a piece of this and a piece of that

we're finally having winter, and i'm in my backroom keeping busy with ... 

cutting for esther aliu's love entwined bom.

have finished raw edging this table runner from robin place quilts designed by wildfiredesignsalaska.com
 
 

am piecing this block and have successfully pieced the qst's together and got them back in their proper places for the next step, joining them to their hst's.  this is a toughie for me.  piecing!  alyssa, PileOFabric.com, has this terrific bom using many different techniques worked as a quag.  so, each block is fmq'd separately ... hopefully, I'll be able to fmq small blocks.  i've been practicing!

rats!  I sure am having a problem making this post work  so that it looks o.k.   again.  I can barely read this fine print, I couldn't make it print otherwise.

projects!

my texas teardrop top is done

Alaska's wild heart bom, by Brenda applique designs needs applique stitching and a few of the setting blox need their final seamthe jingle bom by erin russek needs top stitching and setting blox ... am ready to cut the pieces for that.

French quarter, a henry glass free project is finished ... Sharon hughes, machine quilter extraordinaire in Sitka, did the quilting for me - it's too big and heavy for me to do.

I made the top years ago and was fortunate to find the backing material to match earlier this month!

my sis brought me back some gorgeous yarn from her trip out in September and have it on the needles now.

will add beads on the edging for draping weight.  this will be my shawl!

 
i do enjoy my new craft room even though my yarn and needles are stashed in the storage room.  fortunately that's part of the apartment. 

 

my craft room is up and running!

 from the doorway

 looking into the room

 cutting and pressing tables are just fine!

 they move out of the way when I want that bed down

 everything is handy

 and, I've been doing some sewing! 
pix of my projects next time.

new craft room!

i have moved from my little house in beautiful downtown seward to a senior living apartment across our kenai peninsula, which means of course, that i have a new craft room!  what fit so nicely in my old little back room does not work here ... i have three times the room for what i had in that little room and my old arrangement is not going to work. 

this is part of what i brought over ... the rest is in my storage room and hallway.   [all fabric and in one of the twelve boxes is my sewing machine power cord]  my daughter's moving crew did not mark boxes!

 my computer and phone system was up and working monday evening after they turned things on for it.  luckily my computer worked on my first attempt to make the connections; the computer book is yet to be unpacked.                                                                                                      

 so, i got rid of my big stash cabinets; can not attach anything to the wall but pictures.   out with the old and in with the new.  new tables for my sewing machine and computer ~ arrow gidgets.  will have to make some adjustments ... my viking is too big for the hole.  i have my tool kit with a jig saw and will fix that!  the cabinets i'm keeping need feet on them to stand on the carpet; i'll fix that, too.  will put wheels on two of the cabinets, one for a cutting table and one for a pressing table.  so, i'll eventually get my act together and have a nice craft room!                                                                                                           

 

the rest of the aparment is shaping up ... i do putter around, resting frequently and will eventually be able to do some quilting things!    am taking this weekend off, though, so i'll feel up to driving a mile or so to get wheels and things.                                                                                          

  

may post

sew tickled to have won these colorful fq's from oceanwavesquilting used to make her spinneret block and an aqua and red fq bundle and 100 block magazine from amanda murphy during the 100 block blog tour. 

i sent for this gorgeous dark purple yardage to make a night sky for the 'hello moon' bom by april mae designs.  of course, i couldn't get just one piece ... got a fq bundle too.  it was on sale, ya know!

and i've been working on my texas teardrops qal by quiltinglodge ... love the pattern and was tickled when vicki announce she would do the qal.  so, all my blox are stack and i've started appliquing them.   unfortunately, this will take awhile ... i've a problem focusing and things blur.  it's a muscle problem.  i had polio 60 years ago and then periodic episodes of weakness.  after i had my cancer operations, they come frequently and affect all my muscles.  

btw, my lighting is pretty darn good in my sewing area - the machine lights are fooling the camera.

 

long month!

