Photos Today!

I know I should finish something before I start a new project, but this just took a few minutes to cut out and arrange. 3 inch squares for my Halloween Sudoku. I double checked that each fabric was only used once in it's row, column and block of 9. The one thing I may change is to fussy cut one of the fabrics (fourth from the right on the bottom row) since my random cutting managed to avoid showing the monster design completely! Here is the custom longarm project from last week. The quilter used beautiful batiks.

Isn't this a pretty block? I did a simple radiant design coming off the corners of the center square.

See the rainbow fabric in the setting triangles? That's what was making me blind as I tried to quilt curly q's in it with varigated thread! Here's a view from the back:

I had a suspicious mole taken off my shoulder blade today. 3 stitches, and it kind of stings, so I am staying away from the sewing machine and trying to keep my arms down this afternoon. But I have to stay out of the swimming pool for the next 12 days until they take the stitches out. That seems like a long time, especially since the forecast is above 100 degrees for the next two weeks. I guess I'll stay inside and watch lots of movies in the cool air conditioning!

Sunday Sewing

To satisfy my quilting urge, I started a scrappy project using Bonnie's Boxy Stars pattern. I personally have issues with totally random scrap quilts, so I made the main star potion of each block in similar colors...of course, once I took the picture I can see that my values (light and dark) are way off! Oh well, that helps with the scrappy feel.
I am going to add more red and blue stars and send this to Quilts of Valor. They are trying to collect over 1,000 quilts by May 31st to present to a Marine Battalion that is returning home. I have some other blocks ready to assemble into a top, so I hope to contribute several finished quilts to this effort.
Some quilters have trouble with their cats laying on their projects when they are trying to take pictures...I have an enthusiastic little girl! I asked her to help, and first she rolled among all the blocks, then started throwing them in the air.
This next photo is just proof of my insanity: When I trim the corners of the Boxy Stars, I have half-square triangles, already matched in lights and darks. They are about 1.5inches square. My mom and I have had this conversation for years. It seems like such a waste to throw all these scraps out, but really...when are we ever going to sew them into something useful??? Well, I'm making a dedicated effort to use them as leader/enders when I chain piece, and I promise blogland that I will find a pattern for HST and work on it this summer! Maybe Broken Dishes?

Linky Loo

Thursday Thirteen...random thoughts

1. Hey Blogger, why is uploading photos hit-or-miss these days?!? Very irritating.

2. I started the book Emerald a couple weeks ago. Did King Edward and Wallis Simpson have a child? If so, what was her life like? It's been a great read so far.

3. I joined a sock knit-a-long with some other folks on Ravelry. I am using some Socks That Rock yarn to knit the Shur' tugal pattern.

4. The pattern inspiration came from the novel Eragon, which I checked out from the library on Monday. So now I'm reading two books at once - one at home and one during lunch at school. It feels weird, I am usually a monogamous reader!

5. This is an area where my brother and I have completely different attitudes. I will read books many, many times. The Little House on the Prairie series was in endless rotation for much of my childhood, and now I revisit Harry Potter every couple years. Ty, on the other hand, thinks there are too many books in the world to waste your time re-reading anything.

6. I am in more of a quilt piecing mood than a longarm mood. Mom brought me a king size quilt to finish, and she had very specific ideas about the quilting. Now I'm nervous to start on it!

7. I am mulling over some ideas for a challenge. The theme is "Geometry" - perfect for a high school math teacher, right?!? I'm leaning towards the Fibonacci Sequence.

8. My other idea, not necessarily for the challenge, is a Sudoku quilt. It will be fun to arrange the nine fabrics nine different ways!

9. I am continuing with the Sue Garman Block of the Month at The Quilt Show. I think my polka dotted background makes it very busy, but rather than abandon the project or buy a bunch of new fabric, I'm just going to continuing using my stash.

10. Hubby and I have been discussing gardening. He'd like to build a raised garden in our yard. I think it would be great as a family project...I've shared how baby K likes to dig in the dirt and water anything and everything! The drawback is that I know it takes almost daily upkeep to tend a vegetable garden, and with his schedule, I'd end up with those chores. I'm not too thrilled about that! Since planting season is several months away, we have time to decide.

11. Another decision that always crops up at the end of the school year is job-hunting. Hubby works at a charter school, which doesn't pay into the state retirement system or count as experience for public school seniority. For these and other reasons, I'd like him to get hired in a public school. Unfortunately, with the dire state budget we are facing, that is unlikely to happen for next year. We're hoping he can at least switch to regular school hours and get home in the early afternoon!

