Here and there

What I’ve been doing in between work type stuff…

~ A couple of weeks ago Letty and I went down to the Tolt River to enjoy the sun & the blue skies.  What a gorgeous day it was!

~ Awhile ago I finished the Laredo vest (Ravelry link) for my hubs. He loves it! We picked up the yarn while visit Orcas Island a few years ago.  And the pattern can be found on Twist Collective.

~ I knit a pair of slippers for a friend. Her mom brought her the yarn. And I made it into slippers. Neither one of them knit but they know I do.  I had NO idea that the yarn would end up so fuzzy wuzzy after felting!  The pattern is the Mohair Ballet Slippers (Ravelry link) from the book Felted Knits.  My evil plan is to make another pair for my sister-in-law and for myself to wear during our summer vacation.

~ Speaking of which, we are planning our summer vacation. Yippee!  I am ready for a relaxing break.  But why do we seem to leave just when the weather is getting nice around here?

~ And I have been working a little bit on my Merry Merry Snowmen blocks. Why oh why does applique take so long???

What have you been up to?

A little bit of all of us

Woohoo!  I finished the quilt top, backing & binding for this quilt. I just need to make a a label today.

It was started by my mom, finished by me… going to be quilted by my sister-in-law and then given to my youngest brother.  There is a little bit of all of us in this quilt. I wish we had done more of this collaborating while my mom was still around. But she continues on in our memories and in fabric as we finish some of her projects that we knew she was making for other people.

And this makes me want to finish & sew for other people even more.  Sewing for the sake of sewing is nice. But when the purpose includes giving to others it is even better.  It makes my heart glad.

Tap, tap… anyone there?

I know, I’ve been a bit of a stranger lately.  I miss my sewing machine. I miss my blog.  But I hope to be back into a normal routine again within a week or so.  Whew!  That was a long stretch.

So… what’s this red & white quilt you ask?  It’s a potential block of the month that my local quilt shop is thinking about doing.  The pattern is Star of Chamblie by Marsha McCloskey that I recolored in EQ.  And have you seen that Clothworks has created a new line of solid fabrics called American Made Brand?  I used Light Red, Dark Tomato, Light Cream & Light Kahki to recolor this pattern.  How cool is it that not only is the fabric made in America but the cotton is grown in America.  Let’s support our own local economy!

And… today is the first day of Spring!!  We are forecasted to have some sunny skies this weekend.  Woohoo!  I am in need of some sun & some fresh air. I miss my bicycle as well!

Samurai Sewing

Time is flying by way too fast at the moment!  While I can see the light at the end of the tunnel with my freelance work, I decided that I needed to start interspersing some sewing time with my computer time.   You know… a little sewing as a reward for a little computer work.  I’ve made a few alphabet blocks from the Spell it with Fabric blog hop from Moda.  I’m working on my Do.Good.Stitches quilt.  And I today I dug out this quilt above.

This is a quilt that my mom had started but not yet finished.  I took it home with me when we were back home for her memorial service.  My sister-in-law and I suspect that she was making it for my youngest brother. (Don’t worry. He doesn’t read my blog so it will still be a surprise to him.) And so I wanted to finish it for him. I only have 18 more blocks to make and then assemble them into a quilt.

The pattern is Samurai Squares. The blocks are quite easy & fun to make. They are all from 2 1/2″ strips of fabric.  And I think it may be possible to make the throw size from a Jelly Roll plus some yardage for the accent color, setting triangles & borders.

It felt good to get back to the sewing machine.

How are you all doing?

Absent but not forgotten

1.  My scrappy log cabin blocks have been sitting idle.
2.  I cleaned the house for Valentine’s Day. (we celebrated big, eh?)
3.  Stella & Charlie are keeping me entertained.
4. I finished the Vice Versa blocks (we just made this one block) for my Do.Good.Stitches charity circle in the month that they were required. Yay!

They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder.  I guess it’s true because I am missing my sewing room and you guys while I plug away at my pile of freelance work.  On top of all of that, I have been meaning to update my web site.  After being idle for many months, that project quickly went to the top of the list when a new guy took it on and has been cranking through the redesign like crazy. All my patterns are on sale through the end of February before the big unveiling.

I may be absent for a little while longer before I can see the light of day again. But that isn’t stopping me from pining after the Spell It With Fabric blog hop.  I might need to make one block as a reward for every time I can check something off my freelance work list.  I think I need a vacation.

You can always follow me over on Instagram for a quick fix.