December and 2012 review

 During the second half of this year, I decided to focus my attention on a small number of projects (maximum 7) and not allow myself to be distracted by my UFOs or enticing new projects.

This is my progress during December which shows that I really do work best when I have a short list of projects to focus on!

1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar quilt (finished)
2. Christmas Tree wall-hanging (finished)
3. Cardigan for Me (some progress)
4. Purple Dropped Stitch Scarf (finished)
5. Merlot Toe Up Sock (finished)
6. appliqué blocks (finished)
7. Scrappy Rainbow “hearts and four-patch” quilt (some progress)

I knew there was no way that I would have that cardigan or quilt finished in December; as long as I am making progress, I'm happy.

Here's the final photo of the Purple Dropped Stitch Scarf  -- taken before it was washed and dried to soften it up.

Nitty-Gritty (for those who like such things)
yarn: Panda Magnum 8ply (DK) 100% acrylic; used all but two metres of the 310 in the skein!
purchased at H. Fay and Sons, Bingara
needles: 4.00mm Aero circulars (60cm long) - purchased at David Jones at least 30 years ago!
time taken: 14 days
length and width of scarf: 6" x 72"

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The short "focus list" came into being after I published a list of twenty-six WiPs  -- some quilting, some knitting. That was June and I was overwhelmed by the number of things I was trying to work on.

I have come to realise that the longer I leave a project the less likely it is to get finished -- which I guess is probably true for everyone!


To keep it "short", this is a list of the UFOs and WiPs I carried into 2012, and the progress I made on them; plus the projects I started during 2012 which are not yet finished. I have not included the 55 projects I started and finished during 2012 (85% of them knitted).

1. piano cross stitch (started 1995) – UFO
2. Stealth Knitting Project (started January 2010) – UFO
3. Ambassador of Love mittens (started March 2011) – UFO
4. Country Houses Quilt (started May 2011) – UFO
5. Lace Infinity Scarf (started June 2011) – frogged August 2012
6. sideways baby jumper (started November 2011) – UFO
7.  Safari Cloth Book (started November 2011) – finished October 2012
8. curtains (started November 2011) – embarassingly -- UFO
9. Scrappy Strings quilt (started November 2011)  – UFO
10. Rainbow Scrap Challenge applique heart blocks (started October 2011) – finished December 2012
11. Rainbow Scrap Challenge four patch blocks (started November 2011) – worked on the last couple of months, so a work in progress
12. Rainbow Scrap Challenge nine patch blocks (started November 2011) – worked on the last couple of months so a work in progress
13. Rainbow Scrap Challenge string blocks (started November 2011) – worked on the last couple of months so a work in progress
14. Rainbow Scrap Challenge improv blocks (started November 2011) – worked on the last couple of months so a work in progress
15. Rainbow Scrap Challenge Wonky Window blocks (started November 2011) – worked on the last couple of months so a work in progress
16. purple Cocoon socks (started September 2011) – I can’t make up my mind whether to knit or frog – UFO
17. soft blue socks (started September 2011) – finished July 2012
18. Merlot toe up socks (started September 2011) – finished December 2012
19. intarsia blanket (started November 2011) – finished November 2012
20. Tina’s baby blanket (started January 2012) – frogged July 2012
21. Super Secret Project for Ben (started February 2012) – UFO
22. Dotty Bright (started April 2012)  – made it to the quilting frame but nothing ever happened – UFO
23. Scrappy Log Cabin (started April 2012) – no action (only thought) since June – UFO
24. sampler quilt (first block cut May 2012) – never really got off the ground so it’s not really a WiP or a UFO, in 2013 it will be like a new project!
25. donated partial scrappy string quilt #1 (started May 2012) – UFO
26. donated partial scrappy string quilt #2 – no longer exists, it has been reclaimed as scraps for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge – frogged November 2012
27. hexagon project bag (started in September) – work in progress
28. Deb’s Diamond blanket (started November 21) – work in progress
29. Westall Cardigan (started 27 November) – work in progress

During 2012, I finished a total of 60 projects; three projects were frogged, one project never got started, eight remain works in progress and ten have slipped into being UFOs (I think six months without any action is long enough to call them unfinished objects)! 


