January Waning

Goodness gracious!  My mother was right; she told me decades ago (she's been gone for 21 years) that "Once you reach (age) 21, time disappears."

Yep; she was pretty much right.

So here we are nearly at the end of the Longest Month of the Winter (because it doesn't have 10 days of holiday in it).  I'm in the Northern Hemisphere, as most of you probably know by now, so it's been a very January January.  Snow.  Blowing snow.  Freezing rain followed by snow. More blowing snow.

The good news about that?!  I get to stay inside and make things!

And the good news about that?!  Making things helps me cope with all the STUFF going on in the Outside World.

So...what have I been up to since my last post?

First, a bit of "housekeeping".  Full disclosure: after I wrote that I used my Indigo/Chapters gift card to pre-order the paperback version of Deanne Fitzpatrick's Making a Life: Twenty-five Years of Hooking Rugs, I found it when I was sorting the bookshelf on the headboard of my bed.  And yes, I'd read it -- in 2023!!  (See what I mean about time?!)  Sigh. 

Well here's what I did: first, I cancelled the pre-order and got a full refund (a new gift-card) from Indigo/Chapters; second, I took down the hard-cover copy I had and began to read it again.  And yes; I thanked Indigo/Chapters profusely for their understanding.

Don't tell me that's never happened to you.  Just sayin'! 😉

Now then...back to our regularly scheduled Blog Posting...

As we're talking about hooked rugs as art...I've managed to finish that new piece I showed on my last post, when it was still in the early stages.  I've called it "Restless Sky"  and now need to take it to be framed:

"Restless Sky" (c) 2025
17" W x 10 " L before framing
Hooked yarn and wool fabric

There is a word hidden in the sky.  Can you find it?

I've now answered a Call for Entry for a fundraising Art Auction to benefit the Lacombe Performing Arts Centre (the folks who run the Under $100 Art Auction in late November)...and I await the results.

And the call for artists for the annual Encore! Lacombe Art Show and Sale is up.  I was last there in 2023 -- as Featured Artist.  I took 2024 off, but am gearing up to enter again, with new work that is hooked -- and some art quilts that really need a new home.

The other making continues, of course.

I spend a great deal of my morning time knitting.  I've just finished another hat to give away (sorry, no photo; the ends aren't sewn in yet!), and am working on another pair of simple mittens -- that would be the third since I last posted, for I've finished these:

Once again...The World's Simplest Mittens
Designer: Tin Can Knits
Size: child.
Yarn: red wool/synthetic blend - no label
Machine wash, hang to dry

I also finished the socks I started in December for the Advent Mystery KAL -- the "Christmas Smorgasbord Socks":

Pattern: Christmas Smorgasbord
Designer: Becky Greene
Yarn: Patons Kroy FX in "Clay Colors"

I know they look like they're not the same size but please note: due to the nature of the "smorgasbord" of stitch patterns used in the Mystery KAL, each sock has different textured stitch patterns in it.  This means that unless I photograph them on my feet or using a sock blocker (I don't own blockers), they look oddly mis-shapen in different.  They've been washed now, though, and I can attest to the fact that they are the same size! LOL!

I'm really focusing this winter on two kinds of knits: those to give away to folks who need them, and WIPs (Works In Progress) that have been lingering for far too long.  Finishing three projects has left me time to return to these items:

1. A pair of cabled socks I first cast on in 2009.  Yes; you read that correctly: 2009.  I finished one sock and then...well, all I can say is, I must have been visited by the Squirrel! 😃

Here's the first finished sock; the photo 
dates from April 8, 2009!!
Pattern: Guernsey Socks
Designer: Amy King
Source: The Knitter's Book of Yarn
by Clara Parkes

Second sock on the needles.  
Progress as of January 22, 2025.

Please note: the colour of the yarn in the second photo is much closer to real life -- probably because I took the photo against a clean white background.  It's a lovely deep blue-green.  One ball had a label -- Regia 3-fadig.  

