Happy Holidays & 31 Knit Scarves

I want to wish you all a wonderful holiday season filled with lots of love. I hope you all have a joyous New Year too!

I knit 31 scarves (and 1 hat) between last year and the beginning of this year and donated them the local library who puts up a Christmas tree each year in the lobby and decorates the tree with the knit and crocheted items. These items can be hand made or store bought. The library collects these knit and crocheted accessories which they then donate to a local clothing closet which distributes to the needy. Here are the scarves I knit. Some that I knit were exact duplicates, so I only photographed one of them, because I was running out of branch space, lol!!! Hard to get a good photo of all of them together, so I grouped them.

I used up a lot of novelty yarn like eyelash yarn to knit these. I didn't want to use wool, since if they got improperly washed they would shrink and felt and might not even fit a doll then! Plus wool can be itchy and expensive to use and all these yarns were soft to wear.

I knit all almost all in garter stitch and long rectangles, except for one cowl and a few triangle shaped scarves. One I crocheted too.

Next year I hope to knit and donate hats of all sizes. Not sure how many hats I will complete in a year, so we'll see...

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Lip Balm Holders

I made three Lip Balm Holders. These are fast and easy to make if you don't add hand applique and hand embroidery stitches like I did, LOL!!! Sewing on a sewing machine would really make these fast to sew. I followed Rochelle's free tutorial (her blog is eSheep Designs), but I used wool felt instead of ribbon or faux leather as she suggests using. These are great to clip on your handbag for easy access. Her tutorial is here.

My Lip Balm versions:

This is the back side of the lip balm holders. I figured since they swivel it may as well be pretty on the back too.

Here is the front side of the holders. You can see the folded place where the lip balm fits into.

I clipped this lip balm holder to my Carriers Conquest handbag. You can see my lip balm in the pocket holder.

The back of the holder.

If you have a ring on your handbag, these clip on easily.

Thanks Rochelle for the tutorial!
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Daryl's Drive: An Easy Street Bag Pattern

Gosh it's been a while since I posted. I am about 99% better now. I have had sciatica for 18 weeks now, and 4 weeks ago I was 95% better I decided to follow a yoga dvd for doing back stretches, then wham I must have aggravated something, because the sciatica pain came back, but not as bad as the first time thank goodness. So I hope to post a bit more regularly from now on.

Okay on with Daryl's Drive I feel so honored and special to have this bag named after ME! It's a thrill!!! But it's also a beautiful style bag too!

Christine, of Chris W Designs, designed this bag as one of her Easy Street pattern collection of bags that are designed to be easier and faster to sew, but still have some great design elements too. Like I love the hidden phone pocket on this bag, and the shape of the bag too.

Since this bag was named after me, I wanted a fabric that would say "me", so I used a fabric that was designed by Kathy Hall called Celebracion by Andover Fabrics. It is designed from the Museum of New Mexico's Museum of International Folk Art (located in Santa Fe). The fabric is bright, colorful, it's a large floral print and all of that says "me"!!! Lol!!!

I hope you like the Daryl's Drive as much as I do. And hop over to see all the testers versions too. Plus you can receive 20% off the price of the Daryl's Drive pattern right now when you sign up for Christine's Newsletter. 

There are a couple of ways to add the straps. One is like this with rivets (although I cheated and used hot fix silver dots to look like faux rivets, lol!!!) or with a hardware I didn't have, but you can see some of the testers and Christine's strap hardware here.

The side of the bag can be pushed in like this or pushed out for a puffier look. On the back side of the purse behind the upper band is a hidden cell phone pocket, which makes it so easy to grab your phone. Don't have a phone (like me), then put your keys in this pocket instead like I do. You can see the pocket in some of the testers versions.

Inside there are slip pockets and a zippered pocket.

This is the fabric I used.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!
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Carriers Conquest: November Bag of the Month Club

First I want to thank you all for your heart felt comments about my Mom's passing. I appreciate it. An update on my sciatica pain: it's been eleven weeks now, and I am still not back 100% yet, but I would say I'm 90-95% better. Thank you all for your kind comments.