That's twenty two projects being carried into the New Year! And twelve of those were started before 2012!

It's not a long list but, for the sake of my sanity, 2013 needs to be “The Year of the Finished Project”!

I've been reading

Because I mostly read ebooks, I don't have photos of book covers and don't want to take them from other locations on the web without permission. I apologise for the lack of pictures but it is, after all, a post about reading! LOL

 The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society is the one fiction book that I have read lately which stands out; not because the writing was particularly brilliant, but because it is set in post-war, previously German-occupied Guernsey -- something I've not thought about before. It's a simple story, told well enough to become compulsive but easy reading.

The book is obviously popular, over 10,000 people on LibraryThing have read The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society. The book was written by Mary Ann Schaffer, a retired librarian in her seventies who died before the book was published. The revisions were done by her niece, Annie Barrows. Written in the format of letters, it is an unusual format but works well in this case.

While travelling to my mother’s earlier this month, I finished the first section of Mao’s Last Dancer (by Li Cunxin), the autobiography of a poor Chinese boy who became a famous classical ballet dancer. I have not seen the movie and probably never will now that I am reading the book. I am actually reading this book in print format; perhaps that's why it's taking me so long to get through it! ;-0

While sitting around the motel room in Moree after mum's surgery, I read Head Over Heels (by Sam and Jenny Bailey). It is the biography of an Australian country boy who dreamed of following in his father’s footsteps and becoming a farmer – and how he reached his goal despite becoming a quadriplegic in a dreadful car accident when he was just nineteen.

Currently I’m reading another Australian book: In Search of A Wild Brumby by Michael Keenan. Brumbies are wild horses, introduced to Australia and considered by some as pests.

I also have in my pile of non-fiction books, Life at the Edge and Beyond: Living with ADHD and Asperger Syndrome (Jan Greenman) -- this directly impacts on my family and I really need to take the time to read this carefully.

But wait .... there's more!

How can one go to the library and not borrow craft books, more specifically books related to stitching! At the moment I am being inspired by these four:

• French Girl Knits (Kristen Griffen-Grimes) -- a book of patterns, two of which I would like to knit
• Design Your Own Knits in 5 easy steps (Debbie Abrahams) -- I need more time to take this one in!
• Long and Short Stitch Embroidery (Trish Burr) -- also known as needle painting, thread painting or silk painting; I would love to learn how to do this but not right now!
• Freddy and Gwen Collaborate Again (Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston) -- a book written by two well known quilters with two very different styles; I love it and have added it and its predecessor to my wishlist!

 If you're over at LibraryThing and want to take a look at my whole book-list (I am adding to it slowly), I am, not surprisingly, ellebee57.

What are you reading?
Did anyone give you books this Christmas? 

joining in during 2013

 
Apart from my own linky party, there are many great things happening out there in the stitching blog-world: donations, swaps, quilt-alongs and knit-alongs, lotto, round-robins and many linky parties.

I have, in the past, participated in knit-alongs, but so far I have not joined any online swaps or block lotto, and I’ve never been invited to join a “round robin”. However, there are a few linky parties I have joined in the past and a few additions I plan to join this year, on a semi-regular basis:

• Sew What Monday at FunThreads (hosted by Carol).

• Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story (hosted by Heather and Megan).

• Works in Progress Wednesday at Freshly Pieced (hosted by Lee).

• Thank Goodness It’s Finished Friday. This has its own blog and is guest hosted each week. I am hosting this one on 29 March!

• Friday What’s on the Needles? at Patchwork Times (hosted by Judy).

