Around the Web with a Cup of Tea

Here are some of the fun and interesting things I found on the internet this week. Enjoy.

Ever want to run a B & B in Maine? Write an amazing essay and you could win one.

Another great person inspiring me to make more for charity.

I totally want to do this, but I don't have the space to hold all the WIP's.

The best news of the week so I'm posting two articles about it. Here's the second one. Pity it will be out just after my birthday. Perhaps someone will pre-order it for me as a gift?

I thought I'd start putting in links to some of the items I've pinned on pinterest this week.

Here are some neat pincushions.

I like the use of solids in this table runner.

Looks like a good tutorial on how to put fabric lining in your knits.

A great block to use up scraps.

Last 2014 finish

Today finishes up my week of finishes. Next week I'll be able to share all the things I've started since the new year. I have both quilt projects and knitting projects occupying my time. But back to the last finish of 2014 that started almost a year ago. When I was looking at 2013's calendar and writing birthdays and anniversaries on 2014's last January, I noticed that my father-in-law would be turning 60 at the end of December. My sister and I have worked on quilts together for our parents but I hadn't yet worked on one with my sister-in-law, Michelle. I sent her an email about perhaps working on one for her dad and having the kids help in some way. Her kids at the time were 12, 10 and 6 and mine were 11, 7 and 8 months. She was on board with the idea and we started looking for patterns. When I sent her the link to Cluck, Cluck, Sew's Suburbs pattern we decided it was the one. The houses were easy enough for kids to sew and the blank spaces could be replaced with drawings. Michelle added some paper pieced stars to the top  and we had one amazing quilt. 

Each family did 4 rows. Each kid was responsible for picking the fabrics for their rows (I helped Floyd), then Michelle and I each did a row that tried to balance or fit in with what the kids picked. It's a good thing Michelle had I have similar tastes and thus fabric stashes that worked well together. She mailed me her four rows - her row is at the top with the star row attached to it - and I sewed all the rows together. We ended up going with birth order since the rows went back and forth between the families. Except at the top and bottom since she has the oldest grandchild and I have the youngest and my row is last. We were able to discuss it once in person when we visited in June but all other discussions were done via email. Some kids helped, (pictures of my son sewing here), but they all drew something. Above is the quilt top before I mailed it back to her for quilting.

I also pieced the back. 

On our way up to spend Christmas with family (all our parents live in the same city) we stopped at her house so we could pick up the now quilted quilt which I still needed to put the binding on. We tried to get a picture of all the kids with the quilt but Floyd wouldn't really cooperate. At least he's still kind of in the picture.

A day before his birthday, I set myself up at my parent's house with my old machine which I keep at their house and put the binding on while Floyd napped. Great view. I also did a little writing in that room while we were there but that's a different post. 

Father-in-law with his birthday quilt. I think he was very surprised and very happy with it. Floyd was thrilled that he was allowed to walk on it.

And the back.

Close-ups of the drawings by my kids can be seen in this post.

This is one of the blocks I drew. He lives in the middle of nowhere or the centre of the universe if you ask him, and often posts pictures of animal tracks on his blog. The "human" feet are either his or belong to a sasquatch. 

Using our bed while deciding the layout with Floyd's help, of course.

Final layout and a better look at some of the drawings and blocks.

A Finish for Me

To start today's post, I have to say I'm really lucky to have a sister who introduced me to quilting and a SIL, Michelle, who is also an amazing quilter. I love that we all specialize in something and enjoy different parts of the quilt making process. I think my sister is really good at appliqué and Michelle is excellent at paper-piecing. I've tried to do both but have struggled. 

Michelle made these quilts for my older kids this past Christmas. They loved them. They are both great but the rainbow one she made my daughter just blows my mind. Have I mentioned my SIL is currently being a surrogate for a cousin and is due to deliver any day now? Yeah, I told you she's amazing.

I was a little worried that my almost 9 year old son wouldn't be excited about receiving a quilt for Christmas but I was wrong. He loved it.

Then I opened my gift from Michelle and was beyond delighted with this mini quilt. It has the Hemingway quote "There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed." I may have let out a squeal, or something like that, when I saw it. I love the typewriter, I love the quote and I especially love the thought behind the gift. Thank you, Michelle.

Now the quilt hangs proudly on the wall above my table. My sister made the flower mini quilt for my 30th birthday. I love looking up at these quilts that remind me of two amazing women who inspire and support me.

Finished Ornaments

I have a few finishes to share this week. Today's finishes are all ornaments.

I made this one of Deadpool for my husband out of perler beads. Used an image found on pinterest. 

Knit a penguin for my BIL who works with Linux (a penguin is their mascot). 

I knit a little gnome for my parents tree. He had to be hung near the back as Floyd really liked him. I used this free pattern. I used fingering weight instead of worsted and 2.75mm needles. 

And sometimes people make me ornaments. My sister made this one. I've kept it out and hung it above my table. This tutorial looks similar to the one she might have used.

Finished Sweaters

I was able to finish all the sweaters I was knitting as Christmas gifts. My eldest son had to wait until December 29th, but only 4 days late is a lot better than last year when he had to wait until February.

Here's my mom finally modeling her Dundurn cardigan. I was secretly hoping it wouldn't fit because I fell in love with it after trying it on when it was finished. I have no plans to make another anytime soon so I'll have to "borrow" it when I visit.

