WiP Wednesday: Thursday Edition

All day yesterday I was looking forward to today's WIP Wednesday because I had it in my mind (until about 5 minutes ago) that today is Wednesday, not Thursday. Whoops!

Anyway, so here's what I've been working on the past couple weeks.

Wonky log cabin for the Bliss circle of do. Good Stitches. 1 down, 1 to go.

Quilt in progress

Trilobite from Socks from the Toe Up by Wendy D. Johnson

Yesterday I cast this sock on. It's my first toe up sock & my second attempt at the magic loop. I gave up on my first attempt, with a cuff down sock. I hated it! Working from the toe up the magic loop actually makes sense now. I'm loving this pattern so far, but I really need to finish Jake's socks before I get too distracted by this pair. I don't have a more recent photo, but his first sock is nearly finished.

My Tula Pink quilt! Well, the top at least.

Specs:

The Fabric: Flutterby charm pack, various solids, Hushabye butterflies for border. Will be backed with Tula Pink Feathers flannel from Nest & bound with more Flutterby.

The Pattern: A simple 4-patch square in a square of my own design.

The Quilting: I will be attempting this on my home machine. Wish me luck!!

Comments: I wish that I'd had more of the dark brown because I love how the bright colors of Flutterby pops against it. It was a fun, quick quilt top to throw together and I'm sure there will be more like it in my future.

My first real attempt at applique. Sailboats for the Bliss circle of do. Good Stitches.

Sitting outside reflecting on life & enjoying the view.

WiP Wednesday

I haven't been sewing much lately, mostly knitting, but I did finish Jake's quilt this week! Go here if you'd like to see it.

I cast on his socks a couple nights ago and made quite a bit of progress on it today.

Jake's Winter Wheat sock #1.

It's now about twice this length, this picture was taken earlier this afternoon.

T for Tuckey

This monogram will be joining our new print. I also found an old window frame in a small dump (from previous owners) near the arena. I washed it off and am trying to decide exactly what to do with it, but I'm sure it'll become part of the collage as well. Maybe some wonky stars or something. We'll see. :)

Bountiful Baskets

Another WiP for me is eating healthier. I love fruits & veggies, but we don't eat them near as often as we should. Jake would disagree, but it's true.

Bountiful Baskets recently arrived in Lusk and the above is our first basket. We've eaten much of it already and have found some delicious new recipes in the process. Saturday is the next pick up & I'm very excited to see what we get this time.

Some new yarn I picked up in Casper over the weekend. They too will become socks!

Linking up to

Thanks for visiting!

Be sure to come back on Friday for For the Love of...Vintage.

WIP Wednesday...on Thursday

So I wrote this yesterday and then forgot to post it. So here's my WIP Wednesday post...on Thursday.

The ranch my husband, Jake, works for is primarily a cattle/hay operation, but they also outfit for hunters throughout the year. They guide for deer, antelope, buffalo, elk, pheasants, coyote, & picket pens (prairie dogs).

So I decided that Jake needed a camo shirt to look "legit" for the hunters. I found a camo t-shirt fabric on sale at Joann's. I can't remember what pattern I used, it's a baseball tee style pajama top. The problem with finding shirts for Jake is that he's tall & super skinny. He has a long body & long arms so I added approx. 6"(!) to the lengths when I cut. I didn't hem the bottom because I was tired of fighting from the sleeve hems, but he tucks his shirts in anyway so it doesn't really matter. He also had Popeye arms so I had to let out the seam in the forearms about 1/4". For all the alterations I had to make it doesn't look too bad, if I do say so myself. :)

Showing off his bobcat.

Now he's just showing off, but isn't that a beautiful buck he's pointing at? That's mine. :)

Instead of putting a tag in the back I embroidered my brand right below the back collar. At first I tried to add it directly to the fabric with no additions, but it kept bunching so I cut a small piece of mid-weight fusible interfacing. I ironed that to the inside of the shirt & then it was a piece of cake to embroider.

I've thought & thought on my 3x6 & 4x5 bees forever and finally decided on a block. The problem is it's almost to "simple" of a pattern. Good thing I tried it in my colors first. I'm going to stick with this block, but make 4 smaller ones to add more movement.

