Knitting socks

I'm knitting these blue mock-cable socks.

Because there's a football game, and knitting and football go well together. :-)

Orange UFO ...

A long time ago, I posted about playing with orange fabric ...

Much of that fabric is still partly-assembled ... Orange sheet fabric, and solid, striped, and plaid shirt fabric.

So, the other day, I used the orange Un-Finished Object to test my "new" sewing machine. I assembled more triangles that were already cut out, and I developed a layout for the pieces I have.

I got a great deal on the sewing machine at my favorite thrift store, and it runs well. Even though I have multiple sewing machines, I like them all for different reasons. And since sometimes I'm not the only one sewing, it makes sense to have a collection of reliable machines!

I only occasionally find myself sewing these days, but I'm always impressed at how much progress can be made in little bits of time.

I'm linking this post to this week's UFO Challenge at Jo's Country Junction. What Jo said in her post makes sense to me - a regular Wednesday UFO post is motivation to get "just a little more" done!

Socks, again

I've been making occasional progress on this pair of socks. Blue, with mock cables.

I'm knitting both socks at once, and the hard part of the heel is done on each, so I think I'm on the home stretch!

UFOs: These quilts are happening!

My UFOs have been coming along! 

Here's the short version: 

Finished Quilt Top: Hopscotch Butterscotch. This turned out big (75" x 88"), since I used mostly 2½" cut pieces, instead of the 2" in Bonnie Hunter's pattern. I love the organized randomness! I REALLY love the fancy piano-key border.

Still in the works: the quilting on my great-great grandmother's Dresden Plate. Haven't worked on it since last week; more details about this one in last week's post.

Up for border & quilting soon: the 1008 checkerboard.

Got a few stitches in this week: My modern Double Wedding Ring. I've almost got the 5-circles by 7-circles main section done. I last mentioned this quilt top in my initial UFO "goals" post here. Before that, it had been a while since I worked on it. Actually, I started this gorgeous thing about 3 years ago (2013: see this post and also this one), but then I didn't blog about it for another year (2014: see here). For whatever reason, I blogged about it one time a year ago (2015: see this post.) Who knows ... maybe this will be the year this one gets done! I'm not pressuring myself, but it does feel great to get these projects worked on!

Finished & Given away: Baby Happily Scrappily Irish. I blogged about it last Friday.

Got their portrait painted: A couple of quilts ... Two of my quilts served as inspiration for a friend's beautiful painting! See that post here.

 

I'm linking this post to this week's UFO Challenge update at Jo's Country Junction ... lots of other quilters are working on their "Un-Finished Objects", and a weekly link party helps remind us to keep up the good work.

Two Little Quilts -- Painted on Canvas!

A couple of years ago, I made two little quilts as gifts when my friend Christy adopted two little boys. I blogged about the quilts (see this post), and posted pictures of the little quilts.

Photo from my blog post a couple years ago

Some time later, my friend Caryl Lynne saw one of the pictures. She asked me if I would mind her using my quilts-on-the-clothesline picture as inspiration for one of her paintings. Of course, I had no problem with it, and I looked forward to seeing Caryl Lynne's rendition of the quilts on canvas.

Just this week, Caryl Lynne listed the painting Quilts in her Etsy shop. Didn't she do a great job?! I love paintings of quilts, and Caryl Lynne's realistic style is so beautiful.

Photo used by permission of Caryl Lynne's Crafts

Caryl Lynne does beautiful work - In addition to selling paintings, she also makes and sells recycled plastic yarn bags. She even does custom pieces by request, so be sure to visit Caryl Lynne's Crafts on Facebook & her Etsy shop CarylLynnesCrafts on Etsy.

When she sells her beautifully crafted artwork, Caryl Lynne donates a portion of her Etsy sales to support Homeward Bound Pet Rescue, a non-profit group helping provide rescues with fur-ever homes! And, according to her Etsy shop, "Custom Orders are always welcome for both crocheted purses and paintings."

