Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend

My sewing machine died.  I brought it to the repair shop earlier this year because the presser foot wasn't holding pressure.  When I picked it up, they said she was getting old and wearing out and that further repairs weren't worth the price.  I was not going to take this information easily.  I looked up repair videos on the net and found that I could replace the brushes in the motor and give it new life.  I was able to make that repair and decided to her it as an exclusively for quilting.  But, a few months later, it just stopped.  I have power to the machine, all the buttons work, but the needle won't move.  It's not the foot pedal (I tried one from a friend's similar machine).  It's some sort of electrical problem that I don't know how to diagnose without schematics.  So, I mourned and went on a search.  Meet my new (to me) machine:  The Pfaff 1471!  She is replacing the Pfaff 1371 that I bought in (approximately) 1984.  I think this machine is vintage 1985 and runs great!  Sewing on this does indeed confirm that my older machine was wearing out.  Fabric feeds much nicer through this new machine and the tension is much more reliable.  And there are twice as many decorative stitches; I'm excited to make some new napkins with some fancy decoration.  So, RIP my old buddy and welcome to my new loyal friend.

These are some of the last pieces completed on the old Pfaff:  

Another of Grammy's UFOs completed. This is the last of the drunkard's path quilts.

And the last one pieced.  The one pictured with the new machine is the first of the 9-patch grammy quilts that I've started quilting.  That makes 3 complete, 1 being quilted and 5 more to quilt.  My goal is still to have all 9 quilts completed by the beginning of July, 2019.  I figure if I can get 1 completed per month, I can meet this goal.

About 6 months ago, a friend told me her daughter was expecting their first grandchild and asked if I might be interested in making a baby quilt for the baby and new parents.  Of course I said yes - I hardly need an excuse to make a quilt.  When I asked her to tell me about her daughter and her likes, she said she loves bright colors and suggested purple, fuscia and turquoise.  I wanted to do something fun and thought diamonds fit that description.  This quilt was way out of my comfort zone because other than the color and shape of the piece, I had no clear vision of what the quilt would look like.  I took the pieces and fabric to a quilt retreat with the goal of having the top completed by the end of the weekend.  With no idea how to start, a friend suggested to start by sewing pieces together.  I sewed larger diamonds of 4 pieces then started putting them on the design wall.  After a few hours and a lot of rearranging, I ended up with this scrappy star, which I love.  I used left-over pieces for the back and a wild Kaffe fabric that was a perfect match.  My friend was thrilled with the results and it was finished just a week after Rosa was born.

My consultant on the quilt was a guild member and friend, Jenny, who often works in bright, cheery fabrics.  She let me raid her stash for additional fabrics and helped me with the lay-out and courage to play with the design.  Once on the design wall, everybody at the retreat assumed the quilt was Jenny's and not mine.  I still have some of the fabric left over and may make a more tame version of the quilt using grey or black with the bold colors.  But, not now.  There are too many other things screaming for my attention.

 Like knitting ...

These socks were supposed to be for me, but my measurements were off and they're a bit too small, so they will be a  stocking stuffers for my daughter.  And this scarf is from some the yarn my friend left me before her move.  I love the color!

 And cross stitch ...

 The cat is the label for the cat quilt I talked about a few posts ago.  The monogram was supposed to be for the pin cushion, but I misread the directions and it's WAY too big.  So, the hummingbird was stitched for a small pin cushion that is part of an antique sewing box that will be a later project.  The bird is less than 2" across.  I'll figure out something to do with the G later.




















And applique ...



I've completed two more Ladies of the Sea blocks.  I have 5 more blocks and 2 border panels to complete the applique.  I think I can have the top done in 2019!
























I've worked on a lot since my last entry.  I NEVER get bored!

Heading Toward the Finish Line

I'm looking ahead to the end of the year and deciding what I want to have completed by then (quilt wise, anyway).  Ravelry, a web site dedicated to all things yarn based, has at least one group of quilters who also knit.  This group is running a UFO support group for the last quarter of the year, and I'm pledging to work on these UFOs.  I may not get them all completed, but this is the list on which I will concentrate for the remainder of the year.

1. Jenny's First Grand Baby Quilt

This is the only one with a deadline.  The baby is due some time in November.  I asked for direction on the color and/or style that would appeal to her daughter, who I have met only once and when she was a child.  She said "think of Escher in royal tones, like purple, fuchsia and turquoise".  Brights are not my thing, so I will be asking the help of my other friend named Jenny who loves those color combinations.  My vision is triangles and Jenny had another suggestion using the designs from the Sochi Olympics.  We are going to a quilt retreat together next week and since she loves playing with pieces on the design wall and I don't, I expect we'll be spending a lot of time working on this together.

