…and a little bit of rambling!

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…and a little bit of rambling!

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Meet Kingsley.
He’s my Royal Knitting Yarn Ball Skein Wool Winder w/ clamp and has been in my life since about 1999. He is one of my favorite tools in my crafty arsenal.
One of the things I use Kingsley for regularly is to wind yarn that has been donated to The Linus Connection. We often receive donations of partial skeins that are tangled and twisted up, like this box here. The yarn is still usable, of course, but as a knitter or crocheter, a mess of tangled yarn is not very appealing when starting a new project.
Half an hour of quality time later, and I now have a nice tidy box of yarn ready to go to Linus volunteers on Saturday! Much more appealing!
These squatty skeins are perfect for my Yarn Ball Caddy!
Somewhere during the course of our relationship, poor Kingsley needed a little surgery. Once upon a time, there were two plastic tabs that held him steady while he’s clamped to the table. I suppose I must have wound a bit too vigorously, because one of the little buggers snapped off. Not to be deprived of one of my favorite toys, I used wire snips to remove the other tab. I found these two screw-in eyes in a set of photo hanging supplies. A tiny drilled hole, a few twists, and Kingsley was better than ever!
Happy crafting!

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I just finished hosting a little fabric swap among friends and this is the stack of goodies I received. Aren’t they yummy?! Thanks mkissa!!
Have a happy weekend!

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designs by Lilja Bjork, click image for pattern
It’s been quite some time since we had a Guest Designer Spotlight, and this one is quite overdue! I’m proud to introduce Lilja Bork to you. She has been a Sewhooked Guest Designer since mid-2010. She has an amazing eye for design and had created some stunning pieces!
Lilja Bjork, Slytherin Team Captain!
Name and where you’re from:
My name is Lilja Bjork, on the Internet I’m known as Liljabs. I’m from Reykjavik in Iceland. I also lived in Kuopio in Finland for 6 months in 2003.
I have a brand new website that I just started in January 2011. That is where I post all my patterns. I also have a flickr and my Livejournal.
I started paper piecing in 2007 I think, after I found Sewhooked through the leaky cauldron crafts pages. I never really thought quilting was something young people did. I thought it must be terribly boring, hihi I was so wrong It’s almost all I do these days.
The ones I’ve done so far are meant to be for a Disney quilt for my nephews bed and a multi-fandom quilt for myself. I also made a Christmas wall-hanging witch is the first project I finish that is all mine. I was so proud of myself when I finished that one 🙂
click to enlargeApril 12th 2010, I remember it was the day after my birthday
I just really wanted a Tardis for my multi-fandome quilt and I didn’t find one on the Internet. So I thought why not try to make one.
I’m not sure if it was the Tardis or the Doctor who logo but those where my first two designs. I think I even made them on the same day.
Do you have a favorite among your own designs?
Not any one, but the Disney blocks must be at the top. I spent so much time on each of them to get them perfect 🙂
I mostly use Quilt Assistant. Witch is free. And I also use Photoshop.
Rather than changing how I craft it is more that the community inspires me to try new things. Things that I never would have tried, or even things I have never heard of before.
See more of Lilja’s patterns on Sewhooked’s Guest Designer Page
Happy Quilting!