2. And I've gone back to the "January Blanket" I started a year ago.  When I picked it up again on December 24, 2024, here's what it looked like:

Photo taken January 10, 2024

Here's my progress as of January 15 (I've knit another 2 1/2 pattern repeats since then, for a total of 10 repeats, 8 rows each):

Pattern: January Blanket
Designer: Leslie Weber
FREE on Ravelry
Yarn: Diamond Select 'Stonewash'
in the colour "Chalk"

The yarn is a nice blend of acrylic (not my fave option but...), wool and cotton.  It's chunky, so I'm using 5.5 mm (US 9) on a nice long cord.  And even though the inter-changeable tips I'm using are wooden (from Knit Picks), the stitches move nicely along and don't stick to them. (That's probably due to the plastic and wool in the yarn blend, off-setting the cotton, which can be hard to knit on wooden needles.)  I got it in 2016 at the LYS I worked at part-time -- the long-missed Crafty Lady in Lacombe, Alberta, which closed in February 2020, because the owner went online and on the road.  She's now retired altogether.)  Sigh.  I still miss that place!

I'm focusing on those for the moment, but there are several more items in project bags that are lined up...just waiting to be worked on (or may finished) -- not to mention the bags of projects that are on the "Start Me, Please!" list, kitted up with yarn and patterns, waiting for time and needles to be available to start them!

On the quilting front, I've made or prepped all the units for the "Old Town" Mystery 2024/5 from Bonnie Hunter.  I've only enough of the fabric for 20 of the called-for 25 blocks, which is fine; it'll make a nice-sized throw, or perhaps something a bit bigger.

So...I've made 5 blocks thus far, and they all look something like this:

"

I'm using "dusty" turquoise, red-brown or rust, pale grey or grey-white, and very pale peachy fabric.  The photos of some of the units might show this better:

Flying Geese for the inner star

Fabric for the central square-in-a-square

I really like the blocks - but the sashing and the borders are too "busy" for my taste, so I'll be simplifying those accordingly.  To each her own, eh? 😉

While constructing these blocks, I continue to make small "Easy Breezy" blocks as my leaders-and-enders project.  I've got 154 finished and plan to do another 14, so I can make a throw that's 12 blocks wide and 14 long.  Each block being 4" finished, that'll produce a top -- before borders -- that's 48" x 56" long, and borders will take it up to a nice throw size -- 54" or so by 62" or so.

Although this has been my focus this month, next month I've vowed to the Quilting Gods that I'll return to the Celtic Knot project and get those last 7 blocks made -- ones that are extras to "up-size" the top from queen to king-sized, as requested. 

Quilting takes up a good chunk of the afternoon -- and then I usually head out for a walk, depending on the weather.  On my return, and on into the evening, it's time for cross-stitch.

I'm still working on The Swan Sampler which, as I mentioned in my last post has been a very enjoyable stitch -- but it wasn't a good choice for a Blessing Sampler, one that is to be started and finished in January, in order to "bless the year ahead".  Ah well -- I'm still enjoying it and have made steady progress, even if it's not close to being finished!

Pattern: "The Swan Sampler"
Designer - Birgit of The Wishing Thorn
Using the called-for threads (DMC & Kreinik)
2 over 2 on 30-count mystery linen

As a palate cleanser of sorts, I finished two small pieces.  The first, "Winter Gingham", I started a year ago (January is a month of "startitis" after all!):

"Winter Gingham"
Designer: Ruth Sparrow Gendron
Publisher: "Twisted Threads"
Kit fabric - 28-count Cream/Natural Gingham
2 over 2 with DMC floss from stash

This is the last of a trio that included "Fall Gingham" and "Summer Gingham". Why there was no "Spring", I've no idea.  I bought them -- with the fabric -- on sale from Traditional Stitches in Calgary a good twenty years ago -- it's not even in their online inventory any more!  I haven't finished them, but they might make cute pillows, or an insert in a journal cover or something. They were just fun to stitch. 😊 

Then there's this little piece that I started in December as a possible Xmas gift (changed my mind).  Some days it really suits my mood! LOL!

"Say You Have"
Designer: Brenda Gervais
2 over 2 on 28-count
Antique White lugana
Floss from stash

Next month I'll be taking up a new start, to honour the fact that in February, fifty years ago, my love and I announced our engagement.  More on that later, so stay tuned!

That's really all my news for now -- at least, in this space.  I remain closely attuned to what's happening in the Wider World, and may speak on that here some other time.  Meanwhile, I take refuge in fabric, fibre, floss and colour -- trying to live out Deanne Fitzgerald's recommendation -- to create beauty every day.

I'll leave you with my usual link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  She's got the winter 'greys'...and could probably use a visit -- and a hug!

Till next time...a bientot!