Little Happily Scrappily Irish

This week, I finished up this little quilt for my newest nephew, who's due to arrive any day now.

It's a small version of Bonnie Hunter's Happily Scrappily Irish, from the book Adventures with Leaders and Enders. Basically, it's a scrappy double Irish Chain quilt.

I was pleased to be able to make this entirely with fabric I already had ... even the backing fabric had been stashed away for an opportune time!

I had fun working with smaller-than-usual pieces: the little squares finish 1½ inches -- usually my smallest squares finish at 2 inches. So these were fun and tiny.

I did an all-over quilting meander, with variegated blue thread.

In the outer border, I quilted overlapping wavy lines, with the same variegated blue thread.

The quilt measures about 42" x 42".

I'm linking this post to today's Finish It Up Friday at CrazyMomQuilts.

UFOs are coming right along!

This Dresden Plate quilt top has been a special treat to work on. 

It was beautifully hand-pieced by my great-great grandmother, sometime before I was born. My mom inherited the quilt top many years ago, and, more recently, she asked if I would be able to quilt it. 

I'm loving the chance to work on a project that's been a work-in-progress for  so many decades.

I love this gorgeous vintage quilt top, and hope that my quilting will do it justice.

In other news, Hopscotch Butterscotch has some great progress to show: all the blocks & sashings are put together! The borders are prepped! The quilt top is nearly done!

Because I already had lots & lots of 2 ½" pieces cut, but the pattern calls for 2" cut ... I decided to go with the bigger pieces, and just make a bigger quilt.

I'm really glad that Jo's Country Junction is hosting a UFO Challenge ... it's been a great motivator to get progress -- any progress -- happening. I'm linking this post to this week's UFO Challenge.

Check back in a couple days to see my finished Happily Scrappily Irish little quilt.

A little progress

This week, I put some borders on my little Happily Scrappily Irish baby quilt top.

I also pin-basted it, and only just in time: this is a gift for my newest nephew, and I've got a baby shower date to aim for.

Hopscotch Butterscotch was back to leader-and-ender status this week: I got a few of the piano key border pieces stitched and pressed.

I also cut the (green) sashings for Hopscotch Butterscotch, so that should be the last of the cutting!

Since I'm working on some long-time Un-Finished Objects here (Hopscotch Butterscotch, particularly), and since both of these quilts are Bonnie Hunter designs, I'm linking this post to Jo's UFO Challenge update. It's a fun weekly check-in for projects like these.

Progress on some UFOs

I've enjoyed sewing in little snippets of time here and there.

More than once, I've read that (with the exception of some layout processes) most sewing projects can be done in little 10- or 15-minute bits of time when necessary. It sort of becomes necessary, sometimes, in a busy household. I've found it gratifying to take advantage of the little moments I get to sit and sew.

My UFO progress is happening!

Here's the latest on Hopscotch Butterscotch:
ALL 20 blocks are done!

I've cut out all the piano-key border pieces!
I've cut out the cornerstones, but not the sashings.

Also in progress this week:
The baby-sized Happily Scrappily Irish ...
I cut borders for it, and found a backing fabric among the fabric I already have!

I've been linking my UFO project updates to the UFO Challenge at Jo's Country Junction. The weekly link parties have been a simple, but GREAT motivation keep me making progress on my Un-Finished (quilt-y) Objects!

The little scrappy Irish Chain

I'm still making headway on this one. I posted last week about starting it.

I've got a much smaller layout than the pattern, so I just had 25 blocks to make.

Since these squares are cut at 2" x 2", they're smaller than my usual. So the patchwork has been fun - and tiny!

There were over 350 little squares! Since I've got a red/white/blue/light-blue color scheme, a lot of my patriotic fabric scraps went into this one. A few plaids and random scraps worked well, too.

I've got the Irish Chain part of the quilt top put together. I'd like add a couple of borders, but so far, this (baby-size) quilt top measures about 35" x 35".