WIP: Diamonds

A few months ago, I got an itch to make some string diamonds, after seeing this instagram post by Ramonarose.

Strings are always fun to work with, and I happen to have an abundance of them. It's funny how that happens. And after fourteen full blocks (which is 56 rectangles worth), a dent has not been made.

That's okay! There are more blocks to make, and this has me itching to make another string project when I finish the diamonds. I love them! Each rectangle (quarter block) is 10.5" x 5.5" unfinished, and most strings are 1.25" or less wide. There are a few wider strings for variety.

It's so colorful and it makes me happy every time I make a block (or more realistically, a stack of blocks).

Wordless Wednesday

Jeni's Drawstring Bag pattern is available here

Colorful bits

(My kitty mini quilt, which went to Felice!)

Color makes me happy.

(My second, and only successful attempt at crochet, encouraged by Sara!)

Really. It's that simple.

(my now finished do.Good Stitches string quilt and Bella!)

Whether we're talking fabric scraps, yarny things, nature, food, whatever.

(Amsterdam blocks, from Holly's pattern, made for Maureen!)

Color is everything.

Kitty mini quilt swap

I never shared this, but I have been participating in a fun swap! It's the kitty mini quilt swap, hosted by Felice. I've just finished up my mini, and am sending it off to my partner. Here's a picture of the top before I quilted it:

I want to keep it, which is always a good indication of success! And check out the goods I received, from what the bobbin!

She sent me an amazing grumpy cat mini, from the paper-pieced pattern by sew what sherlock, and so many fun extras! I especially adore the little pins and pincushion. Those pins!

It's been awhile since I've participated in a swap like this, but it's been really fun!

FO: Hoot

Oh, this sweater is cute.

I mean, aren't all baby sweaters? I think the owls make it extra cute, though. I can count four friends who have babies in the oven, so I decided to knit a few wee sweaters. Here's the first:

Olias is shown for scale (and added cuteness).

I knit the free Hoot Cardigan by Brenda Lotar, and used some stash KnitPicks Wool of the Andes (color is Iris Heather). I knit the 3 month size, and although ravelry tells me it took 3 months, the knitting went pretty quickly; I just procrastinated on the sleeves. Yes, even baby sleeves are boring to knit.

Up next, the Yoked Cardigan, by Knitbot.

(Nearly) wordless Wednesday: new cat edition

Fitzgerald has been with us for about ten weeks.

I finally got non-phone photos of her, with Swoon in the background.

The other two?

They are slowly adjusting. And highly suspicious.

This week

February do.Good Stitches blocks for Natalie. It was lots of fun sorting through scrap mountain to make these.

Two boxy pouches, from Bonnie's tutorial. The front pouch is entirely from scraps and the back pouch was made form a favorite and long OOP Echino cheater print.

Slowly working my way through a social tote. Pattern is by Carolyn Friedlander w/ Noodlehead. I'm enjoying the process!

I pulled this stack of fabrics to use for 100 Modern Quilt Blocks, and I'm sewing along with Jeni and Amanda (and possibly a few other friends!).

First three blocks!

Bella is still constantly looking out for the third kitty. It's been a little over six weeks since Fitzgerald moved in. Things are getting easier and calmer, slowly.

Have a great week!

Tongue-tied Thursday

Not much to say, but I wanted to share some glimpses of my week:

I've been very introverted for the past few days, but I think that's okay.

Hope you're having a great week!

P.S. If you haven't already heard, the Boston Modern Quilt Guild is calling for quilt blocks. This is going on my short list of things to do!

Thursday

Thanks for all of your nice comments on my quilts this week. It feels fancy to share two quilts in one week! I'll have another to share (this one) as soon as pictures are taken.

Today, I am finishing up a new garment, from New Look pattern 0134. I picked up this purple plaid last year sometime from Hart's Fabric. All I lack is the hem and snaps (instead of buttons!). There are already plans for a second one, because the fit is nice.

Then, I'm hoping to finish up my Madrona Road challenge for the Modern Quilt Guild. I'm making a baby quilt; the top is done!

And I hope to get back to my true love, x & + blocks. I'm sure you've heard about the informal -along that Katy and Brenda put together, right?

Speaking of Brenda, Pink Castle is having a sale on all precuts and bundles, using BUNDLE25.

My pile of unfinished projects never seems to get smaller, although I have been sewing away!
But Olias does need a place to sleep, so no complaints here.

