Nine Patch Strings

The start of my blocks. 

Oh dear I have started a new quilt. On one of my favorite face book group Scrap Quilt Enthusiats, someone showed a quilt made with many strings. 

It had a nine patch in the center and worked out like log cabin or even courthouse step kind of blocks. I think the nine patch was 5 white and 4 black. With out thinking about it I did mine 5 Black and 4 white squares for the nine patch. 

It works. 

I have been sorting some of my strings. I think I had five or six places to go digging. 

My Pretty Pony. He will turn 20 later this year. His back is still looking good and strong. 

Snow Dyed

We have very little snow left but back when we had some a friend and I did a quick bit of snow dying. My friend's 2 pieces of fabric in the snow bank.

My fabric in the snow bank.

Mine fabrics on the left side and my friends 2 are on the right side. 

Green Saturday

I have been working hard on my Green scraps, I just have not been good about Blogging about it. The first week I got 9 of these 6 1/2" blocks done. they use 2" squares. I had some 2" square cut and left over but trimmed up a few more so I had good variety. 

See how much is tided up. I have more green scraps then any other colour. Most of the time I have Lime sorted out, but this month I have some mixed in. I love green!

I got 27 pinwheels done. So now I have enough to make a little quilt. Last winter I started to make pinwheels but last year I did not get to my green. 

I have started to sew it all together. It will be so cute. a perfect baby gift. 

I have added this post to the link up on Socrappy as it is part of the Rainbow scrap challenge 2019.

Must Ketchup

I got my Good Fortune Mystery, Pattern by Bonnie Hunter, is now a top. I still have to finish all the pieced boarders. Two more to go. I think I will just do it the way she had the quilt. I see others added or took off boarders. But I like the way she had it. 

Sorry it has been a month since my last post. I have been trying to stay off the computer a bit and get real life work done. 

I dyed some wool for sock knitting. I have started to use the blue green one. It is knitting up well. 

I also got another pair of wool socks done. This was also a hand dyed wool that I did a few years ago. I have wore them now. 

Looks like spring is on the way. We had lots of snow but it is melting. Saturday I rode my horse in the snowy fields. 

Yellow Talking Turkey blocks

Yellow is the colour for the month of February with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2019. 

I had many parts done for these blocks and now have them together. Not sure if I really want 5 yellow blocks in this quilt or not. I have no idea how many blocks I want in total.  

Talking Turkey is block from Bonnie Hunter's String Fling quilt book. 

So far I have 4 colour each with 5 blocks done. I know I need green for sure. Maybe more colours. I am worried that 5 blocks of each colour and How many colours could be to many blocks. These blocks are a bit bigger, like 14" or so. Maybe I am on my way to 2 smaller quilts. Not sure. 

I have added this post to Soscrappy and the link party. 

New Socks

I got my next pair of wool socks done. I bought this yarn this past fall on our little trip to Canmore, I had to shop at the Sugar Pine Cottage. One of the best quilt shops and it also has yarn. 

I love the lime green and other jewel colours. It was self stripping yarn. 

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day

I am making some heart blocks again for a group hug quilt. So far I have 7 pink heart blocks done. 

These finish up to be 6" square. I start by using 2" units. I work hard at mixing up all the different prints of pink I have. Some have a little more orange or purple but it all works. 

Tonight we are having a family dinner at home. I have baked a Blue berry and Raspberry pie for desert. I got Chocolates from my sweet heart. 

Wool Sock Repair

I got a pair of socks fixed up. I love these hand knit socks but after a while they wear out. I make holes on the ball of my foot and then the heal. The wool just wears so thin. I have knitted new toes on this pair a few years ago. Well this time the heal also was going. So I got some new yarn and used the top of the sock only. I made the heal and all of the foot from new yarn. 

We have been crazy cold this week. Knitting wool socks just feels like the thing to do. 

Here is the next pair that needs fixing, both socks need fixing. I have saved the top part of the sock and bought a new matching yarn. The yarn has 25% nylon which does last a little longer then pure wool. 

Yellow 16 patches

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2019 is well under way. I have slowly been working on some yellow scraps. I do not have tons of yellow or do I have too many wholes in the blocks that yellow is needed. I needed these yellow 16 patches made using 2" squares. I have a few yellows that are almost brown. But they work in these little blocks. 

I am planning to use some of these 16 patches mixed in with 6 1/2" sampler blocks. See how I can move from one colour to the next. I have not worked out all the design questions but here is a sample of what I am planning. 

I needed blue 16 patch blocks and I know it is not blue this month, but I had it out. So I got them made. Part of my catching up on missing blocks. Maybe it will help me get some quilt tops done. 

Here is the green sampler blocks and the yellow 16 and Blue 16 patches mixed together. They look good together. 

I am a day late but I am adding this to the link up on Soscrappy and the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2019.  

