Monday, September 30, 2013

Back from a Break

I took a "blogger break" for what I thought would be a month and it turned into two months. Thanks to those who wrote and asked me how I was doing. Everything is fine, I just felt that I was wasting too much time on the computer.

I had a wonderful summer and here are some things that I accomplished -

I made myself a robe/housecoat with fabric I bought in Hawaii (less than $20 for 4yards for beautiful cotton!) last Christmas -


I rarely make practical things, so I was thrilled with this. I also made my husband some pyjamas since I was on a roll (no pictures, and not in bright floral fabric, but maybe next time!).

I made some more runners for shelves in my sewing room -


This one is made with little thimbles (about 1") cut from some left over fabric from a quilt I made last year. It was a leader-ender project.


This one was just to practice free motion quilting. They are both about 8" x 26".

Here they are on the shelves -


Can you tell I am running out of ways to use quilts!

I taught a Invisible Machine Appliqué class this summer, and this is what I designed for the class -


It is about 10" x 16". Everyone did wonderfully, and it was lots of fun for me!

I needed to replace some worn cushion covers and I designed another appliqué block -



The fabric I used had a paisley design, so I incorporated that into the appliqué design and the free motion quilting.


I left the appliqué and the borders puffy to accentuate them (it was so tempting to quilt a feather border, although they are only 2" borders, but I wanted to see what it would look like un-quilted, and I am pleased with the results).


I made a coordinating pieced block for the second cushion. This 12" block is "Sea Breeze" from the book 'Knockout Blocks and Sampler Quilts' by Judy Martin.


They are 16" cushions.

I have also been knitting with yarn that I spun -


This one from a pattern - "Lazy Katy" by Brigit Freyer. The yarn is from Merino Silk fibre from SweetGeorgia Yarn, in the colour way 'Maple'.


This scarf is made with Merino (from a good friend) that I dyed (it is spun about a worsted weight, and came out so soft and squishy). The pattern is 'Undulating Scarf' from a 2010 Spin Off magazine, and it is also available free on Ravelry. It is a wonderful pattern because the scarf is reversible. I changed the centre double increase because I couldn't figure out how to make the one described in the pattern (I did 'K1, YO, K1' all in the same stitch).

The next two shawlettes are ones that I designed after taking a couple of Craftsy classes (Lace Shawl Design and Shawlscapes) -


This is a lace one made from Kid Mohair that I bought while on holiday this summer (we went to where we used to live in Alberta and I went back to my old local yarn store - it was so nice!).


It is the first time I have spun mohair and it was lovely to spin.


This one I wanted to be more free form, and I made it up as I knitted, which was fun (this is inspired by the Shawlscapes class). I also spun the yarn without much thought and just enjoyed the process, and it came out really nice too. This is BFL from SGY in the colour way 'Chai Spice'

I completed some Blocks of the Month -

 
The August block for the Ostrich BOM, a Dresden Plate (this is an 18" block),

 
and 9-Patches for September (4.5" blocks).


My Pieces of Time BOM blocks for September (we took August off).

Whew!!

Thank-you so much for stopping by and have a great day!!
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