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Monday, July 27, 2009

Mitered Square Quilt


This mitered square quilt comes from an idea in my head when I saw mitered square patterns in knitting and quilting. I'm super proud of it because it is my own idea all the way through. I collected the stripes for a year or so. I learned quickly that in order for the squares to work, you must have a reasonably repeated stripe fabric.

For the quilting I used a variegated perle cotton and just meandered around in curvy lines. The binding is going to be a orange dot print. For good measure, I intend on quilting around the squares in black if I get to it before school starts.

I did have a bit of trouble with the borders. The top and bottom are wavy and I'm not sure why. It may be that I pulled too much on the fabric as I was sewing. I've thought about ripping it back and I'm still thinking. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I have not patience for ripping back for knitting or ripping seams for sewing. It annoys me.


Saturday, July 25, 2009

Yarny Goodness

So I've been stash-enhancing a little bit. I went to this yarn estate sale and this is what I bought:

Now, some is for my little sister Jill and some for my big sister Teal. It was CRAZY going to this lady's house and finding it full of yarn, basically from top to bottom. Her home was about 900 square feet and it was full! All kind of textures, brands, content. I bought some thick/thin rayon/cotton and mostly green or purple silk. Some of it is silk blends. But silk yarn at $1.75/pound is amazing.

Working on an extra long garter stitch scarf for the fall. And then Janine recommended that I make a "whisper" sweater out of the green silk. It's a vine-stitch pattern and then you add ribbing. I need to ravelry it so I can see gauge, etc.

I went to Fiber Christmas in July in Kellyville, OK. The same yarn lady was there and so were tons of batts and fibers of all sorts. For volunteering some of my little bags, the coordinator gave me some of her batts:

Since it was cash or check only, I had a bit of problem buying anything. But Janine to the rescue! In exchange for making her a project bag, she bought two of the things I was eyeing:
The batting on the right is a wool/mohair blend in hot pink/orange/yellow. The drop spindle basically is the same colorway and so light. My complaint about the homemade one is that it's sort of heavy.

Here's hoping that I'll get some laundry folded and then I can try out the new spindle. Going to go catch Ava!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Bibs and Bags and More!

Even more sewing coming from the machine! I unearthed these bibs from my to-do pile and whipped them out. Well, whipped is not the word. It's hard wrangling bias tape around curves. And so no more baby shower bibs for me....I may even venture to say I'll stick with embellishing onesies. It's quick and painless and doesn't require the sewing maching.
Also, I'm still on a bag frenzy - I've cut out 2 more bags for my friends and recently gave this one to Beth.
My taxi tote is floppier b/c I didn't put interfacing in it. I like the stiffness of this one. What is it about purses?? I'm sort of a bag/purse/tote whore. I have made many for myself, experimenting with different colors/shapes/sizes. There is just something about bags...They are so easy to make and fun to embellish. And right now, I need a bigger purse instead of a purse and a diaper bag. I hate carrying a purse for me and a diaper bag. Add that and a baby and my body gets worn out fast. And there's also the octopus look.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Baby, Oh Baby Projects


For Kate's baby girl Em, I made this sweet pink jacket and matching onesie. The jacket is a vintage reprint of a McCall's pattern. It called for ties, but I thought the frog closures would be cuter. I "fussy-cut" flowers to blanket stitch to the onesie.

So dragging out the sewing machine helped me rediscover my stash. I also made a tote bag from Anna Maria Horner's book "Seams to Me." I've cut out 2 more of them for friends who are like, "I want one!"

In the works is a baby quilt. I was a little rusty at binding. I cut the binding width too short and so I'm wrangling it to "make it work." So instead of entering it at the fair, I may just give it away to Catholic Charities. Also, my mom's has a friend who's daughter is pregnant and will need lots of stuff.

So it's chess camp this week in Owasso. Ava and I are going to window-shop or go have a snack somewhere. It's HOT here in Oklahoma and outside is not an option.