Quilt Blocks are like Mogwai

Sure he looks cute and harmless, but remember what happens when the three rules weren't followed?  They multiply.  Everywhere.

That is kind of whats happened with the Craftsy Block of the Month around here.

My Mom visited just over a week ago, and she is also doing the BOM.  April's blocks were those nasty little hexagons which involved English Paper Piecing, and needed to be stitched by hand (she's a rule-follower, which is probably why her block looks so much better than mine).  So she brought her blocks along to work on while she was here.

Perfect, aren't they.  She is using a fat quarter bundle of coordinating prints.  It's going to be just stunning!   Especially if she uses hot pink sashing between the blocks.  But this is her quilt, not mine, so I'll try not to insert myself into her design decisions (too much).  These are all Mom's blocks so far:

On to my quilt.  Remember the drama around the hexagons?   I absolutely did not want to English Paper Piece anything, let alone hand stitch all those stinkin' hexagons together.  Well, my Mom was diligently working on hers, and my Daughter said, "I can do that!" and she did!  She learned the paper piecing technique, and she hand stitched my second April quilt block.  I am eternally grateful and I owe her Something Important for doing that block for me.

This is the block she did.  Fabulous job!  And she's only NINE!  

I finally found time to go back and assemble the March blocks, and they were delightful!  Scrappy, mis-matched, creative little bundles of fun.  Check it out:

These are all my blocks so far:

Lastly...

Having block patterns and colorful fabrics all over the place motivated my daughter to launch her own block of the month journey.  I bought her two fat quarter bundles in pink and lime coordinates, and she got right to work.

She's learned a lot about geometry, seam allowances, chain piecing, and pressing technique.  She also loves the steam feature on the iron for some reason.  Weird kid.

She has the above four blocks finished so far, and the octagons are ready for hand sewing. 

At the end of this journey, we will have three multi-generational quilts to display!  I'll post pictures throughout the process.

Nook Necessities

Well hello!  I haven't forgotten you all.  I've been writing blog posts regularly (ahem...in my head) and I'm practically bursting to share the luxurious spa wrap I designed (!!!), the Craftsy quilt blocks, the Irene dress collection, and so much more!  I've been busy busy busy with the sewing sewing sewing and all the words to talk about it are creating chaos in my head.  I wish there was an invention out there that would take my dictated words and blog them for me.  Blogging is the part I can't ever seem to get to.  *sigh*

I need a minion. Or a House-elf.   Or any creature that takes dictation and has above-average typing skills.  (I'm non-discriminatory.)

Anyway...

Several months ago, about the time the Barnes and Noble people launched the Nook Tablet, they were super awesome and gave us loyal customers who already had a Nook Color a very cool system upgrade (for free!) which included the ability to stream Netflix. Now, not only can my Nook Color read books and play Scrabble with me, it can also function as a teeny TV so I can lie in bed and watch bad reality shows from seasons past.  It was love at first download.

I also like to watch shows while I'm crocheting, and it's really hard to keep the Nook propped just so on your knee while also balancing a ball of yarn, hook, and a work-in-progress.

Ta-Da!  The Nook Easel!

I friend showed me a similar idea for an iphone stand.  I studied the picture, flipped it horizontal, took some measurements, and created this little gadget.  It's really easy.  If you can sew a straight line and follow basic instructions, you can do this.

Here's the back.  Yes, I sewed my label on upside down.  Oops.  That'll get fixed later.

Unfolded, it looks like this.  I wrote the instructions and uploaded them to Google for all to enjoy!  Click the linky here:  Nook Easel Instructions

Snuggly Baby Stuff

Baby blankets are fun.  They're small and quick and just when you're getting tired of repeating that stitch pattern, it's finished!

My husbands nephew and new wife are are expecting their first child later this summer.  The second they found out it's a boy, I jumped in the car and went yarn shopping.

This was a tricky project because the dad-to-be is an architect.  Being married to an architect myself, I understand how weird they can be about colors and lines.  So, I decided to go with color-blocking, and chose this pattern with simple details, clean lines and all that.

The colors themselves are an adult spin on the classic crayola box.  Instead of traditional baby brights, I went with muted shades.  A kid could (theoretically) snuggle under this thing well into their childhood without embarrassment or fear of mocking from their peers at sleepovers.

The stripes are made individually, then connected to the previous row with this neat little zig-zag bit.  This pattern is a freebie from Lion Brand Yarn.

Huh.  I wonder if the recipients of this blanket read my blog?  Well....if so, SURPRISE!   Hope you like it.  :-)

When Quilting Goes Bad

Have you ever looked at a travel brochure with white, sandy beaches and palm trees waving in the breeze?  Blue skies with white cottony clouds.  Not a soul in sight; just you and the warm sun on your skin.  Make you want to grab a margarita and hop on a plane right now, doesn't it?

