Allietare, Step 5

I finished step 5 of Allietare today.  Am I the only one who thinks this mystery is easier than the last two?  It seems like the pieces are bigger and the units less complicated.

Linking up:  http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2015/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-5.html

Quilts of 2015

I completed 5 quilts this year.  First was Easy Street, a Bonnie Hunter mystery from 2013.

http://sewingoutofmycomfortzone.blogspot.com/2015/05/easy-street-bound.html


Next were the two quilts for the kids my brother adopted this year.

http://sewingoutofmycomfortzone.blogspot.com/2015/05/henriques-quilt-bound.html

http://sewingoutofmycomfortzone.blogspot.com/2015/05/binding-dandaras-quilt.html

I made Gravity as a birthday gift for my son.

http://sewingoutofmycomfortzone.blogspot.com/2015/10/gravity-quilted-and-bound.html

The final quilt was a one block wonder for my sister for Christmas.

http://sewingoutofmycomfortzone.blogspot.com/2015/11/angies-quit-done.html

Scraptistic Tuesday Win and Final Stash Report

I was the lucky winner of a $25 gift card from Sew Sisters Quilt Shop in the December Scraptastic Tuesday linkup.  My reds were running low, so I chose a bundle of red fat quarters, and I'll use them in Talkin' Turkey next year.

In my fabric accounting system, wins and gifts do not count in my stash reports because I am more concerned with what I spend on fabric, not how much fabric I have.


Used this week:  0
Used Year to Date:  85.625 yards
Added this week:  0
Added Year to Date:  79.25 yards
Net USED:  6.375 yards

I went back through my blog to see how I'm doing year to year in controlling my yardage.  I'm happy to see my total yards used in the past 4 years is greater than the yards added.  That means I have not turned into a fabric hoarder.

2015   6.357 yards used
2014   2,5 yards added
2013   9.5 yards added
2012   20.25 yards used

Linking up:  http://www.patchworktimes.com/2015/12/27/stash-report-week-52-2015/

Allietare, Step 4

I finished step 4 of Allietare today.  This was the most labor-intensive step so far.  For some reason, this mystery seems a little easier than the past two.

Last week I had a chance to work on my Smart Phone quilt since I got through Step 3 so quickly.  Here is Netflix:

Now I'm going on a mini-Christmas rant. I know I'm probably one of a very few people that this bothers because I haven't seen any mention of it elsewhere on the internet.  People:  twelve days of Christmas aren't a countdown that happens before Christmas.  Please don't confuse the 12 days of Christmas with a mini-Advent calendar!  The twelve days of Christmas happen between Christmas and Epiphany, not before Christmas.  Quilt shops seem to be especially vulnerable to this fallacy. I know of at least 5 of them celebrating before Christmas with their twelve days of Christmas sales.  It also bothers me that the phrase 'twelve days of Christmas' is being used commercially, but that is another rant.  

Linking up: http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2015/12/sewing-parties-are-best-kind-of-parties.html

Ornaments

Our Christmas tree is a hodge podge of homemade and store bought ornaments.  I've stitched many Christmas ornaments over the years, but I've given most away.  Here are a few I've kept:

My favorite of these is the carousel polar bear. 

 I've also made a bunch of smocked ornaments, but the only one I've kept is this smocked ball.  It is  at least 26 years old since I started smocking before my children were born, and this looks like a super simple beginner pattern.  I wish I'd kept some of the smocked drums I made, but I see them when we go to visit our relatives each year.

Over the years, I've been in many ornament swaps.

These two were made by my friend, Jen.

This is a box ornament from a Just A Thought exchange.  I don't know who KH is, but wouldn't it be fun if she saw her ornament here!

I think this ornament was made by Patti or Cheryl. I wish there were initials on this one, so I'd know for sure.

This Drawn Thread freebie  might be from Danielle or Patti.

 Dane, one of my German stitching buddies, made this one. It is a Shepherd's Bush pattern.

This is a Prairie Schooler pattern done by Kathy.

Jodi made these two, and I'm pretty certain that Kathy finished the purple one.

Jodi's over-one stitching is beautiful!

My mother-in-law is a crocheting machine.  She made the whole family Christmas card ornaments with crocheted trim.  She signed and dated them on the back, so I know they were made in 2004.  She made us at least 24 crocheted snowflakes when we first got married, but they need to be re-starched, and I wasn't up to the task this year.

