And Then There Was One

I think that everyone knows by now that the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative is suspending their fundraising operations at the end of 2013.  They have already stopped taking quilt donations and are now busy putting quilts on reserve to be sold at the International Quilt Show in Houston, TX.  One of my two remaining quilts has already been put on hold for Houston and there's just one left for sale.  Good to the Last Scrap seems to be an appropriate quilt to be the last one of my quilts to be offered for sale.  It's made of selvages...the last of the scraps...the last of my AAQI quilts!  Maybe this little quilt will help raise the last few dollars needed to finally put an end to Alzheimer's Disease!

You can purchase this quilt by clicking HERE.

Silent Sunday

Sewing Socks

Tweed yarn seems to be the hot item this fall...it's everywhere!  When I spotted this color called "patchwork gray" I couldn't pass it up.  These socks will be perfect to wear in the sewing room...stray threads of any color will certainly blend right in!

Placemats For The Holidays

Miss Two, our 10 year-old granddaughter, called on the phone the other day as I was finishing up a couple of placemats for our guild's most recent outreach project.  The conversation went something like this...

Miss Two:  What are you doing?
Me:  I'm quilting placemats for people who get Meals on Wheels.
Miss Two:  You can do that?!
Me:  Do what? Make things for people who get Meals on Wheels?
Miss Two:  No.  You can make placemats?  Did you make the ones that we use at your house???
Me:  Ummm...no.  I bought those at the store.
Miss Two:  Well...I think you should make yourself some too!

I don't know about the rest of you, but I really don't keep many things that I make for myself.  Why is that???  The placemats in the photo will be going to Meals on Wheels, but I think Miss Two is right...I should make myself some new placemats for the holidays too! 

It's Fleece Time!

Fall has definitely arrived here in Northern Pennsylvania!  Yesterday was cloudy and a chilly 55 degrees for a high...perfect weather to work on a fleece blanket.  Not only does it keep me warm while I'm working on it, but it will also keep a child entering into foster care warm too once it's finished.

For more information on how to make fleece blankets like this one click HERE.

Silent Sunday

Let There Be Light!

Did you hear my big sigh of relief?  My machine has been fixed and thankfully the problem was just the light and not a major electrical issue.  A whole new lamp has been installed and how nice it is to sew with a nice bright light instead of a strobe light!

(Remember when you just had to replace a bulb when the light quit working?)

More Labels

The art quilt group that I belong to was asked to provide a display for the Wellsboro Wine & Art Tour this weekend.  Of course, we were happy to oblige even though part of our collection is already on display at the Glenn Curtiss Museum.  I just put labels on the quilts that I sent to the museum, so now the rest of my art quilts are getting labeled.  It hasn't been easy either!  Thankfully I have all the information about these quilts documented here on the blog, but finding matching fabric for the labels has been a challenge!  Yes, I'm going to say it...it really would have been so much easier if I had put the labels on with the binding.  Maybe I have learned my lesson about this labeling thing!

Stripes!

Knitting with self-striping yarn is like reading a really good book...you just can't stop because you want to find out what is going to happen next!  This particular color of Everyday Soft Worsted yarn is called Parrot and I love how the bright stripes are working out in these socks!

Silent Sunday

Scrap Management

I'm finding lots of little jobs to do in the sewing room, other than sewing, while my machine is in the shop.  For the last few days I've been trimming down my scraps into useable sizes.  These deli tubs hold 5" and 2 1/2" squares, but if I do much more cutting I'm going to need bigger tubs or maybe I just need my sewing machine back, so that I can do some serious quilting!

Age

Something tells me that the old Singers will still be sewing right along without skipping a stitch long after all the fancy-dancy computerized sewing machines are buried in the landfills!  Yes, my Janome is in the shop for repairs, so I pulled my 60 year-old Singer 301 out of the case to do a little sewing.  Without any coaxing at all, it sewed perfect stitches and straight seams all afternoon.  Age may be taking its toll on my Janome, but it certainly hasn't hurt this old Singer one little bit!

OK...Just One More

While shopping at Michaels the other day, I spotted this hot pink Flamenco ruffle yarn on clearance for $1.99!  How could I not get it and make just one more scarf for the Pink Scarf Project?  I was all prepared to knit this scarf, like I have with other ruffle yarns, but the directions inside the wrapper called for crochet.  Let me tell you...crocheting these scarves is even faster than knitting them!  I had this scarf finished, photographed, and ready to mail in a matter of a couple of hours!

Silent Sunday

Pink Lemonade Scarf

I wasn't kidding when I said that I shouldn't have any trouble finishing this scarf before the Pink Scarf Project's October 1st deadline.  Here it is all finished...fringe and all!  Total time to knit this scarf was just a few hours.  Although the pattern isn't hard (it can't be hard if I came up with the pattern myself) I'm more than happy to share it...especially if you would like to use it to make a scarf for the Pink Scarf Project.





Pink Lemonade Scarf

Finished scarf is 60" long (not including fringe) and 5" wide.

Materials
1 skein Red Heart Baby Clouds - Pink Lemonade
(Any other bulky homespun type yarn would also work well)
Size 15 needles

Pattern
Cast on 10 stitches
Knit 2, Purl 2, to the end of the row.
Repeat this row until desired length is reached.
Cast off.

Weave in tails and add fringe if desired.

Pink Scarf Project

Have you heard about the Pink Scarf Project?  I didn't know a thing about it until last week when I saw that Jocelyn of Happy Cottage Quilter was knitting a scarf for the project and followed her link to 2 Bags Full.  Vicki has been collecting handmade pink scarves for the past year to donate to breast cancer patients.  To date, 300 scarves have been donated, which is quite impressive, but something in my gut tells me the need is greater than that.  I personally have three friends right now who are fighting the disease and that's not counting those who have already fought and won or lost the battle.  I wish I had found out about the project sooner, but it's better to be late to the party than to not show up at all!  I'm using super soft bulky yarn and size 15 needles, so I shouldn't have any trouble finishing at least one scarf before the October 1st deadline.

Back To School

It's been a busy summer here and I'm afraid it's been filled with more work than fun.  To try and make up for that a bit, we had Miss One and Miss Two over for a last hurrah before school starts.  Besides having a picnic supper and trying to catch "the big one" at the lake, the girls wanted to do some sewing.  When Miss one saw the quilter's trading cards that I made a few weeks ago she got the brilliant idea to use the same technique to make bookmarks.  We simply layered fabric and regular cotton batting, quilted the heck out of them, and then satin stitched around the edges.  To finish them off we added another tiny quilted piece decorated with sequins and beads (a.k.a. an inchie).  They turned out pretty cool, don't you think?
And not to be outdone by her sister, Miss Two had a pretty good idea once we were finished...she wrapped her bookmark around her wrist and said, "Look!  Wouldn't these make awesome bracelets?"  I think we have our project all lined up for the next sleepover!  

Silent Sunday