Travel project completed! Kinetic Cowl

I have been carrying a zip lock bag in my purse or tote just about everywhere for the last "little while"-alright the last "long while". I have knitting that is just too big and heavy to carry but this project was compact and served me well when visiting my mom at Assisted Living or waiting at appointments. It was a long (120 inches) of bias strip made from sock yarn. It always sparked conversation and those without imagination and without the benefit of a photo would scratch their heads and dismiss me as if I was a pathetic dreamer wasting my time.

But as you can see, there really was a plan and a result which I am very happy with. The strip is attached to itself with a crocheted slip stitch only adding to the color play. It is a cowl which looks like the turtle neck portion of a sweater and serves as a scarf on a cold winter day. As it is 80 degrees today and my eyes are swollen shut from the results of the cottonwood tree shedding snow into the air, I will not be posting a photo of me wearing this beauty. 

Got the bug again!

Thanks to my Quilting friends Lisa and Nancy I have renewed my passion for quilting after an impromptu visit to Geneva. I joined a day long "bee" with 7 ladies all sewing at the same time and worked on and oldy but goody Singer machine. Then when I got home I remembered that my sister had given me one years ago and uncovered the little beauty.

I am currently working on a spider web quilt that I saw on Missouri Quilt company You Tube video. I have used charm packs (cut apart) instead of scraps to ensure the exact combination of colors. Here is am example of how the squares will go together.I am having so much fun with this paper piecing project. I currently have 80 wedges done. I am thinking 6 nine inch blocks across and 8 rows for a total of 48 blocks before a turquoise border frames it. I have to make 16 more wedges. Then sew the blocks together, rip off the paper foundations, audition the blocks to balance the colors and then assemble the quilt top.
Good thing that I LOVE the process!!

Knitting Update!

I know....it has been awhile. I have an update on the sweater that I posted last....IT IS FINISHED. I just recently blocked it and have photos of that (pin down flat in the correct shaping, spritz with water and then let dry completely).

And now a photo of me wearing the sweater......it is really warm and soft! YEAH!!

A quick peek of what I am working on now.......entreloc-it means painful and confusing and brain puzzle and knitfrogfknitfrogknitfrogknit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Don't EVEN ask!

Quilt basting frame

This was a surprise and revealed to me just days before my husband's saga in hospital. There are four posts with 10 foot boards. I will staple strips of fabric onto the boards and pin the quilt's three layers to the strips. The boards will be clamped to set the dimension and then I will be walking around the quilt pinning as I go. I will then move the corners in to target the interior. I'm hoping to watch how this is done over Christmas break in Geneva before trying this myself. I currently have two completed quilt tops ready to be quilted.

BTW I have not finished my pink sweater yet-I have put some Christmas gifts first on my to-do list!!

Knitting to avoid panic

I am grateful on this Thanksgiving Friday to report that my husband is recovering from emergency intestinal surgery! For almost two weeks, I spent most of the days and evenings as a hospital visitor and resident knitter. I brought with me a project that was intended to be my "car passenger" project as we were to travel to Georgia. We waited for the stomachache to go away before leaving.........but took a side trip to the ER. Nevertheless.......look how my sweater is coming along! It will have long sleeves and a turtleneck.

BTW, I knitted both sleeves at the same time which obviously took longer and could have been a problem had I gotten the two skeins I was working with tangled BUT....the the sleeves are identical!!!

The pattern is from a gorgeous book that I bought with a 40% coupon at JoAnn's called "Knitting Nature" by Norah Gaughan. The yarn is 25% wool and 75% acrylic: Encore and although it looks like cinnamon it is really a deep mauve pink.

I guess the sweater will remind me of this trying time.......but I'd like to think that I made pink lemonade out of the ordeal!

Bill is so grateful for all the prayers and concern for his welfare. He is humbled and grateful to God for healing.

Finally finished!

You may remember this sweater from October 2009. That's right people-2009! Well, I finally finished and have worn this soft lacy beauty! The buttons really make the sweater...I bought them at my favorite knitting store: "Have Ewe any Wool" here in Amherst, NY.

The challenge was counting the pattern stitches. I found that if I took the time to place markers, I could then easily correct a mistake within a group of maybe 10 repeating stitches. It was easier to spot the mistake with markers separating the REPEAT.

It feels good to finish before starting another sweater.

Knitting break

Okay-have to admit that in the middle of all that quilting, I just had to treat myself with some knitting.This lovely beret was a "pattern and skein" gift from my friend/sister Carol who also bought a skein of a zinnia color for herself. The intention was for us to start this complicated pattern together(with many changes and the need to count to the point of NO TALKING or TV please). Well I had the perfect opportunity as Carol had some minor surgery and needed to stay off her feet for a day. I "babysat" for her hubby the day after surgery and we started together. Three hours later after knitting and ripping out(called frogging) we finally seemed to be getting the hang of the drop stitches and counting. I had to quick go back to the yarn store and get us each another skein in order to finish. The instructions have you block on a dinner plate. It's made out of super-wash wool so I can laundar and plate all winter!

