De-Stash is Back!

I'm starting to prep for next year's UFO Challenge. I found a half-finished kit to offer up to a traditionalist for this week's de-stash. Read on!

Stash

But first, this week's stash additions! One of my favorite shops, Sew-Ciety in Castle Rock, is moving to a new location. So they had a "pre-move" sale this week. Everything was "buy three, get one free." Friend Mary and I divided up some jelly rolls to take advantage.

This is Moda's "The Boat House." It's going in the "Quilts for Sailors" bin for the next Sailor to earn the Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist badge.

This one, "Lakeside Gatherings" will be for the December Jelly Roll Party at Ruth's Stitchery.

Here is Cozy Quilt's photo of the pattern. Won't this jelly roll be perfect?

Elder Son says "It's OK to buy it just because you think it's pretty." So I did. Winterlude, by 3 Sisters for Moda, goes in the "undesignated jelly rolls" bin.

My friend Lori brought me this lovely birthday prezzie this week. I think I'll use it to stash the sand dollars and shells I picked up at the beach in September.

Inside were a yummy scented candle and soap (which is lending its fragrance to my yarn stash at the moment) and this cool lighted, magnifying seam ripper.  I'll report later how it works -- but what a great idea!

I found the little pink pincushion at the Creative Needle in Denver. It fits into the thread holder on the top of my Viking sewing machine. Clever, huh?

We made a second stop on the way home from Front Range Modern Quilt Guild yesterday, at High Prairie Quilts. I almost panicked when I didn't see this fabric where it had been displayed last time I was in the shop -- I need it to finish my Five is Fabulous sampler. Whew, the shop had just been re-arranged!

De-Stash

I took a bunch of patterns I decided "I will never sew this" to quilt guild yesterday. And I decided "I will never finish this quilt," so it becomes this week's "De-Stash" offering.

Sixteen of the LeMoyne Star blocks are finished, and most of the 100 HSTs. The printed setting triangles are included, but you'll need to add some more 30s repros for the center medallion. Knowing me, the background is Kona Snow.

If you haven't seen the 52 Quilts De-Stash before, here's how it works. If you'd like to add this quilt to your own stash, just:

1. Comment on this post with your PayPal email address and your zip code.
2. The first commenter who completes Step 1 wins the kit! (Sorry, payment must be by PayPal and if you don't include both your PayPal address and zip code, I'll have to go to the next commenter).
3. I will send you a PayPal invoice for the postage (it should be less than $10 this week).
4. When I receive your payment, I'll mail the kit to you!

In the meanwhile, have you started your "UFO List" for next year?

From the desk of your

Winter is Coming -- Knit Faster!

Although meteorologically, it's still Autumn, Zero degrees Fahrenheit sure feels like Winter to me!

Yesterday's low of zero, and high of nine degrees, means some colors in my Year in Temperature scarf I haven't used for, well, months!

I'm looking forward to unwinding the entire 10 feet of knitting to see how the colors flow through the year's knitting.

I'm frantically trying to finish this sweater to send to My Little Sailor for Christmas. Now that he's on a shore billet, I don't have to send everything priority mail. But will the box make it to Japan in time if I don't?

I think this Abuelita Worsted in "Mermaid Song" looks like the Navy's camouflage uniform. Some people call that uniform "blueberries." I hope MLS doesn't think this is too "bright!"

The Knitting Bee in Portland offered a free hat pattern with the purchase of Rowan Pure Wool Worsted. I picked the grey-brown for a Hats for Sailors hat, and the turquoise for me. Then I realized I had just bought several skeins of this yarn -- same color! -- at Ewe and Me here in Colorado Springs!

Pure Wool Worsted is an especially good yarn because it's washable -- needed for Hats for Sailors.

Here's the hat pattern -- isn't it a great one? I love how the cables cross at different places on different rows.

(Images from Knitting Bee)

Now I need to ask a favor. A friend is undergoing chemotherapy, and needs hats to withstand this cold Colorado weather. I found a terrific Chemo Cap pattern that calls for Cascade Fixation. I thought I had several skeins of that yarn, but must have given it away in a fit of "de-stashing."  Might one of you have some Fixation that you'd be willing to swap for another yarn? You know with my stash, you could pretty much name your price! If so, please send me a private message and maybe we can work something out.

Keep knitting and keep warm!


From the desk of your

WIP Wednesday: Block Parties

The end of the year is nearly upon us, and the completion of 2014 Block Parties at Ruth's Stitchery looms large.

I've completed two block party quilts (Sample This, both will be shown on TGIF Friday). I'm making progress on two more. First, "Five is Fabulous" from Marti Michell.

The two blocks with green checks are my setting blocks. I only have two more sampler blocks and four setting blocks to go!

My other "near finish" is "Quilty Fun" from Lori Holt. This row-by-row quilt is fun, but some of those blocks have a lot of pieces!

I still have two rows: the row of houses and the row of baskets. Plus 42 border blocks!

How are YOUR WIPs coming along?

From the desk of your

Sunday Stash: 2015 Jelly Roll Party Choices

I always have so many strip patterns, it's hard to choose which 12 to make for the next year! So I get help from the Jelly Roll partiers!

