Sunday Sewing

Well, I had hoped to be a better blogger in 2010. It was a busy week back at school, and all my projects are at that middle plateau which isn't very interesting to photograph.

During vacation, I got the first phase of seaming done on my mitered square blanket:All the colors are sewn together in groups of three. Now, I need a lesson on mattress stitch along a cast-on edge, then I can get the blocks together and start the border. I wanted ALL the squares to intersect, but my layout didn't work with the number of blocks I made...you can see the pairs on the left are different than the design on the right.
I only had time to get one top quilted on the longarm during the holidays:
I used Judy's Freeze Frame pattern for the center, and added my own piano-key borders to make this Quilt of Valor. It just needs a label and then it's ready to go in the mail.
I am steadily knitting my Noro Striped Vest during TV time. Kendra is fanatical about Disney princesses, so we have the videos of Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella on constant rotation. She's napping right now and I'm enjoying the AZ Cardinals domination of Green Bay this afternoon! I'm trying to get a couple blocks done each week on my paper piecing quilt but it's a gift, so no pictures to spoil the surprise.

New Project!

We bought a new Christmas tree, and I'm looking forward to decorating it tonight. Bentley says we'll have some popcorn, too, and I always watch "The Sound of Music" when I put up my tree. Not really a classic Christmas tale, but it was always on TV during the holidays when I was little, so there's the "tradition."

I cast on for a sweater vest. It uses two colors of Noro variegated yarn. I love watching the new colors emerge! This is a testament to my increasing skill as a knitter...it is working up very quickly.
The mitered blanket is about halfway done. Yes, I *have* been working on it for years! I finished the individual blocks a few months ago, and I started the seaming process. Note my two different techniques. The right side is done with crochet, and the left is mattress stitch. I'm kicking myself because I tried to figure out mattress stitch from a book, decided it didn't look good, and went with crochet. The crochet doesn't look very good either, but it was faster than my interpretation of mattress stitch! Over Thanksgiving, my mom taught me the right way to do mattress stitch, which doesn't take very long, and makes an invisible seam. You guessed it, I will be taking out all the crochet seams. This project has taken so long that it is worth doing the best I can.

The purple beast left my house a couple weeks ago, hooray! I am taking a break from quilting for other people so I can work on a few of my own projects. I dove right into this beauty.

Paper pieced, 40 pieces per block, and I need 42 blocks. Oh, and to make things exciting, it needs to be done (pieced, quilted and bound) by mid-June. (No, I can't quit my day job)
1680 pieces to sew, plus picking off all the paper...I'll play Scarlett O'Hara and think about that tomorrow!

Phase 1 complete

I finished knitting the last of the mitered squares - Hallelujah! Phase 2 is the seaming. After I get the squares sewn in groups of three, I will lay them out to check on color placement and size (remember, the crazy plan is to have this fit my queen size bed). Then comes the border.

It's probably insane to think I could have this done by Christmas, but with cooler evening temperatures there is an incentive! And it was so fun to cast on a pair of socks after almost six months of stockinette stitch.

Here is Kendra, all ready for a sleepover at Grandma's. Everything is packed in her Disney princess backpack.
My latest quilt project was a log cabin charity quilt. I did some meandering leaves on the dark half of the log cabin, and a spiky ferny thing on the light side.Happy Stitching!

I quilted today!

Yay for me! I had a doctor's appointment this morning, so I burned a whole sick day and enjoyed some quiet time in my sewing room. Judy has started another Quilt for an Hour project. I was able to finish the first two steps...instructions are only posted on weekdays so I will definitely us the weekend for catching up!Does it count as stash-busting if you use someone else's stash??? I raided my mom's fabric collection for green and browns. I'm thinking masculine colors for a potential Quilt of Valor donation. I'd better get busy at the longarm so all the QOVs I've done this summer can be put to good use!! FYI - visit qovf.org for details about a Vermont effort to collect 200+ quilts for service members.

Of course, since I did NOT buy season tickets this year, the Phoenix Mercury have advanced to the second round of the WNBA playoffs! I keep meaning to go to a game, but when it comes right down to it, I'm usually too tired, don't want to drive downtown and pay for parking, food, etc. I've been able to watch most of the games through a live feed on my computer. Some of the playoff games are on ESPN2, which makes for good knitting time.
I'm almost done with my mitered square blanket!I need to block the blue-yellow-green squares, then the blue-pink-purple will be my last color combination, for a total of 81 individual blocks. I've seamed about a third of them, so I need to finish that and then knit the border. Maybe it will be done by Christmas?!?

Of course, I need a few days for this...
I got an email coupon from Barnes&Noble, so I stopped by after my appointment today. I didn't realize it was new on the shelf today! This is #7 in the Outlander series, so you really need to start from the beginning to get the full effect of Claire traveling through time via stone circles and falling in love with Highlander Janie Fraser. I've heard rumors of a movie version, but this is definitely a case where no mere human actor will be able to live up to the millions of reader fantasies!

