The Train is still movin' on....

These blocks were made in the last couple days. i only have 5 left and hope to get them done by next week. there is a trip to my sis's in the plans if Mother Nature doesn't foil us with the ice and snow that they are talking about.

Here comes the cookie car. i think they put the wrong guy in charge of this car....check out how chubby he is. that would have been me, too, if i had that car. cookies...good...yum.  

And we need lots of presents...looks like the snow lady wrapped herself instead of presents.

Need lots of pretty ornies for those trees, too.

Another of my personal favorites...right up there with cookies....peppermint candy canes.

And who knew snow people could knit....what with not having fingers...LOL    lots of mittens, scarfs and hats

Wonder if there is a caboose...there would have to be..right?  haven't seen one yet. it should have the coal for the snow people's eyes and mouth.

We shall find out next week when all the other 5 blocks are embroidered.

Till then ... stay warm...all this talk of snow is making me cold.

The Snowman Train is getting longer

I have done more Snowman Train blocks and they were tacked on my design wall for a couple weeks. i had to take them down yesterday to make room and i remembered i had not shown them to you....and they are too stinkin cute not to share.

First we have the engine....can't have a train without an engine...i just love his engineer's hat

And a car full of stars to fill the night sky..

And no fashionable snowman would be caught dead without his tophat.

Christmas isn't Christmas without a tree....all kinds of trees. and these little peppermint wheels just make me want peppermints.

And then we have brooms...i was rather stymied with the brooms...i relate brooms with witches. but i do remember seeing some snowmen holding brooms so i guess that is ok. you can always borrow the broom to sweep the walk.

Do you make your snowmen with brooms? i never did. of course, if i dared to borrow the broom to give to a snowman my mother would have used the broom on me. LOL

More to come

Neutral Selvage Quilt

I'm still pushing the selvages....trying to get a lot of them used up. here is something i did with some neutrals.

It's just plain muslin blocks with selvages on half of it...corner to corner. the only difference is that i used the same selvage for the whole block.

Had i actually HAD a plan before i started.....hahahahahahaha.....i might have changed the value of some of the selvages so they wouldn't blend in so much. just how do you remind yourself to have a plan. i think i'm just too old to change my ways...been flying by the seat of my pants for entirely too long. and once you see the picture you see how you could have set the blocks better.

I also added a border with selvages. i put this on a muslin backing, too. it's much easier that way and stays in place and together. i cut the muslin 6" wide and the selvages into 6" pieces. then after they were all stitched on i trimmed it all down to 5.5". easy

Here is the back. i used a panto on it. the quilt is about 80x82. again...not a plan. i just stopped making blocks when i got tired of making them and messed with them until i came up with this design.

I used a panto called Star Swirl. i use it a lot...it goes quickly and covers a lot of ground in a little time.

Now i have to come up with another 'plan' (LOL) for more selvages. perhaps purple.....or pink.

BOM

I don't care for too many Block of the Month themes. but if you like folk art you have to check out this one.

http://erinrussek.typepad.com/one-piece-at-a-time/my-tweets/

It is Erin's 2011 BOM "My Tweets". there are colorful birds and flowers in all bright colors. i have already ordered the center block....the only one you have to buy...the rest of the blocks are free on her blog.

How cool is that?

ANOTHER project i want to start NOW.......hahahahahahahaha

Sunbonnet Sue goes International

I just found this cool book by Debra Kimball....International Sunbonnet Sue. there are 49 applique Sues from all over the world. this might be my next project....soon.

This book just came out and is published by AQS. go look at it for yourself. if you are a Sue lover....you're gonna NEED this book.

It's like Sue took a world tour....here she is in Brazil, Canada, China and Egypt. i have the perfect fabric for the Egypt block.

Then she visited Ghana, Greece, Holland and Iceland. I hope i still have some African fabric left for the Ghana block.

She also went to Japan, Kenya, Korea and Mexico. gotta love a world traveler. LOL

I so want to start this NOW....down, girl....i have a few projects i have to finish up first. ssiiiigghh!!

But isn't she too cute?

Catching you up

Sheesh....it's been a week....honestly, i don't know where the time goes. i am busier than a one armed paperhanger but can't tell you what i've done.

I do know i have stacked a lot of wood...we have had snow a couple times. but nothing serious...thank God...just a few inches at a time. now there is a lot of mud.

But i have been stitching. i now have 2 of my hand applique baskets done....ta da!!

Oops....that last block needs another embroidery tendril...i'll get back to that. LOL  i have decided it is do-able but still not my favorite type of applique. i still struggle a lot. but i do get in a lot of HGTV while doing it. i have 2 more blocks to go.

I also finished these 2 blocks last night...homework from the afternoon's class.

My friend, Brenda, asked me to do a selvage presentation at her guild next month. so i have been pulling out the selvage tops and getting them quilted up. i'm sure the guild members would rather see quilts than tops.

This one was made with black and red selvages. it's sort of a wonky log cabin style. i tried to keep the 'center' squares off center ... sometimes it makes your eyes cross. LOL 

Here's a bit of a closeup. i quilted it with black thread on the top and gray on the bottom. and put a panto on it. nothing shows anyway.

Here's a bit of the back. the red backing came from Haik's when they were at the Kansas City show. i like their backings.

And i have added to the blocks for this quilt on the design wall. it will be king size and now no longer fits on the wall. i'm thinking i'll just keep making blocks and then figure out later how to lay it all out and then get it back together the right way. i have nowhere to lay this all out. not sure the floor will help me. any ideas for me???

I have about half of the blocks made.

Now i have to see how far i can get on the quilt on my frame....another selvage quilt....this time in neutrals and i did it a bit different....stay tune for pictures soon.

If the weather cooperates i may go out to the Duck this weekend and do a bit of work. i am anxious to order my front door and get it installed. the Duck needs a little love.

Take care and try to thing Spring!



Neutral crazy quilt

I have lots of piecing projects ongoing at the house that i could be working on....the green selvage quilt; the selvage tumbler blocks; the paper piecing vegetables from way back; the little 5" scrap blocks, etc.

And you know i need about 12 projects going at once to feel satisfied and stressed. so i drug out my neutral crazy quilt blocks to work on a bit last night. i had already done 8 blocks...every 4 identical and put them together into a larger block to form a pinwheel in the center. then i had stitched the seams with rick rack and lace and other goodies. i kind of liked it when i did them. but when i took them back out last night i realized they were awful and just threw them away. so last night i started over and did these 4 blocks.

no planning on placement of fabrics except to not use the same fabric twice in a block. but each block is the same pattern....paper pieced. i will stitch the seam embellishments by hand rather than adding other things. i think i will like that better. the ones that i threw away were just gaudy...yeck!

The plan for this is to be a queen size quilt for my bedroom in the ugly duckling....some day. so there is no hurry on it. might do a few more blocks before it gets put away again for a while.

On another note.... I did decide to hand applique all 4 basket blocks on my class quilt so i will work on that in the evenings till they are done...then get back to the Amish cross stitch.

I do wish they would put more things worth watching on TV. normally i am not a tv watcher at all. but while i am stitching in the evenings i have the tv on to amuse myself. my first choice is to watch HGTV....i like the home shows....especially house hunters international. and occasionally there is a good movie that i haven't seen. but for the most part....TV Sucks. who is in charge of all these shows...they need new people making decisions.

Better get back to quilting or the quilt on the frame will never get done. the deadline in my head is to be done for monday's quilt class so i can take it to its owner. but if we get all the snow they are predicting....i might not GET to quilt class. but i better go quilt anyway....just in case.

If you have snow.....i hope you are staying warm.....if you don't have snow....i am jealous.