W.I.P Wednesday

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Well I’m back!  After a very long blogging hiatus, I decided I missed it….I missed the people who comented and read my blog, I’ve missed the journaling aspect of the blog and also how it kept me inspired to work on my projects!  Especially since I seem to have WAY to many WIP’s now LOL.

So to get back at it I thought why not start on W.I.P Wednesday brought to you by Kelly at Freshly Pieced. I guess I will start with my Farmer’s Wife Quilt.  This quilt is one I have been working on since I purchased the book about 3 years ago.  I keep making a few blocks, setting it aside then coming back and remaking them as my fabric likes have changed so much over the past few years!  This time though I feel I really like where I’m going with this and hope to make a few each week.  Hopefully third times a charm!

Farmer’s Wife Sampler Quilt

 

 

I also have been working on this Schnibbles quilt as well…

Schnibbles

And last but not least (well for those that I have pics for thus far LOL) I have been finishing up this Lizzie Kate Winter alphabet cross stitch (That I started WAY to long ago)

Lizzie Kate Winter Alphabet

Otherwise I also am working on several other cross stitches, a baby quilt and I haven’t even mentioned my knitting-sheesh!  I need more time in the day I tell you!

Anyways, if you are reading this Welcome!  I hope to be here again soon and am so happy to have dusted this blog off!  Look for some changes to it soon!

Happy Quilting

Cara

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WIP Wednesday!

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This week’s WIP Wednesday is not much different than the previous but here’s the rundown:
Finishes:
Made this awesome Hoop Travel Bag from the wonderful ladies at Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery….so cute that it quickly got used for my knitting! LOL must make another one for my hoops now!
Also finished and posted my inspiration piece for Hoop Up Stich and Send swap.  It is a design by Sarah Jane Studios and was so fun to stitch!  I added some applique clouds into it as well!
New Projects
Started the fabric picking and cutting for this awesome QAL!
And after a long hiatus I have rejoined the Doll Quilt swap on Flickr.  DQS12 is under way and I am busy brainstorming my partner’s quilt!  I love this swap and have missed not participating!
Current WIP
Still working on my Vignette in Stitches quilt, and my Coastal Knits sweater.  Also working on the ideas for my Hoop up Stitch and Send swap partners!
Stalled or WISP’s (work in slow progress)
Still on hold is my Farmers Wife quilt.  Hoping to get back to that this weekend!
SO…..
This week’s stats:
Completed projects -2
New projects -2
Currently in progress -5
Hibernating-3

WIP Wednesday

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So as part of my new approach to my crafting I think I am going to do a weekly report on my progress!  I have seen this here and here and really liked the idea so here we go!
Finishes:
Newest:
I signed up for Round 2 of the Hoop Up Stitch and Swap swap over on Flickr.  This is my inspiration mosaic and I am in the process of working on my Inspiration piece so more on that probably next week!
 Current work:
Blocks #1 and # 2 of Vignette in Stitches BOM
Rocky Coast Cardigan in progress.
And the continuation of the Loose Feathers (Blackbird Designs) 2009 sampler.
Slow WIP or stalled:
Farmer’s Wife Quilt
This week’s stats:
Completed projects -1
New projects -1
Currently in progress -5
Hibernating-3
OK so next week I will have a better idea of where to put what…may have to separate the crafts…At any rate this is hopefully somewhere to start and may help keep me on track!
Happy crafting!
Cara

Happy 2012!

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Well hello again!  It has been a while and I apologize for the extended break but what I love most about blogging is that you can come back at anytime! Well I decided to start the new year off….well…new! So to do that I feel inclined to start with taking this year in a new direction!  I have been busy crafting in all kinds of different forms and after a long self-imposed hiatus, have come back to also quilting again. To end 2011 off right I decided to reorganize and clean out/purge the Quilt Nook so as to get a better idea of what I was still into and what I could donate or get rid of.  That was quite cathartic and it has been lovely to get back into the nook again!  In doing this I discovered I have had a year or so of lots of starts but not so many finishes….I think to start 2012 off new I need to finish what is left behind.  I have compiled a list of this things to follow so as to give myself a place to see my progress.  As you can imagine there are soooo many new things I would like to do as well, but find making project goals while there are still so many WIP’s very counterproductive.  SO here are some of the things I would like to get finished so as to free up my goal list, besides, who doesn’t love the feeling of finishing!

