Camp Loopy – progress

  Yes it’s a Camp Loopy Progress report.  I’ve been knitting like a mad woman on my scarf – not because I’m afraid I won’t get it done in time but because it’s fun to work on and I absolutely LOVE how it’s turning out in the yarns I’m using.

(and yes I had to post the Camp Loopy button image again cause it just makes me smile to see a sheep in socks roasting marshmallows!) :-)

   When I got to the second area where there’s a lot of gray shades, I did break the yarn, take out some of the gray, and restart farther towards the end of the gray because I wanted to get  back to more brighter colors.  I’m already wondering what might be ahead for the next Camp Loopy project but will have to wait till the end of the month to find out.

 

 

And if that wasn’t enough knitting – that purple and multicolored sock yarn I posted a photo  of a couple days ago — well I’ve been knitting on those socks on the bus ride to and from work the last couple days and here’s where I am on those — I like the way this yarn is knitting up.

UFO Challenge ran amuck

Some how I managed to run amuck with my UFO challenge projects.  I was way behind – but I’ve caught up a bit finishing a couple when I was recently on vacation.  But today Judy posted the number of the project we should be working on in June — lucky number 12.  But the thing is I already finished lucky number 12. LOL

I think I mess up in March and instead of doing number 10 – which was the March project – I remembered it wrong when I went to start working on it and actually pulled number 12 (well at least I pulled one that was a two digit number starting with 1 — close right??) LOL

So here’s where things currently stand:

January was #5 – Frozen Delights  – It’s finished (see before and after photo below)

I added the final border and then quilted and bound it.

February was #1  –  the Texas Hill Country quilt. — Needs to be quilted and I haven’t started on it yet.

Then March was number 8 – Just Butterflies.

 

I added the outer border

and quilted it.  The binding is sewn on the edge but it hasn’t been pinned to the back or hand stitched yet.  That will get done one of these evenings.

April – #10 – Prairie flowers — this is where I messed up on my number so nothing has been done yet.  I still want to find the right fabric to add a final border on this one.

    May was Pinwheel Posy — It just needed to be quilted and I did that in the last week or so too so that one is quilted and bound and done!

And then there’s number 12 for June – Wacky Hearts – which I quilted a couple weeks ago and got the binding done so it’s already finished.  So now I’ll have to go back and work on the Texas quilt – but need to restock the batting supply first since there’s only smaller pieces left — and take Prairie Flowers to the quilt shop to see if I can find some border fabric for it.

Just Butterflies

is now quilted, the green stripe binding is attached  but not pinned to the back yet.

 So just the pinning and the hand stitching left to do.  That will be three tops out of the top stash and finsihed for the donation pile in as many days.  Too bad I can’t keep up that pace all the time. LOL

Ran an errand, made some choc. chip cookies and a bowl of cold tuna pasta salad so I have something for lunch tomorrow.

Made quite a bit more progress on my Camp Loopy scarf which  is looking lovely but I haven’t taken a new photo of it yet.

Also need to start a new pair of socks but can’t decide what pattern I want to use.  But I did find these two yarns laying side by side in one of the plastic tubs.  They look like I specifically bought them to go together but I don’t think that was case.  But I think I will be making some socks with the solid color for the heels and toes.

  But time to go relax for a while with a latte and flip through a few sock book patterns to see if I want to try a new pattern or use some tried and true pattern I know I like.

Tuesday’s Plan

I’m off to a slow start this morning putzing with things here and there.  But I’m about to head into the sewing room to see if I can’t get the quilting done on Just Butterflies.

In the meantime, finished the binding on the western fabric quilt so it’s all done and headed to the quilt donation pile.

Monday’s Quilting Progress

I didn’t realize it was already approaching 9 p.m. and no one has made me dinner yet!  I really need to hire me a cook for when I’m on vacation since I tend not to want to stop what I’m doing to bother to cook. LOL  I think its popcorn for dinner tonight.

Today I pulled out the Just Butterflies quilt top, pieced the backing and started quilting on it.  I would probably have it all quilted by now and be working on the binding except for the storms this afternoon.  The golf ball size hail missed us as did the 70 mph winds.  But there was lots of ugly sky and lots of lightening so I unplugged my machine for a couple hours while the storms went through.  We ended up with a nice rain – a bit heavy for a little while but not bad and none of the damages that other areas not far away were getting.

So tomorrow, hopefully, I’ll get the quilting finished on that quilt and get the binding attached.  Which will mean another Quilt from the Crate is out of the crate and this one was also one of the past month’s UFO challenge quilts that I didn’t previously get finished so I’ll be one step closer to gettting caught up on the UFO challenge project finishes.

Here’s one corner of the quilt.   There’s a feather design in the outer border.  The sashing, cornerstones, and then the framing around each butterfly are all stitched in the ditch and then there’s some antennae and just some meandering around the butterflies.  It will be another quilt to add to the donation pile.

During the storms I also got about half the binding hand sewn down on the western quilt  – lest you think I was just fritterin away the time. :-)

Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day.  I was just thinking this morning how much I used to hate Memorial Day.  Why?  Because I was in the grade school and high school band — that itself wasn’t the problem but on Memorial Day we would visit the cemeteries for the memorial programs and the band would play — five or six little towns — but the many stops wasn’t the problem either.  However, the WOOL band uniforms in May WAS a problem.  It never failed to either rain on us (not great when in a wool uniform) or get really hot.  Goodness I hated those summer events when the band would play or be in a parade. LOL

The design at left is one I’m still playing with – Twisted Star – it’s sort of a spin off (no pun intended) of my Pinwheel Posey design.