Now on to the November Bag of the Month Club Bag. The Carriers Conquest was designed by Christine of Chris W Designs and you can get this pattern, along with the purchase of the Bag of the Month Club, (which includes all 6 of the bag of the month patterns, from July-December 2016) otherwise, you will have to wait until May 2017 to purchase the individual pattern. Go here to see all the Carriers Conquest Bags made by the testers and click on the link when you get there for more info about the bag club. My bag isn't on her blog post I guess because I was a bit too late in getting my photos on the Facebook testers page? Oh well, at least you can see it here.
***Update: Christine posted a special posting on her blog showcasing my Carriers Conquest! 

Here is my version of this bag. As you can see this bag is loaded with pockets and space!

The beautiful sunflower print fabric was a birthday gift from a good friend last November. 

I added beads instead of cord stops to the sides of the bag.

 I used Ultra Suede and buttons instead of rivets on the sides. I also used small key rings instead of D-rings.

My handmade zipper pull.

Looking down from the top there are 2 zippered pockets, a flap and a phone pocket above the flap, which is also handy for car keys if you don't have a phone.

Inside between the zippered pockets and under the flap is a pocket for a wallet and slip pockets, which I added a couple of pen pockets, and space for my sunglasses, readeing glasses and more.

One zippered pocket has a divided slip pocket inside too.

The other zipper pull I made for the other zippered pocket.

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With a Heavy Heart I Write This...

Hello friends,
In August my husband and I drove to Washington state, while my daughter and grandson flew there. It was a family reunion that gathered for my mom's 90th birthday, which we celebrate early in August, rather than September when her real birthday occurred. My sister and her family live close to mom and my brother flew there from CA. Mom looked great and was her usual self. We all thought she would easily make 95, if not 100 years.

On her real birthday in September, which happens to be the same day as my brother's birthday. Yes mom's very first child was born on her birthday. Mom took the train to CA to celebrate her and my brother's birthday. She complained of not feeling well and having some pain. When she got back to WA, my sister took her to see the doctor, who gave her meds for what the doctor assumed was wrong. Still the pain was there. So off to the ER she went, waiting for hours! Finally they put her in intensive care. She had several issues going on it seems. These things inside of her could have been happening for weeks, months or even years before they started to bother her. Well long story short, mom refused any meds to keep her alive. She wanted to go without pain, so they gave her a morphine drip. It took a little over a day and she was gone! I can't believe how this all happened so fast. Mom was the picture of health 2 months ago and then on October 16, 2016 (the day after my daughter's birthday, mom's first grandchild and only granddaughter), she was gone. I was in shock over all of this.

I couldn't travel for the service, since I have had awful sciatica pain for 9 weeks now!!! The sciatica came on after we got back from the trip to WA due to sitting in a car for thousands of miles. While my pain is lessening and I am starting to feel better, the pain of losing my mother so soon and so quickly was heartbreaking. My daughter needed closure over this and went to the service which was yesterday. She will fly back today. This is the first loss my daughter has had in her young life.

Once I am over this sciatica pain, I will try and blog again. It has been hard to deal with this and the loss of my mother. So love your family and friends while they are still here and tell them how much you love and appreciate them while they here too, because life is so short. One day they are here and then the next they are gone.

Hugs to you all!!!

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The Road Home Row Along: The Colorful Sky of New Mexico

Marian Pena of  Seams to be Sew asked me if I would like to participate in her row along for this year called, The Road Home. After reading about it, I decided I would like to join in and challenge myself to create a row block. The idea behind the designs was to create a quilt row of something that you would see on your way home. Living here in New Mexico, hot air balloons are a very common site to see in the blue sky above almost daily.  Then of course annually starting the first weekend in October is the International Balloon Fiesta where hundreds of people around the globe come here to fly their balloons during the festival. The sky above Albuquerque is filled with balloons of various sizes, colors and shapes during the 9-day Balloon Fiesta. It's always fun to see what special shapes will be flying each year. So my Road Home row is all about hot air balloons flying over the Sandia Mountain range and the Rio Grande.

