Paddlewheels are Turning

I'm still quilting along on the Paddlewheel Quilt. I thought I could get it done by the end of November, but I'd say I have a couple more weeks to go. Here are the sections that are completed already. I still have to trim them, but it's easier to do it all at once. One more doublestrip to go, then the borders. For those who have asked, the name of the pattern is Paddlewheels and Pinwheels and it is in Lynnette Jensen's book Thimbleberries Book of Quilts (avail. at Amazon.com). The quilting is going along pretty well, but I only get a couple of blocks quilted daily. The borders will be done using cross-hatching.

Here's my Dad's Christmas Train. It has a bunch of cars as well (heck it covers the whole front yard), but this is the only photo that came out clear. As you can see from the house behind, this thing is huge.

Farmers Daughter Quilt Done!

Another finish! Happy dance, happy dance.

I finished my sister's Farmer's Daughter Scrap Quilt today! It is all ready for her to sleep under tonight. I wish I had a better place to hang this to take photos, but I'm a victim of where the sun is located.


OK, now for the details for this full-sized quilt that measures about 63x81 inches. This quilt used up nearly my entire box of 2.5 inch scrap squares for the center 9 patches. They are arranged mostly at random. There are lots of novelty fabrics included, making it very interesting. The star points are made of various dark greens and the backgrounds are various beiges and tans. The backing is split between flannel left over from my Maple Leaf Quilt and flannel purchased new. The flannels don't necessarily match, but they are sure soft. The batting is Joann's Soft and Crafty Hi Loft. The binding is left over fabric from my Maple Leaf quilt border. I used Cascade 220 wool yarn leftover from tying the Diamond Scrap quilt for my parents. Yep, this is pretty much a leftovers quilt.

This is sort of a test quilt since my sister washes and dries quilts often and usually uses the machine to do it. I want to see how well this batting stands up to that. I used Bonnie's instructions for making this quilt. I varied by using random squares since I wasn't using strips. I know this pattern as Farmer's Daughter, while Bonnie knows it as Sister's Choice, so don't get confused if you look up the directions.

If you want to make this quilt, here's the link:
http://www.quiltville.com/sisterschoice.shtml

Closeup of quilt; pieced backing

Watch Those Gift Card Ripoffs

My current soapbox.

Just a little reminder about those gift cards that seem to be everywhere. If they aren't used immediately, the issuing company 'charges' the card a fee to maintain the balance. Ultimately, it becomes valueless. In addition, if your card is accidentally wiped (as happened to my credit card last year), you have no recourse even if you have the receipt. You've just lost the balance of your gift card. I just read a newsreport that some companies charge fees just for looking up the gift card balance. It is true that some well-known companies don't do these practices. For instance, Target (one of my favorite stores) not only doesn't charge the card to maintain balance, but will replace the unused balance on any lost or stolen card if you have the original receipt (or gift receipt-don't keep the receipts WITH your card!).

What frosts me is that this information often isn't even contained on the card or with the purchasing information. You (or your giftee) don't know until you get to the cash register to buy that your $50 card is now worth only $46. Maybe not a big deal, but the card issuer is CHEATING you by not plainly stating that they will charge you if you don't spend it by such-and-such date.

What I LIKE about some of these cards is that you can often use them for online purchases at the same retailer, which is a great boon for those without a credit card (or trying not to charge up debt).

Off soapbox.

Afghan and Kittens Are Bigger

I'm on the last section of tying my sister's quilt. I hope to finish tonight so I can start cutting the binding out. I have also finished quilting the second section of the Paddlewheel quilt and am clipping those many strings (side effect of using a walking foot, I guess). I also work on the Giant Granny Afghan while watching TV or Netflix movies. I have progress to show! I'm at 20 rows now, but do need to make it about twice as wide as it is now. Another member of the CrochetALong was using similar colors, but added black. I think the black adds a lot to the quilt so am adding that (it also stretches my dwindling supply of greens).

Yes, it's time for more kitty photos. Here's the tired herd in the kitty cat condo. Right after I took this photo, I had to reach down and catch the black kitty from falling off. I put him back. He never woke up. Exhausting work being a kitten. The little tuxedo gal always wakes up when I start taking photos, but she's pretty cooperative.

