Progress is Being Made

I haven't posted about the Double Wedding Ring Quilt lately, but progress is being made; I have finished half of the blocks. Woo-hoo! Here are 5 "A" blocks and and 5 "B" blocks:
I photographed them on my kitchen floor due to gusty winds outside on this beautiful day. Which seems to always be the case, except when it is raining. When I started blogging, I had no idea how many days of the year are unsuitable for outside photography of my sewing projects. But I know now. Thus, the inside photography. But you can see the nearest right block is still experiencing wind: that is from the refrigerator kicking on and blowing on it!

Having completed half the blocks needed for the DWRQ, I decided to take a break and work on my other goal for the year: a quilt for my bed. I already had a bunch of fat quarters, mostly from the "Freshcut" collection by Heather Bailey from Free Spirit fabrics that perfectly matched my bedroom decor. I wanted a pattern that was easy, fast, but not so simple that I would become bored. I search high and low at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Show, and I considered using the Strip Gift Quilt Pattern, but in the end I used a Kaffe Fassett design from one of his books, which I believe was this one.

Kaffe Fassett's designs are good for fabric collections because they usually don't rely on contrast, so this was perfect. I can't remember the name of this quilt he designed as the pattern was so simple, I didn't even buy the book. (Sorry, Mr. Fassett.) Here are some of the blocks laid out, again, on the kitchen floor:


They aren't sewn together yet, and these aren't all the blocks. I need a bigger surface to lay them all out to make sure I have them arranged the way I like. The finished quilt will end up 88 x 88 inches, so I may have to lay down a sheet in the driveway tomorrow (if the wind would quit blowing) and arrange the blocks on it. I have no floor space in my house big enough for this quilt.

I did modify the quilt a bit so as to use fat quarters to make this quilt. For example, the middle block was supposed to be 19 1/2 inches square with a 2 inch border. My fat quarter couldn't be 19 1/2 inches square, so I cut it 17 1/2 inches and added a 3 inch border.


I also discovered that one fat quarter can make two blocks: 1 "A" block and 1 "B" block (the ones with the border). So I needed 31 fat quarters to make this quilt, plus some yardage for the border for the big block, which I will also use for the binding. Good news about this quilt top: no big borders! Just the big block, the "A" blocks, and the "B" blocks. All I have left to do is arrange the blocks, sew them into rows, sew the rows together, and get it to the machine quilter. I plan on asking for heavy quilting on this quilt: the pattern is so easy and basic that you need interesting quilting to make it attractive. Can't wait to get this on the bed!

Parting Shot: Darned refrigerator kept blowing on my blocks!

The Hand-Knitted Sweater

While Eileen and I were in Scotland last year, I actually considered learning to knit just to make myself a sweater as beautiful as the ones I was seeing on the Shetland Islands, the Orkney Islands, and some islands that were so small and remote, I'm not certain who was doing the knitting. But Eileen, God bless her, saved me from all that aggravation and offered to knit me one herself. I chose a Rowan pattern and yarn, part cotton and part cashmere that is so yummy that people keep wanting to feel me when I tell them Eileen knitted it for me. Here is the sweater:


Here is the back:


Here is a close up of the knitting. I don't know enough about knitting to tell you what kind of knitting pattern this is:

And here is the front with the buttons I picked out from my local yarn shop:
I got the pattern and the buttons (and decision to use this yarn) from The Yarn Lounge here in Carytown. Melanie who runs The Yarn Lounge was amazingly helpful to me in choosing everything, given that I know absolutely nothing about knitting. She took my photo wearing the sweater and put it up on her blog here. I want to thank her very much. Also, she seemed very interested in the fact that I made my own skirt. Even though she doesn't sew, I sense a sewing convert in the making! I urge everyone who loves to knit to check out this shop.

While at the shop last week on a visit from Boston, Eileen bought even more yarn, in a really yummy red. She wants to make this sweater for me again. She is not well. She isn't happy with this one because now that she has made it, she knows everything that she would do differently. I don't see anything wrong with this wonderful cobalt blue sweater, but like the rest of us, she only sees the small (very small) imperfections in what she makes. But I love it. And if she wants to make me another sweater for next year, who am I to argue? Plus, I have a feeling I'll be piecing another quilt for her at some point. (It's that learning by doing thing . . .)

Parting Shot: Photo of me and Miss Eileen while I am wearing the sweater. Thank you, Eileen! I love it!

A Guest Post

Dawn Eden of The Dawn Patrol graciously allowed me to post on her Catholic blog as a guest writer. I thank her for the opportunity and for her enormous generosity!

The Going Away Quilt

This started as the "Asian Strip Gift Quilt", then it became "Tammy's Quilt", and now it has become "The Going Away Quilt". My friend, Tammy, is at this very moment driving across the country with her sister-in-law Susie (0ne of the funniest women inside AND outside of West Texas) on her way to Chicago where she will live forever. Or until retirement. Whichever comes first.