2. Grammy's Blocks #3

The next of the 9 quilts from DH's grandmother's legacy.  I got this one basted today and will work on quilting it this week and early next week.  It's a smallish quilt (about 40" x 60") and won't take long to quilt.  I have already completed two of these of a similar style and size.

3. Grammy's Blocks #9

This is the last of the quilt blocks that have not yet been pieced into a top.  I will work on this at the quilt retreat next week and get this last top done.  There will be 6 tops of a similar style using 9-patch blocks DH's grandmother made.  These are destined to be gifts for her 6 great grandchildren.  My plan is to have these completed by July of 2019 in time for a family wedding of one of the great granddaughters.

4.  Grammy Quilt #4

This is top #1 of the 9-patch quilts.  I am planning to have this quilted and bound by the end of the year.

5. Tumbler Quilt

These tumbler patches are a set that I won in a UFO auction some years ago.  It's time to either complete the top of get rid of it.  These will go the the quilt retreat with me where there is a design wall and people who like to play with placement.  I don't know if I can get the top assembled, but I can at least get the design and a good start on piecing it together.

6. Left Over Stars

I was in charge of the group who created a raffle quilt for my guild two years ago.  Members of the quilt were asked to make either a 9" star block or a 9" 9-patch block with supplied fabric.  We had just enough 9-patch blocks, but 16 extra star blocks that didn't make it into the finished design.  We pulled names of those who contributed to the quilt and I won  the remaining blocks.  I want to have these put into a quilt by the end of the year.  I will probably use a similar design as the original raffle quilt, but haven't given it much thought yet.  The raffle quilt can be found here towards the bottom of the post.

Oh, and did I say that there would be more progress on Ladies of the Sea this time?  Yes, but not much.  I think I got 8 leaves sewed onto the next block.  That is the current evening project now that a few other distractions are out of the way.  I'll show those next time.

A Not-So-Old UFO and Other Progress

Back some time ago, there was a group of quilters who worked on hand piecing and applique and created a mailing list (did it start out as a Yahoo group?  I can't remember) that eventually morphed into a Facebook group then fizzled out.  These things happen, but I do miss the chat of those ladies.  But, before we went on to other interests and groups, we made blocks and swapped them with a small subset of the original group.  This was done in 2015 and I was inspired by Linda, who dragged out her blocks over a year ago, to do something with these blocks.  I received 8 blocks from the other members and had intended to make one for myself using the pattern I used to make my submission to the other members.  However, I really like this lay out using only 8 blocks, so 8 blocks it is!  My intention is to have this quilt on my off-white living room couch, and this is a good lap sized quilt.  

I'm not a very practiced knitter.  I have knit one lacy baby blanket over 30 years ago that is long since gone.  I've been itching to try something that is more open-knit (not necessarily a big lace project) and this single skein shawl fit the bill.  This is one of the skeins that I got from a friend who is clearing out her stash of yarns and other crafty supplies in preparation to down-sizing into a smaller home for their retirement.  This skein is one that she spun herself.  This pattern (Lionberry) is one that I started one other time, but got confused and frogged the project.  I didn't follow the pattern exactly because I got lost somewhere towards the end plus I added some extra rows at the end to use as much of the yarn as possible.  I won at yarn chicken!  I had less than a yard of left over yarn after doing one lace repeat one extra time before binding off.  I like shawls that are relatively shallow and

long.  I would have preferred this to be longer and am learning that I probably need to look for patterns that use at least 500 yards of yarn rather than the 325-ish that this used.  I thought that using a lace pattern and slightly larger needles would make that 325 yards stretch further, but I guess it's not lacy enough.  I'm still learning.

I finished the first of the quilts from DH's maternal grandmother's UFO blocks.  I have a the second basted.  They're not large quilts, but there are 9 (or is it 10?) of them, so I'm just trying to work through them between other, more interesting projects.

I've been itching to do some needlepoint lately.  I had a project in mind - a chair seat or something.  Not that I have a chair to put anything on, but I thought it would be a great idea.  I even went as far as to start looking for needlepoint canvases on Ebay, but didn't see anything I liked.  This is a piece that was started by a friend.  She gave me over a dozen boxes of craft supplies and projects cleared out of her stash in preparation to moving to a smaller house for their retirement.  I chose a few projects and some yarn before offering it up to friends, the quilt guild and friends of friends.  This piece is probably 9" square - too small for a chair seat, but like the colors and pattern.  So, I guess it goes into my stash until I find an appropriate use for it.

