Snow Days and More

Well, actually, everything I am about to show you was completed long before the snow started to fly.  As summer turned to fall I began stitching Snow Days, the January block of the Sweet Nostalgia BOM.

 

The last time I showed you my Kansas Dug-Out, I was deciding on border and binding colour.  As you can see I went with a black border and coloured binding.  This little dug-out was hand pieced and quilted, in the ditch, with black thread.

My third Hocuspocusville block, Spooky Lou's.

And, a long time coming, but now finished my Amish Stripe quilt.  Machine pieced in 2008 and recently hand quilted with a variegated thread.

I also machine quilted my free-form quilt and decided not to square up the edges before binding.  Letting it  remain in its free-form state seemed like the thing to do.

Remember Jeanneke's Building Houses with Scraps from last year?  Well, here is my mini version.  I hand pieced a house or two each month and put it all together before the end of the year.  Once hand quilted the binding will be done in the same fabric as the corner squares.

And, what I spent most of my time working on, my Shades of Autumn POTC quilt top.  The blocks were hand pieced in 2009-2010, but I still had a long way to go added the sashing and borders.

The colour in this photo is more true to the fabric I used for the Shades of Autumn POTC background.  So, try and image this earthy yellow colour instead of the washed out white (damn the camera) in the quilt top photo above,  Much nicer, yes?

That was autumn and it's on to winter, more to tell you another day.

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

Country Comfort

From Rosemary Wilkinson's book, Quick Quilts to Make in a Weekend came Country Comfort, a nice utility quilt perfect for big stitch quilting and homespun fabric.

What I like best about Country Comfort is the big flower template used for quilting.  And, what makes it interesting is you center it over the seam of two joining blocks, instead of in the middle of each block.  Now, it was pieced together in a weekend, but hand quilting it will be a whole other weekend or two.

Every fall, as the weather starts to turn I think about crocheting again, but never do. Well, this year out came my crochet books and a few balls of yarn to practice with. I started at the beginning, reviewed all the basic stitches and was surprised how much I remembered.

Deciding what to crochet is proving to be difficult, as I would like to use up the odd balls of yarn I have around the house first.  How easy it would be to just pick a pattern and head off to the yarn shop, but I'll try not to do that.

In the meantime, I have been happily working on one of my Hocuspocusville stitchery blocks and joining together my Shades of Autumn, POTC blocks, which is looking pretty good, but very slow going.  So, it looks like my fall project will continue right into winter, if need be, to finish it.

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

Christmas Break

This will be my last post until the New Year, as I am running on empty and the holidays are fast approaching.  I need to focus on Christmas preparations and catch up on some much needed rest.

Maybe it is an age thing, but every year seems to pass by faster then the last.  It has been a wonderful blogging year and I thank you for your company.  I look forward to reconnecting in the New Year and all the inspiration to be found along the way. 

170 Klosjes Completed

7 made two weeks ago

My sewing room has been organized from top to bottom and now the untrained eye would not know of my quilting hoarder ways. I did ask Santa for more time to quilt, in the New Year, so I will just have to wait and see what he leaves in my stocking.

Sashing is starting to go around my Shades of Autumn POTC blocks. Three of the sixteen blocks are now completed and I am very pleased with the results.  You can see the colour of the Bali Bluff fabric more accurately on a previous posting.

Over the holidays I hope to finish the last two blocks for my Ring in the New! stitchery and work on other hand piecing projects. I will also continue joining my flowers together, each Wednesday, for One Flower Wednesday and plan on visiting any Garden Party members that post over the holiday season.

May the spirit of Christmas bring you peace,

The gladness of Christmas give you hope,

The warmth of Christmas grant you love.

~Author Unknown

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays!

Until next year.....happy quilting!

Karen

A Little Bit of Orange

Road Trip

We covered miles and miles of road and enjoyed the fall foliage along the way.  Twelve quilt shops and 23 yards of fabric later, I had a very good time indeed.   Just one photo to show you, I seem to have taken a fancy to the colour orange.  Not everything was orange; I bought lots of other colours too!

Ring in the New!  BOM

I fell behind on my Ring in the New! BOM, but now I am caught up.  If you remember, I added an accent colour to the January and February block and thought I would do the same on the October block, but I do not like it, so the moon with be changed to black.

October

Shadows of a thousand years rise again unseen,

Voices whisper in the trees, "Tonight is Halloween!"

D. Kozen

September

Mighty oaks from tiny acorns grow.

August

Whilst August yet wears her golden crown,

Ripening fields lush - bright with promise...

Michelle L. Thieme

Lucy

Left all alone in a very big world, how do things like this come to be?  Looking out my window exactly when I did, I guess it was meant to be.

Say cheese for the camera Lucy!

October Clamshell Report

October was not as productive a month as September when I started fresh and stitched 67 clamshells together, but I did squeeze in a little time and added 18 new clamshells to my quilt, for a total of 85.  Just 635 to go!

149 Klosjes Completed

4 made this week

I'm seeing more and more finished and near finished klosjes quilts and they are all so beautiful!  My background fabric will soon run out, but I have found a couple other fabrics that will match nicely.  My goal is to make 500 klosjes, and then I will start piecing them together.

