Let's make some baby quilts!

 

I love making baby quilts. They're instant gratification. They're great for using scraps and playing with new blocks or color schemes.

My plan for 2013 is to make at least fifty baby quilts.  Want to join me?  You don't have to set such a ridiculous goal -- you could do one a month, or one a season, or just one.

The quilts can be for donation, or for your own baby, or for a relative or friend's baby....I'm just trying to encourage you to have fun making little quilts.


I'll be posting tutorials for the baby quilts I've created myself, and links to the patterns I've discovered online. On Fridays we'll have a linky party and you can link to what you've finished, or what you're working on, or what you've got planned.

.

Care to join me?

<center><a href="http://mychellem.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Let's Make Baby Quilts!" src="http://i1306.photobucket.com/albums/s578/romantictangle/Collages1_zpsd9df24b7.jpg"/></a></center>

Back to the baby quilts!

I'm hoping to make at least fifty baby quilts in 2013. Want to join me?

 

Because it gets so hard to keep track of them, I'm giving each quilt a baby name.

 

This is Benny --

 

 

And this one with the brown background fabric is Lucas --

I'm sorting through floral fabric scraps picking out the best one for Sara.

To see more design walls, head over to Patchwork Times.

2012 Year End Totals

I don't expect to finish any more projects in the next few days, so I'm including my year end totals with the last stash report of the year.

I got more done than I realized this year! Sixteen baby quilts, four big quilts from start to finish, three squares for Jo's Quilt Square Quilt Along, four wall quilts, and a handful of smaller projects. I didn't mangage to keep track of the knitting, but there were seventeen baby hats in the batch I donated to the NICU just before Halloween.

Weekly Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week: 1.5 yards 
Fabric Used year to Date: 74.25 yards
Added this Week: 2.5 yards   
Added Year to Date: 498.5 yards
Net Added for 2012: 424.25 yards

I flung 104 yards of unusable stuff during my sewing room clean up.

Yarn Used this Week:  300 yards
Yarn Used year to Date: 1395 yards
Yarn Added this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Added Year to Date: 4250 yards
Net Added for 2012: 2855 yards

To see more weekly stash reports, click over to Patchwork Times.

Break out the stitch markers!

I don't know what happened to my Springtime Bandit. Somewhere around row 27, things went terribly wrong.  There are currently 2730 projects listed on Ravelry, which has me convinced that the problem is with my knitting and not the pattern.

 I tried that row five times and just couldn't get it to work. And after ripping out and starting over once, there was NO way I was going to start over a third time. I wasn't that in love with this thing.

It sat for a couple of weeks while I decided what to do with it. I thought about binding off at the point where things went wrong...or unravelling the whole thing and making something else entirely...or trying to force my way through those last eight rows the best I could.

There are diagonal rows of yarn overs and purl stitches that fall at the same spot in every row. I could see where those were supposed to fall, so I placed a stitch marker at every single pattern repeat and did some desperate decreases (including a ridiculous number of knit four togethers) to get back to the right number of stitches.

It actually looks better than I thought it would. An experienced knitter could probably find my problems, but it's not an obvious disaster.

Best of all, it's off my needles and I can start looking for another shawl to cast on. And get back to those lateral braids. After this mess, they've started to sound relaxing!

Nancy Drew for Baby Too!

When I was working on Nancy's Mysterious Quilt, I had a temporary lapse in my math skills and made too many nine patch blocks and cut too many background squares. Having extra blocks bugs me. It feels like such a waste of fabric...and wasting fabric this good? Can't do that!

Then I realized that I had just enough blocks to make a nine patch baby quilt.... it looked a little too simple, so I added Nancy's shadow (instructions for how I made the shadow are in my Nancy Drew Kindle Sleeve Tutorial)

That was the quilt I wanted to make!

