pumpkins - a couple of quilts - and more pumpkins

Since my last post I've been rather busy on the sewing front.

I am overloaded on the Halloween quilty stuff but I do love the holiday and it takes very little to push me into making something new.  This year I found a knitting pattern for a snowman mug hugger.

I was showing it to a few quilty buddies and one of them suggested I make a pumpkin version. It was such a small challenge so I went for it. 

I've now made a couple and they are on their way to their new homes.  I am making a couple of the snowmen for the Christmas holidays and I think I will maybe put a Dunkin gift card into an empty cup.

I am a member of   Heart Builders Quilts.  These are quilts made by  teams which are sponsored by Cotton Cuts.  On my team I am one of the top/flimsy makers.  I receive a package of fabric a couple of times a year and get to make a 45 x 60 quilt of my choosing using that fabric and any from my stash that I may want to use.

Once it's done off it goes to my team leader who is also the quilter for our group.

Next on the list of accomplishments for this month would be this adorable baby quilt by Lorna of Sew Fresh Quilts . The pattern comes in this small size and a larger size that one has 6 giraffes of different heights

I got this far last weekend (a week ago)  before getting off track.  I really have focus issues.

I needed a card to send with a gift and the cover of this book was flapping at me so I dropped everything and made this card.

Then I needed to send something to my sister in Jersey and thought about how cold it was getting up there.  So I designed a card just for her.

Then I was following the Peek A Who? blog hop and on  Elizabeth Coughlin Designs  posting she offered this wonderful pattern and I fell in love and had to start it immediately.

I did get the stitching done but I really don't know what I want to do with it, too many ideas so it may have to wait til next year for a permanent  purpose, the actual stitching is 6 inches square.

In the mean time I am really happy with them watching me from my design wall.

And then I got my act back together and finished the baby quilt this weekend.

I love the first picture of them on my lawn under a tree giving it great shadows.

And I'm including this one for the clarity of colors.

And of course one needs a photo of the cool backing that matched the colors on the front so perfectly.

There was a bit more sewing done but those shots will show up on November 8, my day to post on the Pick A Pumpkin blog hop  coordinated by Carla at Creatin in the Sticks.

Hope to see you then.

Small Kennel Quilts - Receiving Blankets - Dish Cloths

Hurricane Florence has done a number on small pets.  Requests having been coming in steadily since the storm for Small Kennel Quilts for all of the animals ending up displaced and in shelters.  I try and do 6 per request.

I find if I do them assembly line fashion I can knock them out at a little under 30 minutes each.  I am now in the habit of cutting left over batting into usable pieces for these quilts.  I also have several quilting friends who donate fabric and batting to me for this project.

These are the most recent finishes

The requests come through Quilt Pattern Magazine and Petfinder Follow the link for details and patterns and how you can join the team.

A few weeks ago a quilting friend mentioned a super simple receiving blanket video she saw on YouTube by   Missouri Star Quilt Co.     

Last week my neighbor mentioned that she had a brandy new, very early, great grand child and that in a couple of weeks she would be going north to a shower for him.  The perfect opportunity to give the self binding receiving blanket a try.

So cute and so simple

The first one took me about an hour and a half.

The second took 61 minutes start to finish.

You need to do a stitch all the way around where the binding is attached to the front to keep the layers from shifting.  On the first one I used a very slow to sew cute stitch  which added about 10 minutes to the project.  On the second one I just used a wiggle stitch.  # 4 on my Bernina.

The finished blanket measures in at about 34 inches square.

At my last quilt meeting one of the ladies was seeking a home for this spool of cotton yarn

One of the ladies at her table told her that I could probably crochet or knit something with it. Apparently I have a reputation.

She handed it to me and apologized that it was boring but that I could probably add some color to it.

The pattern was for a small and large wash cloth.  I started with the large and found it too big.  Posted them on IG and had a friend call and tell me that she really, really liked them.  Will probably use them for packing material for her Christmas gift.

I knew if I held onto all those scraps of color from a previous project  they would come in useful. Not sure who will find this set in their Christmas package. 

Not really sure what I'm up to next.  I do have several projects that should be finished and a hop or 2 on the horizon that I should give some serious thought to.  hmmmmmmmmmmmm

Until next time, stay happy.