Summer Scraps for Sanity!

Hello, Gentle Readers!

Yes...it's been over a month, but I'm still here, still trying to spread light and life in 'the making' of things.

Though this weekend is supposedly the 'vernal equinox' for us here in the northern hemisphere, well...maybe it is where you are, but in these parts, in the weeks since my last post, it's been more autumnal than summer-like.  For a very long time -- April and the first part of May -- we were begging for rain as our snow-pack in the Canadian Rockies was low, and those who grow crops and graze cattle in these parts were worried about drought.  

There was even enough time for the Meadow to produce a reasonable crop of dandelions, so I was able to make a couple of batches of my dandelion jam.  Here's a photo of the first one...

Well -- worry no more! Since the last 10 days of May and right through today, it's been positively autumnal!  Not frosty; just chilly overnight and through most days...with lots of rain.  Gardens have been planted, and the more courageous seedlings have ventured forth, despite risk of drowning!  I'm happy that my lilacs and irises have bloomed, my daisies and lupines are in full gear, and my roses and peonies are in bud.  I've some green beans beginning in their raised bed, along with some salad greens, and my wee cherry tomato has flowers...so onward we go!

All that said, it's been good weather for indoor making!

The chill and the rain mean I've been focused on knitting and quilting, with some cross-stitch on the side.

The little pink-and-white pinwheel quilt I showed in my last post was finished and mailed off to the expectant grandparents, who are long-time friends -- Larry and his wife, Lydia.  Larry was our Best Man at our wedding over 50 years ago.  He called this past week to say that the parcel had arrived on the same day as the baby!  She is reportedly a sweetie and is doing well.  You can't put a price on such long and lovely friendships!  Here's what the finished quilt looked like before it crossed the country by Canada Post:

I even managed to find a sweet label for it in my stash:

This week, I've moved on to another baby quilt -- similar, but different -- and in blue and white, for a wee baby boy.  His family is part of the wider parish from which our pastor comes twice a month for services in our tiny church, about 20 minutes north of me.  He's had a really challenging start to life due to serious health issues -- so I decided he needs a quilt.

Thanks to all the hour-glass units I've made from "bonus triangles" (thanks to the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilts!!) I had several in blue-and-white -- just as I had so many in pink-and-white.  So...I took these...

And made them into this, pin-basted and ready to quilt:

I hope to have it finished by our next service (June 28) so I can give it to our pastor to take to Baby C and his parents.

In other quilting?  Well, I've finished the June block (my version) for the 2026 BOM from A Quilting Life.  

It remains a challenge to balance those prints in order to get the best effect and not overwhelm the block!

Finally, in quilty news...I've decided to commit any possible quilting-related time this summer to...SCRAPS!

This means that if I can, I want to use my outdoor studio-on-the stoop for cutting scraps into usable pieces -- squares and rectangles.  This, of course, will depend on Mother Nature's buying in to the process -- not too hot, not windy and definitely NOT rainy!  I managed to eke out a bit of time for this recently, so this is what it would look like if...well...you know...

Outdoor Studio on the Stoop

In addition to all the above, I've been notified by the long-arm quilter at Camrose's newest quilt shop -- The Quilt Closet -- that the "Lupines and Laughter" quilt I sent there for quilting is *finished*!  This is a gift for my son's partner's birthday (August) so I hope to pick it up this week and get it bound ASAP.  Photos will follow!

And to continue the scrappiness...I've returned to string piecing in two formats: diagonal and straight.  

I'm using diagonally-placed strips on both 6 1/2" and 8 1/2" squares to make blocks that will eventually become...tops:

6 1/2" diagonal string blocks

And this is what the straight-string blocks look like:

6 /2" straight string blocks

It will take a while to get enough of these to put together into something useful...but no worries!  The strips/scraps breed in the night, and God willing, She'll give me the time!

Knitting is, I confess, my first love, and my coziest craft -- whether inside or out.  Of course, then, I've got a fair amount to share about it!

That said, I didn't mention much in my last post, but since then, I finished another cozy, scrappy pullover.  It was meant by the designer to be a strictly-striped tee-top, but no!  I didn't want that.  I had a number of bits of scrap fingering yarn to use up and wanted a top-down pullover.  I chose the "Bustleton Tee" and then proceded to follow the instructions...well, let's just day that I followed them "loosely".  