More Blue, More Gold

 "These quilts are not going to fix the war." -- Judy Martin, in her recent blog post about her one-patch quilts.

And she's right.  But in the face of helplessness, trying not to move into hopelessness, one keeps on keeping on, using one's gifts to bring comfort in light to as many cold, dark places as one can -- including preparing for the arrival of refugees from Ukraine -- and perhaps even from Russia, as so many escape there too.

In my last post I was just starting the construction of a small Double Irish Chain quilt in 2 shades of blue and a very pale shade of yellow.  The top is now finished -- measuring 42" by 60" -- and is sandwiched with a royal blue background.  I'll quilt it later today. 

Flimsy draped over a living room chair

It's all solid fabrics -- but I managed to find a scrap of a print that had the right colours and was just large enough for four cornerstones.  I only wish I'd had more of it to use in the quilt itself!

Close up of one of the corner-stones

A few days ago I happened on a YouTube tutorial from "Brita, the Questioning Quilter", who'd created a blue-and-yellow 'Magic 4-patch' (i.e. a Disappearing 4-patch with Possibilities), and decided that I needed to make a second small quilt. I didn't have much in the way of appropriate blue fabric left (I'd put most of the last of it into the backing of the Irish Chain), and I didn't want to use that insipid yellow again, so when I was in town on Thursday I stopped in at my LQS and bought 2 1/2 metres each of these:

Glorious! They read as 'solid' but each has some texture and I'm delighted with them.  At under $15 a metre, too (they came from the 'once it's gone, it's gone' section of the shop).  Once they're washed (I take no chances!) I'll start that quilt.  I've taken some notes and some screen shots so I can experiment with finding a layout that I like.  I've also saved the link to the video to re-watch if I need more info.  I may be good at free-ranging art and/or improv quilts, but pieced patterns are another matter!  😆

I figure once this second quilt is done, I'll have enough scraps and strings to start the Hearts of Hope quilt that Bonnie Hunter has designed.  Her intro was on her blog yesterday, and Part 1 of the instructions will follow next week (March 25).

Also on Thursday, the mail included my order of a special pair of hand-dyed skeins -- one blue, one yellow -- from Handmaiden/Fleece Artist yarns in Nova Scotia .  I've caked it up and cast on a colour-work cowl done in mosaic knitting -- the Dissent Cowl, designed by Carissa Browning -- on Ravelry. (I chose the knit version; there's a crocheted one too).  Ms. Browning designed this pattern to honour the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg; I feel it's just the right pattern for this beautiful Blue-Faced Leicester (BFL) sport-weight yarn, and the cause being resisted: the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by a tyranical bully.

Once finished, the cowl will probably get tucked in with the quilts for donation to refugees.  Maybe I'll even have enough yarn for two!

And I continue to stitch!  In my last post I also mentioned Jacob De Graaf's free cross-stitch pattern .  I've been working on it a bit each day, learning as I go.  I said in that last post I was using a 'mystery fabric', and that it was a pretty fine count.  There's a double outer border of blue stitches, which I did with 2 strands of the DMC (#322) -- and I found it rather 'thick', slow going.  When I got to the two inner borders -- in yellow DMC (#444), I went with a single strand, and it's been much easier ever since!

Now, I learned to cross-stitch about 60 years ago (a few years after I learned to knit), and have never worked on anything smaller that 28-count linen or even-weave.  But lately?  Yep.  I've found that with good light I can do 32- or 36-count or whatever this 'mystery' fabric is -- using a single strand!  Whoo-hoo!

Here's the progress I've made to date:

Just starting to embroider the text.
More flowers -- in yellow and blue -- to come.

There have been some other finishes along the way too.  First, a long-languishing pair of socks:

Pattern: Desert Planet Tattooine
Designer: Heidi Nick
Yarn: Opal 4 Fach 4 ply
Started: October 1, 2015
Finished: March 10, 2022

They fit; I've worn them; they're comfortable!  And I've put the remainer of that ball into this new project: the Sock Knitter's Pullover -- designed by Merri Fromm, from knitty.com.  I'm making it all in left-over sock/fingering yarn, one strand only.  Just into my third left-over ball, I'm 3/4 through the raglan increases; here you see it when I was still using the left-overs from those socks.  (You can see more on my Ravelry project page HERE.)

