Hats

Well, I do have something to show. I've been knitting hats. This one is from a book called "I Heart Knitting Caps and Hats", and it's the "Family Hat" pattern. It's done in elongated rib. Which I have never done before. But I watched a You Tube video. This is for Eon, he picked the yarn out. 

And this one is for Steve. It's a basic k2, p2 watch cap.  He said he doesn't need any hats but I knitted him one anyway. It's going to be a Christmas present. I've started the same pattern in black for Eli. You can find the pattern at this blog, in the sidebar.
 

A Wedding Afghan

I finished another Navajo Afghan, for my son's friend who is getting married this weekend. They weren't registered anywhere. So I asked Eli what colors their living room are. He sent me a picture, the couch is tan. And accent color is mostly burnt orange, with a southwest theme. I racked my brain and posted for help on Facebook in a crochet group... Then I finally decided to do a Navajo Afghan. In brown, tan, burnt orange and off-white.  It took me exactly 25 days.  Ha ha, the first one I did took me about three years. But I worked on it a LOT, with a goal of one diamond a day. It's almost as tall as me.

    

Close-up view of the diamonds.

                                                                       And the fringe.

                                                      To see how big it is, on my couch..

 Folded up.  I hope they like it. Eli is driving out to the wedding (400+ miles away). I sent it with him. He's in the wedding.  He invited some friends to stay with us then go to the wedding with him. I'm so nervous about him driving out there. 😳       Now that this is finished, I hardly know what to do with myself. I've been crocheting mini-stockings.   Well that's all for now.

Another Old Quilt Project..

I should say, "Old Quilt Projects"...   I was curious if I still had a good amount of flying geese squares from a baby quilt I obviously never finished. I knew I had at least 72. But, for some reason I thought I had given most of them away.  Well I dug through my old sewing bins (so unorganized), and I found them ALL!! 82 of them (not 72). I was so happy!   I had started this (I think?) for my cousins' baby. (Who is now about 30 years old.)  WHY did I start my first quilt with flying geese? Lol...  I don't know. (I obviously didn't know much about quilting then..)  I think I realized I would have to make a LOT of these, and it would take forever. And started something else.  I know I've posted about these squares a couple times. I think I did give some away. (So, I had even more than this.)

All this fabric to go with the quilt...  

I think this is the quilt I ended up making instead of the flying geese one.  I wish I had taken a picture of it!! (I didn't even have a computer back then... Maybe I didn't have a camera, either.)

Anyway. These are some more squares. I have no idea what these were for.

 A more organized pile of all the fabric cut out in squares and rectangles...   I am thinking I might do a variation of the flying geese quilt. I will have to decide on colors for the sashing. If I get a square done, I'll post it.  

The Baby Quilt Is Finished

Sigh...  Well it is finished. But. I was doing the lint roller on the back, and I noticed a safety pin I forgot to take out. So I turned it over, and there was no pin. 😳   UGGGHHHH.... It's a pin that somehow got in between the layers. So, thank God I didn't quilt it, and only tied it!! I will see if I can undo the hand binding and get it out.  

 A closer-up view. The green border has white polka dots, I don't know if you can see...  And the back is a different light green.  I am in love with this little quilt.  😍  I can't believe I did it. It boosted my confidence to try and quilt more.    It's for a baby who was born premature on Pine Ridge Reservation. Aiden.  For a group I am in.     

Now to finish the baby quilt I started when I was pregnant with Eon. 😂  (Second picture.)

Baby Quilt

I can't believe I got this far. Since it's taken me about 18 years to work on the one I started for Eon...  I had some five inch squares cut out for a tote bag (which I was going to try to sew into a diaper bag). I tried to match the two sides of the tote bag, and add squares to make a quilt top. But I don't have enough of the remaining fabric to make more squares to match. But, I did have about 20 something other squares cut out. And I watched a YouTube video about using "charm packs" (pre cut five inch squares) and chain piecing them...  (Missouri Star Quilts video.)  And I finished the quilt top in ONE day. (Four hours to be exact.) Then I sewed the two borders on.  And, it's been sitting. I am really afraid to quilt it. But I want to try today.  I've been "trying" all week, to sew.  But I am going to tell everyone I'm not going anywhere. I'm taking a sewing sabbatical.  😂       Somewhat related to this quilt (since this is why I started this quilt to begin with..), it was going to be for a baby that was born premature. The family has been going through hardships and lost their mother (not the mother of the baby)...  On Pine Ridge Reservation.  I sent two boxes of things already.  It seems like no one cares.  And, someone already sent a baby quilt for this baby. Soooo, I don't know what I will do with this quilt. 

