Change of plans

That yarn I previously posted had to be put aside for something different.  The sock pattern I wanted to try called for a bit more than was on that skein so didn’t wnat to take the chance on running out.  So here’s the new socks started.  I’ve got tons of this sock yarn since I think I originally bought it for a little shawl or scarf or something since there’s many little skeins of it in the stash.

You can kind of see the elongated stitches between the rib that makes the pattern.  Pretty easy pattern to remember so it’s moving along nicely even tho it’s done on smaller needles than I usually use for my socks.

Here’s the Continuous Chain all quilted.

It ended up with a Snow /snowman print on the back.  Binding is all pinned in place so I just need to get it hand stitched to the back.

The meatloaf and roasted potatoes in the oven are smelling good – time to get that asparagus going.  Yummm — a real meal for a change.

Denise

Design Wall Monday

Finally, something up on the design wall.  This is Continuous Chain BOM and my center blocks are all done and ready to start sewing rows.

 

A friend and I had been talking about all those little left over bits of yarn that get scattered around in various baskets, bags and other containers and just get tangled up.  I’ve got lots of them from socks I’ve made, but what to do with them?  Then I remembered this.

  It’s a large green (tho the flash doesn’t really show that it’s green) Ball Mason jar.  So I spent an evening untangling those left over sock yarns and making little balls out of them to fill the jar.  It represents somewhere between 15 to 20 pairs of socks I’ve made.  And it even serves a purpose, other than just holding the balls since the whole thing is a lamp my Dad made for me.

The lamp and table really are not on a slant — just the camera when I took the picture.  But until I decide to make something out of all those leftovers, (I’ve got some christmas ornaments planned for them – little socks and hats), they are all nicely contained.

I’ve also been working on a holiday themed project but I’m sort of tired of red and green and prefer Christmas themed quilts that aren’t necessarily in traditional colors.  The colors in this one remind me of a frosty morning.  It’s not done yet, but time to find some dinner!

Denise

Knit Along Progress

The sock knit along continues to progress, albeit slowly the latter part of this week since I had some other things I needed to work on too.  But I’ve been busy knitting on a couple of projects.

  Here’s the knit along socks.  The heel has been finished and the decreases done so now I can move along on  the rest of the foot.  These will be for me so they may get pushed aside a bit to finish off another pair in progress that is for a gift.

Most of this week I’ve been busy knitting on my large Booga Bag.   I finished the bag part last night and just have the I-cord for the drawstring to complete.  I started the I-cord last night but have many more feet of it to go.  Here’s the bag and the I-cord will be the same color as the bottom of the bag.  Right now the bag, when laying flat, measures about 22″ wide and 14″ long to where the base of the bag starts.  I remembered to measure it this time so I can see how much it shrinks when it is felted.

So the plans for the weekend – at least at this point – finish off a sock in progress, the I-Cord so I can get this bag felted, put the drawstring through the prior smaller felted bag, and start on a new bag for a gift.  I’m also hoping to get some  quilting time in, start on the pattern instructions for Christmas Charm, and I’ve been working on another design for next year’s BOM project. WHEW! I’m tired already.  Then there’s the mundane projects like cleaning and it’s about time to pull out some of the winter clothes since the temps have taken a dive – but I hate the having to switch the wardrobe around so may wait on that a bit longer. 🙂

The November Continuous chain instructions are now available – see the right sidebar.  Next month, the final instructions will be posted for that BOM.

But the immediate plans for tonight, plug in a movie, find some dinner, and do some knitting.

Denise

Design Wall Monday

I was thinking I had nothing to show today since I’m working on sections of blocks for Continuous Chain.  But then remembered – no I did finish a couple of blocks that I stuck up on the wall.  So here they are…

  The blocks should multiply quicky now if I get some time to sew since I have all the sections made and ready to go.

I also finished a new sock this weekend.

