Apron Swap

The Denver Modern Quilt Guild met the other week, and this month's activity was an apron swap.  I can't believe my luck this month - I got to pick first and ended up with this beauty:



All the aprons were super lovely and I would have been thrilled to receive any of them. But getting to pick first... ooh that was fun! :) Here are all the aprons, modelled by the lucky recipients:

 

Next month we are doing a name tag swap. Each participant wrote their name, and some basic guidelines on a piece of paper and we drew at random. I received Sara, who simply wanted something bright on a lanyard. I'd seen some pieced spool designs online and thought it would be fun to try my hand at creating one, and using the spool's "thread" to spell out the letter S. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, although it is a tad larger than I think it needs to be (more postcard size than name card size). Hey ho, at least it's not sandwich board big :))) and no-one has an excuse for missing her name.



I'm looking forward to seeing the results of this next swap.

Well, I hope you are well, friends?
It's been a little hectic here (mainly work, but also some bug that has worked its way round the 3 of us) which has resulted in low energy levels and no desire to craft (shocker... I rarely ever feel this way). Consequently I've not really had anything to blog about. All that to change... starting with fun Mummy Daughter sewing plans tomorrow, as soon as we are wrapped up with swim class (little water baby just loves going to the pool).  Here's a fun swim pic that just makes me beam each time I see it:



Enjoy the rest of your weekend,
Sam xxx

Birthday Boneyard

I've been doing some secret knitting for a friend's birthday, which is part of the reason it has been a little quiet here.  But now that the big day has come and gone, I can share what I've been working on...

It's the Boneyard shawl from Stephen West (don't you just love his shawls!).  Bonus:  the pattern is a free Ravelry download!



Before I start any given project, I like to look through the finished versions on Ravelry for inspiration.  For this pattern I saw that a bunch of folks had knit their shawl using one skein of Madeline Tosh Pashmina.  I had one particular colour of Pashmina in my stash - Pop Rocks - that I knew my friend, Stacey, would love.  It's a super bright pink, and just up her street.



Looking through the finished projects on Ravelry I also saw that some folks had chosen to work the shawl in stripes of differing colours.  I love stripes, and thought this would add a touch of fun to the finished shawl.  I found some Coral online that would contrast well with the Pop Rocks Pink.  Yes, this combo would be a good, bright, fun one!  Perfect for Stacy.  Ooh and the Madeline Tosh Pashmina is just devine - soo very soft.



The folks that had used one skein of MadelineTosh Pashmina were able to get about 9 repeats of the pattern, which is a good size for a neckerchief sized shawl.  I wanted to make something bigger and cuddlier and worked 12 repeats of the pattern.  The end result is a really good size - enough to truly be called a shawl, without being too big and 'drowning' the wearer.  FYI, the 12 repeat version used 1 whole skein of the main colour - Pop Rocks - and the majority of one skein of the contrast colour - Coral.



Finally, the pattern calls for the Elizabeth Zimmerman sewn bind off.  It's a perfect bind-off for the shawl due to it's strectchiness.  But man, it took me forever to bind off in this manner!  Well worth it though.



The gift is a winner (yay!) -- Stacey loves it.  Which means I am also over the moon:  I do love gift knitting when the finished project is soo graciously received.



Hope you are having a lovely weekend my friends,
Hugs,
Sam
xxx

Apron Swap

At the next quilting guild meeting we have an apron swap.  I've been hunting all over pinterest and the web for something to catch my eye.  I ultimately decided on the Purl Bee Unisex Adjustable Apron.  I like the utilitarian feel of it.  But wanted to kick it up a notch.

Originally I was thinking of adding some fun embellishment or paper pieced pocket. 
Think applique kitchen utensils
Or paper pieced cup of tea
Or appliqued letters such as "eat"

However on my search for fabric I found an easy way out - fabric that already had a kitchen design, and coordinated well with the main fabric.  I could add a little ric rac and a bright fun apron tie - yes this would do the trick.


The instructions are very well written and straight forward.  I didn't follow exactly - e.g. the pattern tells you to fold your fabric in half to cut out the main body of the apron.  My fabric was extra wide and so I didn't want to cut a big hole in the middle of it - I was actually able to cut out the main piece, to specification, out of one half width of the fabric.  But like I say, the fabric I'd selected was quite a bit wider than your typical quilting bolt.  Plus for the pocket, I fussy cut the design I wanted vs trying to get the measurements exact to the pattern.  So nothing major - just little tweaks.



The end result is simple and pretty.  I'm really happy with how it all came together.
Thing is... it doesn't really fit me.  I think Unisex Adjustable Apron should read His and 'Tall-Hers' Apron.
You see it fits hubby perfectly.  Although it may not be his choice in style ha ha.



But at 5'2" it seemed to drown me.  Looking at the pictures I've seen online they have it folded in the middle (which must be the adjustable part).  And in fairness, that approach works.  It just isn't as cute on me, with that fold, as it is on Joe. :) 



Let's hope whoever ends up with this is a good deal taller than I am.  Or who has a hubby/significant other who isn't afraid of a nice pop of pink and a little ric rac ha ha!

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend?
Love
Sam
xxx

Work-In-Progress Wednesday

Tyk and Tynd:



Curio Quilt, row F:

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:



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.



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:



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.



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



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:



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



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.
 


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.



My favourites are:

• Olive
• Starling
• Coral

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).



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



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


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. 



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!



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.



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



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.



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

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 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. 



The next yarn store in Santa Fe was 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. 



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



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.



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



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!



And finally Lori's yarn and fiber.

 

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 :)



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

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)


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!



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).



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.



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...



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