The next thing I picked up is a small cross stitch project of a Patchwork Cat.  This shouldn't take too long to do.  Mostly I'm procrastinating on starting the next Ladies of the Sea block because I don't really like this block.  I know, I could skip it and do another, but I want to have this block in the finished quilt.  So, I will do this next, after this adorable little cat.

That's it for now.  Next time there will be more progress on Ladies of the Sea!

A Long Awaited Update

It's been a while and I've accomplished a bit in sewing and knitting.  Let me bore you with the details.

My quilt guild, The Chelmsford Quilters' Guild, had it's bi-annual show a few weeks ago, and my Iris quilt won 3rd prize for viewer's choice.  Yay me!  I'm excited about that.  Now that I've had it officially in a show, I think it may go on my bed.

Since February, I have completed 8 of the 9 quilt tops that are being made from my husband's maternal grandmother's UFO blocks.  Three of the tops are Drunkard's Path blocks and 6 are (will be) from 9-patch blocks.  I completed the Drunkard's path tops in February.  I had all the pieces cut out and assembled 5 of the 6 9-patch blocks on a quilt retreat weekend in March.   I just basted the first one yesterday and got the straight stitching done on the machine.   I used the same setting for all the quilts.  This is typical of the drunkard's path quilts.

And this is typical of the 9-patch blocks.  

The blocks aren't particularly attractive, but set on point with unifying sashing and setting triangles makes them all look handsome.  I will be machine quilting them relatively simply.  My goal is to have them all complete for a family wedding that is planned for July 2019.  That's why I decided to get started on the quilting , even though it wasn't a particularly wonderful day for dealing with ironing or a large amount of fabric on my lap (too hot).

I finished the fisherman's knit sweater in June, just in time to put it away for the summer.  I love how it turned out.  It's very satisfying to complete something so beautiful and useful  I have to admit that I've been looking at other sweater patterns.  I'm not sure I'm ready to jump into something this big again.  But maybe...  

I also completed a pair of  'monster' socks made from left-overs from other sock projects.  The white was bought  just to pair with scraps, but the three other yarns in this pair came from scraps.  I am pleased to have used every scrap of those three small balls, even though one of the balls ran out after the heel on the second sock, and the toe on the second sock is slightly less white because I wanted to use the last of the last ball.  I used these socks to try out a new cast on (tubular cast on) that is supposed to be a bit more stretchy.  I find the long-tail cast on that I normally use just a bit snug on my thick calves.  This cast on is a bit trickier, but it seems to have the stretch I want.  I will have to see if they stay up and don't slouch, though.  I also tried out different ways to join yarns using a tail that is woven in later and using a magic knot.  I like the knot since I'm not fond of weaving in ends, but again, I'm holding judgment until the socks are worn and washed a few time.  They did turn out pretty, though.

This table runner was a kit that I bought in a quilt shop in Canada last year.  It was their Row By Row pattern commemorating Canada's 150 birthday.  I love the pattern and colors.  I don't often but the kits, but this had so many colors, I could not have made this from my stash.  I was thinking about saving the block for a larger quilt of places I had visited, but finished is much more satisfying.

I'm still working on the Ladies of the Sea blocks, but it's slow going.  I'm trying hard not to lose interest in this because I love the pattern and it will be an amazing quilt.  I just have to add in different projects from timne to time to keep me interested.

Until next time ...

UFO Progress

This is another year of working on my UFO list - completing projects and deciding which ones will be let go.

I finished Constellation in January.  I'm reasonably pleased with it, but a little disappointed that I didn't come up with a more imaginative setting for the blocks.  This was another project that I used as a quilting sampler, quilting each block differently.  This made me realize that the reason I make quilts is for the color and pattern.  I like geometric patterns.  Even when I doodle, I usually doodle straight lines.  While I can appreciate a beautifully done custom quilted piece, I don't really enjoy doing that work. Also, I've decided I'm not a huge fan of sampler quilts.  I like the patterns created by repetitive blocks and quilting designs.  It's not that I don't like this quilt, I do.  I'm learning more about what I like and dislike in my quilting journey.

I finished the hand applique border on the triange quilt that I'm calling Flower Up.  It is now waiting for me to make the time to make the backing and baste it in preparation for quilting.  Perhaps that will happen in March.

