Another Month Gone By

So much to show after a month!

This is probably the finish that has been the longest in the making -

This is my version of the Pieces of Time quilt by Lori Smith. It started as a block of the month with friends in 2013. I have had the blocks made for a while and had to start on the appliqué border. I finally realized that it would never get done and a finished quilt would be better than blocks sitting in a box, so I added sashing, corner blocks and a border and finished it up. I am happy with how it turned out, and more importantly that it is finished.

This is how the quilt was supposed to look.

I did some more cross stitching using some fabric and floss that I had dyed. The motifs are from the Ultimate Sampler Motifs Source Book by Brenda Keyes.

The pin cushion on the left started out as an old thread spool and two circles of wood-

I covered the circles and added mother of pearl button to the bottom one.

And glued and stitched everything together.

I was inspired by something I had seen on Pinterest.

I finished a few more pairs of socks (all from handspun yarn) -

Socks are the only thing I have been knitting recently.

Finished weaving another set of tea towels-

The pattern is from the January/February 2015 issue of Handwoven Magazine.

These are woven with 8/2 cotton. One has white cotton for the weft.

I tiled the backsplash in the laundry room-

The cross stitch pictures on the little door are ones that my Dad stitched (all garden themed, and since the laundry room is also where the grow lights are it seemed appropriate).

I started a couple new hobbies recently (something I definitely don't need, but I love learning new things)-

One of them is wood carving! I received some knives and a spoon blank for my birthday and carved my first wooden spoon - we were surprised with how well it turned out (lots of sanding really made it nice). It was so much fun and easier than I thought it would be - it helped to have the proper tools and the wood was a soft hardwood.

Photos from around -

A Starfish cactus bloomed under the grow lights (the flower is about 15" wide, and so stinky!).

Best friends!

Enjoying the shade on a hot day.

We had a whole year's worth of weather in the past month - all the snow melted, to +20ºC sunny days enjoying cold drinks in the sun room, 

to more snow than we has all winter in a couple of days last week.

We are back to waiting for all the snow to melt and things to dry up again.

The dog is not allowed upstairs so the cat sits just out of her reach.

All the best!♥︎

Quilt Blocks

I pieced six quilt blocks this past week.

These are the last of the blocks for a quilt that started as a quilt along with a couple of friends (we all seemed to have lost interested over the years). It was started about 5 years ago.

There are pieced and appliquéd blocks in this quilt (7.5" blocks).

The quilt is Pieces of Time by Lori Smith . Now to work on the appliqué border.

I also finished a skein of yarn from a fibre bundle that I recently won. It is a beautiful Polwarth and Silk blend.

I divided the bundle into light and dark to spin two different skeins, to then knit together in a project (I still haven't decided on what yet).

My Tealeaf Sweater is coming along nicely. This week I finished the neck band and started the sleeves - they look really short but because of the drop shoulder they are already past my elbows.

All the best!♥︎

Blocks of the Month

These are my Pieces of Time blocks for February and March -

These are all the blocks so far-

All the appliqué blocks are finished, just pieced blocks left and the borders. These are 7.5" blocks.

I also finished piecing my Ostrich Block of the Month. I need to quilt it by the end of the month (the quilt group is have a show and tell for this BOM), then I will show more pictures, and reveal what I made with the blocks. (It's a quilt!!)

It is still unusually cold here and this was the frost on the screen door this morning.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!♥

Pieces of Time Blocks

I am pleased to have a storm day to catch up on my blocks of the month.

These are Pieces of Time blocks, they are 7.5" blocks.

This weekend I also machine quilted this Drunkard's Path quilt that my Mother made -

The blocks are13.5" (made up of 3.5" DP blocks), and the quilt is 41" square. She cut out the blocks on her GO! Baby.

This past week I finished knitting an entrelac shawl (more like a scarf, it is ~2m or 79" long).

The pattern is Entrelac Shawl with Tassels by Eva Martinsson. A really lovely, well explained pattern.

I used merino wool and silk that I dyed and spun. I made a few changes to the pattern here is my Ravelry page for this project.

This is a picture of the storm that is keeping me in - high winds.

A couple of years ago I participated in a 365 day photo challenge, this year the same group started up again. There are nine of us from different parts of the world, so it is interesting to see the similarities and differences - it is a fun protect. Mine is Joanne's 365 Snapshots.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

October Pieces of Time Blocks

These are my Pieces of Time blocks for October -

Both of them are #12.

This past weekend we went to my parents, it was a beautiful fall day.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.♥

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!!♥