Coming Soon: Free Book

Coming Soon: Free Book
Planning to give away a book or two!

Saturday, December 22, 2018

Knit/Weaving with wool

I learned something new in 2018.  I've had a knitting machine for a few years. But now I have learned how to blend acrylic and wool together i. A woven design.

It was challenging to get and keep the correct tension on the working threads as well as the project.  If the project isn't weighted down, it will get caught in the needles.
I carefully and methodically removed the stitches in the last row. The first and last rows take the longest. 
Periodically, the woven threads catch on the posts between the needles. No worries! I just weave them back into the work.
I also made a 20 stitch wide, 2 pattern tall swatch. I washed and dried the swatch. There was no shrinkage and the wool felted beautifully.  I will give the swatch to the mother so that she will know what to expect when she washes the baby's blanket. 
Ta da! I'm done.  All I need to do is catch up with the little cutie and give him his new blankie!

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

New quilt

Last fall, I finished making dale a tumbling block quilt. A friend of ours who is a veteran asked how much it would cost to complete one for him. Dale offered to help by cutting the pieces. We finished 12/31/2018.
You need a light, medium and dark fabric each cut into a diamond shape to make the block. Dale didn't cut the pieces. Instead he ironed the seam at the Chevron stage.
I choose to sew the usung the Y stitch.  Ot makes it look l I'll ke a 3-D block.
The problem is at one intersection there is a 6-point star created. It is challenging to sew and get all of the points lined up.
Here is an update of a few rows completed.  Depending on the view, it looks like the blocks are rolling across the quilt. 
How much was done? The top (by the headboard) is complete and the width (sitting on the white roll) is also complete.  I was working steps across so that I could sew as many as possible before needing to stop and iron the seems open.
Squaring the edges is the most difficult portion of putting the pieces together. It is a different fraction of total square. 
To make sure that all the side pieces are in place, I put it on Dale's Kingsize bed.
The veteran that this is being made for has a brother and sister of Skyler.  So Skyler needed to try it out.
Dog tested and approved! Now to send it out for quilting. 🤩