Friday Night Sew-In Results

Finally posting what I was able to do yesterday. 

I got a good start on 48 log cabin blocks. Need a good ironing before I sew on the next piece.

Last year I cut up a lot of my scraps into squares (2, 3 and 4 inch). I had several 3 inch squares sewn into pairs and sewed some together into four patches last night. I think I did almost 30.

Once the kids went to bed, I watched Milos Rancic win his match at the Australian Open while working on a sock for me. Knit about 2 inches.

Birthday boy with his new scarf that I finished as we watched a movie last night. He had requested a black scarf for Christmas but I didn't get it done.

Should keep him warm. Washed and dried it this morning and now it's really soft. I cast on 25 stitches and did seed stitch until I ran out of yarn. Yarn is worsted weight acrylic from Michael's.

You can go see what everyone else did for Friday Night Sew-In here.

Getting ready for Friday Night Sew-In

 Tonight is the first Friday Night Sew-In of 2015. I hope to get a little quilting done today, though I doubt I'll get much done this evening as it's my son's 9th birthday and there will cake and a movie and gift-opening to do tonight, as well. I thought I would finally show some of the fabric that joined my stash over the holidays in hopes that it will motivate me to do something.

New fat quarters from my parents (perhaps picked out by my dad? He likes to do that).

Fabric from my sister. She made our SIL placemats and said I could make my own. She gifted me one of her patterns. 

My sister also gave me this which is beyond awesome. Really want to quilt this and get it up on the wall. 

In the past, my sister and I have worked on different quilt projects together, including a quilts for our parent's 35th and 40 wedding anniversaries. This summer will be their 45th anniversary! Before, my sister and I have planned and made the quilts without asking my parents what they want. At Christmas this year, I asked my mom if she wanted another quilt and if there was something specific she wanted. She said they didn't need another quilt for their bed, but she would like Christmas quilts for all the beds - their double bed and a double and twin used for guests. 3 quilts by the end of July? Yikes. She said as long as she has them by next Christmas that would be fine. Whew!

So, my mom and I went fabric shopping before we came home and she picked out some Christmas fabric (at 50% off) and it's up to me to design and make them. I think I have them all figured out but designs might change. Here is what she picked.

She liked all the music on these 3 fabrics. She plays the piano/ organ so they seemed appropriate. They will be used for the guest double bed quilt.

For their bed she picked these two fabrics. The cardinal fabric is the main fabric (bought twice as much as the holly). Think I might add red and white to this quilt. I've been playing around with several designs for this fabric so it will be interesting to see what I finally decide.

I liked this so much we bought some of it too. Not for any of the bed quilts but going to make something else with it. And maybe something for myself too. Got 2 metres. 

As for the twin bed quilt? I had some jelly rolls that I had planned to make a Christmas log cabin with for a couple years now. My mom likes the log cabin block (I made a quilt for her with that block) so I think she'll like it. I got all the fabric cut to make 10 inch blocks. There are 48 blocks in total.

I placed the fabrics to see what it will look like finished and I really like it. These blocks are what I hope to tackle tonight for FNSI.

Sign up for FNSI here.

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 Night Sew-In Results

My Friday Night Sew-In was more of a Friday Day Sew-In as that was when I had time. I would have done more in the evening but I didn't have any white thread. I'm not sure when I finished my last spool but I hope to get out today to buy some so I can quilt the quilt top I finished last night. Here are some pictures from my Friday, with my toddler making a lot of appearances.

Bright and sunny outside while I finished sashing the blocks for our advent quilt. Pattern is here.

All sashed and ready to be sewn together. Kept the paper near me to make sure I sewed them together in the right order.

Little Guy, Floyd, loved the quilt. I laid it down to make sure everything was sewn together correctly and he hopped right on.

And he soon figured out the pockets.

He needed to hang out with me while I pieced batting. I used 8-10 scraps of batting. 

Basted it after Floyd went to bed last night but discovered I had no white thread. Floyd started putting  puzzle pieces on it as soon as I laid it down this morning to take a picture. Wait until he finds out that there are going to be treats in each pocket.

Visit Wendy's blog to see what everyone else did last night.

Writing Wednesday

Another Wednesday, another NaNoWriMo update. Picture was taken after writing yesterday which had the lowest word count (I blame the 1 hour dentist appointment). Luckily I have 12 days to write 15, 114 words. I can handle that. Then I can get back to blogging (I've already started to think about December posts) and knitting in the evenings instead of writing. I haven't started the sweaters I want to knit for my sons and I need them done by December 21st, which is when we open gifts here. 

And sign-ups are open for Friday Night Sew-In, which is this Friday, if you're interested. I have an Advent quilt I need to work on so I'll be participating. 

Friday Night Sew-In results

I felt like I did a lot yesterday for Friday Night Sew-In but I didn't even touch my sewing machine. A lot of prep work for two different quilts with a bit of knitting at the end of the night. 

Working on a secret quilt project with my kids. Had them draw some blocks yesterday afternoon after school. Bottom 2 are by my daughter. The one on the top left is by the little guy and the other two were drawn by my older son. Each one required 4 minutes of ironing to set the marker. I also drew 2 blocks but I didn't take a picture of them.

Here's a close-up of the little guy's block. He loved putting the markers back in the box and did that over and over again for almost an hour while I was busy ironing. It helped that the bottom opened and the markers would fall out. He'd just pick them right back up and put them back in the box. Adorable.

