Category — Sewing

As I posted on Thursday, last night I participated in a virtual craft night, the Friday Night Sew-In. Part of the participation is posting what we accomplished so that everyone can share in the fun. So, here’s what I did!

the original design and squares ready for sewing

A little while ago, my son did a pattern unit in his first grade classroom. The teacher had all of the kids do a quilt design on paper. Knowing that Mom was a quilter, of course the first thing he said when he showed me was “Mom, can you make this into a real quilt?”

This was before Christmas, when Mom still had a lot of Christmas knitting and quilting to finish up, so I told him that I would try to do it before his birthday. His birthday is tomorrow, so Friday Night Sew-In was the perfect kick-in-the-butt I needed to get it done before the deadline!

I managed to complete everything but sewing the binding to the back, which I’ll probably do after the boys go to bed tonight.

almost done!

I’m happy to report that my little boy is delighted with his quilt (it was impossible to hide what I was doing until the big day) and, of course, is already asking when I will make a bigger one for his bed.

Yay for kids that actually appreciate handmade gifts!

One of my earliest craft obsessions was quilting. About ten years ago, I became completely enamored with the craft. With my usual enthusiasm for new crafts I decided, without ever making a single quilt block, that I was going to make quilts for my entire family for Christmas. I did make those quilts, and I think I did pretty well. I even made a lone star quilt for my parents. I learned a lot, and I enjoyed the process, but I was burnt out.

I didn’t do any more quilting until I made Sabine’s quilt this Christmas, but once I did, I knew that the obsession was back. I went in search of inspiring blogs and was excited to find that not only were there many blogs about quilting, but many in the fresh, modern style that I love, and that has become so popular since fabric designers like Amy Butler and Anna Maria Horner have come onto the scene.

Apparently, I picked a great time to return the quilting world. Not only is there now a Los Angeles Modern Quilt Guild, but they’re looking for organizers for new chapters. I’ve already been in touch with several other people who are interested in starting a New England Modern Quilt Guild and I’m hoping that there will be more. If anyone is interested, please let me know and I’ll put you in touch with Monet, our contact person.

Another well-timed discovery was the modern siggy swap. Based on the traditional signature quilts, this is a really exciting project that I was very lucky to get into, as the slots filled very quickly.

100 participants will each make 101 signature quilt blocks using modern quilting fabrics and white centers. We will all sign the white centers of the blocks, and include our city and state. After we all send in our completed blocks, Rachel will then send us each a complete set of blocks from all of the other participants. Once we put our blocks together into a quilt, we will have a signature quilt with blocks from quilters all over the world. How completely awesome is that?

The 101st block from each of us will be put together into a quilt for charity. I told you. Awesome.

The great thing about blogging is that no matter how crazy life gets, no matter how long it’s been since I’ve posted, everything is still here waiting for me when I return. I’ve found that as often as I think “Oh, I should post that on the blog!” I rarely actually make it to the computer to post it. It’s one of the things I hope to improve upon in this shiny new year of 2010.

Speaking of the new year, I thought it would be a good thing to take a look at the goals I posted last year:

• Create more objects for our home (quilts, towels, aprons, etc.)

Sadly, I did not get to any of the sewing that I wanted to accomplish this year. This is due mainly to the rocket-speed growth of Fiberphile, which took over all available space including my sewing area for most of the past year. I did finally manage to clear out some space for my sewing area again, and was even able to complete a small quilt for my niece’s first Christmas.

sabine's quilt

• Create more objects for ourselves and our kids (clothing, toys, etc)

I did manage to knit quite a few hats, fingerless gloves and even a couple of small shawls for myself. I consider this to be a good start, but would like to do much more in the coming year. I’m well on my way with a half-completed sweater on the needles right now.

• Blog at least twice a week

Eh. Big room for improvement there.

• Be better about documenting my projects with photos

Another eh. I’m usually so anxious to get things into use that I skip photos. Hopefully I’ll be better this year.

• Have a vegetable, herb and flower garden- however small or fruitless (sadly, I’ve never had a green thumb)

This was a great big HUGE success. We had a great little garden with broccoli, peppers, potatoes, carrots, lettuce, sugar snap peas and herbs, too. We had a great time and plan to expand this year.