 

Open Shoulder Granny Poncho

Is Finished. I finished it yesterday. And I am not thrilled with it. It looks NOTHING like the picture in the magazine. The shoulder holes just look stupid. I might just sew them up and it will be a granny poncho.  Look at the picture.  Nothing like that, is it? It just looks frumpy and big.  I still kind of like it. I don't know...

We had some friends over for dinner a couple weekends ago. The guy works with my husband, and we have known them for about 13 years. Our youngest boys were five when we all met (my husband knew the guy longer, he worked with him.)  ~Anyway~  The guy kept telling people about my cheesecake and how good it is, and hinting that he wanted some....   So I made one for when they came over.   

I had leftover cherry pie filling and cream cheese. I didn't want it to go to waste (only to waist- ha ha). So I made some Kolacky. I haven't made Kolacky since I don't know when. I think in high school foods class.  (Probably because it's a lot of work!)  

This one is with the cream cheese topping.  

 

We Moved

Yup, we moved... I don't have any pictures on my computer of anything except project pictures.  So I figured I would post some. This is an afghan I started (I'm currently working on it, it's in my lap). Someone posted one she did, on a group I'm in on Facebook. She posted a link to the pattern stitch she used: Sioda Purse. I think I chained 213 for this.  I'm trying to use up scraps. 

And this is a mini stocking, I have three done so far. For Wounded Warrors Project, I think? It's a group I'm in.  

And some mitered grannies I've been working on every so often.  

I also finished a pocket shawl, and I'm almost done with an open shoulder granny poncho. I don't have pictures so I guess that will have to be for another post..   I haven't felt like doing much since we moved. So I'm surprised I have anything finished.   Oh, yeah...

We got a new kitten!! This was one week after we got her.  We named her Eri. I got her from a wild cat rescue place.  Her Mom, her brother and her were all living underneath someone's stairs.  I wanted the brother, he was black (with brown undertones) and FLUFFY. And calm and cuddly. But Eon had his mind set on her. :)

She is a big sweetheart. She loves Cosmo, and Cosmo LOVES her.  (I was relieved..)  She's three months old now, and the sweetest thing ever.    Well I thought I would post an update, and will try to post more. (I need to take more pictures..)  

 

Update on Jaxson

Well, the good news is, it's extreme colitis. And NOT Pancreatitis (just went through that with Bagheera!)  :(  Or a stick or anything poisonous he might have eaten. (They did x-rays, and blood tests...) Which leads me to the bad news, how expensive it was.  But, I am SO relieved he is okay (or, will be okay--hopefully!)!!! We got two different antibiotics, and an anti-vomiting/nausea pill packet.   He had to have a muzzle on because he was growling and didn't want the tech assistant or the Vet to come near him. I actually had to put the muzzle on him, the Vet left the room. LoL. I had to hold the stethoscope to him too so the assistant could listen to his heart.  He had a fever of 102.7. I think he is starting to feel better, though. I bought him a big huge new rope today (he LOVES his rope). He is eating and drinking still and no more bloody poops or vomiting.  :D  I am so relieved!

This is a bookmark I made for one of my pen pals. She had sent me a letter with that girl on it. So I "re-purposed" it into a bookmark for her.

I went to an Estate Sale this morning. A new member in my Quilt Group I am in posted on the Facebook page that she was having an estate sale and had yarn and fabric. Her Mom was going to open a store but I don't know what happened...  It was all more like her stash that she had. And, I was hoping they had that exact color of purple on the left! And they did! Yay! I started a Hippo Pillow with that color I had almost a whole skein in my stash (the pattern says you only need one skein). And I am almost done with the first side, and I am almost out of purple yarn. Now I will have enough, I think.

And, this bag full of partial balls. I will use these for scrap afghans probably. Mitered squares or grannies.

RIP Bagheera :(

We lost our kitty Bagheera in April, on our oldest sons' birthday. He had been throwing up one day and all night and I took him straight into the vet the next morning. He said it's pancreatitis. (I didn't know anything about that...) They kept him over night and I thought he would be okay. They gave me "meds" for him: A probiotic and pain meds and I don't even know (four things I was giving him). I was supposed to call by Saturday if he wasn't eating or drinking. (He wasn't.) He died on Saturday at about 2 in the morning. Poor kitty!!! :(   I felt so bad for him! He was so young, only three years old. 

He was the coolest cat. He liked getting in the laundry basket (and his bed was right next to it, lol).

And he loved boxes. :)

The day we adopted him.  Cosmo is now on a low fat diet and he is doing all right. But now Jaxson has been having bloody poops... :(  I made him an "emergency" appointment for tomorrow morning.. I changed all their food and watch what I give them like a hawk. I don't know what is wrong with him. The only thing I can think of is he's always eating sticks and getting in the garbage eating Q-tips and things he's not supposed to.  This has not been a good year....

