Summer Stitchin'

I have over 40 individual miter squares done, so I decided to try seaming them together. This is a project to do a little at a time, rather than all at once! Here is the view from the back...And the front. Not perfect, but once it is all together with many colors, I don't think anyone will take the time to critique the seams! I decided that I need to sew the seams with matching yarn, so I will carry each color up the back so there aren't any alternate colors poking through.
And here are more Quilts of Valor donations. I used pantographs on these to get them done quickly. Pinwheels...
And stars.
Here is some detail of the Linda Taylor feather pantograph that I used. I stitched them with red/white/blue varigated thread, which was perfect for the busy fabric.
No baby pictures today...I'm out of space!

Cute baby

Baby K enjoyed pancakes for breakfast. She loved the maple syrup even more than the Mickey Mouse pancake!She played ball, until we had to make it disappear...she was biting chunks out of the foam. Oh well, she has other bouncy balls.
Another happy day in K-land!

Same stuff...

Quilts and baby!

My mom made this one to send to Quilts of Valor. It's the BQ2 pattern from Maple Leaf. I stippled in the cream background, did a leafy vine in the purple sash, and outlined the flowers in coordinating thread. I thought the backing fabric was perfect - you can see it along the bottom. Baby K walked up to me this morning while I was at the computer and announced "I did it!" showing me her tower...

4th of July was quiet. We took a quick trip down to Grandma's to swim, then tried to have our annual anniversary dinner at Pappadeaux's restaurant. Unfortunately, K was hyper after the long drive and Daddy and I took turns letting her run around on the outside patio. Came home and watched the Boston Pops fireworks and went to bed early!

Weekly post

I have been diligently working at the longarm every day. It's not hard when the quilts look like this:Hopefully, you can see some of the quilting in this shot of the back. I meander/stippled in the white squares and used a squiggly outline in the star blocks.
I have a waiting pile of quilts for Quilts of Valor, so I will keep to my daily schedule. I've realized that I can't stand and quilt for more than about 90 minutes at a stretch. My feet and back definitely let me know when I've been at it too long!

I am re-arranging the spare bedroom. It used to hold all my stamping supplies, but my in-laws gave me a corner desk unit so I'm slowly moving my smaller machine and quilting stuff up there also. I hope it won't be too loud to sew at night after Baby K is in bed...her room is next door to the spare room.

Speaking of K, here she is enjoying some peaches last week. We're hoping she enjoys fireworks tomorrow, our plan is to view them from a mall parking lot nearby instead of fighting the heat and crowds at the local baseball field.

Another week, another sock

Baby K is rockin the diva vibe in her new sunglasses:
We checked in on Grandpa as he recovered from surgery (went home last night - all is well):
And four days of hospital knitting got me past the heel on Froot Loops (pattern available at Knitty.com)

Weekend Round-Up

Baby K loves music, and she has been banging on the piano for about a year now. I think the way she crosses her legs is too adorable!
Occasionally she taps the keys individually. She sings the ABC song continuously these days!
I've been working on miters. If you want details of the colors, please check my Flickr files. It's all Tahki Cotton Classic yarn.I figured out the border on my striped vest. The directions are intimidating because you pick up stitches, then work the rows perpendicular to the body of the sweater. I have two other sweaters that I want to work on, but I'm forcing myself to finish this one first. Such restraint!

Waste not, want not

This is all that was leftover when I put the binding on...next time I will allow a few more inches to my calculations!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.

Socks

Baby K found some of my handknit socks this weekend. They don't fit her feet, so...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.

I was itching to immediately start another pair, but I have so many choices that I couldn't decide. I was looking for a pattern for the abandoned Socktoberfest yarn, but I didn't feel like swatching. I have some red, white, and blue self-striping that would be cute for July, but I didn't go digging through my stash to find it. I have several sock club kits, leftovers from 2007 Socks that Rock and Tofutsies, but I didn't want to concentrate on elaborate directions. I know, I'm being much too picky - just knit already!! So, I ended up working on a baby blanket and flipping through Sunday night reality TV (Ice Road Truckers if you must know my guilty pleasures...)

Stitching Away

I've got all the blocks together for my Christmas throw, using the "Turning Twenty Again" pattern. It's fun to put together because of the randomness. I tried not to have any fabric show up twice in any one block. Here is a portion...
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!

Doing what I love

Ahhhh, summer vacation has truly begun. Hubby took baby K to daycare on his way to school (he's teaching a summer class) so I had the house to myself all morning. Delightful!

I finished quilting this one for my mom: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!

Fiber Content

I finished block #12 in Marti Michell's 2005 Block-of-the-Month quilt. I am going on a weekend retreat in July, and now I have two tops to put together! The cabin we're going to has several big design walls, which I need for the next stage. 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!

Next up is the pattern "Turning Twnety Again." I collected a bunch of Christmas fabric...it started off with the green batik you see on the right, but there aren't enough Christmas batiks to make that the whole theme.
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!

Brief Pause

I am trying to get used to a new computer and a new camera! Plus, I am in a class about teaching students who are not English-speakers this week. I keep most of my feelings about my profession separate from this public forum...let's just say the American education system needs a major overhaul!

The best part of the class is a group project researching a different culture, with a capstone experience of dining in a restaurant owned by immigrants. My group visited a Romanian deli. The food was so good, I will definitely be taking my family back for an encore.

A day full of CUTE

We started the day with some coloring:

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.

Eclectic

I went to the library this morning:

Some fantasy, some murder mysteries, and some Christian fiction. What can I say...I have wide-ranging tastes!

When I got up this morning, I had hair down to my shoulders. By noon it looked like this:

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!

Thank you!

In the United States, today is Memorial Day, a time to remember those soldiers who died to preserve our freedom. Katherine Lee Bates wrote "America the Beautiful" and I think the 2nd and 3rd verses are even more meaningful than the first:

O beautiful, for heroes proved in liberating strife

Who more than self their country loved and mercy more than life!

America, America, God mend thine every flaw,

confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for patriot dream, that sees beyond the years,

Thine alabaster cities gleam, undimmed by human tears.

America, America, God shed His grace on thee,

and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea!