SOME GOOD STUFF

The quilt for QOV is off the frame and just needs me to bind it--

I will be doing it today!

I made some major progress with last year's Shop Hop quilt.

  I will finish stitching it together today, too.

I did some wandering around outside in between some drizzles

 and found some radishes to nibble on!

And I didn't pick it, but there were 5 skinny beans growing! 

 The weather has been horrid for my beans to grow--and then they were attacked by something that nibbled off all of the leaves.  Since then we've had a row of Swiss Chard disappear, too, and Bill thinks it is deer who are also enjoying my raised bed

 so they don't have to bend over either!!!! 

 Time to hang some soap and hair in the row to discourage them!

 

HASTE MAKES WASTE!

Adages stand the test of time.  This one perfectly fits this situation about me and this shawl.  I had bought two skeins of yarn to make this shawl according to the pattern;  then I changed the needle size to give the shawl more drape.  When I used up the first skein, I could see the shawl would be too short.  So my late-at-night self thought the solution was to rip it back and make it narrower.  So the next morning, I ripped it back and when there were only 6" left, I had a critical thought--I had loved the width, the drape and the look of the shawl so why didn't I just think to buy another cake of yarn? --BUY ANOTHER SKEIN ?!  I didn't need to rip it out!  So I stopped whining to myself, mostly, and began crocheting it again! 

 I have finally hit the mark where I started the second skein and then some.  It is going well and I will pick up another skein soon.

I need to wait and make all decisions earlier in the day!

 

YOU GOTTA HAVE A PLAN

I played around with the fabric for last year's All Florida Shop Hop that Mary and I bought and didn't get around to making it into a quilt!  I need to wrap that up BEFORE this year's hop begins!!!  Nothing like incentive.  

I still like to play with graph paper and sketch out what I have and what I want.  It works for me!  I will begin today with cutting and hopefully some stitching.  

 

HELLO KNITTING, MY OLD FRIEND

I wanted to knit a pair of the Tough & Toasty mitts again because this weekend will be very chilly for us and might even hit a frost alert.  I will be prepared with a scarf and wearing these matching mitts.  The yarn is handspun from Merino/silk.  I will be making these again in the new handspun yarn as soon as I knit the dropped stitch scarf first!

We were visited all day by this large flock of turkeys.

  They chatter away as they eat-it is very relaxing to watch them!

 

STOP, DROP AND ROLL

I began this pretty ripple variation called Mango Sorbet Stole

 and had a grand time until it got this big and I held it up to admire it.  It didn't drape--it was more like armor!

  I ripped it out and moved up a few hook sizes.

Ahhh, yes, the drape was just right but when I began the second cake of yarn, I thought it looked awful short for a straight shawl.  Yup, it is only going to be 52" long 

and that is way too short for my liking.

I also measured the width and it was way too wide--that's the problem that ate all the yardage up!  I am ripping it all out and starting again.  I will make it 6" narrower to be about 19" so that it will be about 20-21" after blocking. 

It's a good thing I like the rhythm of the pattern! 

 I will have made it twice by the time I'm done!

PLEASURE IN FINISHES

The skein of Merino/silk DK yarn is spun;  there are 200 yards which will be knit into another Dropped Stitch Scarf.

I made an adult double-layered hat on the Addi and it even has a label and pom!  (The pom is removable with a button on the inside to ease in washing care)

The only finish in the studio was the table runner! 

( Everything else went sideways-I left. )

But the runner adds warmth to the dining room

 and that makes me happy!

 

JUST CUTTING UP!

So I popped in to my local quilt store

 and instead of walking out with this $6 piece of fabric

 for the binding which was all that was on my list, 

I ended up with this bundle for a 3-yard quilt because the woman at the cutting counter told me to take it into the restroom and turn out the light!  Yup, it glows in the dark!  But not just weird colors but delicate designs that show off the mushrooms and the white fabric even has fairy ferns that glow!  I just had to have it-including the pattern which will show off large portions of the mushrooms!  That employee is making them rich!

I went to a friend's house and we cut a bunch of fabric strips preparing for Alycia's  Mystery QAL.

And then she wanted me to take home these 'sample' to stage as backgrounds for the Dahlia quilt.  She buys fabric wholesale so really does have a quilt store's worth of fabric.  

She also keeps me busy with QOV tops to quilt!  What  a fabric-perfect day!

 

FANCY HEXAGONS AND DAHLIAS

Only 7 hexagons and 1 half-hexagon away from having all of the blocks I need for this lap robe!  I also have to decide how I am going to attach the blocks to each other.  I'm thinking of a DK weight yarn in dark grey to give the impression of leaded panes but I will have to order the yarn first, if I to do that!