Christmas in August

Just finished a Christmas Quilt for a special friend's wedding present. It is a "stack and whack" design where the border fabric is stacked in layers EXACTLY on top of the next layer with images EXACTLY under the same. Eight layers are then cut into diamond shapes and when arranged make a beautiful Poinsettia. For a better look at the quilt, take a look at the new blog Header on top of this blog. Each different poinsettia is made from the border fabric and nothing else!!

Thank you Lisa for helping do the math and stopping me from messing up those diamond shapes.

The machine quilting is not my favorite especially the back which got a little puckered....but no one noticed but me.....so it will be my signature and proof that I made it myself. By the way.....when I cut this quilt out, I actually cut enough pieces for two quilts....maybe next summer.............

Tomatoes

Well, it's August and Vanessa and I are celebrating canning season. This time, Vanessa has shared her recipe for Tomato Juice which tasted like V8 cold and like wonderfully flavorful tomato soup when hot. We went to the Clarence Farmer's Market and bought a bushel of ripe tomatoes and spent the day cutting, simmering, milling out the seeds and skins and then canning. We had two huge canners going and used the dish washer to prepare the jars. We yielded 21 quarts!

It's been a while

`I recently visited my home away from home in Geneva. Yes, yes, yes...it was a quilt event and Lisa presented a target project, made a crock pot lunch and invited several ladies (and their sewing machines) to her living room. Her sister Nancy and I shared a card table with a quilt covering to cushion the racing machines. I had the blessed opportunity to use Lisa's featherweight again and that sweet thing just sings and sings!!

I had great success sewing but I realized in all the hub bub that I cut 3.25 inch strips instead of 3.75 inch strip. Luckily, I had another sewing project with me.

Thought I'd show you some of the other work of the day-that's Nancy's block in the right corner. (For some reason, I can't move the photos to where I want them on this post????)

FYI-I have been so blessed by the Lord in the last few months-My mom is well and living in an Assisted Living Facility which she has described to her friends as....." if you can't be at home, it's the best place to be." She has been participating in many activities and enjoying live music. On April 15, she will be honored for her china painting with a little show for the residents. She can be very proud of her accomplishments. I will post some of her work at a later date.

Happy Easter and a Blessed Passover!

The Best Christmas Present!!

I wanted you all to see the beautiful Christmas present that my husband Bill made for me in his "Basement Getaway" /or workshop. (I equate his get away with the AYYYHHHHH that I feel when I sit down at my Bernina to sew). I had heard the buzz and smelled varnish for some time after Thanksgiving and I knew something important and secret was going on down there. Knew enough not to open that door or look in the window. I knew enough not to ask what that sheepish yet excited look was on Bill's face..............................and it was worth it! I love you Honey!!!!

Tree's down :(

I'm back from Geneva, a short reprieve......... so appreciated and cherished!!! I was fortunate enough to spend hours of quality time with Lisa's daughter Chrissy as well as with Nancy. You will be so excited to see the "show and tell"time I enjoyed. I had all of you in mind when I took the photos so here goes:

This is Nancy's Spider web Quilt-notice the firefly quilting.

To the left is Nancy's "Thirty's fabric quilt-hand quilted

WOW!!

Lisa's "Dress form" quilt-also hand quilted. I an blown away at how much these ladies have accomplished since my last visit. I have so much to be inspired by. There are two pieced but not yet quilted tops on my "To -Do " list and two quilts cut and ready to sew. I have started a knitted scarf but have not finished my cardigan sweater yet.........But the tree is down and I'm back to work on

Monday.............My regular schedule will need some creativity .........so stay tuned!!

Wonderful Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas with our grand kids-yes the boys I made quilts for. As predicted, the boys looked at the quilts and pushed them aside to open their toys. I didn't mind at all.................we had already baked , sledded and played with tinker toys and Lego's. The boys made certain that the quilts were packed in the suitcase rather than send them through the mail. They call me GRANDMA!!!!!!!!!!!And WE have snow................about an inch but you would have thought it was a winter wonderland the we way they carried on.

I will be traveling to see my quilting mentors tomorrow AM. Hoping for good travel weather. There's a good chance we will be going to our favorite quilt shop Patchwork Plus. Hoping to limit my purchases.....................they would be on the same "Christmas bill" I am dreading.

Bento box sucess!

I decided to use the black as the binding to frame the Bento boxes!

It took two full days of relentless quilting but I did finish and I am happy with the results. I am certain that both grand kids will say a quiet "thank you" then push the quilts aside reaching for toys BUT..........................someday when they are snuggled in their Quilt, they will think of me or remember what I hope will be a great Christmas memory!Can you see the leaf quilting pattern on each quarter of the Bento box-it looks neat on the back as well.

Please don't look at the back!!

