Quilts of all sizes

 I have been busy busy over here lately so blogging has sort of fallen by the wayside. But! Never fear, I have been sewing and knitting for sure. A lot of gift making really, so also I had to wait to share until I had given the stuff.

First up is a baby quilt.  I started this back in the Summer for a new baby in Scott's extended family. I know it's hard to see but each middle square is a fussy cut from Guess How Much I Love You prints. The pattern was from the May/June issue of Quilty magazine that I thought would showcase the middle squares well.  The fabric was super cute and fun to work with and everything came together really easily.  I gifted this quilt at Thanksgiving.

Close up of one of the middle squares:

I'm not sure if I've talked about this next project before. If I have, forgive my forgetfulness :) grin! I knitted this little guy from a pattern called "Sven and Solveig Scandinavian" by Cottage Creations. 

 This was a fun knit!  As I was knitting him I really felt like his name was Jurgen instead of Sven. The pattern is super fun, lots of charm and little hints in there about dollmaking - like ways to customize via name, hair color, sweater style. The pattern shows Sven with a white beard but as I was knitting I felt like Jurgen was a younger guy with darker hair and maybe a clean-shaven face.

A friend of mine asked me if I could make a doll quilt and pillow for her daughter for Christmas.  This was a no brainer! Of course I said I could! She sent me a link so I could figure out measurements and such. It's this duktig bed from Ikea.  I did a quick google search and found a blog called One Little Project that has a whole series on bedding accessories for the exact bed! Sweet!  

 Next I picked out fabrics for a little patchwork quilt - this was so FUN! I have so many fun girly prints and I really had free reign to put in what I thought she might like.  So the tutorial that I linked was for more of a blanket, which would have been fine but I really wanted a mini quilt.  I think I used 5 inch squares for the top. I drew straight lines on the top in erasable ink and used my walking foot to do the quilting lines.

This was the first time I used the walking foot attachment with my machine and it was great! Super easy and I'm very pleased with the stitching. If you've ever stitched straight lines without one you know that the fabric can get pushed by the foot and cause puckers and pleats especially where the lines intersect. With the walking foot it doesn't do that.

Here's the final product under the tree for Christmas!  I'm pretty sure that pillow came out way too big!!!! Yikes. I'm not sure what happened there?  oh well. I made a pillow with sheet fabric and then made a reversible pillowcase to coordinate with the quilt. The reverse fabric is the bright pink print in the quilt.

And, since it's Christmas I did make myself a little something. One thing I love, love is Christmas Nutcrackers!!!!  I have a collection of wooden ones and ornaments that I love.  I was in Joann's Friday night when I spotted some nutcracker fabric. Eeeeeeee! I bought some, came home and washed it and Saturday made this lined drawstring bag! Their faces just crack me up (get it, lol)! I also made a needle cozy to match since I'm going to put my Christmas sock project in there. 

So, that's it for me here this week. I hope you all had a nice holiday season! Mine has been very reflective and calm, which has been nice. It's almost a new year! What are your plans?

catch up post 4 - all about the fair!

So this year for the Tulelake Fair I decided to branch out a little bit. I decided to enter Hortense the mouse and, AND a quilt!  This particular fair the quilt competition is pretty tight.  But, from going previous years I knew that my quilts are a very different style than a lot of the other entries. I decided to enter my Churn Dash quilt.

Here's my stack of goodies.

Ok, first prize was my socks!!!!  I was a little surprised by this one I have to admit.  While I do love my socks I didn't know they'd place that high!  I was a little confused at first because the tag says "mouse" and the tag on my mouse says "socks". But I think that it was the socks that did win.

Second place - my Highway 101 shawl!!!!!  Holy cow you guys!  I was competing against myself because I had entered everything in the same category!   

Poor Hortense, she did not win anything.  But, she did get to have an adventure!  And, reading back over the rules I could not have won again since they were all entered in the same class.  Which really is totally fine!  I did not expect to win first and second in the same class!  Frankly I didn't realize that until I just re-read the rules.   

Here's the exciting thing:  My quilt won THIRD PRIZE!!!!  OMG. I scoped the room as soon as I walked in and saw it across the room on the other side.  I did not expect to feel as proud as I did - I wanted to tell everyone "that's my quilt! I made it!".  Luckily my friend Jan was with me and shared the exciting moment with me.  Here it is up on the wall - and official entry in the county fair.  Mine is the one on the right.

 Jan got this fun picture of me in front of my quilt.

I had a lot of fun entering the fair for myself.  But, that's only half the fun!  The other part is seeing what everyone else is doing.  There were some beautiful hand knit entries. My friend Lilly entered a few of her hand knit baby clothes.  I also recognized some of the names of people I know on different entries.  It's fun when you see someone's name and discover something you didn't know they could do!

I'll leave you with this cute llama quilt I saw - isn't that amazing?!  So fun!

of socks and quilts

Okay, so, I finished a sock!  yippee!  My friend Leigh came out with a set of socks on Ravelry called Louleigh's Simple Socks (click for link). I followed the stitch pattern for the "Socks with holes in" and have really enjoyed it!  The pattern is written for cuff down but is easily modified to do toe up, which is my preferred method. I just have gotten my toe and measurements down so I just figure out the pattern repeat and plug it into my numbers.

