Bow Ties

Some days and weeks are just not all that blog worthy. I spent a day or two in my sewing room doing math figuring what size strips and how many I need for a couple different quilts.  I did that months ago but my notes didn't make much sense last week.   Then I did some cutting and pressing because cutting flat fabrics works so much better than fabrics with wrinkles.  Anyway slow slow progress on sewing bow tie blocks,  I had to consult my own blog on how to sew them  click  I learned some tricks and what worked best for me and I did try every possible way of sewing them together in 2015.  I have been cutting plaids and finding that just one or two of each plaid for a bow tie is enough.  The colors and values are going to transition from dark to light with a round of bow ties with dark background for the border. It is barely putting a dent in my stack of plaids.  Ten more blocks for the center and 30 for the border..............Hope you are staying warm   -- Ann--

Off the needles

 A little fast scarf, knit on size 11 needles so it did knit fast.  I wanted a reversible scarf you know that looks good or the same on both sides.  This is Churchmouse Yarns and Teas  Reversible Neck Wrap and Scarf.  Its is knit with a knit 1, purl 1 ribbing and cables front and back for the braided cable.  It was much simpler than it sounds and fast.  I used the yarn that DIL found in New Zealand two years ago its merino wool and possum fur.  NZ possums are different than North American opossums.  They are furrier and a nuisance because they have no natural predators all they do is eat and destroy crops.  I don't know how the fur is harvested but it is very soft and very warm, occasionally I would come to a  tiny clump of fur that didn't get spun into the yarn thats what that little white tuft is.  Looking forward to wearing it.  --Ann--

Quilt top finish

 

My not so instant gratification project took a couple more hours to piece the piano keys or garden walk then add the borders but my first quilt top of 2022 is together!! The black piano keys between the rows of poppies adds a layer or richness. I cross cut the borderstrips and did not stress about matching the plaids or even cut them perfectly straight.  One side of the fold was pretty straight but the other side had been stretched as it was rolled on the bolt.  I tried to square it when I cut the flower strips but it didn't stay straight.   I did notice after I sewed the borders on that there was a right and wrong side to the fabric the black lines of the plaid are much bolder on one side than the other.  It jumped out at me while I was pressing but by the time I machine quilt it I will probably have forgotten the difference of the black.  Its together and I'm pleased with it.  --Ann--

Sewing time

 

The mess from last year is still on the table in the sewing room, I go downstairs and look at it and where should I start?????  I was cutting all my plaids into strips an parts for a couple different quilts but not enough of any one to make a day of sewing.........  I like my scraps well mixed like a good soup with lots of vegetables and lots of flavor.  Some times I need instant gratification so I pressed my poppies and looked at the book for border instructions, they didn't make much sense since I made this smaller than the instructions so settle on some measurements that will work and get busy cutting.  Then a little time sewing  time.  That felt so good just putting two pieces of fabric together then four then eight then sixteen and check to see how many more I need............and it was time to make supper.  Tomorrow I'll get it together.  --Ann--

New guy on the shelf

 

The first little project of 2022 finished woohoo what a great feeling.  Father Christmas with a holly wreath on his head. Most of the Christmas decorations have been put away but the Santas are such a jolly bunch I leave them out until the middle of January usually. Brrrrrrr it’s been cold here. Hope you are staying warm. —Ann—

2022

 

 We got fresh snow on New Year’s Eve day like a clean sheet of paper to start the New Year.  I slept like a teenager New Year’s Day how about you? I hope everyone had a happy New Year celebration. Happy can be a quiet celebration at home like so many nights the last two years I didn’t even have an adult beverage.  I started reading The Rules of Civility by Amor Towles would you believe chapter one started with a New Years celebration? How odd is that to read about New Years Eve on New Years Eve? I think it’s going to be a very good story.  Fresh snow like a clean sheet of white paper was gone when I looked out the window.  All the neighborhood rabbits had a raucous party in my backyard there were tracks everywhere!!  Now on to 2022................ Quilting, knitting, reading, coffee, walking, chocolate, sounds just like last year and the year before. But first take down the Christmas tree after I finish my coffee —Ann—