Lessons Learned

I pledged to knit nothing else until this blanket is done -And last night I got a lesson on crochet. It's much faster to use a single-crochet to seam the blocks together rather than mattress stitch, and I think the result is acceptable:
You can see a bit of the lighter color in the seam on the front, and I need to carefully make sure the stripes line up, but I am pleased with my first attempt. Only 18 squares left to knit and then on to seams and borders, woo-hoo!

Kendra has been working on faces...Mom and Dad are at the top,
Grandma below with her glasses on. I think the green blobs are earrings :-)

The lesson I learned today is to always measure the width of the quilt as it advances on the longarm. The corollary is that problems do not magically go away over night! I noticed some rippling in the edge of the quilt I'm working on (lovely feathers, if I do say so myself) but I just kept easing it in. Not a good strategy...when I got to the lower border I had way too much excess, so that's when I grabbed the tape measure. I had "eased" about two inches worth along the way. Now I have a date with Mr. Seam Ripper, oh joy. Lots of cliches come to mind - Haste makes waste, primarily!

Ch-Ch-Changes

I hereby resolve that I will not cast on another pair of socks until this blanket is finished! Here are some tricolor squares... I adapted the original two color pattern for three colors. This lets me use up some of my leftover colors without an obvious repeat. I have been avoiding the seaming process, but I need to get started. I'm sure by the time I've done 100 or more seams, it won't be as intimidating!!

There is a water play area near some restaurants over by Grandma and Grandpa's house. We had a fun evening watching Kendra play.

We packed away her crib, here she is in her Big Girl bed:

I think mattresses are bigger these days...the headboard sure seemed taller when I was a kid. I plan to fill the blank wall with some of the beautiful quilts that have been made for her. Daddy will need to use the power tools, I just need to attach the hanging sleeves.

Shopping Report

I needed some supplies and since Cotton Fields closed its doors, I decided to try some fabric and yarn stores closer to home. I didn't see anything that was dying to come home with me. Can you believe it?!?
I got the final border on JudyL's Shine On pattern, and I did manage to find some blue batik 108-inch-wide fabric for the back. It's ready for the longarm as soon as I decide how to quilt it. I don't really want to match all those different colors, so I may try an invisible thread and a feathery pantograph. I think this will be a donation for Quilts of Valor. (The photo looks funny because I edited out all the mess on my nightstands!)

I was hoping to find more yarn for my mitered square blanket. I am using Tahki Cotton Classic, which my LYS didn't have. (Since I hate to leave empty handed I bought some Noro Sock Yarn...pricey, but gorgeous of course!)The blanket is about half done. The non-blocked squares in the center are my "school colors." I desperately wanted to work on this project, but I didn't have any new color combinations, so I alternated the gold and burgundy of Arizona State with my chosen blue background. I might do a patriotic set so there are more "odd ball" squares with multiple colors. Looking at the photo, I see that I definitely need more light/bright colors! And I will switch the placement of the blocks...somehow all the darks ended up on the right, and I won't have the yellows right next to each other.

My brand new project, using only fabric that I have on hand, is the 2009 Block of the Month from Ricky Tims' The Quilt Show website. I loved paper piecing the feathered star center. Some of the squares in the four-patch border came from my first ever quilt project. Only 14 years ago, and they already seem dated! I much prefer bright geometrics to the traditional calico designs. I am trying to stay away from batiks in this one, so that eliminates at least a quarter of my stash.

Catching up

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We visited the new aquarium at the Wildlife World Zoo on New Year's Day. Baby K was *so* hyper! The blurriness is from her jumping up and down in front of the crocodile.There are three buildings with fish, and flamingos outside.The penguins were just standing around. I really wanted one to jump in the water and swim! There is a nice seating area in front of this exhibit, and that kept Baby K contained for a bit and gave us parents a rest from chasing her.We had sushi for dinner. Baby K ate a whole order of edamame by herself!And since I am avoiding the seaming chore on both my TOFU Tee sweater and my pile of afghan squares, I've been making more mitered squares.I am very tempted with new quilting projects...both the Block of the Month at Ricky Tims Quilt Show and Bonnie's Quiltville Mystery. But, since I'm back to school on Monday and have plenty of projects in the works, I am trying to practice some restraint and hopefully get things finished!