Thank you Marian and Amy (of Sew Incredibly Crazy) for all the work in getting this Row Along to happen.

My row pattern was going to be on Craftsy.com, but Craftsy is making all kinds of changes and my pattern store has disappeared on Craftsy! The Craftsy link on my blog to my pattern store is gone too! So since I cannot add my pdf to Craftsy now, please leave a comment if you would like me to email you my pdf row pattern. If you are a no-reply, then I won't have your email and you will not receive the pdf. So if you aren't sure if you are a no-reply, then leave your email in the comment too. If you don't hear from me, then you probably are a no-reply. So please email me if you do not hear from me. *See Update below.

I hope you enjoy making The Colorful Sky of New Mexico row quilt. And please be sure and hop along to all the other blogs that are participating in this row along to download their row patterns too. Combine the rows that you want to into a quilt. Plus there are giveaway prizes too.  Happy row quilting!

*UPDATE: I finally was able to add my pattern on Craftsy. I am charging a small fee for the pattern on Craftsy, so if you would like the free pattern, please email me, or leave a comment and I will email you the pattern for Free. (Leave your email in the comment if you are unsure if you are a no-reply). The pattern will be free here only on my blog through October 15. Once it turns to October 16, then I will not be emailing any more free patterns, but you can purchase the pattern on Craftsy. The time will be on Mountain Time, where I live.

**Update 8/20/19: Craftsy deleted most of my pdf's, so I have this pdf and others on Makerist now. Go here for the "Colorful Sky of New Mexico" pdf.

Two giveaways to enter here are Calibre Art Mat and Anita Goodesign Embroidery.
GIVEAWAY CLOSED.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Road Home Designers:

September 6

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Allie-Oops Sweet Happy Life 
Harrisville, MI Sunrise Coast
Cynthia’s Creating Ark
Adelaide South Australia
Kissed Quilts
Grand Coulee, Washington
Renee's Quilting Addiction
Alberta, Canada

September 8

Sew Incredibly Crazy
Colorado
3 Patch Crafts
Bulgaria

Just Let Me Quilt
Las Vegas, Nevada
Quilt in Piece
Amanzimtoti, South Africa

September 13

Tweety Loves Quilting
Edinburgh, UK
Quiltscapes
Heber City/ SLC
Seams To Be Sew
Idaho Falls, Idaho
Pine Valley
New Zealand

September 15

bdieges designs
Road to Tehachapi (CA)
Elizabeth Coughlin Designs
Worcester County in Central Massachusetts
Patti’s Patchwork
Toronto, Ontario Canada
Seacoast Quilter
New Milford, Connecticut

September 20

Beaquilter
Denmark
Heleen Pinkster
Netherlands
Rebecca Mae Designs
Northern Maine
MooseStash Quilting
Alaska

September 22

Words & Stitches
Beaches of California
Quilt Art
Africa
I Can Quilt 2
Baltimore, MD
Any Pattern
Port Angeles, Washington
Patchwork Breeze
West Michigan Shoreline

September 27

Creatin’ in the Sticks
Dodge City, Kansas
Sue Griffiths Featured At Just Let Me Quilt
Northern Rivers Region, NSW, Australia
Seams To Be Sew For Batts In The Attic
Hollywood/LA

September 29

Quilted Fabric Art
Burlington Vermont
Westend Quilter
Manitoulin Island, Canada
Pamela Quilts
Oregon
Quilt Fabrication
Silicon Valley, CA

October 04

Linda Robertus
Netherlands
Elm Street Quilts
North Carolina
Sarah Quinn Featured At Seams To Be Sew 
Outer Space
Patchouli Moon Studio
Central New Mexico

October 06

Cheryl LaPlant Featured At Quilt In Piece
York, Maine
Miss Loreen’s Schoolhouse
New Hampshire
Bumbleberry Stitches
Oklahoma
Needle in a Hayes Stack
Mojave Desert

