Christmas Tree Wall Hanging Project Moving Forward

   I finally put the binding on the two Christmas tree wall hangings that I started in March.  I did simple quilting around the trees and I'm really happy these are done

   This week I've been working on making hexies for my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt.  I have all the scrappy flowers hexies ready (210) and all the flower centers (35) ready to be sewn together.  Those are the first two rounds of my hexie blocks.  I still have to make a lot more hexies for the next two rounds of my blocks.  I should have a couple of blocks to show in the next week.  This is definitely a long term quilt project.

   I'm starting a new knitting project.  There is a free pattern on Ravelry called 198 Yards of Heaven that is a pretty lace shawl.   I tried to make this shawl a couple of years ago but it did not go well.  I finished the shawl but it didn't look anything like it should have.  I'm trying again with a skein of my current favorite acrylic yarn (Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable in Cappucino) and a pair of size 8 knitting needles.

Just Returned From The AQS Quilt Show In Paducah, KY

   I just got home two hours ago from a lovely driving trip to the quilt show in Paducah.  My daughter and I had planned this trip for two years and we were so glad that we finally got to go.  Paducah is an almost 800 mile journey from my home so it took a lot of planning.

      We left last Monday and spent the first night in Nashville, TN.  We spent Tuesday seeing sights in Nashville and left at around 4:00 p.m. to drive to Paducah, KY.  On Wednesday and Thursday we visited all the venues of the Quilt Show, walked around downtown, saw an art museum exhibit, and a local Paducah museum exhibit, we also visited the Quilt Museum, and the Rotary antique quilt exhibit.  On Friday we drove over to Metropolis, Illinois to visit the Superman museum and statue.  We also went into Harrah's and lost $30.00 on the slots in 30 minutes.  Then we went to Hancock's of Paducah to buy fabric for my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt that I started planning before leaving on this trip.  We packed a lot of walking and sight seeing into those three days in Paducah.

     I didn't take any pictures of the quilts on display because my daughter bought me a catalog of the quilts that were entered in the show.   All the quilts were amazing and I was in awe of the workmanship on all the quilts.

    This was a once in a lifetime trip for me.  I will not be going back to the show again.  I would rather use my time and my money to make my own quilts instead of looking at what others have made.

    Here is a picture of the Ohio River I took on our walk on Thursday.

My Finished Dishcloth Shawl

  I finished my super simple Dishcloth shawl.  This shawl is a very simple triangular shaped shawl that is made by using Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth pattern (all garter stitch with one yarn over at the beginning of each row) which is worked on the bias.  You just keep knitting until you get a nice size shawl or just until you feel like you have enough yarn to bind off the long end.  This is a free pattern on the Internet.  I found the pattern in a couple of places, this website has instructions for finishing off the last row with yarn overs to match the other two sides, which I did not do.  

 I tried to make one of these a couple of years ago using lace weight wool yarn held double but it didn't turn out very well and I abandoned it after a year of working on it.  

   I made this shawl with almost 5 skeins of Lion Brand Vanna's Choice yarn (my favorite acrylic yarn) in the Linen colorway.  I used a size 8 circular needle with a 60" cable which was just big enough when the shawl was finished.  I already had the needles and the yarn cost me about $20.00.  I started this project on March 26th and finished this morning, knitting on it here and there until the other day when I brought it out and really got going on it.  

   My shawl is very thick and feels great on my shoulders.  I could have used a bigger needle to get a little looser fabric that would have been just as nice.  This pattern is very flexible and you can use any yarn weight and any needles to make this shawl.  

My Favorite Market Bag Made From Cotton Yarn

    I found a lovely market bag pattern on the Lion Brand Yarn website a few years ago and made one to give away to a family member.  The patterns was really easy and I've been wanting to make one for myself because I love the shape of the bag an the handle.  I finally made it last Saturday.

   This is a free pattern but in order to get the pattern you have to create a free login on the Lion Brand Yarn website.  There are several market bag patterns on the site and this one is just called Market Bag and has one center handle.  On the website this bag is pictured in a dark blue yarn.

    I used Peaches and Creme Cotton Yarn in the Ivy League colorway that I bought at Walmart on Saturday morning.  I bought a cone of 706 yards for under $10.00.  You need approximately 360 yards of yarn to make one bag according to the pattern.  I probably have enough yarn leftover to make a little smaller version of the bag.  

   I always hand wind my yarn into balls before I start a project.  This gives me a chance to check the  yarn for joins and imperfections before I start my project.  This process also ensures that I won't run into a big yarn tangle at the end of a skein while I'm working which can be quite frustrating for me and really doesn't help me finish my project.    

   Here's my new market bag.

Weekend Sewing Fun

    I had some fun with my new hexie obsession the last couple of days.  I made some hexies to turn into a flower decoration for my purse.  I couldn't stop making hexies so I also made the same type of decoration for DD for her use.  I used yellow centers for my flower decoration and ladybug fabric for DD's decoration because her friends call her ladybug.  These are double sided and hand sewn except for the machine stitching on the strap.

   This morning I finally created the Christmas tree forest.  I decided that each tree needed a different fabric for the trunk and I only had 3 brown fabrics in my stash, so I placed a request on the Quilting Board for 4" squares of 9 different brown scrap fabrics so I could get the trunks done.  Several lovely people responded to my request.  I took the offer of the first person that had 9 fabrics.  I received them last Monday and got my tree trunks cut out.  My Christmas Tree applique wall hanging is now ready to sew.   I had to stand on a chair to get all the trees in the one shot.  I placed 11 of these trees in this wall hanging and I'm putting the last tree in a square all by itself.

    I did send my brown scrap fabric angel an appropriate thank you gift by return mail last Thursday and she should get it tomorrow.  I made her a lovely quilted wristlet in a black fabric with royal blue polka dots.  I hope she gets a lot of use from it.

Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt Start

   I have started my Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt that I have been dreaming about for a while.  The flower centers will be bright yellow, the second ring will be scrap fabrics, the third ring will be white, and the finally ring will be light green for the garden path.  This will be an ongoing quilt project for the next year or so.

    I bought a hexagon paper punch last year to make my own 1 inch hexagon papers and I did make some hexagon papers from some old greeting cards last year.  Last week I pulled out some 110 lb. cardstock from my paper stash and made more hexagon papers.  I can punch out 19 - 1 inch hexagon from one piece of  8.5" x 11.5" cardstock.

   These are my first ever hexies and they were a lot of fun to make.