First, I didn't go for fixed stripes.  I was using left-over fingering-weight yarn and when a colour was done -- well, it was done

Second, I wanted long sleeves, so I planned for that.

Third, I wanted "top-down" -- and that's as close to the rules as I got!  That said...here's what I ended up with by doing so:

It looked well enough BUT the neckline was far too wide so...I picked up stitches around the neck and created this:

And here's a closer look:

It fits well, and I've worn it several times in this unseasonably chilly weather, so all's well that ends well, eh?

In addition, I've made plans for this summer:

 - Give main attention to my 'Warm Things Box' for the fall of 2026:

FIRST: the mitred square blanket, long under construction, has been taken up again. It's currently closing in on 11 x 11 squares.  Made of left-over fingering-weight yarn, at about 2" per finished square, I've some distance to go yet!

SECOND: another LOSY Hat (Left Over Sock Yarn Hat) -- barely started, so no photo. Sorry.

After that...whatever calls to me...but there's still the Sea Haven pullover to work on (stockinette 'round and 'round for the body at the moment) and a new pair of socks: the "Cock-a-hoop Socks" from Nancy Wheeler, which I'm knitting in a gorgeous yarn from stash, given to me some years ago by a non-knitty friend:

The colour-way is *very* variegated -- not really what I expected -- but it's making a gloriously mixed-colour fabric. I'm on the foot of the first sock and will show photos in a future post -- stay tuned!

Yes, there is also a bit of rug-hooking, but it's been slow and quiet, on the back burner.  I did finish my "Daisy Cottage", which is my adaptation of one of Deanne Fitzpatrick's patterns, "Starfish Cove" -- adapted because I am nowhere near an ocean or starfish.  Here it is while still on the frame. 

"Daisy Cottage" - a DFS pattern adaptation

I'm not sure how I'm going to finish it, so it's simply stored away for now.

I've joined Deanne's 10-Minutes-a-Day challenge, though, which kicks off on June 25 -- and plan to work on the kit I won from the "Makers' Meetup" at the end of March.  I seem to be drawn more to patterns these days, rather than original work.  My brain appears to need the rest!

There is, of course, also some stitching...but I'm woefully short of photos.  I've been focused lately on the "Little Acorns" SAL from Modern Folk Embroidery, and on "Disagree" from Rebel Stitcher.  The latter is almost finished, but the former -- ah, well, I've a long way to go even to catch up!

I will tell you, though, that my June 1 fabric from the Evertote/Roxy Floss 'Traditional' club arrived -- and along with it 2 skeins of the spectacular "Maritimes" variegated floss (Roxy Floss Co too), which I want to use for Jacob's "Fast Frisian" SAL starting in August. I've pre-ordered the pattern, so I'm all set!

I think that's all the energy I have for this post.  I confess that I continue to struggle with maintaining a certain nonchalance about the state of the world -- especially for friends family and everyone else in Canada's neighbour to the south.  Staying creative, repeating the hand-over-hand work of knitting, cross-stitch, and rug-hooking, cutting and piecing strips and units of fabric, and digging in the dirt of my flower and veggie beds...all of that is an attempt to keep my heart, soul and mind from losing hope for you, dear readers, who may be caught up in the mess, and for those of us being swept along for the ride.

This week Nina Marie suggests that being 'weird' might be an asset, so perhaps as we head toward the end of yet another month, we should all try to be weird...in a creative way, that is!

Linking to her post, then, I bid you a fond farewell, with thanks for reading...and until next time, a bientot!

 

Tidings of Comfort and Joy

Thank you all, Gentle Readers, who took the time to comment on my last blog post, in which I displayed a soupcon of insecurity, having lost five "followers" in one fell swoop last week.  I haven't had this many comments on a single post in a very long time -- perhaps never.  I could feel the love and support, and I appreciate every bit of it.  Resolved: to "Be Margaret" (in the words of Happiness Guru, Gretchen Rubin - the first of her "Twelve Commandments" for happiness, in fact)...for it's probably the one thing I can do that no-one else can!  :-)

And so here we are...two sleeps before Christmas Day.  The makings of the sourdough dinner rolls are in the bread-maker; soon a batch of pastry will be made and turned into my version of Bumbleberry Pie.

