Couldn't Help Myself - Another Swap!

Joined another swap, mostly because I had the fabric and the final quilt will be fabulous. It consists of 12.5 inch star in a star with alternating HSTs in lights and darks. Here's the blocks I've done for the swap, although I will be making more to finish off the fabrics. If QATW doesn't do a second round, I will finish this over the winter using other FQs. My only limitation is that I don't have a lot of lights to choose from, but there is always a FQ sale around New Years. In fact, I attended a FQ sale at my LQS and was so proud of myself to limit my choices to things I needed for projects already in progress. Yes, I bought some spiders for the Halloween quilts - you understand that collections must be fed, which is why I'm trying to finish all the Halloween quilts so that the collection can go away.



I've mostly been cutting through scraps in the last week or two, but am working on quilting the Pine Grove quilt. Today I have both a doggie and a kitty pad to finish off. The doggie pad is a gift to my mom's coworker in celebration of her new dog and already planned, but her husband had a stroke last night, so I'll just get it made so my Mom can give it to whenever she next sees her.

On the knitting side, they finally had both yarns in that I needed to finish off the Kitty Pi Bed! They arrived the other day and I hope to finish that project this month. Yes, yes, I did buy a single skein of sock yarn for socks. Not sure why, but I just loved this tonal green. I'm not a bright green sort of gal, but we'll give it a shot.

Tonal Stroll Sock yarn by Knit Picks

This weekend involves some marathon recording, which is great because I will get a lot of crocheting done on that granny afghan. I record favorite shows and take the commercials out to save for my Mom to watch later. Naked Science has a new episode tonight. Being Human season 2 starts Saturday and I can do some catch up episodes for Dr. Who before the season's grand finale this weekend. Of course, I can't miss Eureka on Friday night. Have you noticed the sort of geek format of my favorite shows? It is not a coincidence.

Top Done

I'm happy to report that I finished that final row on the 1000 Pyramids and the top is now complete. It has 1,260 triangles, all of which are different fabrics (yes, I have a couple of repeats, but we will ignore them). I plan to set it aside for the month of July and get the last of my previously pinned quilts quilted (Pine Grove Quilt) before starting on this.

So, for the rest of the month, I'm packing up some stuff, working on the Spiderweb quilt and quilting the Pine Grove Quilt. I hope to be painting by the end of the month and then I can set up a more permanent spot for my sewing machine stuff.

Swap Kitties

Finished my swap kitties and mailed them off. Yep. Bad photo, but you can see the star in the first kitty on the 2nd row.

I am also working on the latest afghan, which is a granny afghan. Lots of people love the colors (well, natch, I've made 2 afghans already with these). I have decided that I need to add some texture here - maybe a few bobbles. My cousin's daughter was really into textures, so I think she would enjoy that.

Happy 4th!!

I've spent all of today watching Star Trek TNG season 1 episodes and working on the 1000 Pyramids quilt. I've completed all 9 rows and assembled the 3 sections. The edges added enough width that I have now decided not to add a border, but do need an additional row. Only need to make 3 pyramids to assemble that 10th row. That will make it about 76x93 inches - plenty big.

Here's a photo. I hadn't pressed since I finished sewing, so it looks a tad rumpled. I plan to quilt this in 3 sections, which is why they are separate. I really like the look of this simple one-patch pattern, but in future, I think I will assemble each pyramid with all lights or all darks. I couldn't with this charm quilt because I knew I had way more darks than lights. Heck, the only reason why I have as many lights as I do is because of charm swaps!



Finally, go to this quilt related link on YouTube. Hilarious!

I really Got a Lot Done!

Looking back at June, I did get quite a lot done. Finished a UFO wallhanging (the Panther), have nearly finished the 1000 Pyramids top (started in 1992) and a good start on the Spiderweb quilt. I've also made a start on a granny afghan for my cousin's family.

For July, I really need to make a push to finish the Ladybug afghan. Not much remains. I am redoing the wings because they are just too small. It's really only a weekend of crocheting to finish, but I have to have everything in front of me. Then attaching, which does take longer (attach black spots to wings, then wings to bodies) and finally assembly.

July goals:

• Complete Ladybug afghan
• Finish 1000 Pyramids top
• Finish Spiderweb Quilt
• Finish 1 pair of UFO knitted socks

Certainly a doable list, even with interruptions and such. I'm also trying to get back in the habit of doing cross-stitch at least once a week, but so far, a suitable every-week day hasn't presented itself.

I'm also on a no-buy thing for the summer for crafts. I really, really, really need a new chair and it's looking like I will never find something suitable that is either low cost or used. I've been looking even through Craigslist and even used, folks are asking an awful lot. Therefore, I'm going to have to start looking in the $400-600 range.