Design Wall Monday--May 20, 2013

There are a couple of star quilts that I want to make so I've been practicing the cutting and piecing of 45 degree diamonds.  I have sewn together the diamond pairs, but haven't figured out what background fabric to use yet.  Once that decision is made I can cut the setting triangles and corner squares.  This will give me good practice at sewing "Y" seams.

I used my "Fussy Cutter Ruler set by Jan Krentz to cut the 2-1/2" diamonds.    I got the ruler set a while back and have been itching to use it.  I'm enrolled in Jan's class at Craftsy.com called "Diamond Quilt Designs".  She's a great teacher and I've learned a lot.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit Patchwork Times for links to more Design Wall blog posts.
     Happy Quilting,
                  ~Diane

Design Wall Monday - May 13, 2013

This week I'm working on piecing "Boy It's Spring" baby quilt.  All the smaller blocks are made so now it's a matter of assembling the rows and columns.

Now that I'm up at the lake, I don't have a nice design wall like the one at home.  The blocks for this quilt have been laid out on a portable flannel design wall by Fons & Porter on top of the guest bed.  I have my eye on a wall in the guest room that I might be able to use after I rearrange some furniture.

Thanks for stopping by.  I'm linked up with Patchwork Times Design Wall Monday.

UPDATE:
I just finished hanging up my new design wall.  Here's a better photo of the quilt blocks.  A couple of the blocks need to be switched around.

On The Needles–May 10, 2013

The knitted wash cloth pattern I chose for this month is called the Bee Stitch Cloth.  This is the first time I’ve knitted a pattern using the “k1 in the stitch below”.  Things are going well so far.  I'm liking the density of the cloth.  However I did discover that, while watching an exciting movie, I got off one row.  This pattern has a right and wrong side so I will try to incorporate this new “pattern” again when I get close to the end so that it looks intentional.
 
I’m using size 7 needles with Sugar ‘n Cream Faded Denim (variegated) 100% cotton yarn.

I'm linked up with Patchwork Times.  Be sure to visit Judy's blog for links to other On The Needles blog posts.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Knitting!
    ~Diane

Got It Done–April, 2013

This was the the list I made at the end of March. 

Grannie’s Scraps Quilt

I got side-tracked with other projects (Quilts of Valor) so this will have to be pushed off for a few months.

Craftsy BOM

Not started…..Not done…..Don't like the block....etc.  I may do this block some time in the future when I feel more inspired.

April Scrap Quilt

This was a UFO (unfinished project) that I wanted to see completed. 
I had most of the piecing done for the top.  I added a flannel sheet for the backing.  No fancy free motion quilting was done, just simple stitch-in-the-ditch to keep the layers together.  I didn’t even bind it.  I plan to use this as a cloth for the picnic table.

April Baby Quilt

I named this design Patches & Plates.  This baby quilt measures 37-1/2” square. 
For the quilting I did a simple serpentine stitch with the walking foot diagonally both directions.  The backing fabric is flannel.

April Washcloth

This month I knitted the Ball Band pattern. 
I blogged about it here.

QOV Quilt Tops

I help put together a couple of quilt tops for our local QOV group.  The individual blocks surrounding the center panel were already made so I attached them and then added the borders. 
For more information, I blogged about it here.

Getting It Done – May 2013

Here’s my list of quilting/knitting projects that I want to accomplish within the next month:


I’m linked up with the Getting It Done Challenge at Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday - April 29, 2013

Some progress has been made on the QOV quilt top.  I still need to make the red star blocks and cut some more solid red squares for the corners.  After I assemble the interior of the quilt I'll make a final decision about the border design.  My original idea was to have 6-inch solid blue borders with blue star blocks in the corners.  At this point I think the white needs to be balanced with more red and blues.

Please visit Patchwork Times for more Design Wall blog links.

Happy Quilting,
        ~Diane

Design Wall Monday - April 15, 2013

Even though I'm supposed to be planing and packing, I started a new quilt top.  I was so encouraged with all the nice things our local QOV group is doing that I wanted to make at least a top or two to donate.  There was fabric left over from the ones I worked on last month so I put together a design in EQ and have started cutting the pieces.  The plan was to cut all the major pieces, making a kit.  I wasn't going to actually start piecing this until I get up to the lake for the summer, but I wanted to make sure I had the correct sizes for a couple of the blocks.

This center block will measure 18" finished.  I will also be making smaller 6-inch star blocks and some Half Square Triangle blocks.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit Patchwork Times for links to more Design Wall posts.

 ~Diane

Off The Needles - April 12, 2013

This month's washcloth is done!

This was an easy pattern to make.  There are twelve rows that are repeated several times.  For more information about the pattern and materials I used, check out this link.

Soon after I finished weaving in the bits of yarn ends and taking these pics to share with you I dunked this cloth in hot water.  I wanted to see how well it held up when being used.  It did not stretch out much at all like some do.  This should be a good one.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit Judy's blog, Patchwork Times, for more On The Needles blog posts.

Happy Knitting,
      ~Diane