Love the black buttons.

Cables look great.

Especially close-up. There is only one mistake and it's near the bottom of the back. If you find it, you should really stop looking at my mom's butt.

Lots of owl eyes on Floyd's Owlet sweater.

I had all three kids in their sweaters last week and I tried to get a picture of them together but Floyd wouldn't cooperate. I'll have to try again another day.

Nova in his Flax sweater. He'll be 9 in a couple weeks. I made a size 8/10 and it seems a little small. Oh well. Floyd can wear it in 7 years.

Napping in his owl sweater.

He likes his new I-Spy quilt too.

A Yarn of a Holiday

I was very lucky to be gifted some wonderful yarn this year for Christmas. Not pictured above is the lace blocking wires my mom gave me. I'm looking forward to using them and perhaps reblocking some shawls. 

I also took individual pictures of the yarn for my stash page on ravelry and have entered more information about the yarns there if you're interested. Some pictures below, too.

My SIL gave me the above sock yarn. I've tried a few different affordable sock yarns from Michael's/JoAnn's and I found this yarn holds up the best. The one is missing the yarn label as I gave it to my mom to help her remember which sock yarn I like. I have at least 3 pairs of socks already made from this yarn and have found it pills but since it's very durable I don't mind. These will become plain socks for me.

I went to the LYS in my hometown over the holidays and bought this for myself. Love how colorful it is. Not sure if it will become socks or something else.

I picked these two out and my mom put them under the tree for me. Thanks mom. I've never used either of these yarns before.

And I bought this yarn to gift to someone else. It was nice to go to a real yarn store and touch the yarn, instead of just looking at it on a computer screen.

I was able to gather a few corks during the holidays as well. Some got put into the garbage before I could get them.

And my mom also gifted my two balls of red yarn to make some scarves for the Red Scarf Project. There seems to be a Canadian one that deals with people living with HIV/AIDS and one in the U.S.A., which helps kids who have aged out of the Foster Care program. Both seem like great charities so I'll try to make a scarf for both. I'm sure mom won't mind.

Crafting with my daughter

I think everyone knows my love of our local library. In December, they offered a lot of different workshops for hand-made gifts. My daughter and I went to one where we learned how to make a pair of snowman earrings and necklace.

I snuck this photo of my daughter crafting. 

I made this set for my mom. I think she liked the box I decorated more than the earrings.

Close-up of the earrings. They even have green scarves.

Since I don't have pierced ears, I put all three of my snowman on the necklace. I placed beads between them once I got home. 

I haven't been able to wear it much as Floyd likes to tug on it.

My daughter made a set for her friend and one for herself. 

I'm looking forward to going to more workshops at the library this year. It's a great way to try something new and they're free.

Friday Night Sew-In Results

I was able to get a few things done yesterday. I cut out and ironed the snowflakes onto a table runner. Still needs to be quilted but it is basted and ready to go. This is a Christmas present.

I quilted the I-Spy quilt for Floyd. Need to trim it and put the binding on before we open presents here tomorrow morning. He loves it, especially all the owls. (We open presents here as a family early and spend Christmas Day with grandparents).

It was going to be an I-spy book but after finding a piece of Spiderman themed fleece in the remnant bin at the fabric store it became a quilt. I didn't put any batting in it and just stitched in the ditch around all the blocks. He loves Spiderman.

I think he is very happy with it.

I also started this little gnome. It is just over 2 inches tall. I still need to knit the bottom and sew it all together. I tried a pattern that was knit in the round instead of flat but it was just a little too tricky for the level of patience I have at this time of year. And I don't mind seaming. I hope to make a couple more as they are pretty cute. Pattern I used is free and can be found here. I used fingering weight yarn and size 1/2.25mm needles.

Now go check out what everyone else did last night.

Friday Finishes

It's been a long week here, made longer by the internet company doing repairs in our area leaving me without internet during the day. Repairs seem to be done now so I can finally do a blog post. Here are all my finishes from this week and some works in progress. Tonight is the last Friday Night Sew-In of 2014. I have 2 projects left to do on the sewing machine that I am going to try and finish tonight. You can sign up for FNSI here.

A Jane hat for my daughter, Calliope. I tried to get pictures done when the daylight was good but it is almost impossible to get a good picture of myself and keep an eye on the toddler. This shows the detail better than the next picture. I did 2 and half pattern repeats. I used the yarn leftover from her sweater and I probably could have done 3 full pattern repeats but I didn't want to run out of yarn. 

 Pattern can be found here.

Dalek dishtowel for my BIL.

Pattern can be found here. I haven't washed this as it will shrink and fade after washing and won't look as good. 

Finished potholders/ hot pads made with insul-bright batting. The orphan block one is for me. I had planned on giving the two 9-patch hot pads to a SIL and the maple leaf set to a close family friend but now I'm thinking I'll give them one of each as they kind of look good together. 

Busy again with the perler beads and made an ornament for a nephew.

Started putting the button eyes on the Owlet sweater. 3 done, 13 to go. Anyone want to come and do the buttons for me?

I have accepted that I will not have my son's sweater done by Sunday, when we open presents here as a family. But it should be done by Christmas Day when we open presents with some of our extended family. Everyone needs vests next year, right?

I finished another perler bead ornament but it's a gift and they might read this, so this is all I can show.

Jen from Knitting Like Crazy sent me some corks. Now I just want to make more trees.