Sunday, October 29, 2006

New Projects

Thanks to everyone for their compliments on my crazy quilt. I've hung it on a wall in the entry to my house, so people can see it through the window as they stand at the front door. It's 26x26 inches, and I do find myself referring to it for ideas as I work on the block in Sharon B's crazy quilt class.

Here are some projects I'm currently working on. This is a block for a pink and green quilt I'm making for myself. I was inspired by this fabric with cakes on it. and I'm making some blocks as well as a border with this fabric. The other fabrics are various pink, green and white fabrics. The effect is very light and cheerful.



I'm also knitting this scarf from some alpaca I'd been visiting at the local yarn shop until it went on sale. It's a pretty easy pattern and alpaca is so soft it's wonderful to knit with. It is slippery, so I'm knitting it on bamboo needles, which are my favorite anyway. I like the light weight of bamboo, and metal needles feel heavy by comparison.


I have had some good finds lately at the thrift store. I recently found a lot of crochet cottons in different weights that I am using in my crazy quilts. As you can see I have enough to last several lifetimes, so if you'd like some lengths of random colors, don't be shy, send me an email.


Yesterday, I snagged this partially-embroidered kit for fifty cents. I think I'm developing a thing for Holly Hobby. She was very popular in the 70s when I was in highschool, and when I see Holly Hobby things, they always attract my attention. For now, I'm finishing this panel, which I hope to use with some pre-cut rectangles of Holly fabric that I've got stashed away. Of course the fabric is in brown and orange.


Speaking of brown and orange, this is a new cat who has come to live with us. I'm calling her Lucy for the moment, after Lucille Ball, since she's a strawberry blonde. (She also coordinates nicely with the rugs, as you can see.) We're not real sure, however that she's a she, so this is a provisional name and subject to change. In the meantime, she's got a lovely personality and gets along fine with cats 1-3. My daughter and I have an understanding that you can have up to five cats before you hit Crazy Cat Lady status, so we're still one under the limit.

6 comments:

sophie said...

I initially read Lucy as Lucky, so maybe if she turns out to be a he, that's a possible alternate name. either way, (s)he's a pretty lucky cat to end up in your household.

The scarf-in-progress looks great and I'll bet the alpaca yarn is great to work with (and will feel wonderful around your neck.

allie aller said...

Beautiful array of projects, Barbara....makes me thing I shouldn't be so monagomous a quilter...
Love those cakes!!

Anonymous said...

I think I have a Holly Hobby pattern of something. Once the quilt show is over, I'll look and send it on its way to you. I remember her too!

Anonymous said...

Great projects, Barbara. I love the cakes--so whimsical. And you can knit, too? You are so talented.

Anonymous said...

Ha- ha! CCL! That must be my sister-in-olaw. She always maintains a population of at least 5 & occaisionally 6 cats. I'm a cat lover too, but hate that much hair. I have to use the lint roller enough with just 1 cat! When we visit the SIL I always wake up with cat hair stuck to my lips in the morning. That was when I decided I'd only have 1 or 2 cats at a time.
I love the pink cakes quilt, but it makes me hungry! I love fluffy white cake!
Holly Hobbie was my daughter's era. We used to have a lot of HH things. I loved it too.

Anonymous said...

HEy Barb, check out Jule's Notes!

Economy Block and Large-Scale Fabrics

Recenlty I decided to take out and use the stash of Asian-themed fabrics I'd set aside.  Many of them are large scale, so I wanted to fe...