For the heel I did the Sockmatician Toe Ups (click for link) by Nathan Taylor. I did that heel on my last socks but didn't quite understand what I was doing so gave it another go.  This time around I think it definitely clicked better and I had left myself a couple of notes that helped as well. My gauge is super tight though so I had to consciously relax my hands.  That's no fault of the pattern obviously! ha!  The yarn is exactly as everyone says about self striping: it is addictive!  I just kept feeling like ooooh I want to see the next color.

In quilting news: I started this donut quilt.  Not sure when? Maybe April or March?  Anyways I had seen a quilt pattern called Donuts which is by Johanna Masko. (click for link) I liked the idea but did not initially want to make it. Really what it comes down to is that I did not want to buy the pattern, which is generally what it comes down to with me and quilt patterns.  

But the idea kept coming back up. So I figured out my own pattern based on the shape.  Really if you look at it you can see that it is a cross between a nine patch and road to Tennessee blocks. I have not seen the pattern in person so I don't know what the pattern measurements and finished block sizes are, so I figured out the size I wanted to end up with and went from there!  Right now I'm not planning a border.  Each square color represents a different flavor.  Chocolate brown, Berry, lemon, blueberry, sprinkles, strawberry, honey, lime.  I think I'm going to do one more row and then call it good.

sewing update

Okay, fair warning: there are lots of photos in this post! Sorry about it.  I've taken too long of a break and now need a bit of a catch up.  

First, a word about the break. I discovered that my blog was being spammed, which did no harm really.  But it did discourage me.  I thought real people were reading my blog but it was just computer spam and grody porn links.  I guess seeing the number of "readers" go up made me feel like I was connecting with other crafty people. When I found out that wasn't the case it made me feel sour to blogging.

But! I'm not going to let it keep me down.  I know my Mom sometimes reads and maybe a handful of real people....so I'm going to get back to it.

So even though I haven't been blogging I have been very busy crafting!  Yes, yes.  I am not going to share every little thing but here are some favorites.  I have a knitty friend in my bible study who I noticed did not have a proper project bag.  I sewed one up, realized it was too small, and made another bigger. I kept the smaller one as it is perfect for socks!  

Mom: if you can tell in this picture below - the bottom bit of this bag is the fabric I was telling you about.  You can click directly on the picture to make it bigger. It's like a thicker cotton and natural.  I really love the contrast.

I have a window box above my sink in the kitchen that George likes to jump up into.  I made a little kitty mat for her to make it a bit more cozy.  I used some of my very favorite hoarded fabrics. Grin 😊There's little piggies and all fun whimsy.

And there she is in the window box, Miss George herself.

This is my latest zipper pouch make.  The natural/off white is cotton duck so it's really sturdy and nice. Then I just did a strip of a favorite print and crochet cotton trim.  This has gone into my storage box to sell at a later date.

This next project was one of those ones you don't really see coming. But it had to be made!  After I took down all the Christmas decorations the house was a bit bare (not really). Right now is like limbo time for holiday decorating.  There is still snow on the ground so Spring doesn't feel right yet but I'm over Winter..... So!  I'm just putting up colorful stuff that makes me happy.  

Last year I made a similar pattern for a pillow and really love it.  I figured out some larger measurements and voila!

Here it is up on the mantel.  Sorry the lighting is pretty much crap as the sun has gone down.  I know it's hard to see but the main fabric is the most delicate pink and I bound the quilt with black and white stripes. Oh yeah, you can see the pillow on the chair on the right that inspired this quilt.  I have to say it's super easy but the effect is striking (to me).

Welp, I think that's pretty much it for now. Next time I think I'll share more knitted items because I have been up to that as well.  Have a great week!

Fall finishes and award winning socks

I have a lot to catch up on!  Yikes.  

 This year I decided to enter some hand knits into the fair.  I entered my Duchess of Devonshire shawl, which won an "honorable mention"!  I already knew I had won on this because of friend of mine had sent me a picture while she was at the fair letting me know!  Last Friday night I made it out to the fair to check everything out.  I found my shawl first, as it was in the aisle on this mannequin figure.

Next I had entered these socks.  I thought they were fun with the contrasting colors and silver stellina.  I had written little note cards on each item telling the yarn, the pattern, when I started and ended each project.  I thought the judges might like to know?  These socks didn't win anything but it was still fun to find them in the showcase!

And here's the big surprise!!!  I got a first place prize ribbon for my eyelet socks!  Wooo hooo!  I truly did not expect to win, at all.  One of the doctors at the clinic I work at had entered a pair of socks that were cables cuff to toe and I thought for sure those would win! She did win 3rd place.  My first place was a shock!  I didn't realize it at the time but I also won $10 :)  I thought the prize was the ribbon - even bigger surprise!  Now every time I wear these socks I will remember they are prize winners. ha!

