November NewFO Challenge

It's been a while since I've posted anything for the NewFO Challenge, but I have something this time. I've been working on some gifts this month and actually remembered to take some photos before they were wrapped up for a change!

I've posted similar ones before, but these are new colors and sizes.

First are some crocheted coasters.

 Once again, I used Mary Ylisela's pattern as my starting point, but I do the very centers a bit differently.  This is the first time I've used more than one color & I like them, but burying all the extra ends was a pain!

Next are a few new Happy Bowls.  I really do like to make these!  This one is the largest I've done - I think it's big enough for bread or tortillas.

I had a little bit of the multi-colored, homespun type yarn & decided to add that in & I really like the way it looks.

The bottom stripe is actually crocheted in, but the top one is stitched on because there wasn't enough left to use in crocheting.

 These two are sold and will soon be on their way to Idaho!  Taking the pictures at night, the colors are off - the one on the right actually has a white stripe, not yellow.

 This last one I wanted to use up a couple scraps of the red yarn.

 And, as far as making stuff, that's it for me for now.

But I do have one more picture for you - this is Otis, my friend Brittany's puppy.  He is the sweetest fella!  Sometimes he comes to work with her on the weekend, and since I was working the shift right before hers, I stayed & played with Otis!

 Those feet are about as big as my fists, and you can't tell from this angle, but he's long & low.

I believe he's a Basset Hound mix and he is a very good boy.

I'll be linking up to the 2014 NewFO Challenge at

Cat Patches - check it out for more great things!

sue

July 2014 NewFO goings on

What do you know?  I actually did some things this month - AND remembered to take some pictures too!  Yay me!!

I didn't do any sewing to speak of. 

Maybe a little on my ongoing project for my sister.

But, really, it's been too stinkin' hot in my house for me to sew.  I can't afford to turn on the a/c, and I can't seem to figure out a way to situate a fan to blow on me, but not blow on what I'm sewing on. 

One night it was still over 90F in the house after dark!

I know it was that hot, because when it gets to 90F, the fan on the HVAC automatically comes on.

It was still running after 9pm.

Blech.

That aside, my guild meeting this month was fantastic!

The amazing Katsy Chappell, "Quilting Qomic",

actress, comedienne, "green" crafter, masseuse, Lyft driver and midnight soaper came to speak to us.  She is hilarious!  I would highly recommend her to speak to any group of quilters or crafters (or anyone else for that matter!)

Katsy is just plain FUNNY.

Okay, okay, I am a little bit prejudiced, because I've known Katsy for quite a while.  But she makes me laugh!

(And she works clean too, no worries.)

We also had her do a workshop for us - soap making.

We did cold process soap, using lye, water and 3 different oils - soybean, coconut and olive. 

I used bright orange & red coloring in mine, along with orange scent.  What do you think?

 Here it is, still in the mold

After a saponi-nap in the freezer, out of the mold!

All sliced up

Looks a bit like a dreamcicle, doesn't it?

Still needs to cure for another week before using

I can hardly wait to try it out!!

My other project is a wedding gift.
My good friends, Corbin & Phyllis DeLapp's son Devin
just married his sweetheart Nicole on July 26th.
I know they are both Disney fans...I think the fact that Devin proposed to Nikki at Disney World was a big tell on that!  So I wanted to come up with something Mouse-ish for them.  I decided to paint some coaster & crochet a bowl for the coasters to live in:
The front

I apologize that the first 2 are slightly out of focus.  Night time is not my camera's favorite time.

The back

the bowl

The happy family

In their home

 You may have noticed, there's only 3 coasters & thought that was an odd number to give.
Well, you're right.
There was a tragic wrapping accident the morning of the wedding.  Two of the coaster slipped out of my hands as I was attempting to securely cushion/wrap them for transport.  Unfortunately, one of them hit either the edge of my laptop or the foot of my Dave table, and a big chunk came off.
I did put a note in with them explaining this, and the last one is painted and currently awaiting firing.  Then I will mail it off to them as soon as I can.

Aren't they adorable?

I did start one more new thing this month,
I'm teaching a beginning quilt making class at Auntie's Ceramics in Covina, CA.
I don't have any pictures yet though.
My camera has decided it doesn't like the <cough> inexpensive <cough>  batteries I bought at Big Lots.  They last only 2 or 3 days (ONE day if I use the flash) before they go dead.  I have some new rechargeable ones on the way, so maybe in August.... 


I'm linking up with the 2014 NewFO Challenge at
Cat Patches!


That's it for me!

sue

It's NewFO Challenge Time Again!

I don't have any new quilty stuff this time.  I've been continuing to work on my sister's braid quilt, adding a few more pieces at a time.

My only new things are more crocheted coasters.  I'm trying to stock up on things for my guild's holiday boutique in October.  I'd like to not be madly trying to finish at the last minute like I usually do!

I used this pattern by Mary Ylisela, with some modifications for my fumble fingers.

(I have been told that I seem to crochet inside out & backwards!)

I can get a set of 4 coasters from a skein of Sugar & Cream 100% cotton yarn, with a little bit left.  I'll probably use up the leftovers in some Happy Bowls later.

I'm linking up at Cat Patches for the 

2014 NewFO linky party.

Come & join us!!

sue

March NewFO Challenge

It's hard to believe that it's April already!