• The Rainbow Scrap Challenge at SoScrappy blog (hosted by Angela). The link is for 2012 but I’m sure Angela will upgrade soon!

• Slow Sewing Sunday at Kathy Quilts (hosted by Kathy).

And two monthly linky parties:

• Get It Done! at Patchwork Times (hosted by Judy)

• New FO Challenge at Cat Patches (hosted by Barbara)

Are you planing to join in with some of the fun?

I'd love it if you would join me for 2013 - the Year of the Finished Project.

it's Christmas Day

I wish you love, joy and peace this Christmas.

image from http://crazy-frankenstein.com

thinking about new projects in 2013

Last Saturday, Angela, host of the Rainbow Scrappy Challenge, at SoScrappy blog, published a post encouraging us to share our plans for the challenge in 2013. To be honest, although I’m pretty sure I will participate again, at that time I had no plans for next year in regards to rainbows or scraps or starting anything new!

Then on Wednesday, my friend, Debbie, over at Stitchin’ Therapy blog, posted about her goals for 2013. My first reaction was, “Whoa! I need to get through this month first”!


But, you know, my brain had already been thinking about next year. I had already decided that 2013 was the be The Year of the Finished Project.


But I can’t work on UFOs all year, can I?

I’ve got to start some new projects. Really. I do!

And so I return to my friend Debbie’s enabling. She posted about Cat Patches’ 2013 New FO Challenge Linky Party and Giveaway.
I've linked this post to Barbara's latest post and giveaway.

Simply put, Barbara is encouraging us to start one new quilting project a month! She says, in a different post where she introduced the idea, “Just consider for a moment the state of bliss you'll achieve at all the new fabric you'll have an excuse to buy. “

Well frankly, even as a relatively new quilter, I don’t need to buy fabric. I have fabric here for projects – I just need to start them!

So, because Barbara has asked me to and I am ever helpful, here are some of the quilting projects I plan to start in 2013:

1. placemats for Grandsons

2. racing car quilts for Grandsons

3. I Spy Quilt for Grandsons

4. Quilt from One Fabric

5. Garden Fence Quilt – in 2011, I tried making one block and it didn’t work. I’ve got a bit more experience now but still need piecing practice.

6. embroidery quilt – these were donated to the Caring Hearts Community Quilters and I volunteered to turn them into a quilt

7. fleece animal blankies

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have almost no need to buy yarn for at least the next decade! So here are some of the knitting projects I plan to start in 2013:

1. black cardigan for me

2. knee warmers for me – yarn and pattern undecided
3. baby blanket for niece’s baby – yarn and pattern undecided

Have you started making plans for 2013?

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

Back in July, I began the first of three embroideries of Christmas trees.

I finished the third one a couple of weeks ago.

On Wednesday, the three of them were joined with sashing to make the front of a wall-hanging.

On Thursday, the wall-hanging was basted and minimally quilted (in the ditch). The binding was cut but I had trouble with joining the strips at 45°.

On Friday, I re-watched the explanatory video and tried again. The quilt was bound and the binding was sewn down between lunch and dinner time.

Then, the hanging sleeve was cut and sewn which meant another video (thank goodness for YouTube). The label was cut from a metre of fabric labels I bought in the post-Christmas 2011 sales for $1.00!

After dinner, the hanging sleeve and the label were attached.


All that’s left now is for WM to hang it opposite our front door as a warm greeting to all our visitors.

Nitty-Gritty (for those who care about such things)
size: 32” x 15”
fabric purchased from Spotlightembrodery thread: green (3346), red (304), gold (729), brown (898)
sewing thread: Gutermann white (5709) and charcoal (5902)
stitches: stem stitch, Colonial knot

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
How richly God has decked thee!
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
How richly God has decked thee!
Thou bidst us true and faithful be,
And trust in God unchangingly.
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
How richly God has decked thee!"

Linking up with Thank Goodness it’s Finished Friday post over on Sew Well Maide (hosted by Karen).

