Frog Prince

 Once upon a time, I had a beautiful frog bean bag my grandmother made for me ( and all of her other grands!)  I slept with it on my pillow every night.  

You just never know where your prince will come from , you know!

He was made with heavily textured fabric on top and a leopard flannel under.

 The flannel gave way 

and the beans were bug infested so he went in a box 

and that was that some 40 years ago. 

 His glass button eye suffered an injury also.

   I searched my button box and some of the buttons I inherited from her

 but to no avail!

A quick call to Mom and she came up empty also!

Sigh.

 I decided to do a dissection and replace the old flannel 

since my mom had given me a scrap from Gram's stash long ago so I could do this surgery.....

 See some of the old bean detritus still inside! 

 When I removed the mouth stitching,

 I found that is where my Gram had closed up the opening 

after filling with beans here! 

Interesting to see the inside and how she constructed him! 

 (55 years ago, mind you!)

 I then washed frog's skin-he was looking a little frazzled

 but after a good press, he was ready for the new belly!

 Here is a hint to anyone trying to sew two odd shapes together, 

especially in stuffed animals and such; 

 only cut one layer to shape and leave the other a lot larger. 

 Then you stitch around the cut pattern

 and trim the other with pinking shears to remove the extra fabric 

and to snip for curves at the same time!

No holes or missed alignments this way!

 I did remember to make a pattern so I can make this frog bean bag for some more hopeful children!

Here is what I filled him with! 

And now he is all refilled and ready for his new eyes which I haven't purchased yet!

He was hugged right away to welcome him back !

My grandmother was a prolific seamstress and I loved everything she made me!

Was there handmade in your life from an early age?

String

 There is something so pleasing about a doily.  

Perhaps it is because it is symmetrical and I do love symmetry.

Maybe it is because I grew up with them and everyone in the family had them on every table-bed table, end table, dining table....

even our pillow cases had crocheted edgings.

 It started because I had to buy some crochet cotton to try and fix this throw rug in front of my shower. 

 I receive it second-hand and it has seen a lot of use in the last 8 years;  

but I don't want to part with it so I tried to mend.

Unfortunately, it didn't go so well because both the warp threads 

and the weft rags are deteriorating and it is seeing its last days. 

 Sigh.

Well, at least it took me to the crochet cotton

 and that awakened a doily urge so all is not lost!

Felix Socks

Finished is a pair of Felix socks, 

in honor of the sweet boy Manx belonging to my daughter! 

 (these are for her btw and not for the cat!)

The second duplicate stitching didn't go any easier than the first

 but they look good and are such a sweet touch to the underside of the toe!  

This is the Tuxie Love pattern by Wandering Cat Studio, 

over 64 sts in KnitPicks Stroll yarn.  

The only alteration from the instructions is the heel 

where I used a short row heel.

I have another pair of these on the needles but I am knitting them toe up with a real twist on the toe construction so it will be two stranded knitting to get that paw print on there without duplicate stitching!  Stay tuned!

Scrubby Yarn

                                                               

The boys' Mom made them wash cloths from a yarn she discovered 

just for that purpose. 

 (There is a place for polyester, sometimes!) 

 After I went to the eye dr yesterday,

 I ran some errands as long as I was in town.

I picked up some of the yarn to give it a try. 

(WalMart price here was $3.98 a skein-

there is only 78 yards in a skein

 but it looks like I can get two cloths from each skein.)

  It isn't too awful on your hands while knitting and I know that after use,

 it gets even softer but with teeth to make a great washcloth! 

 Perfect. 

 I knit up a simple garter diamond one. 

 The second one is on the needles!

 Speaking of discovery-this lily is a complete surprise to us.  It has never bloomed before but the 12" of rain we have been blessed with this last month must have awakened it!

It is stunning!  And there are two blooms-very large blooms;  the plant stands just over 2' tall and the blooms are the size of salad plates!  Incredible!  

(No aroma, unfortunately!)

Bee Hives

 I cut out 40 hexagons with the Accuquilt cutter and arranged them on the design wall, snapped a photo and then loaded them all up to go to quilting group!
I am having to sharpen my skills on Y seams;  slower stitching but it is working out pretty well.

 You can't tell n the photo but the yellow fabric is of bees and they have the blue fabric with the dandelions to fly toward!

 I threw my scraps out-and when I got to quilting the 'ort' queen asked what I did with the scraps!  Horrors!  (She wants the bee fabric!)

 She was pleased with the completed ort blocks all sewn into this little top.
At least this accomplishment helped soften the blow!

 I also completed the bindings on all the little flannel quilts and they are in the donation pile.

And so is the little Sunburst Granny Square lap robe.  I used up every little bit of the 4 skeins of these colors.  Nice stash busting.

Snippets of Saturday

 I have finished my little ort blocks and arranged them on point for a little crib blanket!

  Now ALL the scraps from this little jelly roll are used up!

 I also pulled the four little quilts off the frame

 and hope to bind three of the today.  

The fourth quilt I bound the way my Gram did;  by folding the backing around to the front and then top stitching it. 

 I was going to do this with all of them 

but forgot to leave enough room around each little quilt 

so I would have enough backing to to it!

I did have enough of the backing to cut up into strips 

so I can bind them the usual way!

 See this open space at the end of the back around where Bill parks his truck?

It has had this lawn ornament parked there for 8 years and it is finally moved!

He rolled the 'deal' purchase off the trailer all those years ago 

and it sat ever since.

He worked all week and put tires on it,

 worked on the engine and replaced all its fluids. 

 It was so nice to hear it fire up and MOVE!

It still needs some work so it will sit over there for a while, I'm sure,

but it is out of my visual and that is a very good thing!

A Paw

 The first Tuxie Love sock is finished!
 I chose to duplicate stitch the paw print on the bottom of the toe.

 I had to get my magnifier lamp out-these are tiny stitches!
 I added a center reference point so I could keep my eyes focused on the right rows!

 After three false starts, it came back to me
 and the rhythm of the stitches fell into place!
 I almost despaired, let me tell you!

 I am not thrilled with the look of the inside
 and will do better on the second sock.
I did test wear it and you don't feel any bumps at least!

It is a very cute touch to the sock
 and I think I will make it the same way on the next sock
 but on the NEXT pair, I will try Intarsia knitting to get the job done!

Flannel Quilts

 I loaded an old flannel sheet on the frame for a backing

 and then I layered all the little scrap tops on board.  

 I quilted each one and then moved on to the next!

It is working just fine 

and it is going to be so nice to pull off the whole thing

 and cut out each quilt! 

  I am quilting it with a mix of meanders and swoops.

I like having something on the frame

 so when I pass through the room , I can stitch a bit!

Scraps to Orts?

The little crazy patch quilt was finished during quilt group on Monday.

While sewing last week, the woman near me asked what I was doing with all those pieces I trimmed off from my paper piecing.  Toss them, of course!

She gasped and said she was a teacher of the use of Orts.  Yeah, what?!

Orts are scraps-mainly a word to describe food scraps but she applies it to her piecing and said she would be glad to give me a crash course class!

I dutifully saved all the scraps and brought them this week to show her!

So, you sew the little pieces together and keep building your own spontaneous fabric.  I got more adventurous each block I made.

 Sew strips together or use little blocks as units...

 ...keep adding sections until you reach the dimensions you desire, in this case, 

I am making them into 5" blocks.

Yeah, it is another crazy way but you just have to make one more!

Hail to the Red/White 'n Blue

 I found some appropriate colored skeins and whipped off these little blocks yesterday.

The name of the block is the Sunburst Granny Square.

You can add lots of rows of granny stitch around this block but I just love the center when it transitions from round to square!

This will make a little lap robe for the senior center.

Enjoy your family time today remembering the cost so many paid to make this birth of a nation possible.

The cost not just in lives but in ideas and the courage to bring them about.

Transitional Stops and Starts

         

          Tuxie Love skipped right along and now I have to knit 

          down the foot and then have fun with the toe surprise!

 The Jarul top is knit to the waist decreases and I have a few more inches until I increase again for the bustline.

 The Sand Cardigan was a bit strange for knitting but I think I have it to the easy part now to knit across the front, shoulder, sleeve and back, etc!

I knit each of these exclusively for a day and then moved on to the next.  I think I liked doing it this way so far....

I finished all the crazy patch blocks and am using up the last of the strips to make a pieced border.  I will stitch these together and then onto the quilt during quilt group today.  

For a Saturday morning project, we sewed some super hero masks!  You can all breathe easier knowing these guys have your back!