Newest block..pokeberry rosebush...and below, all blocks so far.
Next up...machine blocks! Mandatory break...Be back about January 5th!
When hubby asked for suggestions for my birthday present I came up with all sorts of things. I'd pick one, then decide nope and change to another. Then I knew just what I wanted. I had planned to make a big order of plaids for a special February quilt from my favorite store so I decided that would be just the ticket. PLUS it would be a real surprise!
Oh the goodness is almost too much to bear! Baggies of lovely wonderment! Reds, blacks, grays, and a few extra multi-color lovelies throw in to round out the dollar amount I set. I was specific in ordering reds, reds and blacks, blacks, and grays for my full size February quilt. Plus 4 yards of black for the Pokeberry quilt background. **23 yards in all ** Yippee!!
My little helper needed to be included. It's no surprise that all my fabric comes with a side of fur. Oh just to pet these fabrics is heaven. Jane did a fabulous job choosing! These are close-ups of the right side, the extra colorful colors thrown in for good measure. Browns, greens and navy's.
Then the left side...all red and black goodness. I'm going to love making this quilt and saving a bit of each color for other scrap quilts to come! After dinner I'll blow out the candles and enjoy a nice slice of birthday cake provided by the hubs.
We had a lovely quiet Christmas, just us two and the "boys". We watched some kinda unorthodox movies for Christmas day...Scary Movie and Scream 1, but we wanted to laugh. The mailbox should have the last of the holiday movies to watch...Elf. I'm going to relax today, sew to my hearts content, and spend a nice birthday with my favorite fella's.
As if that wasn't more than enough to send, deep down in the stocking was another giftie tucked away. A lovely black wool calender sleeve with a '09-'10 calendar to record all my most important dates inside. 
Karen the detail on this calendar sleeve is simply stunning. The work you put into this present just almost leaves me speechless! You can't know how enjoyable this gift is to me and how lucky I feel to have received it from you. Thanks you friend, so very much!
Christmas Annie's arrived about a month ago but never shared! They do make a season bright!
Folksy Hearts
A wonderful punch needle pattern, a cute little notepad for my purse, some paper hanky's and the cutest Mary Englebreit bar of soap. Look at the cute cherry design pressed into the soap!
Thanks Sharon so much for my box of goodies!
Just finished up the wreath block and moving onto a few new little quilts for February as well as another pokeberry block. I really love this wreath block! It's a block that would make a nice 4 block quilt or even a nice one block with a lovely border all around...humm, something to think about later! Below is the rosebush block and everything is just easily pinned so I could get all the parts in the right place. I still have to baste the leaves down and trim the stars, lots of stuff as I sew.
It was weird to start more quilts, but I had to remind myself that this quilt, the ABC sampler and the SLOL are long term projects. So Valentines quilts need to get moving now! Should have one top finished tonight!
I was goofing online when I went on a google search for some scrap wool ornament patterns. I was inspired by Libby's wreaths, several others wool ornies, and some cool prim ornies I have seen at places I can't remember at the moment. But I found loads of cool places and links to share...
This package I needed. It was my 15 yards of lovely dyed prim muslin. Libby was kind enough to share where she got this fabric a while ago and after ordering 3 yards each of dark and medium muslin to test them out, I fell in love with the way they look. SO I went for a nice big bundle this time. 10 yards of dark and 5 of medium. Should last me for a while. I never asked if this was hand dyed, but it sure looks so. I love the way it gets almost striped at times depending on the dye pattern!
Here's where I am on the wreath block. There are more leaves and flowers to add, but I add as I go. These are good to do while watching all those Christmas classics that we drag out each year. A Christmas Story has been watched twice and will be watched a few more...tonight it was Scrooged. On the list for this week are Elf, It's a Wonderful Life, Home Alone, and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas both new and animated.
This above is what I saw when I laid out my two halves of the bottom section. First I knew I needed to connect the lower right angel/ oakleaf/bird to the top with the template stars and angel and bird the in vase thingy. It should have lined up perfectly. You'll notice it didn't quite. No biggie, sew on a strip and be happy. Once I sewed that seam, I could turn over and sew the remainder of the flag seam. Second issue came to light. The flag is supposed to be the same length as the right side section. I've measured everything and all the backgrounds and pieces are all the correct size. I suspect again that the culprits are the flying geese in the center, but mostly the star blocks. I wondered when making them, but they matched up to the lower parts and fit together beautifully then so I never gave it a thought. Then I laid out the left section. Problem..too short. In fact the right section in Cheri's quilt has a strip sewn on the bottom to make it the correct size to match up to the left side. Well my left side as you can see is shorter without.
I plan to make a line of hst's to fill the gap over the snails' trails and put a small section under the flag. I think it will look just fine. I haven't a clue if I did anything different than the pattern or not but it doesn't matter at this point. Notice I did not say "wrong". Nothing in folkart is wrong in my eyes. This makes this quilt mine. I'm happy with it now, so I'll be thrilled when the tops done...extra sections and all.
So I'll leave you right now with another block for the pokeberry quilt... what I refer to as the weird branch block! Ha! See, red bird is rightly in his place and Noodle is still alive...all is right again.
