March in Like a Lion

 Somehow...I failed to add a March retreat on my calendar but I was really glad to get a reminder text and realize I didn't have any scheduling conflicts. That is how I started the month of March.

I had not unpacked from the Fabruary retreat...we did a trip to Austin, Texas to visit family and a quick stop in Las Vegas on our way home...poof! February was gone. 

I had worked on constructing oval blocks at two previous retreats and just had to square all the blocks and decide on a layout. Stitching them altogether was super easy. The pattern is, "Blue Onion," by Saginaw Street Quilts. The trick is the specialty ruler for cutting the oval pieces. Find a couple of friends to share the ruler with as it is very spendy.

My version of "Blue Onion," is bigger, 48 blocks instead of 35.  I used a set of half-yard cuts of a Moda batik series, "Confections," from Kate Spain. I added two other fabrics from my stash. Finished size is 57 x 76-inches. I trimmed my blocks to 10-inches.

I also started and finished a panel kit I bought at the last retreat. This fabric line is from Jason Yenter of In the Beginning Fabrics, "On The Go." The free pattern did not have mitered borders but I had enough fabric to do it...so I did! 
Finished Size is 71 x 79-inches.

I also made two pillow cases to match quilts I made at the February retreat.

I'm feeling rather proud of myself for having just enough fabric leftover to make the cases.

And...I still had a couple of hours left on the last day to work on a project I had barely started. It just required me to sew strip sets. I had about 10 strip sets left to sew at home...which I did the next day.

This is a GE Designs pattern, "Strip Lash." I made this in fall colors several years ago and it's one of my favorite quilts...the way I quilted it has a lot to do with why I like it so much. And for the last three years I've wanted to make a winter version. I've got all the pieces laid out and it will be a little tedious to stitch is all up...lots of diagonal seams to match.

But I have a detailed quilt design already figured out...which is weird. I'm making a quilt top to fit a quilt design...as opposed to making a quilt top and struggling to come up with a quilting plan.

I managed to snap a quick photo of the finished, "Hootie Patootie," quilt before I gave it to my granddaughters. They absolutle love all those fun owls. The finished size of this quilt is 66-inches square.

One of my handwork projects is a set of Spring Ornaments from the Australian designer Lynette Anderson. This was my travel project which also got worked on while waiting for hubby during several of his recent surgeries. He had a nasty basal-cell carcinoma site on his nose which required three surgeries...mostly plastic surgery. He looks good as new!

I'm working on my EQ8 progam to try and come up with a little quilt pattern for the embroidered blocks. The blocks finish at 3 1/2-inches.

I'm behind on making the Mill Hill ornament series from 2023...I have the series of Gnomes by Jim Shore. I've started stitching on the last two ornaments. I like to add the beads to a couple of ornaments at the same time as many of the beads are the same in all the kits.

Four of the ornaments are done.  I really focused on stitching these the last couple of weeks. 

Always a felt project to work on too! I'm making good progress on a set of stand-up pieces from 

Merry Stockings, "Easter Parade." 

I think I accidentally bought two of these kits...it does occassionally happen.

My sewing studio is an absolute mess but somehow I am managing to work around the mess and get a lot done. I am getting that annoying voice telling me I need to start some spring cleaning. 

February Happenings

I hunkered down in late January to finish, "Stars and Bars Sampler." It took me a few days to come up with a border after searching photos on Pinterest. I don't claim to be the original designer of this border but I didn't see one exactly like this. It was very simple to make strips to subcut and rotate to make an alternating pattern. It went pretty quick which was an added bonus.

 I definitely make blue and white quilts more often than any other colorway. Maybe that has something to do with our long winters. I have at least two more blue and white quilt tops planned with patterns and fabrics in reserve.

Stars and Bars Sampler

80 x 96

This pattern was free on Scott Flanagan's 4th & Main Designs blog last summer but he has removed it from his blog to polish it off and offer it for sale in the near future. He has another free SAL coming up this summer and he has shared a preview of the quilt design on his facebook page...I'm already picking fabrics from my stash for it. The center features 9-patches and snowball blocks with a fun border. 

