Calling a Truce

I have 20 string blocks now and was hoping that maybe I could catch up in a few days.  Then Bonnie put out step 5 and I knew that I needed to put RRCB aside for a little while.   I did blocks 2 at a time this morning, and 2 take me about 45 minutes, so I figure I have another 15 hours of string blocks to do, then there is step 4, and step five looks to be very time consuming and fiddly, too.   I haven't even put up a Christmas tree yet, and I have two other quilts that I need to finish and get to people, so this one will be there when I get back to it, probably after the first of the year.   The good thing is by that time more clues will be out and I'll have a pretty good idea of where it's going.   Bonnie's quilts are always beautiful, and I'm sure this one is no different.   I think it is funny that on Quiltvillechat some people love these blocks and others are just girding their loins and gritting their teeth and forging ahead.  So far I am in the forging ahead group, but I'm hoping they grow on me as I haven't seen a string quilt that I didn't like.   I find the process of trying to find strips long enough very time consuming and a little frustrating.  My foundation papers are 8.5 inches by about 8 inches and I think that makes part of the problem.  I think that if the papers were as big as the blocks you could tell at a glance.  Next time, if there is a next time, I'll do 8" blocks.  I still have plenty of papers.

The Wheels Turn Slowly

The wheels turn slowly, but they do turn and things are getting done.   This morning I got another six blocks done and hope to get more done by the end of the day.    I found out that I'll be babysitting my adorable little great granddaughter for a couple hours this afternoon, so I won't get as many done as I hoped, but it's all good.   I'm adding her picture, I haven't put one on my blog for awhile.   I can see that I need to be a little stingier with the end strips, these were too big, but added in with the other fifty-three they ought to pass.

This picture was taken on December 14th, and she will be one year old on December 16th, tomorrow.   She already had two parties, one in Nashville, Tennessee, and one here, but since tomorrow is the 'real' day, we are going to Chuck E Cheese.  I think it's more for her Daddy than her.  I'm sure she'll have a good time though.

I think I had mentioned before that my DD's stepdaughter is going to be getting sewing things for Christmas and so DD came over this past weekend and we made up six little kits for making these Scottie dogs from Denyse Schmidt Quilts.   I remember having two granddtrs over to make tote bags and they about wore me out, so since at least 3 of the 6 and maybe 4 will need considerable aid, I think DD and I are going to get together ahead of time and do ours.   Two things will hopefully be accomplished, we'll know what we're doing and we will be able to help with theirs instead of do ours.   We should be able to embelish them as a big group though.   It will be the two of us, Kaylea 7, Tabitha 19 (DGD), and Marcy (DGD in law) and Sarah (DGS's girlfriend) early twenties.   It should be fun and the Scottie dogs look so cute.   I also got five more little stockings done, and Christmas cards done and out, so I'm only gathering a little moss.

One Down Fifty-Nine To Go

I've finally gotten around to starting Step 3 of Bonnie Hunter's Roll Roll Cotton Boll mystery, and I can see that it is a doozy.  This is my second string block ever and making the first one for the mystery was almost as tedious as I remembered.   Last time I was up and down pressing after each strip, and this time I used my trusty little wallpaper roller, so that was easier, also this block was a trial so I didn't assembly line sew, so I know that doing that will make things easier.  I didn't really have strings, so I was cutting and sewing.  I plan to cut a bunch of varied strips, and that is three things to make life and strings easier.   There is hope!  If worse comes to worse, I will try to get 30 finished and do the other 30 later, as I plan to make 2 lap quilts anyway, unless it is so gorgeous that I have to have it for my bed.  It is one of Bonnie Hunter's, so that could happen.   My brothers visit was very nice, he liked the fleece blankets and pillowcases that I had made for his step grandchildren.  I didn't realize until after he left that I had forgotten to take pictures of them, oh well, if you've seen one the others aren't much different, lol.   I do like to have pictures though, it helps me feel like I'm accomplishing a little bit.  

We have made plans for Christmas, like Thanksgiving it won't be our traditional.  Christmas Eve we will go to my daughter's and see her side of the family, and hopefully sometime during the holidays we will see my son and his side.   Christmas day we are taking one of my grandson's, Micah, to visit with his cousin Robert and my brother Vince in Georgia.  They will meet us in St. Augustine and we have reservations to eat at the Columbia Restaurant, which is one of my favorites.  It will be a nice day and I'll get to see more of my family.

