Charity Baby Quilt

My quilt guild is making 20 baby quilts for a center for new moms. I did not piece this quilt. I machine quilted it. A first for me. I ask for one that would look good with straight lines. Here it is.

Next, machine binding so it can hold up to multiple washings. Another first.

Machine quilting is okay. Maybe the straight lines were too monotonous. My machine binding is crooked. I'm not sure how people keep the back even. I did listen to the last episode of History Detectives and two episodes of Secrets of the Dead. If I hand quilted I would have listened to all the episodes of Secrets of the Dead and finished 2 months instead of two days! :)

Hockey Sweater

This isn't a Hockey Sweater but rather a sweater make at hockey. The pattern is Miette. The pattern is at Untangling Knots . The yarn is Ashley by Yarn Bee. It is from Hobby Lobby. The color is Pale Aqua. It is 56% wool 44% polyester blend. I started this project in November at the start of the Winter Hockey season and finished in June at the end of the Spring Hockey season. It is not a complicated pattern so it works well when one eye is on the action in the rink.

The pattern is close fitted. I prefer tailored, to tight. If I made it again I would leave out the front bust darts so it would have a looser fit.

I love the knit from the top down with no seams. I lengthened the arms to full length sleeves and need to lengthen the bodice 2 inches because I prefer it at my waist. It is a top down knitting  pattern which allowed me to try on the sweater to see if it fit. So much better than holding pieces up to your body.

After I finished my Michael Miller quilt, I added the buttons. Some how I miss read the directions and the button holes are backward. The top to buttons are two close and the bottom on is to high. Oops!

I can tell you wool is very warm in the summer. I planning on knitting a cotton sweater this hockey season. I am still searching out patterns and yarns. Only 4 weeks to till we are back at the rink!

Michael Miller Fabric Challenge - Pinwheels

I have completed the Michael Miller Fabric Challenge. I named my quilt "Pinwheels". It is a 45 x 51 inch baby quilt.

 It is my first modern quilt. The solid fabric is from JoAnn's and border is from the challenge fabric.

It is hand quilted using size 20 pearl cotton. My design idea was to give the illusion of wind spinning the pinwheels.

This thread  is too thick for a regular quilting needle so I could not use my hoop.

Instead I used a running stitch and "oven mit" method to hold the fabric.

I used Mountain Mist batting. It puffier then other batting I have used, but still has a soft drape and is very light weight..

Big R said "You finished another quilt? Aren't quilts suppose to take a long time." For me, the answer is "yes". But if you spend all your spare hours (and are lucky pond hockey is now at the prep school with a clean lobby) you can make one "quickly". It also helps the challenge deadline was extended a month.:)

I joined the quilt bee with my guild. It will be piecing blocks for a while. My turn is not until June. There will be no more quilts this year.

Square Madness

I finished my Square Madness quilt. It is on the large side 80x75 inches. I will describe is as interesting and I cannot photograph it well.

Infinity Scarf

I promised Big R an infinity scarf with the yarn left over from my pink and orange socks. The scarf's length would be either as long as she wanted it or until I ran out of yarn. Luck would have it there was only enough yarn for the length she wanted.

My new rink side knitting project for the Spring hockey season is the Miette sweater. This one is knitted top down. I plan on making full length sleeves and adding 3 inches to the body so it comes to my waist and is not cropped.

February Quilt Squares

Here are my next installment of squares for the Monday Monday Quilt. This round is olive, turquoise and purple. I did purchase a 6-1/2 inch square grid. I still haven't figured out all the different grid lines in each quadrant.

Block 8 - Pinwheel

Pinwheel was rather simple.

Block 9 - String Block

String block was fun. I paper pieced it to a 6-1/2 inch square to eliminate the guess work and wasting scraps by cutting them too big.

Block 10 - Snowball Variation

This was another straight forward pattern.

Block 11 - Bow Tie

Some how my purple "squares" ended up more like triangles.

Block 12 - Winged Square

I did not like this one. Too many 1 inch squares. My greens are too similar. Kinda of boring. Some how it ended up too small and crooked. I needed to add buffer strips to make it the correct size.

Block 13 - 9-Patch

This 9-Patch was fun.

 Here is a possible place mat setup. I think this set has too much solid green.

Paris Original

What have you been sewing these last 6 weeks?

Big R is dancing in her school's musical production, "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying". I volunteered to sew costumes. There was only one sewing project this year, dresses for the Paris Original number. In a nutshell, in this scene Rosemary is going to a party and is going to wear her one of a kind Paris Original dress. Lo and behold when she arrives, everyone is wearing the same dress!. (Good reason to avoid ready to wear or the featured outfit in popular catalogs - nothing worst then seeing your outfit on someone else - looking better.)

The costume director chose a lovely fitted bodice, right arm drape, fully gathered (with under netting) dress. Every classy Paris dress. The Director was thinking 30 girls on stage in this dress for this number. The other sewing mom and I took home cut out fabric. Five hours of sewing and one dress is made, but the bodices were not fitted nor was the zipper or hem done. I managed to make 2 dresses that week. The next Saturday, they are now thinking only 25 girls in the number. I mentioned the two sewing Moms work full time and each dress was 5 hours of construction and so that really wasn't going to happen (I am spending 3 days a week at hockey and have the hassles of being a Girl Scout Cookie Mom.) It was decided that 10 girls would be just fine in that number. So much fabric was needed the costume director ordered it on line. Absolutely wonderful idea expect the dye lot was noticeable different on the new fabric. She ended up driving to all the JoAnn's in Central and South Jersey and a few in Philly to get enough. (Glad that wasn't my job). A few of the arm drapes where cut out backwards and there was no more fabric, she said there are few JoAnn's in North Jersey she hadn't visited yet... I said I think there enough scrapes that I can piece it - it just a costume isn't it? Using my sewing skills I hid the seam in the drape, you'd never know. :)

The girls tried on the dresses and alternation were made and zippers inserted - another hour or so per dress. Last Saturday was the costume check on stage for the Director. The girls loved their dresses. They looked great on stage. I heard the girls were so happy with their dresses they posted photos on Facebook.Certainly makes it worth all the hassle. So here it is a Paris Original in need of a hem, trimmed netting and pressing.

Here is that lovely arm drape...