Blocks of the month

I prepped three blocks yesterday, now all I have to do is stitch them down and add the embroidery accents.

The first one is my March block by Buttermilk Basin from Primitive Pieces:

 

The other two blocks are from the Little Baskets BOM from Quilters Paridise:

 

 

 



They will join blocks one and two:

 

I'm so happy that I paid close attention to using scissors and cutting on the line in kindergarden. The pieces in the Little Basket pattern are so small that good scissor skills is critical.

 

I also found time to work on my chicken mat:

 

 

Today we have a full day planned, we're headed down the mountain to run errands, shop at Wally World and have dinner with good friends.

 

Hope you have a good day.

 

Til next time, Ronda



 

My studio is clean!

The response to my "It's All About Me" lady was amazing. Thanks for all the wonderful comments. To my delight I was chosen by Madame Samm as one of the top three of the day, not too bad for my first bloghop.

Back to the real world. After last weeks snow I was worried about my daffodils but they must be strong because they survived just fine. I took this picture yesterday and they are loving the sunshine.

 

Last week we had snow, this week the temps are suppose to be in the 70's, keeps me guessing.

 

For the past two weeks I've been either down with my back or fighting a cold. Today I felt a little better and decided to tackle the mess in my studio:

 



How embarassing is that? First I had to get organized so I decided I needed cubbies for my wool.

Since Mountain Man was golfing I put it together myself. I gathered all my tools and parts----including the directions. Some people (MM) don't like to follow the directions.

 

It went together nicely

 



TA DA:

 

And here is my organized studio:

 

Wish the rest of my house was as clean as the studio, but I ran out of energy.

 

 

Til next time, Ronda

 

My Turn-It's All About Me! Me! Me!

Today it's my turn to show you what I created for the "It's All About Me" blog hop. This is the pattern that Amy Bradley created for us.

Before I go any further I would like to give my thanks to Mdm Samm for always creating such fun blog hops, Marlene for hosting and cheering us on this event, and Amy Bradley for providing the cute pattern.

I'm a native Californian, a Baby Boomer and lucky enough to be retired. At this time in my life it is All About Me (and my DH of course).

I am BLESSED and am grateful for every blessing in my life. My daily 'uniform" is jeans, a t shirt (or sweatshirt, sweater depending on the weather) and my sunglasses.

Thank you for stopping by, I hope you take some time to look around before you go on to visit:

Quilting Lines
Mountain Delights (you are here)
Janes fabrics
The Fuzzy Hat Quilter
Ramblings of an Empty Nester
NautiStitcher
Quilt Doodle Designs
Living Life
Freemotion By the River
The German Mom
Stitchin' By the Lake

Til next time, Ronda

Productive morning

After battling this cold for over a week I'm finally feeling better. I decided that this would be the perfect time to take apart all the recycled wool clothing I've purchased. I should have taken a before picture.

After 3 hours here is the fruit of my labor:

 

A plastic tote with two layers of wool and these stacks on the table.

I learned that suit coats are a pain to take apart and a lot of the wool is unusable because of the fusible interfacing. From now on unless it's a great color I won't be buying them. Skirts are great, easy to take apart and a lot of usuable wool.

I went to the Wool Poppies monthly meeting yesterday. Saw some more beautiful rugs:

 

 

 

 

These ladies do some amazing work. They have asked me to join their group but I'm not sure I will ever be able to meet their level of workmanship.

Here is the latest little mat I'm working on:

As I'm learning I'm keeping my projects small.

On my way home I saw several roadside strawberry stands:

Sure sign spring is arriving in California. (Sorry the picture is blurry, I took it through the car window.)

Tomorrow is my day to share on the "It's All About Me" blog. Hope you come by.

Til next time, Ronda

Snow and first projects from Wild with Wool

This week I've been off line because I've been battling a cold. It was a good week to be home because we had 6 inches of snow.

We only get snow here once or twice a year so I consider it a treat. My little patio was covered.

 

 

My golf cart turned into a snowmobile.

 



I did start Deanne Fitzpatrick's Wild with Wool class. The first assignment was to hook stars. One I had to use four different colors, that is the pastel one and I found it to be a challenge.

 

The second challenge was to hook a motif of 4 inches or more. I chose to do a flower:

 Other than the middle of the flower and light pink highlights the flower was hooked from this material:

 

Tomorrow is the Wool Poppies monthly meeting, I'm hoping I feel well enough to go.

 

Stay well everyone.

 

Til next time, Ronda

 

It's All About Me is here!

The It's All About Me Blog Hop is about to begin! Here is the schedule. Join me next Monday for my post. (If the links below do not work please click on the All About Me logo on the right it will take you to the schedule.)