And two small comfort quilts are finally finished -- destined for either the Ukrainian refugees (though not in specific colours) or for Blankets of Love (a charity that donates comfort quilts to patients in psychiatric care).  Here's the first...

"Earth & Sky" - 28" x 30" -- on the snow
in my back yard.  No specific pattern; just scraps.

"Earth & Sky" -- a glimpse of the back.

And the second:

"Easy Breezy" -- done Quilt-as-you-go
Designed by Bonnie Hunter as a 'Leaders-and-
Enders' project a couple of years ago
39" square, no borders

And the back...I ran out of red fabric for the sashing!

And so it goes.

It's International Quilting Day, and I hope to get to quilting that Double Irish Chain, but it's beautifully sunny and forecast to reach at least +10 C (about 50 F) so I want a good walk.  Freezing rain and snow are set to move in over night, with snow forecast through mid-to-late afternoon tomorrow, so...I'd best get going.  If I'm stuck inside tomorrow, I can still quilt -- and knit -- and stitch!

I'm linking this to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday, and sending her Get Well wishes, as she says she's taking a sick day today.  Hugs to her -- and hugs to you, Gentle Readers!

Remember to  care for each other and...

New Year, New Work

In my last post, I shared with you the last of my new artwork for 2021: a diptych entitled "Scattered I" and "II".  This week I finally completed hand-stitching the binding on that pair, and they're ready for hanging sleeves.

Since then, I've surprised myself -- and made two more!  

"Why was this a surprise?" you might be thinking (or not!).  Well, as I mentioned in that very same post, like many most probably all of you, Gentle Readers, I'm finding it's a daily practice to Keep Things In Perspective.  As Kate Jackson of The Last Homely House suggests, in these pandemic times it's rather a good idea to "get out of one's head and into one's hands"; thus I'm making time and space to make something every day.

My copy of the Winter 2022 edition of Quilting Arts magazine arrived not long ago, and I made some time to go through it.  In there, I found Canadian textile artist, Anni Hunt's  second of a trio of articles.  The first -- in the Fall 2021 issue -- was about printing on fabric, which isn't something I do often.  This second one, though, was about collage.  This is a technique that I struggle with -- especially when it's practiced in a free-form sort of way.

New Directions 2*
(c) 2019

Yes, much of my work involves some sort of "collage", in that I layer pieces of fabric into some sort of artistic coherence -- but that's not what I'm getting at here.  What Anni and so many other artists seem able to do with assorted materials has always challenged me.  I get so darned hung up on trying to "make it look like something" that I diddle around, fussing about where and how to lay down whatever it is I'm working with, whether fabric or paper or something of both.  The work might end up looking rather attractive, but even to my eyes it comes across as rather stiff and formal.  *In the photo, the flowered background is the paper on the wall on which the canvas is hung, not part of the artwork!

Still, Anni's article piqued my interest, so I thought I'd give it a go -- try to play for a change.  So...I dug out some batting, some light-weight backing, some neutral scraps of fabric and some tea bag papers.  And bonding powder, because I'd not "played" with it in ages, and was running low on fusible web.   After all, I was just making a background, for pity's sake -- just as she was suggesting in her article, "Fabric Collage: New Beginnings" (p. 96 in the magazine).  

My base fabric was very light and a slightly irregular shape; I left it that way.  I layered it over some "franken-batting" (i.e. two pieces zig-zagged together to make a larger piece), and then sprinkled on the bonding powder, before applying a layer of fabrics and tea bag papers.  The powder was an adventure.  With our very dry air (humidifier or not), it was a challenge to keep it from getting everywhere but where I wanted it.  Still, I persisted!  Eventually I had all the layers together, and zig-zagged the scrappy collage:

Collaged background - linen scraps 
and tea bag papers

Collage close-up

Well now!  That wasn't so hard, was it?!

What next?  The part of me that likes "order" and prefers it to "look like something" was on the verge of an attack of acute anxiety.  

Okay then!  Make something of it!  

So I did.  First, I added "trees" from scraps of painted/printed fabric, using matte medium.  And I saw that "it was good" -- so I signed it!

And then I mounted it on a 12" square stretched canvas, which I painted in an attempt at a dark brown -- having no brown paint on hand. (I can't remember the last time I wanted to use any brown paint!)

