I wasn’t really expecting to finish this one quite so quick.

I have a pile of tops at Mom’s that have been waiting quite a while for finishing. But I quilted Swan Princess with a pale pink thread, and Mom overestimated the number of bobbins I’d need for it. There was still three bobbins wound up when I decided I had time to bang out another quilt before going home. And this one was the only one with a colour-scheme that would work with pale pink thread.

Like the swans, I stuck with loops, and I think it worked particularly well with this quilt. As many of you noted, it has a very feminine, vintage feel. And I think it really shows that simple (a nine-patch is one of these easiest blocks to make) can be exceedingly beautiful. Although I’m a fairly new quilter, I sometimes feel I’m not doing the fabrics justice if I’m not making something complicated. But just like yarn – sometimes, the fabrics are enough.

The clearance fabric was perfect for the back, and using the bunny fabric on the binding really ties it all together, making those centre bunnies stand out just a little bit more.

It’s not a big quilt – just lap size. But it definitely is a pretty one!

You may have seen this on our facebook page, but I’m having a bit of a dillema

Carbeth is all blocked and dried, so I went through my stash to find appropriate buttons. I found two sets in the right size and quantity… and now I can’t decide!

I’ve had these pretty silver hearts forever. They’ve never been used on anything because most of the work I’ve done has been light for them. They aren’t super heavy, but they do have some weight to them.

Then there’s these pretty dark wood ones. They are almost identical to the ones I used on the Blaster cardigan last year. These ones are bigger (which is why they didn’t get used for Blaster) and a bit lighter.

I like the way both of them look – and I just can’t decide. Which do you prefer?

I don’t mind winter, really. But I do long for spring. Partly for my gardens, of course – but also because it’s hard to get good FO pictures indoors! (I really do need to invest in an external flash for my camera).

But until the snow melts and the light gets better, you’ll have to make so with these

Here’s the finished Swan Princess baby quilt. The pattern is Moda Love, and I made it using a charm pack and that lovely silver grey for the background. While grey isn’t a conventional baby colour, I think it adds a bit of elegance too it. In fact, Mom liked it so much, she took my leftovers and is making a baby quilt with grey, yellow and white. And we’re not the only ones – grey is popping up more and more.

Mom says I’ll get bored of doing loop-de-loops eventually, but for now I’m quite content. They are fun and mostly mindless. And they don’t have to be perfect. IT’s a total win for me!

As you know, I found this awesome swan fabric for the backing, and I had some mottled pink in the stash that was ideal for the binding.

Now this quilt needs to be packed up and sent off to Alberta. I haven’t heard if the little princess has made her appearance yet, but it should be any day now.

Late last week I got the Carbeth Cardigan off the needles. It’s on the blocking board now, but it’s a thick knit, so it needs some time to dry before I put the buttons on it and model it for a post.

In the mean time, I’ve started the second slip stitch sock.

I haven’t gotten very far – most of the weekend was taken up by sewing down quilt binding. But this week my evenings are free so I should make some good headway on it!

Like a lot of you on the eastern half of the continent, we got a lot of snow yesterday.

Unlike some of you, this was pretty much our first significant amount of snow this winter. We’ve had a few dustings, but they’d always melted in a couple hours. It’s mostly been a winter of really cold rain.

It’s lake effect snow, so we got  a fair bit more than the areas around us (which is on the more unusual side – we’re generally a little more sheltered).

The snow fell all day. I didn’t mind. I rearranged my plans, so I did my  quilting at Mom’s on Friday instead. That meant I could spend all Saturday enjoying the snow from the comfort of the couch as I worked on quilt binding.

The birds didn’t mind either. Their feeder was nice and full.

And Burton didn’t mind…

He had a great view of those busy little birds!

If you got snow, we hope you were able to kick back and stay warm.

I told you those nine patches were stacking up fast!

And it took no time at all to finish up the sashing giving me another completed top.

I went with a pretty white-on-white floral for the sashing to just give it an added touch of elegance. The centre bunnies will make the binding and I’m thinking that blue floral fabric I picked up the other day will make a fantastic back (see, I knew there would be a need for it!)

And now, I’ve got quite the pile of quilts to quilt. I’m heading up to Mom’s this weekend to hopefully put a dent in that pile. Look for at least one FO post later in the week!

“You mean this isn’t a cat throne?

It is not, Burton… and neither is the sink!

 

When I made the seamless kitty cat hat for the pattern, I actually made two. One for Wren, and one to make sure I had my numbers right. I was looking for a home for it when I asked Mom if she knew of any toddlers in need of a hat. She did not – the youngest in her circle was Brooklyn, the granddaughter of her best friend. But Brooklyn is four – the hat I had would likely be too small. But obviously, Brooklyn needed a cat hat!

So on that fabric buying trip to Lens, I also picked up some Patons Canadiana

And now Brooklyn has a cat hat! All is right with the world again. (No modeled shots yet, but I’ll try to get some for you soon).

I had lots of lovely comments on my blocks for Marseilles Stars, so I thought you’d like to see how they go together.

I make them using charm squares (5 inch squares) and I make two at a time, because you get enough for two from the centre fabrics.

To make two you need

Two charm squares of each print for your star points, six plain charm squares for the background, and one  charm square of each print for your centre.

Then I take two of the background squares and cut them into 4 (2.5 inch) for a total of eight smaller squares.

I also cut each of the centre squares into four in the same manner.

Then, using the four from one HST method, turn your remaining background and point fabrics in to HSTS. (Total of eight HSTs for each block)

The HSTs then need to be trimmed down to 2.5 inches to match the rest of your pieces. Once that’s done, you can layout your block for sewing.

I then work in quadrants and chain piece both blocks at the same time

And soon enough, your stars are shining!

The final block comes out to about 8.5 inches (and I only have six more to make!)

I’m no  cartoon mouse with super speed and a penchant for cheese, but the work I’ve accomplished on the Carbeth cardigan is certainly making me feel like I’m fast!

That pile of knitting is the lower body (back and fronts), one complete sleeve and a second sleeve start. Really, it’s not me that’s fast though – it’s  a cropped cardigan and thick yarn on big needles, all that adds up to quick!

I am really enjoying it though. The yarn (Knitpicks Chroma Twist Bulky) is very soft and I love the way the gradient stripe is knitting. It’s going to be a fabulous cardi and I can’t wait to wear it!