Here is the graduation quilt - just a few weeks late.
I tried to get some detail shots of the quilting. I did curly q's in the center soccer fabric, then spirals in the green corners and waves in the yellow portion.
Quilting details from the back.
Border details.
She put them on her arms!
I finished another pair, with just inches to spare. I was sweating those last few rounds as I watched the yarn disappear!
Jaywalker pattern with Blue Moon Socks That Rock yarn in January One colorway.
One of these days (or evenings when Baby K is asleep) I will lay it out on the floor and sew the top together. Since I already have quite a stack ready for the longarm, I need to spend time there! But instead, I started on my Storm at Sea. The complete block on the left is what I got done at camp 2 years ago. Today I sewed up the squares on the right. I have to re-check my math and decide how big it's going to be. I have a friend in mind as a recipient, so it's a toss up - do I make a twin size as a sofa quilt, or do I bite the bullet and go for the queen bed size?!?
And finally, here's our cutie pie. She loves to play with ice cubes and luckily our house has tile floors so I just let her drip everywhere. (Again with the expensive taste in toys!)
She enjoys a watermelon with Daddy, but she's not very good at smiling on command for long enough for the camera to capture it. Oh well, you get the idea!
The pattern is called Love Knots. Here is a better (?!?) picture of the quilting designs I used:
Yesterday I was trying to get some pictures of K. She was really being a ham!
I let her play with some scraps from my current project. She was having a grand time laying them out on her table and then draping them carefully over her arms. I tried to get her to smile...
Success!
The original pattern for this quilt calls for additional plain squares of fussy cut roses. I'm not all that frilly and I'd like to use this quilt in my bedroom, so I may try to find a plainer blue. Yes, I had this plan in mind three years ago but did I bother to buy the extra fabric??? Of course not! Since the rose fabric came with the cost of the kits, I may just follow directions and we can sleep under a few roses. Who am I kidding...it's too hot for quilts most of the time, so I'll just drape it across the foot of the bed!
Baby K was playing on the couch last night...she gets in these silly moods where she kicks her legs and laughs "ah, ha ha ha ha ha." Usually she's on the floor and wants Mommy and Daddy to lay down and laugh with her. I join her, since laughter is good for the soul! What I really need to do is get that on video!
There is an "Educator's Expo" today that I thought about going to. Just to see the vendors and scoop up any free stuff for my classroom. The organizers sent a workshop description last night, and the one workshop that might apply to my high school subjects is in the afternoon when I'll be finishing that other class I mentioned yesterday. So, I talked myself out of the whole thing! I don't need any more free tote bags or extra papers floating around, gas hit $4.05 yesterday, and I'd rather stay home and quilt for a couple hours. Rationalization, it's a beautiful thing!
Baby K's favorite color seems to be purple. Daddy brought some scrap paper home from work and we are scribbling on that. She prefers to color over the words rather than draw on the blank side of the paper...early rebel tendencies?!?
We moved on to ribbons...and the new cat K.C. enjoys this activity too!
My favorite art from school this week, a baby octopus:
We decided a baby pool on the patio would be perfect for warm summer afternoons. Grandma and Grandpa have a full size swimming pool, so we'll have fun play dates there too.
Some fantasy, some murder mysteries, and some Christian fiction. What can I say...I have wide-ranging tastes!
Great for the long hot summer!
Last night I turned the heel on my second Jaywalker (from STR January One):
And this morning I put sashing on some kaleidoscope blocks:
I'll finish the borders on that tomorrow before my movie date with hubby. Tonight I am going to work on some mitered squares at Stitch-n-Bitch. It's the first time I've been able to go in months and I'm really looking forward to it. The best part is dinner - we meet at Wildflower Bread Company and the menu is full of awesome salads and sandwiches. What a great start to my summer vacation!
I gifted a work-in-progress Graduation quilt (no photos yet). I felt bad wrapping the top up and then taking it back 30 seconds after the recipient opened it, but there was no way I could get it quilted this weekend. So, that's the first project on the longarm next week.
Gidget, our shy cat, likes to make a quick pass around the yard and then she darts back inside.
K.C. likes the water around the trees too!
My "artsy" shot...our peachy-pink roses in bloom.
I put Baby K's hair in pigtails yesterday. Too cute for words!
Craft update - I am quilting a t-shirt quilt on the longarm. The customer did NOT use any kind of interfacing or cotton sashing, so I had a bit of puckering and stretching on the sides. I wouldn't recommend that technique. T-shirts in general are hard to deal with. This is the second one this spring that I've quilted and I'm ready to get back to regular quilter's cotton!
Last weekend I had some quilting time and quilted a pantograph on this shop sample that my mom pieced:
Here's the back where you can see the panto, called "Java." Sorry, don't have the designer's name handy!
Baby K used her potty not once but TWICE tonight! Can I get a cheer for early potty training?!?
Play time continued...
She's a big girl! KC is more social than our other cat Gidget, which is fun for Baby K. There was the typical sibling rivalry - much hissing and growling between the two sister-kitties, but they seem to be working it out.
After a three month sock interlude, I've picked up the miter obsession again.
These squares still need to be blocked so they lay flat, but I don't want to leave them out overnight since I don't know if KC is enamored of straight pins like some previous four-legged residents of this house! It's supposed to be warm tomorrow (in the 90s) so I can block them and let them dry on the patio for an hour or so.
(the mark on her cheek is a daycare mishap) And just for fun, I went back to the bunny picture from this time last year...
It's such a cliche, but she is growing up SO FAST!
I finished a Jaywalker out of STR January One...the grey background is covering up the couch and Baby K's arm, but I suppose I should have centered the sock. Oh well, my photoshop skills definitely leave room for improvement! I thought it was so interesting how the 2-stitch difference between the leg and the foot of the sock really changed how the colors lined up.
2. What are your choice of toppings on a hamburger? And do you prefer gas or charcoal grilling? I don't have a preference for gas or charcoal, and I'm pretty traditional. Lettuce, tomato, pickle, ketchup, mustard.
3. You are chosen to have lunch with the President. The condition is you only get to ask one question. What do you ask?
Hmmm, that's a tough one. I guess I'd ask GW what he plans on doing next...will he try to be a crusader like Jimmy Carter or lay low like his father?
The ordination stole I've been knitting is no longer a deadline project. My friend in seminary was recently told that the Diocesan Altar Guild is providing the vestments for her ordination service. It was a blow to my pride that she won't be using it for that special service, but she definitely will use it in the future. I can't give you a progress photo of that one because I took it to school to work on during our state standards testing. Plus, I can usually get a few rows done during my prep hour and lunch each day. I'm about halfway done with it.
My main focus has been socks. I turned the heel on the first Jaywalker, and I'm trying to speed through the foot. Baby K has learned to say "knitting," but the t's aren't very clear, so it's more like "nee-ning." Her other new trick is to put her fingers to her cheeks and grin like a little Shirley Temple. I don't know where she learned it, but it's adorable!
Baby K wanted to get in on the action. She loves to carry little things around or drag stuff, so she grabbed the little sock and one end of the ball and off she went...