The third refugee quilt top is finished...   (The white 'thing' you see in the photo below is the edge of my sewing table, as the top is on my design wall, immediately to the left of the table.)

"Simply Scraps" - pattern by Judy Turner
from Successful Scrap Quilts,
Martingale & Co., 2002

...and I am well on the way to finishing a fourth.  I decided I wanted to make this one a 'Rail Fence', using 2" squares and creating 5" blocks.  I'm laying them out in 8 rows of 6 blocks, and then will add borders.  The fabrics (a loaves-and-fishes-style miracle in my sewdio or perhaps simply evidence of an outrageous stash!) continue to be wild and improbable...leading me to give this one a title: "Off the Rails"!

"Off the Rails" initial fabric audition on the design wall

I'm thinking the refugee recipient(s) will undoubtedly be cozy under these cuddle quilts...but able to nap?  Highly unlikely!  (grin)

On the knitting front, the Project-That-Cannot-Be-Named is finished, as are the mittens for my son:

Pattern: "Simple Finger-less Mitts" - from Tinksdarkerside on Ravelry
Yarn: Berocco Boboli Lace, Colour #4395 - "Tree Swing"

And I am madly working on a matching neck-warmer.  Due to the light spin on this yarn, I threw out the idea of replicating the Trestle Neck Warmer that I made for my nephew, and am going with a simpler ribbed cowl --  "Just Try It!" by Susan Ashcroft (also on Ravelry).  With only 4 rows done, and signs of some sort of tendonitis flaring in my left shoulder/elbow and hand (hot packs and liniment being judiciously applied, along with the occasional analgesic)...my son might just find an IOU for this under the tree instead!

Speaking of trees...the wee table-topper is up, and survived a day alone with Miss Pooks while I went to work yesterday.  I'm so proud of her!

Tree 2015
Quilt: Log Cabin, ca 1978; machine-pieced
by my Aunt Alice Rennie (1907 - 2002)
and hand-quilted by her friends

I don't expect to have time to post again before The Day, so, Gentle Readers, whoever and wherever you are, I send you my thanks for your faithful following of these pages and your kind comments...and I wish you and yours all the joy and peace this blessed season brings.  Merry Christmas!

Until later...I'm linking up with The Needle and Thread Network's WIP Wednesday -- and to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday and leave you with a wee bit o' merry music, courtesy of the Irish Rovers...

O tidings of Comfort and Joy,

Comfort and Joy...

O tidings of Comfort and Joy!

In Production

This time of year there's never a dull moment around my sewdio.  As Joni would sing, "It's coming on Christmas; they're cutting down trees.  They're putting up reindeer and singing songs of joy and peace..."

And me?  Not cutting any trees here, but fabric, yes.  As I mentioned in my last post, I've caught both the piecing and the clear-up-scraps "bug" and have been doing some of both lately -- sometimes even simultaneously!

The pieced greens I showed you have now been cut up and a portion inserted into my latest 15 x 15 piece for the theme "Roads", which will be revealed at month-end on the our 15 x 15 blog.  Stay tuned!

Having emptied one bag of crumbs into a basket and assembled a few into 3" squares, I tackled a large hanging container that's mostly strips, sorting them into two projects.  Wider, longer strips will be cut into 2" x 7" pieces for a postage stamp quilt based on this pattern and tutorial I found on "Red Pepper Quilts".  Call me crazy, but I've wanted to make one of these for a long time.  It also might take me a long time -- but so be it!  ;-)

Narrower strips in random lengths will join assorted scrap rectangles and squares and be pieced on 8" paper foundations -- a la Bonnie Hunter -- for the "Easy as 1,2,3" quilt I found in the Victoriana Quilt Designs free patterns section.

I'd cut a stack of 8" paper squares (from advertising/junk mail flyers), and they were just waiting for fabric, so I put one together.

8" x 8" of fun!

