Presents! {Twined Mats and Racy Pillowcases}

My friend, Dianne, is a virtuoso of craft. She has done every kind of craft (I swear!) involving fiber or fabric and she is FAST. She shares the love, too, and recently gave me a set of beautiful twined rag mats. She also loaned me a book on how to do this kind of weaving. Twining is used primarily for making rag rugs and I am intrigued. The first step is making a loom; since we have a full wood and machine shop in the backyard, I think that part is doable. It uses a lot of fabric - I think the finished product is fantastic.

Another one of my crafting buddies, Barbara, recently got completely carried away making pillowcases. She made eighteen pairs! Yes, 18!! She used flannel for half of them and batiks for the rest - she was thinking winter and summer versions. She let me choose my gift (Thank you!) and I picked a pair out of a beautiful pile. I thought the guys at my house would appreciate these "Babes in the Woods" but Ray kind of thought they looked scary. With such a strong focus on outdoor activities, I think they will make great pillowcases for the camper!

French General Quilt for Karin

This quilt was made as a present for a particular person and place - my friend, Karin, and her condo in Las Vegas! These are her colors and fit perfectly with the decor of her pretty new home.

I used a layer cake of French General fabric and then added another row of blocks to make the finished quilt more rectangular. I had to buy some extra fabric but the leftovers got used on the back.

I was able to quilt it on my machine, using a loopy stitch pattern and a borrowed Bernina #29 free motion quilting foot. I also did the quilting downstairs in our dining room which seemed to help with the heavy wrangling. It looks better than the last one I did - but whether it was because of the practice, the foot or the bigger table, I don't know!!

Notes for future reference: 

Size of finished top - 57" x 75.5"

Size after quilting - 56" x 74.5"

Size after washing/drying - 53.5" x 72"

I was inspired by this quilt from Fresh Lemons who was inspired by this tutorial from Kelbysews. I used the 4.5" sizing for my corner blocks and, yes, I have 96 sewn triangles left over to make something else. For now, I don't feel like ironing and trimming, so that will be a project for another day.

Taiyo Socks

I wouldn't call it desperation but, at the time I bought this yarn, I really wanted to make some stripey socks. I didn't have the yarn I wanted in my stash and I didn't want to wait for mail order so I went downtown to the local store. The clerk was so helpful and had so many good suggestions and I really wanted to buy something. So I settled.

When I got home with my ball of Noro Taiyo Sock, I realized it was single ply. Oops. The last time I used one ply yarn for socks, I didn't really like it. I also didn't much like how the Taiyo handled while knitting so after the toes were finished, I read the reviews on Ravelry. No one who commented liked the yarn very much, yet there were over 2,000 projects posted. I think it is the combination of the single ply and the blend of fibers. The cotton and silk are inelastic and sort of sticky and the yarn twists back on itself in a most annoying way.

Nevertheless, I pushed on through the mist of mild dissatisfaction and now have a comfy, colorful pair of simple socks. There must be a skein of striping sock yarn out there for me somewhere.

July Bee Blocks

Ahh, summer! I am having a long break from work and am enjoying the easy pace and warm days of this beautiful time of year. Dave and I had a camping trip planned and we decided not to go anywhere at all. It is just too nice here at home! You might think that I would begin to crank out the projects but, no, I just putter along and work in some stitching between other, not very demanding, activities. 

A few friends are training with me to walk in an upcoming half marathon. We are walking 20-30 miles a week at a quick, steady pace and also get in a bike ride once a week. It isn't super grueling but, as the years go by, it has been easy to wimp out and lose the habit of regular exercise so I am happy with the friendly workout program we have fallen into. We have about 8 weeks in so far and the hills are definitely easier to climb! Tennis rackets are on order - ha! - we shall see on that one.

The two bee blocks are from this tutorial, by Amy of the Badskirt blog. Our quilter asked for various sizes of airplanes in light blue, lime green or yellow with white background and borders. It's going to be cute!

Zoom Loom

Zoom Loom

Last week, I went to Bellingham with a couple of friends to look around at a weaving conference. The Association of Northwest Weavers' Guilds Conference had a Marketplace Mall where vendors set up booths and sold yummy yarns and weaving tools and other fun fiber related goods. There were also some displays put together by the guilds which showcased the work of the members.

I knew I would find some sock yarn (and I did) but I was also on the lookout for a Zoom Loom. Last fall, I had seen some small looms (see photo below) at the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival but I didn't buy one and they were still somewhat on my mind. 

Hazel Rose Looms

I first saw the Zoom Loom on the Purl Bee website where almost everything they feature looks abnormally attractive. I don't really see the need for woolen drink coasters but I am strangely interested in weaving up 4 inch squares. I have made up a short stack of wool and cotton samplers and stitched a few of the cotton ones together to make a couple of face cloths. The cotton is much more difficult to work with and I only persevered because, well, I guess I just like to complete what I start and it seemed like they may be of some use to someone. 

I have some super soft alpaca/merino/bamboo yarn that is easy to weave which I might end up turning into a nice neck scarf. That is what I am envisioning at this point but I have a few more squares to go before I know what the scarf will look like and whether I will have enough yarn.

Project Bags - SPIN, KNIT and HAT

I have enjoyed making project bags for myself and some of my crafty friends and really didn't need to make any more. I think with these last three, my count is now up to a dozen!

I saw some cute bags on the della Q website that had words and phrases silkscreened on the front and it gave me an idea. I sewed up my usual bag, an enlarged version of Jeni's Drawstring Bag, inserting a panel of paper-pieced letters. It works!

The first bag is for Dianne, who is spinning up some beautiful cotton roving that she hand dyed. (Her husband's picture of her amazing work is going to make my whole blog look bad - ;).

Photo by John Corso

I made two other bags for knitting friends. Barbara knits all sorts of things, including fingerless mitts for American Girl dolls and Patty makes the most beautiful hats, one right after another - all stunners!

Lazy Days Lozenges Cushion Cover

From a blue skies and sunshine point of view, I'd say this pillow is a success. The workmanship and techniques came together well, but the fabric choices are nothing special and it makes the overall project sort of a dud. The yellow is a little too bright and the prints are a bit boring. 

English paper pieced

Appliqued onto a mitered border

Template for this block
Lily's Quilts

Circular machine quilting

The back with a hidden zipper under the flap