Linking up: http://www.supermomnocape.com/2015/12/21/vintage-embroidery-monday-stitchery-link-party-37/

I goofed up when adding my link to the linky party, so I've got the wrong picture.  If anyone knows how to fix it, please let me know!

Stash Report

I added 7 fat quarters this week:  one red (on sale) for my Talkin' Turkey quilt, three
neutral (also on sale) to give me more variety for Allietare, and three small Christmas prints for a holiday project.

Used this week:  0
Used Year to Date:  85.625 yards
Added this week:  1.75
Added Year to Date:  79.25 yards
Net USED:  6.375 yards

I tried making a couple of fabric Christmas ornaments but wasn't entirely happy with the result.  I guess they are OK, but I have tons of ornaments, and I only put the favorites on the my tree. I will probably save them and use them next year as gift card holders. https://amisimms.wordpress.com/2015/12/11/origami-folded-fabric-ornaments/  This year's gift cards are already wrapped.

I was so surprised to see this type of ornament for sale at a ART GALLERY in Fredericksburg, VA!  I think some quilts are art, but this type of ornament certainly is not.  These each took me about 10 minutes to do.  I experimented with the size and like the smaller one (which was traced around a roll of ribbon) better than the large one (traced around a pan lid).  I also had no shank buttons, so I used an jingle bell left over from an old craft project of my kids.

http://www.patchworktimes.com/2015/12/20/stash-report-week-51-2015/ 

Scream House Boo Boo

Ugh!  I just discovered a mistake in my Scream House stitching.  I used the wrong color on the roof pieces.

Those light purple/gray triangles are supposed to be done in WDW charcoal.  I tried over stitching the purple with charcoal, and it isn't going to work.  I am of the 'make it work camp' in both my stitching and my quilting, so frogging is my last choice, but in this piece, it has to be done.

I went back to the original chart to see how in the world I could have made this color mistake, and the two symbols I mixed up are H and M. The first clue I should have picked up on was:  WHY ARE THESE SHINGLES PURPLE???  But I kept stitching along.  Clue number two should have been:  YOU ARE RUNNING OUT OF PURPLE!  The best cross stitch charts will tell you when you need two or more skeins of an overdyed thread, so you can get them both at the same time (dye lot issues).  As the chart only called for one skein of the purple, I should have realized something was wrong when I needed another.

But I kept stitching along, even going back to the store and picking up another skein of Basil WDW. It took me about ten hours to get the roof pieces stitched, and it will take about twenty to rip it all out and restitch.  If I had more of this linen, I wouldn't even bother to rip everything out, I'd just restitch.

So when we leave for our Christmas visits,  Just Nan's Scream House will come along and I will frog the triangles.  I hope to have it all ripped by New Years Eve.

Linking up:  http://www.supermomnocape.com/2015/12/14/vintage-embroidery-monday-stitchery-link-party-36/

Alietare, Step 3

It has been a busy week!  The weather has been beautiful, so I've wanted to be outside instead of inside sewing. I've also been doing Christmas shopping, wrapping and baking for the neighborhood cookie exchange.  I haven't had much sewing time, but I  finished the  four patches for step 3 of Allietare.  Instead of the gold Bonnie used, I chose orange.

I also completed step 2 from last week.

So now I'm all caught up until Friday.

Linking up: http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2015/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-3.html

Allietare

I almost decided not to do Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt this year.  I have not gotten either  Grand Illusion or  Celtic Solstice quilted yet, and  I also have plenty of works in progress

 But I have baskets of scraps, and I'd rather use them than organize them, so I'm in again this year.  I'm saving my red scraps for Talkin' Turkey, and I don't have many gold scraps, so I'm choosing my own colors.

Step 1:  Bonnie used gray; I'm using yellow.

Step 2:  Bonnie used red; I'm using blue.                                                                                                    

                                                       

We had to cut some squares too.  Bonnie used black; I'm using brown.

