Chinese Coins Mini

Chinese Coins is the current popular quilt being made at my guild. I wanted to make one for the community quilt drive, but there are several Christmas quilts on the list in front of it. What to do? Make a mini!

I have a bin of 1 1/4" strips already cut, so that made it easy.

I wasn't sure how many to stack, so I just kept sewing.

Hmmm... looks a little long for a quilt and a little short for a table runner.

So I took the bottom border off, trimmed off several 'coins' and sewed the bottom border back on. Much better.

 Machine quilted in the ditch

 Hand stitched binding

Piecing minis is so satisfying. You get to see what the quilt looks like and it only takes a day or two.

Jumbline

My son sent me an email with the subject line: This made me think of you of course

He plays Jumbline on his iphone. I wonder how many players would get that word so early in the game? It made me smile.

Positive Self Talk

I don't remember where I saw this, FaceBook, a blog maybe... I just couldn't pass it by.

Nothing in life is a mistake if I learn from it. I just need to stop mentally flogging myself for not being perfect. Yikes! Why do I think perfection is a good goal to shoot for?!

Mock Cable

At a recent knit night I was intrigued by a cabled pattern stitch Dottie was working on. She said it was easy...

When I got home I swatched it and found it was easy, more like knitting 2 x 2 ribbing with a pattern row every 4th row. When it was done I steam blocked it to bring out the stitch definition.Then I backed it with a fun cotton print, purple grapes touched with gold and stuffed it with roving.

I offered it for sale at the Country Store Boutique, but I'm not sad it didn't sell. =)

Daily Fiber...

... of the yarn variety, that is.

I'm currently working on knit wear for Christmas gifts, so of course I can't blog about those.

  
This is the wool sweater I'm frogging, a Mens large. I wish there was a way to just shrink the existing handmade sweater down. It's so pretty I want to remake it to fit me. 

This is the yarn from the front. I think the fact it was October when I found it explains why it reached out and grabbed me. The colors!

And this is the book I'm currently reading. The author shares life stories that feature knitting. Some are more enjoyable than others, but it's a good read.

Cyber Monday Sale

I found Quilt This! online catalog by accident when I was searching for something else. Now I have a link to them on my jump bar so I can check their Cyber Monday Sales. Great stuff!

Quilty Note Cards

I made some quilt photo note cards to put in the Country Store Boutique. These are pictures of my own quilts.

Print four pictures on glossy photo paper, cut apart with a paper blade in your rotary cutter.
 

Attach to quarter folded card stock with double sided tape or photo quality gluestick. Write your name and the name of the quilt on the back of the card. Add an envelope and Voila!

Point Cabrillo, CA

It was forecast to be a cold, foggy day, but we decided to go to the coast anyway. Maybe it would be clearer on the other side of the grade.

Once coast side we stopped at Ananse Village so I could pick out my very own African market basket. Love that store, it's like stepping into another region of the world. I wish I'd thought to take pictures inside.

I looked at almost all the baskets, there were rows and rows to choose from. Loved the colors on this one!

I was a happy clam after that. Walking the path to Point Cabrillo lighthouse was like icing on the cake.

The weather forecast was wrong and it turned out to be a beautiful, warm day. It was great!

 

Fair Isle Repurposed

What a beautiful sweater, the color work is lovely.

But I can't really wear it, it's seen a lot of wear and tear.

So I decided to re-purpose it into a purse. I felted it in the washing machine to tighten the knitted fabric.

Then iron-on interfacing was added to stabilize it.

I used the measurements of the bag to create a lining. Every purse needs pockets too so I added those at this stage.

The handle from this thrifted beach bag will work very nicely.

 

I attached the handles before inserting the lining.

Then I added magnetic purse snaps to the lining before I seamed it in place.

I stitched the lining to the purse by hand for a soft finished edge,

and added a classic silver button.

Now I can enjoy this Fair Isle pattern more often than just on sweater days!

Sew 'n' Go

Take a new pot holder, some snack-sized, zip closure bags and a piece of grosgrain ribbon and you can make a sewing kit to tuck in your bag.

The snack bags were a little too long for the potholder so I trimmed off a half inch from the bottom. Then laid two bags on each side, over lapping in the center and pinned in place. Next I pinned the ribbon over the bottom of the bags and stitched through all layers. You might want to match your bobbin thread to the front of the potholder and not the ribbon.

These little bags can hold your thread and tools for a small project.

Add a matching button to the outside and slip the potholder's loop over it to close. 
I read about this in a back issue of Fon's and Porter.

Interlocking Trivet

I decided to try this felted trivet, it looked easy.

I  wanted to use felted wool rather than craft store felt so I felted this lamb's wool-angora sweater in the washing machine.

Then I followed the directions on How About Orange's blog. Her instructions said to cut the shapes and slits with a craft knife, but I found it was easier to use a rotary cutter on all cuts expect the ones on the inside of the piece. Those I snipped with sharp embroidery scissors.
 

I fussy-cut the corner squares from the ribbing to add visual interest. Here it is before trimming.

The back has a fun woven appearance.

I left a border on mine and didn't trim it even with the interlocked shapes as shown in the tutorial. Then I whipped stitches the squares together to stabilize it. And it's completely washable!

Knitting Work Basket

A quilting friend gave me this old time knitting basket. I love the wood frame, so colonial. The bag part had been redone and seemed to be from the 60's or 70's judging from the color and the fact the lining was polyester double knit, gak!

So I took it apart and cut a new bag and lining. I added pockets to the inside and out. 

I wasn't sure how to attach the bag to the wood frame. The last version had four small screws holding it in place, but the middle sagged and the corners ripped as a result. I threaded a needle with four strands of cotton quilting thread and used the evenly spaced holes in the wood to sew it to the frame.
 

It sits by my easy chair and holds my current project in progress. 

And it folds closed so I can grab it and go if I want to.