STILL AT IT

Well, my bunny quilt is going to have to take a back seat to a few other things that need to get done.

For one thing, after we had some drenching rains, I decided it was a good time to do some much needed weeding in the "jungle" that is our hill by the river.  My, oh, my:  I guess I didn't know exactly what I was getting myself in to!  I'm only doing it about 1 - 1  1/2 hours a day--mornings before it gets too hot, so  I probably still have a couple more mornings left before I get it finished.  And of course, I'm not always home first thing in the morning, so this project may be a very long lived one!

More fun, though, is getting ready for my daughter's wedding next weekend.  For those of you not familiar with Orthodox Christian weddings, the couple is "crowned" during the sacrament.  Identical crowns which are joined with a ribbon are used, signifying the couple as king and queen in their new home, joined by Christ.  I am making the crowns.   (Sorry, I'm not showing  you the completed crowns until AFTER the wedding.!)

It was a bit more difficult than I had anticipated, covering the circle with  silk fabric.  I did use a silk yo-yo (I love those things), though, in the center of the ribbon crosses that will be at the back of the crowns where the they are joined by a long ribbon.  

Although the quilting has gone a bit by the wayside, I am still knitting.  Hmmmmm, I'm glad I took this photo to show you, otherwise I might not have realized that it looks as if I turned around in the middle of the row that one time that I laid it down before completing a row.  So THAT's why NOT to stop mid row!  Looks like I've got some frogging to do.

Since  yesterday was the 25th, it was my Christmas project day, so I started this little winter scene dishcloth.  The photo is a little difficult to make out, but it's a house with an evergreen tree.

I should be able to finish this tonight.  

Then another wedding crown tomorrow, and who knows what will follow that?

A MINI TRAVELOGUE

No, I haven't done any knitting or quilting the past few days, although I did do a bit of needlepoint on our little road trip.  No needlecraft to show you today, but thought I'd share a bit of my trip with you.

Leaving the hills of East Tennessee,

through Kentucky Bluegrass horse country,

to the flatlands of my former home Hoosier state,

and on to Chicago where I spent my nursing school and early marriage years.

Then back to my sister's Indiana home where she hosted a wonderful get together with 6 of my high school classmates. 

(Oh, I'm the one on the right on the back row.)

Thanks Teresa, Sheila, Cindy, Marcia, Nancy, and Lynne for taking time to come and visit me.

 It was a delightful evening, to say the least.

Today's trip home was a great time reliving our lively conversation of yesterday evening and the memories that we shared.  It was also a time to remember those classmates who I learned are now longer with us on this earth:

Allene, Doris, Jack, Jim, Jim, and Mike, may your memories be eternal.

And ending my day of remembrances, returning to where I now call home, 

I know that all of those places and people I visited the past few days have made me who I am today.  

I am forever grateful to them all.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

So I'm off once again for a little summer jaunt.  Last week I spent a few days with my daughter Anna Maria and her family.

This week, we're headed to Indiana to spend a couple days with my sister.  She has contacted 6 of my high school classmates and we will be having a little get together one evening while I'm there.

Oops,  I need to phone the house-sitter for last minute arrangements.  Better do that right now before I forget.

See you all soon, maybe with a photo from the "Class of '63"!

OH, NO !

Oh, no!  Perhaps there has been not A Very Hungry Caterpillar in my shawl box, but certainly there has been a slightly hungry moth.  This is perhaps one of my favorite gift shawls.  Unfortunately I discovered this when I tried it on with the a new dress that I will wear it with.

The yarn shop did not have a yarn that came close enough to mend it, so I decided to go with plain old thread.

I think it will be fine, since the patched spot will be covered when I fold the square into a triangle to wear as a shawl.

By the way, if any of you experienced needle workers out there know how this was done, let us know.  It's not knit, perhaps some kind of crochet?  I'm pretty sure she ( my sister-in-law) wrapped the yarn around a finger for the large loops.  Next time I'm in Greece, I need to try to get a better history of the piece.  My sister-in-law gave it to me, but it's possible that it was done by  my mother-in-law.

At any rate, I'll be happy to wear it to a special family event next month--more on that later.

As for special events, the bunny quilt recipient arrived a few weeks early a week ago today.  Mom and baby Claire Elizabeth are doing fine. 

 I mentioned yoyos for the tying.  This is one of them in place.

So the backing would look neat, I used the same Cotton Perle (DMC) as the blanket stitch applique to tie the block "junctions", making an X on the backing,

and then stitched the yoyo in place with all the "knots" under the yoyo.

I have started knitting the vest for my grandson's October birthday, and  I'll be taking the little blue sweater to his sister for her birthday.  I'm going there tomorrow to spend a couple days.  Hooray.

So that's about it on the quilting and knitting front here.  See you when I get home.

The best laid plans . . .

Oh, goodness, just when is it that I will remember that cotton fabric width is not 45", but rather 42 (and a scant 42 ", at that)?

The plan that I had all mapped out last week was wonderful.  And I continued with an ingenious way to make certain that I sewed the blocks together as planned:  I printed out the photo.  Even better, I realized that I could use magnets on an appliance other that the fridge!  Since my "sewing room" is really my laundry room, the dryer came in quite handy for just that purpose.

It wasn't until I had the blocks all sewn together that I realized the width of my backing fabric was not as wide as my planned (and now sewn) quilt top.  Luckily I had plenty of the backing fabric so I could piece the backing  just as I would for a bed larger than a crib.

So the plan continues and I'm about to forge onward.   Once it's all laid out and basted together, instead of actually quilting this "blankie", I will tie it, using yoyos.  I have almost enough made, just a few more from the binding fabric and I will have enough for each seam junction.

OK, no back to the laundry (er, sewing) room to get this sandwiched and basted together.

THE PLAN

Thought I'd show you a close up of the fabrics that I added to my to my stash when I went to the AQS show in Knoxville last month.  Those on the left were in a bin of fat quarters for $1.00; now who could pass that up?

Those on the right will be great for baby blankets.  I've got to make a couple for  babies in Greece--my husband's great niece or nephew--not sure which yet so I don't know if I'm going to be needing blue or pink; I should find out soon.

The fabric in the middle is a 1/2 yard cut.  I thought it would work well with the baby quilt that I'm just starting, but the background is too white, so it will go in the stash closet.

I've never had a really systematic way of planning my quilts before, but this time I found a method.  I figured about how big I want it to be (for a crib).  From there I was able to decide on the number and size of blocks.

I ended up with 5 rows of 6 (8 1/2 inch) blocks.  I am using 5 different fabrics.  Perfect!

Then I got out a pad of paper, wrote A,B,C,D,E on the top line and arranged those letters (one for each fabric) how I thought might work.  But since I'm not a trained artist that still didn't tell me quite how it would look. 

So I assigned a color to each letter and colored each letter in to a sort of block shape:

Although it's nowhere near the colors  I'm using  (They were the only markers I had.) , at least it let me see the layout.  Pretty pleased with that, so my next step was to cut the fabric in to appropriate size squares and lay them out.

This is for the quilt with bunnies, so I placed them where I thought they would look best.  I did rearrange those little critters a few times before I was happy.  And I had (in my stash, of course) a great little bright pink Chocolate Lollipop fabric for the binding.   VIOLA, THE PLAN!

Oh, and I will be getting back to some knitting again soon too and this will be what's up next.  I'll be making a vest for one of my grandson's 11th birthday.

And the needles (quilting and knitting) keep moving!