And then you get there, and realize that the beach you so coveted in the brochure is actually covered elbow to elbow with  sweaty people and swarming sea gulls ready to attack and grab that hot dog right out of your hand.

I feel that way about the Craftsy Block of the Month right now.

The brochure promised FUN!  RELAXATION!  NEW SKILLS!  Instead I got frustration and seam rippers.

Ok, January and February's blocks were fun and exciting to make.  March is still in the to-do pile, and April made me jump out my seat with joy because the April blocks are all about hexagons!   I do so love hexagons.  Geometry is the only math subject I actually excelled at, because of all those lovely shapes with oh-so-many possible combinations.

Tingling with anticipation, and carefully cut out my hexagons and started on April's blocks.  

And then the swearing began.

I was instructed to carefully hand-stitch (gasp!) around each hexagon to turn it's edges under, and then glue them onto my background and applique them on.  Well...I have a little issue with the hand sewing.  1) I find it tedious, and 2) it hurts the carpal tunnel in my right hand, and 3) I thought we were going to learn to piece hexagons, something I'd always wanted to perfect, and this felt like cheating.

Being the rule-breaker that I am, I started assembling the blocks my own way.  Instead of hand sewing, I used Wonder Under on the backs of each hexagon, and fused them to the background fabric.  Then I satin stitched around each one with a big fat stripe of color.  Yes, the fabric puckered a bit.  No, I don't care.  When it's quilted at the end it'll even out a bit.  Besides, I like the way they are outlined now.  Sort of like coloring and staying in the lines.

(GAH!  The picture is upside down!  On my computer it's right side up, but when I load it here it flips.  This is the day for frustration, apparently.  Well turn your head to the side and picture the green strip at the bottom (like grass) and that other bit is the sun and rays.  Got it?)

On to block #2 for April.  It is two stripes of hexagons, again, hand-pieced and then appliqued on.  This time I tried using Anna Maria Horner's Super Circles technique, which is amazing.  If it works for circles it should work for hexagons, right?

You cut out your shape from cardboard, and cut a larger piece of aluminum foil.  Put your fabric on the foil right side down, put the cardboard on top, and carefully fold in the edges of the foil.

 Press it with your iron.  The foil gets hot, so let it cool a minute before unwrapping it.  

Out pops your shape, with the edges perfectly pressed under.

I made 13 of these little things, and then had to applique them on.  That's when things got really squirrel-y.   They kept shifting around and not staying in place, and the thread kept knotting up, so I just abandoned the whole thing and set off to crochet instead.

The moral of the story is:  Sometimes the Most Important part of doing a quilt block-of-the-month is learning what techniques drive you bonkers.  Better to figure that out when there is only one block to complete and not a whole quilt-full.

Closing the Door on Sweater Season

Another downside to this early Spring weather (or should we just call it like it is and admit it's Summer in March?) is that the multitude of sweaters I had in the queue have to be sidelined till fall.  Ugh.  That's so disappointing because there is nothing more rewarding than crafting a hand-crocheted sweater.

I finished up these three and put all future plans on hold.  Hopefully when the weather turns cold again they won't have been replaced by a new sweater-making frenzy, since to look through my closet one would think I have some sort of sweater ADD disorder.  Either that or I'm attempting to crochet winter wear for a small army.

First up is Eve's Rib Tunic.  What a joy this one was to create!  The design is by Doris Chan, from her Everyday Crochet book.

This sweater wins an award in two categories because 1) I actually followed the pattern AS WRITTEN, which is a first I think, and 2) it was my first foray into self-striping yarns.  What a challenge that was.  It seems that yarn labeled as "striping" may in fact only stripe successfully when knitting it.  Crochet uses such tall stitches, that many yarns didn't stripe but instead made horrible gobs of color chunks.  It was bad.  All kinds of bad.

So, after trying many brands and many colors and many thicknesses, this plum-colored stuff worked out beautifully.  The key was really long color runs, and a limited color palette overall so any color clumps that do occur kind of blend in.  Thanks to Lion Brand for creating the Tweed Stripes line.  Looking forward to using it again sometime.

When experimenting with the striping yarns, I found Yarn Bee Rainbow Wool (Hobby Lobby's house brand).   I am not a fan of wool yarn, but the colors appealed to me.  The striping seemed perfectly spaced.  I spent some time researching user feedback online, and those who had tried this yarn swore up and down that it was completely washable and would not shrink.  Not a bit!  Even though it's 86.4% wool and 5% mohair,  the added 8.6% acrylic would keep it from shrinking even a fraction.

