Crochet Bag

Acrylic yarn is like rabbits. You start with one or two balls, and when you turn around you've got a closet full and you're not quite sure where it all came from. When I started knitting again recently I started stashing wool yarn. Eventually I weeded out most of the odd balls of old acrylic yarn that was taking up space, but which I had no plans to use. I donated a big bag to a local group that teaches knitting in the jail. It was freeing to clear out that space.

But then, after Christmas, my aunt gave me her yarn stash. Most of the four xerox paper boxes were full of acrylic yarn. While I was sick with the flu, I felt like doing something mindless and quick, and I decided to make this pattern. You hold three strands of yarn together and use a simple single crochet stitch. When I ran out of one color, I tied on a related color. I used a size K hook and ad-libbed the handle.


It's a nice big basket-like bag. I could line it, but I like the thick texture, even on the inside. And between the wool shawls I've knit. and this bag, all my aunt's yarn fits in three boxes now. Now that's progress.

Blue Period

I've made all the blocks for this charity quilt and I've got the quilt designed. I have used up all the pre-cut squares I had made, and I found more of the yellow and white in my stash to finish up the corner squares. Finally putting this quilt together, I remembered why I liked this block design in the first place.

The quilt measures about 72 x 80. One of the long print strips (on the far right) is narrower than the one at the far left, and I may leave them uneven. In this design, I don't think it matters that they're not symmetrical. I should have time this weekend to stitch the top together.


That's a swatch of Debra's backing fabric to the right of the quilt. It's hard to see in the photo, but it coordinates nicely with he quilt. I have almost exhausted my supply of blue fabric, but not quite. I've got a nice pile of leftovers from this project for another quilt, and the backing fabric has some tan in it that I can use to stretch the blues. There may be another blue quilt coming. Then I think I'll need to shift colors. I'm ready to work in red.

Knitwear Wrap Up

Thanks to everyone for your good wishes. I'm feeling much much better. Being couch bound has, however, given me the opportunity to finish up the sleeves on my February Lady Sweater, which has been hibernating for a bit. I'm so happy with how this sweater came out. It's a very flattering pattern, and I used up 2 skeins of Cascade 220 and 2 of Peer Gynt in 2 different colors. I feel very crafty for having made up a sweater from these odds and ends.


Here I am in one of those Facebook-style pictures in the bathroom mirror. It's okay that you can't see my face since my nose was so red and my eyes so watery that I was quite a sight. I had 3 perfect vintage buttons in my button box to complete the sweater.


Before I got sick I finished my second Truly Tasha's shawl. I sent this one to my mom. It's knit on a larger needle (size 8) than my first Tasha shawl, and it knit up faster, but is still substantial.


Last week I knit this Thorpe cap for Allie, who's currently visiting a friend in Canada for her Spring break. I didn't have the required bulky wool in my stash so I combined one strand of worsted and a strand of sport weight wool, and it came out perfectly.

For my Spring break I got my paperwork ready for my visit with my tax preparer and I will be grading papers and hopefully working on an academic essay I've been trying to finish for too long. I also have had Alex to myself, which is nice because we've had some good talks about his plans for next year. He's graduating from high school in June, and is coming up on deadlines to respond to offers of college admission, and there is always the option of military service, which he finds enticing, but I think he's pretty much decided to give college a try. At least that what he says. Today.

Pass the Kleenex

I've caught this nasty virus that it seems half the people here in town have. The nice man at Long's said he'd had it too as he rang up my purchases: a jumbo box of kleenex with lotion, Vicks vapo-rub, nasal decongestant spray, and cough drops. I felt so crappy I actually stayed home from work Thursday and Friday.

I've spent a lot of hours on the couch watching tv and knitting. I've developed a love of BBC America and Gordon Ramsey's two food shows The F Word and Kitchen Nightmares. He's much more likable in these than in the American version of his show Hell's Kitchen. I'll have photos of the knitting soon.

I have composed the center of my charity quilt for the women's shelter clients. I've added home dec fabric to some of my orphan blocks. This kind of row design is my new favorite. I realized after I got the fabric up on the wall that the two strips are of two different widths. I'll fix that later. After I get up off the couch. Maybe in a couple of days.

Starting With a Clean Slate

I recently took down my design wall. It's been up there for years, but one of the cats clawed it and pulled out one of the tacks holding the flannel to the wall, and so it was bagging in one spot. I got up on a chair with a hammer to fix it and it was so dusty and full of threads that I pulled the whole thing down and washed and dried it. When I hung it back up on the wall, it was like starting with a blank page, a clean slate. It was like staring over in my quilting life.

Of course in order to remove the thing I had to take down all the half-started, trials and errors and false starts I had pinned up. They're now neatly piled up and waiting until I'm ready to give them my full attention. In their place, I've put up my bird series as inspiration, and I'm going to make a big quilt for Debra's women's shelter clients. This quilt is meant to compliment some backing fabric she's posted as inspiration. If you want to play along, she probably has enough fabric for more quilts.