12. Speaking of school, several teachers and I were comiserating about the lack of motivation in our students. There is a significant percentage of my students who seem to take pride in doing nothing. They don't even bring a pencil or paper to class! So, President Obama, please don't push "merit pay" on me until you figure out a way to hold the students accountable for their actions too.

13. On a happier note, I was thinking ahead to summer vacation. One option is a trip to Minnesota to visit my new nephew, but I am leaning towards a trip to the beach and Legoland! Ever since I heard about it, I've been anxious to have a child who would enjoy it, and Baby K loves to build towers and bridges.

Errands

Phew...I finished the hanging sleeve on my show entries last night at 9:30pm. Dropped them off today at 10am. As the saying goes, if it weren't for the last minute, nothing would get done! The show is next weekend. I volunteered to work for my longarm chapter...we are selling raffle tickets to win free longarm quilting services. I love the show atmosphere and the thrill of seeing my own work on display.

In the meantime, I have been knitting the ruffley edge to baby K's tank top:And went a little wild for polka dots! Baby K pulled the purple fabric off the shelf, so I got that for Grandma to make a sundress. The other two will go in the Block-of-the-Month that I am working on.
We'll see how long I keep up...I made the feathered star center and the four-patch border and several of the stars for the outer border. The pattern calls for several additional scrappy borders. March is pinwheels and then we do some more stars. I'm not sure I want something that big and scrappy. Something about it is not working for me. I like what I've done so far, so I've been thinking about adding just one more border and keeping it as a wall hanging.

What I really need is focus! I have several tops ready for the longarm, a couple that need binding that I've promised to Quilts of Valor, plus several personal designs that I want to play with. Do I have an audience interested in testing some patterns?!?

Back in action

I remember a friend coming over to watch a basketball game on Sept 15th, and I was sick. It is now October 15th, and I am still sick. UGH. I did finally drag myself to the doctor - on my birthday - and got confirmation that I have been walking around with bronchitis. I sped over to the pharmacy to get antibiotics and today I am feeling slightly better. Maybe by this weekend I will have energy to do something...anything besides blowing my nose would be progress at this point!

I was reading Breaking Dawn last night and said "Jacob!" when I meant to remprimand my cat Casey for scratching at the door. I might be getting a little bit sucked into that fictional world...

My "Martha Stewart" project...making coordinating Christmas socks for a family holiday photo. I started with Daddy's pair and I'm almost to the heel of sock #1.


I started a new quilt...Judy has such fun designs. The goal is to quilt for an hour a day. Grab some fat quarters and play along! I'm a week behind already, but some sewing time is better than none, especially with some longarm deadlines breathing down my neck. Luckily Friday is a half day of school so the afternoon is already blocked off for quilting!

Longer than...

I did the math, and I need to knit 1 inch per day on the ordination stole so that it's finished in time for the service. I've been bringing it to work and I can get the 6 rows (which equal one inch) done in about 10 minutes. Right now, the stole is longer than my computer! (yes, that would be more interesting with photos, but I'm blogging from work. Check out Ms. Imbrium - I totally got the idea from her!!)

Since I listed my other deadline projects in the last post, they have been on my mind and I am starting to freak out a little bit. Yikes! I really need to spend time at the sewing machine during the week after Baby K goes to bed...

Back to Normal

It's amazing what you can get done in just one hour without interruptions! Baby K went to bed, and I squared up all these t-shirt blocks and got the top finished. It's one of my March-deadline projects, ready for the longarm. Another deadline project is knitting. My friends Julie is at seminary and she will be ordained as a deacon in June. I am making the stole for her to wear during the service...it needs to be about 100 inches long. Good thing I have a few months to work on it!
Thanks for all the get-well wishes. Baby K bounced back on Thursday after the fever broke and we had one bad night of teething (2ndd molars, ugh). We're putting shoes on for a trip to Grandma's house.
My next March deadline is the IMQA fabric challenge. I've had the design mentally prepared for months, and even purchased the fabric last fall...now that the deadline is right around the corner, I may actually get it done!

