A Quilty Kind of Day

Tuesday was a rather rare kind of day. I spent most of it quilting. I'm not exactly sure why, but I haven't been using my sewing machine a lot lately. For some reason, starting last Friday, it has been calling my name. I've really been enjoying getting some quilty projects done.

Tuesday I trimmed and put the binding on the quilt I quilted on Friday for FNSI. I absolutely LOVE this quilt. And since I can't remember the last time I finished a quilt, I took lots of pictures of it. Enjoy.

We move next month - heading back to Michigan - and there's not much here in Idaho I'm going to miss. However, I am going to miss using this fence to take quilt pictures.

The back. The brick fabric on the left wasn't all one piece. I had bought a stack of them cut up into 8 or 9 inch squares at a guild yard sale several years ago. They seemed to go with this project so I sewed them all together and it was almost enough for the back.

Doesn't it look nice with our couch? 

So, this quilt was suppose to be a gift for my husband's supervisor here in Idaho - I have often referred to it as Luke's quilt. He has the same couch as us, so I was happy that the two looked so good together. I left the quilt spread out and when my husband came home and I told him I was going to give it to Luke, he actually looked disappointed. Turns out he likes it. And since it is extremely rare that we both like the same quilt - we're keeping it! I'm so happy.

My Tuesday sewing didn't end with finishing our new quilt. I got out this UFO that I started in Michigan almost 3 years ago. I quilted the center panel last year during the UFO challenge but had run into a snag when I attached the bottom panel. It went back on the UFO list and I think it's number got pulled in May this year. I got most of the bottom panel quilted but had to set it aside for other things. Tuesday I finished quilting the bottom panel - until I ran out of green thread. Then I attached the top panel - this included, adding on more backing fabric and then batting, which I had already pieced/ cut out and then sewing on the row of blocks. I even started quilting it, getting all the white and purple done. Yeah, I'm in shock too. Just need to finish the green, yellow and blue sections and then I can add the last borders. Binding strips are already cut and waiting. I might actually finish this monstrosity.

Side view. It looks good on our bed but it will definitely be a gift. Just not sure who I am going to give it too yet :)

Some of the quilting on the bottom panel. I use my free-motion foot and try to be as straight as possible but I know I'm not. It's the overall effect I'm looking for, not perfection.

See that one green triangle that isn't quilted? That was the only green left on the bottom panel when I ran out of green thread. Made a trip to JoAnn's yesterday and picked some up. It has since been quilted.

Some of the quilting on the top panel. Only the white and purple are done.

The first three borders, cut and waiting to be attached.

I also cut these triangles on Tuesday. They are the final border of the quilt. This quilt is going to be huge! I had originally started it to give to the woman that taught both of my kids preschool when we lived in Michigan a few years ago. I think I had all or at least most of the blocks pieced when we moved here 2 years ago. I have considered still giving it to her but it seems a little late for such a grand gift. Been trying to decide who I'm going to give it to now.

One last thing. When I was in JoAnn's yesterday I bought this batting. It says "NEW" but I'm not sure how new it is. Has anyone else used this before? It says it is "drapeable" which kind of intrigues me. Some of my quilts, even after being washed a few times, still feel kind of stiff and don't drape like I would like them to. It's suppose to cost $34.99 for queen size but it was on sale for $14.99. Figure I can't go wrong.

Lucky Me!

It's about time! I've done several Friday Night Sew-Ins (enough that even my husband knows what it is) and this month I won a prize. The items in the picture will soon be on their way to my house. Great price for someone who still hasn't bought any fabric this year.

You can see Bobbi's post about it here.

Thanks Heidi and Bobbi for hosting FNSI. 

And if you haven't joined in FNSI before - maybe you should. The next winner could be you!

Friday Night Sew-In

Last night was Friday Night Sew-In and I hadn't really planned on participating, but then I actually got something done, so I signed up.

I got this quilt basted on Thursday but I wasn't sure when I was going to quilt it. Kids behaved and played outside most of the afternoon and I was able to quilt the whole thing by supper time, yesterday.

I did basic straight line quilting, creating an "X" in each cream square. I don't really see the X's when I look at the quilt though, and I am very pleased with the square in a square look that does appears. At least that is what my eye sees.

The back. Decided to use brown for the binding so I'll need to search the stash for that today and maybe finish the quilt this weekend. 

I also finished this dress for my niece who turns two on Monday. It's obviously going to be late. Thinking of making a matching one in blue for her sister who turns 4 in July. The pattern only goes to size 3 but I think I can make it work.

Visit Heidi's blog to see what other's got done last night.

