Sock Monkey

Once upon a time and long ago, I purchased a sock monkey kit at a quilt show. Sometime in the 90’s.

Seems like I have lots of stuff from the 90’s and then I dropped off the face of the earth in terms of a crafty life. Generally speaking.

Anyway…

I want this UFO kit out of my sewing studio.

In spite of how popular sock toys are, or were, and especially sock monkeys, I have never made any.

I should have made these in the 90’s! My hands were young then.

Who knew how much they would hurt making these now? Ha!

I’m not sure why I was attracted to these.

I don’t think that they are all that cute.

Maybe a bright red ribbon to dress them up would help?

Yup. I still have a Valentine wall hanging up.

St. Patrick’s Day is a good day to change that out, right? Sigh.

I am always behind.

What do you think of sock monkeys? Have you made any? Have you purchased any? Do you collect them or give them for gifts?

Keep creating! It nourishes your soul!

Jessica’s Patriotic Quilt Final Update

I have procrastinated so much, simply because I just could not come to a decision on how to quilt this quilt!

To recap: I first posted about this quilt in December 2021. Way back, when my little girl really was a little girl, she wanted to make a patriotic quilt. Together, we designed and chose the fabrics, and then she cut and pieced. And then it sat for a very long time. A lot of life happened.

My not so little girl finished the applique in early 2021 (Or was it 2020?) and sent the quilt to me. I was supposed to quilt it.

We haven’t been in any hurry up to this point, so why hurry now?

Thus…procrastination.

I finally got around to pin basting by December 2021.

My goal in February 2022 was to get the stitch-in-the-ditch quilting done.

By the end of March 2022, I had finished the SITD quilting.

More procrastination.

In January 2023, I made up my mind to get this thing done!

By January 16, I had a plan for some of the blocks and set to work making stencils and machine quilting the pieced blocks.

More life, and more procrastination (Are you getting a theme here?).

What to do with the appliqued blocks?

I am happy to say that I came up with a plan and I have my part finished!

I find it difficult to photograph black thread on black fabric.

But I think I took enough photos so that you get the general idea.

I had to work out some tension issues.

Disaster struck when I washed out my chalk marks.

My daughter and I are pretty sure that back in the day, we washed all of these fabrics before using them.

But, doggone, if a red and the black didn’t bleed profusely and turn most of the light areas a plum color!

I have managed to get most of that bleeding out. What’s left doesn’t really look all that bad.

My daughter has a tub that she can soak it in, so she can circulate Dawn soap and water around much better than I can with my washing machine. She will try to rinse the rest of the bleeding color out.

I think it is okay if she can’t.

The quilt needs to be bound, and Jessica will do that.

The quilt will live with her.

Quilt On!

Dust Off A Book Blog Hop

Today is my day for the Dust Off A Book Blog Hop.  I hope that you have been enjoying all of the other participants in this hop!

Bea asked the participants if we would show our oldest quilt book.

Mine is ‘The Romance of the Patchwork Quilt in America’ by Carrie A. Hall and Rose G. Kretsinger.

This book is packed full of quilt blocks, colonial quilts and quilts that have been in exhibits…a great historical reference!

You can still find this classic sold by various booksellers and vintage shops.

Having said that, I am not using the oldest quilt book in my collection for this blog hop.

I dusted off ‘American Country Scrap Quilts’ by Liz Porter and Marianne Fons (printed in 1995). I used to watch them faithfully on PBS many years ago.  Those two have done a lot for the world of quilters!

I did a quick search on Google, and you can still find this book.

I chose to make Aunt Sukey’s Choice.  When I saw that pattern, I knew right away that I was going to make it.  I happen to have a large stack of four-patches that were part of multiple swaps from the quilt guild that I was a member of. This was back in the day…like the 90’s days. Perfect!

I didn’t want to make a full-size quilt, so I made nine blocks for a small wall hanging, or table topper.  My version is about 37” square. (Unfortunately, only 9 of that big stack of four-patches got used!)

The primitive, country look isn’t as popular as it was then, but I am pleased to have used up scraps, and I like how this turned out.

Recognize any of these scraps?

Do you still have them in your stash?

I realized after I had begun this project, that I had made a red and white version of Aunt Sukey’s Choice a few years ago (2017).  It is quite different from this one! If you would like to see it, then click here. There is a free project download for Electric Quilt users here!

Thank you, Bea, for hosting this party!

March 9th

LC’s Cottage (me)

Cynthia’s Ark

Ms P Designs USA

Just Let Me Quilt

March 10th

Beaquilter

Karrin’s Crazy World

Quilting Patchwork Applique

Julie’s Quilts and Costumes

Have fun and quilt on!

For the links to the previous participants (beginning March 6), click here.

Dust Off A Book Blog Hop

I have followed the Dust Off A Book Blog Hop in the past, not as a participant, but as an interested observer.  I really enjoyed the hop and all the fun projects.

This year, I am participating! I thought this was my first blog hop, but I found one that I did back in 2017, so this is my second blog hop. The previous blog hop was Coastal Mist, and there is a link to a free download for that project for Electric Quilt users.

My day is March 9^th, but in the meantime, here is the lineup. Check them all out and get inspired to dust off a quilt book and make something!

March 6th

Quilting at the Farm

Lemon Tree Snippets

Creatin in the sticks

Natalie (on Beaquilter)

March 7th

Quilting Gail

Thrift Shop Commando

High Road Quilter

Moosestashquilting

The Morning Latte

March 8th

Kathleen McMusing

Words & Stitches

Isabella’s Whimsy

DesertSky Quilting

March 9th

LC’s Cottage (me!)

Cynthia’s Ark

Ms P Designs USA

Just Let Me Quilt

March 10th

Beaquilter

Karrin’s Crazy World

Quilting Patchwork Applique

Julie’s Quilts and Costumes

Have fun and carry on!

Potato Bags

I didn’t jump on the wagon when potato bags were so popular a few years ago. However, I did put them on my to-do list (Yeah…it takes me awhile to get around to everything on the ultra long to-do list).

Back in January (Am I really saying ‘back in’ already?), I cut out kits to make several bags. I wish I had vegetable themed fabric, but I went with what I have.

There are several free tutorials on the internet. There is also one on the back of the batting package.

Photo Courtesy of Amazon – Wrap N Zap

You definitely want to use 100% cotton for all of your materials. No metallic fabric! Play it safe…these bags will be used in a microwave!

These bags are quick and easy to make!

They are useful and are great to have on hand whenever you need a quick gift.

Mine are about 9″ square…plenty of space for a couple of potatoes (or corn, carrots, etc…).

I wish I had made these sooner; they are a fast way to cook potatoes!

Done!

What is your favorite way to cook potatoes?