Woolly Interlude

I promised more details on the quilt, so here goes!

I don’t know the exact measurements (sorry!), but the quilt is laying on a queen size bed in the above photo. When I’m back home, I’ll check the numbers. I made my own pattern for the quilt, but it was inspired by the commercially-available Turning Twenty pattern. So why didn’t I just use the pattern? Well, I didn’t actually know it was a pattern that could be purchased, as I was very new to the quilt world when I conceived the idea of making one. But in the end, I like my version better, as the squares are smaller. After finishing the 35 blocks I had planned, I put on a border of 4″ squares followed by a 6″ border of white fabric interrupted with some piecing, since I was running low on fabric.

The piecing was all one in Fall 2006; then I had to wait until I could afford 5+ yards of fabric for the back and a big piece of batting. The wait was worth it, though, because I found one of my favorite prints for the back.

I love the little white flowers on all of that red, and I love the batting I got (Warm and Natural 100% Cotton). Look at those great wrinkles! I had originally planned to machine quilt this on my little sewing machine, but in the end, I decided I wanted to hand quilt it. I’m glad I changed my mind, because the actual quilting was so much fun! I even enjoyed the last step, tacking the binding down by hand with little tiny blind stitches.

Since I finished this a few weeks ago, I’ve nearly finished a miniature quilt, and I’ve got my plan and fabric for the next big one. But not to worry, I’ve been knitting, too! I’ve got a hat to show off next time.

Ahem. Sorry about the prolonged absence. My life has recently undergone a major upheaval, and blogging fell very low on my list of priorities. I have been keeping very busy, though, and have a whole lot to share.

First up, some Christmas gifts (sewn, not knitted).

1. Scarf Laid Out, 2. Chaotic Coasters, 3. Coasters, 4. Scarf Rolled Up

The coasters were for various family members, and the scarf was for my sister.

Next up, I threw a big dessert party for my roommate’s 25th, and here’s the spread.

1. The Spread, 2. Cupcakes

We had chocolate-cherry cupcakes, chocolate filled croissants, orange truffles, almond-vanilla truffles, clementines, a crepe cake, and pomegranate limeade. Everything except the limeade, croissant dough, and cherry cupcake mix were made from scratch over the course of, like, three days, and were ridiculously fun to create. And most fortunately, we only had six cupcakes (and clementines) left over.

And the last thing I’ve got photos of right now is my first quilt, which I finished up last week.

1. First Quilt, 2. First Quilt, 3. First Quilt, 4. First Quilt

I’ll try to get some full-quilt photos this week, and give a full FO report soon. I have to say, finishing this was immensely satisfying; it’s funny, from start to finish, I worked on this for about 15 months, and yet if I had worked on it for a few hours a day on consecutive days, I could have finished this in under two weeks. Hand quilting really doesn’t take that long!

I’ve also finished knitting a vest, of which I have no photos, started and ripped out a sock, and started and ripped out a hat. And bought more fabric to piece another quilt top. And made a mini-quilt. Ahem. Have a great weekend!

While I’m still working on my knitting projects, I decided recently that I really wanted to finish the quilt I started, oh, last September. I finished the top in a couple of evenings over a year ago, and then in April, I bought batting and fabric for the backing and promptly ignored the whole lot of it for the summer. Now that the weather’s turning colder, I like working on a project that rests on my lap, and baby knits are a bit too small for that. So a couple of weeks ago when I ventured out for buttons, I picked up the last quilting supplies I needed. I had been planning all along to get a walking foot and machine quilt this thing, but I changed my mind and got a hoop, a thimble, and some “betweens” needles instead, and checked out Your First Quilt Book from the library again.

This is one of my favorite squares, in terms of fabrics, and it’s the fifth one I quilted last night (and ever). It’s been a lot of fun to sew the little stitches, and while I’m sure a more experienced quilter would have smaller stitches, I’m proud of how straight and even I’ve made them. If you want to look more closely, you can see a much larger version of the photo at Flickr. And also, the turquoise stitches are where I basted the layers together, not an official part of the quilt.

While I don’t think I’ll ever be a quilter (I’m not that good at precision), I have enjoyed this project a lot. Of course, I haven’t forsaken all knitting for it, I just don’t have much interesting progress to show, since there’s a lot of stockinette.

So, on Saturday, I decided to go buy some buttons for my Dollar and a Half Cardigan. The pattern calls for 1″ buttons, but I took a swatch with me, and decided that 3/4″ was a much better size. Of course, once I narrowed down the size, I still had to choose from a literal wall of buttons, the likes of which I’ve never seen before. You see, I went to Baer Fabrics, which has three floors plus a commercial division. Talk about fabric (and button) overload! And, of course, they were having a big sale on cut fabric, so I had to at least look, right?

The blue fabric is some I already had; I used some of it in my first and only quilt top, and got enough to make it the quilt binding, too. And what did they have at this store but the same print in red! That about made my day, so I got some, but not enought for a whole quilt back (which is what I was shopping for).

I also got this white and red print, and I’m going to do just a little bit of piecing on the back of the quilt. Of course, I won’t be doing this for awhile, since I have clothing laundry to do that takes priority over fabric laundry. And there’s also the fact that I’d like to get a walking foot to do some machine quilting with, and I need batting, and those just aren’t in my budget right now (thanks, car insurance).

Speaking of car insurance, Louisville drivers are awful. I get flipped off regularly for going only five MPH over the speed limit. I get passed in the left turn lane. When there’s no left turn arrow at an intersection, drivers pretend there is and cut out in front of the traffic that’s going straight. When I moved to Louisville from Iowa, my insurance coverage went to 1/3 of what I had, my deductable went from $100 (seriously) to $500, and my rate went up by half (and that’s with lots of discounts). I suppose, then, it’s a good thing I’ve only seen three people pulled over for speeding in 8 months of living here- since I don’t go more than 5 MPH over the speed limit (and you can honk all you want!), I probably won’t have my premium go up for a speeding ticket.

I got a sewing machine last February and made some handbags for awhile, but since getting to Louisville, I’ve done quite a bit more with my trusty Kenmore. In August, I sewed slipcovers for the dining room chairs, and a tablecloth, and they still look nice. So, for September, I decided to make a quilt, having never done so before. Now, before you peg me as overly self-confident (or really, really dumb), I felt confident because I checked out an awesome book from my local library: Your First Quilt Book (or it should be!). This book is completely appropriate for anyone with basic sewing skills who want to know how to make a quilt; it answered all of my questions and even some I didn’t know I had. Of course, I’ve already renewed the book, because the quilt’s not finished…. Here’s the top, though (see, I learned that bit of jargon from the book!).

I used 14 fabrics, and it’s based on the Turning Twenty quilt. By based on, I mean I saw a picture of that quilt, didn’t know what it was, liked the proportions of the squares, and figured out my own version, and then found out it was a pattern available for sale. I like my version better, though

Now, all I have to do is get the supplies I’ll need to finish the quilt, and finish it. That might take me awhile, but when I get it done, it’ll grace the back of my futon. With fourteen fabrics, something should go with the rest of the “decor” (which is, unfortunately, currently still “college student chic,” or bare).

Last but not least, the Hawks lost (but it was to the top team in the nation, so I shouldn’t complain too much). There is one benefit to the Buckeyes doing so well: my dad, who has three buckeye trees and hundreds of pounds of buckeyes to get rid of each year, is able to sell the nuts on eBay to the nuts who like the team. Crazy? Yeah….