A Fresh Snow Blog Hop

Hello, and welcome to my stop on the A Fresh Snow Blog Hop. Thanks to Marian of Seams To Be Sew for organizing another fun event. Our task was to work with something other than wool. I owned a quilt shop named Little Lamb Quilt Shop from 2004 to 2011. And yes, we had wool. Lots of wool. Nice yardage from The Dorr Mill Store here in New Hampshire. And hand dyed fat quarters from several different dyers. It's so much fun to work with felted wool, but I set it aside when the shop closed.

I went digging though storage boxes and found 2 kits left from the shop. The first is a sewing kit pattern from Karyn Lord of Wool and Whimseys. Karyn doesn't have a website but you can find her patterns lots of places. The local place for all things penny rug related here is in Kennebunk, Maine, called Camp Wool. They have tons of wool, and so many patterns! I went there for the first time a few weeks back and I will definitely have to visit again, after I finish the kit I bought there. 😊

The first thing I made is a hand sewing kit and pin cushion. The sewing kit opens up and has a large pocket, a split smaller pocket and a heart to hold threaded needles.

I had so much fun making this that I thought I would make a penny rug next.

I've got all the tongues backed with Wonder Under and cut, ready to go. I have been working on the penny rug itself, and I'm almost done with the stitching on it. 

I could not get a photo without the cat. Every time I set it on the table he jumped up and sat down. After several tries, I gave up. If you look close enough you can see the dog is stitched but the flowers need some still. 

Here's a better shot of my helper, Nosey. He was adopted, and came with the name. It definitely fits!

Be sure to visit the other participants today:

Elm Street Quilts
Resourceful Mama
MooseStash Quilting
Any Pattern

Again, thanks to Marian at Seams To Be Sew for organizing this fun winter hop. Be sure to visit her each day for a free pattern. She has extra kits from the Wooly Block Hop that took place this past fall that she is donating for daily prizes. Be sure to visit everyone and leave a comment, then use the Rafflecopter to be entered in the drawing.

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks so much for for stopping by.

Mary

101 Patchwork Patterns Block 14

Welcome to another block in the delayed, but ongoing 101 Patchwork Patterns. After a tough couple months I've finally been able to sew again and I'm really enjoying it. You don't realize how much you love something until you can't do it. Well, hopefully I won't have to be in an arm brace again, because it really makes it hard to type or rotary cut. I'm very right handed and I could push pieces through the sewing machine with my left hand but that was about it!

Before we get started I want to tell you all about a blog hop that started today. A Fresh Snow is today, and Monday through Wednesday. We will be sharing projects that include fabric other then cotton. As quilters we tend to use mostly cotton so it will be interesting to see what everyone does.
The schedule is:

Jan 20 (today)

Jane’s Quilting
Lulu & Celeste
Quilt In Piece
3Patch Crafts

Jan 23

Quilted Fabric Art
Ravellry
Bdieges

Jan 24

Elm Street Quilts
Resourceful Mama
MooseStash Quilting
Any Pattern
Seacoast Quilter

Jan 25

Life in the Scrapatch
Sew Many Yarns
Elizabeth Coughlin Designs
Seams To Be Sew

I hope you can stop by and visit all these wonderful blogs. There is a daily prize to be had! Thank you to Marian of Seams To Be Sew for organizing another fun event.

Download Milky Way Pattern

This block starts a new portion of the quilt, and the blocks are going to measure 10" in the quilt, so 10-1/2" including seam allowances. I have detailed making half square triangle units several times before. This time we are making 9, 4-patch units. The following walks you through a quick and easy way to do this.

Start with 2 strips of each blue and white, cut 1-1/2" x 14". Sew pairs of blue and white strips together as shown above. Press towards the blue fabric.

Next,  place the two strip sets right sides together with the colors opposite each other.

Place your ruler at the right end of the strip set. Align any ruler line with the horizontal seam. Make a cut to the right end of the strip set, just a quarter inch or so, to give you a clean edge.

Spin your mat around, or carefully pick up the strips and turn them around. Use your ruler to cut 1-1/2 inch sections from the strip pairs. At the sewing machine, sew a 1/4 inch seam on one cut edge of each pair. Open and press.

Using the 4 patch units, the half square triangle units, 2 yellow squares and 2 background squares, lay out your block. Sew into rows, then sew rows together. It looks like a lot of piecing but goes fast.

So, here is a drawing from Electric Quilt of where we are at. This round will be 20 blocks. If you haven't had a chance to assemble your center portion yet, the assembly instructions are here.

Be sure to stop by on Tuesday and see what I've been working on in wool.

Mary

Project Quilting - 8 is Great

Hello! I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays. I went to Connecticut to visit my family for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. I developed a problem with my right arm the beginning of November. It was so painful I was having to eat with my left hand. I went to the doctor, who sent me to an orthopedic doctor. He ordered an MRI to check for torn things, but all was well. So I had 6 weeks of physical therapy and was told to rest my arm as much as possible. So rotary cutting, sewing, even typing was too painful. I was finally discharged by the doctor on Thursday and given the OK to resume normal activity. With the understanding that I'd go slow, and rest when it hurts. I am frustrated but glad to be spending time sewing again.

You may be familiar with Persimon Dreams Kim Lapacek's Project Quilting. You can read all about it but the short story is she issues several challenges and you have a week to post your entry. Lots of prizes are available, but the main point is to challenge yourself creatively. The first challenge, issued on January 1, was "8 is Great." This is the eighth year of Project Quilting. I have wanted to participate in the past but never completed anything. I decided this was the time to join. I spent the week making this small quilt.

18" x 18"

It is from a pattern by Elizabeth Hartman called Octagonal Orb. I simply Googled "eight" and started looking through the images that came up. I was hoping to find something that would inspire an idea, but found this pattern instead. I love it! I just happened to have a 10" square package of Island Batiks on hand. 

I divided the fabrics up into three piles: dark, medium and light. Choosing six from each, I made the rings of the orb go from dark in the middle to medium to light on the outside. I just love the pastel colors and wanted to have more of those, so the largest outside ring was the best position. I have yardage of the grey on hand, Charcoal Kona Cotton.

 

This was a fun project to make. Now, as the Project Quilting challenges continue, I need to work on my quilting. This is just stitched in the ditch around each ring. I need to practice a bit and just go for it on the next challenge. 

Now that I am sewing a bit again I will return to the Ruby Short McKim 101 Patchwork Patterns quilt. The next block will be available in a couple days. 

Mary