TUMBLING TUESDAY

Another batch done from the tumbler!  

Some pink and yellow jasper , quartz, epidote and unakite.

These four in the front are my favorites this batch-epidote, pink jasper, unakite and red striped jasper.

We had a campfire last night-a perfect night for it-no wind and a bit chillier than it has been!

This is what I will work on today at quilting group!

 

TORNADO RAIN!

I pieced the last five rows which now have to be sewn to each other!  I hope to do that today.

Early yesterday, it became as dark as night when our phones and even Alexa called out a tornado warning!  We headed to my room with the storm closet!  We watched windows for a funnel while the rain came down and the lightening and thunder crescendoed!  After 20 minutes, it went so quiet, it was eery!

Bill had cleared the driveway of debris but after the rain...

...the storm had downed a ton of the Live Oaks' seeds!

  What a mess!  Wait until tomorrow to see how the 10+" of rain has done to the pond!

 

APPRECIATION FOR CREATING

I worked on the last of the pinwheels and finished the top row to complete this FL Souvenir Quilt top!  It is 45" by 58";  I do not have fabric for the backing so this will have to go in the pile to wait for its turn at the quilting frame.

We had our usual T-storm in the afternoon--the driveway looked like it was smoking as the rain wound down and the sun came back out---very cool.

During the rain, I made a pair of these minimal mitts for a friend who has a circulation problem giving her cold hands. 

 KnitPicks Stroll yarn.  

 

Jingle Bells

I worked on some piecing today!  I listened to Agatha Christie's Black Coffee (Audible on YouTube) while I worked and it was a nice hour!

Bill and I ended up doing a bunch of pruning in the central area of our driveway circle--things sure do grow fast and thick here!  It was such a good feeling to beat back the jungle.  So , I didn't get to finish the bowl but I am close and today will see its finish for sure!  But I did paint a new card.

I also played with a bit of memory lane knitting!  My Mom has made so many of these through the years (even knitting them in white for wedding gift accents!) and I remembered them the other day and asked her if she still had the pattern.  Sure enough , later in the day I got an email with her successful hunting notes!  You can use any yarn with needles that match the yarn, straight needles work well because these are knit flat and grafted to join.  

Here is the pattern for your knitting pleasure!

KNIT BELLS

Small amount of yarn and straight needles to give a firm fabric (for example, worsted weight yarn + #5 needles, or fingering weight yarn +#1 needles)

Cast on 14 stitches

Row 1- Knit 10, Purl 4

Row 2--Knit across

Repeat these two rows until there are 22 garter ridges (44 rows)

Knit row 1,  cut yarn 12" from needle (you should be on the stockinette end of the bell to cut the yarn)

Pick up 14 stitches from the cast on edge onto a second needle and graft the two rows:

Kitchener for Stockinette for the first four stitches says: knit off, purl on the front needle and purl off, knit on the back needle.  When you reach the garter stitches for the front needle, the Kitchener song changes to: knit off, purl on the front needle and knit off, purl for the back needle!  Continue across until all stitches are used, now pick up the top bumps all around the top of the garter ridges and pull it tight to close the top of the bell.  Use a single strand of yarn for the loop, twist two strands or even use gold braiding.  I like to hang a jingle bell inside for a clapper, too. 

 Make a million of these or at least a dozen! Be sure and post them if you do knit some bells!

(worsted weight and #5 needles were used here for the green bells (2") and #1 needle with sock yarn for the Christmas  colored bell (1 1/2")

I am Feeling Well!

The front and back was seamed at the shoulders 

so I could pick up stitches and knit the rib. 

 It was pretty easy to make a square neckline;  

I don't think I have done one before!

The second sleeve is finished and over the next few days, I will seam up the sweater!

I was able to cut up some more Hunter Star blocks;  

I found another bit of fabric that closely matches the other that I used up

 so I can make at least a lap-sized quilt.

As soon as I finish one block, I lay out the pieces for another.

The star is pieced by making triangle units, 

which are joined to make four squares,

 then halves and then you have a block!

Last night as I was knitting on the slip stitch yoke sweater,

 Lena climbed up on my lap, tunneled up the sweater and settled in for a nap!  

Bill thought it was nice of me to knit that for her! lol

And finally, I painted a postcard inspired from a pic on Sarah's blog!  

The photo was black and white so I imagined the colors! 

  Heron on the Gulf,

 5 x 7" postcard in watercolor

 

A Little Tour

Last month when I learned that there was going to be a Tour de France, 

 I set aside my periwinkle wool/silk/linen fiber to spin during the Tour de Fleece. 

