Socks for Carrie

The only other pair of gift socks I've made so far this year was actually started back in the summer of 2010.  This was a kit (pattern + yarn + commemorative stitch marker) which was sold as a fundraiser for the Susan G. Komen foundation by Knitters Brewing Company.  I didn't want to make pink ribbon socks, but Wendy from KBC posted a list of awareness ribbon colors.  I saw that purple was the awareness ribbon color for Cystic Fibrosis, and that was it.  My friend Carrie and her husband lost a daughter to CF some years back.  It wasn't so much that I thought she needed more awareness of CF, but it was a way to honor the life and memory of her daughter.  I set these aside several times, as they're a bit complicated, and I needed to focus when I was working on them, not be watching TV or anything else at the same time.  I finished them in June, but didn't give them to Carrie until late July -- ironically just a day or two after her birthday, which I wasn't aware of until I gave them to her ;-)  Gotta love those happy accidents!  Anyhow, here they are, though the color's off a bit.  They're a lovely medium purple shade in real life:

It's not obvious from this photo, but up the center front and center back are the ribbon motifs.  Here's a picture where I turned them a bit to the front, trying to capture that:

Carrie liked them, and apparently her grandmother used to knit for her, so I struck a nice chord on several levels.  Win!

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Socks Because She Nagged Me...

So, my mom claimed she was jealous because my aunt got a pair of socks I made for her.  Last spring (I think it was in April), I was at my parents' house, to be there while she had heart surgery.  While I was there, I asked her what color socks she wanted, and she said "black or gray, they'll go with the most."  She didn't understand, that's like buying a painting because it matches your sofa.  Handknit socks are art for the feet!  Well, I told her "I'm NOT knitting black socks!" and didn't think much more about it.  But then I had to go to Jo-Ann fabrics for another reason, and I checked out their sock yarn, and found one that was self-striping in grays and cream.  I thought I could just about stand to work with that without getting bored to tears, so I bought it to make my mother's socks.  I cast them on, then kept putting them aside for more interesting projects.

I finally finished them in January, and sent them to her.  She received them on Monday, February 6.

I called her that Thursday, and she let me know that she'd gotten them and really liked them.  That was a good thing, because that Saturday morning (February 11), my dad called me to tell me that she'd died earlier that morning.  I had been expecting it some time in the next few years, but not that particular weekend.  Still, although we weren't close, we weren't estranged, and I'd spoken to her a few days earlier, so I didn't feel any of the regret that sometimes makes an unexpected death even more difficult to deal with.

When my dad called, I was finishing up these socks from leftovers:

Even after I finished them, I still had some of the gray yarn left, though I'd managed to use up all the pink, yellow and green.  So, I cast on toes of new socks with the rest of the gray, then used the rest of the yarn from the socks I made for my mom, and made these:

I only had a few inches of leg done when the "mom sock leftovers" ran out, so I continued with something from my stash that coordinated pretty well.  I call this project "Mom-mento mori," which is a variation on the term memento mori, which was an object (often a skull) intended to remind people of death and mortality.  In this case, it's more a reminder of my mother's life, and a way to feel connected to her.

My mother wasn't very old when she died, she'd turned 67 the previous October.  But she had a number of health issues that had developed in the last ten or so years, and she had smoked for more years than I'd been alive.  She quit in 2006 when she first got acutely ill, but had gone back to smoking a few years later.  She had about 5 years longer than anyone expected her to live, after how bad she was in '06, and they were mostly good years when she was able to do things she enjoyed.  She would have hated being an invalid, and from what my dad told me it sounds like her death was relatively quick and fairly painless.  So, there were a lot worse ways it could have happened.  The timing was a bit of a surprise, but we knew she wouldn't have another five years, probably.  I'm just glad I finished those socks and got them to her.

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Not Sure Where the Time's Gone

It seems like from last Wednesday, I blinked and it was Saturday. Then Saturday was a really full day, and it seems like I blinked again, and here we are into a new week. It's been a whirlwind, and I couldn't tell you what I've been doing, but I know for sure I've been busy.