Wordless Wednesday: Kitties

House stuff, some x & + blocks

I mentioned there was a hot water leak in our place a few weeks back. The townhome association decided to reroute the plumbing line through our ceiling, and so there are a few holes.

Downstairs bath

See that wire that is running over the stud (between the two hideous light fixtures)?
Yeah, that shouldn't be there.

An electrician came to fix that yesterday. And while we were at it, we asked him to take those fixtures away and we got a new ceiling-mounted one that will be installed once there is a ceiling again.

Hallway

Here, you can see our newly painted hallway (asparagus!), with our new pipe.

Next week, drywall repairs will begin.
The very bright side is that since this was the association's decision, they will be paying for the repairs (except the electrician). And I am glad I was already off of work, so that neither of us had to keep taking vacation days to be here for repairs.

So. On to happier things, yes??

I have decided I need a x & + quilt of my own, after making blocks for Ara Jane in do.Good Stitches.

And of course, seeing Jessica's amazing quilt top on the retreat influenced me as well.

I've been enjoying the scrap bin these past few days (although I haven't gotten much sewing done, since I've been sick).

And one tiny enabler alert for you: Kokka fabrics are on sale today at Pink Castle. You can get a 25% discount using the coupon code KOKKA25.
Just sayin'.

And last, but not least, I thought you might like to see a picture of Olias bath time.

I just love those little white feet.

happenings

I'm enjoying a rainy Saturday afternoon today. There's a few things I'd like to share.

First up, I recently left my job. After working in the same field for eight years, I decided to make a clean break. It was never my passion. Not knowing what tomorrow will bring is scary, but I'm optimistic. This is the reason for my recent etsy endeavor. I thought dabbling with a shop might be a good thing to try. I also hope to share more tutorials in the upcoming months. And most importantly, I feel so grateful to E. He is such an amazing partner.

Timing is a funny thing, and during this past week (my first at home), we experienced a hot water leak at our townhome. There have been plumbers in and out for the past few days. There are something like six holes in the drywall in our living room walls/ceiling, but hopefully, this will all be past us after another week or two. I'm glad I was home to help arrange the work, though!

Earlier this week, I took this stack of lovely green fabrics, and now I've got this:

I'll be turning it into a pillow for my buddy, Rhonda.

It's making me want to make an entire plus quilt, though. Each time I make this type of block, I enjoy it so much!

Before that happens though, I've got two quilts waiting to be basted and quilted. The basting will happen today, and I hope to get lots of quilting hours in this weekend.

Brenda is having a storewide sale this weekend, using the coupon code LABOR20.
If you are in the US, I wish you a happy Labor Day, and for the rest of you, happy weekend!

Some new happy fabrics

In the recent sale at Pink Castle Fabrics (which is still going on, actually!), I scored several of my favorite prints for $5 or $5 a yard!

I cannot get enough of Leah Duncan's Maya line. Summersville is another favorite. I think these two lines play nicely together!

It appears that I was also in a green mood in my recent stashing.

I may have to use these together in a quilt!

I'd also love to pick up a little more Field Study soon!! I just love those arrows and feathers!

Brenda is also offering a discount on all precuts/bundles right now, with the coupon code PRECUT20.

Well, as you can see, my helper is requesting my attention now.

I hope you all have a fun weekend! E's parents are visiting tomorrow, but I will try to share some fun things on Sunday!

Nearly done!

So, first, I have to say, that I was blown away that my tote bag sold yesterday. I was having a pretty rough morning, and seeing that first sale email was amazing. I'm especially touched, that my good friend, Amy bought it. It means so much, Amy. Thank you!

So, today, a new day, I want to share a couple of photos I took last night. Since the photos, I have finished and washed the quilt. Photos soon!

I used a Dear Stella basketweave to make binding for the do.Good Stitches Citrus Improv quilt. Bella, of course, was happy to test out the quilt and make sure it's soft.

I'll share the finished quilt later this week.

xoxo

in the works

I feel like I have a lot of pots on the stove right now, but in the best possible way.

This weekend, I finally sat down with the citrus improv blocks from the do.Good Stitches love circle. Since the blocks were all different sizes, I had a lot of fun putting the puzzle together.

I ended up with LOTS of blocks, and the quilt will end up being about 60" x 60". I used several blocks for a back section as well.

