Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Work-In-Progress Wednesday

Tyk and Tynd:

Tyk and Tynd

Curio Quilt, row F:

Curio Row F

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Squares, squares and more squares...

I've been spending a lot of time working on quilt squares these last couple of weeks.

First up are the Denver Quilt Guild Quilting Bee squares.  Last month I had Lorrie's box.  Her theme is 'everything goes with denim' and she was looking for strip squares.  As a newbie quilter, I have a lot of fun working on these types of squares - no perfect points to be created... no corners to match up... wonky lines encouraged... It's all about the colours and the fabrics and creativity. 

In Lorrie's box there were a number of Kaffe Fassett fabrics, and so I dug into my scrappy stash to complement them with some of the bits and pieces I had leftover from my Mum's quilt.  I really love those Kaffe polka dots. Here are the 4 squares that I contributed:

DQB Lorrie: My squares

Here's a snap shot of all the squares that Lorrie has received to date.  I think this is going to be fabulous when complete.  A fantastic theme, that was pure joy to work on.

DQB Lorrie: Everything goes with denim

I'm ahead of the curve this month - I received Teresa's box last week and already have my squares done.  Teresa's theme is a wonky log cabin using purples, greens and pinks.  She encouraged each participant to throw in some orange.  Since she also had Kaffe in her box - some of the shot cottons - I was able to complement with some Kaffe shot cotton in orange that I had in my stash.  I am extremely happy with the outcome:

DQB: Blocks I made for Teresa

Here's a snapshot of all of Teresa's squares to date.  I really enjoy seeing these come together now that a number of squares have been created for each theme.  I think this particular quilt might be one of my favourites, and can foresee that I'd make one of these myself.  Lovely isn't it.

Teresa's quilt so far

My little 'Vanna' certainly seems to think so :)))

My Vanna

In fact, Naomi has been intrigued by all this quilting and asked if we could make a square together today.  We did.  A wonky log cabin square for Bertie's Blankets.  You can read all about it on the Bertie's Blankets blog.

Finally, but most importantly, I've also been working on Mum's Curio Quilt.  Here's where I was yesterday afternoon:

Mum's Curio Quilt - Row G WIP

And here's the progress as of the early hours this morning :))

Mum's Curio Quilt: Row G Finished

My plan for this evening is to add some more squares for the next row.  I am tickled with how this is coming together.

Have a lovely evening,
Sam xxx

Big Tease

I ummed and aahed about whether I should post my holiday/birthday loot on the last post.  You see, I went a little crazy and I'm a touch embarressed :o( 
(You know you've gone over the top when the owner of one of the yarn stores asks if you've lost your mind!)

But here goes.  It is good stuff and so definately worth sharing.

In Tutto they had these wonderful Tyk and Tynd scarves on display that used a combination of Kauni Effektgarn and a lace weight alpaca.
 
Tyk and Tynd (Neopolitain ice cream)

The Tyk and Tyn scarf pattern was written by one of the chaps in the store.  It is a simple, and yet very effective design:  the alpaca provides a colour wash that helps smooth the transition of colour changes in the effektgarn.  The other advantage of the laceweight alpaca is that it really 'lifts' the Kauni.  Kauni is great, but it is not the softest of yarns.  However combined with the alpaca, this scarf has an airy and snuggly feel to it. 

I'd also picked up a couple of patterns in Tutto.

Patterns from Tutto

My favourites are:
Go check them out on ravelry :)

And finally in Tutto they had this Shibui yarn on super sale.  Anyone that knows me well, knows that I love a bargain.  And this is where it all started to go downhill.  In fairness, it started innocently enough with a couple of skeins that I could use to make something for a friend's baby boy. (I have a simple striped cardigan in mind).

For Marj's baby boyFor Marj's baby boy

But then I saw the olive colourway... ooh Joe loves olive. 

Shibui

And then there was the red/coral colour that just called to me.
 
Shibui

Hmm willpower out the window, I left the store armed with more yarn than one person should really purchasing!

Not letting that stop me, we went onto the next store.  In Oodles Yarn and Beads, there were these fabulous Dyelot hand dyed hanks that consisted of a variety of yarn types.  They looked cool, but I wasn't sure what you'd do with them.  It was Joe who pointed out one of the sweaters that was made from said hanks (like how I did that... totally trying to shift the blame :o)))  He was right - the sweater was fun and different... and the hank also came home with me. 

Dyelot

The owner of the store advised that the hank was enough to make a tank top.  But that you really need to add another skein to it, to make a long sleeve sweater.  Lo and behold, look at this lovely Mad Tosh that was already in my stash - I think it will work perfectly!

Dyelot + Mad Tosh

Santa Fe craziness over.  The next day we went to Taos.  New day = clean slate.  Right? ;o)))

In Lori's Yarn and Fiber I picked up the following Schaefer yarn.  Pretty isn't it.  No plans for this one as yet.

Schaeffer

The fabric I purchased was a variety of fat quarters that were primarily designed by a local Taos artist.

Taos Fabric

Here's an apron that we picked up for our Christmas gift box, that was made by the artist, using her fabrics. I thought it was cool, and am loving the deep rich colours.

