Silk and Merino Yarn

I finished spinning a skein of Merino and Silk (the fibre was from a dear friend). It spun beautifully and came out super fine (for me).

Almost 500 yards, 68g of lace weight yarn. I plan on using this for weaving a scarf. This will be the warp, and I will dye/paint it after measuring out the warp.

Snow this morning.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Flowering Snowball Blocks

I pieced a few Flowering Snowball blocks, just to see how they would look. I think they are going to make a very nice quilt, and I see other possibilities for quilts using this die (they are cut using a GO! cutter). Thirty three more blocks to sew. These are 12" blocks.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping.♥

Leftover Quilt Block

When I was stash busting a few weeks ago I found a leftover 7" log cabin block, as well as lots of 1.5"x2.5" pieces. I put them together to form an 11" block. Added 5 light 1.5" strips to one side, then embellished it with appliqué.

All to make a little (11"x16") table mat for my sewing room.  I used two layers of batting (cotton with wool on top - just what I had in that size). The appliqué is invisible machine appliqué. The free motion quilting is done with 100Wt Invisafil thread - straight lines and feathers, just for fun.

A pretty sign of spring.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Spinning Wheel

I got a new spinning wheel - an Ashford Traditional Double Drive.

It is a joy to spin with - I was amazed how different from my other spinning wheel (an Ashford Kiwi - which is a really good wheel too, just different).

I spun my first skein of yarn on the new wheel - it came out very even (the fibre was easy to spin).

This was the fibre - 75% Superwash Merino and 25% Nylon (Bare Stroll Roving from Knit Picks), that I dyed with an odd assortment of colours (I am trying to step out of my 'colour box' when dyeing).

The bobbins before plying.

The colours were beautiful to watch spin, and I look forward to seeing how it knits up. I was hoping to make socks, but (surprisingly for me!) it came out a bit too thin. I might try making gloves with this yarn.

This week I also crocheted something - it has been a long time since I have crocheted anything (when I was young I made a lot of things in crochet), and I really enjoyed it.
I know I have two 'crochet' patterns on Ravelry, but I consider Romanian Point Lace a type of embroidery.

I made a little bag to attach to my spinning wheel, to hold the oil bottle, yarn gauge etc. I felted the bag when it was finished.

The colour is better in the top photo. I used some of my first hand spun yarn from two years ago.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

FMQ Class and Progress

First I just want to mention that my Free Motion Quilting Class is being offered again this spring. The class is listed online here. The class was very successful last fall and I am really looking forward to this one. This time there will be four classes.

I did some free motion quilting last week when I finished piecing this leader/ender project. Little thimbles that are just over an inch tall. Hard to believe this mug mat is made up of 198 thimbles. It is 11"x19" (after washing).

I used some 30Wt Sulky variegated thread for the quilting. Here I "auditioned" the thread (I chose the  green one in the top left hand corner). I used a #90 Titanium needle for this thread, with regular sewing thread in the bobbin (a dark beige colour).

All the seams were spiralled so they would lay flat (the top of the thimbles are 1/2").

I chose an all over meander for the quilting, because I love quilting this design and I like the crinkly look it gives after washing. The fabric is "Old is New Fabric" by Lecien.

Since it is for hot mugs I used two layers of cotton batting- cotton lays flat, and two layers really protect the table from heat (I don't always have foil batting, but I have small pieces of leftover batting). Two layers of cotton are also great because they can absorb a whole mug of hot liquid (ask me how I know!).

I have been sewing Courthouse Steps blocks, 34 so far with 20 left to sew.

The last of the snow is almost melted,

and the tulips have started growing!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Stash Busting

For the past week I have been stash busting - whittling my 4 containers of fat quarters and smaller pieces down to 3 containers.

Since it is the same amount of work to cut out one quilt as three, that's what I did.

Pieces for a Flowering Snowball quilt cut with the GO! (the link for the die). I used some yardage for this one too. Here is a link for images of this quilt pattern.

12" blocks. The plan is for 42 blocks, with a 6x7 layout, the blocks alone will be 72"x84". I might add borders - big enough for a bed quilt.

Pieces for a Tumbler quilt (again cut with the GO! - 3" Tumbler die). I love this die and have used it many times, it is a really great way to use up the odd pieces leftover from cutting out other blocks.
There are just over 650 tumblers, and this quilt should be about 56"x78" (26 rows with 25 tumblers per row).

Pieces for a Courthouse Steps quilt. One of my favourite quilts is a Log Cabin quilt I made two years ago. I had a few leftover pieces, and I wanted to try something different. This style of quilt is a fabulous stash buster - 1+1/2" strips . I really enjoyed piecing the Log Cabin, so I am looking forward to this one.

9" blocks. The plan is for 54 blocks, with a 6x9 layout, resulting in a 54"x81" quilt.

With all the small leftover pieces I cut about a million (probably exaggerating, but there are a lot in that container!) Thimbles - these will be 1+1/4" when sewn. I like them as leaders/enders, and they will make pillow covers/table mats... without much thought.

Now comes the hard of deciding which one I will make first.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

March Year in Colour

The Year in Colour (a yarn club from Tanis Fibre Arts) yarn for March was a lovely 100% Merino wool,  DK weight, soft yarn.

The colour is called 'Spun Sugar" - a soft pink/lilac.

The pattern that came with the yarn was for this cable hat.

It was a lovely pattern to knit. I wore it for the first time today, and it is a bit small for my large head (it stretches, but then it is too short, even though I made the ribbing extra long because I knew this might be a problem). I am considering knitting it again with an extra repeat of the cable and bobble section.

Time for some nature photos from the past week - 

an amazing sunset

the ground was hopping with little Juncos after some snow

a red squirrel visiting

 Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