Something New

I have looked and looked for a dust cover for my little Singer Featherweight machine.  I have a case for it, but it does have a funky, musty odor, which does attach itself to the machine.  I generally leave the machine on the table when I am using it for a day or so.  But that little machine is a dust magnet!  I wanted something with a design on it.  Most of the patterns I have seen are just for the cover itself.  Plus...I wanted to use some of the pretty new wool felt I had purchased recently. 

Yesterday morning I woke up and was like a woman possessed! After a bit of drawing...some cutting, blanket stitching and embroidery, this is what I made:

Wool and such

Two choices I selected for the wool flowers in my Stitched by Me project by Lynette Anderson.  I think Rusty likes the one on the bottom...and I think I like the one on the top.  I guess I will have to cut two sets of flower petals to see which one is the best.  :))

A pretty new background for St. Patrick's Day, since there is a wee bit of Irish in me from my father's side of the family. :))

Oh, No!!

Oh, no...oh, no....it is another one.  Yup...another freebie Block of the Month.  It is called "Home Sweet Home" from Paula Stoddard of Pacific Patchwork.It can be found on her blog. Quilt Happy (scroll down a bit past the picture of the cute Boston Terrier).  I found this quite by accident.  It is supposed to be a "stitchery" type block each month.  However, in my infinite wisdom...I decided to deviate from the normal path on this one.  I decided to do all the letters and their pieces in wool applique.  (Notice a trend starting here??)  I am also going to go completely out of my "safe" zone of colors.  I had purchased a jellyroll of the new "Sunkissed" fabric and have chosen a few of these fabrics to use for this pattern.  Each letter square is only 4 1/2 inches big....so...my applique pieces are vewy, vewy (ala Elmer Fudd) tiny.  The upside to the size is that it is relatively quick to stitch up...check out my first letter:

I was really surpirsed the background fabric design showed up so well in the photograph.  The Sunkissed fabrics will be used for the borders.

Bunnies and Chicks

Well, I am up to Block #5 on the Rabbits Prefer Chocolate quilt for Bears Paw Fabrics.  Here's the first half....which looks a lot like the second half...

This is the beginning of Block #6...just a flower and some leaves.  There will be a cute little bunny pulling another bunny in a cart.  Just as a matter of note, Anne Sutton had said that she based the blocks on early chocolate molds. Nowadays, it seems all we have are  chocolate bunnies and not very many inricate molds for Easter.

Backgrounds

Funny, isn't it?  You will spend quite a bit of time picking and choosing all the various components necessary for the backround in each of your quilt blocks.  The majorty of the time, after the main portion of the block is complete, you no longer "see" the background in itself.  Since I did spend some time yesterday choosing and assembling a few background blocks, I thought they deserved a little recognition of their own.  The one with the reds and blues was not actually chosen by me, but by Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs for the second block of Night Before Christmas.  The other two are the backgrounds for the two-part Block #5 of Rabbits Prefer Chocolate, again by Bunny Hill, with fabrics selected fromt the ones supplied in the kit from Bears Paw Fabrics.

Backgrounds

Two Versions

That's right...two versions of Block 2 for Henrietta Whiskers (again).  The first is my own "red" version:

Meet little Miss Sophie, the blackbird.  I have to add her "eye" for which I was going to use a bead.  Just have to locate the one I would like to use.  Miss Sophie has a little bit of "bling."  Her heart bead necklace is courtesy of Anne Marieke.  She had sent me these beautiful beads a while back, and I knew I wanted to save them for something special.  Little Miss Sophie, it is!

Now for the "blue" verison, which I am making for Bears Paw Fabrics:

I cannot decide which one I like better. :))

Everybody snowed in?

Lots and lots of snow across the country...we have a bit here in Maryland, too, but not quite as much as a lot of other places.  But being snowed in does have one advantage for me...even if it is a "forced" confinement by myself.  I do get a lot more done on my (ahem) numerous projects. 

And, as if I don't have enough to keep me occupied, I insanely volunteered to complete the Rabbits Prefer Chocolate quilt by Bunny Hill Designs for Bears Paw Fabrics.   Yep, go ahead...say it...I know you must be thinking it....that girl is crazy!  LOL! ;)  But once I commit to something, I forge ahead.  A little bit of "forging" has been done in that regard...the first three blocks of Rabbits Prefer Chocolates, with fabics supplied by Bears Paw Fabrics.

All the little critters still need "eyes".  I have buttons to attach, which will be done once I get Block 4 done.

Now, some of you may not know this, but I have already made this quilt once.  Way back...when I first started quilting again ('bout 2 years ago).  I had never done any applique before that quilt.  I can defintely see from that quilt to this one how much my methods and abilities concerning applique have improved.