Well, I finished piecing the top but please don't look at the back. You know, I have a quarter inch foot and I measure with a host of quilting rulers........I can't believe what a variance there was each time I cut and sewed pieces together. My mentor Lisa would be shocked and dismayed BUT......................if you don't tell, I may just be able to pull it off because the affect is a success.................may be an optical illusion but ...it works.Thanks Lisa and Nancy for the color advice!! Sorry about the camera wire in the corner. Today I had a proud moment in my motherhood career. My daughter Vanessa had a "premier event experience" participating in the annual "second storie indie market 2009".

She has a site on Etsy and has had much

success selling on the internet.......................Today she sold at a craft fair for the first time and we enjoyed watching people purchase her loom woven scarves after viewing, touching and trying on her beautiful creations. Check out her work at http://www.etsy.com/shop/pidgepidge

Bento Box

Well, I finished the blue quilt-no photo yet cause I have yet to gently wash it-love the way that first wash yields all the puckers!!

I have begun piecing the Red-lover grandson's Christmas present. I am referring to the Bento Box Quilt I am working through the vague directions I have gleaned from several articles and blog posts. Basically it is like a log cabin quilt in that you create a design with fabric strips that are frames around a center square. The trick is that you then slice those 16 inch blocks into quarters and sew THEM together to yield Bento Boxes.

Here is a sneak peak-you can see that I have just folded the three top squares in order to demonstrate the transformation. I need to really press the framed blocks and cut them to square them up for size before I quarter them. That will take time, several trips to the basement where the Rowenta iron lives and precision slicing.

I'm certain that the project would have been easier if I had ordered a pattern........... because my thoughts of random cutting and paring of color failed. I realized that each four block arrangement needs to have the strips arranged with opposite colors when next to the section you will sew them to ..............after the quartering. Not sure if you get it but check out the photo to see that each seam has opposite fabrics.

Light at the end...........

Well, I thought I was well on my way last post................but there is a lot of quilting to do in order to cover an entire quilt top. I finally finished the machine quilting and have made the binding.

Next, I will sew the binding on and I have put in a couple of straight pins to show where the stitches will be and then rolled the folded strip over to show how the finished edge will look. I usually use a "walking foot" to sew the many layers together so that the binding doesn't slip. The walking foot is an

attachment that has "feed dogs" like the ones under the needle plate on the sewing machine. With feed dogs on the bottom and on the top of the fabric, all layers of fabric will move under the needle at the same speed and without sheering away from each other.

SNEAK PEAK AT THE FABRIC FOR THE OTHER GRANDSON'S QUILT!!!

Machine Quilting

Well, I held my breath and just BEGAN. I try not to look until I have finished a section because it always feel like the stitching looks stark and intrusive on the quilt. As the stitching theme begins to cover the surface of the quilt top, there is s softening and a new character born in the quilt.

The feed dogs are down under the surface of the sewing needle guard so there is no advance of fabric when the pedal is depressed and the needle begins to sew. You hold the fabric and move it under the rapidly punching needle developing a speed, rhythm,and swing from the shoulders. I am a doodler with pen and paper so I just pretend I am doodling with the needle and fabric. There is a special machine quilting foot with a spring loaded mechanism and a clear plastic ring to allow better visual attention to your pattern.

I chose a blue thread in an effort to make the quilting further color and unify the blocks.

You see my trusty Bernina-consistent, quiet, able to sew at top speed without missing a stitch or tangling the bobbin. Can you see the pattern-like a hot air balloon concentrically repeated several times before beginning in another direction.

I have taken a break and will continue tomorrow. Machine quilting can be very tiring and monotonous and there is always a tendency to RUSH which may produce a sloppy pattern result. I don't want to slip up-this is for my grandson!!

quilt back

I worked on the quilt back today and I am happy with the results. I wanted to make it more interesting and use up some extra blocks. I will bind it in the deepest blue.

I also washed and pressed red fabric for my next quilt. I have a blue loving grandson and

a red loving grandson. They will both be here for Christmas and hopefully they will experience their first real snow............................not just a dusting........... cause they had that in Georgia last winter. BUT a good old fashioned Buffalo SNOW. They will both be snuggled in their quilts and hopefully they will treasure them............................do 7 and 8 year old boys care about quilts???? Hope so :)

Sewing again

This was the scene out my kitchen window today. The leaves are falling, the last of the apples are tasty treats for deer. No, I don't live in the country-these are citified deer apparently having dinner at 5PM with cars whizzing by and people walking about?!?!?!?!

I am reminded that this is October and I have two quilts to make before Christmas. I have moved my precious Bernina into the living room and

am ready to roll. Today I began creating a "stripe" to incorporate onto the quilt back. Tomorrow, I should be able to assemble the quilt sandwich (panini if you are Italian) and begin machine quilting. I am auditioning some stitch designs in my head and am looking for one that will flow. I like to choose a round design for a geometric block ( it's a tip my quilt mentor Lisa shared with me). I am thinking of a bubble design but have never actually tried it before...........or maybe a hot air balloon ..........not a flower.........maybe concentric circles......TOMORROW!!