2013 – “the Year of the Finished Project” UFO Challenge

As you may know, I have decided that 2013 will be the Year of the Finished Project.

I even had some fun creating a button and writing some html code for it (thanks to Jennifer at Ellison Lane Quilts for the great tutorials).

The butterflies are a reminder that some things can, and should, be transformed!

My plan is to finish two projects for every new project started.

I am going to set up a linky party on the first Thursday of the month for anyone who wants to join me.

The only rule is that you must finish at least one UFO or WIP before you start a new project! Don’t worry, I’m not going to haunt your blog to see if you are following the rules.

The party is open to any form of stitching: knitting, crochet, quilting, sewing, dress-making, embroidery, applique, cross-stitch, etc.

Participation is simple:

• On the first Thursday of the month, nominate a project (or projects) that you are going to concentrate on and see finished. Tell us a little about the project/s, where you’re up to, why it stalled, etc.
  
• In the same post, give us a progress report on the project/s you undertook in the previous month/s.
  
• Include the button above on each post. The code is under the tab “2013 – The Year of the Finished Project” at the top of my blog.
  
• Link back to this blog with the URL of your blog post, not your full blog. People want to read about progress, not spend time searching for the relevant post.
  
• Read and comment on some other blogs that link to this party!
  
• You don’t have to get your project/s finished in one month, some bigger projects take longer, and sometimes life just interferes with our stitching!
  
• You can finish one project in one craft and start another in a different craft if you wish. For example, you may finish a cross stitch and start a quilted table runner.

I've never hosted a linky party before so if you have any comments or questions, please feel free to suggest or ask. Please make sure you leave a contact email address so I can get back to you!

Word verification

Like most commenters, I dislike Blogger's word verification and I only comment on blogs that have it if I have something I really want to say.

But I've discovered something: in most cases, you only need to type the word correctly (you can completely ignore the number), the comment will publish!

No more trying to decipher those blurry photos! (At least until Blogger gets news of this)!

works in progress (or not)

Warning: poor quality photos – I had to use my iPad because my camera batteries were all flat!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the beginning of December, I published a list of my December WiPs. It looked like this:

1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar quilt
2. Christmas Tree wall-hanging
3. Cardigan for Me
4. Deb’s Diamond Blanket
5. Merlot Toe Up Sock
6. hexagon project bag
7. Scrappy Rainbow improv quilt

Then came the fiasco which was my packing of craft activities for my week away.

But I did manage to finish the second Merlot Toe Up Sock while I was away. Not having my basic knitting tools with me meant that I had to wait to sew the ends in till I came home!

I also mentioned that I took my appliqué heart blocks away with me instead of the hexagon project bag that was on my original WiP list. With stitching time on the train, at embroidery class last week and sewing class this week, I have managed to finish the appliqué on the last few blocks (three of which are shown here).

The ten-hour travel time also gave me a chance to think about the setting of these blocks. I am going to try setting them alternately with the four patch blocks I have made for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and use the Rainbow String blocks for a piano-key-style border. Well that's the theory anyway!

An incredibly busy and tiring week followed my return home – I am so tired that I don’t have the energy for most craft activities and so fall back to my good old stand-by: knitting.

I have done a little on the right front of my cardigan.

But this lace pattern, as easy as it is to memorise, requires concentration. I can’t knit it when there are people around!

And so, I have been working on the Drop Stitch Scarf I started while away. I don't really have to think, except to count the yarn overs in one row out of four.

The scarf is progressing quite quickly considering my lack of enthusiasm for this project – the acrylic yarn is not pleasant to work with!

