Konza Creative

March is coming in fierce here in Boston where I am visiting the youngest daughter.  they are calling Nor'easter.  There is nothing I dislike more than a cold wind and rain. And with a new month that also means a new UFO project!! So according to my list, my March Quilting UFO is  the Swedish Postcard quilt: I finally found a quilt for this pattern when I was in Ft. Collins last summer.  I will have to find another project for this month as I am saving it for my April Quilt Retreat. The knitting UFO for March is the 15th Street Wrap: I have some wonderful yarn that I have had in my stash for quilt awhile and it will be perfect for this pattern. My progress of the February UFOs have been a little slow.  I wanted to use my Cricut Maker to cut out all of the petals, leaves and center for my Sunflower Wall quilt.  Getting it upload to Design Space was just about as far as I got.   The same goes for my knitting U...

It's November...can you believe it? November means another UFO! And what does that mean to me? I seem to be in pretty good shape for knitting.  Since I got all of the chemo hats done in August, all of my challenges are done!  I know that the Feb challenge, Cow Soft Cuddle no longer needs to be made. The Baby Bomber Jacket will probably wait until next spring for an 18 month size.  So I guess the question is, do I try to finish up the July and March UFOs?  What to do, what to do?? I did not get the map quilt done for October.  However I did get a new toy last month which I hope will help me get that done much quicker.  This month is the boy/girl charity quilts.  Hmmm... I know I can crank those out pretty quickly if I would just set my mind to it.  As I look at this list, there are quite a few UFOs that I did not get started this year.  Of those, I would really like to get the t-shirt quilts off the list for next year! ...

Another month has started which means it's another UFO.  I could get depressed about what I haven't been able to finish but instead I think I will be thankful for what I have finished!  So with that, what's up for October? What does this mean for me?   Well as far as sewing is concerned that means that my October UFO is the USA Map.   I'd love to get this done and put it upstairs in my themed "vacation room". And what does it mean for knitting?  I had chemo hats down but since those are all finished I modified my list to make knitted knockers.  How appropriate for breast cancer awareness month! This challenge has been good and I have been to focus on things in my stash.   Speaking of stash, Sherri from A Quilting Life blog had a great tutorial on a patchwork bag .  I had some mini charm packs that I have been trying to figure out what to do with and this was the perfect project. Sew the squares together add...

Yes we are more than half way through September I have have not blogged about the September UFO Challege.  I feel like I've been on the run this entire month! So here it is....  What does this mean for me?  Well for sewing it is perfect as I have a fall project selected.  I had one selected in August as well but did that get done?  NO!  At the rate September is flying by, it will be interesting to see if this gets done!   September is a bomber jacket for Madden.  I have some of the yarn but not all.  I am re-thinking about making this jacket or substituting another pattern where I actually have the yarn. So August wasn't a total bust as I did get my knitting UFO done and not just one month of the UFO but another month of the UFO, which hasn't been selected yet!  I posted this picture on Facebook and it was mentioned in their monthly LIVE session! These hats will be going to our local chemo center to be distri...

So it is August and as usual we wait with baited breath for the announcement of our new UFO.  Nevermind that the June and July Quilt UFO did not get done..... And what does this mean for me?  Actually, this is a great UFO!! The Fall Floral Wall quilt get done in time for the fall.  I love the fabric in this kit and have been looking forward to working on it! We are leaving tomorrow for a trip to Huntsville, so the chemo hats will be a perfect a road trip project.  I think I have about 3 or 4 more to do and I am hoping that I can get them all done on this trip. We go by Paduch, which means that we stop at Hancock Fabrics!  I have my list ready and it makes the trip so worthwhile even if I am only in there for a little while.  But we do stop on the way there and on the way back!! As I was making my list of things I needed I also decided to see what are the "must need items" are for quilt rulers.  This gal has a pretty good l...

I'm a little late but it is a new month, which means it's a new UFO Challenge. And according to my list, my challenges are: My first reaction was I am so so screwed.  I am so far behind.  But instead of concentrating on the bad, I am going to concentrate on the positive.  First of all let's take a look at what is finished.  On the quilting side of things I have three out of seven UFOs finished.  That really isn't too bad, especially considering that after next week's Sewing Retreat, I should have two more UFOs finished.  That means I will have five out of seven UFOs finished!  Which means I will have two t-shirt quilts to finish in July!! That makes me feel much better!! Now let's look at the knitting side of things.  I have two out of seven UFOs finished with one in constant progress and that is the Knitted Knockers.  That leaves four projects.  When I looked at  the June knitted sock ornaments, I realized t...

My very good friend gave me 2 skeins of this wonderful cashmere yarn.  I've had it for over a year and couldn't find anything that I wanted to knit out of it.  Frankly, I was just too scared to use it because it is so wonderfully soft and warm.  Thank goodness for the APQ UFO Challenge as I put the yarn on my UFO project list.   Well it came up in May and I finally got around to working on it during my trip to Minneapolis.   The pattern I used is " The Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief" .  It is a fairly easy pattern and knits quickly. This hand dyed yarn was called Olympus and I think it may no longer be available but there are other wonderful shades of Jade Sapphire.  This yarn was just a dream to work with!! Once blocked you can easily see the pattern details. This will be wonderful to wear in the winter and will be so soft and oh so warm!  Thank you dear friend for the wonderful gift of yarn!!