I managed to finish some fingerless gloves. I started them because someone in my Quilt group asked me to knit her some. I couldn't figure out the pattern AT all, with everything going on I just can't clear my head to even focus on anything. But, I had started and ripped back and re-knit the first glove so many times. I was too emotionally invested in them to just give up. LoL.  So I asked my knitting friends on Facebook for help.  This is the pattern I used, maybe it's just me..

And these what I call my "Hotel Slippers". I crocheted them when I went to Denver. I'm actually wearing them right now. They are a free pattern, too.

The actual crocheting when I started them at the hotel. (So exciting...)  

And, I don't know why, but I crocheted a face mask emoji. Another free pattern.
I've been wanting to crochet something (not like I need to start another new project!!) But I don't know what.. This was a kind of fun project. I hadn't crocheted anything since the Hotel Slippers and finishing a baby afghan. (I forgot to post that..)   Well I will try to post more (my famous last words).  We may be moving again. (Loooong story, and it's 99.8% chance we are moving, my husband got a new job with his old company..)  Sigh...   

Wow

I can't believe I only blogged a couple times all year. Let's just say, I will be glad when this year is over. It has been one thing after another.  Some good things have happened, though. I am getting better at quilting thanks to my Quilting Group. I think getting out and being around people is helping me, too. Even though my groups have me going non-stop and it's overwhelming at times. I have two quilts started. Oh. I should post the pictures of those.. This is a quilt I sewed a long long time ago. For Eli. I don't know what happened to it but I vaguely remember it was in our shed or storage and got wet and completely ruined. My Mom paid for all the fabric for me to sew this. It kind of makes me sick to my stomach thinking about it.

This was a quilt I started when I was pregnant with my now 17 year old son. I finished the one (top) strip. And after joining the Quilting group, and taking a class; I thought, "I should get that baby quilt out I started.."  I sewed a second strip. Well, you can see how much bigger the second strip is! I was going to sew it for my first grand baby, when I found out my son and his wife were expecting. But she lost the baby. (They still haven't tried again, and it's been over a year.)

And this is another quilt I started. We took a scrap strip quilt square class for Quilts of Valor. And I decided to try my own quilt at home. To practice so maybe I will get brave enough to sew a Quilt of Valor. All the fabric is from what I had, or got off the stage for free. It's the Free "Table". But it's the stage of the center we meet at. If you have anything you want to give away/don't want anymore (fabric, yarn, magazines, books, sewing things...) you can put it up there and whoever wants it takes it. And vice-versa, if you want something. You just have to take back home whatever didn't get taken (that you brought).

Remember how I said my groups keep me busy so that I am overwhelmed?... This was one of those things. Eight pairs of Elf Slippers for the ladies on the Christmas Committee, for the Christmas Party. They provided the yarn and paid me, $10 per pair. But. WOW. I was so glad when they were all done. And I had two months to knit them all!!  The Christmas party was the first week of December. I didn't know, they all dress up as Elves. Which is why they wanted the slippers.

A different view so you can see the toes.. I knitted a pair of these for Eon a few Christmases back. And when I brought them to show and tell someone said "Can you make us ten pairs?" I was like, "No..."  (Two of the ladies couldn't make it, so I only had to do eight pairs..)  One of the pairs was Eons'. He never wore them, and she said she would just take those.

This is another bag I sewed for Quilts of Valor for their fundraiser. It's another class we did. I love this bag. I want to sew one for myself. I got some super cute "Paris" fabric off the stage, that I want to use in it.

And I even sewed a pocket. :D I was so happy how this came out. I love it. Alice said I used a lot of fabric no one would take in a long time. I was like, "Really?" Well that's good. ~Anyway~ 

I hope to be better at blogging. I really miss it. I have lots of pictures from Facebook and Instagram. I just don't post them here.  The font is bigger in some areas in this post, but I don't know how, or want to try and change it; because I just got it to where the pictures would all stay in the middle. I hope you can read it.

                                        ~~Until Next Time~~

Hello It's Me...