Taos Apron

Whew!  What a haul.  Now back to knitting and making good use of my stash.
Have a wonderful weekend friends,
Sam
xxx

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Crafty Shop Hop

Hello Friends,
I've been gone for a couple of weeks:  Part of the time away was spent on vacation, celebrating my birthday.  We hit the road and went to visit the in-laws in Arizona, and then back via Santa Fe and Taos.  It was a fun trip, and we got to go to a ball game, visit Sedona, see a meteorite crater... and much more.  I also managed to seek out, and plan trips to, a number of yarn and fabric stores (oh yeah, happy birthday to meeeee!)

In Santa Fe we visited Tutto:

Tutto

Tutto is an upscale yarn boutique.  There are numerous stunning sweaters, scarves and hat samples in the store.  Plus yarn brands and patterns that you don't typically stumble across, but are devine!  One of the chaps in the store couldn't have been more helpful: I asked about patterns and yarns and he offered great advice. 

TuttoTutto

The next yarn store in Santa Fe was Oodles Yarn and Beads:

Oodles yarn and beads

This is a really welcoming store.  The owner, and some local knitters were hanging out, chatting and knitting.  They invited us to hang out with them.  I do love a store where my hubby and daughter also feel at home, and this was it.  Hubby spent time chatting with the knitters.  Naomi was hanging out with one of the knitter's dogs (and it was tough getting her to leave without said pup!)  Meanwhile I got to ooh and aah over the yarns and sample sweaters that had been created by the owner's daughter. 

Oodles yarn and beadsOodles yarn and beads

Then came Taos.  I went to Taos Quilting store first:

Taos quilting

This was an Aladdin's cave of a store that had a strong influence of the south west in their selection of fabrics.  I managed to find a number of fabrics that I hadn't seen before  - turns out they were designed by a local Taos artist!  Soo often I visit craft stores and find much of the same in many of them.  But not on this trip - each store had something that was unique, or not typically found in many stores.  It was a delight to stumble across fabrics and yarns that I'd never seens before.

Taos quilting

Speaking of unique, Common Threads was the next fabric store I visited.

Uncommon thread

Wow!  This store had a variety of fabric types; not just quilting.  Again, a high-end, upscale store with some interesting finds.  A fabulous modern layout, beautiful fabrics for decor, dressmaking and quilting.  Wonderful notions - buttons, ribbons, ...  Absolutely lovely!  I'll be back!

Uncommon threadUncommon thread

And finally Lori's yarn and fiber.

  Lori's yarn store

Another welcoming yarn store, where I spent a good amount of time chatting with the lady that worked there.  There were skeins of yarn hanging outside that were dyed by the owner.  Wonderful shawl pins and other silver smith work in the presentation cabinet at the front of the store.  And a variety of yarns to feast your eyes on :)

Lori's yarn shop

Oh yes, it was a good trip indeed.

Hope you are all well and have fun vacation, or staycation plans, this summer.
In the mean time, wishing you a very Happy Mother's Day,
Sam
xxx

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Stitchy goodness

In my last post I was sharing about the quilt guild bag swap.  It was a lot of fun seeing all the different designs and fabrics.  And of course 'drawing straws' for each of the bags.  :)

Here's a piccie of the swap group, with all of the bags. (Thanks to Liz, who heads up the Guild, for the photo)
DQB Bag Swap

The bag I received in the swap is absolutely lovely - it is a chevron and linen pouch that will be perfect for carrying my Nook.  I love the attention to detail on this:  super soft flannel lines the inside, with some cushiony padding to protect against bumps, and finally the chevron fabric provides a couple of pockets that I'll be able to use for Joe's glasses, and the recharging cable.  Isn't it a beauty!

Nook case from Denver Quilt Guild bag swap

Other than that, I've been plugging away on my Mum's quilt.  :o)))  Sick of hearing me say that yet?  Think of how my poor mother must feel.  Erm, slow and steady wins the race ;o)

Speaking of Mum, I unearthed these cross stitch when I was cleaning through one of our closets the other day. Mum had made these when we were little. I was thrilled to bits when I found them, and will be getting them framed for Naomi's room. For now I have them mounted in cross stitch hoops (which also looks pretty). Naomi loves that her Grandma made these "for her". (Ahem, not really but Grandma will be happy to know they are pride of place in her bedroom).

sew cute

It's also been a great week for mail - I'd received some more squares for Berties Blankets (the hospice blankets in memory of my Dad).  I wanted to make some more key fobs to thank the kind participants for their contribution.

More key fobs

I hadn't blogged about these before, but I am starting to add new scarves to the Christmas gift box. I'm getting an early start on this, this year.  The pink and mustard scarves both use lovely bulky yarn from Phydeaux Yarns. The other is an interesting thick-thin handspun yarn. Not sure who they are for yet. And sorely tempted to keep the pink one for myself. We'll see. I'm hoping we've seen the last of the snow this week in Colorado, and that I can start packing away the winter scarves, hats, gloves etc...

