Saturday stuff

Well I haven’t gotten to any sewing today – spent the better part of the day on the Ravelry.com site looking at patterns.  If you knit or crochet and haven’t checked out their site, check it out.  It’s free and there’s all kinds of patterns available for free or to buy the download.  Places to add your own project photos, keep track of your yarn stash, create your own library of patterns you want to try rather than have to search them out again … all kinds of great stuff.  No affiliation … just great stuff!  I’ve found a scarf pattern to get started on later tonight that should be quick to make.  The cold weather has definitely put me in a knitting mode.  I’m anxiously awaiting a yarn and pattern order for a pullover sweater – well, make that two yarn orders since there’s some sock yarn coming from another place along with some other lovely yarns that clicked their way into my shopping cart.

The last two of my Booga type bags have been felted and are now drying.  I crocheted a little flower and then felted it and it turned out very cute.  I’ll post photos once everything is all dry.  I think it will be an embellishment on something.  I knit the leftover wool scraps into a little case for my sunglasses to slip into, which I think felted to the correct size.  I crocheted it rather than knit (quicker) but it looks the same felted as the knit items.  Another rectangle I knit that I’m going to attempt putting a zipper in and sewing the sides on as a little cosmetic bag to go in my booga bag.

Tho I didn’t get to any sewing, check out what Peggy, a member of The Quilting Post made.  It’s my Stacked Spools pattern which you can find in the sidebar.  She did it all in flannels – I can just image how snuggly warm it must be.  Just lovely, Peggy!  thanks for letting me share the photo.

  She’s much speedier than I am – mine still needs it’s final plain border.  I had run out of fabric but found one that will work so need to get it on and get it quilted.

But for now, time to snuggle under a cozy quilt (dang it’s cold outside) and do some knitting.

Denise

A Cruel Joke

Darn that Mother Nature. It had been raining for two days so I was glad when I got up to hear it was not raining.  But this is what met me when I opened the door. Yuck. I really don’t need any more snow this year even if it was all gone by the time I got home.  Bet those tulips are not happy they  were poking up their heads.

It’s been a busy week of quilting.  I’ve got the auction quilt layered and started quilting on it last Sunday.  I’ve been working on it about two hours each night and have about a quarter of it quilted.  It’s about 80″ square so a whole lot of quilt be be wrestling with on my machine but since it’s basically a large four block quilt, it makes it a bit easier to quilt in quarters.  I had a piece of backing in the stash in a green tone on tone which coordinated nicely sinnce there’s greens on the front but after I got it all pin basted discovered one edge was not straight and I had to add a piece of one edge’s corner.  However, a strategically placed lable should cover the addition so the seam won’t show.  I’m hoping to get all the quilting finished this weekend.

I also started a new sock after having to send the burgundy socks I was working on back to a time out for the second time.  First I had made them too big, so ripped the foot back to the heel.  Reknit them but when I got to the toe decreases, forgot to rearrange my stitches so I have way too many stitches for the bottom of the toe as compared to the top. Drat, this pair of socks is a pain!  Operator error again so I need to rip out the decrease rows and redo them.  I’m definitely getting use of this yarn knitting and ripping and reknitting.  So started a second pair till I feel like ripping the burgundy ones back yet again.

So this new pair is a pattern from the Little Book of Socks called Faceted Rib Socks.  Slipped stitches in the rows make a neat pattern plus it’s just a really easy stitch pattern to remember.  I love this yarn,the fall colors are so pretty – it’s Debbie’s Autumn Joy, Loopy Legends.

 

 

 

Remember the Stacked Spools project posted for NQD -here’s Janet P’s finished top done in just three fabrics.  It turned out great Janet!

  Anyone else have a photo to share?

Stacked Spools Top

Here’s my Stacked Spools so far.  Needs the final plain border added once I buy more of that fabric.

 

 

 

 

 

And here’s the latest socks finished (and on my feet!) 🙂 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next on the sewing agenda for today, the auction quilts.  So I’d better get busy.