Quilting:

  1. Hexie quilt
  2. Farmer’s Wife quilt
  3. Dear Jane blocks
  4. Label Quilts that have none
  5. quilt and bind tops that are waiting (3)
  6. Complete BOM (3) that I have had on the list

Knitting/Spinning

  1. Sugared Violets (85%)
  2. Kate’s Shawl (20%)
  3. Rocky Coast Cardi (10%)
  4. clear the current bobbins (3 different spins)

(it seems I have had a bad case of cast-on-itis lately! OOPS!)

Stitchery/cross stitch

  1. finish  Lizzie Kate winter alphabet (95%)
  2. finish BBD Summer House (40%)
  3. continue BBD Loose Feathers  2009 sampler (just started)
  4. finish Lynette Anderson button club quilts (2)

I also would like to catch up my photos, ravelry data and flickr photos.  I have a Hoop up Swap to write about and pics to upload for stash and finished projects as well.  Hmmm seems I have my work cut out for me~I suppose I should get to work then and tackle my large list! I feel if I can  move some of these to the finished pile, I will be much more inclined to move forward with a clean slate!

Hope you all had a wonderful New Years celebration and I hope to see you here again!

Happy quilting/knitting/spinning and stitching! (LOL!)

Cara

What’s new!

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Hello again!  I have been on a bit of a self imposed hiatus from all things bloggy for a bit.  I am back though and boy do I have tons to catch you up on!  First, I have picked up knitting again in my hiatus. I joined the Baltimore Modern Quilt Guild (awesome group!).  I have also been doing a lot of Stitcheries and hexies-including some awesome pieces from the Hoop Up Stitch and Send swap.  I also have picked up a new (and addicting) hobby-spinning.  Yep, spinning my own yarn- SO awesome.  For now though,  I just wanted to check back in and dust off my blog.  I will be back to post separately about my quilting, knitting, stitching and spinning endeavors.  I will however share  a few pics to tide you over!

Until then…Happy crafting!

Cara

….and the winners are….

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Wow!  Well I must start by telling you all how much I have enjoyed reading your wonderful comments on the 100 Blocks post!  Thanks so much to all of you for entering! I know you are all awaiting the results of the giveaway, so I won’t beat around the bush, the following numbers were drawn by the Random number generator and the winners of the giveaway are as follows:

#31 Melissa Corry who said: “I am all about traditional piecing. Your block is adorable. I have never tried a yo-yo but it is on my list of things to do”

If you would email me your address, I will send it off to Quiltmaker and you will receive the 100 Blocks issue!

#134 Wendy MT  who said: “What fun is Pocketful of Posies! Congratulations on the magazine ”

If you would email me your address, I will send you a copy of the 100 Blocks issue and a copy of the Pocketfull of Posies Pattern and a few other goodies.

Congratulations to my winners and I hope you enjoy the prizes! To those of you who are still interested in a copy of the magazine, it did hit newsstands today so hurry and get your copy while you can! You won’t be disappointed!

I will be back tomorrow with a small recap of Houston market this fall!

Until then….congrats to the winners!

Cara

100 Blocks Volume 2

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Hello again and good Friday to you all! Well, today’s the day! I am just popping in to tell you a little bit more about the my Rosie’s Posies block that is in the second volume of 100 blocks by Quiltmaker magazine!  This awesome second volume is to be hitting your Local Quilt Shop and newsstands galore on the 16th of this month- but a few of us and Quilty Pleasures  are participating in the blog tour to give you some sneak peaks ogf our blocks! In case this is the first time you have heard of this special edition, last year Quiltmaker magazine published Volume 1 of 100 Designer Blocks- well it was a huge hit and actually sold completely out!  So imagine my surprise when I was asked to contribute a block to the Volume 2 of this issue!  I was thrilled to say the least! So since this was during my first time exhibiting at Spring market, I decided to do a variation block from one of my most popular quilts, Pocketful of Posies.  This is the block I came up with…

