patches for the swap I'm in. Hmmm, now that I see the photo, I wonder if the light with the branch on it is too dark? maybe the gold is too?



Hope you had a happy day and until next time~
Happy stitchin'!!

Monday, September 20, 2010

A Little Fun~


There are so many fun projects in the Fall Quilts and More magazine, but I've had my eye on these two~ the Tiny Treat Bag (page 16), and the drink cozy (page 75). I need a little gift right before Halloween, so thought these two plus a few treats in the bag would be perfect. And the little green bats glow in the dark! LOL :-)

Hope you got to have a little sewing fun today too! ;-)
Until next time~
Happy Stitchin'!

Design Wall Monday

I know, its been a while. ;-) I am slowly getting unpacked and back into a little bit of a routine. And sewing! :-)) I joined a 4 patch swap that Bingo~Bonnie is sponsoring on the HGTV quilting forum. We are making scrappy 4-patches ala Bonnie Hunter. It is such a versatile little block; 2 lights, 2 darks and Bonnie Hunter uses them a lot in her patterns and books. :-) So this is where I am today~ 10 sets of 10 little blocks. I hope to get a few more sets done before the due date.



What are you working on? Hop on over to Judy L's Patchwork Times to see what other quilters are doing. There is always a lot of inspiration on Design Wall Mondays!

Until next time~
Happy Stitchin'!

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Sunday Sewing!

Whoohoo!! :-)

First, thank you for your kind words for DH's back~ he is feeling much better and is actually looking forward to getting back out to trim shrubs. ;-) I don't think he gets out enough. LOL :-)

And I sewed! Yay! You know the saying 'sew on Sunday, rip on Monday'? Well not today! :-) It was gently raining when I went out to the cottage to see what I could do.. unpack or sew... you know what won out there! :-)) I worked on the border for Paganini (Carrie's new Schnibble pattern). To tell the truth, I loved the look of the scalloped inside border, but it involved ~shudder~ applique! And well, let's just say applique and I have one of those love/hate relationships! I love the look, not so keen on the process. I read Carrie's directions quite a few times and realized that she applique's the entire scallop down~ as in both sides! :-o I needed something less stressful. :-) I kind of flew by the seat of my pants on this, but it worked out! I only had to applique the outside. As I was sewing it, I kept thinking, 'if I had the right rick-rack, it would look so cool under this edge!' But I didn't come across any, so tomorrow I will get back to boxes. :-)

Anyway, I sewed the white for the scallop into the seam as I added the border. I cut off approx 1/2 inch on each end of the last two white borders, because you really don't need it to extend all the way out to the edge, and this way, it wasn't in the seam either. I pressed the seam open. Then I traced the scallop onto the white. I used old x-ray film to make my template, and I had to cut it and play with it a bit to get 3 to fit on each side. Looking at it now, I think I could've made them a little evener ;-/, but I am happy with my first ever attempt. :-)

Then I opened the seams and clipped so the white was inside the seam allowance below the scallop edge and outside for about 1/2 to 3/4th's inch, and sewed them each back together~ the pink with part of the white, and the white on the outside, so 8 little seams. That was the fiddly part. But I kept thinking, if you can trim to the seam when pressing 4-patches, why not in this case too? Sorry my photo's are not better, taking them was kind of an after-thought. :-/



I trimmed the scallop right above my lines and then using the biggest stitch on my machine, I basted the edges down. This way I didn't have to burn myself with a hot iron. ;-o After another good pressing, I used the buttonhole stitch on my machine to sew the scallops down. Then I ripped out the basting stitches.

Next time, I will probably allow a little more white seam allowance when I trim and sew them back, but otherwise, I'm happy with the result. :-)


Thanks for stopping by! Until next time,
Happy Stitchin'!!

Friday, September 17, 2010

Stitch - Stitch - Stitch

I'm cruising right along with my crocheting. :-) You can click the photo for a closer look. The blue looks a little bluer in the photo than it is~ it is more of a teal in reality.



72 inches long (I started with a chain of 300 stitches) and 17 inches wide so far. It is just beginning to warm my lap as I stitch at night which has been perfect for our autumn temps.

Have a happy weekend! I'll be stitching and unpacking boxes. DH hurt his back so the unpacking has been a little slow lately, but he is starting to feel better soooo... it'll be back to boxes soon.

Until next time~
Happy stitchin'!!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Looking for Some Fun?

Did you notice the new button on my sidebar?

I had so much fun blog-hopping with Gudrun last year for the Christmas blog hop, that I can't help but be excited for a Fall + Halloween hop! I love Fall, Autumn, whatever you care to call this season! Cool weather, falling leaves, vibrant color, oh I'm ready! And I need some quick and easy decoration ideas. I'm sure I won't be disappointed. Want to join me? :-)

~Question~

How many bobbins does it take to sew a Schnibble project?
Answer in a bit~

I caved and joined Facebook, but please, please don't send me any friend links or anything yet because I have a huge problem. Somehow I ended up with 2 accounts and I can't get into either one! LOL :-) This is probably why it took me so long to even try to register. I have no idea what I'm doing most times! ~I'm techno-challenged! LOL :-)) I have an email into the 'team' and maybe it will work out... or not. But at least I tried. Right? ;-)

I've been spending a little time in the cottage working on my Schnibble Paganini and that question kept popping into my head~ kind of like the number of licks it takes to get a Tootsie Roll pop~ remember that one?

Well, the answer I came up with~~

Answer: One more than you have wound! :-)
I had 3 little seams to go. :-/ LOL

Hope y'all are having a happy Thursday!

B-r-r-r-r

Who knew that having a Halloween Hop last week would bring the chilly weather?! We had rain, wind--- the power even went out for a few hours...