Summer Stitchin'

I have over 40 individual miter squares done, so I decided to try seaming them together. This is a project to do a little at a time, rather than all at once! Here is the view from the back...And the front. Not perfect, but once it is all together with many colors, I don't think anyone will take the time to critique the seams! I decided that I need to sew the seams with matching yarn, so I will carry each color up the back so there aren't any alternate colors poking through.
And here are more Quilts of Valor donations. I used pantographs on these to get them done quickly. Pinwheels...
And stars.
Here is some detail of the Linda Taylor feather pantograph that I used. I stitched them with red/white/blue varigated thread, which was perfect for the busy fabric.
No baby pictures today...I'm out of space!

Weekend Round-Up

Baby K loves music, and she has been banging on the piano for about a year now. I think the way she crosses her legs is too adorable!
Occasionally she taps the keys individually. She sings the ABC song continuously these days!
I've been working on miters. If you want details of the colors, please check my Flickr files. It's all Tahki Cotton Classic yarn.I figured out the border on my striped vest. The directions are intimidating because you pick up stitches, then work the rows perpendicular to the body of the sweater. I have two other sweaters that I want to work on, but I'm forcing myself to finish this one first. Such restraint!

New Arrival

Meet our new Kitty Cat, cleverly named K.C. She's a big girl! KC is more social than our other cat Gidget, which is fun for Baby K. There was the typical sibling rivalry - much hissing and growling between the two sister-kitties, but they seem to be working it out. After a three month sock interlude, I've picked up the miter obsession again.
These squares still need to be blocked so they lay flat, but I don't want to leave them out overnight since I don't know if KC is enamored of straight pins like some previous four-legged residents of this house! It's supposed to be warm tomorrow (in the 90s) so I can block them and let them dry on the patio for an hour or so.

Time flies!

Baby K loves her green vegetables! First it was your ordinary green beans and peas...but we have now progressed to broccoli, lettuce, cucumber and asparagus. She has started walking, but came down with another ear infection this week...just days before her scheduled surgery to insert tubes in her ears and get them cleared up! I am hoping the antibiotics work fast so we can get this taken care off. And I'd also prefer not to miss any more school this semester...my students start to panic when they see a sub just days before final exams.

I am about 8% done with my mitered blanket - no, I did not forget the zero! I measured my queen size bed, and my original plan of 144 squares will be just right. Here is the "nested corners" layout that I want to use. And I think there is a holiday coming up, right?!? I dusted off my rubber stamps and got some Christmas cards done while baby K was napping today. I was thisclose to going store-bought this year, but I had delusions of crafting time in October and bought all the stamp supplies. I can't let it go to waste... Someone told me once that the Christmas season lasts until Epiphany, Jan 6th, so at least that gives me some time when school's out to get everything in the mail.

We still have a playpen set up where our Christmas tree goes, so rather than fight with a large tree in a small space, I just got out my Santa collection. Several are Jim Shore figurines, and there are lots of cats too.
I inherited a "dancing hamster" from my grandmother...one of those obnoxious drug store toys...and it has become one of baby K's favorites! She dances along and hugs it to her chest...she can even hum Jingle Bells now. I've got to get her performance on tape. DH and I said our present to each other would be a video camera, and I need to go get it BEFORE Christmas! Maybe I'll brave the mall this weekend.

Miters

I saw my friend Connie today at our LY/QS and she hinted that I should post more pictures of my mitered squares. I am obsessed with this project! I spent my free time this week (while my students were supposedly doing homework - ha!) planning color schemes and calculating sizes and quantites of yarn. I started blocking today:

In this photo you can see my project box too! I'll clear space in the sewing closet for the blocked squares and keep the bits of yarn in the box. I am making sets of 3 of each color scheme. The layout will be similar to the "card trick" quilt pattern...kind of nested corners is the only way I can describe it. I started with the teal and blue (center), then made the blue and white (on the right) and I'm currently working on the rust and blue that you see on the left. I am leaving long tails on the cast on and bind off - theoretically to help me sew all the squares together! Every set will have some blue - either of the two shades you see, plus a navy blue I bought today. I am going to alternate starting with blue or the contrast color.

Daddy and Baby K are enjoying their day off. Too bad we don't have a football game on in the background to complete the holiday portrait!

WIP Wednesday

Did a little bit of sewing today! No photos of the Commission, since sewing six inch squares together doesn't look much different than the layout of the fabric I showed last time!

I finally dug into my copy of Mason Dixon Knitting. I started with a Ballband Dishcloth. If I had more time, everyone would be getting these for Christmas! Fun to knit and QUICK. My gift idea was to tuck them inside coffee mugs. Maybe next year!!

Then, I knit my first miter! Another fun quick knit. Although getting enough squares for a whole blanket may take years...And Baby K got some quality cuddles with Grandpa tonight:

When I made my project list last weekend, I forgot a few things. I am going to put together a t-shirt quilt for my aunt, and I am quilting some table runners for my mom. I have Monday off (Veteran's Day) so I hope to be at the longarm most of the day. The table runners should be easy enough to get done in a day.