SATURDAY'S SHAPES

I started the day out doing a lot of cleaning and organizing in the studio.  How do the piles accumulate?!  I do like a clear view of all the floor and corners!  ( I mostly accomplished this!)  And then I began with a quick hat on the Sentro 48. 

 Another skein and a half is out of the bin!

And then I could put off the binding no longer!  I knuckled under in the clean room and did one binding and then the other!  DONE!

I really like the look of the swirls on the sailboat quilt...

and the feathers on the puzzle quilt!

Bill cut some large pieces of oak up for me so I have some bowl blanks all ready for loading on the lathe.  The cooler temps are coming and I want to be ready to be able to work in the garage as soon as the humidity lets go!

I ended the day with two more hats

 and three skeins gone out of the bin!  

 

STARS AND STRIPES

No, I didn't do the binding on the two quilt!  Instead, I worked on the mystery QAL from Alycia and now I have 4 stars pieced and the rest of the units ready to make the remaining blocks.

 And then I felt like some knitting....and used some yarn I ripped out from an old project ; I had started to make a scarf and gave up on but it is now a 6' scarf which is 8" wide.  I still need to wash and dry it to make the side on the left smooth out because that is the re-used yarn.  I am in the process of making a hat to match.  

The weather is supposed to break today and if it really happens, I will go out to the garage and play at the lathe for a bit!

ADJUSTMENTS NEEDED

The pom-pom wreath is on the door!  

I added the last few and then wound the ribbon about it. 

 It is very colorful and bright when the trees are not there yet! lol

I finished the feather quilting on the puzzle quilt.

  Now I have two quilts that need binding!

The seventh block is finished-this was #9 

in the 60 Quick Knit Blanket Squares book.

  I cast on # 18, a cable block which is nice for a change.

The block stack is growing!

I made an adjustment to the bear when I woke up yesterday; 

 I wasn't happy with the placement of the arms 

and feel like they are in a better place now.

He poses well with the knitting 

and the new Addi that gave him his ears, arms and legs!

 

YARN FO'S

I made a few adjustments to the Polar Bear pattern and have instead a Teddy Bear!  Isn't he sweet?  Made with Red Heart Super Saver yarn.  I crocheted a bow tie for him in orange/blue yarn held together. (he is about 10" tall)

This little beanie is going to grace another little creature--stay tuned!

I treated myself to this little 20 needle machine.  I have a 25 year old Sentro one and it will not work with worsted weight yarn any more (never that it ever worked that great!)  I read the reviews on the newer ones and it hasn't improved through the years.  So, I splurged and it doesn't disappoint!  My other Sentro machines are dream machines so that is good! I needed to add to my machine fleet so I could more easily make things like legs, arms and ears for the bears and other smaller projects!

I also finished this month's block for Tunisian Crochet;  this one is done in seed stitch, Tunisian style.  A very relaxing block!  

 

A FRESH START!

Since there wasn't Quilting Group yesterday, I was able to catch up with Bill and with jobs I needed Bill's help to put things back in order after the hurricane!  We had a slow pace and accomplished  a lot.  I did get to enjoy some Studio time, too;  I loaded the Puzzle quilt.

And stitched a few rows.

I also cut out the rest of this week's geese

 and I only have 8 more to go! 

 I will be finishing it up today, I'm sure!

I also turned to the ever sure glue gun (low temp so I don't get burned!) to hold the differing sized pom-poms in place and to each other!  I made a bunch more poms and used up most of the yarn so I hope they will be enough! 

 I'm ready to get it up on the door!

 

CREATIVE FLITTING!

The SailBoat quilt is off the frame;  I used a panto called coffee swirls but I thought it looked like wind and water swirls-perfect!

I'm still making pom-poms!  It's going to be a while before I can cover the whole frame!

A new block is out for the Tunisian Calendar afghan.  It took me a bit to remember what I was doing and then easily became relaxing once again.  I have thoroughly enjoyed this adventure!

