Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Read All Directions

What happens when you casually read the well-written directions Bonnie writes for clue three of Celtic Solstice?

Now you may ask what's wrong with these cute little 2" squares?  Well they should have been nice long 2" strips!
Much better, although I was able to use those 2" squares to make cute little half square triangles.
After actually reading the directions I cut correctly and ended up with a finished pinwheel, but don't look too closely as those center points don't quite match up--LOL. 
Thankfully I still have plenty of orange and yellow strips to cut and sew and surely at least a few of those center points will match.

There is still plenty of time to join Bonnie's Celtic Solstice mystery.  Why don't you join us?

Cheers,

Debi






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Monday, December 9, 2013

Nasturtiums and Celtic Solstice

Chevrons!  I can't believe I have never pieced a chevron in over 30 years of quilting!  A few done and tons left to sew.
Why did I go with Bonnie's color scheme on this mystery quilt?  Because it does really remind me of Ireland.

Nasturtiums in the back garden of a B&B we stayed at in Castlebar, Co. Mayo, Ireland in September, 1996.  Not a great photo because a) I took the photo and my photography skills are not great; b) it is a photo of a photo.  LOL!

Although the colors are out of my comfort zone I am having great fun sorting through fabric and using pieces that I never thought I would use--corn, lemons, celery, apples, grapes and shamrocks just to name a few.

There is still plenty of time to take a mysterious trip to Ireland and make Celtic Solstice with Bonnie and her peeps. 

Cheers,

Debi
 

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Monday, December 2, 2013

Irish Eyes are Smiling!

I can hardly believe it's mystery time already and Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville has created one that calls to me--Celtic Solstice.  Ireland gets all the credit for my love of travel as it is the first place I visited when deciding to take a trip to Europe way back in 1996.  I loved it so much I went back in 1998 and hope to return someday.

Sadly, I didn't get much done over the weekend as I am trying to finish up another project before starting the mystery.  So much for the best laid plans as I didn't get the first project done and barely made a dent in our "homework" for week one but I have the whole week to attempt to get caught up.

Here is a sampling of the little I got done.

The doll is something I picked up in Ireland in 1998 when I visited the Doolin Crafts Gallery.  Irish Molly is made from hand-made felt and at the time I had sheep and was fairly active in my local spinning and weaving guild so she was of interest to me.  I am not sure I think Irish Molly is that cute, and I'm not really in to dolls, but she is a little different.

Here is a close-up of two of the neutral fabrics I selected from my stash.

I can't believe I am finally able to use that shamrock fabric and the good news is that I also have some in black which is in my green pile.  I also pulled out a fabric that had an Italian flare--see the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  I just love novelty fabrics and Bonnie's quilts are perfect for such fun fabric.

The mystery has just started and there is still plenty of time to join the fun.  Why not sort through your stash and join Bonnie and her peeps and create Celtic Solstice.

Cheers,

Debi











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Sunday, November 17, 2013

Rose Colored Glasses

Last week I went into our local antique shop just to see if they had any vintage sewing machines and they did not.  I did happen upon a embroidered pink and white quilt top that I liked as I have had a thing for pink and white quilts for awhile.  The top wasn't very expensive and at first glance it looked like it was in decent shape so I bought it.  

Apparently I had my rose colored glasses on when I looked at the top and only saw one place where it was coming apart and I thought I could fix that without any problems.  Once home I discovered all kinds of problems including a little hole in one of the blocks--sigh.  I decided to frog stitch the entire quilt and patch the hole.  

Here is the block with the hole above the embroidery.
The quilt top was hand pieced and I thought it would be a breeze to take apart but who would have thought the quilter would have sewn two lines of hand stitching on each and every block!

I have the quilt completely apart now and have patched the little hole as well.  I purchased some pink polka-dot fabric to use as stashing and now all I need to do is take some time to put it back together again.  Had I realized how much work this little top was going to take I am sure I would have folded up and put it right back on the shelf.  Note to self, be sure to remove rose colored glasses when looking in antique stores.

Cheers!

Debi

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Friday, October 25, 2013

Wicked Prowling

The Wicked Blog Hop is one of my favorite hops as everyone has such creative and fun things to share. After two years of lurking I decided to join the fun but first,
thanks to Mdm Samm for hosting Wicked and Wicked Wendy  for organizing and cheering us all on.

I just love the Ghastlies fabric and have several yards of it but for some odd reason I don't want to cut into it.   My favorite character is Sebastian and I decided to make a cat bed for my wickedly wonderful kitties using some of the fabric.  Yes, I had to cut up a yard but it's for a good cause.

Notice Sebastian in the middle and I know it's hard to see, but I did use his featured fabric on the sides of the bed although they are upside down when his side of the bed is up--LOL.  Of course one of the Wicked kitties had to test it out and Coconut found it most comfy.
I have made lots of Halloween items but it seems like I always gift them to friends which isn't such a bad thing but I don't have a lot for myself which is surprising since I really do love Halloween.  Prowling for Treats from Autumn Threads is a pattern I have always liked and wanted to make some day and Wicked seemed purrfect.  My little quilt is made using recycled wool and I did a blanket stitch around the pieces and parts.

And yes there is a ruffle!  Mind the cat hair as black wool just seems to be a cat hair magnet.

Finally, I was inspired with all of the seasonal pin cushions in the Pin It! blog hop so I made myself a Black Cat hexie pin chusion.

Looking for more Wicked?  Check out the rest of today's schedule.

Friday, October 25th
 
Cheers!

Debi



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Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Eeeeek, It's Wicked!

Time to get your eeeek on and join everyone for the Wicked Blog Hop!  See the schedule below for the entire hop and be sure to take a minute to visit each blog.  I'll have my post up on Friday so be sure to stop back.

If I would have made this table topper recently I would have saved it for Wicked, but I didn't and so instead I'm sharing it as a Wicked preview.  The pattern came from Feline Drive.

Now here is the complete schedule.  I am amazed at what has been shown today--wow!


October 22nd

October 23rd

October 24th

October 25th
  

October 28th
I Piece 2-Mary
The Distracted Domestic



October 29th


October 30th

October 31st

Cheers,

Debi
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Saturday, October 19, 2013

Bloglovin

Setting up a bloglovin account--gee, I should have done this on a day when I didn't write a post. 

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I am so used to bookmarking blogs and reading them that way and now I will need to remember to add them to Bloglovin and go there to read them.

Cheers,

Debi
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