I'm starting with some orphan blocks. I made a ton of these blocks awhile ago, and I've used some of them for various smaller projects, but I still have plenty. I do have a lot of fabric cut, so my goal is to make up as many of these blocks as possible and to use them in the quilt.


It's a basic four-patch block made up of 4.5" squares. The corner triangles make it look like a more complex version of a snowball block.


My supplies are ready. Blank slate. New project.

Yes, Baby Quilts Again

I think I'm done with baby quilts for awhile. They are fabulous creativity exercises and stash busters. They're quick, so you don't get bored before you're done. These are utilitarian, destined for Debra's charity quilt effort, so there's not a lot at stake if you put random fabrics together on a whim. I made this quilt in a couple of hours yesterday. I took a remnant of Winnie the Pooh fabric and a stack of various blue strips.


Instant baby quilt.


Here's a close-up of another one. I pulled from what Finn would call my orphan block stash and included a couple of blocks Debra embroidered that were left over from another project. Most of this fabric had been cut into half-square triangles for a project I never made because I decided I didn't like these fabrics together after all.


When I ran short of a few hst blocks, I threw in some solid blocks. I think it made a very fresh and graphic quilt for a baby, or maybe the center of a larger quilt.


Here's the finished top I started last week from the 4-patches and the Vera-like fabric. I think that blue floral print may have been a piece of sheet or curtain.


This last one was make almost entirely of orphan blocks from other projects. I made the shoo-fly blocks awhile back, but the toile I used made them look muddy, so I set them aside. I deliberated a lot about the strips between the rows, and auditioned a lot of fabrics before I settled on these light colored strips.


It's a little busy, but I do like this one.

Here's what I learned from the process: pre-cut strips are an asset. If I needed a piece of sashing or some 4-patch blocks, it was great to leaf through my strips to see what was already cut. I've made a big dent in my store of 2.5 and 3.5" strips, so I'm going to cut into some of my fabrics and replenish the drawer. Orphan blocks are great starters for these little projects too. I think I've gone through a lot of stash in the process, but more importantly, I've uncovered some works-in-progress that I want to go back and finish. It's been a mind de-cluttering as well as a destash exercise. Next I'll be making a larger quilt for Debra's efforts, then I'm going to round up some the ghost projects that are haunting my sewing room, and finish them up and show them the light of day.

More Baby Quilts

This quilt took a bit more time than I thought it would, but it's finally done. I love making 4-patch blocks, but since I used 2.5" strips, it took a lot of them to fill these rows. The fabric on the ends is vintage, and it was fun to use up these last pieces in this little quilt. I basically pulled anything from my stash in coordinating shades of green and yellow.

I used up more of that green gingham ruffle.

I pulled this remnant from my stash for the next baby quilt. It reminds me of a Vera print. I'm crazy for Vera, the 70s fabric designer.

I cut the blue floral print into 6.5" blocks, and made big 4-patch blocks in (sort of) coordinating colors to alternate. This one went together fast. I just have to sew the blocks together now.

These quilts will be going to Debra for her charity quilt project. She just posted pictures of a large floral print that she wants to use to back and border 10 quilts for the clients of a women's shelter. I've also posted a picture of some blocks I'd like to use for these quilts, if someone want to collaborate with alternate blocks. Check out the Quilt Studio site for pictures and details.

(Not) Knitting at the Movies

There was no romantic Valentine's Day for me: Michael is in Austin visiting his daughter, so Allie and I went to the movies to see Coraline. Alex wouldn't go. Since the movie is named for a girl, it didn't seem promising to him, but Allie and I thought the movie was terrific.

We went to a nearby town to see it in 3-D, which I highly recommend. It's a visual treat, and the main story elements: a big old house, cloth dolls, buttons, and a black cat, are right up my alley. I took my movie knitting with me: my second Tasha Tudor shawl, which I'm making for my mom, but I was so entranced, I didn't even take it out of my bag.

There were a lot of children in the audience, but I would hesitate to take a very young child (say younger than 7) because the the story has some very psychologically creepy elements. Go see the movie (in 3-D) then tell me if you love it too.

There is even a pattern on the web for Coraline's sweater. Yes, the movie inspires that kind of obsession.

Here's the second Tasha Tudor shawl, which I'm making with vintage wool from my aunt's stash, just like Tasha #1. Tasha #2 is a very pale yellow, and I'm loving the color.

I went to my local yarn and fabric shop looking for a shawl pin for Tasha #1, which I finished for my aunt, and they kindly pointed me to this very economical alternative.

Remember kilt pins? They make perfect (and cheap) shawl pins. Someone crafty would fancy them up with beads and other danglies, but I like them plain and utilitarian for this shawl. They would also be handy for all those button less sweaters that are so stylish right now.


Here's my aunt's finished shawl ready to go into the mail. I'm starting to think about a multi-colored Tasha for myself.