Linking up: http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2015/12/allietare-mystery-monday-link-up-part-2.html

http://www.shecanquilt.ca/2015/12/scraptastic-tuesday-december-link-is.html

                                       

Stash Report, Prizes

I've had good quilt luck lately.  I was the the grand prize winner from Myra at Busy Hands Quilts  for the Gravity Quilt Along.   I received a $100 gift certificate from the Fat Quarter Shop and a pattern from Allison at  Cluck Cluck Sew   I chose her new Shimmer pattern but have not decided what to buy from the Fat Quarter Shop yet.  I've filled and unfilled my cart several times already!

I also won four Nature Scape fat quarters for participating in Jennifer Rowles' Smart Phone Quilt Along.  Patterns for these blocks are at the,Fandom In Sttiches website.

My rule is that fabric gifts do not count in my yards added report.  I'm keeping track of fabric I buy, not how much fabric I have.

Used this week:  1.0 (Bunko gift)
Used Year to Date:  85.625 yards
Added this week:  0
Added Year to Date:  77.5 yards
Net USED:  8.125 yards

Linking up:  http://www.patchworktimes.com/2015/12/06/stash-report-week-49-2015/

Odds and Ends: Chase, Gravity and the Wreath

Poor Chase, our 12 year old mixed breed dog,  had to have surgery Tuesday to remove a lump on his neck. The biopsy suggests it is a sarcoma, but we will know more after the pathology comes back.  The vet is very optimistic and said that most of these tumors don't  spread in dogs until they are very large.  Chase's tumor was fairly small, but the incision is big, and it is on his neck, so he can't wear his collar.

This makes it hard to follow the post op instruction of 'leash walking only' for 10 days.  We went to PetSmart looking for the 'cotton harness' the vet tech suggested, but none of them were made of cotton, and all of them would rub on his incision, so for now, he is going collarless, and I'm going outside with him every time he goes out.  Since he can't wear a collar, he can't wear his electric collar, which means our electric fence is moot. I'm hoping he heals quickly!

For now, I'm keeping him doped up on Tramadol, not just for pain control but to keep him calm.  Chase is a very energetic dog. We walk 2 1/2 miles most days, and he'd be up for another walk or to if I had time.  He is usually enthusiastic about food and takes medicine willingly.  Not so now.  My usual trick of putting his pills in peanut butter didn't work this time, and he dug though his wet dog food, leaving the pills behind when I tried that.  Congealed turkey gravy is doing the trick, though.

My oldest son's birthday was yesterday, and he loved his new quilt.  He sent me this picture of it at 5:56 a.m., which meant he got up really early to open his b'day gifts and remake his bed.

Finally, I finished the new wreath for the front door.  The 25 year old wreath we'd been using was falling apart. It also was too dark for our black front door.  I really like the one I made. DH the traditionalist keeps saying it needs some red, but he had his way for 25 years.  Now it is my turn.   Just hoping it all stays together as I'm not an experienced wreath maker.

Linking up:  http://myplvl.blogspot.com/2016/07/tuesday-archives-122-floral-wreathes.html

BCQC Block Done!

I finished the beading last night, and I'm ready to sign up for another crazy quilting class! It was so much fun! I am not entirely happy with my ribbon embroidery, so I've signed up for Mary Jo Hiney's Embroidering with Ribbon class from Craftsy.  It's a Chritmas gift from my husband, so I'm trying not to peek at it until after Christmas.

In case you missed the closeups last week:

If you are interested in taking one of Kathy Shaw's Crazy Quilting Classes, here's the link to her blog.

Free Crazy Quilt Classes

Kathy is an excellent teacher, and she is very generous to offer her classes for free. 

Linking up:  http://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.com/2015/12/lets-bee-social-102.html

Bunko

I've played bunko with the same group of ladies for 17 years.  We started playing when we had young children.  Most of us were stay at home moms, and our one night out a month to play bunko was about the extent of our social lives.  As our kids grew, and some of the women went back to work, we kept playing bunko.

 There were divorces, remarriages, babies born, empty nests, some players moved and were replaced with young mothers. We've helped each other navigate our children's learning disabilities and house renovations. We've watched our kids graduate and sent them off to college. Now our kids are getting married and grandchildren are arriving.  These ladies are my safety net,  They were there for me though my cancer treatment and again when Andrew died.

They gave me a bench in his memory last month.

What has this got to do with sewing?  Our bunko Christmas party is tomorrow night, and I made a table runner and pot holder for the $15 gift exchange.  I found fabric with dice on it:  perfect for bunko!

December 1

Andrew would have turned 24 today.