My Ta-Da Moment

 i don't usually use the phrase ta-da moment when referring to a finished project. Lucy, from Attic 24 uses that phrase for her finished crochet projects. Since that is exactly what this is, ant the pattern is hers, I felt it was appropriate. I have finally finished my Flora Granny Square blanket!

I started this project as a way to keep busy creatively during our move. I knew that any kind of hand work was the answer. After several false starts with using up leftover yarn from other projects, I landed on this one. I made the first squares in late August 2021.

Each granny square was made by choosing the colors for that one, then making it before moving on to the next one. I wanted to focus on, and enjoy each beautiful flower.

When I started the process, I had no idea how many I would make or what they would become.

Once I had about a dozen of them, I decided that my goal would be to make 100 of them and join them in 10x10 rows. I also decided to give each one another row of a neutral color yarn to bring them all together.

That worked really well. It calms things down a bit and you can see the individual blocks and colors. My original thought was to lay the whole thing out into an arrangement so the colors didn't bunch up, but in the end, I decided to just go rogue.

I grabbed whatever square was on top of the stack and just joined them up. And I find that I really don't care about the placement so much after all.

Lucy also has a great tutorial for Joining Granny Squares. I used that for putting it all together.

And since I got my second shingles vaccine yesterday and am feeling pretty puny, I used this happy little blanket to cover me up while I napped. So nice and just the right size too.

Hard to believe that just a couple of weeks ago they looked like this! So happy to have this project finished. Just one more hand project to go from before the move, and that is my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. The flowers are done, but now I have to make all the hexies it will take to join them together. Maybe when I feel better, but not today. 

Talk to you soon.

Hand Work

 So, since the advent of the knee issue, I have been working on lots of hand projects. I always have some going on for sitting and slow stitching or crocheting. I have made great strides in my hand work and now that I am able to sew again, I need to keep up on the hand work too.

First, there is this long term crochet project. I started it last year before our move. Last weekend I was down to needing 13 more blocks.

I had been making one complete block at a time up until now. I decided to go ahead and make all 13 flowers first, assembly line style. Here they are.

I usually weave in the ends of my crochet work as I go. I learned that from Lucy at Attic 24, whose pattern this is. It keeps you from losing momentum at the end of a project if all the ends have to be done.

I have no idea why I never did that with these blocks. But once all the blocks were made, I found that I had to weave in two ends on 100 blocks. That's 200 ends. I made myself sit there over 2 days and do it.

And now, here they are all neat and tidy. I can assure you this will never happen again. I have learned my lesson. Weave in as you go.

And now the next step is to slip stitch them all together in rows to make the throw. this is the first four rows all done. You slip stitch the vertical rows in a chain fashion, and then go back and slip stitch the long horizontal rows.

This is gonna take some time, but I will keep plugging away and be back to show it off, hopefully soon.

Last hand work to share is this cute little stitchery from Kirkiri Press. There is a series of these little animals that you embroider and embellish and then stuff into little hand size stuffed animals. This one is Fiesta Cat. I bought the kit from Snuggly Monkey. You can find them lots of places on the internet.

Okay, that's all for now. Have a great day.

January Chilling

 So, here we are, two thirds of the way through January. We still have not made much progress with finding a place to live. So much of living life is getting in the way of the search. Weather related delays and children out of school for various reasons. We will get there, though. Not to worry. So then you might wonder what am I up to creatively. Well, mostly hand work still. I did take my machine out a couple of times last week. I did some much needed mending and put together a couple of my plus blocks that I had cut out an pressed before I left California.

Here are some of the things I have been working on recently:

First of all, I signed up to be in this Stitched in Color quilt Along for this year. It is a monthly block program, and while I can't get started just yet, I know I will have time to catch up eventually. I am going to spend some time planning while I don't have access to my stash right now.

I am still working on crocheting these beautiful Flora Granny squares designed by Lucy at Attic 24. I only have 23 more to go and I will have 100 of them. They will be joined to make a 10 x 10 block square throw. This is a great project to pick up and put down as needed. I am using all my scrap yarn from other blanket projects for this one. It's the quilter in me.

I have several other long term projects lined up. I am doing the pineapple  quilt along with Gigi's Thimble which begins at the end of January and I have saved all the clues to do Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt as soon as I have access to my scraps for that one.

I am also working on some embroidery. This is Rebecca Ringquist's Schoolhouse Sampler.

It is her newest release and I am having so much fun with it. I check Instagram often to see what everyone else is doing with theirs.

There are so many different and fun elements in this sampler. I am going slow and choosing my colors carefully.

I don't think I have ever done quite so many colonial knots in one piece.

I am really enjoying the pace and doing all this embroidery. It is a skill I learned as a child and I am so happy I did. I have definitely improved since then. Lol

I bought these fun butterflies on Amazon. They are magnetic and so it the chalkboard in my daughter's kitchen. You get about 80 butterflies in a pack and they are beautiful. We put some on the refrigerator as well.

And this little cutie turned 6 this week. It was a week of threatening winter weather and of germs.

We ended up getting a bunch of these because the little cutie pie above was diagnosed positive on Tuesday. So far, all is well and no one else has gotten sick. Yay for vaccines and boosters. Hoping to make it a few more days to be out of the woods. 

