Sunday Update

Last night we took OJ to PF Change for his birthday dinner with his parents and sister. It was really fin and the food and service were wonderful as usual. The only downside was that we were a party of 11 without a reservation and had to sit on the patio unless we wanted to wait about an hour and a half. It was pretty darn hot, but still a good time.

Finished my pieced borders for the Washington Medallion today. I love the way they turned out. The blocks do not have white centers like it looks like in the picture. Those are post it notes with the block position so I can keep everything in order. Next week I hope to get the top all done!

Here is a picture of the my progress on the Hexacomb Sweater.

And one final picture, this is a bag that I made for my friend Judy. She was gracious enough to gift me her crazy quilting supplies and stash in return for my help in finishing up this little bag for her. I pretty sure I got the best end of this deal! Thanks again Judy :)

Washington Medallion Progress

I have been busily working on my my pink and brown Washington Medallion quilt. I have finally completed all of the blocks and pinwheels.

I have also cut out all the setting triangles, so now I just have to put it all together. I am pretty excited about the way it is all coming together and even have a spot to hang it all picked out.

On the knitting front, I have completed the bottom part of the back on my hexacomb sweater and started the right front. The body is knitted from the bottom up all in one piece, then I'll go back and add sleeves. I love the yarn I am working with, it is so soft and has a wonderful drape.

My Fun Friday quilt group is going on retreat in a couple of weeks, I hope to get lots of quilting done while we are there, I already have a few projects picked out to take with me.

Nathan wanted me to add a counter to my blog, so I did - so far he is not very impressed by the number of hits I get, LOL - maybe I should try posting more often.

Ready to knit!

I am nearly done with the sleeves on a very heavy wool sweater. Since I live in Phoenix and summer is fast approaching, I decided to set it aside and start a new lighter project.



This sweater should be prefect year round since I work in an overly air conditioned office.

Totally twisted fun!

Wow, it has been over a year since I last posted, that is pretty bad. Oh well, here goes an update anyway. My Mom and I were out shopping and she bought a great new tool called a twist it ruler. Of course I had to use it first, LOL

So it is a great tool for using scraps, charm packs, etc. I had several charms left over from the my table runner and table cloth and I decided to use them to try out the new tool.

First I made a quick and simple top, using 24 charms and 3 inch borders


After that is done you place the template on the quilt and start cutting out little squares. It was kind of scary, but here is what it looks like when you are cutting up your little quilt....

Then you sew all the new little blocks back together and this little cutie is what you get. I love it!

EQ7 Contest

Congrats to my friend Mary who won a copy of the new EQ7 software. She is sharing her good fortune by having a contest on her blog. The prize you ask - EQ7, of course.

I have been designing quilts on graph paper with colored pencils and a calculator for years, but maybe it is time for me to learn to do it on the computer. Of course, should I be lucky enough to win, Mary may have to give me a few lessons :)

So jump on over to Mary's blog and follow the instructions to enter her contest.

http://mequilter.blogspot.com/2010/05/exciting-news-eq7-give-away.html

Socks Done

I finished a pair of socks already this year. They are my undulating rib socks. I love the way they turned out!



Currently on my needles is a scarf - almost done.
More later.

Undulating Rib Update

I have just completed the heel on sock number one - yeah!!! I decided to do the eye of the partridge stitch on the heel instead of standard one the pattern calls for. I like the looks of this stitch much better and it is so easy to do.

This week is shaping up to be a busy one. Zac has a very busy calendar, which makes me very busy too. Last night we had scouts, tonight is basketball, more scouts tomorrow and I think maybe more basketball on Thursday - yikes. The only up side to this whole mess is that I can get some knitting done while I sit and wait.

Undulating Rib Socks

We had a really nice Christmas this year, I hope you all did too!

I have started a new sock project. It is the undualting rib socks by Ann Budd from the book Favorite Socks.

I am using Opal Cotton yarn and size 1 needles.

I just cast these on yesterday, the pattern is pretty easy to memorize and seems to be knitting up quick.

Socks and Quilts

Here is a picture of my most recent sock. I am calling it the Yellowstone sock because I worked on it while on my trip to Yellowstone. The pattern is the Lichen Ribbed sock from the Nancy Bush book, Knitting Vintage Socks. I am using Tofutsie sock yarn on 2.25mm needles.

This is the second time I have made this pattern and I really like the way it turns out, although I am not that crazy about the pearl 3 together that needs to be done on the toes. The toe feels great when it is done, but that is a hard stitch to do! The heel is called the welsh heel and is pretty easy to do and fits and looks good.

On a quilting front I have been working on the Washington Medallion quilt. I absolutely love this quilt! The pattern is by Sue Garman and it is being offered as a block of the month from Homestead Hearth in 2 different color ways. I have chosen to do it mine in chocolates and pinks. Now people who know me well are probably wondering how it's going for me with others choosing my fabrics. I know I am a bit persnickety and opinionated about such things, but I have to say I have only had to make a few substitutions so far.

Here it is with the checkerboard row being planned. I really hated that the pattern had us strip piece (YUCK!!) I should have followed my own instincts here, but tried to be a good pattern follower. For me, not only is it less accurate to strip piece, but it also far too uniform looking for my tastes. I have spent more time ripping apart my strip sets to fix fabric placements than it would have taken me to just cut squares and create 4 patches. OH well, it is almost done and I think that the finished round will look good.

