Author: Mary

Assembled

~ Mary ~ 5 Comments

This Plus 1 top is the first of two sets of blocks I pieced during Mom’s visit that needed assembling. It also counts as my project for this month’s precut challenge since I used a Jelly Roll.

I’ve got an old set of instructions from 2016 when I made my first version of this quilt that never made it to the website so I’ll update those and add it. While I love the tessellating Plus quilts, I don’t have the patience to keep everything in order while assembling it. This one is easy because the blocks are all pieced and then the spacers are added as you assemble the rows.

Happy Birthday!

~ Mary ~ 10 Comments

38 years ago this one came into the world reluctantly! We won’t talk about the long induced labor, failed forceps delivery, and resulting c-section… but he’s been a blessing and I love that we live closer now and can spend more time with him and his family. Happy Birthday Chris!

Off my needles

~ Mary ~ 6 Comments

Hat #1 is finished. I don’t know how many I will end up making in the next few weeks but we’ll see. I’ll cast on another tomorrow.

  • Pattern is Cobblestones – found free on Ravelry
  • Yarn is Cascade 220 Superwash
  • Needle size is 7
  • Cast on 88 and knit 1.5 inches for the brim.
  • Decreases started per pattern after row 3 when hat was 6 inches.

This pattern calls for a cast on of 100 stitches or a multiple of 4. I find the 100 stitches hat too large. The hat has plenty of give and it fits me well but if you are making it for someone with a larger head or lots of hair you might want to go a little larger – maybe casting on 92 stitches or even the 100 called for in the pattern. One thing about donating hats – I always know that it will fit someone if I make one that is too small or too large for my intended recipient! Luckily, hats don’t take long to knit. I’m not sure if this one will be gifted or donated.

Finished

~ Mary ~ 5 Comments

I finished hand stitching the binding on the Bright Tumbler quilt. This is binding #3 of 3 quilted so I’m keeping up with my binding so far. We’ll see if that continues as I quilt more in the next few weeks working toward my goal of quilting 21 tops by the end of November.

I wrote some brief notes and posted them to the website. Mostly just to remind myself of the measurements I used for this quilt. I’m expecting that next year HeartStrings will do another Tumbler Project and this variation is one I’d like to do again.

Lunch date

~ Mary ~ 3 Comments

Not only did I get taken out to dinner last night but we met for lunch by the lake today. It’s such a gorgeous day! There’s a patio with tables and chairs near the snack bar and it’s a great place to sit out and have lunch.

Some of the trees are really starting to change now … we should have at least a couple weeks before the peak of leaf season around here but I’m enjoying the early color changes too.

Finished

~ Mary ~ 5 Comments

I finished hand stitching the binding last night on this group green centered HeartStrings quilt sent to me by Sue. I love the effect of the two different green centers. Now I’ve got 2 of 3 bound and I’ll work on getting #3 reading for hand stitching tonight.

With its green centers, this one reminds me of a HeartStrings project we did years ago – I think it was Lime Green centers but it could have just been Green centers and I could have chosen Lime Green for both of the ones I made. Looking at all of these, I might need to make another one. The one with the green border is my favorite of the two. Click on either photo to see a larger view.

Date night

~ Mary ~ 3 Comments

We’ve gone out very little but tonight we made reservations outside on the veranda at the clubhouse here in Big Canoe. We arrived about 30 minutes before our reservation time to have a drink overlooking the lake.

Before we left, I went looking for my windmill template. I bought this one YEARS ago and the blue and gold quilt I shared in the last post was a UFO that I finally finished up in first few years we lived in Minneapolis … and at some point along the way I “lost” the template. When I was packing up for the move this year I “found” it in the sewing room and put it in a bin with other various templates and infrequently used supplies and tools and look – I was able to find it right away! I don’t know when I’ll get around to making one but at least I have the template ready.

If you don’t have one or can’t find one, Sara shared that she improvised and used charm squares cut on a angle to make a similar quilt.

Finished

~ Mary ~ 6 Comments

I finished hand stitching the binding on this windmill quilt last night. It was one of the HeartStrings group quilts that was sent to me by AnnG to quilt, bind, and donate.

I’m going to see if I can find my old acrylic template for this block. I made one years ago but wasn’t happy with my fabric choices. I need to go scrappier!

Quilted

~ Mary ~ 6 Comments

Don’t ask me how late I slept today – I was up until 7:30 am! I did get down to the longarm room and loaded and quilted my Bright Tumbler top. Quilted freehand with wonky flowers from the Pajama Quilter. Dawn calls the pattern Stylized Stipple – Floral but mine are pretty wonky so that’s what I call them. It’s one of those things that you see every wobble, every error when you’re quilting them but when you take it off the machine, you go … wow, that’s not too bad! This is #3 of 21 to be quilted by the end of November.

Unfortunately, Dawn’s DVDs are no longer available but you can look at a couple short videos on her Pajama Quilter website. Click on the link below each DVD to see the links to view the videos. I keep hoping Dawn will release these videos again – she has such a great approach to quilting. Very relaxed and low stress and the designs she shares come out looking really good. I also hope that one day she’ll make NEW videos but in the meantime, I need to look through my workbooks and choose some more to try. I tend to do the same few.