It gives you sizes of strips you will need to complete the top section and a hint about what goes where!
I got all the embroidery done on the sections and I already put all the button eyes on the quilt. I know most say never do it before quilting, but I'm very careful when I quilt and I also plan to quilt in the ditch anyway with hand quilting added for some of the appliqued blocks. There's no problem of buttons appearing in the seams!
and the right side.
It's a wonderful quilt and I know that some people get overwhelmed when seeing the whole quilt and get scared. Don't think about the whole quilt at once. Just pick one block, read the directions and start slow. I know the instructions are a bit crude to some who are used to being lead by the hand with most patterns, but these patterns are this way so you can add your own personality to the design. As long as YOU like the way it looks...it's perfect! I'm moving on to get all the rest of the economy blocks done for the right side and the houses and stuff so I can get done and start quilting!!
and the flying geese block. I love this block, it's so colorful.
I'm getting the last of the buttons sewn on the top section of Sweet Land of Liberty so I'll make sure to show that tomorrow or the next day. I'm not sure how much I'm going to sew tonight, I'm tired and I just got the tree up with the lights on and the garland strung. Can I stop there? Does it really have to have ornaments? Never wait this late to put up the tree. I know for me it's too late and I feel tired and like I won't get enough enjoyment from all the work. Of course I could just be whining...nah, not me.
Distinguishing markers: tiny stars over the entire body and wearing a freezer paper overcoat.
SUSPECT............ Noodle Boy 
This clue was left behind...The outer shell of an eagle previously left in the hanging trash bin. The "accomplice" has quite nimble fingers and easily picks out victims for his partner in crime to destroy at whim. **Please note that the picture of the victim is actually a double made as a replacement bird** On-going efforts are continuing for the remains of the lost red bird.
I'm rounding out the finish on this one and stopped with just a few things to finish to complete this section. Then it's on to the bottom border and the economy blocks and flying geese for the sides.
Still currently going, I am one and a half seasons behind. Mostly due to arm issues. Sadly this type stitching causes me the most trouble with the tennis elbow so I have to ration out the work. But I have Summer almost done. Should only take a few months to catch this one up with just Fall to finish up before assembling the whole top.
A brand new BOM that has been patiently waiting for me to start. This one is behind on purpose. I just didn't want to get another quilt started until after I finished the holiday quilts. I did Month One and have 4 months in house to complete. They will go quickly and I'll be caught up in no time with the group!
This is also a BOM that I found after it was done, but I have about half of the quilt to finish. Shouldn't take too long to get back on track. ** I should have listed where it's located..bad of me! All the BOM instructions can be found here at Forum Farbstoff. Remember it's in German, but it's easy to find the link at the bottom of each download by knowing that Heir in English means HERE! She also gives links to the other gals blocks and a slide show on the left shows the completed tops! I am following along with mine based on Christiane's lovely version.**
Like I needed another quilt to do. Three blocks down and two move prepped to be sewn. Not a bad start. Plus, it's a long term applique project that will go right along with the others. No biggie and I love making the blocks!
I've been eyeing those block every time I open the closet and get something out. Wouldn't they look fabulous quilted and hanging up for the winter? All those lovely brown taupe's and... all the blocks are done! Just have to assemble the top and figure out the borders.
these are some browns, blues and purples. Plus I washed all the orange and when it felted it got fuzzy and soft and some of the color came out and softened. So it's all good and it looks less shocking day-GLO now and what I don't need to be orange I'll stick into a quick bath of brown to prim it up.
so is the doll...
The birds are just waiting for the last one to be sewn down and they will go in the done pile. Then I can get a few more blocks prep-ed and ready to sew in my spare time.....hahahahahaha! spare time...yea right!
It was apparent in the first few seconds that latte was no where on the menu! Orange is what I got. ORANGE! Not light primitive pumpkin ladies, but bright, shocking, pumpkin pie O-R-A-N-G-E!!
The top left if the jacket wool dyed and the top right was pulled early to be lighter. Okay, so I' m set for wool needed in any quilts made for next fall. Not that I don't like orange, but I was just expecting a different color. I really think the dye got mixed up a bit cuz this would never be a version of the pale cocoa in any form. It's really okay though. I'm still learning how to adjust for each color. Some dye quickly and others like these dark ones take longer to pull up all the dye.
I also realized that this process doesn't felt the wool either. It does fluff it up some because I go from the hot dye pot into cold water to rinse and wash but it doesn't really felt into that thick wool that hardly unravels. Since the jacket wool was really thin, I threw it all in the super hot wash/cold rinse and then into the hot dryer to felt. Worked great. It also removed a tiny bit of the dye color and made it a deeper color wool too. SO let me ask your opinion:
The rest stayed in for about an hour after turning off the heat, soaking up dye color.
I also tried something that worked pretty well. Since I like the dark spots, I took a dropper and pulled up some concentrated dye from the pot before the rest of the water gets added and poured it on the wool that I pulled up out of the water. All those spots stayed super dark and I got a deliberate mottled effect. It's still cool to play with new techniques and see what happens!