• Donate at least ten handmade items to a charity like Dulaan.

Well, I *made* the items, but I didn’t manage to send them in time for the July deadline. I just think of it as having a head start on this year’s box.

So, looking back, my goals are essentially the same for 2010. I just need to keep building on whatever progress was made last year, however small. The only addition? To finally get myself through the C25K running program before my 31st birthday in August. As soon as we know what our tax situation looks like, I’ll be choosing a treadmill. No more excuses about the weather or feeling embarrassed running in front of the neighbors!

It’s cold. Really cold. Unbelievably cold. I’m a Vermonter, I know all about cold. But this is beyond what we’re used to. This is positively frigid.

What can we do when it’s this cold? Not much, really. We can thaw and repair frozen water pipes (that’s what my poor husband was doing at 6:30 this morning) pray that our cars will start, and that our furnaces won’t quit. Luckily for us, we have a woodstove that we heat with, so no danger of that quitting on us. However, when you heat your house with a single central source, the rest of the house stays pretty cold.

We’ll be doing a lot of huddling and snuggling today, I think.

my handspun thorpe

It will come as no surprise, given the weather, that I have been focused on hats. Warm hats that cover delicate ears and the backs of necks. I, my friends, have been on a hat knitting frenzy! It all started (as things often do with me) with a photo in my flickr contacts. One of them was working on a thorpe. Now, as I mentioned in my last post, this particular hat has been in my plans but seeing hers looking so lovely and warm made me want to cast one on immediately. Which I did. That evening, I had a beautiful, warm new hat!

This hat was made with some of my very first handspun. I honestly wasn’t crazy about the colors in the yarn but I think they’re lovely in the finished hat. That little coil beside it is all of the yarn that was left after the project- about a yard. That’s my idea of a well- planned project! (Coming clean here- I didn’t plan at all. I just figured if I ran out I’d pick up with some natural bulky I had in my stash!)

So when my boys (all three including my husband) saw my finished hat, they all wanted one too! That evening I cast on for the littlest one (who turns 6 tomorrow!) an orange and brown one that followed the colorwork pattern. It is so adorable. And of course the best part is that he loves it too! He insisted on wearing it to school and didn’t want to take it off when we got there. How that warms a mother’s heart. I haven’t had time to get a good photo, but I will absolutely try to get one this weekend. It’s too darn cute not to share!

I’ve got a green and blue on the needles for oldest boy, then a black and blue in plans for my husband. This really is a terrific pattern- functional, nice-looking and super-quick to knit!

In other news, I have a Schacht Flip 20″ rigid heddle loom on its way to me as I type. With any luck, it will be here tomorrow and I’ll have the weekend to get acquainted with it.

Stay warm, everyone!

on the home stretch!

I am making serious progress on my 9-5 socks! I’ve turned the heel and am currently working on the gusset decreases. At this rate, I’ll have them off the needles and onto my feet by the weekend.

I also managed to finish the first bobbin of the falkland singles that I’ve been working on. I hope to have the second bobbin done by the weekend as well, so that I can ply and set it.

one bobbin down, one to go!

When those two projects are finished, I think I’ll cast on a Thorpe. I keep seeing such lovely versions made from handspun and I just can’t take it any more. It’s winter in Vermont, what other reason do I need?

my new knitting needle case

I’ve been doing some sewing, but it’s also knitting related.

I finally got around to making myself a mega knitting needle case. It’s designed to hold my entire set of knitpicks options needles along with extra tips, cables, and accessories. It also has room for all of my sock knitting dpn’s and circulars! When closed, it’s the same size as an issue of Interweave Knits. Perfect.

I do have one other knitting project in mind but it’s so small it hardly counts as a project- dishcloths! There are some super cute patterns out there and they’re a great alternative to socks for a travel project.

future dishcloths

I’m going to knit mine in aqua, natural and dark brown. I can’t wait to use them. I think they’d make great mother’s day or wedding gifts as well (when paired with something a little less utilitarian, of course!)