Progress being made

Just a few things to show I am actually doing some crafting.

Almost finished appliqueing (is that how you spell that? who knows) all of the pieces on my tree block.

Knitting too many inches to count of i-cord for a felt iPod cozy.  Almost ready to throw it in the washer.

While there hasn’t been much going on lately, I have been doing quite a bit of planning.  When you can’t do, dream, right?  Hopefully a zig-zag quilt ala the latest Red Barn quiltalong and the UPS man (do you love yours as much as I love mine) just dropped off a big ole’ box from Webs.  Hmmm, trim for Aaron’s sweater, perhaps?

 

My creative space…

In the little creative time I’ve had lately I’ve been trying to get a few knitting projects started.  I swatched for this sweater (Leela from Berroco) and cast on.  A couple of rows in, I realized I was knitting with the wrong needle size (the ribbing is done on smaller needles), ripped out, changed needles, and cast on again.  Then I realized I need to modify the number of stitches I cast on, as I’m only making it hip-length instead of knee-length, so I ripped out and did some calculations.  By this time, the yarn was getting a little ragged looking.  It’s a linen tape and I don’t think it can take the kind of abuse a good wool can, so I set that ball aside  and cast on again with a different ball.  Now I’m a little over an inch in and completely re-thinking the whole project.  Basically, I’m thinking making it hip-length will make it look like crap.  So it’s probably getting ripped out again.  I really like the yarn and want to use it in something I’ll actually wear and like.

I’ve also started swatching and measuring for Aaron’s sweater, as well, but I don’t have anything to show yet.  I ordered a whole slew of different colors of Cascade 220 to find something to use for the trim.  Sometimes you just need to see the materials in person.  It was too hard to decide off of internet swatches, even with the much appreciated help from the blog.  They’re all neutral colors, so whatever doesn’t get used in this project will definitely get used later on.

Edited to add:  I forgot to remind you to head over to Kootoyoo for more creative spaces.

 

My creative space…

Getting ready to work on my next hand applique block while watching North and South from Netflix online on my laptop.  I just finished it (three and a half hours in one evening – Aaron’s still working late) and have to say, I can’t believe I waited this long to watch it!  No fewer than three different people recommended it to me over a year ago.  I should have known then.  Amazing!  I’m glad I knew nothing about the story as I was watching it, though, so I won’t be telling you any details here.  You’ll have to go watch it for yourselves.  Especially if you like Jane Austen-ish type movies/series (that means you, Ali!).

My sewing space as been a little, how you say, in a state of disarray lately.  With Aaron gone I’ve been spending quite a bit of time there, but obviously none of it picking anything up or putting stuff away.  Still in the workspace: a few diaper cases to finish up for friends and a pair of too-short pants  I’m making into shorts.  Sorry for the blurry picture, by the way.  I took like ten different shots, but you know, same old camera gripe.

Thanks Kirsty for hosting.

 

Cleaning up the sewing tools

Aaron’s been working late into the night recently, so I’ve been spending my evenings finishing up some projects that have been sitting in the workbasket for a while.

I used Mackville Road’s sewing bag tutorial and some home dec weight fabric to make this little bag.

It’s 4″ by 8″ and has three divider pockets, perfect for little old OCD me.

Here’s the state of my current sewing bag.  If I remember right, some kind of bath and body set came in it, the bag got thrown aside, and I repurposed it last year when I started taking the hand quilting class.  I like the bag itself, I just don’t like seeing the jumbled mess inside of it each time I pull it out.

I also whipped up a quick little tool apron which I’ve been wanting to make forever but also kept getting pushed to the bottom of the pile.  I used a tutorial I saw on Etsy’s The Storque blog from Lexie Barnes’ new bag book.

 

Schnazzy

Last week Aaron’s aunt asked me to sew her an apron she could give to her daughter for her birthday.  Easy peasy, right?

I chose Heather Bailey’s Daily Spice apron pattern and some Heather Bailey (coincidentally) fabric I had in my stash.

