FO: Second scrappy trip

As I've already admitted, when I finished my first scrappy trip quilt, I wasn't keen on making another.

In fact, I used the word "never". Don't be like me.

I love the second versin more than the first, if that's possible.

There are so many favorites in this quilt. And I especially love the back. Ahhh. Yes.

I'm so glad I changed my mind.

Handmade Holidays

I wanted to share a little guest post over at Ellison Lane! I'd love for you to check it out, and you can enter a giveaway on this post. One of the prizes is a Christmas scrap pack from my recent drawstring bag and stocking projects.

I'm sharing a variety of handmade gift suggestions that I've made over the years.

FO: Mittens for Jeni

It's a little embarrassing when I think about how long these took me.

The actual knitting took place over just a few months.

But there was a.... year and a half hiatus before the second one was started. Yeah, something like that. Oh, well. They're done now, and living in a much more appropriate climate than Houston, Texas. The pattern is O.W.L. Mittens, from this magazine

I'm really proud of my colorwork progress.

This was the most complicated colorwork I've completed so far. I hope to try something even more challenging next year!

On ravelry

FOs: Lark Tee versions one and two

A few months back, I stitched up three versions of the Lark tee pattern, by Grainline Studio.

It's become one of my favorite garment patterns, and comes together so quickly. Before this, I had limited experience sewing with knits. As in, I had completed one simple knit garment. I'm not sure why I resisted, but working with knit is really not scary. My trusty little Janome (an older version of this one) is what I use for sewing with knits, since my larger machine is straight-stitch only.

So, I've tried three of the four necklines available, and three of the four sleeve lengths. This pattern really gives you a lot of options, and I see myself making many additional versions soon. I've already got another pile of knit fabric washed and ready to cut. The only modification I made was to crop the length (except the dotty version) because I like a shorter tee.

And the great thing about knit fabric is you can finish your hem and sleeves, or not. As you can see, on the boatneck version, I chose to leave my sleeves and hem unfinished.

I'll share my third Lark tee as soon as I get a modeled shot. And maybe by then, there will be another one finished!

Skinny Triangle quilt top

Well, it doesn't always work out this way, but I started cutting for this quilt top on Sunday, and finished the quilt top yesterday.

It was a frenzy! Here's a little detail shot:

There are so many happy prints in this, and I love the little improv bits. I have to give my husband credit for that skinny strip with the goose. That was absolutely his contribution, and I think it adds just the right amount of balance to the patchwork. And there's a little sneak peek of one of my finished Lark Tees. I'll be sharing more on that next!

WIP: Skinny triangles

I'm sure you've been there. You make a fabric pile, maybe it takes you a few days to deliberate, and then you instantly want to cut into it and sew. Despite a lovely list of projects-in-progress, this happened to me on Sunday. After purchasing Rain Walk, Anna's debut collection with Cloud 9, it sat in on my floor for several months. I originally had it earmarked for some EPP, similar to this pin. But then I realized I already have two EPP projects in the works, so that probably wasn't a good choice (although I'd still like to do a similar project eventually).

So then I thought about triangles. I drew a tall skinny triangle shape on cardboard (and first tested it with a small scrap pile), and set to work, cutting one row of triangles from each piece of fabric.

Oh, and I should mention, I found LOTS of stashed fabrics to incorporate, including several large scraps of beloved prints.

So, yes, triangles. I started sewing them up yesterday, and have four full rows sewn, as well as smaller clusters to sew into rows today.

It feels good to sew with such happy fabrics this week.

Ara Jane's FQV

The last Fantastic Quilt Voyage project that I have yet to share with you is for Ara Jane. She wanted blocks with a city or urban theme.

I think we are on track with that request so far. The colors she chose are soothing to me, and I loved working with pieced scraps along with a few new cuts of fabric for my blocks.

I imagined this to be a sidewalk or walkway (the purple/navy striped section). It was fun to consider these blocks from an aerial view.

