WIP Wednesday

We are back home from our trip north to visit family (finally). We were suppose to arrive home last Monday, but 30 minutes into our drive home, our car died. Spent another 2 days with my parents before they drove us back to Michigan last Wednesday. They stayed another day so we could get groceries and do errands that are easier with wheels but it's been an adjustment. We're waiting until we find out where my husband's new job is before we buy or rent a car. Hoping we might find out in the next couple weeks.

What I'm trying to remember about our trip is the date night my husband and I had on our last Saturday night there. We went out for dinner and then hiked around some falls that neither of us had been to in over 15 years. It was great to spend some time alone and in nature. Totally worth all the mosquito bites I got. We even sneaked down to a ledge at the top of the falls and sat in silence - except for the roar of the water. Best date we ever had.

I did try to do a WIP post last week but life... it gets in the way sometimes. Last Wednesday, I was done both sleeves and the body of my Old Growth cardigan (and July Camp Loopy project). I had joined the sleeves and body of the cardigan and was ready to knit the yoke.

Today, the knitting is all done. Finished the buttonhole band yesterday, after 5 attempts. All that's left is to graft the underarm stitches, weave in ends, sew on buttons and block. Seems like a lot but shouldn't take too long. Maybe two episodes of Buffy?

Made a little progress on my Hello, Hello shawl. Finished the eyelet section and halfway done the stripes.

Closer look. 

I was able to pick up a little yarn while we were away. Trying to decide what to make with this lovely gradient my mom treated me to. Local yarn store is Stix and Stones. Highly recommend a visit if you ever get that far north. They specialize in Canadian yarns so it's always neat to look around.

And only my fellow Canadians will realize how cool/rare this yarn is. Found it at Value Village. Zellers was kind of the Canadian version of Target but with a decent craft section - I bought most of my craft supplies there when I was teenager and in my early 20's. They all closed and became Targets, years and years ago, and then closed again. Thrilled that I found enough of it to make something. I'm thinking a Kelsey cowl. Or maybe a Legume hat.

Got to love this 1 year warranty by Monsanto. 

What have you been up to the past couple weeks?

WIP Wednesday - 5 Quilts and a bit of Knitting

It's been almost a month since my last WIP post and some of those WIP's don't look much different. I blame Camp NaNoWriMo for stopping my WIP's from becoming Friday Finishes. Now that my brain can fit something other than my novel into it, it is quickly filling up with all the crafts I want to make, and surprisingly a lot of those are quilts. 

I finished making the Spin Cycle quilt earlier this year. I picked the backing fabric which I need to cut and piece to fit (doing that today). I'd love to baste this today but making cookies for teacher appreciation week comes first. It wasn't until I looked at the selvedge of the backing fabric that I realized I am using Cluck Cluck Sew fabric, too. Fabric on the front is an assortment of fabrics that aren't Cluck Cluck Sew. Really dropped the ball there. This quilt is a gift for my son's preschool teacher. She also taught my two older children when they were preschoolers. She deserves a quilt. Her birthday is Sunday, but I'm aiming to gift her the quilt when preschool finishes at the end of this month. Have no idea how I'm going to quilt it. Ideas? ( I had one leftover block, which you can see. Using it on the back as a label and have all three kids sign their names, and maybe a little message, too.)

This fabric is for another Cluck Cluck Sew quilt pattern. My daughter and I fell in love with her Basketcase pattern. I bought it and some fabric and plan on making it for my daughter's birthday next month. Need to get busy cutting and sewing this one.

My Bento blocks have been ignored for weeks. I still need to iron these block halves. I think I got a little depressed about this project when I recounted and discovered I need to make 5 more block halves. It's hard keeping track of so many pieces - there are over 1,000 pieces cut - but in the end they will become 2 quilts for charity. Need to refocus and finish them.

This crazy collection of fabrics is for the Sarah Fielke 2017 BOM. I'm behind on this one too. Need to iron some fabric and then do some paper-piecing this month. I'm a little scared.

And this was a quick fabric pull this morning to make a Rin quilt. There's a QAL going on for this one that I saw on Instagram. And there was something about the pattern I couldn't resist. Not sure when I'll make time for this but the QAL doesn't start until May 17th, so I have time to finish up some other WIP's before then.

And here's the little bit of knitting that's keeping me busy. I'm about to start another test knit for Sarah of Imagined Landscapes.

And I've been working on my Duvessa cowlette. Above I am 2 rows shy of finishing chart B, with only chart C and the border left. The KAL ends on Friday but something was bothering me about the design.

The bump down from the garter section to the lace section. I didn't like it. I want to keep and wear this but that little design element had me thinking I was going to give it away. And that kind of pissed me off. There must be something I can do?

So I started over, working the first part in stockinette instead of garter.

But since I'm not sure I'll like it, or if it will even work this way, I haven't frogged the original. They're both still connected. Not sure I'll get either of them finished by Friday, but I'm going to try.

What have you been working on?

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Friday Finishes... Kind of

      It's been a long, long week. After bragging to my sister when I talked to her on Sunday that my back seemed all better, I hurt it Monday and Thursday and today. Needless to say, I'm moving slow this week and blogging and all forms of social media have been ignored. It's not as bad as January, no pain pills really needed, but it's been a rollercoaster of feeling good then feeling bad that has me really frustrated.

      Here is my stack of finishes waiting for modeled shots. From top to bottom there are, a red scarf (for charity), a cowl (for me), Cuzco blocks finally trimmed and ironed, Beacon Hill cardigan blocked and waiting for buttons and Spin Cycle quilt blocks pieced and ironed and ready for me to decide the final layout of the quilt.