Here's a couple of portraits at 5 weeks. They now get to run up and down the hall and practice their Halloween cat manuevers (hissing, arching back, hopping, fizzing up fur) and are having a great time doing so.

Quilting Progress

Here's some of the progress on my projects. The first is my sister's quilt. Actual tying is occuring finally. I'm using up yarn from tying my Mom&Dad's Diamond Scrap quilt. The flannel on the back is from Joann's and is the cutest star fabric. Doesn't really go with the pink paisley, exactly, but it's soft and happy and bargain priced. My sister likes it, which is the most important thing.


Here is that strip of Paddlewheel quilt quilted. What attracted me to this quilt pattern in the first place was how well the simple quilting worked with the design. I just do 3 straight (more or less) lines in each paddle then about 1/4 inch in on each of the triangles. This pattern is in an out-of-print book from Lynette Jensen (Thimbleberries). Once done, I'll post all the info as I'm sure you can get the book from Ebay. She does not call it Paddlewheels (I do). The closeup view shows the quilting in more detail.

We Are So Cute

Managed to catch a photo of all 5 kittens on the kitty condo this morning. They are about 5 weeks old now. Cute, cute, cute. It's terrible trying to get sharp photos of them because my digital camera doesn't handle motion all that well. Yep, they all have blue eyes yet.

This and That

As always, I'm working on several things. First, I'm working on the Paddlewheel quilt. This will be quilt-as-you-go in strips. I just can't stand yet another project where I have to try to push an entire quilt around in my sewing machine. So, I'm just making it easy on me. I prefer strips over blocks because there is less finishing involved. Most of my strips are 2 columns, but this one was a singleton and although I had planned to attach the border to this one, I forgot when I cut the backing fabric. So, one extra piece..oh well. I only have enough pins to pinbaste 2 strips, so the rest have to wait until something is quilted.

After I pinbasted that strip, I finally put my sister's quilt down to be tied. I found the missing yarn, so I'm ready to start on this. Well, after my class tomorrow. I'm taking a stained glass quilt-as-you-go class that finishes tomorrow. I have several stained glass patterns that I always intended to do, but just couldn't get the instructions. After learning this method, I plan to do the others the same way and the heck with the instructions (could be this is what they meant, but hey, sometimes you need someone to just show you).

Strip of paddlewheel layed out ready for pinbasting. This resin table is great for everything except quilting (vibrates too much).

I needed to use up leftover yarn from my Mom's project including yarn she rejected (but I lost receipt). So, I joined a Giant Granny-A-Long and am making this kindof cool rectangular granny afghan. I have not made a granny afghan since I was 16, so this is fun. I just started this thing yesterday and worked on it while bringing relatives to 2 medical appointments.



Finally, I rarely ever mention what my sisters are doing. My youngest sister makes doll clothes and decided to try selling some at craft fairs. She did her very first craft fair and sold almost $400 worth of doll clothing! I'm very proud of her. She was so concerned that she couldn't sell these (using unusual fabrics or her own designs), so I'm glad she was very successful. She has one more craft fair next weekend. Hope she does just as well! She and my bro have also done well this deer hunting season. She got 1 and he got 2. Crossing my fingers that BIL will get one this weekend.

Mom's Rose Afghan Is Done

Well the day is just as dull and dreary as yesterday. However, here is a photo of my Mom's new afghan! I used TLC dusty rose, TLC medium thyme and Red Heart white. I also used a K hook which was unusual for me. My Mom was given the pattern by a lady who was teaching her how to crochet. She never really learned, so 30 years later, I insisted on doing it for her. She selected the colors and the final finishing (original was fringed) which included these great scallops.

The Cabbage Rose pattern in Best of Maggie Weldon Crochet Afghans has a very similar rose. NOTE: I HAVE NOW ADDED PATTERN DIRECTIONS BELOW THE PHOTO!

Here's a closeup that shows the scallops and flower shapes better.


Here are the pattern directions as they originally appeared in a 1971 issue of Women's Day. Keep in mind that the flower square starts out rectangular and extra stitches are put on 2 sides to square it up. Also, I used a K hook. A J hook would not give me gauge. I also hated the fringe and instead did a scalloped border starting with 1 row of the flower color and then switching to the green.

