Vera from The Threaded Lane!

Congratulation Vera – I’ll email you later today so we can get this beautiful quilt on its way to you.

Thank you to everyone who entered and sent birthday wishes!

My cake was fantastic, and I’m actually still enjoying it! (‘I’ve been very good about not eating more than one piece each day, so I’ve been able to make it last.)

With Night Sky done and dusted, I had an empty project box. I could have started something new, but I’m not quite sure what I want to start yet.

Well…. I have the fabric picked out, but I’m still deciding on a pattern. So until that decision is made, I turned my attention to Royal Stars. It’s been pretty neglected, because the other projects (Meow-lky Way, and Pin and Paws) were just more fun to work on.

I only did two (I make them two at a time because the centre four patch is the same). And despite how easy they are to put together, the actually take a fair bit of time. (About an hour and a half for the pair). I think that’s mostly the trimming of the HSTs for the star points

In retrospect, I probably should have done them with geese. But geese are still a new thing for me and honestly, I didn’t even think about it. It would probably mean a little more prepping up front, but putting the actual block together would probably go quicker.

Something to try next time. (Because we both know I’ll be making more star blocks!)

 

Well the first glove is done.

It took far longer than it should, because I just really hate knitting those individual fingers. I don’t know why. They aren’t very big. Each one is only 17 stitches around. They shouldn’t take long, but they always seem to take waaaaaay longer than I expect. I tried to complete one every night, but more often than not, I allowed myself to get distracted, and they took about twice that many nights.

That said, they are worth the effort. If you love wearing handknit mitts…. well gloves are just that much better. And can we take a look at that cable for a second…

It’s not just decorative (pretty as it is), it’s functional too. It pulls the glove in a bit and provides a really nice fit around the base of the palm.

I have another skein of this yarn, so I’m thinking I’m going to have to look around for a scarf or cowl with a similar pattern. After I finish the second glove of course….

 

(Don’t forget, there’s still time to enter the contest to win the quilt! You have until Midnight.)

“Your birthday was exhausting…
let just hang on the couch today and sleep off all that cake”

Good plan, Burton, good plan!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes yesterday! Happy Friday!

I’m not quite sure how we got here… but as of this afternoon, I will have completed 40 (Yes.. four-zero) full trips around the sun.

I certainly don’t feel 40… though I’m not entirely sure what 40 is suppose to feel like, exactly.

Anyway, I’ve been properly spoiled. Mom gave me a layer cake of this cute French kitten fabric

And Dave spoiled me with more of my favourite candles, which contained this gorgeous birthstone set.

And even though I didn’t need any more of either of these…

I bought myself a birthday dress and some boots!

I’m now looking forward to my most favourite part of Birthdays – BIRTHDAY CAKE!!!!

And I’ve been  wracking my brain about what to do to celebrate with all of you.  In the past, I’ve given big yarn discounts – but we’re no longer selling yarn. I considered offering up free knitting patterns, but I did that last year.

And this year I turn 40 – which is pretty big. So I think it deserves a big give away!

So I’m going to give away one of my quilts… yep – you read that right. I’m almost drowning in them here, and it’s not like I’m about to stop making more any time soon…

So….

I’m offering up the scraptastic Rainbow Block Party. It’s about 68″ wide x 76″ long – it’s not huge, but it will cover the top of a double bed, work well on a twin, or make a extra snuggly couch quilt.

If you’d like a chance to win this – simply leave a comment by midnight EST Saturday, December 14th. I’ll do a draw on Sunday, and announce the winner on Monday. It doesn’t matter where in the world you are – if you win, I’ll ship it to you!

Good luck! And enjoy something sweet to celebrate my 40 years.

 

I did it! With the a little help from our favourite ginger snooperviser…

I had the Night Sky quilt done and dusted by the end of the weekend.

Phew! When we were putting together fabrics, I didn’t realized how wintery this one would end up looking.

It’s a nice size – about 75 inches square. And the block was super easy – made from two 10 inch squares, it’s easy to whip them out when you get into a rhythm. The pattern is Big Sky, if anyone else out there wants to make one.

The clearance section was a little lean when I went looking for a backing for this one, but I managed to find this pretty black floral that worked well enough.

And can we talk about that binding for a minute? I’ll let you in on a little secret – I love striped fabrics for binding. I don’t know why – I just do. This one came from the stash, and I just love how it echoed the subtle green and aqua elements of the lighter fabrics in the centre of the quilt.

And this should be the last quilt I complete this year. Nothing else in my project list is even close to being a top. And work has gotten crazy (companies trying to get things wrapped up before the end of the year/holidays). I’ll do a retrospect of all my completed quilts closer to the end of the month.

Glove and poncho knitting were set aside the last couple of days while I whipped out another knitted scrunchie.

It’s more yarn dyed by Rowan (Her Wacky Watermelon colourway) – but this one matches a pair of socks for her sister (whipped up by Mom on her circular sock machine)

I made this one a little less wide than the first, and it’s just about perfect.  And it was a nice little diversion but it’s time to get back to our regularly scheduled knitting.

I’m back to making individual geese, because I’ve matched up all the ones I had done…

And I definitely want more.  I’ve decided that I want this one to be really big – at least Queen sized. I’ve got lots of scraps, so making more geese is not a problem!

The other day, I was flipping through the grocery flyer and saw that my store had lovely festive hanging baskets filled with pine and birch branches.

There’s no denying, my hanging  baskets out front were looking a little lack lustre, to say the least…

However, I was loathe to pay the price the store was asking…  But I knew a man who could help me out.

It’s deer season, so Dad already some spare pine branches leftover from their hunting blind. And he very kindly cut me off a few chunks of his favourite birch tree on his front lawn.

The other day, we had a brief warm spell (just above freezing) so Relic and I took advantage of the sunshine

And I got to trimming, sawing, tying and arranging. In no time, they were back out front.

And looking so much better. Here’s a close up view.

The berries and pine cones came from the dollar store, as did the ribbon for the bows. They aren’t the fanciest bows – bow-making has never been skill of mine – but they get the job done.

The dollar store also yielded up these cute ornaments, which I strung to the bottom, so when the  wind blows, we can enjoy the tinkling of Christmas bells!

 

I did it!

I completed the top by December 6, and with any luck, as you’re reading this, I’m up at Mom’s quilting it.

The star block was pretty easy to put together, though I did get quite bored sewing nothing but stars day in, day out.  I’m definitely not meant to be a monogamous quilter!

To get a little more size out of it, I added a couple borders from stash fabric. The end result is a quilt top that’s about 75″ square. A nice, decent size.