But I wasn't sure how to applique Nancy into place. On the Kindle sleeve, I used fusible web and stitched a line on the inner edge, but that isn't meant to be washed. This is a baby quilt and meant for heavy use. I wanted that silhouette to be secure. I wasn't about to try zig zag stitching around that outline. I didn't want black thread showing on the back of my quilt...or white on the front...and I don't try to balance tension with different top and bottom threads...

 

 

So I cheated. I meandered the whole quilt with white thread and used a permanent fabric marker to color the stitches on the shadow black. It looks just the way I wanted it to, and I don't have to worry about Nancy coming off in the wash.

This post is linked to to Finish it Up Friday, Can I get a Whoop Whoop?, Link a Finish Friday, Freedom Fridays, and the online quilt show at Hobbies on a Budget.

What's your sign?

 

 

It was the pillows that caught my eye first. I don't usually look at the furniture in this thrift store. It's overpriced and our house is already filled to capacity. Unless it's something like a ten dollar treadle in working condition, I'm not bringing home any new furniture.

 

I don't even know why I was in that part of the store -- I think I was looking for my oldest son. But those pillows caught my eye and I stepped closer to see if they were zodiac symbols and if they were mass produced. Because, at that point, I was thinking that they were so quirky someone must've made them.

 

Then I got a look at the rest of the couch.

 

I suppose someone could've bought the zodiac fabric and upholstered it herself, but I'm guessing that it came from the factory this way. I would love to see the room it was purchased for, and what else went with it.

This post is linked to Time Travel Thursday, Treasure Hunt Thursday, and Vintage Thingie Thursday, Ivy and Elephants, .

back to everyday life

The frantic countdown to Christmas has run out, and now I can get back to my everyday schedule.

I fell two finished potholders and eight lace rows short of my goals -- not bad. I could have gotten it all done if I'd decided to make myself a little crazier, but I gave myself a break. The last two potholders will make it to their intended owners next week (I wrapped one of the set with an IOU for the rest). And I think I might wind up unraveling that shawl and using the yarn for something else. 

Now, I can get back to the long term projects that were calling to me all last month. For the past few weeks, I've been cutting 1 1/2" strips for the Lego quilt and pieces for the bow ties, and eyeballing a big bag of scraps that I know is overflowing with possibilities. And daydreaming about the baby quilts. I've got huge plans for those in 2013!

And, to make things even happier, I've figured out how I want to finish the Nancy Drew baby quilt! Bedtime for the rest of the family can't come fast enough...

 

a sweater for Kia

This is quite possibly the least photogenic thing I've ever knit.  It's a sweater for Kia, my grandma's little white dog who posed on my 30s Barn Raising Quilt.  

 

 

The pattern was supposed to switch to garter stitch for the belly, but as many times as I reread it, I couldn't find the part of the instructions that told me where to switch from the ribbing. So it's all ribbing. It'll look cuter with a fluffy little white dog in it, I'm sure.

Weekly Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week: 2 yards 
Fabric Used year to Date: 72.75 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards   
Added Year to Date: 496 yards
Net Added for 2012: 423.25 yards

Yarn Used this Week: 100 yards
Yarn Used year to Date: 1095 yards
Yarn Added this Week: 350 yards
Yarn Added Year to Date: 4250 yards
Net Added for 2012: 3155 yards

To see more weekly stash reports, click over to Patchwork Times. And to see more knitting projects, visit Tami's Amis.

almost there....

Denise was nice enough to do the math for me yesterday when I asked how many hours I had left to get Christmas presents made. Once I got over my initial horror at actually seeing the number of hours I had left until Christmas, I realized that I've been looking at it wrong. What I needed to figure was how many hours of actual time I had to work with after all of the regular  day-to-day details are taken care of.

 

And it's not as bad as I thought. I just may get it all done!

I'm counting the hours now...

I've got a little finish to show off! It's not much, but it's what it represents....

I've figured out what I'm doing!

Two, possibly three, of my hard to buy for family members are getting sets of potholders this year. And now I've finally figured out how I want to do them! This block was stolen from my Spin Wheels quilt. (I've got more fabric and I'll make a replacement when Christmas isn't rushing towards me like a freight train.)

