My crocheted fabric selvage round rug!

This is the round rug that I made entirely of fabric selvage strips.  It was crocheted over several years.  A little at a time I would add to my large ball of selvage strips that I had saved from various quilts.  When I felt I had a sufficient amount to make several rounds I would crochet until I had used it all up.  Then I would begin a new ball of strips.  I decided it was large enough when It measured 65" across, which is perfect for my porch.  I only use it during the "nice" weather and then bring it in, wash it, and put it away till the next spring.  Most of the selvages were cut from quilt backs so that I could get 70" or more without any joins.  It makes a charming addition to the porch and lies right in front of my white rocking chair.

Check out so darn crafty and freemotion by the river for more projects!

Shawl and Socks

I got this shawl off the needles last week, but I decided that I will make at least one round of crochet across the top edge to strengthen it.  If I was a little more experienced, I would have done something different along that edge from the beginning.  Since this is my first attempt at a knit shawl I learned a few things.  A friend gave me this pattern.  I later saw her shawl that she had made with her homespun yarn and it was beautiful.  Some day I hope to remake this pattern with a different edge and with a yarn that I have spun and dyed myself!  Check out what others are working on at Judy's Patchwork Times. 



My socks are almost off the needle.  I just need to do the kitchener stitch to finish the toe.  I love making these socks.  They work up quickly on a size 3 or 4 needle.

Flock Block

Most of my posts are about quilts or knit/crochet projects.  I occasionally post something about my chickens.  This is about my chickens.  Those who are not interested in chicken related stuff will probably want to quit reading at this point.  

So a couple of days ago I gave them some yogurt.  They loved it and I thought all that white on their beaks made them look like little clowns.  I told the hubster about it when I came back inside and he said "It's nice that they can give you so much entertainment".  They really are amusing.  I think he thinks I am amusing.

The temperatures dropped to 10 degrees last night.  It never really got above the freezing mark here today.  I am always looking for something to take to the girls besides their scratch and layers feed.  Now that the winter is here it's not as easy.  Tonight I found this recipe.  Tomorrow I will make it for the girls.  It is supposed to keep them busy because they totally love pecking at something.  Maybe it will keep the boss-hen from being quite so cranky with the others.  We will see.

blocks of the month covering my design wall

My design wall is covered with these large triangular blocks.  The block of the month is being sponsored by The Gathering Place of Rupert Idaho.  We have done 18 and still have 6 more to go.  The fabrics are provided in a kit each month and are all by Kaffe Fassett.  The patterns come from a book by Jaybird Quilts called Toes in the Sand.  I love the ruler they designed that works so well with these patterns.  It's been fun doing these blocks because of the fabrics that I never would have chosen plus I'm not that much into triangular blocks!  I guess it's pushing me a little outside of my comfort zone.

There are a few other BOM's on the far side of the wall, but I have been more focused on trying to keep up with the triangles.  If you want to find out what others are working on be sure to stop by What a Hoot Quilts BOM's Away or Pretty Bobbins to check it out.

This is also on the wall.  The squares are 1" finished except for the yellow centers in the flowers which are 1/2" finished.  It is a 12 1/2" unfinished block.  Check out what others are working on at Judy's  Patchwork Times.

Crown Royal Quilt



My brother has a friend that likes Crown Royal!!!



So he sent me a LOT of these bags for me to make a quilt for him.

My first task was to remove the stitches on the top of the bags to open them up and remove the draw string and then I cut as close as possible to the edge of the golden thread serged edges of the front and back of the bag.  This left me with an equal amount of front, back, and side strip fabric to work with.

I put a blue strip of painters tape on my ruler so that I could position the writing in the same spot on each rectangle I cut.  This was much faster than measuring it out every time.  So far I am only working with the medium size bags since that is what I have the most of.  I cut my rectangles 8" X 4.5" and occasionally I had to remove the stitching off the bottom corner edges to reduce the bulk.  I was able to cut most of the strips at 2.25".  I tried to cut so that I got the largest piece that I could.

In this picture you can see some of the bottom corners look a tiny bit rounded.  That is where I removed a little bit of serged edge.

My strip sets were pieced with the 3 center strips cut at 2.25" wide.  The top and the bottom gold strips were cut 2".  My seams were sewn at just a little over a quarter inch.  It was around 3/8ths to make the strip sets come out 8".  I then cut the strip sets at 8" X 4.5" to match the solid rectangles.  I will probably use the back pieces (with no writing on them) to piece a border, but I haven't gotten that far yet.  I still have the black bags that I can use somewhere.  This has been kind of a figure-it-out-as-you-go kind of project.  My brother never looks at my blog, so I am safe to post all of this and it will still be a surprise to him.  

Hopefully I will have this top finished next week so that I won't be overwhelmed during the quickly approaching holidays!!!  I have linked this post to Freemotion by the River for linky Tuesday.  Check out what others are working on! 

Whats on the needles?

I'm almost finished with my version of Multnomah by Kate Flagg.  It is a shawl designed with a feather and fan pattern.  It is my 2nd attempt at a lace pattern, and I found it not too difficult as long as I have plenty of stitch markers!   I only have one more repeat and I will be done, so I will probably do another post with the completed shawl next week.  My friend Anita brought me this beautiful yarn from Debbie McComber's A Good Yarn shop in Washington.  It is a superwash sport yarn made by Cascade yarns.  The color is 0563-112 teals.  The next pictures will probably look a lot better.  I just realized I took a picture of the back.  OOPS!

I finally got my February Lady Sweater blocked and found some buttons I like. 
Check out Judy's blog to see what others are working on.