Uh, spring?

Everyone says that the Gathered Pullover is a quick knit. I suppose it's relative. Nearly halfway (all the easy part behind me ;-). Now for neck & sleeves:

In KnitPick's Telemark, Colonial Blue.


So, did somebody say Spring? It's turning out to be a wild spring. Here's the contrast.

March 30th (temp obviously around freezing):


April 13th (temp yesterday was in the 70s):


Max loves him some dandelions. They're his favorite. Whenever anyone mentions dealing with weeds, he says "but not the dandelions! They're my favorite flower!". I fully expect to see him out there with a "Save the Dandelions" sign, picketing in front of the dandelions while Dad approaches with the weed killer.

And just to wrap up the updates, a couple of blankies for the Sather kids. Their new baby boy, just born Thursday, gets this one. Yep, those square are minky, and it's backed with satin. Hooboy, won't be doing that combo again any time soon, unless I have amnesia. Fuzzy, slippery, annoying. But oh sooooo soft.

While big sis gets a little something too. Cotton on the front, striped minky on the back. Very pink.


Other than that, the twin obsessions continue: Democratic primary, Indian movies. Netflix says I've rented 27 altogether, starting in April '06. Longest streak: 14 in a row (December through March, nuthin' but Indian movies :-).

Auction Project 2 - Sun Print Quilt - Check

Another year, another class auction project for The Little School. This time, a quilt (one of my specialities!). The kids did sun prints on fabric, some of us moms turned them into attic window blocks (thanks Aimee and Monika), I put it all together, and the moms and I tied it (thanks again, Monika and Aimee!).


I think it turned out fun with the bright batiks. What do you think?


Hmm. I must be over the blahs...

Pathetic Blog Break

Sorry for the radio silence here. Been busy? Isn't everyone this time of year? I have very few projects to show for it too, but here's what's been up on the project front:

• Christmas cards - done! And arriving soon! It was fun to do them all a little bit different this year, although it took longer. Cool paper, and cool cutout designs, plus a little ribbon I had laying around for some, and my famous Crop-a-dile for eyelets on some. Maybe I'll post a couple of pictures of my favorites.
• School auction quilt - finally, finally, finally!, got all the sun-print fabric squares back from all the kids. I now have a complete set of 12 squares, ready to sew up. 2 Moms have volunteered to help piece, one has her row back to me, one I expect any day now. Taking Thursday & Friday off this week, so I should have time to work on them then, or on Saturday's DOS.
• Knitting - not much! Ordered enough yarn for Juno (Estelle Alpaca Cashmere Tweed - super yummy, and it went on sale at Ram Wools), but still don't have the pattern, so no progress there. Finished up Teri's backpack (picture coming soon) and sent it off as a Christmas present (oops, just spoiled that non-surprise). Cast on, frogged, and cast on again for a wrap for me (Cozy in Nashua Julia, Velvet Moss). Not really thrilled with the lace pattern for this - I just want a simple rectangular wrap to keep at work and keep me warm. Maybe I'll be lucky & get a stitch dictionary for Christmas and I can find the perfect easy lace for my own custom wrap.
• Sewing (or rather, altering) - ordered some cord pants from Lands End, which fit well in length & hips, but sadly are saggy in the waist (i.e., falling down!). Trying to alter them to fit my waist (starting with the super-on-sale, can't return, green ones ;-). I hate sewing clothes. And altering is almost worse. The green ones are unpicked, ready to take in. Definitely need to take these to DOS for a consult with the master sewers there.

Hey - very cool idea on Chef Messy's blog - all homemade Christmas. Whattdya say, Robertsons - up for that next year?

Birthday shout outs to Lisa & Jana

Happy Birthday to Lisa (today!) and Jana (was Wednesday!). Hope it's a good year for both of you.

I always think of Hawaii when I think of Jana now, because she got married there several years ago. So here's a Hibiscus for her to remind her of the islands:

The pinkish hue isn't just the picture (although it's a little darker in the picture than in real life). Taking an idea from shadow trapunto, I layered a bright pink fabric behind a nice white to give it a little pink flavor. Seemed like fun.

And Lisa loves roses (and other flowers) so I thought I'd send her a bouquet of them (cut from the rose fabric I used for her book several years ago):

Also for Lisa, another cool, cozy, comfy bamboo hat. Same yarn (different colorway), same needles as the blue hat, made-up pattern:

Now I ask you, do you see any purple in the colors in this hat? Nor did I. But when I washed it in cold water and then let it air dry, these annoying purple stripes appeared at the folds. What? Where did that come from? Wandering dye, I suppose. Washed again, inside out this time, and dried without folds (over a glass column), and the stripes on the outside were gone, but remained on the inside and at the bottom, just fainter. I've instructed Lisa not to dry this near anything light, for fear of future purple stripes. Wacky.

Falling behind

I've got more projects than I can shake a stick at right now. Stay tuned for:
- Max the blueberry
- A couple more hats
- Some mini-quilt surprises
- A mesh-knit backpack that Teri requested

I think that's all that's on the needles or queued for the sewing machine. Now get back to work!