Have a great week, stay warm if you are in the cold winter weather. Talk to you soon.

Slow Crochet Project

Still trying to get several hand done projects going that will carry me through my move. I do like having a variety of things to work on, as the spirit moves me. So I have a new crochet project that costs me nothing but time.

I have crocheted about 8-9 blankets from Attic 24 kits and tutorials. I love them all. But there is leftover yarn from each of them. I tried to think of a way to use it up, just like my scraps of fabric go into quilts.

 My first thought was to crochet in Double crochet stitches, alternating between cool and warm colors and letting each stripe be however big it was based on how much yarn was in the ball.

I had divided all my leftover yarn balls into two bags. One is warm colors and one is cool colors. But once I got some of it crocheted, I wasn't happy with how it looked. I mean I really didn't like it.

So then, I ripped it all out and started again. I thought Granny Squares. It was what I originally wanted to do, but I had though they might be too much work. My daughter suggested warm centers and cool borders. I made one. It was okay.

Then I made another one. It was just okay. I like the colors, but this was not bringing me joy. I could not make a bunch of these for a blanket. Back to the drawing board. Lucy (Attic 24) had done a pattern for a floral Granny Square for International Granny Square Day! (Who knew there was such a thing?) So I went to her blog to take another look at it and I took my yarn with me.

This is the first square I made. Now, don't laugh. I know that this is much more complicated than the simple project I originally envisioned. But, it brings me joy! And the one thing I know about myself is that when I eventually cave and try the more complex project, I fall in love with it. It has happened with paper piecing and EPP projects as well. I do a lot more of those than I ever thought I would. I just need to remember that when I am looking for a project. Simple isn't always best.

And now I have a stack of them! I don't know how many I can make before I run out of scrap yarn, but I do know that I am going to keep making them as long as they bring me joy. That is the point of being a maker if you ask me.

What's bringing you joy today?

Crochet!

 So, in addition to sewing I also love to crochet. I have been crocheting blankets for the last 3 years, along with Lucy at Attic 24. She has so many lovely patterns and she is really good at explaining the techniques. She shows pictures of how things should look, which is so helpful. And her patterns are free!

This is one of her patterns I just finished, in my own chosen colors. This blanket is to be a Christmas gift for Miss N. Her favorite colors are pink and purple.

This is the Cosy Stripe Blanket. It is all double crochet, except for parts of the border. This is a picture of the final row of the border which give such a pretty little finish here.

Every two rows alternate between a plain double crochet and one with three stitches done in one spot skipping stitches on each side to give this unique look. I alternated between pink and purple on each row.

I started out using up bits of leftover yarns from other projects, but then I soon realized I didn't have enough of either pink or purple to complete this. So I found an on line source for the same yarn, here in the US.

I usually order all this blanket yarn from Wool Warehouse in the UK, but at the time, they weren't shipping to the US because of Covid.

I am very happy with the way this blanket turned out. These pictures are on my queen size bed, so this is a sizeable blanket. My daughter requested it be big enough so she could use it as she grew up.

And here is the little wooden button I put on all my crochet blankets. I found these on Etsy. There are many vendors on Etsy that sell something like this if you are interested in finding some for yourself. I hope you have a great rest of your week, and I will see you soon.

It's Thursday, What Else Can I Say?

Sometimes it's hard to think up a fun title for a post, when all it is, is an update. But I am glad to be able to be here and show what I am up to this week.

 First, I am still working on my Dahlia blanket. I have lost a little steam for this project, but still plugging slowly away on it. I am on week 4 of 6. The colors are so happy and I do love it.

This is one of the April blocks for the Penny Sampler Club. There are only two blocks this month and one of them is the bicycle I was so anticipating. It's larger and a bit more complex, so I decided to warm up with this one. I had all the pieces cut for a week, before I could make myself sit down and sew it. I don't know why I kept putting it off. I find that I am easily distracted by other projects many times and I have to reign myself in.

When my daughter got married, I made 100 assorted napkins to be used at the reception, and then for her family to keep and use daily. This is what they looked like new. They are not as clean and bright now after so many years of use and washings. But Miss N has latched on to the teal with white flowers here in the bottom row. For some reason there are only 2 left. They are the only napkins she will use.

So in an effort to save her mother's sanity, I made her these four napkins in pink and purple, her favorite colors. I will get them in the mail as soon as I can.

 I am also making new pillow covers for my daughter's pillows. I haven't recovered them in about 5 years, so I know they need a refresh. Choosing fabrics long distance was tough, but this is what we whittled it down to.

 Ad this is the beginning of the first pillow cover. I am making Dear Dottie blocks in her chosen colors for this one. Each pillow cover will be different, except for the fabrics. They will all come from that box above.

 My hand stitching project is this new Sampler from Dropcloth Samplers. I saw it on IG and just had to have it. I love having a slow stitching project to pick up as I want to.

And yesterday I started with the A. I am letting this lead me where it wants to go with the colors. I know this will take me quite awhile to stitch, but that's okay. I'm not going anywhere...literally.
Take care and stay safe.