Shoe Box Block Exchange

I got this block done for the Leduc Guild's Shoe Box Exchange. We pass around the shoe boxes at each meeting. Last month I had this box with the purple fabric and the pattern. I added the 2 floral fabrics and made this block. 

There were 3 blocks in the box already. Here are the 4 together. I kind of liked doing this block. I have saved a copy of the pattern and might make more blocks. At the end of the whole shoe box exchange we will draw a winner of the blocks. 

Red String Blocks

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2019 is working on your Red scraps this month. My reds are in good shape, sorted, many blocks made last year. But I did not get my Red string blocks done till this Saturday. I got 14 half red blocks done. Some Lime and Purples were done to those are done ready to be trimmed. 

Then I had computer trouble. My editing program is not working well. I could not resize my photos. Well today I got it partly done but with a different program. Not really happy with what I used. So I am still in the hunt for a good program that is easy and quick to use. 

Here is one block ready for another colour on the other half. There are Chickens and Cherries prints. 

More Red is over at Socrappy. So many ideas for scrap quilts. Check it out. This looks to be the last Saturday of Jan so Feb will have a new colour, looks like that might be Yellow. 

So it it Monday I will also join the Design Wall Monday over at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts. 

Socks Finished

Every winter I slowly work on hand knitted wool socks. I got this pair done recently. I can now wear them but it is to be warm for a few days. Maybe Monday as it is to get cooler again. 

Here they are on my feet. 

When I looked at this pair, they had just one toe to finish up and tuck away the ends. I think I started them back in 2016. So I guess last year I did not really finish any socks. 

The yarn pattern was not a real match up. But they were the same lot number. 

I have more socks started again. Also I have some I need to repair. I always put holes in the ball of the toes. Sometimes I can redo the toe but then the heals go in just a few more wears. Some very old ones I am using new wool and knitting new feet. the angle does not wear out. 

I have added this to Confessions of a fabric addict.

Red Scraps

The Design Wall this week

For many years I have followed along with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

This year I will be doing more scrap sewing again. 

RSC 2019 here we come!

6 1/2" blocks made with 2" squares

I have done 9 - 16 patches. I had some done but they had one square a different colour. I have decided that I wanted some full red. I have a few colours out of control but red is in good shape. I already had all the red 2" squares cut and ready to go. So easy this week.

 Next up in red should be some string blocks. 

 16 blocks 4 1/2" Pin wheels in Blue

Last year I had trouble with my blue scraps. Way out of control. It took me most of the month just to trim and cut and sort the boxes of blue. So I did not get these sewn together. So this year I need to do some other colours now and then, like Blue and Green. 

Also I have to work towards getting tops and quilts done. You might see me working on odd colours or the tops and quilting. I am hopping for more finishing this year. There are some quilt shows to enter. I also only quilted 2 of my own quilts this past year. 

These Red blocks are from Canada's 150 Women blocks. My mom, Betty and I are working on the blocks together. I am way behind. Only 25 block of my 75 done. So here are 4 more blocks, 6" square. 

I have linked this with Soscrappy and the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2019.

Mom's NCW

Yesterday I posted about Gaylene's NCW I made her for Christmas. I realized I forgot to post Betty's NCW I made her back in Aug 2018 for her Birthday. 

I have used a warm lime green leather for the out part and Tula Pinks Squirrels for the flap. My mom Betty, loves lime green and turquoise just like I do. I used gold metal findings on this one. 

Here is the inside view. So the squirrels on the inside flap again, and then the side and card slots are my hand dyed fabrics. 

Here is my Frog wallet and Betty's squirrels together. 

NCW for Sister in law

For Christmas I worked on this wallet for my Sister in law. The pattern is called Necessary Clutch Wallet. Or NCW it is called. I used a dark Navy leather on the outside and for the handle. Then I used Tula Pink's Owl print for the flap and sides. The solid purple is one of my Hand Dyed fabrics. 

There are 2 areas to put your cards. I also did this inside flap so you can put your cell phone inside and not have it flip out. 

The hard ware I used is the Rainbow finish. It was so perfect with the Owl print. I hope she loves the wallet. I know I love how it turned out. 

On the side you can see I used Chicago screws and then did not sew up the sides. I did it for my wallet. After I am happy with that part I put a dob of glue in the screw so they stay in place.  

Orca Bay Top Done

I have been working on Bonnie Hunter mystery quilts for years. Yesterday I got all caught up on the  last step of Good Forture. 

So what was I to do?

I got out Orca Bay today and got the top done. 

First Finish of the year. Now to put it in the list for machine quilting. 

Here is a little more of the detail. The corner is pinned and pulling a bit. 

I also did a little bit of Cleaning. I sorted out all my zippers. Oopps I have a few zippers. I would like to get them hung up some where. Thinking of what I can do to hang them.