 

Tuesday, February 19

Just Let Me Quilt
Sunshine Quilting
Karen at That Other Blog
Grammie Q
Gracie Oliver Arts
Marjorie's Busy Corner
SnippetsNScraps
Sowing Stitches
Pigtales and Quilts
Stitchin'ByThe Lake


Wednesday, February 20

Buzzing and Bumbling
Cherries Prairie Primitives
Kwilty Pleasures
Sew On And So Forth
Sew. Darn. Quilt.
A Stitch In Time
Doodling In My Mind
Moosestash Quilting
A Patchwork Life
Vickie at That Other Blog
Susie's World


Thursday, February 21

Kris Loves Fabric
The Quilting Alleycat
Cat Patches
Bumbleberry Stitches
Chickadees Country Cottage Crafts
In Stitches and Seams
Why-Knot-Kwilt
Quilting Unleashed
Rosemary at That Other Blog
Thimblemouse & Spouse
Sew Many Yarns


Friday, February 22

A Little Bit of Lorene
Life In The Scrapatch
Boston Bits
I Love Wool
Patchouli Moon Studio
As Sweet As Peaches
Just Quilt It
Grandmama's Stories
The Slow Quilter
Robin at That Other Blog
Scrapbook-ChickADoodle


Monday, February 25

Quilting Lines
Mountain Delights Here I am.
Jane's Fabrics and Quilts
The Fuzzy Hat Quilter
Ramblings of an Empty Nester
NautiStitcher
Quilt Doodle Designs
Living Life
Freemotion By The River
The German Mom
Spoilt Dog Quilts



Tuesday, February 26

Pat Sloan's Blog
To Love Handmade
Feathered Nest Studio
Selina Quilts
Gypsy Dreamer Quilts
Sheila's Quilt World
Meadowbrook
13 Woodhouse Road
Zellerwear
Stitches of Love
Janice at That Other Blog
In The Sewing Basket


Wednesday, February 27

The Passions of Cliodana
QuiltMamas
Marathon Quilter
Marla's Crafts
Fiber Babble
Simple Sew
Sewn Seabees
Charlotte at That Other Blog
Nini's Patchwork
Charlotte's Creations
Ipiece2-Mary
My Spoolish Art


Thursday, February 28

Cherry Blossoms
Hill Valley Quilter
Dachsies With Moxie
I Like To QuiltBlog
Quilt Smiles
More Stars In Comanche
Tea Time Creations
Shedding the Wolf
Life, Quilts, and a Cat Too
Judy at That Other Blog
Madame Samm

 

 

Dragonfly's off the frame!

Yesterday I took my Dragonfly rug off the frame:

Here is a close up:

Now I have to decide how to finish the edges. I want to frame it so I'm not sure which technique to use. If any of my rug hooking friends have advice I'd love to hear it.

If you remember I won the pattern for this rug from Saundra at Woodlandjunction:

On Friday I received the pattern in the mail. I was expecting a paper pattern, imagine my surprise and delight when I opened the package and found this:

 

Mother Hen drawn on primitive linen all ready to go on my frame. How nice was that? Thank you Saundra.

 

You can find Mother Hen, other patterns and finished pieces for sale at Saundra's website. Click the link I listed above to visit her.

 

Tomorrow I'm starting Deanne Fitzpatrick's "Wild With Wool" class so I don't want to start Mother Hen yet. I discovered Deanne on YouTube, if you are intersted in rug hooking check out her website, she does some cool stuff. (click on her underlined name and it will take you to her website).

 

So while I'm figuring ot how to finish Dragonfly and waiting for Deanne's class I decided to try punch needle. I had bought a small kit in December but hadn't had much time to work on it:

 



Here is the "needle" you use:

The thread goes up through the tube in the bottom and is threaded through the needle's eye. In this project I'm usining 3 strands of embroidery floss.

It is different from rug hooking in that you work from the back of the piece. So the pattern is printed on the back of the fabric. Sorry I didn't think to take a picture of the back of the fabric.

Here it is in the hoop:

Here is a close up:

Like rug hooking I find it relaxing. Threading the needle gets to be annoying but other than that it is enjoyable.

I know that you can use a bigger punch needle to do rugs but think I'd better try to master using the hook before I try that.

If you want to learn more about punch needle you can find several video tutorials on YouTube.

Today is suppose to be the last spring-like day for a while so I think I'll go out and enjoy the warm sunshine.

Til next time, Ronda

First flowers of spring

I had a nice surprise in the garden yesterday

The first daffodils were blooming, just in time for Valentines Day.

Mountain Man took me out to dinner at our local steak house. I love the dress code in the mountains, for going out to dinner it's your best jeans, and a nice top. For men, they add their best pair of boots. Can you tell I'm not into fashion? I would not do well in New York.

We had a nice dinner and splurged on dessert:

Since MM had a cold the restaurant split it for us and gave us separate plates. Having a Chef for a son I appreciated the presentation.

I'm almost finished with my dragonfly rug, just a little left to do here and there:

Maybe I'll finish this weekend.

It's suppose to be in the 70's here this weekend so I hope to spend some time outdoors to enjoy it.

Til next time, Ronda
 

Wool Club Day

Today was the monthly meeting of my wool club at Quilters Paradise. My friends are hard at work. Earlene is in the green, Marilyn is beside Earlene in black and Mary is in red.

Mary is working on a fall runner from a pattern from The Wooden Needle.

 

Marilyn is finishing up a runner she started at a class given by Lisa Bongean from Primitive Gatherings at The Road to California Quilt Show.

 



Earlene is working on a BOM project:

Barbara one of the owners of Quilters Paradise is working on a cute table topper from a pattern from Bunny Hill. This pattern also includes a pin cushion pattern.

I love it, cause I'm so ready for Spring. I love the wool Barbara chose for the rabbits. I think I might have made the flowers in several colors, but this one is cute.

 Barbara is putting together this pattern as a kit. If you're interested in ordering it you can find it on the Quilters Paradise website: http://www.quilters-paradise.com/. If you don't find it on line call the shop and ask for Barbara.  NOTE: I give you this information only to support my local quilt shop. I get no personal gain from posting this.

I worked on a swap I'm participating in so I can't post pictures until my swap partner receives it.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentines Day.

Hearts and Hugs to you. Ronda