FO: Florette

Here's another recently finished quilt. I feel like that is a really casual description when finishing a quilt takes a lot of work. This is Florette, and I enjoyed every step of the process. The large snowball blocks were great for featuring fun prints.

And I got to brush off my very dusty free-motion quilting skills with some floral quilting. It seemed like a good choice, and I really got into the groove of it on this twin-sized lovely. The pattern is Jeni's Florette and it comes together pretty quickly and is available in many sizes.

The backside. I do love a good quilt back, and I used several large scraps in the making of this back.

I made a list of my in-progress quilting projects last week, and it was an entire page long. Hopefully, I can cross off several more items before the end of the year!

FO: With Love

Last week, I shared two quilt projects in-progress, and I have one finish to share with you today!

With Love finished at 63" square, and features the happiest pixelated heart. The pattern is from Quilt Now, Issue 1, by Katy Jones. I chose lots of favorite pink and purple fabrics, with a low volume background.

I quilted it simply in a crosshatch design.

For the back, I used a large cut of mint Brambleberry Ridge and several soft corals.

This was a fun quilt to make, and I love the finish.

A few handknit FOs

Looking over my ravelry page, I haven't finished many projects this year. I can say that I love each project I've finished, and the desire to knit hasn't faded, after eight years. And I'm still learning new things, which is thrilling. For instance, I learned brioche this year.

As part of exploration station, I used lots of treasured yarns and that brioche section is my favorite part. It was challenging at first, but now I'd love to knit a project entirely in brioche stitch.

This shawl is giant, and I still haven't managed to get modeled photos (but we do still have pretty warm temperatures here in Houston).

I also just learned how to make a pom pom. I've tried once before, but this time I used the Clover tool (a gift from Amber), and now I want to pom pom everything.

Just look! yeah, pom poms rule. This hat is Sara's pattern: Nicke's Hat. Highly recommend!

Finally, I made a second Iz cowl, by Andi Satterlund.

This is such a great squishy cowl and I wear the first one I made as often as possible in appropriate weather.

So yeah, that's the latest finishes in knitting. I'm working on another pompom hat now, so I'll share that soon!

Two quilt WIPs

This week, I'm working on quilting (some free-motion, which I haven't done in awhile!) this top:

It's Jeni's Florette pattern, which is a great pattern that works up quickly and lets large prints shine. I'm quilting it with clusters of flowers, and while time-consuming, I think it will bring lots of depth to the pattern.

Here's a progress shot, mostly so you can see cats.

I also recently finished quilting this lovely number:

It's the Rapture quilt by Katy Jones, in Issue 1 of Quilt Now.

As soon as I finish quilting Florette, I have three quilts to bind. I don't normally wait to bind a quilt once it's quilted (because for me, binding is the best part!). But soon, binding and some sort of Netflix marathon will be on the agenda.

Citizens of Textile tomorrow!

You may already know about Heather's newest project, Citizens of Textile. If not, in short, it's a small marketplace of handmade goods and fiber love. It's only available one weekend a month, with a few artists featured each month.

And I'm a lucky duck who is included in the October offerings! Tomorrow (Friday), at 5 pm PST, you can find a few of my handmades, as well as loads of gorgeous hand-dyed yarns. Also included this month, is Splendor Falls. She has made some amazing woven pouches!

Speaking of weaving, two of my woven scarves will be available in the sale this weekend.

My Oceanic scarf, which I love so much. The colors are just my favorite, and it's so soft and fine!

There's also this Rosy Mariposa scarf, woven from some treasured handspun from an old friend and some Malabrigo Worsted.

I also made a handful of needle rolls, using my pal Amanda's pattern.

Lastly, you can find a few of my quilted pillows, of the Halloween and Autumn varieties!

Oceanic on Ravelry

Rosy Mariposa on Ravelry

Natalie's FQV

Last month, I worked on Natalie's fantastic quilt voyage.