For us here in SoCal, March definitely did NOT go out like a lamb - but instead with a swarm of earthquakes!  I live in a mobile home, very close to two sets of railroad tracks and I think my washer on spin cycle is about a 2.5 on the Richtor scale, so I often don't notice small shakers, but during the 5.1 quake last Friday night, it seemed like my chair jumped up in the air about 2 inches, then rocked from side to side a couple more.  But I was lucky, several things tipped over, a few hit the floor, but nothing was broken.  My friend Mary Ann lives a few miles closer to the epicenter than I do, and she lost some irreplaceable mementos, some from her grandmother, and her GIANT refrigerator even moved out from the wall!  But, happily, she and her husband & their 2 dachshunds are all A-OK, and that's the most important thing.  I grew up in SoCal.  I'm actually a third generation Californian, so let's face it, earthquakes are just a part of my life.  My Dad always told me to relax & enjoy the ride and I think that's the best way to deal with them.

Now, onto to my NewFOs for March.

Not too much to report.  I crocheted a couple of scarves using Lion Brand Home Spun yarn.

This first one is a pretty rusty color:

Hard to show the color when you take the pictures inside, after dark!

The next one is being modeled by my friend, Bev:

Again using Home Spun yarn.  I really like it, it's so soft!

Since it takes me less than a skein for each scarf, my plan is to use the leftovers and make a giant granny square afghan.  We will see how that goes!

I didn't do much sewing,
but I did put the binding on Rilo's Quilt:

It was made completely from my scrap bag and you can read more about it here.

And, last but not least, the start of a wall hanging:

Fabrics pulled & the applique made.

I'm hoping that April will be more productive, but only time will tell!

Check out more NewFOs at Cat Patches!

sue

2014 NewFO Challenge for February

This has been a pretty productive month for me!  My guild has a UFO Challenge going on this year.  We signed up to finish 6 of our UFOs - one every two months.  We numbered our six, and then every other month they choose a number at random & that's the one we're supposed to finish.  These were mine:

My friend Brad brought these 2 tea towels home from the U.K. and asked if I could make him a pillow with them...about 2 years ago!  My original plan was to sew them together & make one pillow, but they weren't the same size.  So I set them aside...and they were lost for a while...then found & lost & found again!  Then, instead of just adding borders onto the smaller one, I decided to go ahead and make 2 pillow covers out of them.  They ended up being almost king-sized bed pillows.  The top one I made the insert for it & it took my whole bag of fluffy stuffing.  For the other one, I took pity on myself & bought a nice, plump, queen-size bed pillow.

Next is this cunning hat I made for my pal Bill's significant birthday.  I couldn't find a pattern that I liked, so I just made it up as I went along.  Unlike the actual Cunning/Jayne hat, no stripes on this one, but I did use 2 yarns at once so it will be nice & toasty for him to wear in the desert while camping & using his new metal detector.

It looks beige to me on my laptop, but it's actually blue & blue-gray yarns.  

You might remember last month, I started a small quilt for Rilo the blanket hog, and then thought I might crochet a bed for her too.  Well, I did it!  When I get the binding on the quilt, I'll send this up along with it.  At first I was going to make something along the lines of a miniature dog or cat bed, with a dip in the front.  But then I googled to find out what size a hedgehog might like & discovered that they like to have a "hiding spot".  And, voila!

I hope Rilo likes it!

I also made a few more happy bowls, but these have lids.  They keep changing as I go along.

This one is fairly small - maybe 2 1/2" X 4".

Then I tried a new technique for starting the sides & I think I like it better.  They seem to sit a bit flatter.

 So that's what I've been up to.

Oh!  I did get a new-to-me painting!

This was painted by my sister, probably in the early 1960s.

My cousins found it while cleaning their late SIL's house & thought I would like to have it.

They were right!

And Barbara at Cat Patches & I both thought that this would make a fun quilt too - so this is a possible future NewFO!!!

Check out more great NewFOs at Cat Patches!

sue

A Little Quilt plus some Dribs & Drabs

A week or so ago my friend Ashley MacQuarrie posted this picture of her pet hedgehog, Rilo:

with the caption:

Rilo the blanket hog.

My first thought was that Rilo needed a quilt.

So I sat down at my machine & reached into the scrap bag and started sewing.

A little sewing, cutting, pressing & sewing later:

Just need to put some binding on it

and away to Oregon it goes!

Since I seem to be in a bit of a scrap-using mood this month, I did the same with some yarn and made this 'dribs & drabs' happy bowl.  Since I wasn't sure what yarn I would be using, I decided to add some cotton string into this one.  It ended up being very sturdy!

Hmm, maybe Rilo needs a happy bowl too.

What do you think?

I'm linking up with

the 2014 NewFO Challenge at Cat Patches.

Check out what everyone else has been up to this month!

sue

The Final 2013 NewFOs!

This is it.

The final post for the 2013 NewFO Challenge

at Cat Patches.

The first will possibly be a table runner.

Or maybe I'll add more to it &

make it a lap quilt.

I haven't quite decided.

The Christmas fabric squares were gifted to me from one of my guild members.

There weren't an equal amount of the different fabrics, so I had a bit of a challenge figuring out the placement.

These are on their way to becoming coasters:

Somewhere online I saw a post about this iron-on vinyl,

made by Heat n Bond.

Now you can see it on the right, before ironing.

I don't have an "after" picture yet - I chickened out!  I had visions of a vinyl-coated iron...

But I promise, I will show them again, when they're finished.  Honest, I will.

I did crochet a few scarves & did one fleece scarf with a lighthouse appliqued on each end, as well as crocheted several of my Happy Bowls, but I forgot to photograph them before they were given as prezzies.

So, that's it for me.

Thanks Barbara, for hosting the NewFO Challenge 2013 - and for doing it again in 2014.  You really are helping me keep on my creative side!

Happy New Year everyone!!

sue