You can see where I'm going with this right?

Liar, liar pants on fire...it DOES TOO shrink.  My daughter now has an Eve Rib Tunic sweater dress for next winter.

 
I really love how the striping turned out in that dress.  It looks intentional, but it's mostly a guessing game with a bit of hope thrown in that it'll turn out all right.

Now check this out:

This sweater also wins an award: Favorite Obscure Pattern.   What you're glimpsing above is the Sophisticated Swirls Pullover, designed by Doris Chan and published in 2004.  It was published in one magazine issue that is no longer available and the company refused to re-issue the pattern or make it available digitally, no matter how much I begged.  I coveted the photo I'd seen, stalked the internet crochet forums and eBay, and finally, after months and months, located one lost issue of the magazine.

In the meantime, Doris Chan, feeling the pain of all those who desperately wanted a spiral sweater, designed a new one very similar to the original and self-published it.  Isn't she wonderful?  It's called DJC Spirals.

Sophisticated Swirls is based on old fashioned doilies, with that delightful spiraling pattern.  I made this swirly bit of delight into a longer tunic to wear with leggings and boots.  I'm not good at taking my own picture, but you can kinda see the boots there.

This yarn is cheap acrylic, because I wanted easy care, machine wash and dry, lounge around in it kind of comfy thing.  And it's definitely all that.  Caron Simply Soft yarn in their new Lights version.  It's ridiculously soft and airy.   Good thing I bought 4 more skeins in pink, because I want to use it again for sure.

Perhaps the warmer weather will encourage me to get back to Realta?  It hasn't been completely neglected...only 18 more octagons to go.  Plus 24 filler squares.  Plus sewing them all together.  And then edging it.  Yikes.

Is It Spring Yet?

I dunno about your neck of the woods, but around here, Winter never really showed up.

It's like when you have a party and send out invitations and ask everyone to RSVP, but only a third of the guests actually DO respond (which could be another post completely).  It's like we invited Winter to come on over and stay awhile, only Winter didn't RSVP (but that wasn't surprising since 66% of the population thinks RSVP'ing went out of style with corded telephones, apparently), so with no other option we were left to ASSUME Winter would show up as scheduled.

Only she didn't.

And tomorrow's forecast is 70 degrees.  On  March 6th.  In Iowa.

This is Not Normal.  And quite a bit concerning, actually.  Although the weatherman assures me this has happened before (and is, therefore, not a sign of the apocalypse), I remain un-assured, because last time this happened it was the season before the the big drought of the mid-1980's, which was quite a dramatic event of my childhood since I grew up on a farm and rain was Important.

Alas, there isn't much I can do about it, so I'm going to focus on things I can control.  Like fashion.

Since Spring is pretty much here already (at least it will be on March 6th in Iowa) I decided to dig an old pattern out that I've had in the stash for months, but never got around to making.

The Blossom Bag, designed by Amy Butler.  Perfect for spring.

And I got to use one of my new labels on it!   Squeee!

I won't lie.  This was a complex bag.  Not hard to do; just a lot of steps.  The pattern was well thought out, except for the top flap.  The pattern says to make it separately and then sew it on, but I really didn't like that.  It just felt like an afterthought, with extra exposed edges and top stitching that is really tough to get just perfect.  So I modified the assembly instructions a bit and tucked that top flap in between the outside and the inner lining, so there is no visible stitch line at all from the outside.  Much better. :-)  If you've ever made a bag before and had to leave an opening that gets tucked into the bottom of the lining, you know what I'm talking about.  Do it that way instead of as written.

I'm so excited to move in to this new Spring bag!

Edited to add: The Blossom Bag used to be a free download from Amy Butler's website, but it's not there any more.  Maybe it's still available elsewhere; try Google.  Otherwise, the pattern is in her Style Stitches book.

Labels!

I've had these for a couple of months now but I kept forgetting to share with you all.  For Christmas I ordered myself some custom labels to stitch into completed projects.  They're actually yellow but my iphone took a rotten picture.  It's nice to finish a project and have a label to give it that finished look.

In addition to being just plain cute, they also help my kids figure out which side is the back on their pajama pants.  :-)

Yesterday Craftsy loaded the March Quilt Block-of-the-Month patterns.  I'll update with pics once those are done.  I'd love to work on them today, but first I need to catch up on Real Life.  Groceries, errands, never-ending laundry mountain, overdue library books, blah blah blah.  I need a house elf.

If we ever get some sunshine around here, I'll take pictures of the new sweaters I finished recently.   Gloomy winter skies abound.