Art, Craft and Needlework, February, 2010

[Harriet]

So much of our creative life corresponds to loving others (maybe that's one reason we LOVE our personal art, craft and needlework time so much), so February, the love month, is definitely a month for creative expression. We knit and crochet thinking of the comfort it will bring others, we puzzle out sewing problems to fit a garment for others, we paint or photograph or sketch thinking how others will enjoy the life-glimpse we capture for them. And all the while giving ourselves the loving gift of fun!

What are you LOVINGLY creating this month? What are the supplies you are needing, where are you finding the space, when are you finding the time, what does it look like, don't you just LOVE it? Here's the place to tell all!

[Nancy]

My Feb. Projects:

I'm to the end of the one skien for the granny square project hope to get more
next time I'm out and about. Today I'm going to see how far the ones I have done got
for seeing what the throw will look like I have enough done that I can get a pretty good idea.
Luckily it's a no dye lot yarn!

Have another project with dish clothes going now
yarn is in the house for it so I have two squares
put together. No rush on these however!

[Harmony]

I hope you can match your dye lots, Nancy.

I am still working steadily on the quilt. I have 2 more stripes to sew around the edge of quilt and one of those is already cut out.

Had an awful scare today when I turned on sewing machine it wouldn't turn on. Determined it wasn't just the light. Determined it was a problem with the extention cord it's plugged into. Thank goodness. I had visions of DH bent over the machine and pieces/parts all over the place and me finishing this quilt by hand!

Update: Stripes are all on, batting fluffed in dryer, layers put together, last steaming of the top. Pinning in place but I've run out of pins. It's 9/10 done. I'm unable to find my quilting safety pins so using the straight kind which means now I have to baste.

I'm surprised and pleased how it looks. Those miniscule differences don't show. DH said he's impressed too!

[Harriet]

Nancy, you are really making progress. Hope you can find what you need eadily. I have gotten dishcloths as gifts and they are so nice.

Harmony, I can't believe you are already layering the quilt. No, forget me "catching up" to you on a baby quilt! I sure do know the feeling of having the very pins you need but not being able to find them. You know when they'll turn up, don't you?

Finally getting to post a photo of the strata I've been working with and the two shapes I'm cutting. It's 3 fabrics - the middle is just 1/8th inch width. These 2 shapes will be the background of the outer part of the quilt's medallion center.

strataFeb2010.JPG

I hope to get to post a photo of the design wall soon, with the changes I've made.

[Nancy]

Got the yarn fine today;
no dye lot on this so that was great!
Finished one more granny square this evening
ten more to do.

[Harmony]

Harriet that material is beautiful. Your pattern looks complicated with the set in piece. Of course I'm this far along because I picked a very simple pattern. How long could a 4-patch take?!

DH was standing here and I looked up your quilt picture from last month and showed him. He made me enlarge the screen to look at the compas square. So funny! When I made the 2 baby quilts 8 years ago, he said, "so much time, just buy them!"

This time he seems to get it a little more.

Yeah, I know where my pins are, right next to my camera case and film that's lost too.

How many of those hoodies are you making, Nancy?

[Nancy]

I am making at least three hoodies
for the older grand children;
maybe two more for youngest one
me; and hubby will see how much of a hit they are
before any more than that.
Time is a factor here also.

[Harmony]

Time is always a factor with our creative endeavors, isn't it?! 3's a lot, I hope they turn out nice.

I'm basting my quilt today. I'm pleased to see how flat it's laying and how square it looks.

[Harriet]

Nancy, that has got to make you so happy, to be able to give several gifts to family members. You will enjoy one for yourself, too.

Are you basting on a table, Harmony?

Here is the way the Forest quilt is shaping up now, going into February, about 2 weeks since I snapped the last photo. It shows how the medallion center is shaping up. A lot of this time spent has been measuring and planning, so when this part is done, things will go faster. It may not seem like a lot, but this is more time that I've been able to give in so long that I'm thrilled.

[Harmony]

Harriet, that is simply beautiful. I wish I was that good.

Yes, I'm working on the dining room table. Don't know if that's the correct way to do things or not. Fortunately I didn't have to do this on the floor, I'd never be able to get up.

Need to mark the top for quilting. Maybe I should have done that before the basting? Don't know, but this is the way I'm doing it. I was able to make the top a little bit smoother by taking out the pins as I went along basting. I started from the center and worked out to the corners. I'm now doing the edge all the way around.