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With the finish of the TTMT UFO Deadline Challenge, my mind is filled with the projects that I am not only working on, but the ones that have been on the back burner.
Before we start, some definitions:
UFO = UnFinished Object – a project that has been set aside and allowed to collect dust. Chances are it’s existence has been forgotten until it’s pulled out of whatever dark hole it was stuffed into. While there, it probably multiplied like Tribbles, leaving many more UFOs than you remember putting there in the first place.
WIP = Work In Progress – Always in danger of becoming a UFO, a WIP is a project that is currently being worked on, and will hopefully become a…
FO = Finished Object – What all projects dream of being. The object of much blog activity and excitement and a good source of personal pride. The Ultimate Destination of a UFO and WIP.
This year, in addition to my list of UFOs, I’m including my WIPs and some DYI. This is by no means a complete list because I’m very much a Do It Right now kind of person. That is to say, when I get an idea, I often have to stop everything and do it now!
See my 2010 UFO list and the follow-up post.
Bear Paw Pass Around
STATUS – UFO
Started as a pass around project with my bee in 2008, I sadly have not touched these blocks for over a year. I did go through the box and make a plan…
I plan to use the gold fabric for sashing and was playing with the idea of using brown for the cornerstones. The more I look at the fabric, the more I think I want brick red cornerstones. The brown just sort of disappears against the gold.
Half-square triangle exchange blocks
STATUS – UFO-ish
These are the results of two half-square triangle exchanged I participated in last year. I have not yet decided what I’m going to do with them, which is what gives them their “ish” status. They’re just waiting for the right project to crop up!
InuYasha Quilt
STATUS – Still Collecting
I started collecting shirts for an InuYasha quilt for my daughter last year. The plan is to use the Shoji Screen pattern and place the t-shirt fronts where the large panels would be. Unfortunately, I only have one t-shirt so far, courtesy of ladyoflosttimes. If you have an InuYasha shirt you’d be willing to part with, please let me know and we can work out a trade. InuYasha is her fandom of choice and the least a good fandom mommy can do is make a fandom quilt for her daughter!
Harry Potter/Magical Swap blocks
STATUS – UFO
These quilt blocks are the results of several swaps. Sadly, I’ve had them several years now. I am one step closer to doing something with them now that I realize I need to break them into sets. The top set are all the 10″ blocks with images on them that say “Harry Potter” to me. The bottom set are more traditional blocks, blocks that are bigger (or smaller!) than 10″ or magical blocks that aren’t as HP-ish. I still love all the blocks, but I definitely need to make two, possibly three, quilts out of these!
Christmas Quilt
STATUS – UFO…leaning towards WIP
Started two years ago from a swap I participated in on All About Paper Piecing (a currently defunct ning network), this quilt is getting a piano key border out of Christmas fabric. I’ve already got it sorted out and plan to start cutting in the next month so it’ll be ready to go to quilt retreat in March.
New York Beauty Quilt
STATUS – UFO
I started this NYB for a class I taught last year. I had lots of models for the class, all in different stages of done-ness. The class was a blast…and then I lost my steam. I will be optimistic and take this one to retreat in March. I have all the pieces cut and just need to get them together. Will I? Who knows!
Beginning Hand Appliquéd block
STATUS -UFO…leaning toward WIP
I took a beginning hand appliqué class last year and learned lots! I even almost finished my class project. Can you see there are two leaves that need to have buds added and to be stitched in place? That’s it…all I have left to do to finish this block. I’m putting it in my car so I can work on it in the carpool line. Maybe I’ll actually finish it then!
The Project of Doom
STATUS – WIP
All the blocks for the PoD are designed and I am several weeks ahead of everyone else in piecing them. I plan to have my quilt top finished by the end of March. This is my pet project for 2011 and my gift to my friends in the Harry Potter crafty fandom. Want to play along and make your own Harry Potter mystery quilt? Click the banner above!
Below – Tackett protects the PoD blocks.
5 @ The Hive Fall Colorway 2011
STATUS – WIP
5 @ The Hive is Honey Bee Quilt Store ‘s Block of the Month. I’m participating for the first time this year. The two blocks above are my January blocks. I’m doing the fall colorway with the extra block. By the end of the year, there will be enough blocks for a completed quilt top. I’m super excited about this one because 1)I’m not designing it and 2) it comes with fabric and 3)I love the blocks and the layout.
Variegated and Browns
STATUS – UFO
I completely forgot about this until I cleaned out my stash. I will get back to working on it after I finish the next project on the list. This will probably be a blanket for The Linus Connection.
Black/Red Knit or Crochet Swap
STATUS – WIP
After doing absolutely nothing with these fabulous black and red knit and crochet blocks from a Twilight Crafts swap in 2009, I have created enough white blocks to make a chess/checkerboard out of the set. The next step is to crochet them all together and then add a red, white and black border.
Rope Bowl – “It’s A Wrap” style
STATUS – UFO
This is the only unfinished craft project I found, and it can really be classified as a sewing project…so, go figure. This was the bowl I started when I taught the It’s A Wrap class last fall. I brought it home from class and promptly forgot all about it. I would like to get back to it and finish it up because the technique is just so darn fun!
Staircase makeover
STATUS – WIP
Just last week, I pulled the carpet off of our stairs. It had horrible, gross carpet that the builders installed 20 years ago. I’ve steamed cleaned them so many times, the thought of doing it again made me feel like weeping. The stairs are now de-carpeted, de-carpet-tacked, scrubbed and primed. The next step is a faux finish to turn the stairwell and stairs into a stone passageway. Yeah, you heard that, I actually said it out loud!
I have about a million and one other projects that I’d like to tackle this year. These are some ideas that have crossed my mind that are on the high end of happening.
This week, the Harry Potter fabric fairy visited me and I acquired approximately 20 yards of out of print Harry Potter fabric*. I’m still amazed by this great good fortune and fully plan to share the love. If you’re participating in the Project of Doom, you will see HP fabric in the monthly prize drawing!
*fabric is not for sale
All the fabric together, in the trunk of my car on the way to a new home…mine!

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I talk a lot in this video about my freshly finished quilt, Grannie’s Nine Patch. I’ve added some photos and other videos below in order to share a little more history and process.
March 16, 2010, where I show off the blocks for the very first time.
The blocks when I first received them from my Mom.
Pieced into a top and pin basted for quilting.
And, the finished product!
Be sure and watch today’s video for more about Grannie’s Nine Patch,
this wonderfully huge quilt made out of nine patch blocks from my childhood!

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Here’s a quick sneak peek at what I’ll be showing off in tomorrow’s Talk To Me Tuesday! There’s nothing in the world quite like the feeling of finishing a quilt!
More photos and Show & Tell tomorrow, so be sure to stop back by. 🙂

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Today’s Fabric Friday offering was a gift from my best friend, Jewells, for Christmas. She picked this up at a Japanese festival in Albuquerque. Isn’t it fun?
A totally non-related photo of my cat, Tackett, helping me quilt. He’s adopted my nine-patch project as his own and had decided I’d been quilting on it long enough! Despite his “help,” I only have about 8 more nine-patch blocks to quilt. Of course, then there is trimming and binding!
Have a very happy Friday and a great weekend! I’ll be at The Linus Connection’s monthly meeting in Round Rock tomorrow. If you’re in the area, stop by and say hello!

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Once upon a time, I made some bags out of sweaters (okay, it was probably around 2008!).
The first bag was made for my daughter. It was purple and stripey and had cute little flowers on the front. She loved it so much, and carried it for so long, that I made more and posted a tutorial to boot, including a version on cut out + keep.
Two years later, a lovely blogger named Kris asked to post about my recycled sweater bag over on Resweater. And, that is just what happened! There have been lots of visits to the recycled sweater bag post, which has helped me to remember what a fun project it was to create. Thanks, Kris!
It’s been a while since I’ve recycled a sweater, mostly because I live in Texas and wool sweaters are something of a rarity. I haven’t found one that really grabbed my attention in quite some time, but I’m sure if I did, I would be happy to make another of the spiffy bags!

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