I'm going to need either six or nine of these, depending on how much time I can scrape together and how much fabric I can scrounge from my stash that matches people's kitchens. And there's a dog sweater to finish knitting, and that shawl to see if I can salvage.

How many hours have I got 'til 3pm Christmas Eve?

This post is linked to to Finish it Up Friday, Can I get a Whoop Whoop?, and Link a Finish Friday

Can we slow down just a bit?

I don't think I've ever in my adult life been ready before Christmas morning...and this year isn't any worse than most...but it sure feels like a whirlwind lately!

I've got presents to finish making, and contest winners to announce --

The winner of the 12th 12 Days of Christmas Mystery Giveaway is MomC who wrote:

I really like a good read. It's snowing right now and I love to curl up by the fire and read. Thanks.

The winner of the baby quilt is Katkat who wrote:

I'm chairman of my guild's Fun Quilts for Kids project so I'm sure I will find a place for it!

And the winner of the Nancy Drew books is Kathy H who wrote:

I haven't seen the fabric yet but I loved Nancy Drew books. I felt that i had the greatest treasure by owning a few of those books. 

I wish I'd had enough books and baby quilts (not to mention the postage budget) to send one to everyone who entered.... There'll  be another Nancy Drew giveaway during the blog hop in March, and I'm sure I'll be giving away some more baby quilts sometime soon.

Bobbsey Twins

I've been to just about every antique shop and used book store I can think of, looking for Nancy Drew and Cherry Ames and Vickie Barr -- and Judy Bolton, after reading a few of those from the library. She just might be my new favorite mystery heroine.

 

The one series I was absolutely not interested in collecting?  Of course that's the one I found sitting on a shelf at the Friends of the Library bookstore...

 

I don't have anything against the Bobbsey Twins, they just haven't captured my imagination (yet) like the other series have. And I've already downloded most of these for my Kindle...

 

But I couldn't not bring them home, not when they were a dollar each and buy-one-get-one-free.

 

According to this site on Bobbsey Twins formats, these editions date from about 1927, which gives them that cool "they're from when our house was new" vibe. Actually, the more I look at these, the more I want to curl up and read them, especially The Bobbsey Twins in a Great City. I want to find out what a trip to the big city would have been like in a storybook written in 1917.

This post is linked to Time Travel Thursday, Treasure Hunt Thursday,  and Vintage Thingie Thursday.

{yarn along} Lateral Braids

I am giddy!

 

As I got ready to cast on for Treads, I read the instructions and my heart sank. Lateral Braids? Linen Ridge Stitch? What had I gotten myself into?  Not much, since the pattern is a free download and the yarn came from up in the sewing room....but I was sure I was in over my head.

And I hadn't even cast on yet.

I can't remember if I saw the pattern on Ravelry or on someone's blog last week, but it was love at first sight. I wanted a pair for myself. 150 yards of worsted weight yarn? I've got that. And paper and ink the printer...so I can do this, right? I've done mittens before. How much harder could gloves be?

Textured knits make my heart go pitty-pat. I jumped into this project before looking at what it was going to take to get that texture.  Anything that requires knitting into the back of the second stitch and then into the first stitch terrifies me.

But I needed a yarn along post and it was either casting on for Treads or tackling my disastrous shawl.... so I chose the unknown and decided to spend an hour trying to make it work.

Lateral Braids aren't as scary as they sound. Neither is Linen Ridge Stitch. And now that I've managed both of those, I'm pretty darn sure I can do a gusset!  This is a very well written pattern, but it's full of things I've never tried before.

The books? They're Judy Bolton mysteries -- The Clue in the Patchwork Quilt and the Secret of the Barred Window.  

For more fun projects to drool over, check out On the Needles at Patchwork Times and Work in Progress Wednesdays at Tami's Amis. 

Perler Beads -- Our Favorite New Toy

Playmobil and Lego are the coolest toys ever. BUT...they're expensive and they come with soooo many pieces and my boys don't care about keeping track of things and I'm tired of being the only one who feels sad when things get lost.