PS  My brother Vince just called me, he is at an estate sale where they have a Singer Featherweight.  He isn't really a sewer, but he does like unusual things and he has taken a liking to my little featherweight and so he's going to get the one he's looking at for himself.  He's bringing it with him on Christmas, and I'll bring mine too, so we can compare.  Both of my brothers are very handy, and I told him that he will be able to take care of his himself, and then he can teach me.  I miss having a sister, but it is great having brothers. 

  

Mini Christmas Stockings

This year our Christmas shopping consists mainly of some small identical presents and when I saw the pattern for Mini Stockings (http://www.marthastewart.com/article/mini-stockings) on the Martha Stewart Crafts email I thought those look simple and they would be cuter than wrapping.  DH added, and you could machine embroider their names, too.  Little did I know that they would take the better part of 3 days.  I enlarged the pattern to 130% and I'm glad that I did or they would have been really fiddly.   I made 29 of them, and I was glad to see the last one, I'm not so much a crafter as a would be quilter, lol. 

I was really wanting to get working on Step 3 of Roll Roll Cotton Boll, and on some quilts in progress, but felt that I needed to finish the stockings.   Now, my brother is coming to visit, which is a good thing and so I am probably not going to get to working on more sewing for a few days.  That doesn't even take into account that I need to do some housecleaning so that I can put up Christmas decorations, etc......    I'm just a retired person with 'time on my hands', how can I be so far behind?

RRCB Step #2

I finished step 2, and from the last page of instructions, I think that step 3 is probably not going to be an easy one like 1 and 2 have been.   Oh well, you know when you do a Bonnie Hunter mystery that it will be challenging but worth it.   Because I am aware of this, I hope to finish some other things this week, or at least make a large dent.   JoAnn's had a sale on their 9.99 fleece for only 2.99, so I got enough to make my grandson a fleece blanket and called my brother to see if he wanted fleece blankets for his step-grandchildren.  He did, so I got enough for 2 for them and flannel for a pillow for each of them.   Then I realized that I don't have anything for the 2 babies in the family, my great-granddaughter and my grandson's girlfriends little boy.   We went back to JoAnn's today and didn't get as good of a deal, but did get 50% off and enough fleece for 2 smaller fleece blankets and 2 more flannel pillowcases.   I also have another thank you quilt to do, and so got some fabric to do it.   I was hoping to finish my Iowa (Carolina) Christmas in time to have it on my bed for the holidays, but it's not looking good, lol.   If I can get myself going, maybe....

More Cross Stitch From ChookyBlue's Cross Stitch Display Inspiration

My niece Kerri and her father lived with us for awhile and either my DD or I taught her to cross stitch.   She was about 4th grade then and is the mom of 7 now, two of which are teenagers.  I felt honored that she presented me with her first.  (I like to collect pins.)

About that same time, I taught my son who was a senior in high school.  He made this for a girl that he really liked, but she blew it and he gave it to me instead.  I love it still even though I was second choice.

My DD made this for me when a mother of several small very active children (boys) and I treasure it also.  It is beautiful, and was a sacrifice.

My father was a man who it was hard to get gifts for, his wants weren't great and if he wanted it he probably got it himself.  I made this family tree for him and he really loved it and was touched.  I felt very happy when I could find a gift he really liked.  This was the first, the second was his first brand new goose down pillow (from my mother and I) and the last was a lined flannel shirt from LL Bean when he was terminally ill.  It makes me happy to know that I found something that really made him happy. 

After I made a family tree for my father I made one for DH.  This one is obviously bigger, and my father joked about why DH's was bigger.  I told him I couldn't help that we had 3 kids and they had 5.  I'm a more is more type of person, lol, so if there was a bare spot I filled it.  These look almost nothing like the original pattern.  I tried to add emblems that were meaningful and added lots of family information.  I took patterns from all over the place and adapted things such as making the tree considerably bigger.  It's amazing how often when a birthday or anniversary is needed that we go look on the family tree cross stitches.

