Thursday, May 28, 2009

Just in time for dinner!

This Split Nine and one other are finished, and there are four other placemats coming right behind it. The walking foot attachment on my sewing machine made 'stitch in the ditch' quilting and attaching the binding very smooth and easy.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Placemats


These are four placemats I made for my mom, two made with Log Cabin blocks and two based on the Split Nine block with star centers.
Here's the progress on the placemats I'm working on now, they're all sandwiched with batting and backing and will be machine quilted.
The fabric for the backing and binding is a Heidi Grace design from my local JoAnn's, using a guilt-free 40% off coupon.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Nearly Knitted Sock

Wondering if this skein will be enough to finish this sock. If not, with only the skein for the second sock on hand, I'll get a third skein.

I picked up a tiny food scale last week, to compare any remaining yarn to the original weight and yardage of a skein and the weight of the finished item. At least, it sounds like a clever plan.

Six Placemats

This was the big boost to my stash. This Churn Dash placemat is one of my favorites, from a set of six assorted placemats I made at least ten years ago, and a stray Churn Dash pillow.

I washed and ironed all the new fat quarters, and began cutting them up into strips, squares, and triangles - along with other fabrics from the old stash.

The pieces have to be matched up with other pieces that coordinate, even though they're a scrappy jumble of assorted prints. Assembly-line sewing, chaining the smaller pieces together one after the other, goes by quickly.
I made up one block without the checkered four-patch center square, but it just didn't have the same punch, the same zing. They seem to sparkle with the checkered center.These are nine separate Churn Dash blocks. There are nine more blocks to stitch up, for three placemats, six Churn Dash blocks each.

And I'm making eighteen Split Nine blocks for three other placemats. The six new placemats will retire the six old fading ones, whose bindings are fraying. I'll find a way to salvage them, though. I couldn't imagine tossing them out with the trash after all the years they've seen.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Socks and Stash

I wasn't expecting the wool to knit the sock up in a Barber Pole design! I think I'll re-wind the skein for the second sock, hopefully that will make the swirl go in the other direction.
I found a real easy way to stock up my stash with 1930's reproduction fat quarters without scouting all over the internet, locating some here and some there - a lady on eBay was selling eighty fat quarters for an irresistible Buy-it-Now price. That's 20 yards of beauty and cheer. Many are Aunt Grace prints.

Happy Day! New placemats and quilt blocks!

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Pretty Pleasant Project Progress

Only about three inches so far, but the wool is nice.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Third Pair of Socks

I'm knitting a swatch to decide what size needles to use to knit a pair of socks with Lanaloft sports weight 100% wool in 'Purple Iris'. There are two skeins, 100 grams total, for the socks, and the needles are size 2.
The color variations are beautiful together, and they change often enough to prevent color-pooling, which would be a big blotch of color ending up in one area.