Eventually, it will be framed.  The title is "If We Were Not Here", after a line in a poem from Wendell Berry in his book A Small Porch (Counterpoint Press, Berkeley, CA, 2016 - Part VIII, "A Small Porch in the Woods") --  a Christmas gift this past year:

The pattern for keeping this place

we must take from the woods, if

the land is to thrive in our using.*

If we were not here, Nature

would give this land to trees...

*An Agricultural Testament, pp. 1-4

In the mood for more "play" I took out a good-sized piece of fabric that I'd thought at first I'd make into a whole cloth piece with free-form linear quilting.  It's more grey-browns and grey-greens than the photo shows, because the photo was taken with it sandwiched and quilted, and lying on my ironing board.

I'd decided to see if I could construct an old tree from some of the gazillions of dark brown "bonus triangles" I had from a former project -- ones I'd not turned into half-square triangles.  Below you see the beginnings of piling up the tiny scraps -- small triangles I'd cut up into even smaller ones:

I liked the effect, but how to put these together?  I created the tree trunk, layered it with MistyFuse and fine grey tulle, and, beneath a pressing sheet, gave it a good press:

Aaaargh!  What a mess!  The photo shows only one corner of the piece, and the darned tulle hadn't merged into the background as I thought it would.  ICK!!  Now what?!

Well, I sliced the large piece in half (or thereabouts) and then I cut out the tree.  Yep.  Got out some fine-tipped applique scissors and cut every tiny nook and cranny,  Then I placed it on the remaining half of the quilted background -- pinned -- and stitched it down with a dark variegated thread (Superior King Tut #979 - "Obsidian"):

Well now!  That's better!  I faced it, and signed it -- calling it finished at 10" W x 21" L.  May I present Venerable (c) 2022:

As for the cut-out scraps from the other half of the quilted piece, they've been saved for later use -- they'll make great hills and fields sometime in the future.

After all that "play", it was time for a break -- and I returned to 'piece peace, order and good government' (pun intended)...making several more wonky log cabin blocks from crumbs and strings (I'm closing in on 60 but need 90 for something of any size), making a few more pinwheel blocks from "bonus" HSTs, and finally finishing the assembly of the last rows of the "Easy Breezy" (a Bonnie Hunter leaders-and-enders pattern) piece, started long ago as a 'quilt-as-you-go'.  Those rows now have to be joined together.  There are 9 rows of 9 blocks, and I'm putting them together in pairs, thus:

Five of 9 rows ready to put together

I've not enough of the red print to do all 8 long sashes, so row #3 and row #6 will have solid red on the front, instead.  And all the sashing on the back is a solid royal blue that picks up on the blue in the print of the fabric.

Still with Bonnie, my 2021 "Rhododendron Trail" units are coming along -- for Clue #3 ---no! Clue #4* which (she warned us!) is rather labour-intensive...

About 2/3 there!

*I discovered I'm farther ahead than I thought!  Here's what Clue #3 -- now finished --  looked like in process!

"Rhododendron Trail" - Clue #3 units

For a change of pace, I've also been stitching -- and have finished the first 'mini bouqet' in Jeannette Douglas' *free* 2022 informal stitch-along, which I mentioned briefly in my last post.  On 28-count linen, the design area is about 3" square; I'm using DMC threads for the most part -- with a few hand-dyes mixed in:

In my last post, I also mentioned another of Jeannette's designs, Mon Coeur, which I decided to start early -- as a "birthday start" in honour of my daughter, who turned 41 on the 13th of this month.  I'm just working on the border, which is being done in "Perlee Creme", a rather slinky, slippery cousin of perle cotton.  It's going to be very pretty, but it certainly requires concentration!

And of course, Gentle Readers, there's always knitting!

The baby socks are finished and mailed.  Here's the second pair, with a rolled cuff, which I'd not even started when I last wrote:

And my daughter received her two headbands in time for her birthday.  Yes, two.  The first one is in her chosen colour and pattern:

Pattern: DROPS 114-4-a - Alpine Twist
Yarn: Berroco Vintage DK in Cracked Pepper
Shown here before washing & blocking

Pattern: Braided Cabled Ear Warmer
Yarn: Red Heart "Heat Wave" in the "Passport"
colour-way

The "Heat Wave" yarn was give me by a friend last summer.  I'm trying not to work with 100% acrylic...but thought this was worth trying out.  It's soft and much nicer than any Red Heart worsted I've used before.  AND it's supposed to "warm up" in the outdoors -- even if it's cloudy.  My daughter was willing to try it out -- and this weekend will provide the perfect opportunity!  The Deep Freeze has moved east, so in our more moderate winter temps, she's planning some hiking photography out in the mountains...and will report back on the quality of the respective "ear warmers".  Stay tuned!

