Tangerine Peels- step1

 There is a tangerine challenge on Flickr in honor of this year's Pantone color of the year, Tangerine Tango.  I've been wanting to try the orange peel pattern and this seemed like the perfect opportunity!

I cut out and starched one peel from each of my "tangerine" fabrics.  The solid is Kona Tangerine.

(I used Erin Russek's method for preparing shapes.)

 According to the challenge rules, we can use a background color, tangerine and other oranges and one other color.  I'm thinking about using this buttery yellow background and some lime green for leaves.

I haven't decided yet if I'll hand- or machine-applique.  And I'm not sure about some of those prints.  We'll see how it looks after I cut more shapes.

Do you Pin?  I just joined Pinterest last week and I'm totally addicted!  It's a fabulous way to save links that you want to revisit.  Since it displays a photo on your board, it is so easy to find what you are looking for.  You can visit my boards by clicking on the Pinterest logo here and in my sidebar.

Here are some of m favorite quilty pins this week:

Modern New York Beauty block

Red & White Star quilt

Fun with Stripes

WIP Wednesday

 It's so nice to be back for WIP Wednesday!  It's taking me soooo long to get back into a quilting and blogging routine.  You know my primary source of motivation is a looming deadline.  With none on the horizon, I'll need to set some goals for myself.  Wish me luck!

SWAPS:

The 4X5 bee blocks are turning into a nice little collection!  Hive 13 was awesome!  I decided to sit out the next round, but am making myself available if someone drops out.  Click the mosaic to go to flickr and see who made which blocks.

These are the blocks I sent out for this round.  I'm calling it a circle of geese variation.  Three-quarters of the block is paper pieced from the pattern by Piece by Number.  The small block in the corner is 1/2 the size of the original.

 I pulled these fabrics from a Kate Spain charm pack and some yardage.  They worked perfectly with Amber's happy colors.

I made a bonus string x for myself yesterday.  I will be making lots and lots of these when Bonnie Hunter visits our guild in April!  Wee!

I am also participating in the Mini Scrap Basket Swap.  These are the blocks I received in the mail this week.  It is amazing to me that such a variety of fabric looks so great together!  We are doing one more round of these string blocks.  I'm trying to decide how many I want to make/receive.

 

Stats:

I can't bring myself to count up my UFOs today.  I will need to find some time to update my project pages.

As always, head over to freshly pieced to see what everyone else is working on.

 

Random Tuesday

I started sewing again!  I made this string X block today to fill in a hole in my 4x5 swap blocks.  

Sadly, one of our bee mates needed to drop out for health reasons.  Happily, she is feeling much better now.

You can find the original tutorial here at Quiltville.  There is a modern variation here.  For my blocks to finish at 12", I used a 3" pieced strip, plus 1" strips of white, then 5" squares cut on the diagonal for the corner triangles.  That Meadowsweet print still makes me so happy!

Karen Griska recently asked for help reproducing this quilt.  I pieced together my contribution on Sunday before the big football games.  At 6" x 55", it could be backed with a cuddly fleece to make a scarf!  I just happened to have a box of 1.25" strips leftover from my lapel pin-making.  It is the perfect width for their little borders.  There is something to be said for keeping your scraps organized.

We finally got a measurable snow fall!  Quilting rulers are so handy for measuring snow!

My mother-in-law sends us an amaryllis bulb every year.  This is a lovely coral color that was difficult to capture in the photo.  This one will be a double-bloomer!

 

 I just realized that I completely missed my 3rd Blogiversary.  (That is a ridiculous word and I apologize for using it!)  I blame my friend Karen for the oversight.  She started her blog a few days before me.  When she mentions her anniversary, I know mine is soon to follow.  Well, she missed hers, too!  We will need to remedy this soon with a giveaway!

Granny Goodness

 I had the privilege of working on this afghan for a friend today.  It was made by her Great Aunt many years ago.  We're not sure how long ago.  I'm wondering if the variegated yarn could help date it.

Anyway, my friend loves using it, but it is falling apart in a few (OK, more than a few) places.  It seemed like all the loose stitches were in the same round.  Odd, I thought.  What is it about those knots that made them come loose but not the other rounds?  Hmm...

I've known how to crochet since I was a kid, so I figured I'd be able to repair this.  And I did! 

Some blocks were trickier than others.  The tail of darker blue yarn below wasn't long enough to make all 3 double crochets there on the top.  It's not perfect, but I think it will stay together for a while.

 The 2nd round of yellow below required a bit of stitching with needle and thread to secure the ends.

This was the worst square.  To fix this one, I had to undo so many stitches, that the pink center fell right out!  I may have panicked slightly.

Better, but not pretty.  At least there is no more gaping hole.

I didn't get a great picture of the border.  Can you see how cool that is?  The granny squares were set on point, so the outside edge is all pointy and fun.

I'm so glad my friend's family is snuggling under this blanket again tonight!

Handmade Christmas 2011

 I had planned to take a little blogging break for the holidays, but how have 3 weeks passed so quickly?  Lemme sum up...

My mother made this Christmas Lily wall hanging for my sister in the early 90s.

A sneaky mouse got into her plastic storage tote and stole some comfy bits.

I did a little applique repair, front and back with a bit of fresh batting and a few stitches of quilting to hold it all together.  Mom and Sis were pleased.

For Julia, a knitting needle roll from this tutorial.

She loves it!  How could she not love anything made with this Kate Spain print?

 Pete has been asking for a carrier for his cajon for a whole year.  He even picked out the fabric.  It's just a big tote bag with a flap to cover the top.  It's nothing fancy, but it works!

Another happy kid with his custom cajon carrier!

Julia made pasta for Christmas dinner.  YUM!

We spent Christmas Eve at my niece's lovely home.  Lily and Anna wanted Julia to play dress up with them and kept bringing dresses to her to try on.  So cute!

I made little tote bags for the girls and stuffed them with snacks, crayons and little activity books.  Anna didn't care much about the books, but was pretty happy with the juice boxes!

There was one more handmade gift, a cute little zipper pouch for my mother's hearing aid supplies, but I never took a photo of it.  It is super cute and a major improvement over the plastic baggie she was using.

In other news...

Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles sponsored a float in the Rose Parade, celebrating Girl Scouts' Centennial in 2012.  We had an opportunity to purchase flowers for the float, so I bought a dozen, one for each girl in my troop.  Their names were tied to flower stems and placed on the float.  I cried when it came into view on TV.  Such a sap!

It's so easy to not  post to the blog when you get out of the habit.  I'm back now and ready for 2012!