Cloth and Paper Studio
North Georgia Mountains

October 11

Show 'N Tell Day 

Seams To Be Sew
Quilt in Piece
                                       Just Let Me Quilt (Carol made my row. Check it out)
Cloth and Paper Studio
                             Moosestash Quilting (Joan made my row too)
WestEnd Quilter

I personally wasn't able to hop along and see the other blogs participating, due to having a very difficult time dealing with sciatica pain for more than 6 weeks! Then to top it off my pelvis got out of alignment (an inch off!) and needless to say, the pain has been too much to bear. It's taken me weeks to get this blog posting written, as I cannot sit or stand for more than a few minutes at a time. So my apologies to the other Road Home participants for not commenting on their blogs.

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The Road Home Row Along Has Started

I wanted to tell you that the Road Home Row Along started on September 6th. There will be a few blogs posting their rows twice a week. There are giveaways too, so be sure to visit the blogs and leave a comment to be entered. The row designs from each participating blog are offered for FREE for the duration if the Row Along, so be sure to download the free pattern while you can because some may charge for their row patterns after the blog hop ends.

The entire schedule for The Road Home can be found here.  My day will be on Oct. 4th.

On another note, I haven't been able to blog because for the past 3 weeks I have had sciatica and the pain has been very intense. Lots of sleepless nights too. I am finally feeling better (even though the pain is still there). I have been sleeping through the night thanks to the meds that I am taking that are helping. This sciatica can take 3-6 weeks to run it's course. It's been 3 weeks now and I am hoping that I will be pain free within the next 3 weeks. I haven't been able to sew or do much of anything. It's so hard for me not to be able to be creative and productive. I have so many thing to finish and start making too.
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Dream Catcher Quilt

My quilt guild had a doily challenge because one of the members had a couple of bags of hand crocheted doilies that were given to her. So the challenge was born. We could add a doily to a quilt in any way we wanted to. The suggested size was 18"x 18" or 18" x 20".

I had used cotton doilies in the past under a teacup block, but I wanted to do something different with this crocheted doily. I decided to paint the doily because plain white was just too boring for my taste. At first I thought of just making a Dream Catcher by sewing it onto a wooden or metal hoop, but I didn't have the right size hoop. Next I thought I could tie 4 small branches together and then sew it in the center of the branches and add strips of fabric and ribbon on the bottom branch. But when I tried doing that, it just didn't look right. And while neither of those ideas were quilts, I figured it would meet the challenge of using a doily at least.

But the Dream Catcher idea was still rolling around in my brain, when I thought why not do a Dream Catcher Quilt? Black fabric was the obvious background color so that the painted doily would pop. Since most Dream Catchers have ribbons and/or feathers dangling from the bottom, I thought I would quilt my feathers with variegated thread colors. I like how the quilted feathers looked, but you couldn't see them very well. So next I brought out the Shiva Paint Stiks™ and painted the feathers with metallic paint. That is just what it needed. I hand embroidered the "strings" and added a lot of pretty hot fix crystals for bling. I also added some beaded trim to the bottom of the quilt. Finally I used my Kumihimo disk to braid the hanging rope and thought a branch looked more organic for the Dream Catcher, rather than a wooden dowel. I really love how this came out too. I didn't follow the suggested size of the quilt for the challenge, but this is my quilt, and I wanted something that would please me.

Painted the doily and added hot fix crystals.

Quilted the feathers and then painted them.

Beaded trim at base of quilt.

I used a variety of paint colors as well as variegated threads for quilting the feathers.

The stick with the braided hanging rope (which I made with my Kumihimo disk).

I dotted more hot fix crystals around the feathers too.

There was only about 7 people who showed their doily challenge quilts on Thursday at our quilt guild meeting. I forgot to bring my camera to take photos of them and I guess the person who does our guild blog didn't take any photos either. Oh well, at least you can see mine here.
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