It wouldn't be January without all of this "Startitis" -- new artwork and stitching, and now knitting.  Yes, I'm working away on the body of my "Ranunculus" pullover, but I also started a cowl in an odd yarn from my stash -- "Icona" from  Bertagna Filati.  I'm using a Tin Can Knits pattern -- the "Simple Yet Effective Cowl" -- because it adapts to pretty much any weight of yarn.  There's not enough done to show you a photo, and it's knitting up rather stiffly (per the yarn's unusual construction) but I'm hoping it will soften up with washing later.

On that hopeful note, I'll leave you with wishes for a quiet, comfy, cozy, creative weekend -- and with a link to my friend Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  TTFN... 😊

A Little Bit Here, A Little Bit There

I don't often post two weeks in a row, but I've been thinking.  I do a lot of that (thinking, that is).  My mother used to tell me I did too much of it, and that it might cause problems for me as I got older.  She was right about that -- at least some of the time.  

The talking to myself (which is not to be confused with "self talk") has continued, as it gets me from one day to the next.  I've come to realize that some days are filled with "BIG" things -- a long list of errands requiring dressing up and going into town -- and others, not so much.

But this week it was the little things that made me happiest:

• Mailing those small socks off to a little boy in Ontario;
• Going for a walk -- or two -- almost every day;
• Pruning the dead "blossoms" off my budding lilacs so they can focus on the buds and not the old stuff;
• Starting up my new compost bin;
• Swapping the winter floor mats in my car for the summer ones, vacuuming out the car and polishing up the interior;
• Sweeping the dust, dirt, spilled bird seed and dead leaves from the garage floor --  much of which ended up as a layer in the new composter;
• Sweeping the cobwebs from around the inside of my rolling garage door, and oiling all the bits and bobs to make sure it runs smoothly;
• Adding another square or two (or three) each day to the slowly evolving mitred-square "something" that I've been making from left-over sock yarn;
• Putting together several rows of QAYG (Quilt As You Go) blocks; 
• Continuing to sift and sort through drawers, boxes, books, patterns; and
• A bit more stitching on "My To Do List"  ...

Here are some of the photos from the last few days, just to illustrate...

There's a short wooded path on the north end of town that's navigable now that the snow has gone; I love it's sunshine and shadows.  Here's one view:

And here's another:

I got a lovely piece of art fabric this week from cyber-friend, artist Susan Purney Mark; it might work for some of the trees in a piece inspired by these woods -- or if not, definitely for something in the future.  I am pondering another few art pieces but treading lightly, as my hopes for the Lacombe Art Show's actually happening at the end of May are very wobbly.  

COVID case numbers are rising here in Alberta (though not as badly as in highly-populated Ontario, and my heart goes out to friends there); there are a number of "COVIDiots" in my neighbourhood and a business that's been closed down continues to open its doors, even raising money for its court fight for the "right" and "freedom" to infect anyone at will by not obeying current protocols.  We have fewer than 500 people in this hamlet, and reportedly 2 employees of the business in question are out "sick" (no admission of what it might be)...so it's only a matter of time.  But I digress...

I am gratified that in the SAQA Spotlight Auction at this year's Conference (online now), my wee contribution has garnered some bids.  That warm's my heart.  Lest you don't remember it:

Spring Run-off (c) 2021
Whole cloth, thread painted, 6" x 8" before matting
Matted in white by SAQA

You can view all the auction pieces at the link above; bidding is open through April 25 -- when the various tables close at staggered intervals.  

NOTE: 

• Pieces are exhibited alphabetically by FIRST NAME of the artist (so you'll find mine in the "M" section; and
• All prices are in USD and shipping to US or Canadian addresses is $15 USD -- not sure if that's per piece, so check it out carefully!!

On a different topic, here's my new compost bin -- the second of two.  It's stationary, while the old one (more than a decade) is a rolling version.

On the knitting front, my mitred-square blanket is growing daily.  As of this writing, it's got 22 blocks and a 23rd under construction; here it is at  15-going-on-16  blocks:

Each block is about 2 1/2" square, and I figure I need 25 x 25 to get a lap blanket!

