Tag: Around the Square Set

crafts, handmade quilts, hobby, Home and Garden, home gifts, Montana, Quilted items, Quilted table sets, Quilting, quilting tools, unique quilt designs

Catch-up News Tuesday

LodgePole Quilting

Greetings fellow quilters and visitors! I hope you all had a great week-end and are having a great week thus far. It is a gorgeous day today here in Montana. Blue skies, temperatures in the 60’s, pollen count rising, yep it’s great! Aaacchhhoooo! I’m not complaining, really. I love this weather, just not the pollen. But that’s what allergy medicine, eye drops and nasal spray come are for, so I can go outside and play with Monty dog.

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Monty dog napping under the cutting table while I sew.

I did get some seeds pre-started for my soon to be a garden. I purchased one of those little kits that comes with peat discs and a plastic dome. Those are pretty cool. I have cucumbers and lettuce showing their little leaves now. I’m waiting for the tomatoes and spinach to start appearing. When my husband gets home we will get the garden going. I’m excited! I still have to get a couple more seed packets. I want bush beans and he wants peppers. I also have carrots and radishes still to plant, but I’ll wait until we get the garden done.

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NK Lawn & Garden 36 Pellet Greenhouse


I have been slowly working on my personal project, Around the Square Set. I am hand stitching the binding on each piece, just taking my time. At night when I am watching a little TV is when I am doing that. It keeps my hands busy.

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Around the Square Set Placemat and coasters completed

I did get all of my fabric cut for the quilt pattern I received from Annie’s. I will start that article along with pictures tomorrow.

Here are a few things I wanted to share with you today:

AccuQuilt is having their 10th Anniversary and they are celebrating it with some super cute limited edition dies. Click here to get yours today!

On Jacquelynne Steves blog you will find 26 free Spring quilt patterns  to download for yourself. I just took a quick peak at them, but what I saw was super cute. If you are still suffering late winter blues, these will definitely cheer you up!

Today is the last day to purchase fabric for 25% off at Fabric Depot. These folks are online and located in Portland, Oregon, my old stomping grounds. They have some real nice fabric, so check them out.

Well it sounds like the county is grating our road. Yay! No more potholes! We live on what use to be a logging road so every Spring they come through and grate it to get rid of the worst potholes. It helps save on the suspension and just makes it nicer to walk on.

That’s all I have for now, my friends. Hope the rest of your week is wonderful and Spring-like. We are supposed to see temperatures up to the lower 80’s by Friday and then taper back down to normal.

Until next time – What’s in Your garden?

 

crafts, handmade quilts, hobby, Home and Garden, home gifts, Montana, Quilted items, Quilted table sets, Quilting, quilting tools, unique quilt designs

Taxing Tuesday

LodgePole Quilting

Greetings everyone! Today is the dreaded Tax day. I hope everyone has filed their taxes by now. But I am sure there are a few out there who have waited for the deadline to get them done. Kind of like those folks who wait until the last minute to shop for Christmas. Procrastinators unite!

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It’s so much easier to get taxes filed now than before. The ease of preparing and filing them on line has made life a little easier. However, the tax codes just get more complicated each year. This year we took our taxes to a CPA and had them do it. I was more than happy to pay for someone else to tackle that mess. Last year still gives me nightmares. But enough on that subject. I have better things to talk about today.

I am almost done with my Around the Square Set. I have quilted the coasters, napkins and one of the place mats. I used a stencil that I have had for a few years for the place mat and then I used Westalee’s Templates for the napkins and coasters. Those were a lot of fun to use. I purchased my set, for domestic machines, which included the ruler foot, from Nancy’s Notions. You can also purchase them from Connecting Threads. Click on the picture below to get your own set!

Westalee Sampler Templates - Set of 6 from ConnectingThreads.com

Here are some pictures of the Around the Square Set made in wine, creams and green fabric I had in my fat quarter and jelly roll stash. The batting is left overs from previous projects. I always save those because you never know where they can be used.

Around the Square Set Place mat. Quilted using a stencil.
Around the Square Set Napkin. Quilted using Westalee 12″ Arc and 6″ Spiral.
Around the Square Set Coaster quilted with Westalee Spin-E-Fex #4 3.5″

It was pretty easy using the Westalee templates. I really like how the spirals came out on the napkins and the flowers on the coasters. For the stencil on the place mats I actually drew the stencil on paper and then made copies of it on my Carol Doaks Foundation Paper. I have a hard time with trying to see colored pencils, chalk and other types of transferring medium on fabric. It all seems to blend away. So even though I have to remove the foundation paper after sewing my pattern, at least I can see what I am sewing. Just one of the challenges of being color blind.

I used a neutral thread color by Coats and Clark. It was just an all-purpose thread. I’m saving the good stuff for the items I’m going to sell in my Etsy store and hopefully in the co-op in town.

The binding is going to be 1 1/2 inch wide instead of the typical 2 1/4 or 2 1/2 inch wide. I am going to make it out of the left over fabric I used to make the set. It should come out pretty nice. I think this sample set will look nice in my dining area. My husband isn’t so sure about the napkins, though. He has a hard enough of a time just using the ones I made that aren’t quilted. I keep telling him they are washable. Silly man.

I will be making the Around the Square Set in various colors so I am sure they will appeal to everyone. I have also been thinking about adding a table runner with the set. Won’t that be lovely? I am going to have to purchase more fabric. Wait, what am I saying? I GET to purchase more fabric! There, that’s better.

That’s about all for now. I got the taxes done. The Around the Square Set is almost completed. New project is ready to go. All right!

Just a couple of reminders, if you click on any of the merchandisers displayed on this website and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission. So I want to thank all of those who do so, because you help keep my website going. Also, please remember all of my personal designs, such as Around the Square Set, are copyright protected. Please respect that.

Be sure to sign up to receive an email every time I post a new blog. I promise I won’t load up your email with tons of posts. And please, leave me a comment, even if it’s just to say hello!

Until next time – Where is my refund? I need to buy more fabric!