WIP Wednesday - Knitting and Cutting Up Fabric Scraps

     I've got several projects on the go this week. I even let myself start a new one because I couldn't resist any longer and discovered an old WIP that I had forgotten about.

     My daughter took this picture of my Beacon Hill cardigan Friday morning. I was deciding whether I wanted to add another pattern repeat before doing the ribbing. I decided not to do an extra repeat.

      I was able to finish the ribbing on the weekend and started the first sleeve. The sleeve has been slow going, as sleeves usually are. I need to start forcing myself to do a pattern repeat or two each day for it to get done. 

      But this sock yarn kept staring at me and I couldn't say no any longer. Sunday, I cast on a pair of socks. This picture is from Monday morning.

And this is it now. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep these or give them away. 

      And I've been busy cutting scraps. My box of scraps is getting lighter. In the picture above there are pieces for some scrappy bento box blocks on the right. In the top baggie, in the middle, are 2.5 inch strips for feathers. At the bottom of the picture are some wedges I totally forgot I started cutting when we lived in Idaho several years ago. I'm not sure how big of a quilt I am hoping to make with them so I just keep cutting. In all, I am cutting my scraps for 7 different quilts. Yikes! I'm going to need more batting and yardage for some backs.

     And my drawers of 2 and 3 inch squares are filling back up. As is my drawer of 1.5 inch strips. It might be time to sew some together soon. 

What have you been working on this week?

A Scrappy Quilt Finish

     I had hoped to have this on the blog last Friday for Finish it Up Friday, but the toddler came down with a fever early Friday morning and I spent most of the day comforting him and trying to help him feel better. Fever broke early Saturday and I was able to finish the quilt Saturday morning. We were lucky to have beautiful weather here all weekend so I was able to get some outside pictures thanks to my daughter. It's so nice to finally have one of these scrap quilts finished. I have another waiting to be basted and I've been busy cutting scraps for 3 more. 

The back shows off the free-motion quilting.

      A little harder to see the quilting on the front. I used a variegated thread for the quilting and to sew the binding on.

Back with the front. 

     It just covers the top of our full size bed. The quilt measures 60 x 80. IF I were going to make a scrap quilt for our bed, I think I'd make it 90 x 90. Not that I have any plans to do so.

I'm surprised by how much I love this quilt. Wish it hadn't taken me so long to make it.

Tried to take a detail picture inside.

And my scraps are getting so low, I moved them to a smaller box. That's progress. And I have a LOT of green scraps. 

     This quilt will be going to my mother to donate to charity. She has one picked out which is why I knew the quilt needed to be 60 x 80. The scrap quilt waiting to be basted will be going to the same charity.

Friday Finish - Quilt for my Mom

  

       I showed pictures of the back of this quilt a few weeks ago. I made it for my mom's birthday earlier this month. It finally arrived at my parents house this week, about 10 days late. I don't really have any other finishes to share today so I thought I'd share the front of the quilt. Weird to see we had snow just a couple weeks ago, Spring has sprung here now. My daughter was at school so a tree in the front yard helped with the outside picture.

     On our full size bed. The quilting was a lot of work and took a long time. Not sure I will ever do quilting like that again. I took several pictures of the top. Hope you enjoy them below.

The back.

     Pattern is Moda Love, Layer Cake Quilt. For my version I didn't use a layer cake, just yardage of the blue and white fabrics. Quilt finishes at 72 inches square.

     My dad emailed me the picture above letting me know it arrived. Happy Belated Birthday, Mom!

The quilt behind her on the wall, is a genealogy quilt I made for her birthday 6 years ago. You can read my blog post about it here.

Linking up at Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday.

WIP Wednesday - A Quilt and a Cardigan

I have two WIP's to share today. 

I got the first scrap quilt under the needle yesterday and started quilting. I'm doing free-motion stippling over the whole thing.

I'm using a variegated thread but it's kind of hard to see.

This is the back which shows off the quilting a bit better.

And I made progress on my Beacon Hill cardigan as well. I finished the waist decrease and am now ready to start the hip increases.

What are you working on this week?

It was a Scrappy Quilt kind of Weekend

      Another late post as life got busy today. Floyd, our toddler, had a rare nap so I took advantage of that time to do some ironing, quilting and basting this afternoon. Every child free minute is precious. Here's what I was able to do this weekend. It was full of scraps.

     I cut and pieced the final row for a charity quilt. The small squares are 2 inches (cut). The white strips between rows is 3.5 inches (cut).

     All the rows together. It's a few inches shy of the 80 inches the charity likes for length, so I've decided to put a row of blocks at the top and bottom before quilting. I started that today. I did finish piecing the back today and I already have the batting, so this one will be ready to be quilted soon.

     I also cut enough 3 inch squares to piece the last 5 rows needed for this charity quilt. I really love this one and have continued to cut and sew squares this size. Perhaps a quilt for us to keep or another one for charity. I haven't decided yet. I pieced the back for this quilt this afternoon and basted it. Should be under the needle tomorrow.

     I also cut pieces to make some scrappy Bento Box blocks. I am thinking of making two 48 x 60 quilts for a children's charity.

     Scrap strips that are roughly 2.5 inches wide to make some feather blocks. I've loved this pattern for a while. Time to work on it.

     And some 4.5 inch blocks. Not sure if these will become yo-yo's or patchwork charity quilt. I only added about 20 squares to the pile this weekend but I need to decide soon what it will become.

And here is the picture I showed of my box of scraps on Friday.

     And here it is today. I didn't press it down, I've just done a LOT of cutting. I have a bit more to cut before I have enough for 40 scrappy bento box blocks. Then I might take a break and do some piecing.

What did you do this weekend?

