by small means

wow! thanks for all the quilt love. did someone link to my blog? i have received so much traffic and so many e-mails the past few days. anyway, thank you.

so, my summer is coming to the end. i have one more week until we start homeschooling again, and than at the end of september i will start taking classes again. last year once school started for me i had very little time to do anything other than school related stuff for my kiddies or myself. it was kinda depressing not to be able to hang out with friends or go to church functions (other than sunday) or anything. if i had finished my homework and was willing to stay up late i could squeeze in a little crafting time but that didn’t happen very often at all. oh well. i figure that this year will be the same, so i dont have any grand plans in the works as far as projects go. i do however have a short list of things i want to finish before i start classes.

first let me show you the cute blankie i finished this last week. i followed the happy things tutorial again. it turned out way cute. i took my time and top-stitched each stripe since i wasn’t going to use batting and quilt it. when i finished the top i simply cut out some flannel the same size and bound it pillowcase style. i also added a few ties using embroidery floss, to keep the back from shifting away from the top. oh wait, before i sewed the flannel to the top i appliqued on an “e” with matching fabric. than i stitched around it with contrasting floss.  i love blankies like this. just perfect for wrapping a little one.

the e stands for elliot. a little boy who just arrived last week.

ok, now for my plans. i want to finish up these projects before school starts at the end of september.

the robot quilt: the top is done now i just need to quilt and bind it. the only problem is that i am not sure how i want to quilt it.

the self striping yarn project: i knit up a tube when i was on vacation in idaho but decided it was way to big to make as a purse so i frogged it, reset the yarn and started over with a smaller purse. the tube is completed as well as the strap. now i need to sew up one end of the tube add lining and a zipper and sew on the straps. i am much happier with the size. the biggest dilemma with this project is that i can’t decide if like the side showing or the inside better. i turned the tube inside out a realized that i like that side as well.

and than i have this fabric that i am dying to make into another quilt.

oh and one last thing. i have a friend who is need a pair of booties. i think the booties will come first since this week i will be traveling and they can come with me. i could also sew up the lining on the purse and bring it since it needs to be sew in by hand. yes, i think i will do that.

so anyway that is the plan. who knows how much of it i’ll get done. i’ll see you again if i make any progress.

this gate seems to be the place to photograph my baby quilts. i finished this one last night.

here is the close up.

it is very similar to this quilt.

this one is for my mother to give as a gift to a new mom she knows. i also made a diaper pouch to go with it.

i fell in love with these trees the first time i saw them. i’ve lived in washington most of my life and have never seen them here. my first viewing was while we were living in utah and took a trip up into the mountains. i don’t remember where we were exactly but it seemed that there was grove after grove of these trees. i instantly fell in love with their silvery bark and flat leaves which always seem to be moving; even in the slightest breeze. i love how they looked growing close to one another. i would imagine myself wandering through them for hours in my own little world.

well anyway, i just got back from a trip to idaho. we had a great time visiting with family and for the last couple of days we stayed in a cabin pretty close to yellowstone. when we drove up it was dark and late, but after breakfast i opened up the front door to these beauties. i was so excited. for some reason they just make me happy. i was a little disappointed at there only being a few and was longing to find a huge grove to wander through, (i still need to realize that dream)but was happy to touch and admire them.

here is a close up of the bark. seeing this sets me longing to touch them again.

i left town last week and took my spinning wheel with me. i almost didn’t bring it but was so glad that i did. the yarn turned out to be very beautiful on my self striping attempt. here’s the wip. the stripes are subtle but they’re there. hurray!

it’s going to be another lined bag.

here is another finished quilt. why am i making baby quilts? who knows, but there are two more tops waiting for me to finish.

today i made my first attempt at hand dying roving. i am trying to make self striping yarn. here is the step by steps.

·        picked out two 2oz merino rovings from my stash, set them in a tub of water to soak for about 15 min.

·        while this was soaking i got out my cool-aid stash and decided to use all that i had. 3 blue something or other, 2 green apple, 2 pink lemonade, 1 grape, 1 orange

·        moved out side to driveway and laid down two garbage bags and places my two roving side by side so that they would be the dyed the same.

·        applied cool-aid in about 6-10 inch sections. I just sprinkled it right on top. picture

·        added about a cup of water to each dyed section to moisten the cool-aid that was just sitting on top. 

·       rolled bag over roving and let sit in the sun for about 3 ½ hours. (i did find another bag of pink lemonade and sprinkled it over the green during this time) picture

·        after the kids went to bed i went out side expecting to have to rinse out the excess cool-aid but the rovings had absorbed it all; as i went to rinse it no color came out at all. picture

·        gently squeezed out excess water and moved the roving to the house to roll up in a towel to remove any remaining water.

they are now hanging in my yard drying. the colors are a bit muted; not as bright as i was expecting but i like it. picture

yesterday i headed over to laura’s and got to work on the skirt for thisbe. i was surprisingly painless. i hadn’t sewn clothes for her since she was a toddler. i have to say that i wasn’t a fan of the fabric she picked out at joann’s the other day but when put together as a skirt it turned out pretty cute. it was made from the 3 peas tutorial here at kuky ideas.

i also finished the purse i started at the black sheep gathering. adding the lining and zipper was much easier than i thought it would be.

i also think it’s pretty cool how the yarn i spun up self striped. now that i have finished this i am going to try and dye my own roving to see if i can get it to self stripe again.

well my summer started late june and i’ve been working on a few things after the kiddies get to bed. i got four quilt tops made including this one, and completed one of the quilts.

i have quite a few wip.

three more quilts to quilt and bind, a purse that i started at the black sheep gathering. i had purchased some beautiful hand dyed roving. i spun it, plied it, and started knitting it up while there. after finishing the purse and strap i now have to line it and add a zipper. i started knitting a hat for magnus, and yesterday thisbe picked out some fabric and i plan on attempting to make a skirt for her.

last night at about 10:30 i started working on a quilt using up some scraps. hubby was gone and i didn’t want to go to bed so i thought i would try the tutorial at happy things. here is the finished project.

i bound it pillow case style and than did a few stich in the ditch quilting lines and than top stiched around. it turned out a bit sloppy (i shouldn’t work so late at night) but i really like it. i may try this again. 

last night after the kiddies went to bed i got going on the baby quilt. ( it was about 8:oo when i got started) as i looked up at the clock when i was finishing up the binding it was almost 10:30. i couldn’t believe the quilting and binding only took two and half hours.

with hubby not expected back for a few hours, i decided to get started on a journal. when that was done, i started on the diaper pouches i wanted to make for my etsy shop.

when all was done and cleaned up it was still before midnight. i cant believe how smoothly things went.

with a couple of midterms coming up, homework has slowed up. so i have had a bit of time to start this quilt. the babe isn’t due until july but we are having a party for his mommy this weekend. i wonder if i will get it finished on time. hubby will be out of the house on friday night so maybe i’ll try to do it than or maybe it’ll have to wait until schools out.

here is the completed top

now, this next picture may not be too exciting to you but i have sure loved the one i made for myself. it’s a pouch to put diapers/wipes in. i hate diaper bags and so i fill my zipper pouch with the necesities needed and drop it in my purse and out I go. it’s great with stroller rides and what not when i dont want my purse with me but need to bring the diapers just in case. this one is made to match the quilt and is fully lined. if i have time i want to make some to sell on etsy, but i dont see that happening.

Lookie what I got to hold today! One of the moms at my kiddies homeschool group brought this little guy. I had never held one before and was very excited. He kinda jumped around in my hands than settled right down. It almost made me cry.