Lists

There is a movement on Ravelry called "Mission Possible" - knitting resolutions for the New Year. I contemplated joining, but then realized that if I only finished 4 pair of socks in 2007, I probably wouldn't be able to dramatically increase that total in 2008! However, the projects I had in mind for that mission work out nicely for a Thursday 13 list:

Upcoming Knits:
1. Jaywalker socks in JanuaryOne colorway from Blue Moon Fiber Arts
2. Red, white and blue socks, pattern to be determined
3. Rockin' Sock Club kits from August, October and December 2007
4. Ordination Stole for Julie (due June 2008)
5. Baby blanket (potentially for Julie's pregnant daughter who is due in July)
6. A black cardigan, pattern TBD
7. TOFUtsies sock club kits...I think I have 2 stashed away!
8. Socktoberfest socks that were such a mess in 2007
9. Mitered Square blanket - 18 squares done, 126 to go!
10. finish striped vest...there is a little border part to do on the four main pieces, then the sewing together part
11. vest from Noro Silk Garden yarn...multicolored and self striping
12. Another log cabin out of leftover baby yarn
13. Socks from gift yarn

Of course, this list in no way resembles the order that my knitting will actually be accomplished! You'll just have to live with the suspense and check the blog frequently ;-)

And then there are the Upcoming Quilts...I'm going to a midnight Quilt In tomorrow, so I've been thinking of which UFOs to work on.
1. Graduation quilt...I need to put borders on the 20 blocks and then I'm ready to sash and assemble the top.
2. T-shirt quilt...my aunt has been having issues sending me the pictures to do the last 2 blocks. we may have to resort to the old-fashioned US Postal Service! Can you imagine?!?
3. I have leftover one-block-wonder pieces, so I could do a second quilt similar to the one I finished in December.
4. I bought a charm pack and a pattern for a new purse.
5. At Quilt Camp in the Pines 2006, I started a Storm at Sea quilt with John Flynn. I have a recipient in mind when I finally get back to that project.
6. More NY Rising Sun blocks since I am teaching that class in a few weeks.
7. A Marti Michell block-of-the-month from several years ago. I think I finished 9 or 10 of the 12 blocks.
8. Jackie Robinson's "3 P's in a Pod" mystery quilt. All my blocks are assembled, I just need a design wall and some uninterrupted time to put it together.
9. The second quilt I ever started, way back in 2004...an Underground Railroad sampler. I think I have 9 of 12 blocks done on that one too.
10. I bought fabric for stack-n-whack or one-block-wonders so I could start a whole new project!

Ok, you get the idea. I could probably think of a few more to make a list of 13, but obviously I have plenty of things to do at Quilt In. I'm leaning towards #1, 2 and 6 in case you wondered.

Reults from the Shopping Expedition

Baby K got the chance to show off her Halloween sweatshirt. She loves to visit Grandma's shop!

Here's what I found for the challenge. The paisley print is the actual challenge fabric. I think I will use the blue and white for the checkerboard and add the green somewhere for a zinger. It's not very clear in the photo, but in the paisleys there is a hint of green, I promise!

And for the commission...
I changed the layout a bit to fit the size I want, so it's not a true Trip Around the World. The yellow fabric will be the center and then it moves out until the top and bottom rows are the black. It should go together quickly, and I'll share pictures when there is progress.

Two more repeats on the dishcloth, then I can join the miter madness! These are my first selections of Tahki Cotton Classic.
I want to use this on my bed eventually, and Hubby and I love blues, so that will be the focus. The yellow and orange are there to brighten things up a bit!

In the Queue

After the Socktoberfest disaster, I needed some instant knitting gratification, so I went to the stash and grabbed the Sugar-n-Cream that I bought to make the Ballband Dishcloth from Mason Dixon Knitting:
Tomorrow I have a big shopping list for my trek to my favorite store.

1. Fabric for the Trip Around the World (to be known as the Commission)

2. Fabric for the checkerboard background of the Challenge. Kay Gardiner talks about color choices in the mitered blanket section of MDK, and she said neutrals such as beige and grey can make colors pop more that a black or white background. I originally though a b&w checkerboard would be the way to go, but I will make a point of auditioning other choices with the reddish/purple challenge fabric.

3. Tahki Cotton yarn for a mitered blanket. This is another pattern from Mason Dixon Knitting (MDK). I fell in love with the one over at January One. I'd love to make the squares from sock yarn like Shelly Kang does, but I need more info on the measurements. (Duh...she has a tutorial on her blog. I guess I can start the sock yarn version sooner than I thought!)

Hmmm...I guess 3 things isn't THAT big of a shopping list, but since they are all brand-new projects, it's kind of daunting. I mean, I do have a full-time job and a 15-month old...when do I think I'm going to get this stuff sewn up?!? It's easier when I keep the due dates in perspective. The Commission is going to be presented in January 2008, so obviously that's first. I just need to turn off the TV after Baby K goes to bed and sew for a couple hours. The Challenge is due in March 2008, so that can be the focus of the school holidays in January and February. And the miters are just for fun...we certainly don't need blankets for warmth here in Phoenix. It's forecast to be 90 this weekend. Craziness!