Then I found Perler beads...

Perler beads are my new favorite toy. They're itty bitty plastic beads that you arrange on a plastic pegboard and then fuse together with your iron. Think Lite Brite, but the kids get to keep the pictures they make. And they're less expensive, and the pieces won't make angry noises when you try to suck them up with the vacuum cleaner....

I'm telling you, these are the BEST toy I've ever bought my sons!

It all got started with the Super Mario Brothers Quilt Along. We all know that I'm eventually going to cave and make my boys that quilt, right? But for the mean time, I thought I could pull out the Perler bead set we'd bought a few years ago and they could use the pattern to make their own Mario guys. (In case I haven't mentioned it, everything in our house must be Mario...or Luigi....or some other Nintendo game element.)

I wasn't expecting to have all four of my children laying on the floor around the pegboards, happily creating. Teenage Daughter has since gone back to her polymer clay and knitting and nail art, but the boys have been engrossed with their creations for a month now.

We started with one of the inexpensive kits from Walmart, and since then we've added the clear boards, and a bucket of 11,000 beads, and packets of individual colors. The Perler online store has prices even better than Joann's coupon prices. Get on their mailing list and they'll send you lots of special offers. They've also got projects on their website -- I'm hoping someone will make the Red Raider three dimensional airplane or the pirate ship.

Search etsy or Pinterest for "Perler beads" or "hama beads" and you'll find projects that simple enough for the kids and some that are absolutely amazing. I've started a Perler bead board with the projects that caught my eye.

A few cautions if you're going to try these with your own little ones --

They're tiny. I don't even need to remind you that they're a choking hazard, right?

They're easy to bump off of the peg boards. We've had some spectacular losses moving them from the table where they work on projects to the ironing board. And a couple of incidents of deliberate sabotage.

My boys never looked twice at my iron until they realized that it was useful for their projects. These days, I'm putting it up instead of just unplugging it.

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family. It isn't a sponsored post...there aren't any affiliate links...I just really wanted to gush about our favorite new toy. And maybe help my readers out with a last minute gift idea for the little boys on their list.

And the most amazing thing? My boys are careful not to lose their beads.

12 Days of Christmas Mystery Giveaway -- Day 12



It looks like Christmas outside. There's fluffy white snow on the trees and the barn and everything else that doesn't move. From inside, it looks like an illustration from a storybook. Out there, it's cold. I was supposed to getting new tire pressure sensors today, but I'm staying warm and safely off the roads.

 

I can't wrap presents until I buy some wrapping paper (was going to do that while they worked on the Suburban), so I think I'll curl up and read.

 

Today is the last day of our Twelve Days of Christmas Mystery Giveaway. Thanks to everyone who entered, and congratulations to everyone who's won so far -- including the winner of this last book!

 

I'll leave the post up until late in the day tomorrow, to give everyone a chance. Just leave a comment and you're entered.

 



 

 

And now on to today's giveaway ---

When the author of the Kiki Lowenstein Scrap-n-Craft mysteries, Joanna Campbell Slan, emailed and asked if I wanted to give away twelve of her mysteries to my readers, I couldn't pass up the chance to spread my addiction!

Here's how we're doing it it --

Every day for the next twelve days, I'll be posting a new giveaway post. To enter today's giveaway, just leave a comment on this post. When each day's post goes live, I'll choose a winner from the previous day's post and close it to comments.



Today, we're giving away a copy of Kiki Lowenstein and the Secret Santa, a short story to read on your Kindle or with one of Amazon's Kindle Reading Apps. To enter, just leave a comment on this post.

The winner of yesterday's giveaway is Kiki W, who wrote:

I have not read Jane Eyre before. I will put her on my to read list. Love it when I find something new to read. Thanks

2013 NewFO Challenge

I kind of fell apart on last year's NewFO Challenge. Some months, I had new projects, and some I didn't...and that's fine, because it was supposed to be fun. And it was!

