Thursday, March 14, 2019

Lucky Charm for St. Patrick's Day

I spend so much time on Instagram these days that I'm really neglecting this little blog.

My latest pattern is "So Charming" - a 32" x 32" mini quilt. Or wall hanging. Or table topper.

The pattern is available as a PDF download in the Etsy shop.
It's a very quick project. You can probably complete it in a day - two at the most.

To make it even easier, I have kits too! If it's too late for this year, you can be REALLY proactive for next year...

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Knitting Needle Organizer

Contrary to popular belief, I am actually working on projects other than the Temperature Quilt.

My knitting needles have been a complete, disorganized mess forever and ever. Here's a recent pic of the content of my "knitting bin" dumped out on the floor.

A couple of months ago, I found a pattern for organizers and this past weekend I decided it was time to make one for my double point needles.
The pattern is Knit, Purl and Roll from Atkinson Designs.
I've had the cute sheep fabric in my stash for a while and finally found the PERFECT project for it!

How cool are these little printable tabs from the website for a professional look?
A couple of notes and tips:

1. See the little sheep peeking out in the pictures above? Those entire sections are lined with the sheep fabric so, if you're trying to be frugal with your pretty fabric, use something else. In retrospect I would have just used the solid aqua here and saved some of the cute stuff.

2. The pattern calls for cutting bias binding. Since there are no curves and bias strips use a lot of fabric, I just cut straight strips like regular quilt binding and it worked just fine.

3. Read through the entire pattern before you start. It's not a beginner pattern but, with patience and care, anyone can do it!

So much better!

I absolutely love this organizer!

Next up: the circulars.

Friday, March 1, 2019

Temperature Quilt - Week 8 & 9 - and other distractions

Firstly, I've heard that some quilters using Weather Underground are having trouble with their temperatures. I originally started using it because with the government shutdown at the beginning of the year, the NOAA site was down. Weather Underground uses data from a lot of backyard weather stations and these can be unreliable because people don't necessarily post every day. I still recommend the NOAA site, although they're sometimes a day or two behind. If you're using Weather Underground, be sure to use an "official" weather station like an airport.

Because of a fun ski trip to Colorado (Crested Butte is the cutest town!), I am now way behind on my blocks.

In order to catch up, I have to make two blocks a day. I've decided that I will make the current block and the oldest unmade block every day. Of course, I completely skipped Wednesday because of yet another distraction (did I mention my middle name is "Squirrel!"?) and had to make 4 blocks on Thursday.

This is the "Ozella Shawl" by Berniolie's Designs. I've made two other shawls using her patterns. They're very impressive to look at, but quite easy to make.

Here are my blocks for this week (and last week):

I'd give my back teeth for a tiny bit of yellow...

The February giveaway will be coming up soon, so be sure to follow along on Instagram for an announcement (#tempquiltalong) or sign up to receive email reminders.