Catching Up....Again

I had to take my sewing machine in to the repair shop a few days ago because the light bulb was flickering, and the presser foot wouldn't stay up. I thought it was probably time to get it serviced as well--you know, the cleaning and servicing you're supposed to get every year. I knew it had been awhile but only a couple years, I thought.

Unbeknownst to me, the technician I use records the date of the last servicing inside the sewing machine (where I can't see it), and it had actually been five years since the last time I'd had it serviced. Good thing I take care of my machine. There were some dust balls in the tray below the machine and only one broken needle tip. Not bad for five years.

Anyway, blogging has been like that for me for awhile now too. Here I thought it had only been three weeks or so since I blogged last, and it's been nearly two months. Long enough that Blogger has completely changed its format, and I'm so lost. I'd like to say I've gotten more organized since the beginning of the year; but it hasn't happened, so I'll keep muddling along.

I actually did have some finishes in April that never got posted. This is one of those simple little strippies I like to make to practice machine quilting on, and I used a feathers pantograph on this one.

My quilt chapter held a workshop for this mini photo album quilt. The pattern is by Lisa Moore from Quilts With a Twist, and she has a complete line of these photo album type quilts. This particular pattern measures approximately 8" x 20", so it was a perfect little workshop project. The border fabric was not the best choice for a couple of reasons, so while I'm not actually turning it into a quilt, I am finished with it.

We also had a workshop for what the instructor called a confetti quilt. I don't know much about the Snippet Sensations technique, but I think it must be similar. We pieced a very simple background (sky and ground) and fused a leafless tree trunk onto it, plus a photo of a barn printed on fabric. The background piece was then layered with backing and batting.

Then we took small squares of fabric we liked for the leaves, chopped them up into small pieces with a rotary cutter, and arranged them on the background. Next a layer of black tulle was placed on top and free motion quilted in place. Borders were added, and the entire quilt was done except for the binding.

The other pieces the instructor had with her were impressive--realistic and detailed. You can see more of her work here. I'm not sure if I would use this technique again because I'm not much of an art quilter, but I did have a good time making this little quilt.

I got a couple pairs of socks finished in April as well. For the first time since I learned how to knit socks, I deviated from my basic pattern and ribbed the entire leg on the blue pair. I liked the way that looked, so I ribbed the leg and the instep on the yellow pair too. I really like how the ribbed leg fits. I haven't started on the knee socks for my sister-in-law yet, but I think I might use that ribbing on hers too.

The blue ones are made from yarn by Regia, and the yellow ones are Opal. First time I've ever used Opal, and it was lovely to knit with--softest yarn I've used for socks so far. These are my two new favorite pairs of socks.

At this late date, I know I won't finish a quilt in May. I may not finish a pair of socks either, but I'm pretty close to the end of a pair, so maybe.

Happy Easter

My younger son came down from college this morning to spend the rest of the weekend with us and brought me this lovely bouquet of origami roses. He said he got the idea on Friday to make them for me; but he worked all weekend and got off late last night, so he was up until 6:00 this morning finishing the flowers. How sweet is that?

I learned a little bit about origami when I was a kid, but I had no idea you could make things like this. We looked online, and there are all sorts of origami flowers and boxes and other stuff you can make. Very impressive.

Anyway, happy Easter, and enjoy your weekend.

March Finishes

I thought I was going to be able to get the Night Flight binding done to get another finish for March, but I still have one more side to hand sew. I quilted another small strippy today, so as soon as I get the binding done on that one too, I'll have a couple easy finishes for April.

I did finish a pair of socks for the month of March, and these are for my sister-in-law. I haven't made socks for her before, so I made one sock and mailed it to her. She tried it on and mailed it back so I could shorten the foot about a half inch, then I finished the other one and mailed them both to her last week.

I also finished this sock, but the second sock is still on the needles. I am so crazy about this yarn. It's from Regia, and I like their yarn a lot. I also started two more pairs of socks because I was anxious to see what the yarn looked like knitted up. That's exactly how I wind up with quilting UFOs, but so far I have managed to get all my sock projects finished. Anyway, I'd love to have all three pair done by the end of the month, but that might be a stretch.

I have belonged to several different quilt groups over the last ten years, and most of these groups conduct some sort of charity project each year. We've made Quilts for Kids, quilts for the Linus project, quilts for different shelters in the area, chemo caps, and pillowcases for Conkerr Cancer. I still make a few strippies once in a while plus a few pillowcases, but this year's charitable project was walker bags. These are fairly quick to put together once the pieces are cut out, and I've made about eight of them, I guess. This was one of the more recent ones, finished in March; and I have eleven more kitted up and ready to go.

I try to make four or five pillowcases every month plus two or three walker bags. I am trying to find ways to use up old fabric I had left over from my garment sewing days, solid quilt cottons because I don't really use them anymore, kids' fabric that I've somehow accumulated, and some other stuff I don't really like very much. These charity projects are a perfect way to use that stuff up.

Night Flight

Anyone who was quilting back around 1999-2000 and was active on the internet might remember Jane Kakaley's website, "Quilts: Not Just for Beds". Jane made pictorial quilts of flowers using hundreds of small squares, from which she created patterns for sale. She also did 6 or 7 mystery quilts that she presented on the web. I really liked her website, but one day there were some strange messages on the site, like someone disappeared or something, and Jane never posted another thing.

A couple weeks ago after I finally remembered who it was that designed this quilt, it occurred to me to google Jane L. Kakaley. Turns out she has a Facebook page now, and a few of her quilts that I remember were in the photo section. Oddly enough, I visited her old webpage just a few days ago, and now it seems not to exist.

Anyway, this was one of Jane's mystery quilts, and it actually turned out okay, only because Jane put up samples of the fabrics she used. There's still not as much contrast as I might have preferred among the dark blues, but I like it anyway.

Because the quilt is so busy, I used a pantograph called Inkblot by Willow Leaf, which is just a fun meander. The variegated blue thread added some interest. I'm pleased with how it turned out, and I'm feeling more confident on the longarm after a long hiatus. I still have to put some binding on here, and I'll try to get that done this week so I can have another finish for March.

March Finish

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We were going to have a nice Irish potato soup for supper; but I was busy quilting, and my husband was busy outside, and nobody wanted to cook. So we had pizza, and Shamrock Shakes from McDonald's for dessert. I had a Shamrock Shake once three or four years ago and then forgot about them 'til this year. They're so darn good that it's a good thing they only offer them for a few weeks in March.









Tesselating Leaves is my finish for March, a small quilt top I finished about 12 years ago and never quilted. It's a good example of why I don't do mystery quilts anymore. I liked these fabrics very much when I chose them, but the tan fabric blends right in with the peach, and the leaf pattern is lost. Overall, I don't think the quilt has much impact, but it will make a fine little lap quilt for someone in a nursing home. I'm happy to have another UFO finished and out the door.

Orca Bay Part 4

I finished all 128 string triangles a couple weeks ago. They took a lot longer than I anticipated, but I really liked making them. In fact, I like the idea of string piecing part of a quilt block so much that I'll be using this technique again.

I've jumped ahead to Part 6 and started making cute little Ohio Star blocks. 56 of those to do, and I'm loving them!

February Socks Finished

I finished these a week or more ago, wore them today in fact. This is my February finish for the 12 in 2012 challenge. I've made so many socks from this same pattern now that I can just about knit the pair without looking at the directions.

I have two more pair started--another pair for me and one for my sister-in-law. After that I have some gorgeous variegated red yarn, and I'm going to dare to try a new pattern with some texture in the leg. Just have to find one I like.

I think this yarn was Stroll from KnitPicks in the color "County Fair".