And so my list now looks like this:

1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar quilt (no progress)
2. Christmas Tree wall-hanging (today’s project)
3. Cardigan for Me (some progress)
4. Deb’s Diamond Blanket replaced with Purple Dropped Stitch Scarf (much progress)
5. Merlot Toe Up Sock (finished)
6. hexagon project bag replaced with appliqué blocks (finished)
7. Scrappy Rainbow improv quilt replaced with Scrappy Rainbow “hearts and four-patch” quilt

Just as well I realised at the beginning of the month that there was no way I was going to get all these finished by the end of the month. The list was supposed to focus my activities and, despite my swapping some projects for others, I have managed to stay focused and achieve some progress. At least I swapped and didn’t just add to the list – six or seven is the limit; after that I become overwhelmed!

Becky Kelley reminds us...

I was so moved when I saw this video on Kay's blog that I had to stop what I was doing and come and share it straight away.



I've never heard of Becky Kelley but she had me in tears by the first line of the chorus!

Thanks, Kay, for sharing and thanks Becky for a great reminder.

12-12-12

Today is my uncle's 75th birthday -- a jubilee indeed and an auspicious date!

I don't believe in coincidences but I do have a little story to share:

I had an embroidery class this afternoon. I went early because we were sharing lunch -- it was our last class of the year. Being so close to Christmas and in the heart of a shopping area, it was very hard to find a parking space. I had to drive around for a while, then wait while a woman backed out of a space. Very. Slowly.

I parked my car in that space, it had a three hour limit so I glanced at the clock. You guessed it -- 12:12 on 12-12-12! I couldn't have done it if I'd planned it!

it's great to be back home

"Gee but it's great to be back home
Home is where I want to be.
I've been on the road so long my friend,
And if you came along
I know you couldn't disagree."

from  Keep the Customer Satisfied by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel

I may have been away for only six days but I feel like I've been on the road so long!

It's grey and cloudy outside, it's a very cool 18*C (63*F) after a week over 30*C (86*F) but I don't care! I'm home! Hurrah!

And the fact that I have an appointment today for a full body massage after six days of sitting doesn't hurt either!

the best laid plans

This post could also have been titled "thinking is not the same as doing"!

Knowing that I was going to be away from home for the best part of six days, I did a lot of thinking about what projects I would take. I even blogged about my WiPs in my last post and hinted at which ones would be travelling with me.

We had an unexpected visit from the family late in the afternoon and into the evening of the day before I left. It was late by the time I packed. I included three craft projects -- the ones I had been thinking about for days.

After climbing into bed around 1am, I realized that taking my hexagon project with me wasn't going to work (for a variety of reasons) so I got out of bed, took it out of my carry-on luggage and replaced it with my appliqué hearts blocks. I knew that there were still about a dozen hearts that needed to have the blanket stitch added. I also knew that everything I needed - blocks, embroidery floss, needles, threader and scissors were in the case ready to go. But appliqué isn't the best choice for crowded waiting rooms -- what I needed was knitting.

Back in bed, I realized that it would be a good idea to take another ball of sock yarn, just in case. Socks are such a quick knitting project and I might just get the one I had already started finished. I couldn't be bothered getting out of bed again, I was sure I'd remember in the morning but, of course, I didn't! As I said, thinking is not the same as doing!

I turned the heel on my first night away so I had only the leg to go, easy knitting; easily finished in a day or two.

However, there shouldn't be a problem. I had bought my cardigan and hadn't finished the first ball of yarn. The project was packed with one additional ball of yarn -- ready to go!

On the train I knitted some of my cardigan. I found a knot in the yarn, two rows short of a logical ending point. So I unpicked to the beginning of the row and reknitted that row and the next. There is no way I would have had enough yarn to knit another row but I had reached that "logical finishing point" so that was okay. It was then that it occurred to me that I shouldn't travel without knitting essentials -- a tapestry needle and some waste yarn, for example. The next instructions were to thread the live stitches on to waste yarn. No worries, I was on my way to mum's -- she is a knitter and therefore has such things.

I borrowed what I needed from mum and then the reality of "thinking" instead of doing (also known as packing in a rush) hit me -- I was about to work on my cardigan fronts and I needed two balls of yarn; I had only brought one. Okay, so I'll knit one side now and the other when I get home -- it's only a few days away after all.