Six Petal Rose Afghan

41 x 56 inches

Materials: 5 skeins black worsted
2 skeins green
2 skeins magenta

Crochet hook J or size to give correct gauge

Motif (plain)

With black, ch 5, join with sl st to form a ring.

Rnd 1: ch 3, 2 dc in ring, (ch3, 3dc in ring) 3 times, ch 3, join with slip stitch in top of ch 3.

Rnd 2: Sl st to next ch 3 sp, ch3, 2 dc, ch3, dc in space, *3 dc, ch3, 3dc in next ch 3 sp (corner group made). Repeat from *. Join with sl st in top of ch 3. Fasten off.

Rnd 3: Attach green to corner ch 3, 2 dc, ch3, 3 dc in corner sp, *3dc in next space, work corner group in corner space. Repeat from * once. 3 dc in next space. Join in top of ch 3. Fasten off.

Rnd 4: Attach black, * work corner group in corner space, 3 dc in each sp. Repeat from * around. Join.

Rounds 5&6: Repeat rnd 4. Fasten off. Make 16 more plain motifs.

Flower Motif

With magenta, ch 6, join to form a ring.

Rnd 1: Ch 5, sc in circle 6 times. Join with sl st in first sc.

Rnd 2: In ch 5 loop; * 1 sc (ch1, 1dc) twice, ch 1, 1 sc. Repeat from * around.

Rnd 3: *1 sc around bar of next sc of 1st rnd, ch6. Repeat from * around. Join

Rnd 4: In ch 6 loop, *1 sc (Ch1, 1dc) three times, ch 1, 1 sc. Repeat from * around. Join Fasten off magenta.

Rnd 5: Attach green between scs of petals, sc in same place. *Ch 6, 1 sc in space between next 2 petals. Repeat from * around. Join.

Rnd 6: Ch 3, 2dc in same sc. *In next lp, 3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc: in next lp, 3 dc: in next lp 3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc*. Now 3 dc in next sc. Repeat between * once. Join. Fasten off green.

Rnd 7: Attack black and work to correspond to last 3 rnds of plain motif. Make 17 more flower motifs.

Finish: Sew motifs together alternating motifs. Fringe ends as follows. To make fringe: Cut yarn in 12 inch lengths using 4 strands of 1 color, knot fringe between dc groups. Alternate colors as follows: 1 black, 1 magenta, 1 green, 2 magenta

Getting Things Done

I am happy to report that I finished Mom's Rose Afghan last night. The original instructions included fringe but my Mom asked for a scalloped border. Today, so far, is a very dreary day, so I'll try for a photo this afternoon.

I'm also working on several quilting projects at once...not getting anything done but getting progress.

The kittens are so darn cute. All of a sudden, they started getting around easily, playing, scaling the wall of their enclosure. Just being kittens. I plan to take photos today, so hopefully will get them up right away!

Happy Halloween

Here's a SMALL section of the livingroom all dressed up for Halloween. What does this have to do with quilting?! Well, see that fabric the stuff is sitting on? That's the future Halloween quilt! I have enough yardage for 2 quilts (front and back) draped around the livingroom and entryway. !


I spent the evening babysitting kitties and working on Mom's afghan. Here's my progress. I only have a couple of more rows. Mom, of course, will say it needs more rows. I am prepared. Extra yarn!


Finally, here's the kitty family all in a jumble. They were 3 weeks old yesterday.

Weight Loss Quilt

Someone suggested a weight loss quilt. A block for every pound lost. Well, since I have a lot to lose, mine are 6 inches (sashing will make them 8 inches). I've made 7 of them having already lost 7 pounds on the current diet (Sparkpeople.com). The particular pattern I'm using is from "Making Scrap Quilts to Use It Up" by Lynne Edwards. There are many similar (and free) ways of doing this block.


