Another Sunflower

 Yes, another sunflower dishcloth has rolled right off my knitting needles!

(a free pattern from KnitPicks called Starflower dishcloth)

I think this one will go to Will's teacher to cheer her up!

It's not easy to be with those kids all day!

And look what else is restored to its place of honor!!!!

I worked on it all last week, letting each step have several days to cure so this time there will be no offending 'bubble' to lift the mosaic work this time!

Now I can enjoy the view from out the front and the back of my home to see these birdbaths!

Slow Stitches.....

Not much to show but I am almost finished 

with the ribbing on the sweater.

I added the grout to the birdbath and now I am waiting for it to dry enough to

wipe off the layer on the tile surface

leaving the fill between tiles to set for several days.

I am pleased with the join between new and old;

it turned out almost seamlessly!

And look-

a magazine for Machine Knitters!

(It came from the UK so all the ads are

interesting but not local!

And all the yarn weights need to be translated for me (yay for Google!)

but I love to see how they design,

tackle and accomplish ideas!

Do you watch The Fruity Knitting Podcast?!

You should, if you don't!

They talk about the Shetland Wool Fest on the latest episode

and even touch on the use of Machine Knitting in the history of the Islands!

Studio Summaries

  

I cut a bunch more of the units for this quilt and then pieced two more.

I have all of the prints now cut out and only need to cut the neutral fabric. 

 The Starry Splendour is off the frame !

 I didn't get to the binding but it will wait for another day!

 And look what I managed to do!!!

I refilled the center of the bird bath;  I was concerned I wouldn't have enough tiles but I had lots left over and that is a good thing!  

I will let the adhesive dry for several days now before I apply the grout.

 I made this little newborn hat on the Superba knitting machine.

If you look in the background, you will see a picture of my niece who is expecting in December and so this little hat will go to her baby!

Until then, this little bear will enjoy sporting it!  

(I had dyed this Hawthorne yarn for a pair of socks last Christmas 

and had enough for the sock blanket 

and now enough for this hat

 and there is still enough for another sock square!  

By Hand

 Sadly, my first birdbath mosaic work developed a bunch of bubbles where the water seeped under the tile and lifted up several areas.  Nothing for it but pulling up the whole middle.

 I easily scraped up all of these tiles-the ones around the outside edge were fully adhered

 so I left them.  

I saved all the old tiles so I could pick the adhesive and grout off of them so I could reuse them! 

 It only took a bit over an hour to  clean them!

 Now to  get the tiles to fit back in place to be a similar design to the original! 

 This is a project for today unless it is too hot and humid again! 

 Since the second birdbath is holding up fine, I think I used too thick a layer of adhesive

 and too thin a layer of grout on the first one.

  Live and learn!!!  

It is too pretty to not try to fix it!

 Speaking of pretty, Ethan picked me this pretty ginger blossom;

Oh, I wish you could smell this!

It is a very beautiful, heady floral aroma!

 Also, I finished the front and back and did a three-needle-bind-off-by-machine to join the shoulders,

I then picked up stitches for the sleeves and knit them toward the cuff.

 Remember-the waste yarn (odd colored yarn on the edges) are to allow me to pick up the live stitches and then hand knit ribbing for the bottom edge and cuffs as soon as I stitch up the side seams!

Another project I hope to make good progress on today.

And yesterday in the studio, I pushed all my lovely bits of equipment to the end of the room 

to make room for the men to work to replace our air handler (in my room here) and the compressor (which is just outside this room) so we have air conditioning again! 

 It has turned my sauna-like home into an igloo once again-pure bliss!

Today I will be putting it all to rights and use the opportunity to reorganize!

It is so easy to sprawl the clutter and I like open and clean so much better!

A nice day looms ahead for me;  I hope yours will be a sweet Saturday, too!

Oh, Yeah!

 The birdbath is finally in its place of honor in the front garden!

Now for the birds to get used to it!

There has been so much rain this summer,

they are not in need of a 'puddle' to bath in but I am happy to see it out front!

And another hat is off the assembly line! 

 This yarn is now gone but another colorway of the Mary Maxim Prism

 is on the machine for newborn boy hats next. 

I just tweaked out the extra 17 'piano keys' I needed to complete the 

Starry Splendor quilt top.

Let the piecing proceed!

Here's to a good week.

About Time to Clean it Up!

 Mondays are again an abrupt shock to our systems.

They were a nice way to start the week for a few years but now that a school year has begun, 

I remember how they do not fit with the rhythm of a human body in any way!

Last week I said I was going to finish the birdbath once and for all! 

What a good way to make something good come out of the day.

 I am ashamed at how long I have let this take up the  front porch! 

 But I worked the grout in and around and sponged it throughout the afternoon!

  Now to let it dry, seal it and touch up some paint and get it out front in the garden!!!!

 I have just three more little stars to make for the border!

I could've started piecing the center of the quilt but this required less thought!

Today, I went with the easier route!

I used up two little balls of the Scrubby yarn to try and reduce the size of the dishcloth on the knitting machine-this one is 9" x 9" which is much better than the 11" one but I still like them 8" square!

  A little more tweaking and I will have it! 

 Today, I hope to find an hour to try a new kind of stitch 

which will result in color work on the front! 

