Another quilt is off my to-quilt list!

I give you the beautiful, golden Honey Patch. It’s a pretty little lap quilt that came together from a charm pack, a few quarter and half-yard cuts, and some clearance bin finds.

The blocks of this one are basic – just a simple four-patch-within-a-four-patch. Add some sashing, cornerstones and a couple borders and voila – a pretty little lap quilt.

It’s about 50″x65″ so not huge, but perfect for a couch or patio.

The binding matches the black sashing, and the backing was another fabulous clearance bin find.

And now it’s packed up and in the mail, intended for someone very deserving!  I hope it enjoys its new home.

After a rough start, I’m happy to say Ursa is rolling right along…

As you can see, this little she-bear just needs sleeves! I gave her a quick try on and I’m thrilled with the fit. As you know, I usually make cardigans – that’s because pullovers never seem to look right on me… but this one… this one might just be perfect!

Time to get rockin’ on those sleeves.

With Rainbow Block Party out of it’s project box and in the to-quilt pile, I could have started something new. But I’m not sure what I want to sew next. And, if I want to get Dave’s quilt done in time for Christmas, I really need to get cracking on it.

So, I banged out another block…

Gosh, I really LOVE these blocks! They use such basic elements (squares and HSTs) but they really pack a punch.

You may recall that I was debating between four or six blocks (these guys are BIG!), and now with two blocks complete…

I’m 100% sure I want six blocks. It means buying more fabric, but I was going to have to buy more for sashing and borders… what’s a few extra yards?

While I did cast on Ursa for myself, I also cast one of those last projects from the gift list…

The sweater is too bulky to make good travel knitting, so I figured I might as well cast on a pair of socks. I’m slowly working my way through the pile of Aran yarn I bought back in February of last year for heavy man socks. This colourway is Mojito, and as you can see, it’s fun and bright!

Any while they will knit up quick, don’t expect to see a finish on these super soon. My main focus will be on Ursa. These are just for the days I get stuck on the road.

August is slipping away but the blooms keep coming!

 

 

And I’m very proud of my small, but mighty garlic!

I will definitely grow more of these next year!

Back when we were dyeing yarn for the shop, I left all the dyeing of the self-stripers to Mom. It required more science than art , and I wanted to just get to the good stuff and play with colour.

For the stripers, Mom used to buy the yarn in large cones. She’d then wind off enough yarn for a skein, then wrap that yarn around a warping mill, making a really long skein so she could dye the really long colour-runs that make it stripe. Once dyed, the skeins would go back on the mill, be wound into a ball, then wound up into a normal sized skein for sale. It was a lot of work.

Not long before we stopped dyeing for profit, our supplier started selling extra long skeins for dyers who wanted to make stripes. It would definitely save Mom some time, so she bought a couple bags. Not long after, all the dye stuff came to my house and the skeins were forgotten about… until Rowan and I pulled them out of the buckets.

They worked great and it definitely saved some time. Except… once they were dry… how the heck was I going to get them wound up?They were way too big for my swift, and Mom had sold the warping mill because I had no intention of doing stripers.

Time to kick it old school…

Grandma’s old dining set had notches in just the right spot, holding the yarn secure while I walked back and forth and back and forth… and back and forth getting those skeins wound up. I should have put my pedometre on… I bet I got in 10,000 steps!

Despite frequent inspections by the Snooperviser, I managed to get them all done in a few hours.

I give you (L-R) Sea and Sand, Fresh Corn, Wacky Watermelon, Pretty Posey, and Miss Mermaid. Mom and I have special plans for these, though I won’t be able to share until after Christmas.

Today, I give you my cats, in comics… (click to make bigger)

Burton…

Rupert…

Relic…

Peno…

I said the other day that my to-quilt pile was growing. On the weekend I decided to tackle the biggest of them, and after part of a morning and the full afternoon, the quilting was done.

It took the whole evening to finish the binding, but I’m happy to say “Sewing on My Back Porch” (The Time to Sew quilt) is done!

This one is a beast – about 80″ square. It’s not the most complex quilt I’ve done (Cat Fancy still holds that title) but it’s definitely second. That said, with Jenny’s tutorial, it’s really not that hard. And I love the secondary patterns created when the spool blocks come together.

This quilt had been planned for quilte a while, so I had the backing fabric tucked away (bought last year during one of Craftsy/Bluprint’s sales). The purple floral was gorgeous enough on it’s own, but also a perfect match for some of the purple in the quilt. The binding is leftover from the back of Autumn A-Whirl, and it matches some of the spool fabric quite nicely.

After taking photos, I left it folded up on the couch. This quilt is destined for the occaional guests who used our sofa bed, so it will spend most of it’s time tucked away in my blanket box. But before I put it there, I wanted to give it a wash and dry.

But I guess I have to wait until Relic is finished with it…

 

I decided to take the overwhelming advice of all of you, and take a break from gift knitting to cast on something for myself.

The cooler evenings definitely have me thinking about autumn, so I figured now if the perfect time to cast on for Ursa. If I start now, she’ll definitely be done in time for fall.

And while it may look like I’ve made some good progress, I really should be much farther than this. Although the pattern is well-written, and pretty simple (I’d say advanced-beginner level), I have had to rip out and restart several times.

The first time, I wasn’t happy with how my half brioche stitches were looking. So riiiiiiiiiipppppp!. I cast on again and axed the brioche, using just plain ribbing instead… I got about halfway through the first ball of yarn, and decided I didn’t like the way my lifted increases were looking. So once again… riiiiipppppppppppp. Cast on again, used a KFB instead of a lifted increase, got all the way through the first ball… and realized I did too many increases. I was only supposed to be increasing before and after the raglan markers, but I was doing it at the centre back as well. So you guessed it… riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiippppp!

Now… I’m back on track and everything seems to be going smoothly. Fingers crossed. I should be joining in the round soon, and dividing at the underarms. After that, it should fly.

A note about the yarn: It’s a chunky knit, so I’m using Knit Picks Biggo in “Brass Heather”. The heathering in super subtle… like ninja-level subtle. You really have to look to see it. But it’s a nice colour none-the-less. And it is wonderful to work with. It’s a 50/50 superwash wool/acrylic blend and it’s like knitting with clouds. I’m loving it. I should be just as nice to wear!

Assembling all the quilt blocks into a top is one of my least favourite parts of quilting. As they go together, it becomes big and bulky and more difficult to handle. It can be  frustrating in my tiny workspace. That said, I always power through it, and as a result…

… the Rainbow Block Party top is together. It’s definitely not perfect, and there’s a fair bit of wonk in this top. But as Jenny Doan of MSQ says “finished is better than perfect” and I can quilt most of the wonk out of it.

I ended up having to use two different white-on-white fabrics for the sashing. I ran out of the little tulip one (horizontal), and I couldn’t get any more. Fortunately, I was able to get more of the swirly one (vertical), which matched the centres of the squares (which was a little scrap piece I had). And that’s the beauty of a scrap quilt – you can mix and match!

When Rowan was picking out fabric for her dress last week, I wandered over to the clearance table to see if I could get anything for the back. I was hoping for rainbows, but no luck…

Instead I settled for this big daisy-like floral. (At $5 a yard, I’m not going to be too picky). I’m hoping I have enough of the green butterflies for binding, but if not, I think the red sunflowers will do the job nicely. Both of those fabrics were leftover from backs of other quilts.

And now my to-quilt pile is growing, so I need to get up to Mom’s and bang a few of these babies out!