Pretty in pink cowlMustard cowlHandspun cowl

Hope you are having a good week,
Hugs,
Sam x

Monday, April 15, 2013

Storage Tote

The Denver Quilt Guild is meeting tomorrow night.  Last week the group discussed a tote swap for this month:  For anyone that wants to participate, they simply make a tote to bring to the meeting, and then we will swap them between the participants. I'm looking forward to seeing all of the designs.

I wasn't intending on participating in this swap.  Let's face it, my mother's quilt is still not done, and I really should be focusing more time and effort there.  But then the little girl in me kept raising her head, screaming 'I want to play, I want to play!"  :o)))  So, guess what...

Storage tote

I get the sense that the majority of folks will be making more of a bag style tote.  But I had other ideas... you see I'd picked up a great handmade storage bin/tote at a local craft fair one time and had been using it to carry my quilt swap boxes back and forth to the monthly meeting.  This last month one of the girls joked that if I'd made the storage tote that I'd been using, that she hopes she's my swap partner.  I hadn't made the original tote, but it got me thinking...  Plus, looking around the group, everyone was hand carrying their quilting bee boxes, plus their show and tell projects, plus any snacks that they may have brought to the meeting... A gigantic carryall wouldn't go amiss!

There's a number of great free patterns online.  I really liked this tutorial from Pink Penguin, and used that for the basis of my design (upsizing the dimensions so that it would fit the quilting bee box size that most folks are using):  http://ayumills.blogspot.com/2008/05/tutorial-fabric-basket.html

Storage tote

The fabric is a simple tape measure design -- I figured that should have broad appeal with a quilting group :)  -- and I quilted along the tape measure lines to help emphasize them.  Although it's really not popping in these pictures. :)))  The solid is Kona Charcoal.  I used it for the base of the bag, and the lining.  I also used some batting in between the layers to give the tote a little structure.

There were a number of, erm, shall we say 'learnings' along the way.  The biggest one being how not to box corners.  I've since found this really handy tutorial on 2 different approaches to doing this:  http://www.sew4home.com/tips-resources/sewing-tips-tricks/romantic-retreat-rowan-free-spirit-fabrics-how-box-corners

On that note:  I love the relative speed with which sewing can deliver a finished object... but don't love the inability to just unravel mistakes, as you can in knitting.  Once that fabric is cut, it is cut.  There was much forehead slapping in this house this weekend, with my original attempt at boxed corners!!!

But all's well that ends well.  And I'm thinking of making a couple more of these for our home - between Naomi's toys, and my toys (read 'yarn') I could put some more to good use :)

I'll let you know how the meet goes.  In the mean time, have a good week!
Hugs from snowy Colorado,
Sam xxx

Tuesday, April 09, 2013

Denver Quilting Bee: Box 2 for Katie P

A couple of posts ago I'd mentioned the Denver Modern Quilt Guild's quilting bee - anyone that wanted to particpate pulled together a box of fabrics and an inspiration quilt/guidelines.  The boxes are swapped at the monthly meeting: participants work on a couple of squares for each of the different quilts. 

I received my second box of fabric and accompanying guidelines at the last meeting.  This box is from Katie P.  Her guidelines were the Fresh Lemon Modern Quilts Blog, Summer Sampler Series

The majority of the squares in this series are paper pieced.  I'd previously had the chance to take a paper piecing class and then tested those skills on the Farmer's Wife quilt, which, ahem, is sadly neglected right now :(  If you haven't had the opportunity to take a class, or are in need of a refresher, the paper piecing guidelines on the Fresh Lemons site are wonderfully clear.  I highly recommend checking it out.

Katie's guidelines and the squares from Rosalynn

It was interesting to see the squares that the previous participant had created (pictured above).  I am wondering if the first squares in each box will set the tone for the rest of the quilt... I guess I'll see at the quilt guild next week. :)
Ooh, if you are local, consider popping in and checking out the guild next Tuesday evening.  It's a welcoming and informal group who meet at Treelotta fabric store on Broadway, in Denver.  (And if you can't make the meet, I recommend checking out the store :) 

I digress :) 

The fabric that Katie had provided was a selection from Happy Mochi Yum Yum, together with some complementary batiks.  Nice bright colours:

 Mochi Mochi yum yum fabrics

Here are the squares that I created:


Squares made for Katie's quilt

I had my little helper, assisting with the pink and green square.  :)
(Dear sweet girl got a fat lip at school the other day when she wasn't looking where she was going, and walked into a slide.  Ouch.  I cringe just thinking about it).

My trusty helper

And here's the 4 squares together:

Mine and Rosalynn's squares

On a completely different note, the Bertie's (hospice) Blankets are coming together nicely.  There's a good number of squares for both the sock yarn blankets and the aran blanket now.  Thank you :)  We aren't quite there yet, but that didn't stop me from playing with potential layouts.  I've posted the progress over on the Bertie's Blanket blog.

Wishing you a great week.
Hugs,
Sam xxx

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Happy Easter


Happy Easter, originally uploaded by samjoepics.

Wishing you an Easter filled with happiness and love. Sam xxx

Pattern: Bunny nuggets by Rebecca Danger