It is a pleasant fiber to spin and it is nice to sit in my room

 and quietly spin 

and think 

and give thanks for all that is good.

I was able to piece several more LeMoyne stars yesterday...

I'm finding the routine for pressing seams that doesn't lead to trouble. 

 It helps considerably not only for piecing accurately but also for laying flat! 

The Art de Jour is a stack of books for my first grand daughter

 who could get lost in a room of books for hours upon hours!

Just a Spoonful of Sugar.....!

I forgot to include the finished product in yesterday's post!

This is my cruet of Elderberry Syrup;  it tasted good for my spoonful of tonic today!

It has so much honey, I couldn't help but sing to myself as I prepped it!

I pieced the last few rows and sewed them onto the rest and now I have another finished flannel top

which will have to wait for some backing.

I hope to make it to buy fabric next week because my pile of tops is getting deep!

 And here is my other daily medicine-a drawing a day!

  I wanted to draw the juvenile bald eagle I saw in the yard

 but I haven't figured out how to do an all black animal yet! lol

Patches of One Kind and Another!

My Mom sent me a pile of these 4" sample squares recently.

They were from KeepSake Quilting a long time ago.

I had fun separating them into piles of like colors,

And then  into 4 patches! 

It will be an enjoyable endeavor to add to each day!

See what is ready for picking out back-

don't be distracted by the grapevines which are trying to take over!  

It is an elderberry patch!  

We have two rather large patches with lots of berries,

and lots more coming!

I want to learn how to make some syrup--

I guess there is some kitchen work ahead for me

over the next few weeks!

Soft Squares and Soft Yarn

A new collection of flannel squares are on the design board

 waiting for me to sew a row together when I pass through.

I managed to stitch this one together a row at a time, 

just that way.

These are 6" squares so the quilts are laid out in a 6 x 8 configuration

which means they are 36" by 48"

I need flannel backing so these will sit for a while and wait for me.

And I am happily knitting away on the round yoke sweater.

It is so nice to have a very soft cotton yarn flow through my fingers.

I am using KnitPicks' Color Mist in Tidewater;

it is a worsted weight yarn.

The pattern I am using is a free one from Yarnspiration

called Caron Top Down Knit Sweater--original!

It is designed for Caron's Cotton Cakes yarn

but I am using what I have.  

Pieces of a Whole

 The things that go quilt is sewn together!

I need some backing flannel now;  sigh.

 I cut out the other piles of flannel-this one is all animals,

 this one is sports/camping/ etc.  I make these 6 1/2" blocks for a 6 x 7 layout.

 This was a very large bag of flannel from my daughter--I was able to make three boy quilts and three girl ones!  This is all that is left from the boy fabric!

Since I was on a roll, I finished piecing the hexagon quilt

and trimmed the edges-this could use some border fabric to my mind

but again I will have to wait for a  trip to the fabric store but not for a while yet!

It will be added to the pile of lap quilts waiting for backing fabrics!

Squares and Hexagons!

Fat Quarters become hexagons!

I used the scraps from the hexies to fill in the triangle

spaces for this layout.

The piecing this way has no Y-seams.

  I discovered a small pile of boy flannels my daughter had given me quite a while ago

and so I have begun cutting them up into 6 1/2" squares.

This one looks busy but the blocks are all things that  'go!'

which a boy will enjoy!

As you can see, I have enough flannel for 3 more quilts 

which will go to the donation pile soon enough!

Putting the Pieces Together!

 I pieced the second blues quilt and then tackled this odd assortment--

I had to do some trimming to make them work but it works!

 And then the fun could begin--I cut out the butterfly fabric 

to go with this pile of leftover tumblers I had in the stash.

 The butterfly fabric is left over from a quilt I made granddaughter, Ella, for her birth 7 years ago!

 Does anyone piece some blocks when making a scrap quilt when you need 4 more blocks 

and there isn't big enough chunks of fabric to pull that off?!

Sometimes I can match up the print perfectly....

and sometimes not 

but it is a busy enough print that this won't bug me.

I am building up a pile of finished tops and I don't have large enough pieces for the backing...

next week we will try the fabric store.

So Much Sewing!

 Yesterday, I finished sewing these blocks together!

This is very similar to the mystery quilt because I cut too many parts for the first one

and I didn't want to 'waste' them!  So another quilt is about to be born!

 I'm going to make a lap quilt with these orphan blocks from my aunt's stash.

 I took these blocks I had made last year, cut them from 8" blocks to 6"blocks 

and arranged them for a table runner.

Nice to pull things from the shelf and give them life.

And more ideas abound!

Face masks and a new quilt is going to be cut out today!