Her theme was inspired by nature and I decided to make some improv sunny blocks. I used scraps that Natalie sent, along with a few additional pieces from the stash, and made these four blocks, which I sewed into a long strip.

I really love them, and I hope Natalie does, too.

I attached my strip to Nicke's diamond blocks, and sent Natalie's quilt on to the next person.

FO: A quilt for Ginger

I was recently asked to make a memory quilt for a sweet dog named Ginger. Ginger belonged to a close friend of Elliott's, and I was given a collection of scarves from Ginger's groomer. Given the oblong shape and size of these fabric pieces, I thought a coin quilt would be a simple way to showcase them, and I used a Timeless Treasures Sketch print for the background. The quilt is a decent throw size.

I embroidered Ginger's name near the center (I traced a printed version to get the bubble letters, from a Word document), and the embroidery is my favorite part. I quilted it simply in a very light blue thread.

I never thought I would make a memorial quilt for a dog, but I'm glad I could give her family some comfort.

Catching up: Jeni's Fantastic Quilt Voyage

Somehow, I've missed sharing my last few Fantastic Quilt Voyage contributions with you.

First up is Jeni's quilt. Jeni sent along several orphan blocks as the start of her quilt, and asked for blocks of varying sizes in similar colors, using her pinterest board for inspiration. I decided to make Jeni a set of blocks inspired by this Wonky Bee project:

I guess you would call them pentagonal log cabins?

Whatever you call them, they are fun. I cut some of Jeni's scraps into strips, and added a few of my own fabrics. You just cut a piece of fabric for the starting piece, with five sides and log cabin away!

I love Jeni's color palette and her orphan block concept.

FO: Indigo Sailor Top

I'm the worst about getting pictures of my finished garments. Take the Sailor Top (by Fancy Tiger), for instance. I just finished my fourth version, and I've never shared any of them here. Here's the third one, and I'll work on getting pictures of the first two soon. In the meantime, my latest was cut from the Cotton & Steel print I dyed in Wisconsin.

I love the indigo look and I'm so pleased with the fit. I'm still working on getting a smooth gather, but the neckline is so flattering. The Sailor Top is such a great garment and I'm planning to make my next one in one of Jeni's knit prints.

Since blue is my most stashed color of fabric, I definitely have a lot of blue garments. I should work on that. But, indigo!

A pile of FOs: City Gym Shorts

I'm not sure why I waited this long to try it.

Last week, I cut out the long ago printed City Gym Shorts pattern, and promptly made four pairs.

I lengthened the pattern by about 2.5 inches and shortened the elastic a bit.
They are perfectly wearable. I've worn them out walking and to sleep in.
They are a great way to use favorite prints in small cuts.
They are also a great justification for the new binding machine I bought, after seeing Jeni's this summer. I always disliked making bias binding, but the machine makes it speedy, and just look how cute!

My husband said four pairs was probably plenty, but I might sneak a few more pairs into the mix. Don't tell.

Again with the indigo

I just got back from Wisconsin, where I was able to join some good friends for a sewing weekend in the country. This is my third year to participate, and it's always a very happy time. I don't think I shared it last year, but here's my post from our first year, if you'd like to know more.

One of my favorite parts of this retreat is the dyeing. Each year, we've done fabric and yarn dyeing. We were hoping to try dyeing with logwood this year, but I didn't research enough to prepare ahead of time, so we omitted it. But, indigo! It's always fun, and one of the simplest natural dyeing processes.

I used rubber bands to resist this piece of fabric.

Additionally, I overdyed a large cut of the Cotton and Steel x print for a garment, and redyed some pieces from last year (which really, just took the dye in an even way, covering up my previous resists. Oh well. Lesson learned on that!

Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of our entire group of fabrics, but we used two entire indigo baths! And here is the group photo from our first year.

Jeni had to mail a box home to me, so I'll share my other dyed fabric and yarn very soon!