Leftovers

So many foods are better the next day. Soups and stews are usually better the second day, and of course there's nothing like leftover pizza for breakfast. Leftovers from quilt projects are little treats too. This baby quilt was made from some of the leftovers from my Shirts and Sheets quilt. I'm sending it to Debra for her charity project.
The borders are cut from a re-purposed ruffle that must've come from some gigantic gingham curtains. I put a dent in this long strip, and still have a big piece left over.

This baby quilt was made from the leftovers of the blue and yellow quilt I'm also sending Debra. The Chinese Coins pattern was easy to put together and I used up almost all of the leftover fabric.

I also finished a Tasha Tudor shawl. I'm sending it to my Auntie Nena, who gave me her yarn stash. I got Allie to model it for me. "Old lady shawl?" she asked. Of course she totally rocked it and made it look cool.
The body of the shawl is knit from some of the vintage wool my aunt gave me, and the lace trim is knit from yarn from my stash. It's a fun mindless knit: it's all garter stitch, and the lace pattern is easy to memorize. I love this pattern so much I've started another one.
Of course the other thing about leftovers is that using them up requires vigilance and determination. I've pulled these fabrics for another baby quilt.

Short Attention Span

I was distracted from my Wheel of Fortune quilt by all the fun Debra's having improvising quilts for donation to homeless teens, and now for the babies of teen parents. I dug through my flannel scraps and put together this small quilt to send her, either for a baby, or perhaps as the center for a larger quilt for a boy. That's bad Louie posing on the quilt. If I put a quilt on the floor, a cat will come sit on it. "Thanks for the great rug," they say.



Then I looked around to see what I could whip up next really fast. My neighbor had given me these pillow shams, saying, "maybe you can do something with these." They are those mass-produced Chinese hand quilted linens, and I saved them because I like the stars and the colors. I sashed them and sewed them together, and then I realized I have lots of yellow and blues that would go with them.



I've had these blue and white patches in my stash forEVER. I had forgotten all about them and was thrilled when I found them in the drawer. The yellows came to me in a swap from Debra. What goes around comes around, right?



I even had a border fabric in the perfect yellow. The finished quilt is about 60 x 80 and this one will go to Debra too. I hope it's not too light-colored or girly.

I went though the trunk where I store some of my finished quilts and I found this baby quilt I'd made awhile ago.

It's reversible. Here's the other side. This will go to Debra too.

My thrift store deal of the week is this 2.5 yard cut of seersucker for $2.00. Talk about cheap thrills: I love these colors. I've got to get the Wheel of Fortune done so I can use the design wall and keep the quilts off the floor and the cat hair to a minimum.

Free and Wonderful

I saw two very cool freebies on the web this week. First Kyra posted pdfs of Barbara Brackman's Obama fabric that you can download and print on your inkjet printer. The files produce two different sheets: one is a medallion with images of President Obama and Vice-President Biden in an Americana design. The other features images of Obama and George Washington. Remember to change the settings on your printer to the highest quality before printing for best results. I happened to have some fabric sheets handy, so I'll be making a block to commemorate the inauguration.

Also, Pink Penguin posted this wonderful downloadable pattern for a paper pieced tea pot and a detailed tutorial. Wouldn't these be fun to make in different novelty prints?

Happy sewing!

Wings to Fly (12 x12)

I finished another little quilt in my bird series. When I went to PIQF this summer I bought some fabric with images of the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo on it. It also has little banners with quotes from her diaries. The banner I chose for the top translates: "Why do I need feet if I have wings to fly."

Frida has a fan-base all over the world. She was a woman who sought creativity and freedom and who battled the aftereffects of a crippling streetcar accident all her life, including infertility. The dramatic film of her life, Frida, in which she is played by Salma Hayek, is visually stunning, but it overemphasizes her relationship to her husband, the painter Diego Rivera.

In addition to the Frida cut-outs, I used a machine applique of birds that Debra gave me, and I set them on a vintage handkerchief. I attached the applique with French knots, which I also used to mark the edges of both the floral design and that nice moon-like circle in the background. I adhered Frida to the piece with good old-fashioned heat and bond. Then I embellished with beads, embroidery, and sequins.


I left the flounce of the skirt free, because it overhangs the edge of the hanky. I backed it with a scrap of fabric



and at the end I added a lace petticoat.



Frida was well known for wearing Mexican folk costumes. Adding sequins to the skirt made her outfit like the the costume of La china poblana, the national costume of Mexico, known for its elaborate embroidered and embellished skirt. The other banner in the piece says: "I feel like living, so I started to paint."


You can see how I lapped the hanky over the binding to preserve the rolled edge. This piece was a gift to my friend Leslie, a very talented painter and big Frida fan, who married her long-time partner recently. In California same-sex marriages were outlawed after the last election, so their union is not recognized by the state.

This was a fun project, very much like playing with paper dolls.