Finishing up this Advent quilt is one of my October goals. I really wanted to start a new project last night but I forced myself to work on this instead. All I was able to get done last night were the numbers. Cutting them out took much longer than I had expected. They are ironed on but I still need to stitch over them. Then I can attach them to their pocket backs. I am really loving this. We decided to make an Advent quilt since we have 3 very different kids, that are 3 very different ages and this will allow some custom advent gifts. Most of the days will be treats like chocolate and candy canes but at least one day will include a handmade gift (perhaps hats) and books will be given another day. I also plan on putting in some family activities. 

I was able to get 4 rows of this shawl knit. I only have 8 rows left in the border before this gift is finished but...

... at over 350 stitches per row it feels like it is taking forever to finish.

Go here to see what everyone else did last night.

Friday Night Sew-In

I was able to get a bit of quilting done yesterday for Friday Night Sew-In. All of it was done before supper as our evening was pretty full. Visit Wendy's blog to see what others got done last night.

This is a very orange quilt that is a twin to a quilt I made for a quilt guild challenge when we lived in Idaho a few years ago. I started this one at the same time but never got around to finishing it. I applied the circles to the top this week and yesterday I basted and quilted.

I used purple thread to go around the edge of the circles.

I was also able to piece the two green triangles for the bottom of the Made in Cherry quilt and get them attached to the body of the quilt. My little helper prevented from anymore getting done.

Here's a picture of the middle of the quilt top. I'm half way done each of the sides and hope to get those finished soon.

A Sweater Finish and Other Knitting

This week I finished the sweater for the Little Guy. 

And it fits! He doesn't stay still much so I had to get these pictures while he was waiting at the door to go outside. Even then he wasn't still and was distracted by all the shoes on the shoe rack.

Glad that it fits. Sleeves are a tad short but that's ok since they won't be in his way.

Finally being still but sweater is covered by the stroller buckle. This is more true to the right colour, though.

Detail pic.

I was so happy to finish one sweater (my second for the SSKAL) I actually did some knitting on the dreaded Dundurn. I admit I also spent one evening looking at different patterns wanting to knit her something else but continued with Dundurn. I think I did 4 pattern repeats on the back (24 rows) and have to do about 2 more repeats before I can separate for the shoulders and then the back will be done. The SSKAL is done on the 24th, although she often extends the deadline by a week, I don't see myself finishing this by then. I hope to have the back done and the next piece cast on - either the other sleeve or one of the fronts. It is a nice knit and I enjoy it when I work on it. The only thing that slows me down is that there is cabling on every right side row which can be tricky to work on when the Little Guy is awake. My parents might be visiting in October and it would be great to give this to my mom then so she can enjoy it all fall and winter, but no promises, mom.

And since yesterday was my birthday, I continued my tradition from last year and only did selfish knitting which meant I had to cast on something new. Above is the beginning of the Sun Rose sweater. I am making a size small which I am very nervous about. I usually make mediums but after remeasuring myself several times, I decided to go with the small. I might go with the medium length.

And it's not a sweater but it's something else that has been filling my time this week. My best friend's birthday is next week. Last year I made her a cardigan and a hat out of this blue yarn. I still had some leftover so I decided to make her a matching scarf. It took me a while to decide what to make and which pattern so I'm not as far along as I would like to be. I eventually designed my own inspired by the hat I knit for her and a stitch dictionary We are supposed to have our birthday dinner tomorrow and exchange gifts but I know I won't get this done in time. Good thing I also bought her a book.

And tonight is Friday Night Sew-In. If you're interested, sign-up is here. It will be a FriDay Sew-In for me as I've been enjoying the Roosevelt mini-series on PBS this week in the evenings. Part 6 of 7 is on tonight. Although I guess I can iron and cut fabric while watching. 

Friday Night Sew In Results

It's been a long time since I've participated in Friday Night Sew In but after spending last night at the sewing machine and ironing and cutting boards I thought I'd check if FNSI was still going on. Lucky for me I found it's new temporary home on Wendy's blog, Sugarlane Quilts. So here's what I was up to last night.

I've been working on cutting up my scraps into different size squares to make quilts for charity. These are my 2 inch squares that had been pieced into pairs. Last night I turned them into 4 patches. Here they are before being ironed.

There are 85 four patches in all. They'll make a good start. I also cut up some more scraps into 2 inch, 3 inch and 4.5 inch squares.

I took these two orphan blocks from a quilt top that I still need to quilt and turned them into potholders. They still need to be quilted. They will be a gift.

I ironed and cut some greens and purples for the middle panel of my Rebel Flock quilt.

And I cut up some white for a craft project with my kids.

Yesterday afternoon I showed my 8 year old son how to use the sewing machine and he helped make some blocks for a different project. He had a great time and wants to do some more. Guess I need to find some projects for us to do.

You can go to Wendy's blog to see what everyone else did last night.

Friday Night Sew-In Results

With the kids home from school yesterday I was able to sneak in a little sewing time during the afternoon and even more after supper for Friday Night Sew-In.

During the afternoon, I pieced this quilt top. Took only about 30-40 minutes with only minor interruptions from the kids. The black is from a layer cake so I cut the other fabrics into 10 inch squares. This quilt will measure around 66 inches square and will be a gift next month. I was going for a modern look and hope I achieved it. 

After supper, I was able to sneak away to the sewing machine again and quilted this quilt. I did an overall free-motion loop. This quilt is also a gift and is slightly smaller than the first quilt.

Close-up of the quilting. Have the binding picked out and hope to get it on this week.

I was able to do a little knitting as well. I cast on the right front of a cardigan for a niece. 

Go to Heidi's blog to see what others did last night.