Get ready …

I cannot begin to tell y’all (as they say around here) how excited I am about this announcement. There are so many fantastic sewing retreats, trips, cruises, etc., out there but this is the one I’m saving my pennies to attend!

The good thing is I have a year to calm myself down so I hopefully won’t squeal like a teenage fan girl every time I see one of my quilty heroes. Either that or not cry because I’m so happy to be there.

Really undignified for a middle-aged woman, but I may not be able to help myself, I mean, it’s …

QUILTCON 2015!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Take a look at who all is going to be there:
The quilters of Gee’s Bend, Denyse Schmidt, Weeks Ringle, Bill Kerr, Jacquie Gering, Elizabeth Hartman, Lizzy House, Angela Walters, Carolyn Friedlander, Victoria Findlay Wolfe, Lisa Sipes, Maura Ambrose, Cristy Fincher and many more.
 
Special exhibits include The Quilts of Gee’s Bend, Quilts of the 70’s from the collection of Bill Volckening and The Modern Quilt Guild’s Quilts of the Month.

Member registration opens June 24, 2014. You can join the guild as an individual member for only $25. The general public registration opens a week later, July 1, 2014. You can also enter a quilt and there’s more than $10,000 in cash prizes.
 
The Modern Quilt Guild isn’t done announcing all the fun, so be sure to head on over to their site or be sure to follow my blog, since I’ll post updates as soon as they’re released.

So who’s with me?

XOXO,
Sandra

Finished: for Abe and George

In honor of Presidents’ Day today, I have a little cross-stitch I finished yesterday that really encompasses both “Honest” Abe Lincoln and George “I cannot tell a lie” Washington:

This was another quickie, but the funny part (at least to me) is that I had this finished, all except for the G in my initials and the date, by late November. I’ve never done that with cross stitch or any other craft, i.e., gotten so close to the finish line and stopped short.

My reason? A pretty stupid one. I wasn’t sure I liked the G butting up against the L, but I also didn’t feel like taking the letters out and redoing them. Now that the piece done, I see how ridiculous that was. The initials look fine. Here’s a close-up:

The other funny thing (again, probably only to me) is George’s face. The instructions said to use the dark part of the variegated skein, Adobe. Guess the designers thought ol’ George got a tan while chopping down the cherry tree!

Stats:
Pattern: Honesty, © Birds of a Feather (now out of print)
Stitch Count: 59H x 41W
Fabric: 32-count linen, Old Town Blend
Floss: Sampler Threads from The Gentle Art
Finished: Feb. 16, 2014

Happy Presidents’ Day, everyone.

XOXO,
Sandra

WIP: striped garter-stitch blanket

Just a quick post to show you where I am on my striped garter-stitch blanket. I must admit, I’ve been enjoying working on this in the evenings after a long day at work.

I’ve got about 4-5 skeins of yarn left, so when this is done in the next couple of weeks (hopefully), it should be a nice lap blanket for someone. I’m also going to use it try my hand at Portuguese knitting. Have you ever heard of this method or tried it? You can see  a video demonstration here.

It looks pretty cool, and after a quick attempt, I think I want to do more of it. Basically, how it works is you wear a special pin on your left shoulder that looks like a safety pin with a hook on the end. Apparently, this helps with the tension.

You can also wrap the yarn around your neck, which is what I did just to try it.

For right-handed throwers, like myself, you still hold the yarn in your right hand (over your middle finger) but the way you make the stitch is similar to left-handed or Continental knitting. The major benefit is less moving, so less strain on your body over time.

And, I dearly hope and pray as I look at the mountains of yarn in my stash, you get faster!

I’m going to give it a go this week; I’ll let you know how I do.

XOXO,
Sandra

 

First finish for 2014: a little table mat

I took a little break yesterday from the easy striped garter-stitch baby blanket I’m working on (which has turned into the beginnings of a nice lap quilt) to make a little something for my kitchen.

Next to my stove, I keep a number of ingredients such as a small container for salt, one for flour, my pepper mill, a bottle of EVOO and a basket for my utensils. I wanted to make something to go underneath them not only to help keep the area clean, but to remind me that I want to paint/redo the space with a black/white look.

At the rate I’m going, I’ll have all the accessories done before the kitchen gets out of the 1990s. Yellow paint and a grapevine wallpaper border, anyone?

I used Premier Prints cotton duck that I bought at Fabric.com. It’s is heavier than quilting cotton, which I thought would be a little sturdier and stand up to multiple washings. The squares are 6.5 inches unfinished, and I used a half-inch seam allowance.

Since I wanted this to double as a hot pad, I added a layer of InsulBrite with the layer of batting. Then I did some quick straight-line quilting with the lines one inch apart. Here’s the back:

The binding is quilting cotton, standard form of 2.5-inch strips folded in half, etc. I really like how the stripes tie the circles and chevron together. The finished size, approximately 11.5×22.5 inches will hold a 9×13-inch pan quite nicely.

Lola tried her best, but it was too dark to get a good shot of this in natural light, so apologies for the yellow afterglow.

All in all, it proved to be a quick and easy afternoon project!

XOXO,
Sandra