Knitting finishes...two gifts given, three to go...

It has been so nice to spend this week with family.  I got to celebrate my Christmas birthday TWICE which is just about unheard of...my birthday normally gets absorbed into the holiday season.

AND...I've been knitting up a storm!  Most of my December was spent working on knitted gifts once I realized that my Dad was in need of a warm scarf.  I already had an ambitious project underway for my sister so that meant "much knitting" for me. 

The Leftie scarf by Martina Behm was for my sister.  I'm surprised how much I enjoyed this project (I'm normally not a fan of garter stitch), but don't attempt it unless you're ready to weave in LOTS of yarn tails!

 I wove the tails in as I went.  It helped keep me motivated.

 

Dad got the much more masculine Cinder by Jared Flood.  This was a total treat to knit...I used Ella Rae superwash chunky and the project flew off the needles (and thank goodness for that!)

  

 The Ptarmigan Cowl (also by Jared Flood--I am absolutely in LOVE with all his patterns!) has yet to be given away...but it is so lovely that I snagged yarn for three more next year when MissBabs put Sojourn on sale.  It's an amazing yarn...cashmere and silk...so soft that no one would dare call it  "itchy."

 

 More photos to come of this one with its new owner...I still have three or four hand-knit gifts that need to meet their new owners post-Dec. 25.

Next up will be quilting...so much sewing and quilting.  I'll have to share the haul from my favorite SC fabric store a little later...it's already packed for the trip home.  But I picked up some great patterns for knitting needle cases :)

The last crafty stop of the trip will be Quilting Adventures in Richmond, VA on the trip home...my plan is to match a few of my new prints with some solid shot cottons for a new circular needle case...yay!

I'm off to knit some while reading a book...it's my newest crafty trick.  eBook plus knitting equals doubly-productive downtime.  Happy crafting y'all!

WIP Wednesday--Progress happening!

I thought I'd be able to be more diligent about my blogging once summer started...but I'm too distracted by sewing and quilting!

First thing I attacked at the end of last week was the Lined Drawstring Bag from InColorOrder.  I selected fabrics according to the mosaic.

Came up with a improv-y pattern:

Added some FMQ (it was so good to be quilting again!)

And then brought the project together.  I love it!  (And I hope my swap buddy loves it too.)  Now I just need to figure out what to enclose.  We're doing $10 worth of sewing/quilting notions.  What would you want in a quilty treat bag?

The weekend was a special treat.  A dying workshop with Malka Dubrasky at A Stitch in Dye.  She blogged about the amazing workshop space here.

I'll just share photos and say...it was AWESOME!  And it just gives me another reason to look forward to having a yard once we find a home...I'm totally inviting friends over to dye fabric!

Speaking of friends...Mandy has been coming over to sew with me.  Today I teach her to FMQ!  But yesterday we went to The Quilter's Studio at 9600 Main Street (next to FedEx) in Fairfax's Fair City Mall.  The shop was amazing!  I told my hubby I want to live there.

They helped me take these inherited fabrics:

And pair with these fabrics: (and they did it with such support and kindness--and showed so much joy as they helped us pick out fabrics)

Love the elephants!...my new favorite.

I love how old Kaffe prints look with the shimmer print.

So now I'm ready to cut pieces for Tula Pink's City Sampler blocks! (slowly chipping away at my list of WIP's from last week)

My t-shirt quilt is basted...I NEED more room... spray basting a twin size quilt really is no fun.  (I bought fusible batting at The Quilter's Studio for my next one.)

Sorry for the incredibly poor quality photo.

Me...exhausted after finishing.

Also on my list from last week...the silly sign for my classroom...inspired by Anjeanette...(her word is beautiful...you should check it out!)

 Entropy is a principle of energy that basically says things in the natural world tend toward chaos...It will hang on my desk...

I got ALMOST finished...but the binding was an inch short...it is set aside in frustration :/
So...for next week I can work on:
FMQ on T-shirt quilt and/or Owl Quilt
City Sampler blocks
Finish binding the silly sign
Finish this top...no name yet...but my mom picked the beautiful batiks

Thanks to Lee at Freshly Pieced for hosting WIP Wednesday.  I LOVE seeing what others are working on and getting support from commenters here.  Thanks for visiting!

So much catching up to do!

So I've been away from the blog awhile, and a good friend told me I had to get back to it.  I have no more excuses--school's out and I've actually been spending my "free" time making things again!  Now, my problem is that I have so much to share!  So, I think I'll hop around the last few months of happenings as the spirit moves me.

This past Sunday was my dear husband John's birthday.  It was a crazy day.  We were in Ohio visiting his very sweet grandparents and got an email from our realtor (yep, we're buying our first house!) saying a place just went on the market in the neighborhood we love.  We left Ohio earlier than planned, went to the open house, wrote an offer, and then heard today that we unfortunately didn't make the cut (three offers!...the house was on the market for 3 days total).  But, we have lots of time left in the summer to shop.  We're a bit disappointed, but not crushed.

So...getting back to crafty things...I always love to mix yarn and fabric trips in with my travels.  I squeezed in two shops over our weekend trip to Ohio.  The first was Traditions at the White Swan in Hagerstown, MD.  They have great precuts, awesome samples, and kits (I think there was a kit for every sample in the store!)

Then we were back on the road to Youngstown, OH.  On Saturday I had the absolute pleasure of taking Grandma Rene to a new quilt store in the town she loves.  She's so proud of Youngstown and talks about their art gallery and symphony constantly!  She's even been a part of getting the author of Downton Abbey to come speak at their library.  Anyway, she's actually the quilter that got me started on the quilting bug that has not stopped since I slept in her craft room and admired all the handmade quilts on her walls two years ago.  She hasn't quilted in a while so it was a treat to see her admire all the new bright fabrics.  She's so precious!  I wish I had a picture with her!  I do have a picture of the fabric.

Anyway, if you're ever near Canfield, OH you have to check out the Village Quilter.  They have a selection of bright and more muted fabrics because two sisters with opposite tastes own the shop together!  I've been in a lot of quilt shops, but I really felt at home in this one.  I got the feeling people just stopped in to have a conversation with the owners--I would!  They have lots of great notions, hand-dyed wool felt and embroidery floss, and many patterns to go along with their fabrics and precuts.

The highlight of the trip was going into Rene's storage locker.  They recently downsized and she had a plastic tub full of quilts that no longer had a home.  And the very last quilt at the bottom of the tub was the beautiful quilt that was my original inspiration.  It's now at home with us where it will be treasured for the beautiful handiwork that it is.