Turns out the middle section -- a row of flip-and-stitch squares that starts in the centre of the paper foundation and works its way outward -- is a bit of a pain to do.  Unless I'm missing something, it doesn't lead itself to chain piecing like the attachment of the longer strips -- edge to edge.  Thus I'm only going to create other blocks like this if I already have a piece that consists of sewn squares -- and I've found a few of them from earlier projects. I'll treat it as a "pieced string" and go from there.  Might even make more from my crumb collection.

The above projects are ongoing types that will be finished over time -- they've been keeping me out of trouble till BKH announces Clue #1 in the Grand Illusion Mystery.  ;-)  Neither are they meant for Christmas gifts.  On that front, I've been knitting madly, to wit:

Gina's infinity scarf is now about 74" long.  Only ten more inches to go.  I'm doing two 10-row pattern repeats almost every day so I'm looking at another week or so and it will be finished, ready to sew the ends together.  Pattern: Martyn from Berroco booklet #334. Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca Tonal (now discontinued) in browns.  This is no surprise to my daughter; she's given it her stamp of approval -- so I can show the photo here.  :-)

Then there are gifts for Relatives Who Can't Be Named in order to keep the surprise:

One Wild Sock
ONLine Supersocke 4-fachNeon-Color
Colour #1724

First Fair Isle Anything (Cowl)
designed by Irene Ramalho
Left-over Katia 'Darling' colour #208
and Patons Kroy Socks - black

I've started the second Wild Sock and am approaching the heel.  The cowl needs to have its ends sewn in and then to be washed and blocked.  Another cowl is on the needles and another pair of socks is waiting in the wings...and a throw quilt is sandwiched and ready for quilting as a gift to my next-door neighbours who take such good care of me all year.

Thank goodness for "palate cleansers" like these projects, which rest and refresh my brain.  I'm gearing up for a new year of study and travel, including some pretty intense original work/sampling, so I'm more than delighted to spend December "playing" with Other People's Instructions.

And that's all the WIPs I have for this Wednesday.  I'm linking this up to WIP Wednesday on The Needle and Thread Network -- and going out for a jog before the snow starts and the temps drop.

Happy Thanksgiving for tomorrow to my American readers...may you have a blessed time with family and friends.  I'm thankful you read my ramblings, and encourage me with your comments!

Till next time...

Channelling BKH

I enjoy the work of Bonnie K. Hunter.  I've made two of her mystery quilts -- "Orca Bay" and "Easy Street" (though both tops remain to be quilted -- they're huge) -- and am considering making this year's offering, though 1/2 size.

Lately, though, I've been watching her Quilt Cam episodes on YouTube while I work on my next 15 x 15 challenge quilt.  As I mentioned last week, the theme this go 'round is "Roads", and I decided my piece needed a pieced background foreground.  I had a pile of green scraps of assorted values and sizes, so decided to use them for this purpose.  I ended up with a fabric that's more than three times the size I needed, and only a partial dent in the scraps.

Assorted Assembled Greens

I also ended up with an urge to merge more scraps into blocks -- to finally tackle the sack of bits and bobs I'd saved over time to use as 'piggers' at the start and stop of my regular piecing. (I was told years ago that 'piggers' was what they were called; no idea why!)

Crumbs, that's what they are, really.  Crumbs.  I knew Bonnie had written something up about how to use these tiny fabric treasures; sure enough there's a page on her blog and a link on that page to even more crumby ideas from a gal named Barb Horte. (Forgive me; I couldn't help m'self there!)  

While I pondering how best to assemble my "Roads" design, I transferred the crumbs from the zip-lock bag to a handy basket and began to piece:

Basket of crumbs, sack of assorted triangles,
crumb blocks started and ready to trim 

True to Bonnie's piecing practice, I decided to go with 'whatever' cotton thread I could find in my stash, thus saving "the good stuff" (my Superior Threads collection) for Priority Piecing.  This is a wooden spool of 50-weight 100% cotton from Coats & Clark.  I filled a bobbin with it, and am using it top and bottom for as long as it lasts -- for crumbs only, you understand!