Pouch from I Love Patchwork by the very talented Rashida Coleman-Hale. This is the lining. I just have to attach the lining then you can see what it really looks like. ;)

My first large-ish crochet project, a new scarf for winter.

WIP Wednesday

After living in the mountains for the past few years, and having a very short summer on the Montana prairie last year, I am no longer used to hot weather. July & August were miserably hot and humid (for Wyoming), and since the A/C in the house doesn't work well I was basically a puddle on the floor for most of the summer. Working in a sewing room with a hot iron was out of the question.

With the beginning of September it has cooled down considerably and the leaves are starting to turn yellow. Soon it will be hunting season, The Sewing Summit, our wedding anniversary, jeans & sweater weather...I LOVE autumn!

I know it will warm up again before winter, but I sure am enjoying the cooler nights & tolerable days. I was able to get quite a lot done on Saturday.

Here's what I've been working on:

I completed more work on the Heart & Home quilt that I'm making for our friend as a wedding gift. I'm using Sweetwater's Hometown. Such a great collection!

30 Misfit tree blocks. They still need to be trimmed down, but they will be heading to Kentucky this week where Amanda will be dispersing the trees to all the other Misfits.

Halloween quilt, I'm still working on the layout of the blocks.

Little Apples HSTs. I started with the 2.5" mini charms. Still trying to figure a layout for these as well. I was trying to organize them by color, but my plan is not working so far. I may go for a more random layout as far as color goes.

I also finished bee blocks for 2 bees & got my fabric out because September is my month for String Me Along.

Be sure to visit Lee @ Freshly Pieced and see what everyone else has been working on.

WIP Wednesday

Today, most of my WIP Wednesday post is over at my LQS' (Local Quilt Shop) new blog. The blog itself is a work in progress. And the sample quilt for the brick & mortar portion of the shop is a WIP, as well.

I will share one other (non-sewing) WIP I have:

My first radish harvest! This is only about 1/3 of the crop, the others are still growing.

I didn't plant much this year because my garden last year was pretty unsuccessful, but I did plant radishes, carrots (think the seeds were duds), onions, and zucchini. I was told not to plant until after Memorial Day weekend because there is always one last spring snow (May 19th, this year). I finally planted in the middle of June, but my crops seem to be doing pretty well & hopefully those zucchini will start flowering soon. :)

Please be sure to stop by Freshly Pieced to see the other WIP's for the week, as well.

WIP Wednesday

My Little Apples giveaway ends tomorrow. If you haven't entered yet be sure to do so here.

I realized this week that I have a LOT more WIPs than I realized. Here's my current ones....there are many more hanging around my sewing room that have been put on hold.

Terrain dish towel lining.

Redwork for a SwapBot swap. I wish I could say that I drew this freehand, but I traced it from an awesome wildlife coloring book I found when we were living in Montana.

First templates for the Farmer's Wife QAL. I've finally joined in on the fun! I'm going to stitch it by hand, and I'm still deciding how to piece them. I'm debating between marking & stitching along the quarter inch seam, or paper piece them (like hexies). Any suggestions?

More progress on my Arcadia quilt/tutorial.

I have a table top ironing board and I found this hiding underneath it. It's the fabric for the June block for the String Me Along bee. Oops! I know what I'm working on tomorrow. :}

This week I cut up these fun little bundles for this pattern. I loved the bright colors so much and told my boss so. She asked if I'd like to make a sample to display at the store. I jumped at the chance. Then today she showed me how to prep a quilt back for the longarm. Not super exciting, but it's one step in the direction of learning how to use that monstrous machine. :)

Be sure to visit Lee @ Freshly Pieced to see all the other WIPs for the week.

WIP Wednesday

Here's my current WIPs. Thanks for stopping by for a visit. Enjoy! :)

Misfits' Doll Quilt.

My machine started giving me fits during quilting so I gave my machine a break from the fancy stitch I was using and put together this quick jelly roll quilt...

Jelly Roll Race Quilt

I plan to make this into a table cloth. It still needs to be ironed flat, then I will back it with flannel (no batting).

ABSS Teardrop Bag

This month I am providing the prize for the random winner for all completed bags. You still have 2 days to get your post linked up. So finish up your bag & head on over to My Crafty Crap to share.