Yet more quiltlets

This one for Jody for her birthday - hint: they're supposed to be roses:

This one for Nona's going-away prezzie:

A little too much contrast on this photo, but it's a white, wholecloth with trapunto, about 12x12 inches. When Nona found out I quilted, she piped up, hey I've always wanted a trapunto purse! Well, it's not a purse, but it's trapunto. Had to get some technique books from the library for this project:

Exploring Machine Trapunto: http://www.amazon.com/Exploring-Machine-Trapunto-New-Dimensions/dp/1571200436/ref=pd_sim_b_img/002-6354799-3062452

More Celtic Quilting: http://www.amazon.com/More-Celtic-Quilting-Gail-Lawthor/dp/0715316931/ref=sr_1_5/002-6354799-3062452?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188357090&sr=1-5

Whitework Quilting: http://www.amazon.com/Whitework-Quilting-Techniques-Designing-Wholecloth/dp/0974470600/ref=pd_sim_b_pop_title/002-6354799-3062452

So ugly it's cute, or just plain ugly?

So, I got this yarn. It's a little homely. Just a funny color combination (what looks grey in the picture is really olive-y/dusty green, then there's that mustard yellow and rosy pink). But it was $3/ball at Ben Franklin, and I was tempted. I think it's so ugly, it's cute, but others have their doubts. What do you think?

I'm using it anyway (it's Skacel's Schulana SuperCotton), to make into this: Elisa's Nest Tote. I think it's turning out great. The yarn is fun and stretchy and oh, the wild color combo. Wacky!

Oh, and did I mention that I went back and bought the rest of the balls they had (only 6). Not to mention, I'd also bought two backup yarns, in case I didn't like that one.
Hmm. I think I officially have a "stash" problem now. AKA, big useless piles o' yarn waiting to be made into something. Plus, too many projects on the needles. Max's hoodie is waiting for me to figure out if I've messed up the sleeves. Then I'll get going again. I've given up on the felted bag for now, cause if you do combined knitting, and you knit in the round, you end up twisting stitches all over the place. Yick. So, I went to "regular" knitting and it's slower and frustrating. So, sitting on the needles, gathering dust, until I decide that I should just knit it flat and seam it.

Aside from that, some more quilted postcards. One for Teri:
And one that I think I'll keep:

We've been busy making stuff this summer! Here's a snap of Max relaxing after a hard day of berry picking and jam making.

This batch set up. Yay!

Trip to Boise and Yet More Postcard Quilts

We had a grand visit in Boise at the end of June. Max sure enjoyed his cousins. Here they are gathering candy from the pinata at Fiona's b-day party.

Here's some sprinkler action in Whitney's backyard:

And here are Brooke & Max enjoying some popsicles on Grammy & Pop's back porch. Yum!

I think Max thought we should spend the whole summer there. Nothing but fun!

I thought this was a nice shot of Mackenzie...

And Diane indulged me in my need to make jam. Yum again. Too bad it didn't set up, it's more like strawberry sauce. Hmm.

I'm still enjoying whipping up little postcard (well, a little bigger) quilts. I made one for Colin for Father's Day and made this one for Mom for her birthday:

And Max's blue hoodie sweater is coming along nicely - got the back done, most of the front, and then I'll tackle my first-ever sleeves & hood! Should be fun.

Quilted postcard

It's Max's last week of school, and we wanted to give his teacher a thank-you gift. Monetary things aren't allowed, and we couldn't think of anything she needed for the classroom, so I was stuck for a while. But then, brainstorming with a pal at work, I suddenly realized, what about a thank-you quilted postcard? Yeah, I could do that! Here's what I did with some fabrics, thread, and beads from my stash, plus some photos I printed onto fabric with our Ink Jet printer. Not bad, eh? Recognize the picture? Just couldn't resist, it was so darn cute!

I'm really pleased with how the trees above blend into the fabric. Lucky I had this gorgeous green stuff in the stash. And I like the contrast with the blue on the back. Like the "stamp"? It's a picture from Max's first day at school, in front of his new cubby.

The fun rainbow variegated thread really pulled it all together. And it only took about 3 hours to assemble! Printed the photos and text, cut the fabrics, stitched the photos and text onto each piece of fabric individually (with some interfacing underneath to stabilize) added some stitching to highlight the arches in the picture on the front, sandwiched with some batting, and stitched around the edge. That was 2 hours, then quick random loopy quilting around the border from the top side for a little interest, plus machine-beading with as little help from Max as I could manage, and it was done (1 more hour, he watched some video about firefighters for the first half hour, then tried to "help" for the second).

Hmm. I think I should make all my quilts this size from now on. It's a very satisfying process - zip, bam, done. Just the design work and a little assembly, not all that repetition that you need for something meant to actually cover a bed. Very fun. I highly recommend the postcard quilt for a quick hit of quilting when the need strikes.