This picture shows most of the quilt top, but I'll be sure to share a picture once it's finished. These colors are so happy; I'm going to have to make a citrus-y quilt for myself at some point!

Oh, do you see that bold, kelly green solid (almost forms a border around a block in the bottom right)? That is my new favorite solid, from the new KONA colors. This one is appropriately called Leprechaun. It's the perfect shade of green, I think.

The binding has also been attached to the front of this baby quilt.

Weekend happenings

I don't know about you, but I was not ready for the weekend to be over. E and I drove down to Galveston (just about an hour away) to visit with his family. They rented a beach house for the weekend, and it was wonderful to see them all.

We returned home Saturday afternoon, and I spent most of the day in the sewing room. I finished a big project, and then Jill came over for another little sewing adventure. She wanted to make some bibs for a good friend. This friend is adopting a baby in the upcoming weeks, and Jill really wanted to give her a handmade gift.

Here's her first bib, in an adorable Laurie Wisbrun print. We used a template found here. We made pizza, too, using my favorite dough recipe!

Sunday, I woke up early, got some errands done, and finished bee blocks for Sara, wonky houses.

I don't know why, but house blocks always intimidate me. I think the finished quilt will be very fun!

After making some tortilla soup to enjoy this week, I quilted a little project I finished a few weeks ago and Olias promptly tested it for me.

This will be a baby gift for someone in the next few months.

I finished the evening with some knitting and a little Mad Men. I was able to finish this first sock, and I'm determined to cast on the second very soon. Pattern and yarn info here.

So, how was YOUR weekend?

Wordless Wednesday: gratuitous Olias pictures

Knot a Problem

You may have noticed, but I didn't get very far in that photo-a-day challenge last month. In fact, I got exactly eleven days in, and some of those were taken late! Total fail.
It was fun, though, and something super awesome resulted from the challenge.

My February 8th photo was of an abandoned knitting project.

My sweet kitty Olias had a not-so-sweet freakout back in April of 2010, and destroyed this WIP. I was furious. I had to cut the yarn in several places, because he had strewn it all over the house. I vented here, if you'd like to read more.

The story has a happy ending, though, and it's all thanks to the photo challenge!

Celtic Cast On commented on the photo and let me know about a ravelry group called Knot a Problem.
Basically, members of this group love to untangle yarn/projects. Seriously!

I contacted a member of the group who lives in Austin, Ana (aka Badgersmama), and she agreed to sort out the mess Olias made.
I mailed her the project and a return stamped envelope, and she returned the yarn (in several balls, since I had to cut it in more places than I remembered!), ready to be knit again!

It was so nice of Ana to do this for me, and I'm so appreciative!

Days 1-10

We're halfway through February already! Geez. Time is flying crazy fast these days!

I thought I'd share a mosaic of days 1-10 in my month of crafty photos.

I must admit, I've been late in posting or taking some of these pictures. I'm enjoying the prompts, though. I enjoy looking through the flickr group, too.

Here's my favorite out-take, from day 7:

Olias can only be this close to the yarn under my watchful eye.

A little of everything

While I still think setting the wedding date sooner rather than later was smart, I really miss my low-obligation weekends. Spare sewing/knitting time has been scarce these days, but I've managed to make a little progress.

I made some flannel pillowcases this week. I picked up this lovely Anna Maria Horner flannel from Pink Castle Fabrics. Luckily, my friend Chris (who I get to see in a few weeks!!) sent me a large scrap of another AMH flannel, which I used on part of the cuffs for a little contrast.

I've accumulated quite the collection of sewing/quilting books! The top few were Christmas gifts, and some of the bottom ones are from my grandmother's stash. There are a lot of fun projects and techniques that I hope to try someday soon! In this photo, you can also see my growing AMH Good Folks collection. I just adore this line, and have been lucky to find pieces here and there, through swaps and etsy purchases.

I've been knitting on a few gift projects. I have two knitting FOs that I can't share until they're received, so it should be a couple of weeks for those. BUt this hat is destined for Elliott's mom. She asked for a knitted hat, and I just couldn't refuse. I'm using some Sundara Aran Merino (from a holiday gift bag). This yarn is beautiful! I love the slight variations in color, and the texture is lovely. The pattern is Stephen West's Windschief. I've already started the decreases, so I should have it finished soon.

And a little Bella action to complete this post.

I wish you all a good week!
I vow to have my list of 2012 goals up before the end of the week!