Celtic Scarf

My daughter asked me to make her a nice thick scarf for the winter. I found this pattern in one of my knitting books. It's a celtic scarf full of cables. I was following the pattern and noticed an error so I fixed that in the book. Other than that, it's a pretty straight forward pattern. You just have to follow those different cables to get that nice Aran effect. That's my version on the bottom of the picture. 

This is the yarn I bought from KnitPicks. That's a great site to buy yarn at really good prices. This scarf is supposed to be 81" long according to the pattern but I doubt mine will be that long. I think this one will take me a little while! It's a nice project to work on during this cool and crisp Autumn days. 

New Quilt Project

 

I've been working on this scrap quilt designed by Victoria Findlay Wolfe. I have one completed strip and about 2/3 of another. I thought I'd set them up the way that they'll be sewn together so you can get an idea of what the quilt will look like.

There's a light side and a dark side. However, the directions say to change them up a little to add a bit of interest. I like the effect so far. I think this one would be a great candidate for a pantograph when it comes time for quilting. I have to make a total of 8 strips so there's plenty of time to decide what sort of quilting I'll be doing! It should measure 84" X 88". 

Current Fun Projects

I'm almost done sewing down the binding on my Whiskers N Catnip quilt. I decided to get the bindings on these two Girlie Ghosts quilts. The directions recommend a black binding but I don't have enough black. I decided to use the border fabric to bind them. I think it works fine! These should be quick to sew by hand. They're not too big. (16" X 30")

I'm almost done my first strip. It measures close to 60" in length and about 10" in width. All these seams are left open so the next strip can be sewn on. I've never done that before but I'll try it! I love using up my scraps. I'm trying not to have any duplicate scraps near each other. It's recommended to make all your strips first and then decide what strips to sew together. I need a total of 8 strips so I have a ways to go before I start sewing them together. 

Have a great weekend!

During the Storm

The night before the nor'easter landed in Massachusetts, everything looked orange outside. I took a few pictures of the sky. It was so colorful! It looked like the apocalypse was coming soon but it just ended up being a lot of rain and wind. The rain is tapering off but is not expected to stop until some time overnight.

I didn't do any quilting or sewing over the weekend. I was afraid the power would go out and screw up my machines. I finished quilting one of the Girlie Ghosts on Friday and had the second one all ready for quilting whenever the storm was over. 

I started a new scrap quilt this morning. I had cut a bunch of strips months ago but I never got around to working on it. It's a pattern by Victoria Findlay Wolfe called Lavender Walls. She used a lot of darker purples but I'm using anything in my stash. This is about 1/4 of the whole strip. I'll need 8 strips to make the size I want which is about 84" X 80".  I'm using partial seams so it will be interesting to sew the strips together. It's a fun way to use up that pesky stash!

I'm hoping the sun comes out soon. I miss it!

Before the Storm

We're expecting a long duration nor'easter up here in New England so I though I'd get a post in while I still have power. I sewed the borders onto the these two small quilts. They measure about 30" X 16". I'll be keeping one but will be gifting one to my son and his wife.

I already started quilting one of them. If you enlarge the picture, you can see I quilted swirls in the black area surrounding the ghosts. I quilted straight lines in the borders. Unfortunately, with these high wind warnings and potential loss of power, I won't be able to quilt all weekend. I would hate to have the longarm on and have the power go out. I'll get back to it next week.

My Hello Autumn pillow is all done and on display in my family room! Just in time! I'm so glad I could use that pine cone fabric. I've had it forever!

I hope everyone has a great weekend and has better weather than me!

Boston Meetup

We drove into Boston Saturday morning and met my friend, Sarah, and her husband Simon. Their cruise ship docked near the Seaport area so we stayed in that area for the day. We went out for coffee and lunch. We went into stores and small pop-up retail areas. It wasn't as warm as summer but it wasn't too chilly. It was perfect walking weather. That's the Boston Tea Party area behind us. People were throwing off tethered boxes from the boat to re-enact it. 

I should have taken more pictures but we were too busy talking and bringing each other up to speed in what's been going on in our lives. We had such a great time being together. They had to be back to their ship by 4pm so the day just flew by. I wish they could have stayed longer but we were lucky to have that day to ourselves. By the way, this picture is from the gift shop inside the Boston Tea Party Museum. I love how they paid tribute to Paul Revere's ride. It was so well done!

We're hoping to meet up again some time soon. It's our turn to visit their area. I'm already looking forward to our next visit. Until then, we'll keep in contact as best as we can. 

Almost done!!

My Autumn cross stitch is finished. I just have to find some sort of trim and fabric to finish the pillow.  I didn't measure it but I think it measure about 4" X 7".

The ghosts are just missing an outer border. They measure about 26.5" X 14.4". They are so cute!

I bought a couple of Halloween fabrics for the borders. I think I'll make one of each and decide which one to give to my son/daughter-in-law and which to keep for myself. 

I have some great plans for tomorrow. A quilty friend will be in Boston tomorrow. She and her husband are on a cruise and they'll be in Boston for the day. We haven't seen each other in 25 years! We write to each other but are both so looking forward to seeing each other in person. I'm hoping I'll have pictures to post. I can't wait to see her and her husband!

Have a great weekend!