Design Wall Monday - October 16, 2023

Good Morning Quilters!

We have been on vacation this week, and went to Lubbock, Texas to visit a granddaughter who is a student at Texas Tech.  She is a baton twirler with their band.  We had a nice week watching their great band, and going to see the football game on Saturday.  Their team lost, but we thought the halftime show was terrific, especially the baton twirlers!

Here’s a picture of us with her:

While traveling with our daughter to the game, our daughter crocheted, and I knitted.  Here’s our progress:

First, Christa made me “Frog and Toad” to give to our great-grandson as a birthday gift.  I have three of the classic Frog and Toad books to give him, and thought he would like some stuffed animals to go with the books.  Christa is so talented and can crochet anything in such a short time.  It’s fun to watch her.  I am going to add mouths of black yarn after I look at the book illustrations.

I knitted several cotton dishcloths/washcloths as small gifts for friends:

So that’s about it around here, as we were away most of the week.  I will be back home to work on quilting this week, and hope to have some progress to show you by next Monday.  .  I know you have some progress to show me today!  Thanks for joining in our Design Wall Monday Linky Party. 

just add your link below and remember to mention Design Wall Monday within your post.  Your projects are much more interesting than mine this week, so I’m looking forward to reading your blogs and seeing your project pictures.

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Design Wall Monday - September 25, 2023

 Good Morning Quilters!

Not much quilting going on here this week.  It’s been perfect weather in Michigan all week, and I’ve planted mums, bought a big pumpkin for the front porch, and canned some more tomatoes.  Fall has overtaken me, and I love it!  We live about a mile from an orchard that features homemade pumpkin spice donuts in the fall, and I may have overindulged on them too.  It’s all good!

The only crafty things I have to show you are some pink sparkly yarn princess crowns I am making for four little girls that are special to me.  They are sisters (6 yrs. old down to newborn) and I saw this easy crocheted princess crown pattern and thought of them.  Here’s a picture of the four crowns, with a doll crown in the foreground.  Pattern is free on the internet (Here)

The doll size little crown is so cute, so I am making a few of that size too.  I took a picture of it with a quarter, to show the size.  

I also finished a little tiny Christmas stocking (knitted) that had been started a long time ago, and is now completed.  Here’s a picture to show the size of it:

 

So as you can see, I’ve been all over the place, but not doing any quilting.  This coming week the Cousin’s Walk bird blocks will be what I plan on working on…..but you never know what the week will bring.  

Are you focused on one project right now, or, like me, are you enjoying fall weather too much to stay focused?  I’m looking forward to your blog posts and pictures.  Please join our Design Wall Monday Linky Party below, and show us!  Thanks!

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Design Wall Monday - August 16, 2021

 Good Morning Quilters!  This past week I’ve finished a couple of projects that I was working on.  The crocheted afghan that my daughter and I worked on is finished.  It will be donated soon to a Grand Rapids non-profit organization.  

I found out that JoAnn’s Fabrics has the “Warm White” Red Heart yarn that I need to finish the baby afghan that I started for a future great-grandchild.  I will wait until I’m in Grand Rapids where there is a JoAnn’s store nearby.  So that project is on hold temporarily.

The little brown squirrel on the dish towel is complete.  I am so happy to complete some of these projects I’ve started previously.  

Since I looked at my yarn stash last week, I decided to get all my crocheting and knitting patterns out and look at them….and I got enthused about using some of my yarn.  I’ve started with my cotton yarn stash, and am having fun making new dishcloths.  Here is the one I made that used up three different leftover pink yarns:

The cotton yarn stash isn’t very big, and I like to knit and crochet, so right now I  have a dishcloth project in a carry bag with me to work on whenever I get a chance.  My plan is to use all the cotton yarn up.    The next one I have started is a knitted red dishcloth.  

What are you working on this week?  Please join the Design Wall Monday Linky Party and show us.  

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Design Wall Monday - September 24, 2018

Another week with not much going on for the Design Wall.  I am concentrating on quilting projects today and tomorrow, so I should have some progress to show you next week.

A non-quilting job just finished is a new sweater for a little bear.  I bought this little bear in an antique shop last year, and he wore a brown striped sweater with a red heart.  Adorable.   When I got him home, I noticed several moth holes in the back of the sweater.  I took it off, and threw it away.  I was glad there were no moth holes in the little bear.  He has been sweater-less until my recent project of making Christmas stockings for our son's family.  While on a road trip up north, I had the yarn for the Christmas project with me, and made him a red, green and white sweater, using the yarn I had with me.  Perfect for little bear, and he is now sitting on our fireplace mantle, looking very pleased with his new sweater.