I did manage to finish a pair of socks for my DH last evening. He's happy with them, and I'm really happy that they're done.


I love the blues in this yarn, but the pinks were really annoying me. It seemed like the project that wouldn't end, for quite some time. I've cast on toes for "leftover" socks with the remainder of the yarn. They'll have crazy feet and conservative, one-color legs.

Today, I've got to find some time to sew! Thanks for stopping by to play. Come back again soon.

Design Wall Monday, October 10

This is a project I've been "working on" for some time now. I made myself a jacket like this in a workshop, and when my mother saw it, she wanted one "just like it." It's using a sweatshirt as a base, with fabrics fairly randomly applied onto the surface:

And here are the sleeves (ignore the corner of the jacket body in the lower left corner):

I really hate to make the same thing a second time, so this has languished for quite a while. Now I'm in the mode of wanting to finish things and get them moved on to their final homes. Since my mother's birthday is Thursday, I had some motivation to pull it out and finish it up. It won't be done in time to get to her for her birthday (since I also have to mail it), but it'll be a late birthday gift for this year. I can't remember when I made my jacket, but I think it's been at least 5 years ago now.

Last night I finished all the stitching around the various fabrics, and did the quilting on the sleeves. I need to quilt the jacket body, embellish it a bit (that will involve couching down some decorative yarns and/or trims, and adding some Swarovski crystals), and assemble it. Then I'll bind the sleeve edges, the front and bottom edges, and it'll be done. I don't know if I'll finish it in this upcoming week, but I'll try. I'm going to be at the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo in Kansas City, MO from Wednesday through Saturday, and I'm taking quite a few classes there. But maybe I can finish it up in my room in the evenings, or on Sunday when I get back. Watch this space for class project photos as well ;-)

Check out Judy's blog to see what's on other folks' design walls today. Thanks for stopping by to play. Come back again any time.

Quilter's Accountability Report for October 5, 2011

After I came home from my spring quilting retreat on May 15, I didn't do much sewing at all, other than a few project bags and a couple of tote bags. Last week, of course, I was at another retreat, and I got quite a lot done.

Here's my last QA list from back some time in June I think:

1. Continue to work on Mom's jacket, and finish it if possible. I still haven't touched this. Her birthday is next week, so maybe I should make this a priority...

2. Quilt Oak Leaves and Reel. (This has been loaded on the HQ16 for quite some time now, and just needs to be done!) This is still sitting on the machine, but I'm determined to quilt it this weekend.

3. Quilt Sugar and Spice. I did some ditch quilting on this at retreat, and still want to add some free-motion quilting to it. But, there's been some progress...

4. Quilt Thimbleberries Goose in the Pond. I'll load this after I quilt Oak Leaves & Reel. Soon!

5. Add borders to Wolf Quilt. I got this done at retreat.



6. Add borders to As Time Goes By Quilt. Got this done some time ago. I'm really happy with this top. Hope to quilt it soon, too. I thought I had a picture of this one on the hard drive, but don't seem to. I'll take a picture when I quilt and bind it.


For next week, I'll let the remaining things on this list stand, and try to get to them. That should be more than enough to fill any available sewing time. Stop by Bari's blog, and see how other folks did with their lists.

Thanks for stopping by to play. Come back again soon.

Quilter's Accountability Report for 5/25/2011

I've been sick all week! Here's my list from last week:

1. Continue to work on Mom's jacket, and finish it if possible. Nope, never touched it. Not even once.

2. Quilt Oak Leaves and Reel. (This has been loaded on the HQ16 for quite some time now, and just needs to be done!) Nope, never touched it.

3. Quilt Sugar and Spice. Ditto.

4. Quilt Thimbleberries Goose in the Pond. Ditto.

5. Add borders to Wolf Quilt. More of the same.

6. Add borders to As Time Goes By Quilt. And still MORE of the same.

I came home from my retreat with a cold, which turned into bronchitis, and just as that was clearing up, I started reacting to the antibiotics, and I still am dealing with the hives. So my list for this upcoming week will be the same as my list for last week ;-) Hopefully, I'll have more time for sewing, and feel more inclined to do some than this past week.

Stop by Bari's blog, and see how other folks did with their lists. Thanks for stopping by to play. Come back again soon.

A Nice Surprise to Come Back To

When I got back to retreat late on Wednesday evening, I found a present waiting for me. It was tied up with a narrow strip of fabric, but I didn't think to take a picture until I'd used that strip to put the Purple Thang around my neck, and it got a bit shreddy. Anyhow, it's a stack of lovely assorted fabrics that everyone contributed, a Purple Thang (which I was needing and hadn't remembered to bring with me), and a nice card that everyone signed.

Then, one of the ladies there was making a sewing machine cover, but didn't have any batting with her. I had a piece along with me that was trimmed off from quilting a larger quilt, which was plenty for what she needed. I gave it to her so she could finish her project. She offered to pay me for it, but I told her not to be silly, that I wouldn't know how much she should pay me, and it was just trimmed off a project of mine, to just use it. As a thank you, she left me this:

I hated that I missed several days of retreating, but coming back to these nice surprises softened the blow a little bit. I really, really needed to come back to retreat, in order to get my spirit settled down after the trauma of the early part of the week.

Thanks for stopping by to play. Come back again soon.

Just For Fun Sewing

This is a pattern/kit I've had for a few years now. I know I got it from a Brother sewing machine dealer at a show I was at -- probably the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo, and probably in Cleveland, Ohio, but I'm not positive as to the location, and have no idea about the year. I'm thinking it may have been as long ago as 2005, since the copyright on the pattern (from Quiltmaker magazine) is 2004. Anyhow, they were giving out these kits, which contained the pattern, fabric, Insul-Bright and Warm & Natural batting, and even a small spool of thread, at this machine dealer's booth. I thought that was really generous, and I've always intended to make it up, but hadn't gotten there. So I finally did it. They intended you to back and bind with the blue background fabric, too, but I figured if I put plain muslin on the back (and bound one with something else), I could make two potholders! One for me, and maybe one for a giftie. I still need to add rings or binding loops to them for hanging.



Then, I've been playing around with some small pieces of some hand-dyed fabrics that I was given way back some time in the mid to late 1990s. I never knew what to do with them, and then recently saw a tutorial on someone's blog (and I'm so sorry that I can't remember whose) for mug mats. She made hers somewhat large, they were 9 or 10 inches square, which was a bit big for me, so I decreased the sizes of the pieces and included fewer squares. I just wanted it as more of a coaster, not a snack mat. Anyhow, I started playing around, and this is what I've ended up with. A fun little thing to play with, when I wanted to sew but didn't want to think too much. These are for our house, but I've also made and already gifted several others.


And as a variation on the theme, I made this slightly larger one, which is about 9" square. Larger than the (about 6" square) mug mats, but smaller than a placemat. I'm planning to use this one when I have a bowl of soup or a small plate with a sandwich or salad that I'm eating at the computer. I just love the teal fabric in the background of this one.


Thanks for stopping by to play. Come back again any time.

The Last Two...

Here are the final two projects on my UFO list for this quarter's UFO Club in the Quilters Knitting group on Ravelry.

First is a jacket for my mother, which uses a sweatshirt as a base. You can see the neck opening in the middle there -- I'll cut up the front once I get all the fabrics attached and stitched down. The sleeves have no fabrics on them as yet -- I need to double-check the length of them before I do that. Once all the fabrics are applied, they get stitched down, then the whole thing gets quilted, embellished with couched-down novelty yarns and/or trims and Swarovski crystals, and reassembled. My mother saw the one I made for myself, which I started in a class with Connie Spurlock at the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo one year (don't ask me which year, though! I can't recall.). She really liked it, so much that she asked me to make her one. I've had this in progress for a couple years now, but I have a hard time getting interested in working on it -- I don't really like to repeat projects. There are lots of fabrics in here -- a lot of Laurel Burch from the Ocean Song line, but quite a few random other brights as well. This will be a loud and happy jacket!


This last project I thought was at the house in Ohio, but then last night I found it downstairs with a bunch of other kits I want to cut and have ready to go. There are four stitched kitty blocks, which have been done for quite some time now. They get set on point with the kitten toile, which is pinned up on the design wall next to the blocks. It's a print from about 8 years ago by Judy Sabanek. I'm pretty sure I got this as a kit the one and only time I went to the AQS show in Paducah, which was 2004. I did the stitchery shortly after that, and that's as far as I got. It's time to finish it up, so we can enjoy the kitties. This pattern is called "Max & Miss Kitty," and it's by MJP Designs, though it doesn't appear to still be available on the website. I can't wait to get this one finished, and see how it looks. Of course, I saw the sample when I bought the kit, but I really don't remember what it looked like now.


So there you have it. All the projects I'm hoping to complete by the end of June, for this quarter's UFO Club. I know that's a lot, but I think I can do it. I'm certainly going to give it my best shot!

Thanks for coming by to play. Come back again soon.

Now Some Knitting News

So, this weekend I ended up not doing any sewing. I did do a little bit of knitting, but not much. I've got this pair of socks, which I started back in January:

Still about 3-1/2" from starting the toe decreases. These will be for DH, and I'd really like to finish them and give them to him. Well, to paraphrase Dori in Finding Nemo, "just keep knitting, just keep knitting."

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Sadly Neglected

I've sadly neglected my poor blog for some time now. I can't even say what I've been doing instead for most of that time, I just haven't been posting.


I do have a couple of recent finishes to share. First is a wallhanging that was made from a stocking panel -- I cut out the stocking shape and appliqued it to the background, added a border, and did a little bit of quilting just to hold everything in place. It measures about 18" by 28". This will be going to my parents, so I'll put their last name on the top band of the stocking before I send it off.

Next (seems to be a Christmas theme developing, but it's not on purpose) is a quilt from a Thimbleberries pattern. The pattern was actually for a tree skirt, but I don't need a quilted tree skirt, since I already have one. So I made one extra pieced block for the center, instead of making that a solid green square as the pattern directed. This one is about 60" square. Just ignore my husband's feet and the step stool -- at some point I'll learn how to edit photos, but for now, this is how this one is.

Finally, this is a big one -- between a twin and a double size. It's a pattern called "Sassy Sixteen" by Kimberly Camou. I added the sashing to break up all the busy-ness of that fabric line, and didn't do the pieced squares border that the pattern called for, for the same reason. I really like this one!

I just got back from a retreat yesterday -- we were there from Monday afternoon through just after lunch yesterday, and I got a LOT more stuff done. I have to take pictures, but I'll be sharing that stuff soon. This is enough for one post, I think ;-)

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A Long-awaited Finish!

I can't remember exactly when I started these placemats. I know I got a kit from an online store for the green ones, which are completely "me," but I had enough of the applique fabrics to make another set. My friend Sue loves snowmen, and blue, so it was obvious I needed to pull some blue fabrics from my stash, and make her the other set. I got the two fabrics sewn together and the appliques fused down very soon after the kit arrived. I did the blanket stitching at a retreat some time later, which must have been in 2004 or 2005. And since then, they've been languishing. Now, here they are -- most of the set of four of the blue (you can only see the top part of the last one):






















One blue one close up:



















And one of my green set close up (there are three more just like it):


















The colors aren't great in these pictures -- the blues are a nice royal kind of blue, and the green homespun stripe and plaid in my set are a lovely hunter green color. I'd originally intended to quilt swirls and snowflakes all over these, but I decided if I finished them more simply, they'd be done, and if I waited until I felt like quilting them with swirls and snowflakes, it might be more years until they got finished. So I just did some channel quilting. I'd hoped to finish these before I went to Florida to visit Sue, or at least while I was there, but neither of those things happened. So now I'll have to entrust them to the USPS to get them to Sue. But it's still snowman season, so we can both use these for a while before it's time to break out Spring things.


I'm pretty pleased with how these have turned out. But the biggest thing is that they're done and no longer languishing on my shelves. Now I'm going to go sew something else.


Thanks for coming by to play. Come back any time.