Another Quilt Done

It has been awhile since my last post.  I did not get a finished photo of either of the first 2 quilts of this year.  All I have are pictures of the completed tops and backs:

They came out really nice and I am pleased with both quilts.  I focused on workmanship doing these 2, really trying to do as good a job as I can.  I learned that I absolutely need to starch the backing to make the Snail’s Trail block easier to do.  I didn’t for the one on the left and it was much more difficult to do.  Both recipients are happy to have them and I really enjoyed making them.  I was working under a deadline and that was a real challenge, but I finished with 2 days to spare.

The deadline was because I went to Canada for 5 weeks to stay with a man I met online.  “Diary of a Daoist Hermit” is his blog which prompted me to email him and initiate a conversation.  He answered that letter and we developed a correspondence, which led to the idea of meeting each other.

So we arranged that I should come up to meet him in January.  He lives in Guelph, Ontario which I discovered gets about as cold as Saint Louis, but has none of the relieving spikes of warm days.  It got close to freezing as the high a total of 5 times my whole trip!  Brrr, I am glad I made him a quilt (the one on the right).

I took some knitting to do, but lost it on the journey there.  While there, I started another pair of slippers but am so lazy I am not ever 1 quarter through!  I didn’t buy enough wool either, so I am stuck frogging I think, and doing something else with the wool.  I have 3 skeins of the same weight, but different colors.  Hmmm, I wonder if I could do a tumbling blocks kinda thing in knit.  Meh, there isn’t enough for that really.  Hmmm, I wonder how big a scarf one skein would make.

I intend this year to be organized and therefore be able to be more crafty.  I didn’t have time to fully clean up after the insane quilting I did, which was those 2 quilts at the same time, with the same deadline, and I kind of unpacked on top of the mess.  I am going to try to do weekly studio updates as a record of where my craft time is going.  I really hope to make this year a productive one.

Happy Crafting!

A Lot in Progress

I pin basted the double four patch and pin basted 2 little quilts.  I also lined up 4 little quilts for piecing. plus, I started a hat for myself.

I pin basted the double four patch rather than thread bast, because I used washed flannel as the batting (an experiment) I didn’t feel thread basting would be worth the time as I could put the pins farther apart than the stitches.

Cat Toy

4 dpns
Put a slip knot onto a needle. 1 stitch
Knit into the front and back. 2 stitches
k,kfb. 3 stitches.
*k, kfb, new needle* 6 stitches
k round 6 stitches
*k, kfb* 9 stitches
k 9 stitches
*k, kfb, k* 12 stitches
k. 12 stitches
*k, kfb, k, k* 15 stitches
k
*k, k, kfb, k, k* 18 stitches
k
*k, k, kfb, k, k, k* 21 stitches
k
crochet cast off, slst into first cast off stitch, put a small bit of stuffing into the point, put a pinch of catnip, add a little more stuffing, slip stitch closed. Slip stitch back to center and chain tail however long you want.

Another pair of Slippers

I designed these slippers. I am still working on getting the pattern written out.

There are no seams. The slipper is knit in the round via turkish cast on to circular needles

Jury Duty

I had it yesterday. I have it today. The coldest week so far of winter and I have jury duty.  They don’t allow knitting needles. ARGH!  I am taking my bamboo ones and some crochet hooks.  We’ll see.  I hope they get thru so I have something other than reading to do.  I didn’t get called (yet) for a jury – I am just in the pool of availables.

I do not mind this civic duty, but to not allow knitting needles and still allow pens and pencils is ridiculous.  A sharpened pencil is more dangerous than any of my knitting needles.

I did 2 layouts for kitty quilts with the leftover dbl 4 patch blocks.  I need to trim the leftover water wheel blocks.

Cat toys

I have knitted 1 slipper and have yet to start the other one.  I also knitted 4 little mice for clowder house.

Eternal Ironing

I am still ironing all my new fabric.  I am maybe half way thru the giant stack/mountain.  It is slow and I don’t like it, but the finished pile has grown.  I am making progress.

Nothing else sewing wise can happen until I get this fabric put away.  So the double 4 patch is on hold, as are the scrap little quilts I am making for clowder house.

I did recast on for slippers for my mom.  I have 2 rounds of the first slipper done, but that is something.

Knitting again Finally

I turkish cast on for a sock on my dpns and a slipper on my circs.  I guessed again for gauge, but am in the ball park.  I am experimenting on creating a basic generic sock and slipper pattern.  I have downlaoded a few, but  want something as easy as possible to do.  The 50 stitches I turkish cast on may seem intimidating, but it was not as difficult as i thought it would be to do.

Of course, now, I must follow thru and knit the pieces and THEN make another identical!  That is the hard part for me and this time I don’t have the extra needles to do them both at the same time.

Also i started the what to do with the leftover fabric from the waterwheel quilt quilt.  I am making a double 4 patch with the darks and lights as the little 4 patch and the med darks and lights making the larger 4 patch.  I don’t know how big it will be – not a full size quilt, but I will probably add borders to enlarge and frame it.