Master Bedroom Quilt?

Preview of the quilt I made that may find a home in the cabin master bedroom. It is made from a fat quarter bundle of September Light by Lida Enche for In the Beginning Fabrics. I took each fat quarter and cut it into 6" width strips. I made a little mistake of not making sure the width was consistently 22". I just cut off the selvedges and started to sew. Some of the blocks were just a bit narrower. I had a little trouble making them fit good, but it is not too bad. I now need to machine quilt it. I think I will do some sort of channel quilting - stitch in the ditch between rows and then three rows of something in the blocks. Kinda wild, huh? Jerilynn

Punkin Coaster...A Year Has Gone By!!!

I missed something big yesterday...it was the year anniversary of my first blog post! When I started this blog last September, I vowed to myself to post a little something every day. I usually do make something every day, and I thought this blog would be a good place to record what I created and talk a little about it. I was hoping a few people now and then would stop by and take a look. I have had fun, had some good comments, and missed a few days here and there. Life has a habit of stepping in sometimes, and blogging gets shoved aside. I never was too good about journaling, so maybe this is my version of that. Journals can get personal, and, even though I have shared personal things on my blog, I wouldn't post all my secrets on the internet for everyone to read...gosh, it sounds like I have a secret life! Anyway, thank you for reading now, in the past, and in the future! Today's project: inspired by the BHG pumpkin pincushion, I didgitized a punkin coaster. The result you see is the first stitch-out. I want to make some improvements/changes, but I thought it was cute enough to show you. I didn't add any buttons to the coaster - drinks would tend to tip. Duh. Jerilynn

What a Cute Little Punkin!

Talk about a cute pincushion! Just the other day I thought I needed another pincushion to add to a little collection I have going and then I remembered this BHG craft I saw. Another fast and easy project. There are two other pincushion pumpkins and I may try another day. I put a couple of small rocks in the bottom, then the poly fluff. The rocks help weight the pumpkin down and now he stands up, ready to help with the pins. The mouth is stitched Woolfelt, but wouldn't a zipper as teeth be adorable?!! Jerilynn

Happy Flowers

Another purchase at Quilt Expo was the book, Quilts from Textured Solids by Kim Schaefer. I have been a fan of her style/patterns for quite a few years. She also publishes Little Quilt patterns that first came out in 1996. This wall quilt is called Seven Happy Flowers, and they seem to be just that! I mostly used solids with a few dots thrown in and antique white buttons for cuteness factor. I had the tree quilt from yesterday over the windows by the lake, but this little quilt just begged to be there, so there it is. The Duluth Trees now grace the top of the stairway to heaven. I also made a mug rug that was so awful that I just couldn't bring myself to take a picture of it. The old hand picture was painful enough for my readers. Jerilynn

Duluth Trees

I bought this kit at the Quilt Expo in Madison. It is by Frieda Anderson, from the Chicago School of Pattern Works. Ellen and I took one of her classes on machine quilting, and, afterwards, visited her vendor booth on the floor. This little kit somehow managed to talk its way into coming home with me. I loved Frieda's hand-dyed fabrics and the funky trees. At first I followed the instructions, but she mostly said, "just free-hand cut shapes as you wish." So I did that, and I think the little wall quilt turned out pretty good. I fused the shapes and stitched around all the edges with some accent quilting hither and yon. I left the shape of the quilt a bit wonky, fused a striped of fabric, cut with a wavy rotary blade, around the edges and stitched in place. Right now it is over one of the windows by the lake view. I thought it looked good with the water and the trees. We shall see if that is where it will stay. It gave me confidence to try my own fabric fused pictures. Tomorrow. Jerilynn

Happy Autumn!!

