Good wool, bad iron, nothing complete

So I have this Block of the Month penny rug pattern by Connie Huddleson called "Pennies" which is absolutely adorable with a different theme block for each month. My idea, instead of making a wall hanging that measures 33"x42" as its shown, is to make the penny rugs on various backgrounds and I can hang them as little mini seasonal wall hangings. So this is November's block...do you see what my bad iron did? The brown rust marks from the iron? Grrr! Any ideas on what to use? I am leaning towards a Tide stick but I have never tried it on wool before. Ok, so I throw the pumpkin penny rug aside and decide to start on my mini quilt challenge for the upcoming September retreat. My husband casually said, "You know, you can do any shape with that wool, you don't always need to do circles." Thanks Gene, like my mind isn't already crammed full with ideas, you have to get me going on a whole new tangent. So after a hour or so with my graph paper, I came up with this:

I really like it. I like it so much that I become nervous about my blanket stitch. Sure, I do a fair job on gentle curves and circles, but i will really need to sharpen my skills if I want those little points to really stand out. Which led me to this:

Another in progress candle wrap, hopefully honing my blanket stitch skills. i thought these looked a little like peppermints and I think I might make another for my Christmas candles they're really turning out cute. Finished pics will be soon I hope!

Wishin' and wool

This is my wool. This is the disorganized state it lives in. I suppose I could buy another tote for all that's overflowing, but it will still live in the corner of my bedroom. In the future, when the boys move out and I can claim more than just a corner as my sewing space, I want shelves so that I can look and see and be inspired rather than dump everything out on the coffee table in the living room to remind myself of what I already have. I'm searching for some sort of...what's that word?...oh yeah ORGANIZATION!

None the less, I did manage to make this.


A flattened view.

Don't look now Momma's got her wool out!

My life, is different, I have been told by so many people that hear my tales of normal everyday life here at Casa de Leonard that we should have our own reality show. Hmmm, would a camera man know that when I scream DANGER WILL ROBINSON that means I'm headed out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel and for every one's safety they should remain calm and continue staring at a fixed point in the room lest they be blinded? I think for the public safety we'll just keep the show off the airwaves.

My husband has always been a singer, not that he sings well, but that he adapts current situations into a little tune. The boys were awoken with a little ditty that went something like this, "Wake up, wake up you sleepy heads, its time to get your hineys out of bed!" or he has been caught serenading the cat with "God bless the fuzzy one!" Currently, he has been singing "Don't look now, momma's got her wool out!" Based on a Rodney Carrington song that he heard on the radio Called "Don't look now!" You can click if you want, but after the penis post from a week ago I thought I'd let you have your choice to watch :-)

So anyhoo, these candle wraps are what I've been working on. The gold light bulb was the first, bought as a kit from eBay and the other three were just me messing around with wool I already had and pattern ideas sketched out on freezer paper. I thought these were just a great quick Christmas gift idea. ***12/1 Teresa from Stitchinbythelake asked how these are held together, I used 2 buttons and 2 lengths of floss to wrap around the buttons. Try some yourself, they're sooo easy!