The Carmarthen mittens are done, and they're very pretty, and they're huge.
My beloved owl mittens have sprung a leak right in the middle of the pad of the right thumb, so when it was 3 degrees Fahrenheit (that's right) one morning this week, I went ahead and wore the Carmarthen. They are indeed too big to be practical, which is disappointing. They might be just the right size for a gift for someone, but I'm not sure yet.
The Weathervane Quilt is coming along. As I worked on the blocks, I was convinced that this was going to be the single most beautiful thing I've ever made, but then I got them up onto the design wall and am not as psyched.
Value strikes again, I guess. I did some B&W pictures to try to distribute the values better, and sitting here looking at this picture makes me want to make a few more changes before I keep sewing. Next up is some sashing with cornerstones.
Finally, there's this weird thing.
This is based on the hexachevragon tutorial at acraftyfox.net with an asymmetrical border that I'm adding. I can't decide if the border says, "Interesting attempt to add motion to the design and achieve balance with asymmetry" or "My hexagon ruler can make a bunch of different sizes!" I've dug deep to not repeat any orange fabrics in the big hexagons, piecing several pieces together from scraps from the orange tumbler quilt, and I'm really enjoying the scrappiness of the neutrals.
Just have the top border to finish on this one, then it can be basted and quilted. The design wall here is the batting that will be used in the quilt, and there is a batik-ish reddish orangish bit of fabric I've had forever that is just the right size for the back.
Happy crafting!
Well, it's all over but the sawing.
Of the dowel rod, that is.
Think I could've done better with the color placement, especially in the blue-to-green range - I let my shapes dictate where each piece went and it ended up not being a terribly smooth color transition. The green to yellow is dire, but I don't like the colors in that range very much, so it's not surprising there weren't many scraps there.
Bound the quilt in Kona Jade left over from the Mail-Order Gorilla - squeaked by with just enough, which was nice.
This was the fastest hanging sleeve ever. Thank goodness for fugly why-do-I-own-this fabrics - there's no sense in spending $9/yard for a hanging sleeve. This one was the perfect size selvage to selvage, so I left them on (no folding and sewing down) and didn't sew the sleeve to itself, just stuck it in place as I sewed the binding to the front so it caught on the back.
I've seen tutorials that call for basting the hanging sleeve about as much as you will need ease for the dowel to go through, but whenever I can avoid basting I do. My trick is to put the dowel in, pin it into place so that the fabric lies flat against the back of the quilt, and then sew it down binding-style.
Quilt shows would probably not be impressed, but that's okay. Have not yet decided where this one will live - it may go with me to my office, or it may spruce up my very bare bedroom.
Quilt Facts:
Finished Size: 19.25"x43"
Batting: Yes, definitely batting
Thread: White mystery thread, some cotton/cotton, others probably not
And now I will give in to the urge to go through my scrap bin and cut a bunch of white and close-to-white scraps into 2.25"x4.5" strips. That seems like the kind of urge one would regret jumping on.
Happy crafting!
I've written 74% of three different blog posts in my head, and have 11 minutes in which to get it all down, and it doesn't seem like it's going to go well. Off we go!
First:
I finished the blanket! It's snuggly warm, we're still living in a frozen hellscape, and yay. Decided to do the garter edge when it seemed like I'd have plenty of yarn left over then had about 8" of yarn left over. Close enough!
Second:
Now starts Austerity. On this wallhanging, I used up a lot of the cotton-covered cotton/mystery white bobbins that are proving unfit for bed quilts that get pulled on a lot. (By which I mean every night I listen to my quilting on the Mail Order Gorilla quilt popping and gnash my teeth.)
I pieced the back from several neutral remnants.
Third:
Sometimes I wish that Finish it Up Friday were Stick a Fork in it Sunday. I finished the gradient quilt on Sunday and then didn't want to post about it until Friday, so then I got confused and wandered around and then finished this cowl, of which I had knit all but the bindoff about four years ago:
It's so pretty, and warm, and I'm not sure why I left that sitting for so long.
Fourth:
In working on the green/purple/black jewel box quilt, I discovered that I hadn't made enough purple hsts or b/w 4-patches, now that you mention it, and the idea of making more of those blocks was unappealing. So I designed three more quilts and then cut the fabric I'd been avoiding, plus fabric for a coordinating wallhanging.
Fifth:
Weathervane. I've worked on this all day - it's Random Day Off Day, and I've squeezed every drop of quilting time out of it. Couldn't go on.
Paper plate system shamelessly stolen from Tales of Ineptitude. Those three little scraps of white in the middle are what remain of my big stash of plain white fabric, soooo. Austerity's going to be hard. I've got a bit to spend with which to stock up on stuff, but then it'll be nothing except birthday/Christmas generosity.
Happy crafting!