Are you tired and bored with this story yet? It only gets more interesting! When I bought the yarn, I had no idea how much I would need to knit myself a cardigan so I bought all that they had in one dye lot. That was 13 x 50g balls which didn't seem like enough so I compared the other balls which were from two dye lots. One was definitely different and the other was pretty close; so close in fact that, under the lights in the Big Box Store, I couldn't see any difference. So I did what we tell new knitters not to do -- I bought two balls from a different dye lot! You know where I'm going with this, don't you? The one ball that I packed is one of those two balls! So there'll be no knitting on this cardigan until I get home!

And so I turned to good ol' mum again. She's a knitter so she has stash (of course she does, I buy it for her!). She gave me a 100g skein of gorgeous (the colour not the fibre) purple 8ply (DK) acrylic yarn and I chose 4.00mm circular needles from her collection. I knit loosely and that's the recommended size on the ball band. I knew I would have access to the Internet here at the motel so I was pretty sure I would find some kind of pattern on Ravelry.

Well, who knows that a child's jumper takes more than 310 meters of 8ply yarn? I found only one pattern I even began to like and started knitting it. What a disaster! The yarn is very thick and the baby jumper, knitted in garter stitch, was as stiff as a board. It didn't help that it was knitted from the top down and the cable on my 60cm (24") circulars was so thick I couldn't do magic loop! It also didn't help that the free pattern was poorly written!

And so I ripped out that harsh, beautifully colored yarn, and it is now becoming a Drop Stitch scarf! (Ravelry link) I hope it softens up in the washing/drying process -- I wouldn't want it around my neck the way it is!

The moral of the story is (and I'm talking to myself here because none of you would ever do what I have done) -- pack in advance of a trip away. Don't just think about what you'll need, read through every step of a pattern and pack for every contingency!

