Australian Fabrics

Last fall when I attended "The Gathering" Quilt Show in Nashua, New Hampshire

I purchased some great Australian fabrics

- since then I've added to my stash and just last week decided it was time to cut into them! 6.5" x 9.5" with a teal Kaffe shot cloth as the corner stones

Here they are all cut and up on the design wall. I really like the energy these fabrics have ... and I was even more thrilled when I saw my favorite quilt shop now had them in stock! Yippee!!! Now to sew them all back together again. I'll post finished top later.

Learning to Knit!!!

 Two days ago Mom and I were out shopping, and I found this beautiful skein of Plymouth cotton yarn ... it reminded me of the beach with the soft sandy greenish color blending into a beautiful turquoise which melted into a crisp steely blue. I looked at it and saw a beautiful beach with clear cool water and a cloudless sky ... can you tell I'm from New England and have been buried in snow since mid December!!! Anyway ... I had to buy it, not only because it reminded me of the beach (which is where I'd love to be right now) but it was on SALE for 25% off! I couldn't leave it there ... so I bought 2!! Just in case!!

 I brought it home and mom told me it had to rolled into a ball - she volunteered for the job so I gave it to her! And she loaned me her bamboo knitting needles. I love them! And so the knitting lesson began ...

Cast on 46 stitches .... that only took 2 tries! Then the first row pearl one knit one - repeat to the end. Okay! How hard could that be??? That took three tries before I figured out (with mom's help) exactly what I was doing wrong. Who knew you had to bring the yarn to the front and then to the back before you stitched!!! Second row knit to the end - I got the hang of that row right away. Row three and four are to repeat row one and two ... OMG - I have to keep track of all of these stitches and rows....   So after five hours of knitting this is what I have....

The beginnings of my "Beach" scarf! it has a few holes ... and some how I picked up 6 extra stitches along the way (I just could not leave them behind!) but I'm hooked! I can't wait to finish it ... I figure it takes me an hour to knit an inch ... it's suppose to be 48 inches long ... you do the math! I might have it done for next winter!!

Firenza Bag

I LOVE bags!

I just love selecting out the perfect fabric  -
did you know that there is actually fabric out there
that just screams "Make me into a BAG"!!

This is my latest store sample bag ...

The Firenza Bag by Pat Bravo

It's a darling small handbag that features a zip top,
pockets inside and way too cute ruffled flowers on the front.

I made it as a store sample for Quilter's Stash -
I added it to the "Bag Wall" ... the wall has everything you need to make bags!
I love it!! It's my corner of the shop!!!

Feeling Blue-Green Today!

This morning while surfing the web and a few on-line quilt magazines I found this pattern:

and I thought - "That looks like a fun one"

I rummaged through my stash and pulled out these...

I was feeling very blue-green today!!

It must be all the snow we have.

I started cutting, sewing and pressing and after a few hours

I had my blocks on my design wall...

now I just need to sew it all together add a thin blue boarder and

a nice 5" flowered boarder and voila - a Super Sewing Day Quilt!!

While doing all the cutting I remember an idea from this blog on

cutting useful scraps ... so I cut 3 different sizes.

2.5 x 4.5 rectangles

2" squares

3" squares

I'll use these in other future projects.

It's Super Bowl Day and the game is on....

 but since my team - the Patriots -

are not playing - I'm not watching!

I will watch the Black Eyed Peas at half time though! 

I've had my own Super Bowl of Sewing Day!

Sylvia's Bridal Sampler Blocks ... 10 more done!

OK so this project is a long term one - that I started 3 years ago!

 I do a few blocks when I can ... and here are the latest completed blocks!

c-5 Lady of the Lake

d-8 Rosebud

g-3 Bear's Paw

g-8 Crown of Thorns

h-9 Weathervane

k-6 Gentleman's Fancy

l-5 Pineapple

m-2 Wild Goose Chase

m-4 Jack in the Box

c-3 Album

That's a total of 95 DONE!!! only 49 to go!!! Yippee!!