 It seems like an ambitious idea for this kind of yarn but it is only a 4 row repeat

 and not really that difficult!

  I am hoping for success right out of the gate!!!

What did we do without YouTube?!?!

Enough!

 Today I decided I was beyond sick of the unfinished bird bath on my porch!

Even though it was so humid out even early this morning, 

I put the tile adhesive down and began the process of putting those little

squares down on the bowl of the bath!

It didn't take as long as I thought it would and in an hour,

I walked away with all the clean up done, too!

(I have to wait for it to dry 24+ hours and then grout it -another 48 hours-

but by the weekend it will be out in the yard!)

I came in and pieced another row of blocks to cool down.

I wouldn't be able to go outside at all if there was no AC to come in to!

Sitting Pretty Kitty

Lena was looking out the window at a squirrel,

I just happened to notice that her reflection was a perfect match!

As soon as she saw me, she approached and I snapped this silly out-of-focus shot!

I finally got around to grouting the last (for now) stepping stone.

I am trying lots of different ways of applying the grout and this one worked the best.

I applied the grout with a wooden paddle,

stroking it first in one direction and then the other.

It was the easiest application yet!

I have to stop at the thrift store to pick up some saucers 

so I have some more mosaic ceramics 

and stop in at Home Depot to buy some new stepping stone pavers!

Stepping Stone

 The latest stepping stone with some brightly colored plate pieces!

This one was a bit less effective using the contact paper placement

because each piece was bigger and heavier 

but it worked well enough that it was easy to place the missing ones.

The grout really shows off the brighter colors!

On to find more single plates at the thrift store!

Conversely...

 So I finished filling in the broken tiles for the stepping stone, 

and then laid the Contact paper over it.

After a good rub, I was able to pick up the tiles in their order so that I can

apply adhesive to the stone and replace the tiles!

I am enjoying this process of picking up the pieces!

It Takes Time

Working in a few minute increments,

the Winding Ways quilt top is completed!

I need fabric for the backing so this will be added to the

quilting queue behind the LeMoyne star quilt which needs border fabric...

a trip to the fabric store needs to be squeezed into next weeks' schedule! 

 The second coat was added to the birdbath

and I spiffed up a few Terra Cotta pots, too.

 The rim needed a steady (sort of) hand to paint the rim of the basin-

two coats also!

I had to take a deep breath and realize this project needed time

to complete it;  

I had steps that needed 24 hours between them and there

was no hurrying it if I wanted it to be done right.

Now I have to apply sealer to the grout and tiles 

so that this birdbath will last 20 years!

 I will apply it, rub it out in 30 minutes and let it be for another 24 hours.

I will get to use this birdbath before another week passes!

(son #3 who is in the business of caulk and grout restoration

says it is an easy step that people skip and they shouldn't if they don't want to

repeat a tile and grout project in another 5 years!)

 

 Another pot was painted and it sure makes them look beautiful again!

(the paint is inexpensive as paint goes-$15 a quart at Home Depot!)

The old birdbath is all painted and waiting for me to work on the mosaic for its basin!

(It was exciting to see that the work I did to level

the inside of the basin fit beautifully;

secure and level is a wonderful thing!)

 Which I have started....

and will take my time to work on it

without being impatient!

Fixes

 When I got ready to sew the blocks together, I noted an error in the layout.

 I did rip the block partially apart to fix the offending section

 and then sewed it all back together and 

in place!

  It would've driven me crazy!

 And then I did do a bit of piecing on the new quilt top!

I couldn't resist.

It goes together much more quickly then the Winding Ways top

with blocks of 9" since the pieces are much larger making the 12" block.

I'm glad for the break!

 This stepping stone is done

though I will not use white pieces with white grout again-

what was I thinking?

Oh, well, it will serve its purpose!

 I have the two halves drawn out for the next birdbath

and the tiles came in the mail so I can start work on that!

It rained all day yesterday and it is forecast for today also!

Rain, thunder, lightening and rain!

Bill will have to brave the downpour to drain some of the rain from the pool!

We have hit the level of the sides!

(which means I might get to do some more sewing!)

Another Dishcloth and Stuff

Another dishcloth alllured me to a simple knit-

it is the Garter Twist Dishcloth

from KnitPicks.

I finished the grout on the birdbath!

I am so excited.

I want to paint the rest of the surfaces; 

I will have to visit the paint store to find just the right color!

The repairs have been done to the old birdbath and I even sanded the pedestal

so when I do get some paint,

everything is ready!

Since I had all the supplies out for mosaics,

I made one of the three stepping stones I had planned 

a while ago.

I break up old yard sale saucers for the pieces.

Look at the beautiful sunset!

(I forgot to post this this morning-

and so it goes!)

Simple Pleasures

A nice flat dishcloth

in a new-to-me pattern

called Fisherman's Simple Rib.

 The contact paper peeled off without a hiitch

and the design laid nice and flat and firm!

A victory and an exciting beginning to this project.

On to grout later today!

 The LeMoyne Star quilt is all sewn together.

It looks a bit like a mosaic from this angle!

Right now the top is 63" x 81"

I have plans for the borders because I want to end up 

with a queen sized quilt which will mean borders

that total 10" on each side.

It looks good on paper now but I need a trip to the fabric store 

to pick up several colors to complement the scraps!