Power Quilting!

I never seem to follow quilt patterns exactly, so I decided it would be nice for a change! The quilting book Simple Comforts by Kim Diehl  was one of my first quilt books (and still one of my favourites), and I have always loved the quilt Twilight Hopscotch (if you click on the book link you can see all the quilts in the book). I ordered some fabric that was on sale and it came last Thursday.

It was lovely to know exactly what to cut out with out figuring it out by myself.

I started piecing last Sunday, and because cold weather was in the forecast for the week I decided to challenge myself to make a quilt in a week (I have done it once before, a long time ago - probably the last time I followed a quilt pattern too!).

By Wednesday it was all pieced and ready for quilting. I tried a 'new-to-me' batting - Tuscany Cotton Wool blend by Hobbs (80/20 blend). It was nice to quilt on my sewing machine, but I don't think I would quilt a full size bed quilt with it - it is heavier than just wool or silk. It will be interesting to see how it washes - it is supposed to get softer with repeated washings.

sewing the last few stitches for the binding

Finished the machine quilting today.

The quilt is 61" square, with 12" blocks and 2" sashing and outer border. I am really pleased with how it came out and it was a fun experience.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥︎

A Quick Christmas Gift

I knit a hat for my husband, for Christmas (he needed a warm hat, that was long enough to go down past his ears - this should do the trick). The pattern is Baa-ble Hat, and ever since it came out, it has been one of the top patterns on Ravelry - it is so cute! I was so pleased to have a reason to make it.

I spun the yarn with wool from different sheep breeds - the first three are natural colours, white - Shetland, dark brown - Coopworth, grey - Gotland, and the last one is a Merino Cross from a local sheep farm (Sheeples), I had dyed it shades of green. The wool came from all over the world too - New Zealand, United Kingdom, and Canada.

I spun a thick, 3 ply yarn. The spinning took twice as long as knitting the hat (I do have some leftover yarn).

Three ply yarn is such a nice round yarn, and perfect for stranded colour work (2 ply is good for lace and plain knitting).

I made some modifications to the pattern and more details can be found on my Ravelry project page.

I wanted to share this post (link) from Angela Walters that I found on Pinterest today - it is tips on machine quilting - not technical tips, but how we are hard on ourselves and the reason why we make quilts, well worth watching. This is why I quilt - nothing brings me greater joy than seeing my family use what I make!

This is my oldest son watching a hockey game on TV, using two quilts (look at those curls! - his hair is short now). The quilting on the top quilt is nothing fancy, but my favourite design to quilt, I loved all the steps in making that quilt, it would never win any prizes at a quilt show, but I don't need it to, the fact that it is finished and gets used is everything to me!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!♥︎

Few Words Friday

I finally finished machine quilting my Double Wedding Ring quilt - time to cut all the threads on the back.

I practiced 'Plumifying" - from a Patsy Thompson Craftsy class on feathers.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥︎ 

Few Words Friday

Finished up the L'Enveloppe.

Starting knitting a Seeds to Flowers Cowl.

Still machine quilting!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥︎

About Time I Blogged!

Almost a month has gone by since I blogged, I am still making things - life is good! Picture heavy post.

I machine quilted a quilt top that my Mother pieced - 

The pattern is Emma by Bella Moon. It is a great fat quarter pattern.

This quilt is a fraternal twin to a quilt I made earlier in the summer (these will be gifts).

I have a few knitting finishes -

Hand spun socks,

and a bulky cowl - this is the Tanis Fibre Arts Year in Colour project for September.

I also started spinning again (I took a month off after the Tour de Fleece) -

This is Polwarth wool that I spun lace weight.

It is from this wool top that I gradient dyed.

Now I am working on a blended yarn - 

I started with Merino wool that I dyed shades of pink, purple, red and black, natural Gotland Grey wool and black silk.

I blended it on a blending board.

The above photo is of the rolags (the cinnamon bun shaped fibre), spun yarn and knitted sample.

Fall brings a bounty from the garden, and I have been doing some preserving - yum! 

Fruit Chutney

Tomatoes ready for roasting

After roasting and being pureed into tomato sauce

Lots of Canada Geese in the field behind our home - a sure sign of fall too-

This was the best photo I managed to take of the lunar eclipse on Sunday- it was a perfect evening to watch it.

butterfly in the garden

freshly unfolded poppy in the morning light

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥︎

Ode to Meandering

I finished the Court House Steps quilt.
It is 54"x81" - a long lap quilt (it did shrink about an inch and a half each way after machine washing and drying - gentle cycles). I used Hobbs Tuscany silk batting, and Bottom Line 60Wt thread for the free motion machine quilting (top and bobbin), with just a regular Organ #80 needle. The blocks are 9", I used the Judy Martin method of cutting and piecing the blocks (fabulous way to make log cabin blocks!!).

I quilted an all over meander on the quilt. I have mentioned it before, but here I go again - Meandering seems to have gotten a bad name recently, and I can't understand why.
I love stitching meandering - it is one of the easiest/relaxing designs to quilt on a domestic sewing machine. It gives the quilt a beautiful 'antique', crinkly look instantly. It also gives the quilt a wonderful 'drape-ability', especially with wool or silk batting - the quilt just fits around your body easily (I believe because the quilt is stitched in every direction).
I find that a simple quilting design is all I need when the quilt top has beautiful fabric and blocks.
I recently read on the Martingale Blog the Top 10 Trends from this years Quilt Market, and I was so pleased to have read that Machine Quilting - learning to finish your own quilts, was #8! When I teach machine quilting I tell my students that if all they learn is meandering (and its variations) they will be able to finish a lot of their quilts.

I used 'Minky' on the back of the quilt. It is the first time I have tried this. The quilt is so soft, but it was a bit harder to quilt - because of the nap, it was easier to move in certain directions. I did have to spray baste the layers (apparently that is the thing with knit backings). The other polyester knit backing I have used didn't have a nap, and was easier to quilt.

These next two projects are what are on my needles -

a reversible scarf using hand spun yarn,

and the cabled socks are still on the go.
You can tell that the mosquitoes are so bad now, that it is keeping me inside!

A lost looking baby Robin.

A Mourning Dove, and another bird, at the bird bath.

 Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!♥

P.S. Thanks so much to those who leave comments! If you have a question and are a 'No-Reply Blogger', please leave a way for me to email you back - sorry to those who might be waiting for a reply.