Pastels

This weekend I didn't get much sewing done because we had a cookout with friends on Saturday. The weather was gloomy but we still had a good time together. Sunday I worked on my April block for my Modern Quilt Therapy group.

 I have been watching the irises come to life. I enjoy watching them bloom. Those pastel purple irises smell just like grape Kool-aid. Do you remember drinking Kool-Aid as a child? Notice the darker iris. It was given to me by a friend.

 It was a surprise when it bloomed because I did not know what it would look like. I think it is so pretty!

This afternoon I was going through some of my UFOs. I have picked out my three for May which I will show later. Don't forget to link up here if you finished at least one of your goals this month.

With Passion,
Carrie P.

April 2013

Another month flew by quickly. I don't feel like I did much this month but after thinking about it I have been very busy. One Friday this month Mr. P. and I took a trip to the beach. I was sick with a cold for about a week. I spent two days deep cleaning (baseboards, blinds, etc.) my house. And I have been out in the garden every day either watering or planting.

 Plus I have been trying to meet my sewing goals for this month. I finished up the last block of The Raspberry Rabbits BOM. I have the top all together. Now I just need to figure out which fabric to use for the border. This will be one of my UFOs to work on in May.

 I did finish my little quilt. I have the last pillow top almost done for my daughter-in-law. I can't show you all of it until May 7 which is my day for the "It's for the Birds" blog hop. I finally finished my daughter's graduation quilt. Whoo!Hoo!

 I put together the frames for the Kathy Schmitz BOM I get in the mail.

 I did some crocheting.

The garden is coming along with little seedlings growing. I had some Bibb lettuce growing all winter in the garden. I had some row covers over it and it survived. I also had some spinach growing too. Here is my first harvest for a yummy salad!

 I have been watching my little seedlings growing. I am waiting for warmer weather. We are supposed to get cooler weather and rain this weekend. These are tomatoes, tomatillos, and peppers. They don't like cold weather so I am waiting a little longer to put them in the garden.

So I met all my sewing goals which is pretty awesome. This weekend I will be looking through more UFOs to see what I will work on in May.
Now it is your turn to share if you met any of your sewing goals. If you linked up at the beginning of April it is now time to link up with your finishes. You will have until April 30 to link up. I will announce the winner of the giveaway on May 1.

With Passion,
Carrie P.

9 years late!

but it is done! This is an autograph quilt I made for my daughter for her high school graduation. I have been hand quilting it off and on for the last nine years.  Whoo! Hoo! it is finished!!!!

With Passion,
Carrie P.

Crochet!

Look what I have been up to in between working on UFOs. I made this scarf from one of the balls of yarn I won a couple weeks ago from Hot Lava Crochet. The ball of yarn had 202 yards. I used just about all of it to make this scarf. It worked out perfect. The yarn is Vanna's Glamour.

 It has a bit of silver metallic thread in it. You can find this pattern on Fiber Flux. It is a free pattern.

 I participated in a crochet along on Fiber Flux also. She had some great tips for a beginner like me. Here is the finished cowl that she taught. Thanks to my lovely daughter for modeling both so I could take pictures.

Check out Fiber Flux if you crochet. She has some great freebies and tutorials.

With Passion,
Carrie P.

Handwork

I thought I would do some handwork while I watch quilting and sewing shows on PBS television this afternoon.

With Passion,
Carrie P.

First April Finish

Here it is already the 17th and I only have one finish so far. A lot of my time has been spent in the yard/garden lately. Yesterday I planted some lavender and blueberry bushes.

 My first finish for April is this block I won from a Quiltmaker magazine giveaway. This was a block in the 100 Blocks magazine. I think another issue is coming out soon. This block was made by Me and My Sister Designs. I added some embroidery to the flower and did some big stitch quilting.

With Passion,
Carrie P.

Slow Sunday Stitching

Today has been a Slow Sunday. Mr. P. has been working on replacing a storm door along with some rotten wood in the door frame. He has spent the weekend working on this project. While he has been working on the door I have been working on some quilting. Today I am working on the binding of my little quilt.

 Today I also finished three more blocks from The Raspberry Rabbits. Only one more to work on.

 I am linking up these blocks to three blogs. Kathy's, Lyn's and Melissa's.





With Passion,
Carrie P.

Finishes

One more Raspberry Rabbits block done!

 I also got the May Flower BOM frame made and the pattern traced.

 This kit came with bee bodies to add to the quilt when I get ready to start the embroidery part.

 As I was coming down from my sewing room I looked out the window. I was on the second story floor. If you look close you can see Mr. Bluebird (you are looking at his back)sitting on top of our bat house. We put the bat house up last year. We had bats making their home in the peak where the roof vent is on each end of the two story building. We had to put of wire mesh up once the bats left when cold weather arrived so they could not get up under the vent. Before we got the problem taken care of we counted 28 bats that came out of the vent. Luckily they did not get in the attic. So far no bats have made their home in the bat house. We were told it could take three years. 

Mr. Bluebird has a nice perch so he can call out for a Mrs. Bluebird. Enjoy your weekend. Spring has sprung here in North Carolina.

With Passion,
Carrie P.

