Design Wall Mon. Feb. 27 / 17

Another Monday has come (and is almost gone), and I've got progress to report!  Is it on the two items that I need to finish for February?  No, of course not...!  Why would I want to deprive myself of the angst that comes from procrastinating?  Haha...
As I mentioned in my last post, I've stumbled across a really fun new project (Raspberry Kiss blocks), and I can't stop making blocks for it.  Thankfully, I found directions for making 9" (unfinished) blocks, instead of the 5" (unfinished) blocks that most are making.  I probably would have made the blocks anyway (I've made quite a few tiny quilts - those are large in comparison!), but these blocks will get me to my finish so much sooner.  I picked up a few new low-volume FQs at my LQS last week, and I'm putting them to good use - as you can see:

This is not a final layout - I have a lot more blocks in varying stages of completion, but this shows my progress quite nicely.

Also on the Design Wall today are 2 more blocks for the Big Quilt Bee - these blocks will go to my guild meeting in 2 weeks, along with the other 4 that I've already made.  We're planning a sewing day to assemble as many tops as we can; they'll then be quilted and sent off to benefit a child / family that needs the services of Ronald McDonald houses across the country.  I managed to get the "150 years" portion of the fabric in one of the blocks.  I'm debating going for another FQ with a different colour scheme - I've finally used up all of my aqua scraps.

Linking up with Judy (Design Wall Monday), Cynthia (Oh Scrap!), Sandy (Let's S.E.W. link-up) and Kat (Sew Some Love).

Falling down a rabbit hole...

I have SO many quilt-y things to work on, and the last thing I need is a new project - but that was before I looked on Instagram yesterday....
Yup, I saw multiple "Raspberry Kiss Blocks" - and I fell for them - hard!  So, what did I do?  This morning, I started pulling scraps to make "just a few".  Well, actually, I think I cut enough bright scrappy bits of fabric to make a twin-size quilt.  I didn't have a lot of time to work on the blocks today, but I did manage to make 12 to start.  I've only recently started compiling a stash of low-volume prints (I love this 3 Blind Mice print!)

so I may have to work on that before I can get too much more done...  What's that - I have to go fabric shopping??!!  

This probably won't be the final layout - and I have quite a few more blocks to assemble, but it's a start!

Linking up to Judy's Design Wall post, and also Cynthia's Oh Scrap post.  Thanks for stopping by!

On the Needles - 2 weeks later...

I didn't realize that 2 weeks had passed since I last posted!  We were able to get away for a few days over the last weekend, so that probably has something to do with it...  As well, both my father, and my MIL have been dealing with health issues that have taken up some of my time - and I had a nasty cold that zapped my energy for a few days too.
So, now that you've heard all my excuses, I do have a few things to share!  I managed to finish the baby sweater and hat for my friend - before the baby was born.  My friend was thrilled with the outfit - and as soon as she sews the buttons on the sweater, the baby can come!

I was also able to get quite a bit of knitting done on my grandsons sweaters!  (An 8 hour drive each way on our trip helped...).  The picture from 2 weeks ago clearly shows two sweaters, with one sleeve between them - and now, the sleeves have all been knit, added in to the sweaters, and the cabled yokes have been started.  I think I have to knit 5-6 cable repeats, and I'm 2 rows into the 2nd cable round.

I'm hoping to have them done for the end of the month to meet my Ravelry goal... to finish these 2 sweaters (on my way to finish 17 items in 2017).  I completed 3 in January; this will bring the total to 5 done!

Linking up to Judy's On the Needles report.

On The Needles Feb. 3, 2017

It's obviously been a while since I posted an OTN report - I incorrectly wrote Jan. on the heading!  I always seem to have a number of knitting projects on the go, and every so often new ones get thrown in too.  As a matter of fact, I have so many Un-Finished Objects in my house, that I decided that I needed an intervention of sorts.
I've been a member of Ravelry for a number of years - it's a community of knitters, crocheters, and even some spinners, and it's addicting (just like Pinterest!).  People are forever sharing what they're working on, and it often inspires me to want to knit / crochet that same item.  One thing that Ravelry can't provide is more hours in my day - so I've learned to think twice when I save a pattern to my library.  At the rate that I'm knitting, and also saving interesting patterns, I'll have to live to be 103 - and that's only to make my currently saved items!
But, Ravelry also has some really great offerings - you can join all kinds of groups, and one that caught my eye a few weeks ago was "17 in 2017" - kind of an accountability group.  We were encouraged to list 17 UFOs that we'd like to finish this year, and then we're to choose something from that list every month (actually a few somethings, or we'd never finish all 17).  February's challenge was to finish something that would be a gift or something that would show our love to someone - Valentine's Day does fall in February after all!
I've chosen to finish the "Antler" sweaters that I started for my grandsons late last fall.

