Socktoberfest!

I'm late to the party, but better to show up late than not at all, right? Have you heard about Socktoberfest? It's a month long celebration of sock knitting! I love to knit socks, but I don't do a whole lot of knitting while the weather is nice (or when I have a new quilting machine). I don't know if I can get this pair finished by the end of the month or not, but that's my goal!

Practice, Practice, Practice

Don't think that this is a fancy quilt top. It's just a piece of Christmas cheater cloth that I am practicing my free motion stitching on. Meandering is coming easier now, so my next practice piece may be a real quilt!

Meet Quilter, Sue Andrus

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting Sue Andrus and seeing several of her quilts that were hanging at the Endless Mountains Quilt Guild's quilt show. Sue has a unique approach to quilting which incorporates her love for nature and photography into each of her quilts. Tonight Sue is going to be the guest speaker for the monthly meeting of the Mountain Laurel Quilt Guild. If you happen to live in the Wellsboro area you are invited to attend tonight's meeting to meet Sue and see her beautiful quilts in person. If you are unable to attend, you can learn more about Sue Andrus' work at her website, Andrus Gardens & More, and also at her blog, Sue's Quilted Gardens.

Another Quilt Show

Yesterday a few of my quilty friends and I braved the snowy weather and traveled to Williamsport, PA for the Tiadaghton Quilt Guild's quilt show. There were over 200 quilts on display that left us awed and inspired! What a great way to spend a cold and snowy day. Honestly, is there a better way to spend any day than admiring beautiful quilts at a quilt show?

Frost On The Pumpkin???

Pumpkins this time of year are supposed to be covered with frost, not buried in snow! Enough said...I'm going back into my sewing room.

What A Nice Surprise!

I had to share this lovely wall hanging that my friend, Deb from The Angel and the Pukeko, sent to me for my birthday. She said as soon as she saw the pattern she knew she had to make it for me. I guess it is known world wide that I am not a fan of winter! What I don't think Deb knew, was that the package would arrive one day before our first snowfall! (We are under a winter storm warning for 4-12 inches of snow!) Perfect timing...I'm going now to hang this in my sewing room and I'm not coming out until spring!

Leftovers

A few weeks ago I asked for suggestions for how to use up odds and ends of leftover yarn. One of those suggestions was to make a Project Linus blanket by crocheting an edging around some fleece. It's a fast easy way to dress up a yard of fleece, especially if you use a skip stitch blade in your rotary cutter to pre-cut the holes. The yarn that I am using for this blanket is called Bliss by Caron. The label says that it is "plush furry softness" and they aren't kidding...it's just about the softest yarn I have ever worked with and it makes a wonderful fuzzy binding! You can find full instructions for this blanket at www.skipstitch.com/instructions.

Learning To Meander

I decided last night that I couldn't wait to finish a top before I tried out my new machine, so I loaded some flannel on the frame and started stitching! Keep in mind, that up until just a few months ago, I had only quilted with straight line stitching and meandering wasn't even in my vocabulary. There are a few rough spots at the top where I first started, but I had a pretty good rhythm down by the time I finished. I used white flannel instead of batting and then stitched 1" in all the way around and clipped the edges to make a "ragged binding". I think this practice piece will make a nice cuddly quilt for Project Linus!

Set Up And Settled Back!

I finally have my new machine and frame all set up and everything settled back into my sewing room. The hardest part of this purchase was clearing the room out and then deciding what was going back in and what wasn't. I found that I had stored a lot of things in my sewing room that I didn't use or had nothing to do with sewing, so I applied the Clean Sweep rules and put it all in keep, sell or toss piles. Believe it or not, I actually have more space now with the frame and new machine than I did before! Now I just need to get a quilt top finished, so I can try this baby out!