2015 Jelly Roll Party Patterns

Month                  Pattern                                      Designer                           Publisher

January                Strip to Shore                           Gudrun Earle                    GE Designs

February              Solar Eclipse                            Elisabeth Hartman            ohfransson.com

March                   Twirl                                       Joanna Figueroa                Fig Tree & Co.

April                     Drop Diamonds                      Daniela Stout                     Cozy Quilts

May                      Zig Zag Gets Me Everytime   Zen Chic

June                      TBD

July                       Strip Twist                              Gudrun Earle                    GE Designs

August                  County Fair                             Sherri McConnell             A Quilting Life

September            Birch Bark                               Sam Hunter                       Hunter’s Design Studio

October                Olympia                                   Daniela Stout                    Cozy Quilts

November            A Pretty Package                     Susan Marth                      www.SusnQuilts.com

December            No-Measure Bargello              Wendy Mathson               Cozy Quilts

If you aren't close to Colorado Springs, it would be fun to have you party along with us long-distance! If you can't find the pattern at your LQS, contact Ruth's Stitchery and one of the lovely ladies will be happy to do a mail-order  for you.

Patriotic fabrics are always in demand here in Colorado. So when Ruth's got these two jelly rolls in, I lapped them up in a hurry. Both are from Moda. First is "Red, White & Free" by Sandy Gervais:

And one I've designated for the July Jelly Roll Party (and a Quilts of Valor quilt), "Because of the Brave."

My special treat this week is the new "Downton Abbey" collection from Andover. Around the Block Quilts in Cheyenne, Wyoming hosted a Downton Retreat last Winter. When Barb announced she was ordering fat quarter collections of the entire line, I called her with my credit card number the very next day.

Don't those colors look yummy? I'll open the ribbon and play with the fabrics sometime soon -- and I promise to share more photos when I do.

Tomorrow is BOM (Block of the Month) day. As you can see from my checklist, I need to sew like the wind if I'm to have all my BOMs Away by the end of the year!

From the desk of your

Friday Finish: Jelly Roll Party Day

I really missed hosting Jelly Roll Party at Ruth's Stitchery last month. But spending the time with My Little Sailor made it worth missins!

Today's Jelly Roll quilt is Parallel Universe from Cozy Quilts.

My version is made with "Elementary" from Sweetwater. Two of my favorites -- pattern designer and fabric designers -- in one quilt!

This is a super-quick sew using the Strip Tube ruler, also from Cozy Quilts. Go to the link for a demo on using this clever tool. It makes sewing HSTs from strips a breeze!

Enough tease. Here is the finished quilt:

Today is the day partiers vote on the strip quilts they want to make next year. Do you have a favorite strip/jelly roll quilt? Share in the comments, please!

From the desk of your

Thursday's Yarn Day

It's the time of year when Hats for Sailors knitters finish up "just one more hat" to mail to the HFS coordinator. We don't yet know which ship will be the recipient of our stitches, but I know the Sailors aboard will love the hats!

We have two "deadlines" to send in hats, Memorial Day and Veteran's Day. My goal is always to knit one hat per month. My friend and long-arm quilter, Cornelia, also knit hats this year. A friend and member of the Front Range Modern Quilt Guild (and graduate student at Colorado School of Mines!) Emily, knit hats too.

Here is the stack I mailed yesterday:

I printed a little label on business card stock to attach to each hat. It reads:

Thank you  for your service to our country.

You are remembered and appreciated

by someone in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

 

I'm also hosting the Knit-Along (KAL) on the Ravelry group "Hats for Sailors." Go to Ravelry.com for details. 

The Dishcloth Diva, Deb Buckingham, designed a new hat pattern just for us. It's called "Fair Winds and Following Seas," I've already shared a photo, but here it is again:

I have some special skeins of yarn to give away to knitters who finish a hat this month and post a photo of their finished hat on the Ravelry group forum. 

Each is a unique, hand-dyed yarn -- but 100% washable wool, as required for Hats for Sailors!

I hope you'll consider joining us to knit a hat! 

From the desk of your

Sunday Stash -- On Monday

I didn't get yesterday's Stash Report posted, because . . . well, read on, and you'll see why!

During my whirlwind trip to Idaho last week, I made only one quilt shop stop. On my way to the airport, I dropped by my favorite Boise Shop, Quilt Expressions. It's the only shop I know that is even larger than Ruth's Stitchery. And they always have something unique!

In this case, it was a good selection of Aboriginal fabrics. I owe a quilt to the DH of my Idaho hostess, and I think these will make the perfect quilt for him!

The pattern is a Quilt Expressions original, "Neighborhood Association." 

Only one more addition to my fabric stash this week. This is "A Field Guide" by Moda. I scored this bundle on Gotcha Covered Quilting's Instagram de-stash.

It will be perfect for my next "low volume" quilt.

And now, the reason nothing is getting done at my house this week!

My beloved Siamese, Prince Chulalongkorn, died two years ago. We have two other cats, but neither one wants to cuddle me. So for my birthday, a friend offered this little cutie!

I usually give my cats "food names: (i.e. Marmalade, Chutney, Chocolate Mousse) so this little guy is named "Samosa." For my favorite savory pastry!

It's been a hard week, but one simply cannot be sad when one has a purring kitten on one's lap!

From the desk of your