I have most of the first one done, and am not too far behind on the 2nd.  My daughter chose the yarn - the darker sweater is for the 2-year old, and the turquoise one is for the 2-month old.  These sweaters should fit in the fall, and maybe even into next fall.

However, those plans have had to be set aside temporarily - a friend's daughter is expecting her first baby, and the proud grandmother wanted a sweater and hat knit for the baby - but she doesn't knit.  I agreed to knit the set for her, and I'm almost ready to hand it over to her.  The sweater needs to have the underarm seams sewn, and then the sweater needs to be blocked.  The hat is fairly straight-forward, but it will have a knitted bow attached to one side.  I should be able to have it done tomorrow...

I'm linking up to Judy's On The Needles post.

Quilt UFO project list

I mentioned in my last post that I had forgotten to make, and post, my quilt UFO list, so I'm going to fix that right now.
Warning, this will be a fairly boring post!
 #1 Pink / brown log cabin swap blocks - needs a few blocks yet, and then assemble and quilt.
 #2 Scrappy rectangles leader / ender project - make enough blocks, assemble and quilt.
 #3 Moose on the Porch Quilts layer-cake-quilt-along - assemble top, quilt.
 #4 Black, white and red braid - it's cut out, sew the strips, assemble the top, quilt.
 #5 Amish Star swap blocks - maybe make another block or two, assemble, quilt
 #6 Dancing Plus '366 quilt blocks' challenge - I have enough for 2 or 3 tops - hope to at least                     assemble the tops - maybe even quilt one?
 #7 Dresden Plates - finish sewing plates to the blocks, sash and assemble top, quilt.
 #8 2 small 'chevron' quilts (baby and adult scrappy versions) - assemble tops and quilt.
 #9 Large scale floral 9-patch swap blocks - assemble the top, with sashing, quilt.
#10 Twist Quilt (found here) - cut B/G fabric, make and assemble blocks, quilt
#11 B/W 9-patch quilt (inspired by this quilt) - assemble blocks, top, then quilt
#12 Comma quilt - the pieces are cut, and a few are sewn up...!  Get this one finished!

Judy picked #3 for January, and you can see my completed quilt here. February's quilt is #9 - the large scale floral 9-patch blocks that Cathy  and I made and swapped in 2015.  Here's her completed quilt.

January 2017 UFO challenge quilt completed!

At the beginning of the year, I decided that I'd better get to working on some of my (very) many UFOs.  Some of them are quilts, some are knitting / crocheting projects, and some of them are more organizational (I still have things of my mom's to sort through - she passed away almost 5 years ago...).  It's definitely time to finish, destash, donate - you get the picture.
Judy over at Patchwork Times challenged us to make a list of 12 of our UFOs.  Each month, she'll pick a number, and we have to work on / finish the project on our list that corresponds to that number.  I dutifully made my list (which I forgot to post), and when she announced that January's project would be #3 on our lists, I was excited to see that it was one of my oldest UFOs!
Way back in 2010, Moose on the Porch Quilts hosted a layer-cake-quilt-along.  I thought it looked like a great way to make a quilt, but I had never bought a layer cake before, so I headed off to my LQS.  The only layer cake they had in stock was by Kansas Troubles- not exactly my style, but, it was a layer cake, so it came home with me.  I finally finished the blocks in 2012, but the fabrics didn't really excite me, so it got tucked away in a box.  I found it back in Nov. 2016, and decided that I needed to finish the quilt and give it to someone that was more in need of a warm quilt, and not so fussy about the dark colours.  I also found out that one of the block designers is a fellow Ontarian - I stumbled on her blog one day, and she encouraged me to finish the quilt - so Sarah, here it is!

Sarah's block is the purple basket, left side, row 2.  I still have to finish off some threads, but that's easily enough done in an evening, so it should be on the "donate" pile tomorrow morning!