My friend, Martha, sent me the pattern and instructions to make this Woolfelt leaf bowl. Well, actually she sent them to all the people that have signed up for her craft of the day. If you haven't done that, I would recommend it. Lots of the time I find them a bit odd, but once in a while one will really appeal to me....love autumn, love Woolfelt, love quick and easy projects. Perfect. This template can be downloaded and sized for big or little bowls. I added the zigzag veining lines. Tomorrow I may try making other sizes. A bigger one and a smaller one, in various autumn colors would be good. You can find this project here. I think you will find this fast and easy and fun. Jerilynn

The Head Cold Has Done Funny Things to My Head

Doesn't it look as if the lake were on fire in the first photo? The sunset tonight was just incredible. If I still weren't so exhausted from the silly cold, I would have run right down to the end of the dock and taken a proper sunset lake picture. But my energy only allowed me to shoot through the window of the studio. Just use your imagination. The second shot is of a round basket that I made before the quilt expo/face treatment/head cold period of my life. It is a pretty big basket, too big for a purse. Great for a yarn basket, and it looks good up in the studio. I want to try more round shapes rather than oval. I see I am back to my old color habits again., though. I must break out of this! I did buy a new shirt the other day and it was a strange choice for me: dark pink. Maybe this means that I am getting over red???!!! A post from The Pink Chair???!!! Shudder. Jerilynn

Looking Forward to Sewing...

IF I ever get better I can work on this...this is the Fun Quilts kit I bought that uses Marcia Derse's fabrics. Trust me that it is stunning in real life. The sashing strips are cut at 1", which means, after the 1/4" seam allowance for each side, they measure 1/2". I better be better before I cut and sew - there isn't much room for error. I look forward to using some of the machine quilting techniques I learned from Frieda Anderson. Thank you for all your well wishes - it means a lot!! Jerilynn

This is All I Can Do

Sooo, last weekend I had a wonderful time with my daughter, Ellen, at the Madison Quilt Expo. Her first time at a quilt show was last year for part of a day and I had to tear her away from each and every booth. She bought fabric last year for her first quilt, got it pieced together, and now is at the quilting stage. So, we took two machine quilting classes together. One was with Nina McVeigh, a Bernina educator. I took the same class last year, but wanted to take it this year with Ellen. Glad I did - mostly the same information, but I learned a few more tips that made it very worthwhile. The second class was a free motion quilting class with Frieda Anderson, award winning quilt artist. Another fabulous class full of tips and techniques. By the end of both classes our brains were exploding with good ideas! The booths were also filling us with good ideas...I especially loved the fabric booth of Marcia Derse. Her fabric is commercially printed yardage of her original hand dyed creations. Gorgeous. Had to get some of that, for sure! At the Fun Quilts booth, I met Weeks Ringle, half of the husband/wife team behind the fabulous modern quilts they are famous for. She was selling quilt kits, and one of them really caught my eye...it was her modern fresh design done in Marcia Derse's fabrics. Yep. Had to buy that, too. Perfect colors for the cabin. Speaking of the cabin, I told Marcia how I loved her studio that just appeared in the latest issue of Studio Magazine, and that we had just finished building one of our own. She told me to send her photos and she would forward them to the magazine...how fun! I was looking forward to coming back home and getting some sewing done. But....I think I picked up a cold bug at the quilt show along with all the inspiration. By Monday night I was feeling a bit under the weather. Tuesday morning I had scheduled a PDT (Photodynamic Therapy) treatment for the AK (pre-cancerous spots) on my face. Since I had a squamous cell cancer removed this summer, the small spots needed to be taken care of. This procedure involved a medicine applied to my face, a two hour "soak in" wait, and a 17 minute bake under a blue light. By Tuesday night, my face was on fire, swollen, and my cold was in full force. Fast forward to Thursday night, I am still coughing, and look like I am ready to trick and treat - no mask needed. Miserable is an understatement. All I can do is sit in my red chair, watch HGTV, drink water, and knit. Just garter stitch...no energy to do anything too fussy. The above shot is what I have made since Tuesday. The two bigger cloths are hand towels. Not sure if this is a great idea, but I will find out. More knots, of course. I think my big mistake was telling my daughter that "I don't get many colds anymore. I think older people are more immune." Well, I guess the cold-giving gremlins heard me and decided to give me a doozy. Hopefully the face will decide to get a bit less scary looking and I can maybe sleep through the night without coughing. Jerilynn

Bib for New Baby

I thought I would knit up a fast little bib and baby washcloth (no knots, babies don't need scubbing usually). You never know when there is going to be a new baby coming...in April. Jerilynn

Am I Lazy or Creative?