WiPs on Wednesday

Today I am travelling to my mum’s place. She is having the cataract removed from her other eye on Friday and I am going to be with her until Monday. Please pray that it doesn’t rain in or near the township of Moree like it did last year! You may remember that we became trapped by floodwaters for several days in November last year.

~~~~~~
I am slowly working through the long list of WiPs that I published in June and July but the list just seems to get longer as new projects somehow find their way into my craft room! In fact, only two of the seven projects listed here are on that list!

The things that I am concentrating on this month are:

1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar quilt
2. Christmas Tree wall-hanging
3. Cardigan for Me
4. Deb’s Diamond Blanket
5. Merlot Toe Up Sock
6. hexagon project bag
7. Scrappy Rainbow improv quilt

I don’t know if I’ll get any time to work on that last item. Being away from home for nearly a week plus Christmas activities plus family visiting will cut into my crafting time. Some of these items will not be finished in December: this is just my “focus group”!

Very Hungry Caterpillar Quilt
I am making this quilt for my niece who is expecting her first child in March/April. I just have to sew down the binding and add a label and it will be done! I've not labelled my quilts before: tell me please, what does one write on the label when one doesn’t know the name or the sex of the baby, or even which parent’s surname he/she will have? I guess I could just write “Made with love by Great-Aunty Lynne 2012”. Thoughts?

There is no stain on the quilt top – that is the light shining through the dotty fabric on the back. You can see the backing here if you haven’t seen it before.

Christmas Tree Wall-Hanging
It would be really good if I could get this finished and hanging before Christmas. You have seen these three embroideries separately but here they are all together. The one on the right is the one I finished today.


Cardigan for Me
After much deliberation over patterns, I have chosen to knit the Westall Cardigan (Ravelry link) for me! As I said in this post, I had a bit of trouble getting gauge, which is nothing unusual for me. I finally got within half a stitch using 3.00mm needles instead of the recommended 3.5mm. For those who don’t knit, there are a lot of consequences to not getting the gauge right – the size of garment can be dramatically altered and a loosely knitted garment can stretch beyond redemption after being washed. On the other hand, a garment which is knitted too tightly will strain and pull, and the knitted fabric could pill and wear out much more quickly than would otherwise happen. Worst of all, after hours of knitting and tens of thousands of stitches, it might not fit its intended wearer!

This particular pattern has an unusual construction; it is knitted from the top down, back first then both fronts at once; all three pieces are then joined below the armholes and the rest of the garment is knitted in one piece. It has a gorgeous lace pattern which is relatively simple to knit. This is how much I have knitted since I cast on last Tuesday (27 November). I am up to the armhole shaping of the back and will then go back and pick up the stitches for both fronts from the provisional cast on (that light blue yarn at the bottom of the photo).

 Deb’s Diamond Blanket
After taking twelve months to knit the Intarsia Blanket, I have designed my next blanket project. It is called Deb’s Diamond Blanket and was inspired by this string quilt made by my friend Debbie at Stitchin’ Therapy blog.

My knitted design calls for 112  x 5” (12.5cm) squares which I will join as I go (and sew the ends in – I learnt my lesson from the last blanket). This is how much I have knitted since I started the project on 21 November.  This will be a ten inch square when completed. (3 down, 109 to go!)

 Merlot Toe Up Socks
Neither of my two large knitting projects are ideal for travelling or for knitting in company so I have cast on the second Merlot Sock to take with away with me. I cast on for the first one in September 2011 and would have finished it within a couple of weeks! I wondered why I had put it off for so long but I soon realised while doing Judy’s Magic Cast On on 2.25 (US 1) double-pointed needles -- I don’t like doing this cast on this way. It’s easier on circular needles – but my sock knitting circular needles are otherwise occupied. Obviously I did get it done in the end but it was tricky and annoyingly difficult. Either I’ll use my circulars or stick to cuff down socks for donation knitting in future!

For those who wonder about such things, I am doing 72 stitches and an hourglass heel (from Lynne Vogel's Twisted Sisters' Sock Workbook)

 Hexagon Project Bag
It seems like a long time since I started my Hexagon Project Bag with so much enthusiasm – a quick check of my blog shows that was only September but it feels much longer ago than that. I still need to cut out six pentagons (I didn’t realise that until yesterday) and six half hexagons and tack them down. Yesterday my sewing teacher showed me hoe to join the hexagons so I’ll see how much weight I have in my bag – if I have enough room I can take them as they’ll make a nice change from knitting. There are 36 hexagons in this photo, believe it or not!

Do you like my storage container? For what purpose would one use an old 70’s Tupperware container with a cracked lid if not for craft storage? LOL

The bottom two hexagons are the two my teacher joined as a demonstration.

Scrappy Rainbow Improv Quilt
I have more than enough improv blocks to make a quilt top and have bought some fabric to use as sashing – solids in natural and sand; I can't decide which to use yet till I get the blocks up on the design wall. I enjoy the improv block process so I will be making more I’m sure! They also make a good “leader and ender” project (if I ever remember!).

There are 99 x 6.5” blocks in this pile! I'm not sure where the red ones are hiding!


What are you working on? Do you still have projects you need to finish before Christmas?

Hopefully linking up with WIP Wednesday over at FreshlyPieced blog

35 years ago today

Happy anniversary, WM – I love you very much and appreciate all you do for me!

brought to you by the colour blue

I made these blocks back in October but I never got around to showing them. I had a huge pile of blue scraps hanging around for weeks but I never got back to them, so here are the twenty I did make:

one string block

and nineteen improv blocks

So, I find myself with a total of 102 improv blocks. At six inches each, I probably have enough to make at least one rainbow quilt! I have bought two solids for sashing: one is “natural”, the other is “sand”. I t remains to be seen which I choose to use.

First I have to decide on a layout!

Linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge over at SoScrappy blog.