Last weekend I finished up these Halloween quilted items.  There's a couple pillow cases, a table runner (in front, folded) and a table topper.  I'm giving the table topper to a friend.  I bound them all with a thin black and white striped fabric, so fun!

The other quilted item I worked on last weekend and finished the binding today was this mini quilt.  When I bought this house with the fireplace, I knew that the open space above the mantle would be perfect for mini quilts!!!  

Honestly I think I could go a bit bigger but I like it.

The pattern did not have the little borders in between the o's.  I sort of wish I hadn't done those now, but meh.  I sort of like it.  Sort of don't.  But, it's not like I hate it and it's ok.  I really love the fabrics I used, they are sort of Fall but I think can also be used at other times too, you know?  I didn't use anything that screams, this is only Fall!  

Since I had finished that up I started putting out decorations.  I wasn't going to because my energy is super low.  I've had a cold all week and it has just drained my mojo.  boo.  But!  This week it is officially Fall so I just took my time.

It was fun because I had put things on the mantle, then take a step back and was like, nope.  Still needs something or don't like that.....it's now pretty close to really great!  ha.  Also!  I almost, almost forgot this little turkey pillow!  I did forget it last year.  

It's so fun having this new house, a new layout of furniture and surfaces to decorate.  That was one thing I *loved* doing at our old house when my husband was alive.  Every season I would take everything down, unpack the new season and enjoy all the things I've collected and love.  It's been 3.5 years since he died and I'm just now starting to want to do that again and get a bit of joy from it.

In knitting news I am almost finished with all the parts for a little animal.  There's nothing to really show since nothing is sewn together yet.  It's been nice since my energy has been like nothing to have just little pieces to knit and finish.  I'm really missing having a sock on the go though!  Oh! I found a new podcast (to me) that I really like!  It's called Bookend Knits, you can find it on youtube here.  It is seriously cracking me up.  It's two ladies who are identical twins, they chat about knitting, books, yarn, nerdy stuff....and they are quirky.  I love quirky!  So, I have been binge watching them, I'm on episode 4.

I just have to say that I'm so glad I found podcasts.  Mostly knitting podcasts.  In my real, regular life I know a few knitters but that's just about all we have in common.  The podcasts I really like also read, do other crafts, they have a sense of humor.  It's nice to "chat" with them!  If you don't watch podcasts I know that may sound funny but most podcasters also have some type of forum where you can interact, ask questions and such.  Anyway, I just wanted to say it's been nice to have that connection.

not getting sick

I'm having that feeling like my body is right on the cusp of getting sick.  Like a tingle in my nose, low energy, a little rasp in the throat.  But, I am not getting sick!  I am telling my immune system it is so strong, there is no virus that can compare!  Oh and lots of  Airborne and water.  So I've been laying low this weekend.  I still got some crafty progress made but not as much as I had planned.

Late this week, maybe Thursday?  I finished my socks!  Yeah :)
So glad to finish these.  I really liked the pattern, which was the Blueberry Waffles pattern, which is free on Ravelry.  The yarn was a Crazy Zauberball, which was really fun to knit with.  Since the yarn was pretty thin I just went with my regular cast on which is 64 stitches.  The pattern calls for 52 stitches on DK weight with 3.75 mm needles.  Sock yarn is quite a bit smaller and I also use US size 1 needles (2.25mm).  It worked out quite nicely, as you can see they fit really well.

 For the last couple of weeks I've really been wanting to be knitting a little animal! But I made myself finish my socks first, I didn't want them languishing.  So last night I cast on what I think will be a little kitten.  I'm using the Mrs. Bakery Bear pattern by Kay Jones and I'll just change the face and ears.  I've done that before, I really like her pattern and it's easy enough to alter.  The yarn is just acrylic, it's very soft and has a bit of a halo.

This morning after knitting a bit I moved into the sewing room.  And so did George.  Here she is taking over the cutting side of my sewing table!  She was quite determined to stay right there.

Eventually she did move and I got some cutting done.  The top row you've seen before but now it's sewn into squares.  The rest of the squares I've been playing with.  On the left, second row, was my first attempt to figure out the  Thimble Blossoms Cheerio pattern. I could tell it was a variation of the "road to Tennessee" classic block but with the little squares and a widened center.  I finally gave in and bought the pattern (!) which usually I'm too cheap to do.  I'm blaming feeling under the weather.  I just didn't have the brain power to keep up the math guessing game!  

I was really really close though on the math!!  Oh well.  So, the circlet with the white center is the official Cheerio pattern.  For me, it's all about those little squares!!!  I just love them.  So, I am debating if that will become a pillow top or maybe a runner with some other fun Fall fabrics?  My first attempt is going to be a Halloween pillow.  It kind of looks like one of those floaty rings on boats!  

Welp, that's about all the happenings here.  Hope the end of your Summer is going well - Labor day next weekend!  For me, that's like the end of Summer....except when I lived in Chico and it would still be like super hot into October.  Fall is right around the corner!  Pumpkin everything here we come :)