Patchwork of the Crosses (POTC)

Shades of Autumn

Back to working on my POTC quilt, I did a rough count and believe I need 504 elongated hexagons for sashing and the border.  The thought of tracing and cutting out that many pieces from a plastic template is delightful! 

When witches go riding,

and black cats are seen,

the moon laughs and whispers,

‘tis near Halloween.

~Author Unknown

Well, it is time for some milk and cookies, and then back to my sewing machine.  Soon I will be finished Louisa and another one crossed off my list.

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

Last of the POTC Blocks

Late Harvest

Indian Summer

A Walk in the Woods

The last three blocks for my POTC, Shades of Autumn quilt are finished. Now, I must decide on the background fabric. This has been on my mind since last October and is slowly driving me crazy.  I keep thinking it should be something rich and earthy to go with the autumn colours in the blocks, but as I audition this type of fabric it seems to take the attention away from the blocks. 

The original quilt is done in white and it really makes the blocks pop.  Maybe I should be focusing on a light to medium beige or cream.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  Plus, I need any accent colour to go with the background fabric. 

The photo above, of all sixteen blocks, is not the layout for my finished quilt.  I have yet to decide that.  As you can see, my focus was more on making autumn coloured blocks then fussy cutting them.  This is just an excuse to make another, all fussy cut POTC quilt.

Blooming abundantly in my garden this spring is Hellebores.

63

Klosjes Completed

8 made this week

My project box is now empty!  All 63 prepped spools have been made.  With rain in the forecast, this weekend, most likely you will find me in my sewing room preparing another large batch of klosjes.

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

Books a Plenty

I'm a lover of books.  In fact, I have a bit of a weakness for them.  My personal library currently holds 156 quilt related books.  Quilting the Garden and When the Cold Wind Blows are my latest additions.  And, speaking of cold winds, is this not the perfect time of year to lose one's self in a good book?

 

The love of learning, the sequestered nooks,

And all the sweet serenity of books.

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

POTC Signs of Fall

Sorry about the photo!  The white parts are really a rich cream.

POTC Autumn's Eve

Something else I have a weakness for are POTC blocks.  I am almost tempted to increase the size of my quilt.   But, once I start cutting out the 500 plus pieces (by hand) that I need to outline the blocks, I'm sure I will reconsider going larger.  Just three more blocks to go!

I purchased some DMC Satin Floss the other day and am guessing it is a fairly new product, as I have not seen it before.  Made from 100% rayon, it is very soft and has a brilliant sheen.  Maybe I can work some into Summer's Gone, my first Sweet Nostalgia block, which is almost half completed. 

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

Simple Pleasures

Nothing like a bowl of homemade soup

and a good book.

~

If you are a fan of Piece O' Cake Designs, you're going to love Applique Outside the Lines. I have four other Piece O' Cake books, plus Aunt Millie's Garden. The Applique Sampler, Contemporary Classics in Plaids & Stripes, Quilts with a Spin and my most favourite, Amish-Inspired. I plan to start my first Piece O' Cake project in 2010, a pattern from Amish-Inspired.

I finished my November Country Calendar block. So cute! This little robin is searching the garden for something to eat. Don't forget to keep your bird feeders topped up for the winter.

POTC Early Autumn

Just five more POTC blocks to go! My sister named this one Early Autumn. When the leaves start to change colour and berries begin to appear. I'm very pleased with this block.

You may have seen, in the first issue of Quilter's Connection magazine a cute stitchery quilt pattern called, Tree Trimming Party, by Dougal Ann Walker of The Freckles Collection. This pattern is now on my To-Do list. I came across more patterns by Dougal Ann Walker, at my local quilt shop and just couldn't leave without It's a Cat's Life and Quiltmakers. Are they not just the cutest?

Until next week.....happy quilting!

Karen

Circa 1890

Corean Liggitt 1872-1946

Isn't this quilt just beautiful? It was made by Corean Liggitt from Hopewell Township, Pennsylvania, in 1890. Made as a wedding gift, for a family member and all done by hand. The raw edges of each leaf was turned under and topstitched down, then she blanket stitched around the edges and stem stitched the veins. The center motif was recycled from a dress and then appliqued over intricate crocheted lacework. Cheddar yellow fabric was used for the background and the leaves were made from velvet, wool, silk, cotton and taffeta. The border was filled in with blanket stitched circles. The back of the quilt was made from men's handkerchiefs and a blanket was used as batting. All three layers were tied together with Perle cotton.

This beautiful Leaf Applique quilt was featured in the November 2008 issue of Quilters Newsletter magazine. Along with templates of the different leaves. Seventeen different leaves, to be exact, and a butterfly. Such a perfect quilt for me. Combining three things I love; hand applique, Autumn and stitchery. One day I shall make my own version of this beautiful quilt. Until that day, I will keep my eyes open for the perfect piece of cheddar yellow fabric.

POTC McIntosh

Two more completed Shades of Autumn POTC blocks

POTC Thanksgiving

Until next week.....happy quilting!

Karen