Rosie’s Posie’s is #101 in the applique section of the issue.  For this block, I used my favorite moda dots background fabric and all of the yo-yo flowers are from French General’s Rouennierre’s line- I love the beautiful reds, creams and browns in this line and it inspired the “Rosie” in the posie!  In this version of the block I also changed the Ric-Rac to a white and added some stem stitch embroidery to give a little more detail to the posie.  Here is the quilt that inspired the block!

This is one of my favorite quilts to date! I love hand work and so the yo-yo’s were perfect to keep me busy and posies are one of my favorite things so they just went hand in hand.  The original quilt is called “Pocketful of Posies”.  This pattern is available on the website.

So now to the good stuff! To celebrate the blog tour and the magazine, Quiltmaker is giving me one copy of this collector’s edition to giveaway, and I am also giving away one of my personal copies along with a copy of Pocketful of Posies pattern.  So here’s the drill, you have several ways in which to enter:

 Simply leave me a comment and tell me what your favorite quilt technique is!

Become a follower (see the google follower box on the left hand column) of my blog and let me know

Blog about the giveaway and let me know.

Retweet my blog tweet and let me know

Follow me on twitter and let me know (you can find me on twitter by clicking the twitter icon in the right hand colum)

Oh and just because I will also throw in some yummy fabric goodness to the pot……so go on and get your comments in and while you are at it hop on over to Quilty Pleasures, the Quiltmaker Magazine’s blog and see who else is on the tour today for more chances to win a copy and or some other goodies- you just never know!  The giveaway will close on Monday night at midnight and I will post the winners shortly after that!

I hope you enjoy the tour!

Until then….Happy Blog-hopping!

Cara

Quiltmaker and market

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Well, here I am back in the swing of things and dusting off my blog after a bit of a hiatus!  Wanted to pop in and let you know about a wonderful blog tour that is happening starting today and is hosted by Quiltmaker magazine.  It is to launch Volume 2 of their awesome 100 Blocks issue to be on Newsstands November 16th. Last years Volume 1 sold out very quickly and I have a feeling that this volume will too!  

 All week long you can visit some of the wonderful blogs of some of the featured designers in this issue!! Of course no tour is complete without lots of giveaways- and you can be sure that here will be no different!  Yes you read that right, I said here- and that means I can tell you about my wonderful news!  I have a block being featured in this issue too!  It is so exciting to see it in print! 

So, go check out http://www.quiltmaker.com/blogs/quiltypleasures/ to see all the details about 100 Blocks Volume 2, and pop back in on Friday to see my post about the block and to enter the giveaway!

I will leave you now, with a sneak peak of the block I submitted!

Until Friday! Happy Quilting!

Cara 

…and the winner is….

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Wow!  That is all I can say!  I have thoroughly enjoyed reading all your comments, visiting your wonderful blogs or Flickr accounts and even learning about some fabric lines I did not know about!  Thank you all so much for participating!  So I will get right down to it then!  The winners of the giveaways (according to the random generator) are as follow:

The  Flower Sugar 2 fat quarters and Quilt Nook Gal Designs Pattern goes to:  #39 Katie B from Katie’s Corner

The French Generals new line Maison De Garance fat 1/8ths go to: #148 Baukje from Busy Bee Free

and

The Robert Kaufman mini charm bundle goes to: #105 Michelle who did not leave a link but wanted to start hexies-this will be perfect!

Well, Congrats ladies and if you would just email me your addresses I will get those goodies out to you! ( mcara2{at}yahoo.com) in case you need it! Thanks again for all who participated and I look forward to hopefully seeing more of your blogs and comments in the future!