I was pushing to finish Stars and Bars before I had to pack up my sewing area for a four-day retreat the first weekend of February. 

Now for a little diversion into lifestyle issues living in Alaska. 

My main quilt retreat group is the Material Girls. We usually have three retreats a year at a B&B in Wasilla...a location about 40 minutes away from Eagle  River. We have the retreats in October, February and May. Last year our retreat in February had waaay tooo much drama!

It all had to do with the weather. We often have sub-zero weather in February for several weeks which was the case last year. Most folks have block heaters for their engines with a plug at the front of the car engine where they can plug into an extension cord. Some hotels in the area will provide power outlets for guests to plug into at night. 

The B&B didn't have any way for anyone to plug their extension cords to an outlet and the temps were around -20. I had just put a new battery in my car a few months before the retreat...I was okay. Several ladies had dead batteries to deal with and the owners of the B&B were absolutely no help at all. 

It was an ongoing problem all weekend and  only one of our group wanted to go to the B&B in February this year. The rest of us chose to regroup and hold our February retreat at our local quilt shop which means only sewing during the day and sleeping in our own beds with our vehicles in warm garages.

The only downside is limited work space in the class room space for the quilt shop. So to plan accordingly, I needed to pick projects that were small. Instead of picking kits I already had prepared...I dove into working with panels in my stash.

I have collected a few panels over the years and continue to work through my stash to get them made up into quilts. I had two panels from Hoffman that I finally saw a pattern that fit my vision of what I wanted to do with the panels. 

Alphabet Zoo

59 x 70

I found a freebie pattern, "Circus Posters," on the Michael Miller fabrics  website. I made the outer border a little bigger because I had a fun fabric I wanted to use. 

Atlas of Animals

59 x 70

The colorful dot fabric used around the blocks is a Michael Miller fabric and I also used strips of it in the next quilt top.

Strippy Stairways

54 x 68

Strippy Stairways is from the GE Designs book, "Stripology 3."

My other major project in January was to make two cases for the American Girl Dolls I gave my granddaughters at Christmas. The second case only took me two days to make. 

The doll cases are a major hit with the girls.

When it comes to cross stitch projects, my January focus was a Mill Hill kit from 2017.

Ice Castle 

Our winter is so different this year from the last two years. We've had fairly mild temps in the 20s and 30s with very little snow. This has led to a lot ground water freezing and thawing...creating big areas of ice...most noticeably along road sides. Ditches are full of ice that is growing in size and creeping across streets. 

Some of the driveways in my area have been hit with this problem...so scary because it doesn't go away on its own until temps stay above freezing for a few days.

I tried to upload more ice creeping images but all of the sudden Blogger doesn't want to work like it usually does...heavy sigh.

Lots of Projects - No Quilts

 My sewing machine has been busy but not with quilting projects. 

For Christmas, I bought American Girl dolls for two of my granddaughters that love to play with my old dolls. 

What they love about my old dolls are all the clothes I have for them that were made by my mom or me. I'm hoping to start teaching some sewing with dolls clothes soon. Kate is 5 and I think I was about that age when I got involved in sewing. I had to do hand stitching for several years before I got to use a sewing machine.

I have two neices I made doll clothes for many, many years ago so I already have a stash of doll patterns. I mentioned using the leftover cuddle fabric from their quilts to make coats. Wow...they loved that idea. It was a little challenging with the thick plush and I had to have the vacuum right by my machine...so much shedding when you cut that fabric.

My next idea for the dolls was to make cases for them. I googled for a pattern and of course found one. Even better...it was a PDF download. Instant gratification.

I made several changes because I wanted to use By Annie products like Soft and Stable .

I didn't add the straps for the backpack but it will be pretty easy to add if they want it.

I now need to make one more coat and case for Kara's doll. 

For years I have been seaching for a new robe. I get too hot wearing robes made with  synthetic fabrics so I finally decided to make one. I've made robes before but the last one I made prior to 1998...the year we moved to Alaska. I still had that pattern and I knew that it fit great so I dug it out. 

The biggest challenge was searching for fabric. I bought a gray plaid flannel fabric about two years ago at JoAnns and then the pink check flannel about a year ago. Surprisingly, JoAnns had a line of Eddie Bauer flannels that were really nice. Currently our JoAnns is a disaster with the filing of bankruptcy. 