  But it was a nail biter at the end.  This particular yarn usually uses one skein per sock but I was afraid I was going to run short.  There’s only about 3 yards of yarn left over! WHEW! Just made it.  And I was good – started it’s mate right away since I need these for a Christmas gift so can’t procrastinate on getting the second one done.

A little bit of sewing and knitting

Finally, I’ve had a little time to sew.  So I’ve been working on these.

These are blocks for the border of Continuous Chain.

My little featherweight was happy to  be humming along once again.

 

 

 

And a new sock has been started.

  I love this yarn.  Its from Pigeonroof Studios and the colorway is Ghost Orchid.  Light tans, gray and purple.  Love the way the sock is knitting up.  The flash has washed it out a little but it’s going to be a gorgeous pair of socks.  They may end up in the Christmas gift pile.

My Continuous Chain

I finally got the fabrics scanned in for my  second Continuous Chain quilt and have been working on that.   Here’s the fabrics I will be using.

If I use the dark green as my Fabric 1 in the original layout (where the darkest brown is) and the Paisley as the dark in my second combination (Fabric 3), I get this look

  It looks very much like the Continuous Chain cover page — with the dark green chains making a continuous design.  What I don’t like about this one – the aqua/white mini print looks a bit too “hey look at me” in the border.  The scan of the fabric is a bit brighter than in reality but it’s still trying to be the center of attention in the border.  And overall this version is just a bit too  “dark green” for what I want.

That paisley fabric is my favorite.  So, if I switch the paisley to fabric 1, aqua to fabric 2, dark green 3, little green print 4, I get a totally different look.

  The dark green draws your eye to more of a diagonal line than continuous chain, but I like the way the colors are spread though this — a softer look to it and shows off more of the paisley.  But in this one, not quite enough of that aqua color – I think there needs to be a bit of it in one of those borders.   Hmmmmmm…. so I came up with a third choice.

  I swapped out a paisley fabric border and put the aqua in it’s place and added aqua binding.  I think those additions balance the aqua out a bit better and I know I’ve got an extra piece of the aqua in case I need it. So coloring three it is. 

The reason I want to have the paisley more visible – other that I love paisley – is this quilt will be for my bed – imagine that!  But look how lovely that paisley looks against my headboard.  I love it!

Saturday Sewing

Well, once again I haven’t gotten to any sewing yet today.  It’s a Quilting Post PJ party weekend (a weekend a month we set side to try to spend sewing (in pjs optional) and chatting about what we’re working on).  Tho I didn’t stay in my PJs to sew sinice I went out to weed my little garden plot early this morning — didn’t want to scare the neighbors with me in my pjs!  But then got sidetracked as usual playing with an EQ design I was working on.  

This is what a single block looks like.  It’s square here but is actually set as a rectangular block in the design below. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I lightened the background color – which I like better – but look what happens when you set them together.  I love the secondary designs it creates – some of them looking curvy even though it’s all straight seams.  And some great open areas for quilting.   There’s still some tweaking to be done  – like the pieced border area looks a bit heavy for the airy design of the rest of it – so will have to work on that a bit.  Any name suggestions for this one? Nothing has come to me yet. 🙂

 I did get some sewing done last night on Continous Chain.  Here’s one group of blocks all done.

Now I can start on the alternate blocks.  Although I love the fabrics I picked, I think this one won’t have the same look as my original design since I don’t have as much value difference in what I chose for the light and dark shades of my blues and reds.  It will still be a pretty quilt, and the patriotic colored fabrics will be great since it will go to a fund raiser for the Flag Day Musuem, yet it won’t have the same play between the lights and darks that the original drawing does.  Be sure to check out Continous Chain in the right side bar. This BOM starts the first Saturday in July — I’ve already spied some fabrics in the stash that I think will look more like the original – better value between lights and darks so hope to get this one finished off soon so I’m ready to start on the second one and sew along with those who join in the BOM.

