Progress?

Two steps forward, three steps back. I think I've written before that this is the nature of my crafting progression, and it's still true. Whether it's failing to read/follow a knitting pattern exactly and having to frog back, or not thinking ahead when it came to piecing fabric strips for a quilt (both of these happened in the past few days), progress is sometimes painfully slow. But, progress is progress, and I've finally made some head way on some things I've been meaning to do for a while.

The top of a long long long overdue wedding quilt is now pieced! The pattern is Elizabeth Hartman's New Wave quilt. And this was where I did not think ahead when I was piecing.

Resulting in much cursing and ripping.

The other two small projects were pencil rolls (from Last-Minute Patchwork+Quilted Gifts). I'm pretty pleased at how they turned out, despite additive inaccuracies in the fabric piecing. The pencils are from Jolly, and I got them here.

So, onwards I go! There have been a lot of babies recently, so I need to get back on the baby quilt wagon. I'm thinking simple square quilts. Fast and easy. Famous last words I'm sure. There's also this shawl, that I intended to give to a friend before her wedding last June!! "Better late than never" has become my mantra!

fifteen | La Courtepointe Provençale

About a year ago, I started on a quilt that was to be a present for a wonderful couple, Redmond and Cora, whose wedding took place in a magical château in Bordeaux last June. I posted about the pattern (Marquee, from this book) and my progress a couple of times.

I even managed to finish quilting it sometime last year. But, for the past 6 months or so it has languished in a corner, awaiting the tedious process that is hand-sewing the binding.

Well, finally, I managed to spend a slightly hungover Saturday on the sofa, and I finished it!

And just in time too - Redmond visited us and picked it up last week, just after I managed to run it through the wash ad get a quick couple of snaps of it!


It's called La Courtepointe (French for quilt, of course) Provençale, because the bright colors strike me as a little French... R&C did get married in Bordeaux, but I'm taking a little artistic license here!

I am delighted with how it turned out, and must try another quilt with this pattern soon. I also have a pile of left-overs that I am determined to turn into cushions for our new sofa. Hopefully in less than one year. Yay!

twelve

A new ironing board cover!

One of the easiest things I've made! I followed this tutorial, and was very frugal/resourceful in using up some cotton fleece that was left over from the back of Erika's quilt, as well as odds and ends of batting as padding. Now if only having a nice cover could make me actually enjoy ironing!

three | waiting

My needles are waiting to be put to use, and I'm waiting for this damned head cold to clear and take the cobwebs of my holiday-brain with it!

two | pants!

Of all the Christmas crafting projects I tried this year, I think the Christmas pyjama pants were the biggest success.

I used Anna Maria Horner's Quick Change Trousers pattern from her Handmade Beginnings book. The pattern and instructions were very straightforward and they were a joy to make. I made four pairs in the 6-9 months size and one in the 18-24 months size. I used Alexander Henry's Yuletide Zoo in natural and green, and they were really perfect for the pattern - the pants are completely reversible, so I used one colorway for the outer side and the other for the reverse side (apart from the larger pair for which I used a solid, Kona cotton in grass, I believe). The turned-up leg openings allow you to see both sides, which worked really well!

Unfortunately, I think that due to the unprecedented weather conditions in Ireland, some of the pairs did not make it to their destinations before Christmas... No matter, I'm sure they will be kept for the next child or passed along.

There was at least one happy recipient though!

Mehhhry Christmas!

...geddit? Hope it's a great one, wherever you are!

The City Dreams Quilt

Nothing like a tight deadline to make me actually finish a project for a change! I made this quilt as a gift from our lab to the wonderful Erika, who left us to return to her homeland, Mexico, on the 31st of October.

It was inspired by this quilt. The maps (New York, Paris, London, Tokyo) are actually handkerchiefs, from Muji. The idea was to make something that would remind Erika of her time in New York... but because she's an incredible scientist who is sure to go far, I thought that including the other cities was appropriate; if she hasn't been there yet, she will go soon!

The process was really quite simple. As recommended by Abby, I trimmed the edges from the handkerchiefs before framing them with 1 inch of Kona Cotton in Coral (also used for the binding), and 1.25 inches of Kona Cotton in Coal. The sashing is Kona Cotton in Putty.

Because it was going to Mexico, I decided not to use any batting in the quilt, but backed it with flannel (from an Erin McMorris line). Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of the back! Finally, I quilted it with simple straight lines, 6 inches apart.

Erika was very happy with it, which made me very happy! And doesn't Simon make a great quilt model?!

Tomorrow is the marathon!! I'm feeling pretty nervous but I'm sure it'll be great. Especially the post-marathon rehydration pub session! Must go pack my bags... and make sure all the alarm clocks are set - I have a painfully early start, even with the hour going back. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

More WIPs

Work is crazy as usual so there's not a lot going on here apart from some subway knitting and frantic last-minute sewing for a going-away gift (based on this quilt) for a friend who's leaving New York on Saturday!

WIP Wednesday

Just a few of the many many things lying around here in various stages of (in)completion...

