Coral Stars is finished!

I've been pushing a little this month to get some things finished. So not only did I begin the 50" square quilt that I named Coral Stars, I finished it!

Coral Stars

I began this quilt earlier this month using my Quick Curve Ruler and fabric that I bought on our trip to Elkhart County, Indiana, in May.

Back of Coral Stars

The quilt is machine quilted - I did loopy flowers in the diamonds and some echo stitching in the corners. There are feathers going around the 'diamonds' and lots of paisley. 

loopy flowers quilted in the center of the diamonds

echo stitching around diamond and in corners and feathers going around diamond 

lots of paisley stitching in the sashing and borders

I bought the fabric because I fell in love with it.  I knew at that time that this would be a donation quilt - it just doesn't fit in the style of our home. I've really enjoyed making it though!

A long morning...

Yesterday Ray and I went to a Medicare class. I might have been more confused after the class - hard to tell! We are both turning 65 this fall. We are retired educators in Illinois under two different retirement systems and both of us pay for our health insurance through these systems. If we don't have Medicare, our insurance rates almost triple. Since we are retired educators in Illinois, we are a "special case" when it comes to Medicare.

We had to make sure that our insurance will continue as our supplemental insurance - no problem. The problem is with the prescription coverage - we have prescription coverage now and JUST need a letter saying that our prescription insurance is as good or better than Medicare Part D - a letter or note of credible coverage. Oh my - what a problem! I talked to people ALL morning.  After a couple of hours, I spent another 43 minutes with the last wonderful lady that hunted all of those 43 minutes, I finally had the number of the State of Illinois office that I needed. In case you ever need to call the State Medicare office, it is 800-442-1300 or 217-782-7007. 

Well I called the number and in less than one minute, I had the information I needed! We need to call and get a letter of credible coverage when, if ever, we leave our "just as good as" prescription coverage to go to Part D! Now, wouldn't you think at least 1 out of the 7 people I talked with earlier this morning would know that? Or maybe the person who taught the class? Or did I not know the right question to ask? Well, at least we know now!

All that is left for us to do is to sign up for Medicare. We fall into another "special case" and can't sign up online. So we have an  appointment in a few weeks. And we expect smooth sailing...

In other news: While I was on the phone today, Ray turned my recliner completely over and found the elusive knitting needle! Woo Hoo!

Missing...

Where is it? When I went to bed Tuesday night, I put both needles and my knitting right here.

When I got up Wednesday, my knitting and only one needle were there???!

I cleaned off the table - even the bottom! I looked under the table, in my knitting bag, in my chair, under my chair, along the edges of the carpet. Then I looked in every place again and again! Where is the missing needle?

I went upstairs to the knitting needle drawer. No extra needles there - of course not - how could it have gotten there?! I picked up a size 4 circular needle and came back downstairs. I knit the next row onto the circular needle.

I went to bed Wednesday night and put my knitting right here.

When I got up today, it was still there - whew! But that straight 10" needle is STILL missing!

Purple knitted hat and scarf

I just realized that I didn't post pictures of the purple diamond hat and scarf. The color is more purple than the photos appear.

I used 2 skeins of  Plymouth Yarn Encore Chunky yarn  and the Diamonds Hat and Scarf pattern by Susie Bonell - it is free on ravelry.com.  

I had to adjust the hat pattern and make it longer. I tried 9 extra rows and then frogged that and did just 4 extra rows.

These will both be a donation to our church bazaar.

B/W Orange All Over is finished!

Black White Orange All Over is finished! It is a lap quilt that will be a donation quilt. 

I had a pattern but made changes so I could use all of the fabric and have a little larger quilt. The quilt is 50" X 54" and has Dream Poly batting. 

I found some really neat black fabric with orange for the back.

I left my comfort zone, once again, and machine quilted this with a square stippling design. It has no curves, just sharp corners but not all 90 degrees. They should be though! I thought this motif fit the design of the quilt.

A change of plans

Sometimes when I start a project, my plans change.

I decided to use some fabric that I bought in May for a table runner. As I progressed, I tossed out the two fabrics with dots and added a soft yellow.

original fabric

I've been wanting to use my Quick Curve Ruler from Sew Kind of Wonderful. And I wanted to use this block that she has on her blog.

Sew Kind of Wonderful's design and block

I tried the block back in February and I thought that six of them together would make a nice table runner. 

But my 9" block wasn't completed it was missing the outside border. The complete block is 16"! When I realized the dimension problem, all of the pieces were cut so I went ahead and made all six blocks.

When I put them on the design board, I thought I would need 3 more blocks for a lap quilt. But I didn't like the arrangement of just blocks so I began playing.

I ended up with a 51" square quilt, Coral Stars. It took quite a while to figure out the corners but I like it. It used every bit of the yellow fabric that I had. In fact a few of the yellow curved corners are pieced together.

Here's a block up close.

I still have two finished blocks which I'll use on the back. 

I'm really glad I didn't have a special place for the table runner that didn't get made!

You can teach an old dog...

I learned to knit in 4H many years ago. My mom and I sat down with my book and we learned together. Mom was a wonderful crocheter and never pursued knitting any further. I started an afghan in college - and finished it over 2 years later! Periodically I would pick up my needles and knit. I knit ski sweaters for DH and me. When our boys were young, I made their sweaters and I made their mittens - many, many red mittens. If they lost a mitten, there was always a replacement! 

Imagine my surprise when I read this post at Juniper Moon Farm Blog. My purl stitches were all twisted! So... I'm learning to correct them and I'm succeeding! It is so much easier to knit the next row now! 

I am also learning to knit and purl continental style. Yes, I was teaching myself to purl twisted stitches this way too! So I am relearning and I'm making progress.

Not only can you teach an old dog new tricks - sometimes the old dog can teach herself!