 

  i won an ebook of my choice from stitch and unwind; i chose this!  love that tree! 

   i was the lucky recipient of this cuddle kit!  [i forget, again who sent it to me]  i'll make a qayg for my dggs - he'll be a year old at the end of june!

   during quilting world day [?] last month, i got one of the day prizes.  love bali pops!   just right to make a great log cabin!

my borders are on my hexalong!  and am fixing the flowers.  have decided the leaves are the wrong color ... will not fix those on!   i'll do a whle new set of leaves and save these for another project.

 

 

the last week or so

 my sis, a friend and i made a fart last week to make the rounds of the quilt shops on the other side of the peninsula ... my loot ...
green fabric to add to my st paddy's day fabric collection.  can' resist this fabulous fabric [it's for my birthday you know] some green ricrac for trim on that irish quilt i'll make someday.  a circle sewer attachment for my viking [prince, it's name], a piece of polka dot fabric to try out for a background block.   a pinker blade for my rotary cutter and patterns!  one a pretty pointsetta pattern for a christmas runner, not the big quilt shown and from robin place shop ... an almost over block of the month they're running that i couldn't resist ... it's done in batiks and the blocks are just fine.   there's three more blox to go, and the setting finish.




my favs ... the musk ox, puffins and the sitka rose.












a prize from this'n'that.com finally came.   valentine fq's and a tag, for luggage?  







my hand sewing on my hexie quilt is slow, very slow, as is my knitting.  but besides the fabric shopping trip, i made to other trips to anchorage with my sis, so i am trying to recuperate.  on the bright side, we are still bird hunting, trying to get pix of two different birds that are unusual to the area.  birders from far and wide have come to get pix;  my sis and i are probably the only two who have not seen them. 

february, too, is going fast!

 my bff sis made me a thread catcher!   what a nice surprise!   i'm so fortunate to have her!

online shopping ... got half of them on a really nice sale, then came across a really great sale and go some more.  love  kona solids!

 have two more smaller flowers to go and some buds and leaves to make.  vines and stems are ready.  borders are cut. 

the back, fronts and sleeves are done and waiting to be joined so i can work the yoke.  this is a heavy piece!  the baby llama and silk is worsted weight and heavy, but very nice to work with.

my half pi shawl is ready for the border rows and then the edging!   and my cladonia shawl is coming off the needles ... pix when it's stretched. 

 

 

glad tidings!

altogether now!  ready for borders ... dark grey, almost black; have vines ready.  it was a really dark grey day yesterday; it's been rainy!  not good for pix!

made it to the post office saturday, my six yards of pirouette from westminster fibers came ...  a prize i've been waiting for!   i split it with my sis!

 and my yak blends came, ordered three days before!  fast!   green 85%yak, 15% nylon for sox and silver, half yak, half silk lace wt for a shawl.  i'll put little pearls in the pattern.   i'm almost finished with one and two thirds done on another.   so i'm already thinking ahead now ... these will by for me!    

i've pulled some yardage from my stash for the skill builder block of the month ...  am going to see if i can keep up











alyssa at http://www.pileofabric.com/skill-builder-bom/  is going to start it in a few days.  it's a quag!  so it's solids on the front, prints on the back.   some of the blox looks like they'll need lots of skill to work them.   but, i'll have fun trying, and i won't have to tell how many times i made any of them to get a good one!

my hexalong is coming along ... 4 rows together, three rows ready to join

prize from sewcalgal

 prize:  from fabric cafe ... 900 inches of chenille!

prize:  from this'n'that

a shawl for a gift ... emerald green

the other shawl, also a gift

spool pincushions for some quilty gifts

and my treat from the lqs! 

so, i must have spent my december  knitting, blogging and doing a little shopping and very little sewing!   but i've sorted, reorganized and gave away two bags  of my stash to the local guild for their charity projects.   that really wasn't enough to give me some space, though, so i'll do it again.    y'all have a happy new  year!