When the spool is empty, I'll save it to send to my friend Susan Lenz, who collects them for one of her magical installations, "Stitched Spools".  :-)

This morning, besides doing up some more crumb bits (I have assembled only 2 full blocks at 3 1/2" each thus far; the rest are coming along.)  I worked out more ideas for my "Roads" piece.  Still in a 'crumby' mood, I decided that instead of using a full slice of fusible web (Wonder Under) to attach a long narrow strip of foreground fabric, I'd dig into my WU scrap bag and use up some...you guessed it!  Fusible web 'crumbs'.

Wonder Under bits on one edge of a fabric strip.

I keep these bits sealed in a zip-lock bag to keep the web "fresh" -- or at least to have it last as long as possible in this dry prairie climate.  Most of the time, I can find just the size I need and make it work; this is especially handy for my miniatures.

The "reveal" of the "Roads" theme is at the end of this month, and I'm on target to finish on time. Next up?  Sandwiching and quilting.

Meanwhile, I'm linking up to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday, where today she's wondering what's on our 'Creative Christmas' lists.  

Hmmmm....for me?  I'm all for NM's Item #5: a great creative book (or two or three).  I'm looking for gift cards for Chapters/Indigo (a Canadian 'Barnes & Noble' or 'Borders') and/or amazon.ca -- because there are some very creative books on my wish lists there, to wit:

• Connecting Design to Stitch by Sandra Meech;
• Twelve by Twelve: The International Art Quilt Challenge by Brenda Gael Smith et al;
• An Artist's Journey: Book 2 by SAQA colleague Jean Judd (I have and enjoyed Book 1 already); and
• The Magic of Shetland Lace Knitting by Elizabeth Lovick.

And there's more...non-fiction, poetry, memoir...things I wouldn't just buy for myself but also wouldn't want to just borrow from the library. (I borrow fiction; I prefer to own the other.)

How would you answer Nina Marie's question?  ;-)  

A Little Stack

This morning I finished sewing in the ends on half-dozen cotton washcloths I've knit for our annual Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes.  I have half-dozen wrapped bars of soap in baggies; each will be accompanied by a cloth.  These were fun to do and used up three balls from my stash  -- Lily Cotton "Sugar 'n Cream" for the most part.  I love knitting this sort of thing with self-striping yarn as it's fun to see how the colours play out.  :-)

If you like the heart-shaped ones and belong to Ravelry, the pattern's a free Ravelry download...or you can get it free online.

I followed this up by photographing the half-dozen or so tracings I did for Linda -- Activity #6 of Module 8 in the C&G. This is the last exercise before I plunge into the actual design and construction of my final assessment piece.  I wanted to finish up now, because I'm off for a few days to a women's retreat, and thought it would be a good point at which to take a break.

"Simple"

The object of the exercise was to re-visit a photo of a collection of items with which we began 'way back in Module 1.  I printed it off in grey-scale (left) to avoid the distraction of colour, because I needed to trace out the major lines (right).  The idea is to identify shapes for applique.  You can see I was still rather distracted!

"Simpler" and "Simplest"

I traced it out twice more, simplifying each time, reminding myself of these words from the course materials: "leave out lines you don't want".

In the final two tracings, we were asked  (1) to identify areas in the photo that were 'busier' or more interesting than others, and fill them in; and (2) to find a shape from our past work that we really liked, and use it to fill in a large empty space in the tracing.

I enjoyed these tracings the most.  I repeated my simplest tracing for each of these samples.  The shape I used on the right -- a semi-circle -- is from a piece of metal I found in the road on a walk a couple of years ago.  I like the way its surfaces -- both straight and curved -- repeat lines found in the original tracing, and the balance that filling that space gives the piece.  Definitely applique potential!

This afternoon's Work In Progress will be the finishing of a binding on a little flannel quilt I began earlier this fall.  Once it's bound and washed, I'll post a photo.  Promise!

Tonight, I'll turn out the lights in the front of the house, move to my sewing room in the back, and happily stitch blocks for a scrap quilt I've been putting together with left-overs.  I have all the blocks made; this evening I'll begin to assemble them into rows...and to join those rows, a glass of vino at my elbow and favourite jazz on the stereo.  

A bientot!

P.S. Linking this post to WIP Wednesday on The Needle and Thread Network.  Enjoy!