I've been a little busy so there are lots of things for me to catch up on.  First of all I did not get much done on the UFO Challenge for April.  I did get some baby booties done and delivered.  I do hope that the moms will send me pictures of their little ones with cute little feet. As far as quilting is concerned.. not much got accomplished in April, maybe May will be more productive. The UFO for May is..... And according to my lists this is what I have scheduled..... The good news is that I started my LOVE quilt in March when I was on the quilt retreat.  The LOVE blocks are all done.  I have a few more small squares to cut up but then I should be able start sewing on it again.  Knitting is always difficult.  I should of worked on the cowl while I was on a conference last week but I needed to get some booties done for some upcoming new mamas. Because of this week long conference,  I have had a chance to get lots of knittin...

It's been a busy March so far and it all started with a Spring Quilt Retreat with my favorite "Crazy Eights"! We tried a different venue for our quilt retreat and I would say we hit a home run with Sew Cozy Quilt Lodge .  The place sleeps 10 with five bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths.  Each "themed" bedroom has a twin bed...and I say "themed" because the decor in each bedroom is just cute as can be.  The best part about the place is the quilt/sewing room!  Each person has 2 two tables and a design wall!! We had seven of our members present for this retreat and there was so much beauty being created! The "LOVE" squares were my work.  For the first day I decided I would tackle a UFO which really wasn't a quilting project.  I had an old rocking chair that needed a new slipcover.  I have had the fabric for several months.  I didn't have much motivation to work on the slipcover.  I order to go on the retreat I told myself I had to work on...

Well it's finally February and everyone on the APQ Challenge has been anxiously awaiting the release of the the next UFO number.....drum roll please....#8! My #8 on both lists is so lame, so once again I made some additions to my list: I have a feeling I'll be doing that alot!  Aside from that list here my other February items that I would like to get done: Finish the green ponte knit Style Arc Estelle Jacket Finish blocks 1 & 2 of Leah Day's Machine Quilt Challenge Do something with my purple Mood Fabric  Do something with my Sarah's Fabric grey knit It's a pretty bold list considering I'll be gone for the last week and half of the month and Sarah will be here visiting so I'll lose the first weekend.  Basically I only 2 of the 4 weekends this month to get things done... ouch. January was productive so I will stay optimistic!  As I said, I got so much done last weekend!  On Sunday night I decided I would force myself t...

So last week I shared my fairly ambitious goals for the weekend.  While I did not get everything done I was pretty pleased with what I did finish! So I shared this as my inspiration for my porch bench: And here is the version that I finished this weekend: I'm pretty proud of that pillow.  Not because I saved myself $19, but because I was able to use stuff in my stash to create it!! I've had this cowl on my knitting needles for quite awhile.  It is also my APQ UFO #6.  It is Purl Bee's Classic Cowl , using a beautiful fluffy brioche stitch.  I used 3 skeins of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino.  I love that yarn and have used it for so many things...it is wonderfully soft and even better it is washable! I am not a fan of blocking but in this case it was necessary to try to minimize the line caused where the rows start and end.  I find that this always happens when I am using circular needles. However as you ...

One of my first posts this year was about the APQ UFO Challenge .  I had shared my UFO list on the blog earlier and the fabric panels I was going to use for this month's #6 UFO.  Well I finally got the project done last night!! Out of the two panels I was able to make a wall hanging, 4 pillow covers, 7 coasters and 6 postcards which will hang on a picture frame! The coasters were finished much the same way as the postcards.  I used two layers of batting instead of one, practiced a little free motion quilting and then stitched around the outside of the coasters through all the layers.  I then used pinking shears to trim the edges.  This was much easier than using binding and since this was a small project trimming worked just fine. I practiced a little free motion quilting on the borders of the pillow and the  wall hanging which you can see here.  I need still need lots of practice and this project was just perfect for that! ...

In an effort to get organized this year I discovered that All People Quilt is doing a UFO Challenge .  It seems like they have been doing this for quite awhile now...how did I miss this? They had drawn early for the January project so when I came on board #6 was chosen as the January UFO.  I then decided to change my list because I wanted to get a Valentine project done and a cowl knitted for my dear friend's birthday at the end of the month.  I have a feeling that I might be re-adjusting my project list a few times.  😉 I made two lists...one for sewing and one for knitting. I am making good progress on my #6 for knitting and hoping it gets down in the next week so I can get it in the mail to her before her birthday!  However the baby is "needing" some new booties so I need to get that done because as you know "what the baby wants the baby gets"!  :) I did finally started on the Valentine quilts/pillows last night.  I had an Etsy ord...