Progress This Fall

 The last time I talked about Flower Up was January of 2018.  I did complete it in 2018 (I don't remember exactly when), but I never showed a completed photo.  I still really like the border on this, although it's deceiving how long applique work on a border takes.  I needed to take a photo of this because a friend just bought this to give to her mother for Christmas.  I'm glad it's going to a good home.

I've completed all the applique for Ladies of the Sea and trimmed the blocks and borders to size.  I'm very thrilled to have this quilt nearing completion.  Many thanks to Linda for letting me borrow these gorgeous patterns for the 5 years it's taken me to get this far.  If she had not loaned me the patterns, I would have never made the quilt.  The patterns are now on the way back to her and I hope she enjoys the process as much as I have.  I have just started cutting out the fabric and putting together the 300+ half-square triangle blocks that will make the borders.  I was hoping to have the top completed before the end of the year, but I'm not sure if that will happen.

I've gotten a few other smaller projects done.  I completed these socks.  I've been playing with lace knitting patterns.  I've never really done lace before, and socks are a great project to try new stitches.  It took me a while to get the rhythm of knitting lace, but I did get the hang of it.

I started a sweater in a lace pattern, but after ripping it out 4 times, I decided I needed more lace practice before I tackled something larger.  This cowl was another quick project for lace practice.  There a still a few small mistakes at the start of the project, but I can live with that.  I will probably tackle a few more small lacy items before I start that sweater again.

This wool table mat was a gift exchange at the quilt guild last year.  I got it done in time for Thanksgiving.  I thought I would really enjoy the process of wool applique given my love of needle turn.  But, that was not so.  There are too many tiny pieces in this pattern and I don't like that the iron-on adhesive takes away the dimensionality of the applique.  I think I'll stay away from this technique.

The cat quilt is done!!!  This quilt started in 1993 as two Internet block exchanges.  One of them was black and white cats and the other was browns (I think).  They have been languishing in my closet for a very long time.  Once I finally decided to put it together, I needed a few extra cats to make the quilt the size I wanted.  I think I  made 3 or 4.  This quilt went with me to a couple of machine quilting classes until I decided on the quilting I wanted on each of the cats and the borders.  I'm really happy with how it turned out.  When I posted it on Facebook, a friend offered to buy it, so it will be going to her home soon.

This little bunny quilt was a baby shower gift for DH's niece who is expecting her first child in January.  It went together quicker than I expected and was well received by the parents and the rest of the guests at the shower.  I hope it is loved to tatters.














Enough for now.  I'm still stitching and keeping busy.  The next project I picked up is complex hand piecing of M. C. Escher's tessellating lizards.  But, I'm contemplating starting a sweater or a new pair of socks or another cowl.  And, since my daughter just got engaged, my plan is to make her a full-sized Hawaiian applique quilt, so perhaps I should get started on that since I have the fabric and the pattern.  For me, deciding on the next project and starting are always the hardest part.

Until next time...

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.)