A little glitch

Working away on the baby quilt.  Finally found a font that I could live with for the letter J that I'm putting on the quilt.  Trace and cut out the letter, pin it to the block and quickly discover that I haven't got any thread to match the letter.

Well, I do, but it's in storage with ALL OF MY OTHER STUFF!  Sorry to shout, but it was really frustrating.  So now I've put it aside until I return to work on Tuesday when I'll pick up the thread I need.  The worst part is that I know I purchased the color I need to work on some quilt blocks for a swap and not only can I not find the thread I can't even find the bobbins for my sewing machine.  One of which would have had enough thread for me to use for the applique.

Instead of continuing to pout I pulled out the afghan I'm crocheting for my sister and worked on it a bit.

Lory's Warming Stripes Afghan in progress

I really like this stitch, it's a crossed single crochet stitch. You skip one and then go back to crochet in the one you skipped.  It gives it some interesting texture.  But being single crochet, it takes a while to get some size going.

First quilt start of the year

My cousin became a grandmother for the first time in September (of last year).  I decided to make the baby a quilt.  Chose the pattern, purchased and prepped the fabric and haven't touched it since then.

Today I cut all of the pieces and have started piecing it together.  Not a difficult pattern, but I love it.  I'm hand piecing it, which is actually my preference and will probably hand quilt it as well.  Here's my progress thus far.

The pictures aren't that great, but this is the center portion of the quilt and I will be appliqueing the letter "J" to the center of it in a shade close to the dark pink in the roses.

This is actually the first quilt I have pieced in about four years.  Way too long.  Time to hit the fabric stash with a vengeance.  Cutting out the pieces and sewing them have reminded me of how much I love to quilt.

Some finishes for January

I've actually been getting a few things started and finished.  They aren't huge items, but I like them.  First up, pigs with wings

Well actually one pig with wings and one with a white band.  I'm still thinking about giving him wings, but I'm liking him like he is right now.  Also need to get some seed beads for eyes.

Next up are two very cool dishcloth patterns that I found at neatlytangled's Etsy shop. The first one is A Practically Hyperbolic Dishcloth.  All I can say is it's 9 rounds of perfection.  It's just plain fun to make.

I used a self striping for the multi-colored on and a variegated for the blue one.  This dishcloth almost screams for bright colors but I can see it in softer ones too because of the great waves it has.

The next one is Scrubbing Ruffles and is also from neatlytangled's Etsy shop.  I didn't block this one, I just took it when it was done.  It's like a granny block that's gone all curly on the sides.

And finally for this session are these which if I remember were supposed to be sunflower colored, but I took some liberties with the petals.

I wasn't too happy with my center round because it's all lumpy, but I can fix that in later attempts.

I'm attempting to get an 11 month start on Christmas this year.  I'm hoping to do at least 2 dishcloths a month for use in gift packs at Christmas.  I think I'm seeing a lot of hyperbolics and scrubbing ruffles in my future.

I'm also working on the sofa throw for my sister.  I started over and made it longer that the original pattern.  It's rows of a crossed single crochet that alternates colors every two rows so it's going a little slow.  I've done about 10 rows and it feels like it's not getting anywhere...but I'm determined to get it finished.

As the hours count down...

I'd like to wish everyone a very happy, healthy, safe, prosperous and creative New Year.  I have lots of crafty goals for 2011.  Just trying to decide if I want to keep them to myself or list them.  I think listing them will give me the impetus I need to complete them so I guess I'll be adding another page.

I've seen a lot of great ideas floating out around there and techniques they have been incredibly inspiring.  I just hope I can contribute a small percentage to the crafty world out there.

A Granny A Day Update

Well I signed up months ago and started making granny squares from patterns that I could find.  These are the results:

Love this one

 

One of my favorites

Then there are the group I started for an afghan.  They are three inches wide and I need a total of 600.  I'm using black as the main color and any scraps I can get my hands on.

35 down, 565 more to go

And last but not least, a pumpkin just for the heck of it.

A finish from earlier in the year

I made this little guy for my husband as a Valentine's Day gift.  I used this pattern for him and this pattern for the heart.  He was promptly named Val and holds court on his desk.  I had to kidnap him to take these photos and I'm thinking about asking for ransom if he wants him back. (Just kidding)

Val the Penguin

The Big Finish

And it's finally done.  My biggest crochet project to date, an afghan (maybe lapghan) for my mom.  It didn't make it for her birthday (darned flowers and leaves) but it's all done.  I did the ends and fringe today and here are the final results.

Dennie's Irish Lace and Roses Afghan

Detail of flowers

It will be shipped out on Monday to my mom who has been waiting for it patiently.  I ended up telling her I was still working on something and she wormed the details out of me.  I just hope she likes it.

Next up, a baby quilt for the newest baby in the family.