Star Wreath Quilt

Taking a break from my pre-vacation house deep-cleaning and packing to share pics of the finished quilt!



I'm so so so happy with how this turned out. The design is based on this pattern, using bright kid-friendly colors. This was my first real experience with free-motion quilting (aside form a little 12"x12" wall hanging), and I feel like I learned so much during the process! At this angle, you can see the nice texture from the quilting



I decided to do a variety of quilting designs on this quilt, to practice many different ways of free-motion quilting. I started with a basic wobbly meander in the green areas of the wreath



Next, I did a sort-of paisley-ish design in the orange parts



Then I did a pebble stitch in the yellow area. I really love this look, but this stitch seemed to take way longer... maybe also because there's so much yellow.



Next, I did heart echo pattern in the middle of the purple star, and those weird snakey things in the purple star points. I don't really like the weird snake-looking things, but they don't bug me enough to rip them out. :-/



Finally, I did the loopy-meander in the blue sections. This was probably my favorite stitch. Also, it seemed the easiest... maybe because it was the last one.



For the back, I used paper-piecing for my niece's name, Jiya. When I saw that stripe fabric, it was love at first sight--I think it makes a fun back for this quilt.




The binding is a cheery orange with yellow flowers



In lieu of a label, I wrote on the back of the quilt with fine-tipped permanent fabric marker. :)



As with all gift-giving, I know that once I give this away, I need to let it go (as I did with the first blanket I made for her.... which is lost and gone forever in the Indian postal system). I do really hope she likes it, though! I have such fond memories of my blankets as a little kid--I hope this can be that kind of thing for my niece. And this time I'll be hand-delivering it--so I don't have to worry about it getting there in the mail!

Hello Fall

Leaves are turning, the sky is grey. Rain is in the forecast. It's fall! AKA the beginning of wool season.




Thought I'd share a bit about our summer quilt before I pack it away.





Made from two thrifted queen-size sheets, with cotton batting, and fun contrast binding. I quilted this in straight diagonal lines and diamond shapes with three different colors of thread. The quilting was actually done last summer, but I dawdled on the binding, and didn't do that step until early this summer.



I particularly love the binding fabric, "Damask Dot" in pomegranate by Tula Pink. Like pixelated art. Now time to pack this away until next year.

Love this great window spider web at the art store in our 'hood. Just masking tape--what a great idea!

Peer Pressure

I never felt pressured to use drugs, steal, cut school. The only "peer pressure" I felt was to keep my grades up. But that was nothing compared to the baby boom that is happening around me. I'm not sure if it's just specific to my circle, or more generalized to the broad world, but I can count more than 20 people who have had or are having babies this year! Craziness!

I've been working on a few small projects for these small people that are popping up, including this crocheted blanket which I mailed off to my friend Kathleen.



Yarn: Knit Picks Comfy Worsted
Pattern: Improvised (ravelry project page)

My crochet skills were a bit rusty, which resulted in a bit of gauge wonkiness for the first few inches of the blanket (see lower edge curving out in pic below), but hopefully baby won't notice! The pattern was improvised--simple and quick. The yarn seems like it will be a great baby yarn--soft, easy care. I hope that it holds up to multiple washes.



I've got another knit/crochet blanket or two in the works, plus this quilt that I'm making for my niece's 1st birthday. The pattern was adapted from something I saw online, and I'm working on free-motion quilting the top. I'm still climbing the FMQ learning curve, but things are going better and better.



I've also been working on some smaller items, most recently a baby surprise jacket and pebble vest that are each lacking buttons.



yarn: Schoppel-Wolle Crazy Zauberball
pattern: Baby Surprise Jacket (ravelry page)



yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed
pattern: Pebble (ravelry page)

Love the quick gratification of baby garments, especially these two, which don't look bigger than newborn size--seriously, they're so small! Now to find the best buttons for each, and perhaps to make coordinating booties/hats so that I'll have gifts all ready when I need them. :)

Welcome Fall

Thought I would try to get back into a routine with this. Try to make reflection and writing part of my home routine. Today was free Redbox text day, so of course I'm watching a junk movie. What better time to try to fire this thing back up.

Yesterday was the autumnal equinox. The weather here in Seattle remains quite pleasant. It's gotten a bit chilly in the mornings, but remains sunny and sometimes quite warm in the afternoons. I think it might be time to pull the duvet out of summer storage. Despite the persistent pleasant weather, I've had the urge to knit hats over the past few weeks. Partly to welcome fall, and also to have the gratification of a quick project.



Pattern: Habitat (ravelry project page)
Yarn: Imperial Yarn Columbia

This was a fun project. The cables kept things interesting. I made the longer size, and it covers my ears nicely. This was my first time using this yarn. I bought it on a whim a while back and it's a bit wool-y (read: itchy), but the soak in wool wash softened it up a bit.



Pattern: Molly (ravelry project page)
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted

This hat represents is a good example of the importance of pattern and yarn agreement. By which I mean this yarn, more specifically this colorway, was a bad match for this pattern. The pattern, one large cable on a simple background looks great in the examples worked in a solid or semi-solid colorway, and I knew from about row 10 that this wasn't going to be great, but I kept knitting it anyway. :-/ The problem with my color choice aside, this hat is just fine. The yarn is so soft! And the hat has a nice slouch to it.

I have so many other projects to share. These were two were the most handy, as I had just been blocking them on the kitchen counter, and I could photog them myself with my phone. It's harder take a cell phone self-portrait with a shawl. I could bust out the big camera and the tri-pod, but for now baby steps--cell phone pics. For whatever dumb reason (laziness), downloading pics from the big camera is a huge chore.

FO: Semi-Precious Shawlette

 

Pattern: Semi-Precious Shawl [ravelry project page]
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy
Needle: US8

Another item donated to our soup kitchen's auction. This one a more traditional triangle shape. Super easy pattern, love the colorway with its subtle variation. I did a few extra repeats of the big diamond pattern, yielding an item that is between shawlette and shawl in size. Great for gray northwest days.

FO: Different Lines

Pattern: Different Lines [ravelry project page]
Yarn: madelinetosh sock in "oak" and "terra verte"
Needle: US6

This scarfish thing was super fun to make. Mindless garter broken up by short-rows and fun colors. The odd shape makes for an interesting neck accessory. This one was auctioned off to support our church's soup kitchen. Not sure who "won" it, but I sure do hope they like it! I plan on making one for myself--maybe gray and purple? We'll see...

FO: Orchid Theif Shawlette

Pattern: Orchid Thief [ravelry]
Yarn: Artfibers Carezza
Needle: US6

This yarn is a super-soft silk-alpaca-merino blend. Raj brought it back from San Francisco. Artfibers is a yarn company in San Francisco with a little shop near the French Embassy. So when Raj had to go down there to get a French visa, he was kind enough to stop in and buy me some yarn. :) He also brought me back this fun cone of greenish sock yarn.

I enjoyed this pattern. It was complicated enough to be interesting, without being difficult. And it knit up pretty quickly. Nice yarn + quick interesting pattern = great project.