Several people commented yesterday on how they cross stitched but gave it up for quilting.  I can't really say that, I met my Waterloo.  This is the pattern.  Every single little tiny block is cross stitched and a co-worker made one that I thought was the prettiest that I had seen.   I wanted one too, and still do, but I didn't get too far and between work and this bugger, I pretty much couldn't see well enough to do it anymore (it couldn't be that I was getting older helped too).   I still keep it and hope to finish it one day, but I make no promises.

This is how far I got, I think it's beautiful.

It's worthy of a close-up.  I didn't get far, but I love what I did.  Small things occupy small minds, lol.   I haven't done any cross stitch since the little sampler that I did back in 1996 when DH was having surgeries for a broken leg, but I treasure the ones I have and they warm up my home.  they were done with love.  Thank you Chookyblue and Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate it.  Have a wonderful holiday.

RRCB Step #1 and Cross Stitch

Step one done, I have about 215 if I counted right, a few more than needed, but that's ok they'll come in handy for something.

Chookyblue has been posting about cross stitching and invited others to participate, so I finally got some pictures taken.  This was the first large cross stitch that I made.  My daughter was about sixteen and learned at church and taught me so we both made one of these.   This one is in my dining room above my dry sink.

This pattern is one of my favorites, and I think that I made 3 or 4 of them.   Unfortunately, one was a wedding one, and the marriage didn't last so it has probably been discarded years ago.   Mine is on a wall between the living room and dining room.

I love the style of this series and made 3 different ones.  I would have made more if I had found more patterns.  I loved the style and the sentiments.   This one seemed appropriate for the dining room also.

DH had a broken leg back in the early to mid nineties and had about 10 surgeries and lots of problems before it finally healed.  this is just a small cross stitch that I got to work on while I waited for some of his surgeries.  He went to a hospital out of town and so it was just he and I and it passed the time.  I keep it in my kitchen between the bottom and top cupboards.

These last 2 are in my bedroom.   I made 2 or 3 of the Love One Another ones, not sure if the other(s) are still around, but mine is one of my favorites.

This one is over DH's dresser.    I have my two favorites plus a couple more small ones to share maybe tomorrow.   If you like cross stitch visit Chookyblue, there are hers to look at plus links to many others who are sharing theirs.

 

Leader Enders Quilt Top

I finished my top this morning, and also the binding.  Just need to embroider the name on the back, press the backing and it is ready for basting.  Only problem, I'm out of batting so it will have to wait til I get some.  Meanwhile, the first clue for Bonnie's mystery Roll Roll Cotton Bowl came out last night, so I need to get to that, but it may be tomorrow as I have a grandson coming over this evening to entertain a young lady that he has liked for quite awhile.  It's her birthday and we will be one of their visits.

New Project with Leaders and Enders

Not very fancy, but I'm making a lap quilt from my Leader and Ender sixteen patch blocks.  I think that it will finish up at about 60 x 76, so a nice couch quilt size.  This is just 9 of the 48 blocks hanging out on my design wall while I finish the other four patch blocks.  They are all cut out, sewn and ready to be framed.   

 

This is the border fabric that I have ordered from Thousands of Bolts.  I've always been satisfied with the fabrics I've gotten from them, and hopefully this will be no different.  It should be a very feminine quilt.

Fabrics for Roll Roll Cotton Boll mystery

Yesterday I purchased some fabrics for Bonnie Hunter's new mystery "Roll Roll Cotton Boll", and today I pulled some fabrics.  The plastic bags on the bottom of each stack are really scrappy scraps, and the rest is fat quarters and yardage.  I had to rob Tobacco Road and Double Delight, previous mysteries from Bonnie, but I'll worry about that later.  I also robbed my little stash of Thimbleberries.  Actually not so much a stash, I had bought some scraps (too beautiful to be called scraps, perfect eighth of a yards) from Keepsake Quilting and am hoping to get more and make a bargello from them.  I feel like it is always fun to participate when everyone is in the thick of it so that decided my priority.  Now, I just have to wait for the first clue on November 19th.
Do you think that raspberry is shouting at the other pinks?  Bonnie said raspberry pinks, but I think that one may have too much raspberry.  It may not make it into the quilt.