Tangled Up

Last night, in an attempt to overcome my current motivational/productivity doldrums, I decided to wind some yarn. First up was some beautiful Manos del Uruguay Maxima Multi (in Peach Melba), which wound perfectly and will soon be on its way to my nana, who, in her 92nd year has taken up knitting again with gusto!

Nest I tried to wind a hank of Malabrigo sock yarn (in Alcaucil), with the intention of starting this scarf, inspired by JCasa. It seems that tangles are a common problem with this wool, but what a terrible mess it's in!! I'm not sure it's salvageable - I just don't have the patience...although maybe with Simon's help I can try to sort it out over the weekend.

Also sitting and waiting to receive the benefits of an energy spurt, is the wedding quilt!! And the supposed-rush-job baby quilt! If only there were enough hours...

IV: Baby Quilts

I'm going to ignore the fact that I failed to post yesterday, and go ahead and talk about some more FFOs - a pair of baby quilts. The red/green one has already found its way to its new owner, baby Luca, while the purple one will hopefully go to its home, with baby Abigail, in the next week or so. Luca's parents were really very grateful for the quilt, which made me so happy!

The quilts were made using Elizabeth's Simple Modern Baby Quilts pattern, which I believe is currently unavailable because she is revising it. I really have to own up to something though... when I started these quilts (in January 2009!!), I can't honestly say that I had babies Luca and Abigail in mind (I dare say that at that time, their parents may not have had them in mind either!). Instead, I was making them for two other babies, James and Seán, who were born last March. But, by the time I finished the quilts (April of this year!), James and Seán were already one year old. So I thought that quilts with trucks and other boy-things would be much more suitable than the baby birdies on these (Alexander Henry's Starling)...

So, I hope to get started on those boy-quilts really soon! Fingers crossed they will not take as long to complete as these did!

II: A Finally Finished Object

Just before I went home to Ireland I finally finished the cardigan I had been working on for my friend's daughter Molly. It was originally meant as a welcome gift - but by the time I finally finished it, Molly was only a week away from her first birthday!!

I used the Betty Lou Lace Cardigan pattern from this book. In general, the pattern was fairly simple, but I found the lace section very slow-going. The lace body was a bit wonky-shaped in the end - I suppose my gauge must have changed over the 8 (!!) months I was working on it. Overall though, I'm fairly happy with it.

The yarn is Koigu Painter's Palette Premium Merino (commonly known as KPPPM), colorway P136. I foolishly didn’t have a specific project in mind when I bought this wool, so I didn’t have enough, and had to order more after embarking on this project. The dye lot for the second batch of wool was very different. I had already started on the lace body and couldn't bear to start over so I ripped back the body as far as the yoke in the hope that the change in yarns wouldn’t be so noticeable. It's not too bad, I hope!

So, this project taught me two very important lessons:
Lesson Number 1: Do not buy wool without a specific project (and required yardage) in mind.
Lesson Number 2: Do not start a project without necessary yardage.

Lesson 1 should really be altered to read: Do not enter a yarn store without a specific project (and required yardage) in mind. I can never resist the temptations of those walls of color!

In other news, tonight it's so hot in our apartment that we're eating our chocolate biscuits with a spoon!

Block printing, attempt 1

A mess, a punctured and bloody finger, sore shoulders (from the carving) and several hours of a Saturday morning produced two relatively pleasing looking owls.

The printed versions weren't quite as pleasing. I just couldn't seem to get the amount and distribution of the ink right. The cards are also too small. But as my very first attempt at block printing, I don't think they turned out too bad - not bad, but not great either.

I followed Lizzy House's lovely tutorial, although I don't think I followed it that closely, because I thought "Well, how difficult can it be?" Rather difficult, apparently! I also wish I was more artistically talented... I picture something in my head - I know what I want to draw - but when I put pencil to paper, it doesn't look as it should. Something I can work on, no doubt, but I do wish I had some of that natural artistic ability!

Happy Saturday!

The first of the wedding quilts

Finally! One down and many more to go...

It's a New Wave quilt, as designed by Elizabeth Hartman, one of the many free designs available at her site Oh Fransson! Eight of the twelve prints are from Anna Maria Horner's Good Folks line (the Afternoon Tide bundle), the others were lurking in my stash - but I can't remember what they are.

The solid used for sashing on the front and for the back is Kona Cotton in turquoise. The other backing fabric is a batik I picked up at the City Quilter. The binding is a Carolina Chambray (I think!), but I can't remember the name of the color. 
I'm pleased with how the quilting came out - I just stitched in straight lines 0.25 inches either side of the seam with the sashing fabric.

It turned out smaller than I would have liked - I didn't really think about the finished size stated in the design when I started - but I think it will make a nice lap quilt for Sarah and Tim to curl up under in front of the telly.

Next up, Marquee from the Modern Quilt Workshop. This afternoon was dedicated to the arduous task of cutting the fabric - my second least favourite part of quilting, next to ironing! Hopefully it will be all fun from here on in!


[Edited 4/27/10 to include all the links I omitted when I first posted!]