My new evening hand project is knitting an Aran knit sweater in this pattern (http://www.yarnspirations.com/patterns/honeycomb-classic.html).  I cast this on in late January and am finally getting comfortable in knitting the pattern.  I have no idea how long it will take me to complete.  The last and only sweater I knit was nearly 30 years ago.  I wanted the challenge of knitting a large, complicated pattern and I love Aran knit patterns, so this fit my criteria.  It's getting to the point where I'm enjoying the knit and can see the pattern emerging.  It's not without mistakes, but they are small enough that I can live with them, especially since I'm starting with the back.

The next quilt UFO I tackled was a set of cat blocks that was an internet exchange from 1993.  I have no particular reason that I sat on this project for so long.  I like the blocks and was looking forward to getting them together in a quilt.  The ultimate setting for the blocks is not what I had originally envisioned, but I like this better.  The top is completed and will be quilted once Flower up is done.

  The projects I will be concentrating on in February is a group of blocks that are UFOs from my husband's grnadmother.  When cleaning out her house after her death in 1998, my mother-in-law decided that I should have all hr UFOs.  I have completed one quilt some years ago that I gave to my MIL and the rest of the blocks sat.  I discarded one set of gingham 9-patches because the fabric was so flimsy I didn't think they would stand up to any use.  The rest will be made into lap sized quilts for her grandchildren and great grandchildren.  This top is the first of 10 to be made.  But, I think I have to make the borders longer because there is some stretching here that I'm not pleased with.

That's what I've been doing craft-wise for the month.  I'm hoping February will be as productive.

What's Up?

I admire those who blog every day.  There is one that I follow (http://karensquilting.com/blog/) that I use as personal inspiration.  She does beautiful hand and machine work  (mostly quilting), keeps lovely gardens and cooks delicious looking and sounding food.  She posts daily with her progress on thread-based and home-based projects and I find her very motivating.  I do some sort of needlework almost every day, and the  competitive side of me thinks that if she can get so much done, so can I.

So, this is what I've been doing (thread-wise) since I last posted in August.

I really like knitting socks, and was starting to feel guilty that all but two pairs that I knit were for me.  So, DH, DD and MIL all got socks for Christmas this year. Oh, and there was another pair for me, too.  They are the pink/purple stripey socks that are my "Monster" socks using left overs from other socks.  I still have lots of left overs, so there will be more "Monsters" in the future.

In my quest to have a decorative table runner for each month of the year, I finally made one for October.  It is a pattern from a Row By Row a few years ago from Bits n Pieces Quilt Shop (http://www.bnpquilts.com/).  It's machine appliqued and quilted.

The blocks in this quilt were from a star block exchange in my quilt guild.  The idea is that you chose two main colors and an accent and whether you wanted 6" or 12" stars.  Every month one person in a group made a star in your colors, put it in your container and passed it to the next in line the following month.  We did this for two consecutive years.  The first year I noticed that one member made a block for herself in her colors every time she made a block for another member, so that's what I did the second year, too.  I had 20 blocks at the end and put them together in this quilt I've called Constellation.  I just machine stitched the binding to it yesterday and will complete the hand stitching to it this week.  This wasn't on my radar to finish this soon, but our guild is having a show this spring and they would like to have a display of the competed projects from the exchange.  The quilt finishes about 66" x 80". 

This little crib quilt was made from left overs that I picked up as a bag of scraps in one of our guild's UFO auctions.  One day when I needed some mindless sewing, I put together the center (see http://mairsmusings.blogspot.com/2016/02/oops-i-started-new-quilt.html) and set it aside. In the effort of trying to reduce my UFO list, I completed it.  It's put away in case I need a baby gift.

This beauty is my guild's raffle quilt for the year.  Because I thought it was important for guild members to be involved in making as well as selling tickets for this fund raiser, I was in charge of the committee.  Members were given either a kit for the chain blocks, or a piece of the blue and asked to make a star block of their choice.  The committee arrange the blocks, I assembled the quilt top and another member of the committee did the long arm quilting.  I think the quilt is gorgeous.  It will fit a queen sized bed.  If you want more information about this, let me know.  The winner will be drawn in May.

I've also completed a small shawl made from hand-spun fibers a friend gave me (she's clearing out her stash of yarn in preparation for a move cross-country) and am working on an applique border of another UFO that's been sitting for far too long.  The triangle quilt (called Flower Up) will probably be completed by the end of January.  That's the plan, anyway.

That catches me up on what I've been working on for the past 4 months or so.  It looks like a lot more than it feels.

There's a lot of projects I'm looking forward to working on once the Constellation and Flower Up are done.  I think next in the queue are a Fisherman's knit sweater I just got the yarn for and a cat block quilt that is another old UFO.  Keep an eye out for progress on those (but I make no promises on how soon.)