Friday Finishes - 3 Knitted Hats for Charity

     A late Finish it up Friday post today. Been busy on the phone and internet trying to solve two annoying problems. 1 - dental benefits that disappeared because my older's son's birth date has somehow changed. Or the company thinks it has. 2 - trying to find an answer to a tax question had me calling both here in the U.S. and in Canada and emailing several people. No one has been able to answer me yet. Grrr.

     So, I'm going to forget about all that frustration long enough to write this little blog post and show off the three hats I finished this week. These will be going to Jen of Knitting Like Crazy when she has her KAL/CAL later this year which collects hats for charity. You can read more about it here.

     Here are the 3 hats. The top two are knit out of Cascade 220 super wash and used up all the yarn I had left of those two colours. The bottom is some acrylic yarn that was in my stash without bands. Probably from Michael's or JoAnn's. I have a little bit of each left but not enough for another hat.

Pattern is Points of Color. All three hats still need to be blocked, which will happen this weekend.

     Stockinette with ribbed cuff. There are only 3 blue stripes as that was all the blue yarn I had. I used the same number of stitches as the Points of Color hat so I probably shouldn't post that here but there are several free basic hat patterns you could use, such as this one. I made this one a little smaller than I would like to add some size variety.

     Another stockinette hat. I made this one slightly bigger but used the same stitch numbers as the Points of Color hat. I might cast on another hat this weekend as it's nice to have such quick finishes. It takes about a day to make one.

     And a picture to hold me accountable. I'd like to cut up some of the scraps in this box this weekend. I need more variety for the scrap quilts I am making for charity. The dream is that sometime this year, this box will be empty and no longer sitting under my desk (would be nice to have that space back). After that, I'd cut all my scraps down when I have them to avoid doing this again. A girl can dream, right?

Linking up at Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday? What did you finish this week?

WIP Wednesday

It's been a slow, lazy week here. I don't think I knit a stitch Monday or Tuesday, until I couldn't fall asleep last night. I have been reading this week (finished 2 graphic novels), so I guess that is what I've  been doing with my time the past few days.

When I couldn't sleep last night, I finished the Points of Color hat. I cast on another hat that will be plain stockinette after the cuff. I still have some of both colours leftover so the hat will be red with some blue stripes. Both will be donated.

Not a glamorous shot, but I got 2 quilt backs pieced. Now to find some time, and energy to do some basting.

I used the 3 inch squares I have cut for charity quilts as my leaders and enders while I pieced the quilt backs and was able to make 2 rows.

Went thrifting this weekend and came home with some fabric for backs. There is 5 yards of the black at the top, and it's reversible. There are 4 yards of the butterfly fabric and almost half a yard of the print at the bottom right. All of this for less than $15. Not bad. 

What I read in February

     I barely read at all in February. I'm not really sure why I didn't read much but I guess I got distracted knitting my Thermal Tunic. And the kids were off school for a week. I've also spent a lot of the time I usually read watching a lecture series I borrowed from the library. It's 24 hours long and I just finished it on Friday. I'll include it in my What I Read in March list. 

Here are the few things I read last month.

Jack of Fables: The End

This was the last in the Fables spin-off that focused on Jack. Funny ending (in Canada, no less). I had been reading one graphic novel a week but this was the only one I read in February. 

Sentences and Rain by Elaine Equi

I'm thrilled that I borrowed this from the library. I really enjoyed reading the poems over several days and hope to read more of her poetry in the future. Including a couple lines from a poem that I really liked.

From the poem "Slight"

"No one ever says:
'You make me slightly happy.'

Although this, in fact,
is often the case."

My sad looking February bookmark with only 2 dates circled. Hoping to read more in March (I've already finished reading 2 novels). I looked to see what I read last February and was happy to see I only read 2 books last February, too. Maybe it's a February thing.

Have you read anything good lately?

What I Knit/ Quilted this weekend

Anyone else having trouble with losing an hour this weekend? I think this is the first time it has hit me really hard. I was really dragging my butt yesterday. I laid down numerous times to try and nap but couldn't fall asleep. Luckily I was able to sleep in a little bit this morning (it's sad when 8:30 feels like sleeping in) and am feeling more awake today. I had big crafty plans for the weekend but nice weather on Saturday, which kept us outside, and the sleepy Sunday means my desk is still piled with a bunch of to-do's. Here's what I was able to do this weekend.

I got all the scraps I had sewn together last week put together into 2 more scrappy rows. I cut some white strips to help with the length and sewed them all together. I am aiming for a 60 x 80 finished top so I have one more row of scraps to cut and sew together. That is on the list for this week. I've started piecing the back and I already have the batting so I have hope that I will finish it this month. 

I love looking at the scraps as I sew, remembering what project they are from or who gave me the fabric. 

Not much overhang on our double bed. This quilt will be going to charity once it's complete.

My Beacon Hill cardigan is coming along. I don't think I've posted a picture here since last Monday. I split the sleeves from the body last week and have been working on knitting the body of the cardigan. Pattern is memorized and the cardigan is easy to pick up and knit a few rows when I have time. Yarn is Cascade Venezia worsted which feels lovely in my hands. 

The back. Loving the texture. I had my doubts about the pattern when I first started but I kept knitting. Now that I'm far enough that I can spread it out, I'm loving it.

Here you can kind of see how much it stretches. I was pulling on the back which shows off the honeycombish pattern. The sleeves are not stretched and it looks more like a diamond pattern. I'm hoping the weather cools down a bit so I can wear this a few times before summer.

And I cast on and knit most of a hat for charity this weekend. Pattern is Points of Color Hat. Just have the top decreases and ends to weave in. Both yarns are Cascade 220 Superwash. Red is leftover from the Dundurn cardigan I knit my mom. Blue is leftover from the February Lady Sweater I knit myself. Nice to use up some yarn scraps, too.