In the studio, I seamed the strips together.  It is 'square' and since I am not impressed with square quilts, I will have to figure out a way to border this to counteract the shape! lol

Next, I picked a project to work on and managed to sew the rest of the flower for the dahlia.  The instructions had me sew the center separately first.  I think that was dumb because now I had to HAND sew it in place!  I no longer do well with hand stitching  due to the psoriatic arthritis on top of the broken wrist and thumb surgery!  And aging.  And MS.  Okay, you get it!  But I powered through it watching a movie and sitting in front of the fireplace and tried to relax through the work!

A few hours later and it was done!  Now I have to decide if I want another row with a bit of greenery.  Then the whole flower will be appliqued to the background fabric-but I will do that by machine!

TABLERUNNER!

I not only added the borders to the table runner,

 I also loaded it up and quilted it!

I did have a bit of an argument with my machine at first.  I almost went on strike but reached a compromise and it went smoothly after that!  ( it did not like the thread I chose for the top!)

I did the coffee swirls panto and now have to wait a few days to bind it because I want just the right shade of light turquoise to bind it and I don't have anything pastel enough!

 

TWO FINISHES

The amazing Granny Square yarn by Red Heart

 resulted in a very pleasing afghan!

I added several rows of borders and am pleased with the results.  Now to concentrate on the hexagons again!

The gingerbread quilt is all done!  

I used the same fabric as the backing for the binding!

  What quilting project will I work on next?!

 

CONNECTING THE BOXES

I sewed a bunch of little charms and 5" squares together to make a table runner!  I will add the borders today and load it up on the frame for quilting!

 I also finished crocheting all of the Granny Squares together and now have several rows of borders to add!  Right now it is about 36" x 48'.  This was three skeins of the All in One Granny Squares from Red Heart.  A very enjoyable project!

QUILTING PLANS

I started digging through old projects that somehow got set aside.

  I found the Dahlia quilt.

I dug out the fabric and pattern for the quilt

 from last year's All Florida Shop Hop.

Another kit I bought during the shop hop (Mar-May 2023).

Some charms and bits for a table runner 

also bought on the Shop Hop.

This one is the oldest unfinished project--almost 4 years old.

  It is time!

I also want to finish this double wedding ring

 that was given to me in the Fall.

A friend gave me some 1/2 strips of rainbow batiks and so instead of working on any of the projects I put on the sewing table, I played on the design wall!  And this soon became...

This!  Easy piecing and it will be together first thing today!  Then I will decide which of the other projects will get worked on

 and in which order!

 

A VISIT TO MY WILDERNES

So many of the banana trees are flourishing despite a few frosted tips already.  There has been flooding again, 

for the fifth year in a row.  They say it is a 50 year cycle

 but I hope this cycle won't last 50 years!

Some of the trees are sending out new flowers--that 12" reddish cone near the top of the photo is the bloom.  The stalk will continue to lengthen and above the flower, there will appear little 'fingers' that will soon form a large bunch of bananas!

Here is a clump of bananas that is growing well on its stalk.

  They take four months to ripen!

The Maple trees are already putting out their little squirrel ears!  Maple leaves start and end their journey in such a pretty color!

You can see how strange this area looks compared to a few years ago when it was all green mowed grass.  Now most of the Pine and Maple trees are gone from the area.  The bare tree on the left is a Cypress which loses its needles over the winter but it is alive and well for it is a swamp dweller!  If you look closely, you can see an egret in the center of the photo in the water.

They are among the many birds which are thrilled with the additional wetlands!  We try to enjoy the changes for a number of reasons.  We do have to admit to seeing the beauty!

These are the flowers on one stalk from an aloe plant.

We have so many aloe planted around the bases of palm trees

 so the flowers are appreciated year round.

The Camellias continue to bloom-this one is about 6' across.

 A real show-off!

The morning started off with heavy rain but by noon the sun was out and it hit 80F and it was hard to let the weather so unappreciated so we savored a good visit.

MORE HAT EXPERIMENTS

I worked on these hats while we were out and about yesterday.

I am trying to adjust the tension to make hats that are bigger to also fit men.  I have the right numbers on the red hat for the length and width but I do not like the *stripe!  I will have to work on the numbers to make the stripe narrower and closer to the brim!  There's always math when it comes to designing! 

 The cream hat is for a woman; 

 I have added a faux cable to echo the classic cabled beanie.

  It works for me! 

 I need to get my faux leather labels out

 and start adding them to the hats again for the finishing touch! 

I will be home today so I am going to be gathering quilt projects and UFO's to complete in the studio !

(*Yes, I will be ripping back the red hat so that it is arranged the way I think it should be!)

 

QUIET STITCHES

A few more hats happened....

I made the dishcloth for the day and the rest of the day? 

 I worked on my computer! 

 A friend and I are making a new church directory.  

Today I will be running some errands with Bill but I hope to be able to sit outside on my pretty lounge later 

since it is supposed to hit 70* with sunshine!