Heather did a great job writing this pattern.  Very clear directions and great drawings/schematics.  It is a pretty complicated apron, though.  There are 14 different pieces you sew together (including the 3 lining and interfacing pieces) and 21 steps in the written instructions.  The only times I screwed up were when I didn’t process what the pattern was saying fully before I started to sew.

The halter ties were a tight fit into the openings on the bodice piece and tried my patience for quite a chunk of time.  The waist ties weren’t nearly as bad, just a little fiddly.

You know how at the beginning of a sewing pattern (or knitting pattern, for that matter) it says READ THROUGH THE ENTIRE PATTERN BEFORE BEGINNING in big, bold type.  Yeah, well, that’s so when you get to “Step S – Secure Waistband Lining,” you don’t read “slip-stitch bottom of waistband lining to inside of apron” and promptly sit down on the floor and cry.

Seriously, I’d been working on this thing all day straight (I’m a slow sewer), it was nine o’clock at night, and I could not believe that I got thrown that curve-ball.  What I would have given to have not been on a deadline.

It obviously got finished.  That night, even.

Just throwing this in here because I took a random picture of it (I never know if I’ll have enough stuff to blog about).  I got to use one of my machines fancy overcast stitches (and accompanying overcast foot) for the first time to finish off some seams on the inside of the skirt.  Very schnazzy.

So many cute details add up to an insane amount of time spent on this project.  As my husband told me when I tried it on to show it off, I could have just made the skirt go all the way around the back and I would have had a finished dress.  Those details do make it a very pretty apron, though.

(BTW, the pattern has three different size options and I chose the small, which fits dress size 6-10.)

(Thanks Paula for taking pictures for me.)

 

Here you are

Hello blog.  How have you been?  I’ve been out of town for a couple of weeks and wasn’t able to get the post I wanted to up before I left.  So, here you go.

I finished sewing the binding onto my coin quilt the night before I left for vacation, threw it in the washer and dryer, and then ran out of time to photograph and blog about it before I left.

All of the coin fabrics Jenny at Home Ec provided, although there are a couple in there that I also have in my stash, along with a few I wish were in my stash.

I also finished the socks I’ve been working on for ages but haven’t found a good time to blog about them, so, here they are.

I used the Yarn Harlot’s basic sock recipe (from this book) and sock club yarn from Scout’s Swag.

I’ve been working on finishing a knit baby blanket for a friend, so all other knitting/sewing/quilting/etc. has been put on hold until I finish that.  I’m at the point where I’m racing the baby to finish before she gets here.  I always forget how long and arduous (sic? – who knows) baby blankets are to knit.  Kind of like child-bearing, I guess.  Pics when I finish and wash the darn thing as I’ve gotten chocolate and some other mystery spots on it.  I never feel bad about getting stuff on the knits, as I know worse will happen to them in actual use.

Work starts ramping up in the next week or so, so expect a decrease in blogging (what, even less than normal!) during the fall and winter.  I’m totally going to laugh at myself later if I manage to pull it together and actually get better at
blogging as I get busier.  We shall see, eh?

 

Fabric eye candy

I bought a couple of fat quarter sets at the Superbuzzy booth at Renegade Craft Fair a couple of weeks ago and just had to show them off.

I think the combination of blues and browns in this stack is absolutely gorgeous.  Seriously my favorite combo right now.

This was their “Alice in Wonderland” stack, which I think will make the perfect little girl’s quilt.

 

My creative space

Joining in with the Kirsty at kootoyoo and the other creative spaces for the week, here’s mine.

This week, it’s actually two different spaces.