On the Needles Friday

Judy at Patchwork Times has decided to start posting on Fridays about what is on her knitting needles and has invited others to share as well. So I'll be linking up at Patchwork Times with what is on my needles this week.

I've been working on a dress for my niece who turns 2 on the 18th. I took this picture Thursday morning to post today, thinking I wouldn't get a chance to work on it last night.

Well, my husband put in a very long, movie last night and I was able to finish the back...

... and cast on the front. The pattern is from a book that my SIL owns. I copied this pattern when I visited them a couple years ago. You can find the ravelry page here.

Making this plain socks for myself. I was able to finish the leg this week.

I haven't made any progress on my cardigan this week. It's the Ardara cardigan from the book Contemporary Irish Knits.

My knitting goals for this week are:

1.Finish the dress for my niece and mail it.

2. Do the heel of the plain sock.

3. Finish the waist decrease rows of Ardara.

Birthdays, buttons and a book

Here's my daughter with the new cardigan and hat I made her for her 10th birthday last Friday. She loves them and has worn at least one of them almost everyday since. I was very relieved to see that the cardigan fit. I might knit it again for some of her cousins.

Close-up of the hat. 

Last Thursday I took this beautiful dress that my daughter has worn for the past two years and cut it up. 

There was so much material in the skirt that I was able to make 2 skirts. One for her and one for her cousin who has a birthday next week. I added the ribbon from the waist to the bottom. Need to add ribbon to the bottom of the one for my niece. The top skirt is another skirt I made for one of her old dresses. When I gave my daughter a new dress for her birthday, the first comment she made was that it would make a great skirt once it became to short for her to wear as a dress. I really like reusing her clothes this way. When we lived closer to cousins I would pass down most of her clothes. It's been nice to change her dresses into skirts the last couple years so she gets a bit more wear out of them. 

The skirt for my niece is inside this bag. I crocheted this in just a couple days and used the beads I had left over from the skull cap.

Might have to make this one again, too. Great free pattern on ravelry. Only annoying part was pushing the 380 beads down the yarn as I worked.

Went to Michael's last week and found some buttons they were getting rid of. Need to finish up some projects soon as my button container is getting full.

I've also been reading this book. It's over 500 pages and I am about half way through. It's been an interesting read. I'm at her silver jubilee in the book. It was nice to see pictures from her diamond jubilee celebrations this weekend and appreciate a  bit more what she has accomplished in her life. It will be a long time before there is another monarch that reigns as long, and as well, as she has.

Birthday gifts done-early!

My daughter turns 10 on Friday. 10! Anyway, she asked for a cardigan and since it's trying to be nice outside I figured a warm cardigan isn't something she would need right now. I went for this lace, short-sleeved cardigan that will come to just above her waist. Something for a chilly morning or cool evening. I think she'll like it. I used some leftover baby sport yarn so it is soft and light. I might need to make more of these for some of my 7 nieces. You can find the free pattern here.

I also knitted up this little hat for her. I used leftover baby sport weight yarn again, so this hat is more of a fashion statement than something that will keep her warm. She's a bit of a girly girl but she also requested "punk rock" and "skull" stuff for her birthday. I think this will do.

Close-up of the beaded skull. I think this was my first time knitting with beads and I think it went ok. If I made this again I would knit  a round after the border before starting the beading since the first row of beads doesn't sit as nicely as the others. You can find the free pattern here.

Now that I have these 2 gifts done with a few days to go before her birthday I'm not sure what to do with myself. Should I try to make her something else? Work on gifts for my 2 nieces who also have birthdays in June? Or work on something for myself? Or perhaps even quilt?

Well, of course self-knitting won. I started these socks Wednesday during my daughter's piano lessons. None of the above projects were really portable at the time and I wanted something easy to work on. I worked on them some more yesterday after I finished the skull cap.

I've also made some progress on my cabled cardigan. This pattern is from the book "Contemporary Irish Knits". It's a lovely book. I don't own it, yet, but copied this one pattern when I got it out of the library.

First pattern repeat is finished and I've started the second. You can see by the slight curve at the top that I have also started the waist decreases. I have 3 more waist decrease rows to do then I'll set it aside and work on other projects

Weekend progress

While watching "Pride and Prejudice" Saturday night and "Sense and Sensibility" on Sunday night, I was able to get a lot done on the cardigan for myself. Finished the 4 inches of ribbing and started the cable pattern. This is the first 14 rows of the pattern. There are 36 rows in the pattern that is repeated the length of the cardigan. I really need to set it aside and finish the gifts for my daughter's birthday. Maybe after I finish the first pattern repeat.

Despite my best intentions, no quilting was done this weekend. I moved it down to the dining room table this morning and I hope to get some work done on my May UFO today and tomorrow.