I've had two block-by-block 'QAYG' projects underway for months now.  I pick them up and put them down as the mood strikes, and I know I've posted about them before.  

The "Easy Breezy" block is from Bonnie Hunter -- her 'Leader/Ender Challenge' for 2020.  It runs from July to July.  I decided to make a small version as a tummy-time quilt, and to do it as-I-go.  Here's what it looked like on my design wall in early March.

And here's my progress to date:

Four of nine rows have been joined by sashing -- but (and yes, it's a good-sized but) I have yet to do the hand-stitching of the sashing on the back.  Yes, I know there are people who do both front and back by machine -- I'm not one of them!  I don't like the way it looks.  Sorry, eh? 😉

The second QAYG block-by-block is "Bali Sunrise" (also shown before) -- from a workshop I took in another life at the long-gone (and missed) Freckles Quilt Shoppe in Calgary.  It's a bit farther along than "Easy Breezy" due, in large part, to the fact that I have an elderly friend from church who I think might like it -- also lap-sized.  No, not the same friend who's received (and is thrilled with) the "Traffic Jam!" quilt.  There are just a goodly number of elderly people in my parish -- most of them women!  Anyway, I'd like to get it done in reasonable time so I can send it to her.  (It will be a surprise -- she doesn't own a computer so she won't even be able to guess.)

Here it is on the "design bed" thus far.  Two rows are completely together, with all hand-stitching done on the back as well (far left side).  Four more are joined by sashing and all of that hand-stitching is done, so the rows have to be assembled.  And three more rows need to be joined between the blocks etc.  You can see those on the right, with some of the strips cut for the sashing:

Each block is 6" square (without sashing) and there are 9 rows of 6 blocks each, and (so far) only an outer binding, not a border.  The sashing ends up at just shy of 1/2"...So the piece should measure in the neighbourhood of  40" x 60" (give or take) -- unless I make a QAYG border...we'll see!

In the "Long Forgotten UFO" category...this week, in my sifting, sorting, giving away and/or tossing practice, I came upon an unfinished little quilt top -- 30 1/2" x 40".  Another one of those "other lifetime" projects.  I do remember that it came from a magazine (haven't dug that out yet; it may be long gone), but I don't remember the name of either the publication or the pattern.   It didn't need much to finish it -- just to machine applique some of the 'leaf' shapes with a blanket stitch.  The spool of thread was even bundled in with it!  I decided to sit right down at the machine and 'git 'er done'.  

The kicker?  The shapes were pinned to the top!  What was I thinking?!  Pause.  FUSE!  Once they were fused in place, I tested out a few blanket stitch options (I was using a newer machine and didn't want to set up the old one to do this), and got them stitched down.  

I confess, I wasn't thrilled by the top.  I realized my colour choices, while decent, weren't stellar -- but clearly I'd gone into the project as an experiment and was using what I had to hand.  After time for it to "percolate", I decided it's "not bad" -- and will be turned into a tummy time blanket, with a prayer that it will be sturdy enough to last at least a little while!

Here's the top, in the sunshine on one of my garden benches:

 
If anyone knows this pattern, please let me know!

Pattern detail

Yeah, I know.  Not one of my best pieces...but in the immortal words of knitting guru, Elizabeth Zimmerman, "It will fit somebody!"  😉  In other words, some kiddo somewhere will lie on it, carry it about (like Linus from "Peanuts"), love it...and use it for a bed for their first pet.  And I don't care one whit!

As for "My To Do List"...this week's been challenged by the afore-mentioned COVIDiots...hence the phrase I've just finished as a reminder:

There's a bit of a floral motif that needs to go in that space on the right between "kindness" on the top and "control" on the bottom.  You'll have to wait till my next post (or two) to find out what that is.  

And so, my friends, I leave you to stitch, walk, knit, spin, quilt, piece, applique, read, write, ponder...whatever little bit here or there helps you in these fast-evolving times.  I'm linking up (late as usual!) to Nina Marie's "Off the Wall Friday", wherein just 'showing up' is enough.

P.S. The Psalm for Morning Prayer today was Psalm 90...in which the psalmist prays "May the favour of the Lord rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us -- yes, establish the work of our hands."

May the "work of [your] hands" -- incorporating your heart, mind and soul -- flourish this week.  I hope to "see" you again soon.  From Steve Bell, a Canadian singer-songwriter...(please ignore advertising, with thanks...)