October 31

Baby K and I went to a potluck at our church. We did a little bit of trick-or-treating in the parking lot.

The end of Socktoberfest 2007:

Yep, that's about where I started. I saw pictures of someone else's socks using this yarn and my were awful in comparison. I figured it was better to start over than have a finished mess. Better luck next year!

Here is my latest idea for the challenge fabric I got at MQS back in June. I'm thinking of using Ricky Tims' "Caveman Quilting" techniques to piece the focal fabric into a checkerboard background.

Design Challenge

Judy recently issued a design challenge. I had such fun playing with the Arkansas Crossroads block!

I started with blue, my favorite color:

I decided to try an offcenter design, soemthing a little different:

Then, I rotated the blocks and came up with tic-tact-toe. Since it also looks like hugs-n-kisses (XOXO) I changed the color scheme to pink:Finally, I decided to play with a scrappy color scheme. I put the blocks on point and added a piano key border. There is a thin inner border so the main design "floats."

I love how the variations emerge when you rotate the blocks. It's like the many layouts of log cabins, such fun to play with! You lose some of that with sashing, which is why none of these designs use sashing.

Recent efforts

I don't take pictures of customer quilts...too hard to get good shots of my quilting efforts! So that's why there have been no photos on the blog - I'm busy at the longarm! One of the recent quilts was the popular "Paperweights" pattern. I use six colors of thread:New Info: Paperweights is a pattern by Aardvark Quilts. That's the same designer as the bright orange wuilt I made in May...great stuff!

I finished the little bit of handwork on my 3-D "tucked and tweaked" sunflower. There are beads in the center. I could have added a few more, but I need room to add quilted details too.

This is the fat quarter of fabric for the 2008 IMQA challenge. I have some ideas for it, but right now it's just decoration on my design wall!

Mission Accomplished

I had some time Saturday morning during Baby K's morning nap to sew, and I have two more Hidden Stars finished! Only two blocks to go since 6 of them were finished on time in 2005. Oh, and remember that the points always match on camera!

The expedition to the LQS was a success! I got the fabric for three quilt tops. I knew what I wanted for a friend, and as I explained, I took Elizabeth (graduating senior) and Kerstin (foreign exchange student) to pick out their own fabric. I was a little nervous, because I wanted them to pick out a pattern as well! Imagine your first trip to a quilt store and this lady wants you to make decisions like that. The girls performed an amazing feat. Elizabeth chose the Yellow Brick Road pattern and her colors are green, pink, yellow and blue.

This is Kerstin's color selection:

Bold huh?!? Her pattern is "Squares Squared" by Aardvark Quilts, which will work just fine with a bright scrappy look. Stay tuned for photos of the new WIP!

I'm off to knit on my sweater and watch the Academy Awards. The first Rockin Socks Club kit goes in the mail tomorrow. Maybe by the end of the week I'll have my first STR yarn on the needles?!? Woo-hoo!

Onto the next thing

One week until the Rockin Sock Club yarn gets mailed! And probably another week to arrive in my mailbox. It's like counting down to Christmas, yipee!! I want to be able to cast on right away when my RSC kit arrives, so I am in the planning stages with the two skeins pictured. On the left is "Stars and Stripes" by Fortissima. I am thinking of a plain ribbed leg and stockinette foot to let the sel-patterning yarn really shine. On the right is my Socktoberfest yarn from Scout. The plan is to create a pair of Halloween knee-highs for October '07. I need to get some contrasting plain yarn for the cuff, heel and toe. Black or purple...what do you suggest?

And the top shows the alpaca yarn for my current project. I started the Left Back of a sweater vest. All knit stitches, so it works up very quickly. The multi-color alternates for a striped vest. After the left back panel is finished, I just have to knit a small wedge and seam the 5 pieces together. Good thing I have lots of TV to watch this weekend...that means quality knitting time. (On the schedule: Amazing Race, Desperate Housewives, Brothers & Sisters on Sunday, 24 on Monday)

I wore my Jaywalkers to school yesterday. It made me so happy to look at my feet :-) I will need to adjust my wardrobe to better showcase the hand-knits.

Plans for the three-day weekend...taxes (yuck, but not very painful with the adoption tax credit!). Monday I will run down to the LQS for some backing and batting. Last night I finished the Color Blocks top. I think today I will pull out my 2005 Blocks of the Month...that project got stalled in month 7! It's a Marti Michell pattern, so there are lots of little pieces to cut out with templates.

I want to take a long walk with Baby K today to enjoy the 80 degree weather. My condolences to those of you in the frozen tundra of the Midwest!!