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 ...