Minecraft Quilting

Today we quilt!

I've been neglecting this since sometime around Thanksgiving. Time to get this puppy finished!

4• is Unacceptable!

Must I always repeat myself?

I don't like winter!

The snow has begun...

Princess has a 2 hour early dismissal. 

I've been getting ready here at home. 

Sent my man to the store yesterday for the essentials...milk, toilet paper, whiskey, a box o' wine and chocolate. Today he brings me this:

He thinks he's funny. Sigh. 

Baby Girl thinks we are poorly under stocked for the predicted whiskey amounts for our area. We will just have to wait and see. 

Projects for our snow days include, finishing Kait's socks, quilting Minecraft (if we don't lose power), spinning, spinning and more spinning, 

cutting fabric for Allietare! and watching season 2 of Game of Thrones. 

I think I'm ready...as long as I don't have to go outside!

Stay toasty & remember...it will get warm again!

You CAN Put Happiness in a Box!

It's Winter.  

I'm not a big fan of Winter. 

I've been hibernating...well, avoiding the going outside thing...since the holidays ended and our weather turned cold. 

Today I thought I would go shopping and get a few necessities to finish some lingering projects. Just before I left the house, the mail arrived...with a really big box.

Finally, my order from WEBS!

Just look at all of that glorious color!

And then there were these cones of 8/2 cotton for my loom. 

I'm planning to make some blue, gold and white dish towels. 

As much as I wanted to stay home and play, I had already made plans to pick up a friend to go with me to the quilt shop and the yarn shop. 

So, off we went!

This is what I returned with...

Three neutral fat quarters & white thread to quilt my nephews Minecraft Snuggle. 

And this...

Purple yarn for my sweet niece's socks! It's Madeline Tosh Sock yarn & it's gorgeous!

Hope you had a great day too; now, I'm off to play!

First Post of 2016

I have been trying to get back into the habit of blogging since the beginning of the new year. There always seems to be something to distract me, but today it's the first thing I'm going to do!

I still have not finished my nephew's Minecraft quilt. (It is the other big thing that I've neglected.)

I am making progress on Baby Girl's quilt...

The plan is to get the rows assembled today. 

Yesterday I started another project by warping the Structo loom. 

Black & Gold!  The plan is to make a scarf, but really it's just an attempt to see if the reed must be replaced. I cleaned it up the best I could, but it still looks a little rusty. 

I can't remember if I mentioned this before, but I started a Bullet Journal just before Christmas. It's a great concept & works very well for me. Mainly it's a calendar and to-do list, but I'm adding other things in as I develop new habits. 

It has helped a lot in my being able to accomplish more daily tasks than I had been. 

Blessings to you for a productive and happy new year!

Allietare! Week 1

Just a quick update on my Allietare! progress...

All done & ready for clue 2!

Mistakes Along the Way!

 Buongiorno, Amici!

I made my half-square triangles by cutting 2 1/2" strips for my grey and neutral fabrics.  This is where I made my first mistake...

I forgot to divide by 2.  Yes, I cut 20 grey strips down to 600+ 2 1/2" squares.  I like to have some room to just toss something aside if it doesn't work, but this is a bit much!

My second mistake I found this morning as I was sewing the second seam for my HSTs.

This looks innocent enough, don't you think?

But, NO! There are three layers to this one!  Okay, I won't beat myself up over this as it was the only one that grabbed a buddy along the way.

This morning I realized that this project may wreak havoc with my lovely, type A personality.

I couldn't walk away form pressing all of these open.  

I was sorting them into groups and knew that there should be 10 to a group (except for that little guy that's on the buddy system.)

I'm using Grandma Edie's iron...it's heavy...my arm got tired, but could I walk away?

Nope, not me!

Now they are all pressed and I can drop back to working with smaller groups.
I can trim them down in groups of ten.
One thing I haven't decided for sure is whether to keep the stars in the mix.  I kind of like the softer look of the other fabrics and might just add a few more of my favorites.

You can join in the fun by visiting Bonnie at Quiltville's Quips & Snips and look for the Allietare Mystery! tab!

And that's where I'm at today!

Buongiorno Amici!

Well, here are the details from yesterday...

First of all, I completed another 19 blocks for Baby Girl's quilt.

On to Allietare!

My constant fabric is an older piece that I absolutely love...it's "Barely There" by Jinny Byer (for RJR Fabrics). 

I cut 20 2.5" strips. Yes. Twenty. That's twice as many as I needed. 

I don't Math well. 

I sorted through my 2" box and pulled my neutrals. Then I cut a single strip from the fat quarters I had. (I purchased 5 neutral FQs specifically for this project.)

After cutting all of those squares, I cleaned my machine. I'm using my Bernina Artista 200,

#57 foot (1/4" piecing),

Schmetz 90/14 quilting needle,

Aurifil 50/2 #2610 (a light blue/grey).

I also wound three bobbins to get me started. 

Machine settings:

Stitch #1

Stitch length 2.5

Tension 4.0.

Whew! Glad to get those boring details out of the way!

Today is another family dinner. I'm taking the neutral squares with me so that I can get them marked. 

Here's my plan for the week:

Today: mark the diagonal

Sunday: stitch double lines

Monday: cut & press

Tuesday: trim

Wednesday & Thursday: catch up

Friday: CLUE 2!

Cuciture felice!