Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Sewing and Quilting Progress

After a nice visit from Elise, I believe we have her quilt all planned and ready to get on with.  It wasn't easy.  Elise does not sew.  Has no interest in it and hates to think about the process of getting from a piece of fabric to a finished item.  But she does love her quilt so far and agreed to be dragged into fabric shops so she could give input into the borders and bindings and backing.

We ended up in Kudzu Blossom (where we should have started), and she found the perfect wide border fabric. It took awhile, but she then chose her narrow border fabric and the setting triangles.




The purple will be between the 2 blues, and I think it will be so pretty.  The setting triangles are just what she wanted.  She really wants it to be an old-fashioned scrappy quilt, and this is perfect.  There were some squares that she asked about (but didn't complain about).  Before she left, I told her to take some Post-Its and put them on the squares she didn't particularly like and I would add the new fabrics.  That was one task she jumped to complete!




So she doesn't like birds, stars, or batiks.  Or that funny underwater plant-looking piece.  I'm so happy to do this because I love the new fabrics, and I don't want her to always be looking at something she doesn't like.  I kind of knew when I was piecing them that dots and birds were a little modern, but the stars in the green I just overlooked.  It's Christmas fabric, for goodness sake!  That yellow fabric with the flowers made it, but those flowers look a lot like stars.  She probably didn't want to push it.

The binding is probably going to be gold, but we haven't decided, and the back will be this eggplant color she loves.  She found a fat quarter of it in Kudzu, but there was no selvage, so we don't know what it is.  So cute - she called it a "fat square."  I love non-quilters.  They think we're miracle workers.

So that's something I can get started on this week.

Emily's quilt is ready to sew the rows together.



I took off all the binding on last week's disaster, the hooded towel.  I wish I could say it looks MUCH better, but all I can admit is that it's a little better. 

The narrower binding definitely helped, but I just didn't take enough time to do my best.
I have worked a lot on the Peter Rabbit birth announcement.  All that's left now is the circle surrounding the future name, birth date, etc.  And that circle keeps circling without meeting, and I have to keep tweaking.  But it will come eventually.

It will look quite a bit better when it's blocked, but it goes everywhere with me and gets wadded into bags quite a bit.

I love Mother Mouse and the little mice.  So much detail in that one it took forever.



My next project is at least one of these.


I've already made some of the little bath cloths.  They all have different designs in them and are so easy; they're just a fun thing to take along on a trip or work on when you don't have to pay a lot of attention to what you're doing.

I made baby sweaters when I first learned to knit in the 1960s but haven't made another one since.  Surely I can do it now.  I like the pullover at the top with little cable owls, but I also like the cardigan.  Both?  Washington's climate is not suited to smocked playsuits, so I've already regretfully accepted that and will enjoy my knitting and crocheting and maybe some corduroy and fleece things.  The Auburn bonnet and booties are terribly old-fashioned.  I've had that pattern in my files for many years.  I can't find a date on it, but the dad looks like the 1970s.  I might just run up to Auburn and get a fashionable hat and shoes instead. 

Mike and I worked pretty hard on projects around the house yesterday, so we need to keep the momentum and get started again.  We did blinds and ceiling fans yesterday, and he's doing yard work today while I tackle my desk area and closet.  Un-fun things to do.

This is little Lila who came for a visit last week too.  Elise found her and her sister abandoned in her yard and tried to save them.  The sister died, and Lila has perked up a lot.  She eats like a 10-pound cat and will play a little bit, but she still has a little way to go before she is 100%. 



Emily comes for a visit in September, and hopefully we'll know if the baby is a boy or girl.  No one cares which; it will just be fun to know. 

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