It's been a long time, I know... I joined a quilting group in town a couple months ago. And it has me going in circles. I just joined to meet ladies here, crochet, knit, and sew. Learn more about quilting and my sewing machine... Then  people asked me if I wanted to help with this charity, with that charity and do I want to join Quilts of Valor...  They make things for babies, make things for seniors, make beds and quilts for Sleep in Heavenly Peace.. Now I am going to meetings and group things three days a week, going home and sewing more.. I'm not enjoying it, it's stressing me out! I finally said something to a couple ladies, and they said to just wait/hold on. It's not usually this busy/crazy. This week was the 25th anniversary of the group. The News and Newspaper was there. A big huge picnic. (I made a dessert.)  The woman who founded the group got a certificate. She started the group 25 years ago, in her garage. (In the desert... That had to be fun.. Lol)   I took a Freshman Quilters Academy class. That was four weeks. Monday was the last day.  Then I volunteered to sew a bag for a fundraiser for Quilts of Valor. I've never sewn a bag before in my life. A couple ladies helped me. One sewed the topstitching on one side of the bag for me. And Thursday, another lady helped me with what to do next, what to do next...  And I actually finished it. And it looks nice. :D I'm so happy.

The inside is lined. We got a handout of the pattern, I think it's called Charming Going Green bag. I couldn't find it online. But this bag is very similar.  I have squares to do another one for the fundraiser, and squares halfway cut out for a third (that one is for Pine Ridge).   I never thought I would ever do any sewing again. I used to sew a lot-- Bears, bunnies, doll clothes, some clothes for our kids (shorts mostly). I sewed a couple quilts. I got the quilt I started for Eon when I was pregnant with him, out. I have one strip all sewed. I started sewing more squares. To finish it. But...  My squares now and the ones I sewed 17 years ago do not match. I think I was using a really big 1/4" seam, and was sewing some crooked and just left them.  So... I don't know what I will do with that strip.   Maybe frame it as bad quilting art. Lol. :P 
 
Next week is an awards ceremony for the Quilts of Valor group. I volunteered to make cookies, and I am going to be in charge of a table. I don't know what to do (about quitting the group).  I feel like they always want you to do more, more, more...  I can't even do everything at home and I feel like it's a part time job. (And I'm not even a secretary or in charge of anything!) One lady I was sitting next to on Thursday resigned from that group. (I don't blame her...)   I appreciate our veterans, and I think it's great what the Quilts of Valor group does for them. But I don't think I will EVER sew a quilt good enough to their specifications. I don't know. I am learning a lot with the group.    I will try to blog more, and keep you posted.

Happy 2019 Part 2

Since my last post of 2018 was talking about this dishcloth I had started, I thought I would post a picture of it.. That's the booklet the pattern is in.

And the finished dishcloth. I really like it and wanted to keep it. But blue and red are not my kitchen colors. :P Plus it was for a swap. (Like my kitchen has any "colors" any more... LoL. Nothing matches anymore...) 

I crocheted this to go with it. I don't even remember who it was for.. This was in a magazine, I don't even remember what one it was out last summer though. Probably Crochet World? In the summer, I remember.

Another thing I was talking about in my last post of 2018 was these tags I started. So I thought I would post some that I finished... These were from old bill envelopes. All of them. I made different tags from them.

Some other tags from regular card stock I also had started.

My "Shabby Chic/Ephemeral" tags..

Butterfly one.

Another butterfly.

Halloween tags, all from old bill envelopes- except for the bottom middle one.

A Piggy tag I made for a Pen Pal friend, who loves pigs- and got me loving them, too...

Santa tags, all from old bill envelopes.

And, some of the Christmas baking I did... Christmas Tree Brownies, which I'm sure I've posted about before? Basically, you just make brownies in a round springform pan, then cut and decorate. I saw this originally on Pinterest.

I only had blue gel icing. So. Whatever... The kids don't care. :P

I saw this on Facebook I think M& M Christmas bars or something...It's with a yellow cake mix, and like two eggs... I'll try to find the recipe to link it later. It was from Pinterest: M& M Cookie Bars (only four ingredients.)

I made some Jumbo chocolate covered Christmas marshmallows, and candy cane hearts with chocolate in them. I put them in stockings. I made the whole bag of marshmallows, thinking Eon would maybe take some to friends or teachers at school. But he didn't want to. So, I gave one to the lady at the post office. Put one in the mailbox for the mail carrier. And, we ate the rest. 

Here they are all bagged up. I got the bags at the Dollar Store.

And, some candy cane sleighs I did. I haven't done these in years. I thought Eon would want to give one or two to a favorite teacher. But no. So, I took one to the woman who works at the Bookworm Haven (used book store here in town). She gave me two free Harlan Coben books on my birthday. So I put one of these in a bag with a Christmas card and said thank you.  :) The other three were for Eon, Eli, and Steve.

I just made a few of these one day. I don't remember where I saw them probably Facebook or Pinterest. Basically, you put peanut butter on a cracker. Then do that again, and put a cracker on top. Then put them in melted chocolate- and I put sprinkles on them.

I made cinnamon rolls one morning while Steve had four days off, too.  I will save more pictures for later. See what happens when you don't blog for four months?...