A few days ago I spoke of these knots on the dishcloths that I have been making. This particular piece of artwork is made from many colors of yarn with short pieces of yarn tied in for variation (as if all the other colors weren't enough variation!). I left all the knots showing, and kept them all on one side. The other side of the cloth is actually quite pretty. I am telling myself that the knots add texture and "scrubbing power" to the dishcloth. I think they are quite fun, but I am wondering if maybe the "fun" part is not having to weave in any ends. Any opinions will be kindly read and considered. Jerilynn

Covered Clothesline Coaster

I continue to be amused by covering clothesline with strips of fabric and zig-zagging the rows together. I have made many bags, but lately I have made round coils, opening up new items. The first thing I made was a coaster. I used Sweetwater's Hometown fabric line. The white fabric just around the red center fabric has line after line of names of towns. Quite by remarkable coincidence as I was wrapping the town fabric around the clothesline, I spotted "Chippewa Falls". If you look very closely, at almost the 12o'clock position of the first white row, you can see my hometown's name. How fun is that? Jerilynn

New Laptop Cover

I hope you all had a good Labor Day. Did it just seem as if Memorial Day was a week ago? Crazy how quickly time goes anymore. The summer days in rural Indiana went on forever for a little girl that loved back-to-school. No new clothes to buy, supply lists to complete, or permission slips to sign anymore! What I do have, however, is a granddaughter that needed a new cover for her new Mac. She is started college this year and wanted a fun, protective cover for her new machine. She wanted an envelope style with a button -hook and loop tape would not do. She picked out this great floral with a purple fabric for the lining. We used ByAnnie's Soft and Stable for the interlining which made the project, well, stable, but still soft. A quick embroidered name, and the project was done. While staying here this weekend she decided that the bed in the studio was, from now on, "her" bed. Loved the view. Loved the soaking tub. She also spied the quilt on the wall and declared she wanted a queen sized one for her bed. I will add it to my list of things to make... I am off to Madison in a few days for the Quilt Expo. Daughter Ellen is going along with me this year. Last year's Expo was her first ever quilt show and she got hooked. She bought fabric for her first quilt and the top is now all pieced. We are taking a couple of machine quilting classes together, so I am sure by next year's Expo, the quilt will be quilted and bound and well-used. Jerilynn

She's Come Undun!

Yes, it has been a little stressful of late. I found my bin of cotton yarn and decided to take out some of my nervous energy on knitting needles. Nothing too complicated, although I would like to find a cute fish dishcloth pattern. I have been making a few dishcloths on size 6 needles, mostly just garter stitch or seed stitch because I love the texture. Once in a while I will make some Ballbands. Love that pattern. Then I switch to size 9 needles and two strands of cotton yarn to make some garter stitch potholders. 24 stitches make a good size. I throw all of the new cloths in the washer and dryer and they come out nice and soft and absorbent. I have lots of little odds and ends colors left so I tie strands together, willy-nilly, and let the knot show. I think it adds more texture and scrubbing power! I have found that most of the dishcloths I made a few years ago, when I discovered the simple joy of making endless squares, have started to fade quite a bit and a few holes are there. Good time to put the old ones in the rag pile and fill the drawer with some new color. I also found a crochet afghan that has a pretty good start to it so I have added a few rows on that. My children get worried when I start piling up the knitted squares. Jerilynn