I love my new robe. I have enough of the pink flannel to make some pajama bottoms. Hopefully I will tackle that project soon.

I felt bad that I didn't make my grandson a pillowcase for Christmas and then remembered a friend had gifted me some aviation themed fabrics last fall. One piece was exactly 27-inches long...the perfect length. I had a couple of batik fabrics in my stash that were great companion fabric matches.

My current Bucilla project is a set of ornaments that match Kara's unicorn stocking.

There are two more ornaments to finish the set. 

I finished the last set of animals in the, "Noah and Company," set of patterns! The copy right date on the patterns is 1998. I think I bought them on eBay around 2000.

The set included Noah

and Mrs. Noah, which actually stitched up pretty quickly.

Here's all the pieces together. I will eventually finish them as ornaments. I have a space in mind for display next  Christmas.

I treated myself to a project bag made by the seller, Kreative Carol, on Etsy.

I paid $128 for it and I love it!  I really appreciate all the great work that went into the bag.

She makes the bags as they are ordered so I got this about three weeks after I ordered it. 

It also had a thread bed, a little folder to throw loose threads on and clip closed.

No critter photos but a little look at life in Alaska.

Kate had her 5th birthday the first week of January. Her other grandparents live on a lake in Anchorage that is a fly-in community. In the summer the planes are on floats, in the winter the planes are on skiis. So....not only are the other grandparents "plane people" like us, they are also big snowmachine and four wheeler enthusiasts. Kate's party was at their house and the kids were invited to bring their little snow machines and four wheelers to spin around the lake. 

This photo was taken about 4 p.m. It was a pretty day. 

The next day it warmed up and rained...snow gone...icy roads.

We've had a terrible winter...very little snow...yet Texas and Arkansas are getting snow. Everyone is pretty grumpy they can't play with their snow toys. We put the skiis on one of our planes and I think it has only been flown a handful of times by our son this year. Disappointing. 

Quick After-Christmas Update

 I was a busy elf during the month of December. I proved I can quilt three quilts in a month so I need to at least get one a month done in 2025. That’s been my goal for several years.

I finished the three quilts I was making for my granddaughters. I made a matching pillow case for each quilt that I used as the gift wrapping. It was so much fun to have them opened at the same time, though the two-year-old and five-month-old had some help.

Quilting with the cuddle was great. I didn’t have any issues. I did have to work with a larger needle size but that was the only adjustment I had to make

I finished Kate's newest stocking. 

I always think the stocking I just finished is always the cutest I've ever made!

I took me weeks to finish the companion set of ornaments. Those horses had so many little details. I gave them to Kate on Christmas. She had checked on my progress a couple of times in December, wondering why it was taking me so long to finish them. 

Kate seemed to really appreciate the ornaments when I gave them to her. She sat down and took the time to look at each one individually. So sweet!

After the ornaments were done, the zebras became my evening project. 

We had so many holiday events with the grandkids. Call me crazy, but I wanted to start of tradition of making cookies with them. Kate was old enough to help and really enjoy it. Kara and Austin are two-years-old so I made a simple part for them...adding sprinkles to some frosted cookies. 

We made two kinds of cookies, banana oatmeal with raisins and chocolate, chocolate chips.

The chocolate, chocolate chips were definitely Austin's favorite. 

I had some simple felt ornament kits for them to make while I was baking the cookies...kept them and the adults pretty busy.

Austin had his second birthday this month and we had a family celebration at our house for his big day. 

Kate and I went to a couple of holiday bazaars at a local school and church. 

We each found some good locally made gifts.

We had some yucky weather that melted all the snow at our house right before Christmas and made for icy road conditions...my least favorite part of winter.

Writting my annual Christmas newsletter got done a few days before Christmas and I managed to get them all in the mail on Christmas Eve which I always count as getting it done on time!

Kate and Kara have January birthdays...not sure what I am getting for them. I'd like to put together some kind of crafty kit for Kate to do with me...still thnking on it. 

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. 