I am linking up my finishes to Richard and Tanya Quilts.

Therapy

I am in therapy! Quilting therapy that is. One of our local quilt shops has started a group called Modern Quilt Therapy that meets once a month. There is a BOM available which is this 18" star block designed by Karen Gray. The original pattern is done in solids so I thought I would try my hand at making my first solid fabric quilt. My fabrics are done in similar colors as the original quilt. Yes, I am bad because I started something new but I just couldn't help myself. 

Applique is great therapy too. The bee met a couple weeks ago. Here is what a few of the ladies are working on. Susan has finished her summertime runner done in wool.

  Brenda is working on some wool blocks.

Aren't these wool colors just gorgeous?!

 Carolyn is working on the perfect block for spring time.

 I think I will do some applique today. I could use some therapy!

With Passion,
Carrie P.

WIPs

Thank you all for your well wishes. I am feeling much better even though I am still a little congested. I have finally felt like working on some of my UFOs again. Here you can see I am doing some big stitch quilting on a block.

 Some secret applique.

 I made the frame for the Kathy Schmitz BOM that I get in the mail from Shabby Fabrics. I just realized looking at this photo that sides of the frame are not right. I need to flip them around so the dark sides are inside. They are not sewn on the background piece yet so I don't have to un-sew!

As you can see from this photo a green batik was sent with the kit. I just did not feel like this fabric spoke Easter/spring to me so I used some dark purple from my stash. I like it much better. I just got the May BOM in the mail yesterday so I will work on getting it done this month too.

 For those of you who are regular readers of my blog you know that I have taken up crochet. So I have been searching out crochet blogs. I found this crochet blog tour and one of the blogs, Hot Lava Crochet! was having a giveaway of yarn. Yes, I won it. Now what to make with it? Thanks Tammy. Oh, and talk about a small world, Tammy lives about 35 minutes from me. We were going to try to meet  so I could get the yarn from her but we just couldn't get things to work out.

With Passion,
Carrie P.

It was bound to happen

My daughter brought it home, then Mr. P had it, and now it is my turn. Not the flu but a really bad cold. Mr. P. actually had fever for 4 days and stayed home from work. He never gets sick either.  I haven't been sick with a cold in years and I am feeling it. So I am going to stay wrapped up in a quilt with a box of Kleenex next to me and do some hand work. Today will be a good day to watch some videos on TheQuiltShow.com too.

 I finally found an afghan pattern to crochet. I really wanted to make the granny hexagons but I couldn't get them to come out the same size. I guess that will come with more practice. Is it a ripple or a chevron? I guess it depends when you were born because in the 70's it was a ripple afghan. I tried several patterns but I just couldn't grasp some of the directions until I found this simple single crochet pattern here. I am making a lap size. I am finally starting the repeat. My daughter says it is very retro looking. Not the best picture because of the cloudy rainy weather today. We have even had some sleet.  See my new green hook. It is made by Clover. It is so much more comfortable to use than the plain metal ones. I plan to get more sizes too.

I would really like to take a nap but I am afraid if I do I won't sleep tonight so for now I think I will watch some quilt shows.

With Passion,
Carrie P.

April Giveaway!

Pick three UFOs to work on this month, finish at least one and you will be eligible for this month's giveaway.

Since it is spring I thought I would share two fat quarters and an embroidery/quilt pattern. If you look close at the fat quarter on the right it has flower names.

Guess what the winner will also receive? A $20 shopping trip at the The Raspberry Rabbits. When you have a minute go by Michelle's web store and see what you might like to buy if you are winner.
Good luck to you all and keep up the good work. Now go sew! I am!

With Passion,
Carrie P.

ps Don't forget to link up to yesterday's post to show us your 3 UFOs.

April Goals and Winners of Giveaway!

 Time to share my UFOs for April. The first UFO is a block I won when Volume 2 of Quiltmaker's 100 blocks magazine was published. This block was actually made by Me and My Sister Designs. This block has been waiting for me to figure out what to do with it. Now I know. I am going to make a mini spring quilt to hang on my wire hanger. I have some ideas for it but you will have to wait to see it finished. I am linking this one up to Sew Bitter Sweet Designs.

 My second UFO is the last pillow cover for my DIL. I can't show you the design but it involves wool, embroidery, and applique. The reason I can't show the design just yet is because it is part of the "It's for the Birds" blog hop in May.

 Number 3 UFO is to get all these blocks appliqued.

 Number 4 UFO is to make the frame for this BOM and the one I will get in the mail sometime soon.

And last but not least try to get the last side of my daughter's quilt hand quilted. I better hurry before it starts getting to hot to have that quilt in my lap. :0)

So now for the winners of last month's Nothing But UFOs giveaway.
Teresa of Mama T Keeps You In Stitches is the winner of the giveaway for those in states.

Astrid of Grandma's Red Needle is the winner of the giveaway KaHolly made for someone in a foreign country. Thanks again KaHolly.  Astrid lives in a place called Mauritius. I have never heard of the place but it looks like a fascinating island.

Congratulations Ladies! Keep up the good work!

Now it is time to link up your April UFOs! List three and finish at least one to win a giveaway which I will show tomorrow. 

With Passion,
Carrie P.