I won these lovely pincushions & 2 solid Moda jelly rolls on Talkin' Tuesday from the wonderful Aubrey a couple weeks. Aren't they the cutest? :)

And this gorgeous pouch showed up in the mail from Lizze of Wandering Stars. Now I need to get her sketchbook sent out.

My LQS/work, Lickety Stitch Quilts, has gotten some new, fun pre-cuts in from Moda last week.

I thought it would be fun to give away a charm pack of the new Little Apples by Aneela Hoey. And to sweeten the giveaway I'll throw in the scraps from my Sherbet Pips ABSS Teardrop Bag. Just leave a comment telling me your plans for the rest of the summer, sewing or otherwise.

If you'd like a second chance become a follower and leave another comment.

*Whoops! I forgot to mention this giveaway will be open until next Thursday, July 14th.*

Also, be sure to visit Freshly Pieced to see everyone else's WIPs for the week.

WIP Wednesday

I haven't been around much lately, I know. I'm sorry. Sadly, I just haven't been in much of a blogging mood lately. I've been trying to spend less time online & more time sewing and catching up on things around the house. But I've got some fun plans for my blog later this summer (giveaways?) so thanks for sticking around!

My WIPs this week:

I felt I needed a new skirt for summer so I pulled out this pattern and got to work.

With all the gathers I would not call this a one hour pattern, but it only took me a few hours from cutting to wearing it. :)

I used a light corduroy that I found at WalMart over the winter. I would love to use a light cotton, but those of you who've been to Wyoming know the wind always blows here and a heavier fabric is a necessity for a skirt here.

Here is the start of a project/tutorial that I am working on. I'm using charm packs of Arcadia fabric & I would describe the pattern as a variation between a nine patch & a rail fence pattern. I should have it near completion next week. I hope you like it.

What would you think of doing a quick sew along? Would you play along?

If you haven't done so already be sure to stop by Freshly Pieced to see everyone's WIPs.

Thanks for stopping by!

WIP Wednesday

The other day, while my mother-in-law was in town, we decided to explore more of the country, so we headed over to Fort Laramie for a day of history. Ft. Laramie is only about an hour from here and is located on the beautiful Laramie River. It was used as both a fort & a stopping place along the Oregon trail in the mid-1800s. Many of the building are in ruins, but there are several that have been restored over the years.

On our drive out there I decided to start working on my Misfit DQS. This is my first time doing hexies and can I just say I LOVE them. So relaxing & mindless, and in no time you've got a nice little stack going. :)

This was the hospital. The cemetery is a ways off to my right, but there were a couple graves around the back of the hospital. (See the crosses in the foreground?)

Inside the barracks everything was set up as if the men were still living there.

The married officers quarters were set up beautifully.

Beautiful dresses & hand sewn quilts.

The Old Bedlam. The oldest standing building in Wyoming, was built in 1849.

The last stop on our way back to the truck was the old bar. The fun thing about it is that they serve Sioux City sarsaparilla & other "Old West" pops. They had one called Birch Beer. Well, I had to try it. Like root beer, that was once made from roots, birch beer was once made from the bark of birch trees. It had an anise (black licorice)-type flavor & was stronger than the sarsaparilla. It was delicious!

The wallpaper behind the bar was beautiful. The "barkeep" told us that the original barkeep's wife was from New York & although she loved the prairie she wanted the men to have a little "culture." So she ordered some William Morris wallpaper from New York, she put it behind the bar because she figured that was one of the walls that the men probably stared at the most.

Well, I just adored the wallpaper so when I came home I looked up this English textile designer. Immediately I recognized some of his work & realized where I had heard his name before!

On Monday, Sally & I went to my LQS to look around and she was nice enough to buy me a charm pack of my new favorite collection, A Morris Tapestry. :)

I wanted to keep the charms whole to show off the tapestry & yesterday I spent some time arranging them into 4 9-patch blocks. I'm still not happy with the arrangement, but hopefully I'll get it so I can start sewing it together today.

If you have any suggestions on which charms to move for better distribution of color & pattern I'd love to hear them.

Today WIP is over at Don't Call Me Betsy. If you haven't already been there, head on over and say hi.

Yeah, that says "6 sore heads." I love Wyoming! :)