I always look forward to a New Year...because I have such a huge of list of projects I want to get done. I'm sure I'll get all of that list done and more in 2025.

Decorating for Christmas

Last weekend I had a wonderful time at a quilt retreat held by my local quilt shop. I didn't know any of the ladies attending but of course it was a great way to make nine new friends! 

My retreat project was the kit, Hootie Patootie. Very fun project...perfect for the limited space at the retreat. I finished the blocks...just need to stitch them together.

I have one more stocking close to being finished...this one is for my grandson. This is the second time I have made this kit and I was a bit more savvy on the layers of construction using quilter's plastic template in the wings and plane body. The stocking front is done. I want to get the stocking fully finsihed by Thanksgiving when they come over for dinner.

I also finished an ornament that came with the kit.

I also finished stitching one more set of Noah's animals, sheep. Only two more animal sets to stitch.

Christmas decorating is underway at my house. It takes me weeks since I don't work on it everyday...and I have a pretty hefty stash. 

Switching out all my hanging quilts was an important first step.

This sweet little wall hanging was a kit given to me by my mother-in-law many years ago. We used to live in San Antonio and she lived in Houston. For many years we went to the Houston quilt show together. She no longer quilts but she certainly shares the love of quilting and hand stitching with me.

I do enjoy tackling quilt projects to employ different techniques. I'm always attracted to projects with little gimicks like unique buttons. I also am a big fan of the quilt and fabric designer, Nancy Halvorsen. This quilt is from her book, "12 Days of Christmas." 

It was a nice little challenge to figure out the quilting for each block.

I did a fusible web adhesive for the appliques and top stitched by machine with a blanket stitch.

It took me years to make this quilt. 

I remember working on all blanket stitching while living in Paris...

in my sweet little sewing room.

By far...the quilt that was the biggest challenge for me was this quilt design by Sue Garman, Classic Nutcrackers Block of the Month. I did needle turn applique...hand stitched it all!!! I saw this kit advertised in a quilting magazine and immediately signed up. I have the original advertisement...$7.75 a month for the pattern and fabrics each month. What a screaming deal! 

Looking at each block...I am so even more impressed with this accomplishment!

The detail in the design is amazing. It took me eight years to make this quilt.

The Carpenter's Star below was made with scrappy HST's from a bigger quilt...which reminds me...I need to pull it out of storage but I have run out of wall space for it!

The next quilt is another one related to my mother-in-law. I bought this kit for her and several years she returned it to me..unmade. It is a pattern by Sandy Gervais, "Shopping's Done! Gifts Wrapped." It's a fat quarter pattern where you stack the fat quarters and cut them in the same shape and switch the fabrics to mix up the colors. Lots of fun to make the blocks.

And some smaller quilts. 

I did hand stitching to make this red work quilt. I also handquilted this small quilt. It is a design by the Australian designer, Lynette Anderson. She sold the blocks individually and called her series, "Sweet Christmas."

I bought a few of the blocks in a Paris quilt shop when my mother-in-law was visiting. 

I'm a sucker for cute projects with cute buttons. 

I didn't find all twelve blocks in  Paris...

but my mother-in-law hunted down a shop that carried them when she went to the next Houston quilt show. 

Every Christmas season starts with theses two pictures being hung first...my oldest pieces made by me. 

My mom stitched two huge crewel pictures when I was growing up. My dad was in the Marine Corps and we moved a lot! Those two pictures my mom had stitched were the only pieces that were ever hung on our walls. There was a huge tree she stitched and a floral still life. I don't know what ever happened to those pieces...sad. 

I made the top Christmas tree when I was in college. I went to Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. It was...and still is a women's college. The University of Missouri Greek Town (fraternity houses)  bordered our campus. Very convenient for dating. The boyfriend of one of my friends thought I was doing homework for a class when he saw me stitching it.

I was a second lieutenant in the Air Force when I made the Christmas Tree below. That was before I was a quilter or cross stitcher. I was always a big sewer of clothing from about the age of 11.

I am working to instill the gift of creating with my oldest granddaughter. She spent the night last week and wanted to help me decorate. I turned it into DIY with Gigi! She loved it. We had a great time coming up with these snowflake decorations.

Time to get back to decorating!