Yesterday as another busy quilting day.  I completed the quilting on the western themed fabric lap quilt, made the binding and added that.  I still have to hand stitch the binding down but here’s what it looks like (it actually is a square quilt but I had to stick two pins in the upper corners to get it to stay on the design wall so it looks off kilter).

Yes – there are a whole lot of western and Texas themed fabrics in that quilt  — way more scrappy looking than I usually do but I wanted to use all those fat quarters  we swapped together.  It will be a donation quilt for a charity when it’s done.

Center part is just meandered with stars and loops.

I’ll save the binding to stitch one of these nights so think today I’ll pull about another one to get layered and ready to quilt.

I may also need to do a little bit of baking today – my freezer seems to be overrun again by bananas —  banana bread, cake, muffins – don’t know what it will be yet but need to get some  of those bananas made into something.

I also managed to finally finish off another pair of socks last night.

  I was looking for the sock blockers to put them on to take the photo but the sock blockers – which are always laying around somewhere other than they belong — seem to be no where at all.  I must have “put them away” somewhere safe but for the life of me I haven’t been able to find them yet.  They’ll turn up one of these days but you’d think that since they are big and red they wouldn’t be able to disappear! LOL   This is pair of socks  number 11 of my 12 in 2012 challenge!  Hmmmm… maybe I need to change it to 20 in 2012. ;-)

Today’s Quilting Project

  Here’s a corner of the quit top I pulled out of the crate to work on today.  This is just a largish lap quilt size that will be a charitable donation quilt.  It is made from fabrics that were swapped while attending a Romp in Texas Hill Country – a TQP retreat at the T Bar M Ranch, New Braunfels, Texas.  One of the swapw we did there was a fat quarter swap of Texas and western themed fabrics so I cut them up to make this scrappy quilt.  I pulled together a couple pieces of blue fabrics to make the backing – one being the horeshoe and flower print used in the quilt blocks – and pieced a backing for it and got it layered this morning. 

I’ve now got about a quarter of the center of the top quilted and the gold border stitched in the ditch.  The center is just quilted with meandering loops and stars in a gold thread.  Hmmm… can I get this one all quilted and binding attached so I can hand stitch on it tonight?  Maybe, I don’t know for certain…. but I do know for certain that it’s way past lunch time and I’m hungry so time for a break!

Stashbusting Report 5/27 and Camp Loopy update

Well that’s truly annoying – apparently wordpress is up to it’s old tricks of deleting text and images and sending out a blank post.  So let’s try this again! :-(

 First – Pinwheel Posey is is finally completed  – binding finished and all.  Not only was it my May UFO Challenge project but it is also one of the Quilts from the Crate so now I’ve got I think 5 of the tops from that crate pulled out and finished — tho many more to go.

 

Only 1/2 yard used this week for binding so 30 yarrds purchased YTD; 41.75 used; net busted 10.75. 

 Then  there was the start of Camp Loopy at 12:01 a.m. and of course I was still up so got started on my project and worked on it for oh about three movies worth of time. LOL

I wasn’t sure if my choice of Zauberball yarn would look good in the scarf – I was afraid the transition from color to color would be more abrupt but as you can see in the scarf photo – it’s turning out so pretty.  As it transitions to the next shade, both colors are twisted together for a while so it moves gradually from shade to shade.  I absolutely love it.

 

 

 

 

 

And a follow up on “this and that”…

Although I didn’t take a photo  of it – the sock I posted yesterday that I was ready to turn the heel on ….. the heel is turned, the decreases all done, and I’m on what I consider the “straightaway”  the main part of the foot which just plain old knitting  until I get to the toe decreases.  I love it when I get to that point, you know you in the home stretch.

I should easily get this pair finished before the end of the month but tonight (well actually tomorrow at 12:01 a.m.) is the official start of Camp Loopy and we can start on our first project.  You KNOW I will be up knitting at that time and probably straight on through the late late late movie and into the morning news! :-)  I usually stay up till midnight on week nights but on the weekends – and especially since I’m on vacation – I stay up much later. I’m really anxious to see how the yarn I got works for the wedges in the Spectra scarf.

The Pinwheel Posey quilt I posted a photo of yesterday …. that two has made great progress.  The quilting is finished, the binding is attached and I’ve got it probably half hand stitched down this afternoon.  So I’ll get that finished off tonight I think.  Here it is with the binding pinned on and just kind of stuck to the design wall — the weight of it meant I had to snap a quick photo before it decided to fall off the wall.

  Tomorrow I’ll decide what will get layered to quilt next.  Plenty to choose from.

A little of this and a little of that…

That’s what today has been for me.  Some cleaning, several loads of laundry, I pulled yarn from the various containers it was stored in to consolidate it into the under the bed roller storage containers I got.  I still have a basket or two  to go through but that is mostly scarves and socks in progress that needs to be straighted out so they will go in a smaller storage tub with their pattern so I don’t lose it or use the yarn for something else thinking it is leftovers.  And then there’s a box of needles, stitchholders, stitch markers and who knows what other little gadgets that need to find a home and be sorted out.

Also made some progress on the current sock.

  I now have the heel flap made and I’m ready to turn it.  I was hoping to get this one done before Camp Loopy started  (sunday night at midnight) but don’t know if that will happen.

My project is all ready for Camp Loopy  so I can begin knitting like the wind to get that scarf done but it should go pretty quickly. And as I’m on vacation (and it’s the Monday holiday anyway) I could start knitting at the stroke of midnight on Sunday night if I wanted.

There was also a bit of quilting.  I couldn’t decide how I wanted to quilt Pinwheel Poseys so just did a meander  in light gray thread (which is one of the colors in the black background fabric).  I’ve only got about a quarter of it left to do.  So if all goes according to plan, tomorrow I’ll be attaching the binding and get it finished off before the end of the month.