On other notes, I seem to have gotten my hexie mojo back again.  I think it may be the overly hot and humid weather we are having, which makes The Nook way to hot to use the iron and Nina much during the day.   Or maybe it’s wanting to be at the pool every day but whatever it is I seem to be making progress and loving them even more!  First up are the hexies I showed you in the last post using Cosmo Crickets Early Bird line.  Here is the finished piece waiting to be hand quilted and made into….well, I  will show you soon!

Next are my Fig Tree hexies that I started at Fall Market 2008 while sitting in the line a sample spree.  I have to date basted a ton of them but have also completed 9 whole flowers!  (I know not much but there was a year long hiatus)

  So I decided I need some more hexies and also some of the background done. This is the status of that project:

The completed flowers are shown, then the tall stack is the background hexies I basted the other night while catching up on my SYTYCD episodes.  Then the pile in front is the background hexes I basted today and lastly the wild pile to the right are more Fig hexes that are pinned and ready to be basted (there are 100 of those!). 

So the giveaway is closed, thanks again for all who participated and as soon as I have your contact info I will post the goodies off.  Right now though, my pile of Fig hexies are calling my name so I will be back later in the week with some more intros.
Goodnight all!

Cara

Introducing….and a Giveaway!

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I hope you all had a wonderful holiday start to your July! We had a great week of seeing family and friends and of course the usual Independence Day festivities!  I am back now and ready to introduce to you a couple of my new designs. These 2 pattens were just a couple of the pattern line I introduced at Spring Quilt Market in Minneapolis this past May.  I thought it appropriate to start with my little Welcome quilt as a beginning of the intros to the 6 patterns available.  I had a lot of fun designing this quilt to hang in our foyer to welcome my friends and family to our home! Here it is “Sugary Welcome”.

This little wall hanging is made up from a few fat quarters of Flower Sugar 2 by Lecien Co. and involves raw edged applique and a little foundation piecing.  I am not usually a fan of foundation piecing but when I was taught to use freezer paper as my foundation paper while working on my Dear Jane quilt, I totally changed my mind!  Stay tuned as in the next couple of weeks I will be posting a tutorial on how to use this method for the pineapple block.  I am also including this in the giveaway , which I will tell you more about at the end of this post!

The next quilt that I will introduce you to is “Irish Folk Dance”.  This quilt was a dream to make using Anna Maria Horner’s Little Folks Voile line.  Such soft fabric and has a great feel after it is washed too!  I used strip piecing for the chain block and added some blanket stitch applique with the petals.  Here are a couple of pics of this quilt:

I will introduce the other 4 quilts later but if you are interested in them please check them out here.

I have also been working on some new designs and some old projects.  With the heat setting in and us spending more time at the pool, I pulled out my hexies to work on.  Of course I decided I needed a new hexie project and so I grabbed some paper pieces and my Cosmo Cricket Early Bird fabric and away I went!

 

I am hoping to finish it up and will post pics when it is done- just a little project for some instant gratification!

I also have promised a post market/happy summertime giveaway…..are you ready?

These, are the goodies I am giving away

The first is a copy of Sugary Welcome by Quilt Nook Gal Designs and accompanying it will be the lovely stack of Flower Sugar 2 fat quarters!   The second is a stack of French General’s line Maison De Garance in fat eighths.  And third someone will get that cute little bundle of Mini Charms from Robert Kaufman– would be perfect for hexagons or a charm quilt! I believe it includes some of the new lines they are releasing including a few of Tufted Tweets!

So now you know what the giveaway’s are, now how to be entered!  There are 5 ways in which you can get an entry:

Simply leave me a comment and tell me what new lines of fabric you are looking forward to coming out.

Become a follower (see the google follower box on the left hand column) of my blog and let me know

Blog about the giveaway and let me know.

Retweet my blog tweet and let me know

Follow me on twitter and let me know (you can find me on twitter by clicking the twitter icon in the right hand colum)

So there you have it! I am excited to see who gets the goodies!  I will leave the giveaway open until Monday July 19th at which time I will tally up the entries and announce the winners! Good luck and thanks for visiting me! 

I hope you enjoyed the introductions and I will be back with more and some other things I am working on!

Until next time,

Cara