(PS--my DH is home from Ft Myers where he has been part of the FPL team to get the electricity restored to as many as possible!  He is exhausted but pleased to be part of the restoration team!)

 

GIRLS' DAY OUTING

Our local quilt show had a quilt show yesterday and I went with two friends to enjoy, admire and be inspired!  This one was of interest to me because it was a hunter Star which I have made--but the setting really ramped this one's wow factor!

There was a large quilt with all of the lighthouses this quilter has visited;  I lived near this one!

I took a picture of ths one because I knew it would've been a favorite of my Mom and she wanted to share it for her!

I really liked this one--it is a panel quilt but the actual stitching is absolutely amazing!  Very clever!

And like last year-we all stood checking out this quilt made with house linens--there will be one of these

 in my repertoire this coming year!

After the quilt show, we three went out for lunch

 and a very nice time of talking.  

When I got home, I washed and dried my car and then was ready to drop-so I sat and knitted until bedtime! 

 What a wonderful day!

 

PEN AND PIECING!

                             

I am working on catching up on the Inktober drawings!  I only did one today but had a great time!  This is a gargoyle that is in the Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia!

I did a lot of slicing and piecing--I've finished the flying geese units for the first two prompts, got out the ones I made before in the wrong color and used them now (thanks for the heads up, Alycia!) and am well on my way to making the new units!  Very relaxing.

Even though I put the pom-poms up where they would not be a temptation--I was wrong.  We had a death of two pom-poms.  Naughty, Lena!

I'm off to a local quilt show, right at my local quilt shop!  

I am meeting two friends there and then we will go to lunch after.

How nice to have a day of fun with friends!

OFF THE FRAME

I've had the pleasure of finishing several pieces

 off the quilting frame lately! 

 This log cabin pumpkin runner is on the table finally!

It looks pretty with a bouquet in the carnival glass vase!

This wildly colorful quilt is even washed and in the donation pile.

Look at the squishy texture of this one!

And Dragon Quilt is in the gifting pile; what a story with this one!

I'm proud of the dragon scales for quilting on this quilt.

And the Sailing Boats is on the frame 

waiting for me to get to work today!

 

SO CLOSE!

The dragon quilt is off the frame! 

The quilting is just what I wanted!  Dragon Scales!

But all of the hurdles for this quilt has not been leapt! 

 See that white wedge at the top?  The backing got scewed when I took it off and then re-loaded it on the frame.  After a deep breath, I knew what I needed to do to take care of it!

I cut a strip, pressed a narrow hem on one side and hand stitched it about a 1/4" from the raw edge.  Once it was stitched down, I took it to the sewing machine and stitched with invisible thread just over the top area which was very narrow but I wanted it 'quilted' like the rest of the backing.  I applied the binding as usual and it worked just fine!  Reveal to follow soon!

Remember this?  I completed piecing it a long time ago! 

 So I layered it and got it quilted in no time. 

 I will be adding the binding today and get it on the table!

A friend came in the afternoon and we went and got an ice cream and ate it at a local park on Broward Lake.  The beach is 20' from this set of steps but the water is still so high, the beach is under 2-3" of water!  The pier is closed due to the high waters but the view was beautiful and the weather is perfect! 

 I love October!

I decided to make the larger wreath-18"- so I have a LOT more pom-poms to make but it will be worth it!

 

YARN SHENANIGANS!

Lena is enjoying the pom-pom wreath immensely! 

 I have about 1/2 of them made now, if someone in particular won't keep stealing them!

Look!  A Teeny Beanie!  This is a very little bear (the hat would fit an orange) so the hat is very small.  I think it would work for the NICU babies so I will make a bunch for the hospital in St Augustine which is the closest maternity hospital.

 And I present to you a cuddly Polar bear!  Overall , he is 10' long and used less than a 3 1/2 oz skein!  I bought some light brown yarn to make some more bears!  Yes, this was made on the Sentro 40 needle.  The head contains the rattle box so it will be entertaining to the 5 month old and up!    I also bought some labels (faux leather) to tag my hats and bears!