Monthly Archives: January 2014
JANUARY sew-fun
Today I thought it would be fun to share with you a bit of the Sew Fun club. Sue was the presenter and made several of the items shown. There were many more items, this is just a sample of what we enjoyed.
The blue and white quilt is from the book “Designs Modern Blossoms, which has embroidery designs as well as patterns. They are exceptionally easy to make with variations that make it your own.
Two quilts from the book “Oh Baby”. They are both bright and cheerful as well as easy to make.
These fellows on the “Winter Bench Pillow” are just plain cute. The pattern has instructions to make the long pillow and the designer is making seasonal patterns so that one can use it all year long.
The last pattern I took a photo of to show you is from the book “And Sew to Bed” which has pajamas, robes, cosmetic bags and other items. The pattern robe and PJ patterns are for children and adults. The book also has several other patterns for nighties.
Thinking of what you might like to see and then sharing it with you was fun. Would you also be interested in some of the recipes we use on a plant based diet?
Chicken antics
I thought you might enjoy seeing what the chickens are up to. Most of the chickens use the boxes in the hen house, but since the chickens are free to roam, some have decided the front porch, behind the mini waterfall is a great hiding place. I don’t know if they will be happy here when we have the pump replaced. But for now, it looks like they are happy.
Greenhouse Issues
January was very windy and cold. The left front ripped off the greenhouse and our son-in-law, Zach, helped put up temporary plastic. A couple of weeks later, the right front ripped off.
It has now been properly repaired. Apparently, the front had not been built to have the air flow between the two layers of plastic.
We live in NW Washington state, so we have never needed heat in the winter to keep plants from freezing and have some foods like celery and greens in there throughout the winter. Unfortunately my banana trees and some other plants did not endure the freezing weather. Some of the winter hardy food is still good.
It is so much warmer inside during the day, that in another month, I can start the early plants out there.
Design wall Monday 1-20-14
My quilting ufos are in various stages. The two quilts I finished this year, were finished tops which needed to be quilted and bound. The one I pulled out today was mostly cut out at least a couple years ago. Fortunately it wa s all packaged together with remaining fabric and pattern notes.
There will be 9 blocks and then I need to decide how to put them together which could take as long as making them. When the top is finished, it will probably go back to ufo status until I decide how to quilt it.
Knitting lifeline
Remember the lifeline I put in the socks for “just in case” I needed to back up. After knitting another inch and a half plus, I gave up – they were going to be too short. I like my socks to fit. So I ripped back a couple inches, back to the lifeline which I was so very glad to have put in there. It saved me from ripping out the entire sock and starting over. I went to the knitting group who was doing that sock as a knit-a-long and have asked what could have gone wrong. So socks are on hold until I hear from someone who has successfully done them. They have become ufos for now. Just in case you aren’t familiar with that term, a “ufo” is an “unfinished object”. In the quilting world, they are called either “ufos” or “pigs” which is “project in grocery sacks”.
Stash report – Week 3, 2014
I completed another ufo so here is my yardage report for the week ending January 18.
You can see how others are doing on Judy’s blog.
Yardage used this week: 10.375 yds
Yardage added this week. none
Yardage used this year: 19.88 yds
Yardage added this year: none
Net yardage used: 19.88 yds.
NY Socks revisited
Rest was our word for today. The weather was lovely so we went for a walk in the park and my “FITBIT” gave me credit for over 14,000 steps today – an all time high.
We came home and fed the livestock. They are in their evening feeding frenzy – each afraid he won’t get what he considers his share.(or her share).
This evening, the socks came out for attention. The purple is the lifeline, put in there so that if I have to go back because of a dropped stitch or a mistake, I can correct without losing lots of work which is what happens when a stitch goes it’s own way. Without the lifeline, there have been times, when I ended up so exasperated, I just started all over.
To put in a lifeline, knit the row, then go back through the stitches just knit with a tapestry needle threaded with a contrasting yarn. Then when knitting that row, be very careful not to knit in any of the lifeline.
When the heel is turned, I insert the rest of the skein of yarn in the sock which it is becoming. This saves lots of untangling crossed yarn . (and yes, sometimes, I do it earlier, but I need enough sock knit in which to put the skein,)
Knitting a sock toe up is new to me and I am pleased with the way it has gone. I will definitely do this more often.
Bunny fiber
Avril, a German Angora, could wait no longer to get her abundant coat off and be cleaned up and have her nails clipped. She waited over the holidays and today was her day. See how dirty a bunny can get, though they rarely do. With the freezing days, she had to drink out of a dish instead of a bottle, and she is just messier.
She was clipped shingle style. I move the scissors up against the skin and turn it sideways so as to avoid the skin, which results in this shingle look. Scissor cuts instead of shearing also leaves more fiber on her during the cool season. She got rather impatient on her belly and she is rather choppy looking there.
And here is the beautiful fiber she grew for me to spin.
Kay Capps Cross
This morning I quickly fed all the animals and headed off to an all day class with Kay Capps Cross at Quality Sewing.
She is a “Quilt Whisperer”, saying the quilts talk to her and tell her how they want to be quilted. She works in association with Baby Lock. What a treat!. I learned so much. A saying she likes is “It’s okay to be fabulous and flawed”.
She talked about the function of a quilt as well as types of quilting, giving us examples of each. She talked about when what might be appropriate and then went on to tell how rules could be broken and still be very successful. Second half of the morning was spent looking at quilts that members of the class had brought and we talked about what they were saying and how to quilt them. Extremely interesting, but I’m going to need much more practice at this.
and closer up
After lunch, the topic was Tips and Tricks for quilting. She taught us the best way to baste a quilt, about tensions, threads – good and bad, battings, and rulers. It was a full afternoon.
If you carefully at the below photo, you will see she quilted it with words