Tammy and Susie are driving Tammy's truck, along with all the stuff the movers wouldn't pack, like the liquor and the guns. And somewhere in all that is "The Going Away Quilt":

Tammy and I picked all Asian themed fabrics, for a rich looking quilt. We got most of them at the Quilt Man in Ashland, Virginia. My instructions for this easy, fast quilt from 30 fat quarters is here.

The quilting was done, again, by Susan Caldwell at Quilting Around the Block, and the design is called "Oriental". Here are some close ups, although they don't show how beautiful this pantograph is:

The quilting was done in gold thread, which blends with the golds in the fabrics, but I am happy with it. I love the quilt, and I love the friend I gave it to.

When we bought the fabrics for the quilt, Tammy also bought some pillowcase kits to go with the quilt. So last Sunday, Tammy had her first sewing lesson and made her very first pillowcase:

She was pleased as punch how it turned out and I was even more so. She ended up making two pillowcases, and we had a great time.

Parting Shot: Tammy will want to kill me for posting this because she is sans makeup, but here is Tammy lying on her new quilt with her newly made pillowcases. She will have to forgive me because I miss her so much already:

Spring Shopping!

It's spring here in Virginia; the daffodils are up. If I wasn't so busy with work, I'd have a photo of my flowers that have emerged from last week's 10 inches of snow into the 80 degree temps we enjoyed this past week!

So Spring clothes are on my mind. On Sunday I went to a CAbi show, which is a clothing line sold sort of like Tupperware. I love my CAbi representative because she makes me try on things I would never consider. Sometime I take her point; sometimes I just know the garment isn't "me". But she has a great point of view and she knows her clothing line.

Which got me to thinking about my "rules" when I buy or make clothes. Here are the highlights:

1. I don't wear tunics. Tunics are poor, unfortunate garments with an identity problem. They are too short to be dresses; they are too long to be a blouse. I've got no use for a tunic. And I don't understand why anyone would wear one. If you wear a tunic because you are worried about how your assets look in pants, might I suggest wearing a skirt or dress instead? Skirts and dresses hide all sorts of figure issues, including stomachs and heavy thighs.

2. I don't wear anything that shows cleavage. Six days a week I am either at work or church. Neither my co-workers nor my priest need to look at that. So it really annoys me that Boden keeps making low cut dresses. They are cute as all get out, but I'm not wearing one to a staff meeting. Or to Mass.

3. I don't wear green. No kelly green, no lime green, no green at all. I look sickly in it.

4. I don't wear wedges. I'll wear heels or flats, but like tunics, wedges are just shoes that don't know what they want to be. Plus, I think they make your feet look clunky.

Those are my issues about clothes. This is my biggest issue about other people's clothes:

Everyone assumes that everyone looks good in black. They are incorrect. (If you have red hair and freckles, I suggest wearing bright sunny yellow once in a while instead of black.) I even get tired of seeing people wear black who look good in black. I actually staged an intervention at work several years ago for a poor girl who wore black every day. For years. I browbeat some of the other women in the office to invade her cubicle and tell her, seriously, that her complexion was crying out for some color. She took it pretty well. She didn't give up the black, but a few times a week she started wearing a few brightly colored tops with her black skirts and pants, which she pointedly and proudly showed me each morning she wore them. Mission accomplished.

Next time someone says "That color looks great on you", pay attention. (It will probably be me.) If it is turquoise, buy more of that color. If it is bright pink, buy a LOT more of that color. Life is too short to dress like a widow this soon.

I Got An Award!

Summerset nominated me for the Sisterhood Award! I've never gotten a blog award before. I sincerely thank her for her kind words. I have learned so much from her blog - it is obvious that she is a born teacher!

And I nominate those who I know, as well as those who have supporting my blogging with their very appreciated comments. Their blogs have meant so much to me, and without their insight, talent, and humor, my life would be so much less fun:

Vicki W.
Siobhan
Audrey
Kim
Angela
Claire S.
Sew Kalico
Seraphic

The rules of this award are:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitdue!
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received your award.

Thanks to everyone! My Parting Shot:

Coasters from Anne (for Christmas). I'm sensing a vintage theme here.

Snow!

We go all winter with no snow, and then we get ten inches in March! This is what my deck looked like yesterday afternoon:

And this is what it looked like this morning:

A really great snow day; unfortunately, I still had to go to work. Instead of sewing, I spent the morning shoveling (and part of this afternoon):

I'm reduced to entering and leaving my house through the garage door because this is what my doorway looks like:

It's a beautiful snow; very powdery but clingy at the same time. Here is a tree in the neighborhood:
Some streets are less plowed than others!

Hope everyone had a great snow day and everyone is safe!