First, my slouchy cardigan blocking on the floor of the spare room.  I think I’ve only posted about this sweater once, back when I started it oh, a year ago (or, um, maybe a little longer).  Each knitting project has its own challenges and this one has definitely had its fair share.  From the front unraveling on its own for no apparent reason (see that first post), to figuring out how to reverse the shaping for the other front, countless errors in the pattern, and finally, running out of yarn four inches from the top of the sleeves (which had numerous problems all by themselves).  I ended up doing a mad search for my gauge swatch, hoping to find another ball of the yarn I might have randomly misplaced somewhere in my stash (I didn’t find one), and finally undoing the bound off edges of the front and back pieces and ripping out an inch or two on each of them to get enough yarn to finish.  I wasn’t able to find enough yarn to knit the hood the sweater is supposed to have, but I live in Southern California so I think I should be able to manage without one.  After I finish seaming up the whole thing I’ll decide if it needs some kind of collar or something to make the top edge look all right.

Anyways, moving on to my other space.

I was trying to get all of the stacks of paperwork, piles of yarn,  fabric, and books, and general messiness of everything in there right now, but its all pushed along the sides and was rather difficult to get in a photograph (I did try, though).  Right in the middle is the quilt I started binding last night.

(This is just the quilt top, pre-quilting.)  I’ve been taking a machine quilting class at Home Ec (formerly inside Reform School, but last night we met at the brand new space – yay!) with an amazing teacher, Alissa.  As most of you know, I know how to hand piece/quilt/applique, but I’ve had limited experience machine piecing and quilting.  This class was wonderful and if you’re in the area, definitely stop by and check out Jenny’s new shop.

 

Sampler block number 6 – Tumbling Blocks

As promised, sampler block number 6, Tumbling Blocks.

I used the diamond method of making a tumbling blocks quilt (as opposed to the triangle or star method) to cut and sew my block pieces together.  I found the diamonds fairly easy to work with, especially as I was hand piecing them and could ease the fiddly middle bits together fairly easily.

There was A LOT of quilting on this block, and I have perpetually been a tiny stitch hand quilter.  I love the look of bigger stitches, so each block I’ve been working on making them so.  I definitely didn’t succeed on this one though, especially those outside edges where they ended up being TINY.

 

Too much going on

Life has been very busy lately.  We finally broke down got a rippin’ good deal on an air conditioner unit and have a good friend who works in the industry, so Aaron spent all of last weekend tearing out ducting, installing new ducting, and installing the AC and a new furnace.  I spent most of the time trying to survive the mess and cleaning up where I could.  There’s still some work to be done – enough that I haven’t done a thorough clean up yet – but it is up and running.  My house has looked better, but hey, at least its cool.

I’ve finished quite a few sewing projects in the last couple weeks and was trying to space them all out into different blog posts, but I don’t see that actually happening, so here you go.

First off, sampler block number 5 – Ohio Star

This was a pretty simple block to do, but still fun.  Sorry about the shoddy presentation.  I didn’t realize the block needed ironed until I uploaded the photo.

Next up, a Market bag (Portabellopixie pattern).

Wow, this bag took a long time to sew.  Waaaay more than I had planned on it taking.  This was the first bag I’ve ever sewn from a pattern, with interfacing and fancy topstitching and all of that good stuff.  The fabric is from Amy Butler’s Daisy Chain line.  I picked this pattern because it’s reversible so I didn’t have to choose which of these pretty fabrics is the “outside” of the bag.

I’m slowly building my sewing skill set and learning with each project.  I definitely learned a few things on this bag and my seam ripper got quite the workout. It turned out pretty well, though, if I do say so myself.  I am a little concerned with how stain resistant this bag will be, or more like how it won’t be.  I’ve already gotten a few pretty stubborn marks on it.  I’m wondering if I should have Scotch Guard-ed it.  Hmmm.

I also managed to squeeze in sewing a couple nursing covers for a friend’s baby shower.

I don’t usually show the nursing covers I sew, which is funny because I sew quite a few of them.  They’re so simple it doesn’t seem like good blog fodder to me.  They are a good way to do show off pretty fabrics, though.

Sampler block number 6 is coming up next.  Stay tuned.