 

my list of quilts I want to start in 2013 is --

 

Midnight Stars from Humble Quilts.

Cheddar Cheese and Crackers by Humble Quilts.

Vintage Tin, by Crabapple Hill Studio (means I have to finish Hocuspocusville first)

Dizzy Geese from the book Quick Quilts From Your Scrap Bag

Keep Calm and Carry On

Fairgrounds Quilt

Dove in the Window

Double Wedding Ring with AccuQuilt die

Swoon

a half log cabin string quilt

1800's Vintage Quilt

Let's Talk Turkey 

my favorite sweatshirt quilt

something like this sawtooth quilt

 

A few of these are carried over from my NewFO list from last December. Of those thirteen quilts, I started three. The rest are, temporarily, on the back burner.

 

So what happened with my 2012 NewFOs?

 

Drab Postage Stamps 

 I kind of lost track of what I was doing...but while I was researching this post, I figured it out, so I may be back on track.

 

 

Tumblers

This one is done and I love it!

As for my other New Fos, here they are with links to my last progress posts. I'll be finishing all of those...eventually...

Spiral Log Cabin

Turtles

Mindy's Scrappy Irish Chain

Hocuspocusville

Daylilies

Lego Quilt

Santa Fe String Star

This post is linked to the Cat Patches NewFO Challenge linky party.

12 Days of Christmas Mystery Giveaway -- Day 11

Are there books you're waiting for? I'm waiting on pins and needles for Death of a Dowager and Picture Perfect Corpse.

What I'd forgotten until last week was that I could pre-order them from Amazon -- both are currently listed at a pretty decent discount, and they'll show up in my mail box sooner than any other way I was going to get my hands on them.  Amazon offers a pre-order price guarantee -- "the price we charge when we ship it to you will be the lowest price offered by Amazon.com between the time you place your order and the end of the day on the release date." And I added them to some Christmas shopping, so they qualified for Free Super Saver shipping.

I'm still on pins and needles, but at least I know they're coming!





Now, on to today's giveaway --

When the author of the books, Joanna Campbell Slan, emailed and asked if I wanted to give away twelve of her mysteries to my readers, I couldn't pass up the chance to spread my addiction!

Here's how we're doing it it --
Every day for twelve days, I'll be posting a new giveaway post. To enter, just leave a comment on that post. When each day's post goes live, I'll choose a winner from the previous day's post and close it to comments.

Today, we're giving away Death of a Schoolgirl

In her classic tale, Charlotte Brontë introduced readers to the strong-willed and intelligent Jane Eyre. Picking up where Brontë left off, Jane’s life has settled into a comfortable pattern: She and her beloved Edward Rochester are married and have an infant son. But Jane soon finds herself in the midst of new challenges and threats to those she loves…

Jane can’t help but fret when a letter arrives from Adèle Varens—Rochester’s ward, currently at boarding school—warning that the girl’s life is in jeopardy. Although it means leaving her young son and invalid husband, and despite never having been to a city of any size, Jane feels strongly compelled to go to London to ensure Adèle’s safety.

But almost from the beginning, Jane’s travels don’t go as planned—she is knocked about and robbed, and no one believes that the plain, unassuming Jane could indeed be the wife of a gentleman; even the school superintendent takes her for an errant new teacher. But most shocking to Jane is the discovery that Adèle’s schoolmate has recently passed away under very suspicious circumstances, yet no one appears overly concerned. Taking advantage of the situation, Jane decides to pose as the missing instructor—and soon uncovers several unsavory secrets, which may very well make her the killer’s next target…

To enter, just leave a comment on this post.

Have you read Jane Eyre?

Yesterday's winner is Kathy H , who wrote --

I am always looking for a nice little Christmas story to read while I take a break from all the hustle and bustle. Thanks for the chance.

 

bow ties

This is the kind of quilt that makes me love my stash. Wild prints? Ugly prints? Little bit of this and that?