This week I accomplished some mending jobs.  I hate to mend........it brings me no joy.  But it is necessary sometimes.  As some of you know, I am responsible for my younger sister who is now 70 years old.  Due to some of her healh issues, she has lost some weight, and was safety pinning her pants at the waistband to keep them from falling down.  I took one pair of new pants that fit her home with me (as a guide) and seven pair of pants too big in the waist when I visited her Thursday.  I took them home to Grand Rapids, and used elastic from my stash, and fixed them all.  When I mentioned to my sister's older son that I was doing some mending for her......he said, "Would you do a couple of mending jobs for me too?"   So I did those two jobs too, a pair of shorts and a dog harness....As I said before, no joy.   I wonder why I get no joy from mending or alterations to clothing.  Do you?

The quilting projects I have for this week are binding on three quilts, labels and hanging sleeves for five others, so I should have some nice finishes for you next Monday.  We are down to only our own dog and no company, so quilting will happen and I am looking forward to spending time on quilts.

What is on your design wall today?

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Love Entwined - I am Love Ensnared, Love Enamored, Love Engulfed, Love Enchanted!!

I do have my colors selected for Love Entwined.  They are all from my stash. And I bought a book about Mariner's Compass construction.  

My head is filled with LE, and I look at pictures and notes on the web about other people's progress, and I am itching to start mine.  Here's a caricature of what I'm feeling like this summer at the cabin:

I haven't started on it yet because I brought several other projects with me to the cabin, to work on and I plan on starting on LE when I get back to Virginia, but my head is filled with LE.

Here's my progress on the other projects at hand:

Knitting a baby blanket to give away with my Virginia neighborhood craft club's January giving events:

Status:  Almost finished.  I work on this while watching Detroit Tiger games with my hubby.  Detroit is having a great season, and I am knitting away during the games.  It will be finished soon.

Birds of A Feather quilt by Blackbird Designs:  I thought I had this square finished, but decided to add some turquoise leaves to it, because there is turquoise in all the other squares, and it needed it.  So this one is now finished.

I have another one finished:

The Birds of A Feather project was started by my friend Sharyn, and I am taking it to the finish line, using some of Sharyn's fabrics, and some of mine.  So it has Sharyn's batiks, and some of my civil war fabrics, so it's a fun mix.  I am happy with my progress on it, and am starting another square.

Next project I have with me is the redwork quilt, and I am working on this square (or I should say, I'm not working on it).  My friend Dee and I are doing this project together, and both of our last names start with "H" so this square is appropriate.  It is on the back burner.  I shall put it in the car to work on while I'm riding about, while hubby is driving.

Next, binding a Maple Leaf Quilt that will go on the upstairs king sized bed at the cabin:

It came back from the machine quilter last summer; I took it to VA to do the binding; and it's back at the cabin, still waiting to be bound.  I will get this quilt bound this month, and show you a picture of it on the bed when it is there.  I was unsure of navy or shirting for the binding, and still haven't decided.  I don't think it matters much, as it's just a utility quilt.

The latest doll quilt status is:  top is finished, and I need a piece of flannel to use as batting, and then it will be quilted and bound.  It was so much fun to do that I hate to finish it.

The last project in my hands is the local Michigan quilt guild is doing a raffle quilt with squares of birds, either paper pieced or appliqued, and they want them on blue sky background.  Since I had some birds from Sharyn's Birds of A Feather that I wasn't going to be using on my version of it, I bought a fat quarter of sky fabric and made four squares for the guild raffle quilt.  I hope they like them:

So the above are things I've been working on while my head is thinking about Love Entwined.  I don't really have six hands as my cariacuture shows, but it would help sometimes.  

I will close with some visitors to our front yard this morning.  There was a Tom and a Hen, a teenager, and two little baby turkeys. They must have had two broods this year, and only one is still with them from the first brood.  

It's not a very good picture, as they turned to go just when I tried to take their picture - a little camera shy, I guess.

There's No Place Like Home

Hi friends,

I have been away again - caring for my sister in Michigan for the last week.  I'm back home again as of today, and am happy to be back by my sewing machine.  No sewing was done for the past week, but a lot was accomplished, and progress was made in my sister's care.  

While gone, I took a big ball of yarn with me, and here is how far I got with it:  It's to be a baby blanket for an infant - a donation project.

No quilt work will be done today though - I'm too tired, and also I am such a basketball fan, especially for Big Ten college teams, that I'm resting so I can stay up and watch two of their teams play in the NCAA Sweet 16 later tonight.  I'm rooting for Michigan State University against Duke, and the University of Michigan against Kansas.  So tonight it's basketball, and knitting during half-times.

I did a little work on the applique Birds of a Feather before I left, and am auditioning some red/yellow print fabric for the four flowers in the corners.  What do you think?