Design Wall Monday

Here’s what’s on the design wall today – pieces of Continuous Chain.  It’s a bad blurry photo but I’m too lazy to go take another  – got more sewing to do instead. 🙂

Continuous Chain BOM – Revised Yardage and Cutting Instructions Now Available

Click the link on the right sidebar for Continuous Chain to get the new file I just loaded.  The yardage estimate by EQ is a little different than the final yardage based on my cutting instructions – some fabrics a bit more, some a bit less – due to how I chose to piece things.  For instance, the pieced border was drawn so that it’s all half square triangles. I don’t know about you, but I can do WITHOUT having to make 288 of those darn things. 🙂  So I changed up how some sections will be pieced (like all those HSTS) to get the same look, but I think that accounts for the yardage discrepancies. 

Attached to the revised yardage you will also find the cutting chart so have at it! You can get all your fabrics cut and you’ll be ready to start sewing come July 3.

Continuous Chain – answers to questions

I’ve gotten several emails with questions regarding the Continuous Chain BOM starting July 3 so thought I’d answer them here in case anyone else has the same questions.

First – remember those yardage requirements which are currently posted (click on the “Yardage Requirements” words at the very bottom of the Continuous Chain page to open the link for download) are “preliminary”.  They are the requirements automatically figured by EQ.    EQ puts a square around each piece in the design  and figures out the yardage in connection with that information.  However, depending on how the blocks are actually pieced, the yardage requirements may change a bit.  Final yardage numbers will be updated by June 1, after I finish writing the directions and sit down with my trusty calculator to figure out how many pieces I can get from a strip, how many strips are needed and multiply all that out.   So the yardage that’s posted can help you start shopping your stash but you may want to wait until final requirements are posted before shopping just to make sure you don’t run short on anything.  Check back June 1 for the final yardage.

Question: Can the quilt be done scrappy.  Answer – perhaps.  I think you could definitely use a more scrappy look for the backgrounds – several lights that are all similar in color.  The dark chains are what stand out the most throughout the quilt. If there’s too much color/shade variance in those chains, or other sections, then that design may not stand out.  It’s not to say you won’t end up with a beautiful quilt, but if you want a quilt that looks similar to the image shown, it would be better to stick with fewer fabrics I think.

Question:  Will yardage be provided for a scrappy version.  Answer: no.  You’ll have to adjust things on your own if you want scrappy.  It takes many hours to write up a quilt pattern and there’s so many projects I want to do I just don’t have the time to offer all of them in multiple versions.

Question: Will the quilt be offered in more than one size.  Answer: No – again it’s much more work to refigure yardage, write instructions, etc. for multiple sizes.  You can easily leave blocks off the design or add more but you’ll have to make those adjustments on your own.

Question: Will the EQ6 file be available for download.  Answer: No, this quilt be only be offered only in pdf format instructions.

Questions: I’d like to make the quilt as a Christmas gift – will all the instructions be done by then or can I get them early.  Answer: Don’t count on it being completed.  I’ve just started writing instructions so haven’t figured out the exact number of months it will take but preliminary plans are that the final installment will be posted in December but no promises.  Also, while I plan to post a new set of instructions the first Saturday of each month, you never know when life will get in the way.  Work, family, friends, unexpected events can all affect the schedule.  Instructions will not be emailed to any individually, early, or a past block someone has missed after it has been taken down.  It simply takes far too much time to deal with special requests, which I’m sure you can understand.

Questions:  What if I want to use an Easy Angle ruler or one of the other methods for making HSTs other than the method I list in the general directions.  Answer: you can.  But keep in mind you may need to adjust your yardage to accommodate the method you wish to use and you will probably not want to precut everything until you figure out which strips, etc. are used for the HSTs so you can switch that to your method and required measurements.  While I love using the Easy Angle ruler for making HSTs myself, it’s easier to write directions for a group of quilters using the method I listed in the general directions since not everyone has that specific ruler.

I think I’ve answered all the questions received so far.  If I missed anything you asked please send me another email.

Denise