In addition to my personal weight, I am also trying to lose some pounds of fabric. So, I joined the No Buy group for a year at Stashbusters. It starts on Nov. 1. The goal is to shop your stash and only buy what you need to finish off a project made mostly with what you have on hand. I can still buy such things as backgrounds, backing, binding and batting since these are things that usually aren't there with your fabric hoard (and note..they are all B words). So, other than getting the rest of my fabric for the Thimbleberries BOM (note BOM..a B word), my shopping is going to slow way down. My goal for the year is to cut the fabric stash back to the original 12 half boxes that fit under my cutting table. I do have to get more fat quarters for the Weight Loss quilt (before Nov. 1) because blue is something that I've nearly completely used up in my stash.

My sister's quilt (Sister's Choice or Farmer's Daughter pattern) is now sandwiched and ready for tying to begin this weekend. I expect to have that process done in about 2 weeks or so. I am also more than 50% done with my Mom's rose afghan. I continue to work on it in the evenings.

Forming the Afghan

I'll bet all you crocheters have wondered when the heck I was going to get back to it! OK..today is that day! I've been working on my Mom's afghan while watching TV or Netflix movies. My goal at the beginning of the year was to complete all my started crocheting and knitting projects and I'm getting behind! Only 2 months left. So, Mom's is the fastest to get done...and she appreciates that. I started putting some of the finished squares together yesterday to get her opinion on how my method (single crochet). She likes it, so that's what I'll go with. I need to order another skein of the Thyme since my local Joann's doesn't carry that color in TLC yarn any longer. I'm going to keep going since it's possible I have just barely enough, but we all know I'll need at least 20 yards more than I have!

After days of dark and dismal, tomorrow is supposed to be warmer and sunny. I'll finally be able to get my sister's quilt spread out, sandwiched and rolled up for tying later.

Do You Quilt And Buy Lots of Fabric?

Someone posted this on the Stashbuster's list. I'll just include a link. Anybody who collects fabric will appreciate this list.

http://www.getcreativeshow.com/seminars/create_stash.htm

I saw the sun today. It is still there! It lasted for only about 1 1/2 minutes, but I know it was there.

Hearts Block

As discussed in yesterday's entry, here's a completed block that is using up my 2 inch squares. Came out very nice and I'm highly pleased. So far, I'm still using scraps for doing the 1/2 square triangles. Eventually, I'll be breaking into my fat quarter collection. All to the good! The center square will be a holiday red fabric.

I'm considering quilting these block by block (4 hearts) and then putting together with binding similar to what I did for the reversible quilt. I mostly just have to decide if I want another tied quilt. Many of these fabrics are not high quality, so I don't want to put in a lot of time and effort, but at the same time, I can also experiment with some different quilting ideas. It's going to be on my bed, so I want it to look nice!

What To Do With 2 inch Squares

Baby kitties are growing although they still can't see. Loud. Really loud when picked up. Mamacat is very much a young cat and needs lots of support.

I've spent the last few days mostly sorting through craft books to try and eliminate some. It's very hard.

I finally found the great example of a block to use up the 2 inch squares I've been accumulating. My 5 quart bucket was nearly full, and clearly the darks outnumbered the lights 8 to 1. Darlene (dasheyquilts), a member of the Stashbuster's group, posted a photo of her scrappy square. I'm doing this but using a solid white for the background. This is not a new design. In fact, it's in one of Shar Jorgensen's early books and done in scrappy reds. I never thought of doing the heart in just dark fabrics. Interestingly, I have some of the same fabrics in this square! I've completed 2 squares and now have to do 2 reverse squares to get the look that I want. I'm using 2 inch squares (1 1/2 inch finished).


This is Darlene's square that inspired me (from Stashbuster's list).

The 2 7/8 inch scrap container is also stuffed. I started doing an Ocean Waves block and realized that I have nowhere near enough lights to do this pattern. So, I switched gears and am doing a Lady of the Lake pattern. I have to select out fabrics from my stash for the larger pieces, but in the meantime, I have plenty of half square triangles to make. Here's a link to the pattern I'm using from Quilter's Cache. This is a very traditional pattern and there are some great examples featured on page 2 of the instructions. This is a 10 inch block.
http://www.quilterscache.com/L/LadyoftheLakeBlock.html
If you would prefer a 12 inch block, here's a link to a pattern for that.
http://mccallsquilting.com/qb/pattern_502//index.html
If you like this pattern, here's a coloring page to envision your fabrics in it.
http://blockcentral.com/ladylake.shtml

Baby Portraits

OK..I promise. These will be the last baby photos until next week when they have their eyes opened. Those are my sister Mary's hands holding the little kittens for their individual portraits. Two calicos and one of the tuxedos are girls. The other tuxedo and the all-black are boys. Momma cat doesn't object to us handling the babies, but she thought we were taking too long.