I've got 'em!

And I'm having all kind of fun going through my bags of scraps and picking out hunks that are wide enough for a couple of 2" squares.

To see more design walls, head over to Patchwork Times.

12 Days of Christmas Mystery Giveaway - Day 10

Nine more days til Christmas...and three more days of the 12 Days of Christmas Mystery Giveaway.... 

 

Are you ready for Christmas? I'm not! There isn't a roll of wrapping paper in the house and after braving traffic to get my daughter to her karate test yesterday, I'm not leaving the house again until the weekend is over. We all know I won't start wrapping until after midnight Christmas Eve, so it's not like having the paper right now would help.



 

And now on to today's giveaway ---

When the author of the Kiki Lowenstein Scrap-n-Craft mysteries, Joanna Campbell Slan, emailed and asked if I wanted to give away twelve of her mysteries to my readers, I couldn't pass up the chance to spread my addiction!

Here's how we're doing it it --

Every day for the next twelve days, I'll be posting a new giveaway post. To enter today's giveaway, just leave a comment on this post. When each day's post goes live, I'll choose a winner from the previous day's post and close it to comments.



Today, we're giving away a copy of Kiki Lowenstein and the Secret Santa, a short story to read on your Kindle or with one of Amazon's Kindle Reading Apps. To enter, just leave a comment on this post.

The winner of yesterday's giveaway is Bonnie58, who wrote:

Sounds like a great book. I sew, quilt, do some counted cross-stitch,and a bit of wool work. I would love to have more time to do all of the above, Thanks for sharing and for the opportunity on a great looking book.

weekly stash report

No finishes this week....

There was going to be a shawl, and a baby quilt, but the shawl is having issues and the baby quilt got put on hold until I was more well rested and ready to tackle the applique. It's for a specific baby, so I'd better figure out how to get some decent sleep soon.

No fabric or yarn used...none bought...that almost works...

Weekly Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week: 0  yards 
Fabric Used year to Date: 70.75 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards   
Added Year to Date: 496 yards
Net Added for 2012: 425.25 yards

Yarn Used this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Used year to Date: 995 yards
Yarn Added this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Added Year to Date: 3900 yards
Net Added for 2012: 2905 yards


To see more weekly stash reports, click over to Patchwork Times.

12 Days of Christmas Mystery Giveaway -- Day 9

Ready, Scrap, Shoot got me thinking about memorial albums.  I'd like to create them for several family members, but first I've got to pull together the information. And find someone who has pictures I can copy...

 

It's going to be a project, but it's one I should start now, while I still can put their stories together.

 

Have you ever made a memorial album? Any tips for me?

 

When the author of the Kiki Lowenstein Scrap-n-Craft mysteries, Joanna Campbell Slan, emailed and asked if I wanted to give away twelve of her mysteries to my readers, I couldn't pass up the chance to spread my addiction!

Here's how we're doing it --

Every day for twelve days, I'll be posting a new giveaway post. To enter today's giveaway, just leave a comment on this post. When each day's post goes live, I'll choose a winner from the previous day's post and close it to comments. Clear as mud?

Today's book is Ready, Scrap, Shoot

  With bills piling up and a brassy new partner at her scrapbooking shop, the last thing Kiki Lowenstein needs is a surprise visit from her browbeating mother. But when shots fired into the crowd narrowly miss Kiki at her daughter’s May Day pageant, it’s another mother—St. Louis’s wealthiest matriarch—who winds up dead.

While creating a memorial album for the murdered beer heiress, Kiki becomes bait in a dangerous trap as threats from her old foe mount against her. With help from friends in high and low places, including hunky beau Chad Detweiler, Kiki finds herself facing a grave ultimatum: catch the killer or be cropped out of her own family album.
What crafts do you do -- quilting, knitting, stitching, scrapbooking? Which do you wish you had more time for?

For a chance to win today's book, just leave a comment on this post.


Yesterday's winner is Barbara Woods, who wrote:

would love to win i read a lot thanks