     This is as close as I got to an in progress shot. My empty cereal bowl holding yarn scraps as I wove in the ends of the Beacon Hill cardigan.

     I do have some new stash to share. Jen, of Knitting Like Crazy, gave everyone who finished something from her latest book, Cozy Stash-Busting Knits, during the KAL earlier this summer, some yarn. This is what I received and it's so soft and the colours are so me. I love it. I've already wound it and started a little something for myself with it that I hope to share soon. Details about the yarn here.

     And my prize for finishing all three Camp Loopy projects. I've been wanting a speckled yarn and I'm happy to finally have one.

      Trying to decide what to pair it with.  My daughter likes it with the variegated yarn on the left. I kind of like it with the blue on the right. Maybe I'll have to make something with all three?   

What have you been up to this week? Fingers are crossed here that next week is more crafty with less pain.

2016 Greater Ann Arbor Quilt Show

      The local quilt guild had their quilt show this weekend. When we first lived in Michigan (2004-2010), I was a member and librarian for the guild. I had quilts in their 2006 and 2008 shows. It is a non-juried show, just an opportunity for guild members to share what they've been working on. There are also shops to buy from. There were definitely fewer stores this year. My daughter, Calliope, and I went Sunday. Enjoy the pictures. You can see pictures from the last show (2014) here. I took pictures of all the info cards so I know who made each quilt, however no links to their blogs or instagram feeds as that information was not given.

Trapped Vase of Flowers by Anne Sloan. Quilted by Bethany Heyworth.

Tumbling Charms by Kim Leugers. Quilted by Elisabeth Galea.

Burgoyne Surrounded by Ellen Wilson. Quilted by Crystal Smythe.

Starry Starry Night. Made and quilted by Anne Sloan.

Loved some of the props they had up between quilts.

Gypsy Whimsy made and quilted by Marilyn Knepp. 

Key Lime Pie made by Glenna Schweitzer. Quilted by Crystal Smythe.

Gingerbread Square made by Norma Mossburg. Quilted by Marilyn Lange.

The neat thing about this quilt was that it was embroidered and then coloured.

Forever made and quilted by Debbie Grifka.

Happy Strip Star. Made by Lori Rhode. Doesn't say who quilted it.

Dresden Plates. Unknown maker, bought at a flea market. Quilted by Gwendolyn Louis. 

I voted this my viewer's choice. 

Songbirds in my yard. Made by Ruth LaCoe. Quilted by Rose Marquardt.

Felted Red Poppy. Made and quilted by Linda R. Larsen. 

This had to be seen in person to appreciate the texture.

China Trip Memento. Made by Slice of Life Quilters. Quilted by Michelle Mitchell.

      The group of quilters enlarged a photograph and cut it into 6 pieces. Each member made a quilt based on their piece of the picture, which were then joined together to make the whole quilt. Neat idea.

Dreaming Bargello. Made by Susan Borchert. Quilted by Kim Heath.

Calliope voted this as her Viewer's Choice.

A Bee for Thee. Made and quilted by Barb Kilburn.

     A beautiful cathedral windows quilt reminded me that this pattern is on my must make list. Not sure who made this. It is the volunteer quilt for the guild. If you volunteer in any way with the guild, your name is put in for the raffle of this quilt. Maybe I need to rejoin?

Another picture of it because I loved it so much.

      And here is what I came home with. I didn't end up buying anything from any of the actual stores. Fabric is so expensive and I don't quilt enough to justify the cost. However, the guild had a table of fabrics leftover from their members only garage sale (which would have taken place during the July meeting a couple weeks ago). I filled a bag for $10. Definite theme in what I picked, except for the Christmas fabric which is begging to be made into gift bags.

Moving the Stash Around

     I haven't knit in 2 days. Instead I've been moving living room furniture around and reorganizing the stash. I knew I needed to go through and get rid of some things and find projects that I've forgotten about. It's been fun but exhausting. I like the new arrangement and hoping it helps me get more work done. Only time will tell.

      Part of organizing was sewing batting pieces together and labeling them with the size. I saw someone else in blogland label the size of their scraps and thought that was a good idea. I'd link to them but I can't remember who it was. I also pieced together batting for 2 quilt tops that are now waiting to get basted.

     Shelf in it's new home. You can see where it use to be in this post. Everything got moved on Tuesday. Wednesday was spent putting stuff back on the shelf. The shelf of books is mainly my husband's - one shelf holds my library books (second from bottom). I had to take all his books off to move the shelf almost two feet. So much work but now I'll be able to use/see all the cubes of my white shelf. Before 4 cubes were blocked by my desk.

     I also did myself a favor yesterday by making these helpful lists for the binders that hold my printed off patterns. I use to hold everything in one but I split it up last year. This will make it easier to find what I'm looking for and to put patterns away.

     Here is the shelf this morning. Lots of yarn. Definitely need to do some stash busting. Once Camp Loopy is over I don't think I'll be buying yarn for awhile. I didn't purge much yarn but I did toss a lot of the scraps that were less than 10 yards. Not sure what I was thinking keeping so many small amounts. 

     My desk is now completely in the corner. We moved the couch back so they are still against each other. I split my desk into a sewing side and a writing side. The two quilts waiting to be basted are sitting on top of the cutting mat, along with the batting and backs. I finally started the first sleeve for the Side Squiggles sweater which you can see sitting between my computer and sewing machine. 

And since I can't seem to keep a plant alive, I've planted  some yarn hanks instead.