On the crafting side, I've started crocheting a bobble pillow for my cousin's 1 year old daughter. She is majorly into pillows. It is from leftover Lion Homespun. I've also spent some time today piecing together the leftover paisley flannel for the back of my sister's quilt. Looks like it will cover half the quilt. A couple less yards of fabric for me to buy!

Happy Birthday!

Here's our new family, born (Oct. 10) overnight to Cleo-Claudine. There are 2 calicos, 2 tuxedos and one all-black. Oh, and 3 girls and 2 boys. She's taken to motherhood pretty well..all the right cat noises.

The Amazing Expanding Kitty

Yes, folks, she is expanding on a daily basis. Walks more like a heifer now too. Right now, my Dad and I are betting on 4 kittens. I'm not really a kitten person, but I'll still have to make them some toys. I have accomplished no needlework in the last day, alas, but I did spend a lot of time revisiting some of my quilting books.


Cleo-Claudine on Oct. 8, 2006

Sister's Choice Top is Done!

In between all the things that have been going on this month, I finally finished the Sister's Choice quilt top. I will get the backing sewn up today or tomorrow. This quilt will be tied, so should get done quickly. It is full sized (70x90 inches) and is actually going to my sister. The 9 patches are all individual scraps, but I did keep with the light/dark of a typical 9 patch. Today was extremely windy, so my photo isn't the best. I should add that I believe this pattern is usually called Farmer's Daughter.


This quilt is rather busy the way I did it. However, the recipient and my Mom like it, so that is good. I'm sure I'll make this pattern again in the future.

Here's the bulging kitty. She expands on a daily basis and I expect kittens in the next week. You can clearly feel individual kitten parts now, which were a little hard to tell a week or so ago.

More Books!

I can't help it. I am just a book addict. I can only blame my eyesight since I can't read paperbacks anymore, I buy quilt books. Here are my latest two purchased from Amazon.com. The first is a book on scrap quilts entiteld Weekend Scrap Quilting by Jeanne Stauffer and Sandra L. Hatch. Every author approaches scrap quilts in a different way. This one is perhaps more useful to me than others because she assumes that you have varying amounts of different fabrics. If you run out of a fabric, doesn't matter. Search your stash for something similar. There are several quilts that apply well to large patterned novelty fabrics as well. Can hardly wait to start one!

This next book is for anybody who quilts using their home machine. It features a variety of ways to put your quilt together without having to deal with all that batting. A plus for large full sized on up to king sized quilts! If you can't afford to pay someone with a longarm machine, this is the one to get. Included are about a dozen patterns, which are very helpful to determine which ways to incorporate your own patterns. They are cool patterns anyway, especially that cover one! This book is Divide and Conquer by Nancy Smith & Lynda Mulligan. Amazon is nearly sold out of this book, so if it interests you, don't wait to order!

My Maple Leaf quilt is wonderful. So far, I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this new batting (Joann's Soft'nCrafty HiLoft). I'm currently working on putting the Paddlewheel quilt together. I've finished the blocks and am preparing sections for pinbasting. As mentioned before, this quilt will be quilted section by section and then assembled. My Mom & Dad's quilt is just about killing me with the weight (large queen size) and I don't want to further torment myself. My goal is to get all the remaining pin-basted quilts finished yet this year (5, I think) and to do that, I have got to stop starting new quilts!!

On the crocheting side, my Mom's rose afghan is about half done now. I had lots of appointments last week and actually need to get more yarn. In between all of this, I'm trying to make room in my closet for kittens. I was outvoted and the stray that turned out to be pregnant is staying. (grumble, grumble) I knew as soon as they gave her a name, they would keep her. Cleo-Claudine wants my closet. She's about a year-old, small, calico kitty, who doesn't exactly like me (she growls, but doesn't claw or bite). We expect the kittens within a couple of weeks. She's pretty fat now, so I expect any day soon.

Cleo-Claudine in early September