I have also been busy working on my Charleston Harbor quilt, my Cabbage Rose blocks and my Foxtail sweater, so I should have more pictures to come, as well as pictures of our trip to Yellowstone.

Update time

Hi all!! I have my last class tonight and then I am officially finished with school - YEAH!!!!
I have managed to get a little sewing in lately. I have finished 2 more of my Mother Earth blocks, several more Charleston harbor blocks and started on my Washington Medallion quilt. I have included pictures of the Mother Earth blocks.

I changed the layout for the block on top. I think it was originally intended to be an anvil, but I wanted a star instead, so I made it into a star.
I will have more pictures to come as soon as I unpack my camera. We moved last month and most of my life is still in boxes in the garage, so hopefully since I am done with school, I might actually have time to unpack now.

Well, that's it for now. I promise more pictures will be coming soon. Also, my friend Mary sent some instructions for linking posts together on my blog, so I will be playing with that soon too.

Charleston Harbor Update

I am working on another block of the month quilt and just got caught up with the rounds today. I am home from work with a head cold so spent a little time puttering in my sewing room between naps.



I did not care for the what the pattern called for as the next round so I made up my own, go figure huh? Where I have hour glass blocks and a checkerboard border, the pattern called for a chain block (double 4 patch) and flying geese. It reminded me of a picket fence, so I changed it up.






Here is a close up of my revised round. As I worked on this I have come up with new ideas for the rest of the quilt too. I always think of patterns as merely suggestions to how the quilt could be made and not stead fast rules.

Chocolat Progress

Well, I finally got the churn dash round added to this and now I am not sure if I want to add the next round. While it is true that I am quite sick to death of this project, I also feel like I do not want this any wider.

Another round will put this close to the floor. Maybe I should leave it for a bit and I might feel differently, but right now I feel done.

Mother Earth Slideshow

These are the blocks from the Cabbage Rose block of the month. Several of us in my quilt group are working on this, and when we saw the wonderful fabrics, my friend Jane thought the best name for this quilt was Mother Earth, which has stuck with me. I have made a few fabric switches along the way, but overall I have been very happy with what have received. If I can figure out how to keep this on the front page, I will keep adding my blocks as they are finished.

More Foxtail Progress

I know what you're thinking, it is probably the same thing that I am thinking, "what is this blob of curled up mess?" Well it supposed to be the bottom of my sweater. It is 272 stitches and it is going to take me a very long time to get finished. This is a week's progress.

I really like the way it is coming out so far, so I will continue to plug away on it.

Now this is another mess. It is an adorable little sweater vest for a baby boy, but look at the neck as compared to the arm hole. Aren't newborn heads about the size of a grapefruit? Well this neck wouldn't fit a lemon. Once I saw that this was not turning right, I looked it up on Ravelry and yes, many people had the same problem. Some tore it all out and made the opening bigger, I am not feeling that motivated, plus the little recipient was born on Wednesday, so I do not have the luxury of time here. The most common remedy seems to be to leave one should seam open and add buttons, so that is my plan. So, I only have to rib the arm holes and sew up the side seams, sounds easy enough, but remember I am really a sock knitter and we don't do things like sew seams :)

After reading my friend Mary's blog I learned that there are places on the web where you can get backgrounds for your blog, so I went out and got this one, what do you think? I like it.

More Later

Foxtail progess

This is my newest project. It is the Foxtail sweater from the Tapestry book by Rowan. I am using the Tapestry yarn in color 177.

So far I have completed the top sleeve section. Once I unroll the edges, the fit seems to be pretty good.

Here is a close up of the stitches. The yarn is a little splitty and has thin areas followed by very fluffy sections, but overall I like the feel and the stripes it produces. It took 4 balls to complete the this top section and so far none of the balls have had any knots, which is my pet peeve.

A friend of mine is expecting a baby early this month, so I should really set this project aside and get back to the little sweater vest I started knitting.

I went out and finally got my hair cut today, you can't really see it very well in the above picture, but I think it will be a good "do" for me.

More later!

Lunch with good friends

The First Friday Quilt group gathered for our 2nd annual Christmas lunch and fabric swap. We met at Paradise Bakery and then went to the quilt shop to see how much damage we could do during their after Christmas sale. It was a great day. Clock wise around the table we have Aleta, Judy, Zac, Kathy, Jane, Mary, Me and Sue.

Kathy C was snapping the above picture, so here she is with Aleta and Judy.

a special thanks to Mary, I grabbed these pictures from her blog.

Finally Posting

I know it has been a LONG time since my last post, but I have actually finished knitting a few things and even made a quilt this year.

This is a sweater I made for a friend of mine at work, her baby's name is Azrielle.

Our neighbors had a sweet new baby girl this fall and this one was made for her.

I didn't get a picture of her wearing it, but Zac's Mr Monkey makes a good model.

These were both made using DreamBaby DK by plymouth. It is a very soft yarn and can be machine washed and dried, great for baby things and busy moms.

Here is Nathan's quilt.

The pattern was called gumball, we call this one the blob of blue quilt. Nathan loves it, although he is not that crazy about posing for pictures :)

My Pink Conwy Socks

OK, I know that it has been a long time since I have updated this blog, but it has taken me almost 5 months to finally finish these socks. The pattern is Conwy from Nancy Bush's book, Knitting on the Road. It is a beautful pattern, but not the quickest to knit.

I used Tofutsie sock yarn and size 1 bamboo needles. My cast on was 72