Denise ~ Justquiltin

Design Wall Monday

Here’s what’s on the design wall today.  Stacked Spools center with the pieced borders stuck up there.  I need to make the plain borders yet that go between quilt top and pieced border.

More Mini Spools

Whew – nearly done – 73 spools done.  8 more to go – forgot I need some with black centers and then I can get started sewing the border rows together.

Stashbusting and such

It was a good stashbusting week – fabric used and none purchased – so I’m slowing creeping upward in using the stash.

8 yds used this week.  Purchased YTD 78.5; used YTD 66; Net: 12.5 used

 

The fabric used was for Stacked Spools which I worked on yesterday.  Since I cut one whole section wrong I had to rethink the minispool border in order not to run out of fabric.  So here’s what my quilt will end up looking like with the adjusted border  So I’m hoping to get all the little spools in the border pieced today.

 

I also was working on these socks last night.   Isn’t that a pretty color – sort of a springy Easter egg blue.

And speaking of Spring – yesterday’s snow is nearly gone but look who I found outside this morning.

  My first robin spotting but it’s a bit iffy showing up in Wisconsin in March.  That tall orange stick in front of him should have been a warning since it marks where the sidewalks are so  they can find them to plow if they are covered with snow.  If he were smart he’d wait until those are removed but one good thing about yesterday’s little snow – look the grass is starting to turn green!  No more snow please.

Stacked Spools – the finale

 Here’s my center Stacked Spools all laid out on the design wall.  The final installment has been added to the links.  Now I’ve got to do some figuring on my mini spool border.  Someone (namely ME) cut the last round of my logs for the log cabin block a 1/4″ short!! Oh the horror of it all.  So now, not sure I’ll have enough of the fabric I wanted for the mini spools so will have to put some creativity to work to figure out how I want to solve that problem.  You’d think I’d be able to follow my own directions. 🙂  Oh well, it willl all work out.  Janet P is moving right along.  Here’s her log cabin spool.

Stacked Spools – Block Style 3 – Mini Border Spools

The third installment for the mini border spools is posted now.  I’ll post the final installment later this evening. Correction – thank you Janet P for your eagle eye.  There’s a typo in the directions and I’ll load a revised file. If you are making the project in the size I posted, you need only 84 mini spool blocks. I had a typo and then forgot I turned the corners of the borders into plain blocks so the alternating block number turned out even.  So write this change on your copy if you’ve already printed.   If you mastered the Empty Spools, the minis will look familiar – just a smaller version of the same block.

I’m moving along and some of the members of The Quilting Post online group are doing this project today also. Here’s my Empty Spools blocks up stuck up on the deisgn wall.

Here’s a photo of one of Janet P’s Empty Spools blocks.

Looking good Janet! I like the print of that fabric.

 

 

 

 

My Log Cabin spools are about half done but time for a lunch break before continuing.

Stacked Spools – Log Cabin Spools Block Style 2

I’ve added the second block style – Log Cabin Spools – so I can get back to some stitching myself and so you don’t have to wait on me to load it if you are a speed demon sewing along.  I’ll be back about 1 p.m. CST to add the third block style.

Stacked Spools Quilt – Empty Spools Block Style 1

Morning all. Happy National Quilting Day! 

I just added the first block of the Stacked Spools project – Empty Spools.  It’s available in the sidebar.  I decided  to start cutting mine last night.  It didn’t take long. So decided to piece a few – well in an hour or so I had them all done.  Quick to make.  Just need to give them a final pressing this morning and I’ve got them ready to go.

There will be a total of four pdf files added throughout the day: (1) Empty Spools (2) Log Cabin Spools (3) the Mini Border Spools and (4) borders and layout.  Be sure to get them all.

If you are joining in on this project, please leave a comment.  It’s always fun to see how many people are Justquiltin along. 🙂  I’ll add a Mister Linky at the end so you can load photos of your quilt to share.

Happy Stitchin!

Denise