Category — crafts

This one’s for Julia, whose birthday party is today.  It seems the faster and more rushed I am with these, the better they turn out.  I chose the fabrics in about 30 seconds, grabbing things from my red cabinet and throwing them onto the floor for perspective.  I LOVE this combination, which reminds me of Julia herself.  Happy and beautiful.

I used the quilting bar on my Janome for the first time, and it was awesome.  So easy to make parallel lines across the quilt, which definitely appeals to my compulsive nature.  One of these days I’ll do some hand quilting, but not just yet….

(Click for bigger images.)

My daughter Kate has been valiantly attempting to sleep in her own bed, diligently collecting stickers and placing them on the chart on our fridge.  Her goal?  A set of bunk beds for her dollies.  (We thought that was a reasonable request, given the fact that we’re being kicked in the head a little less now….)

While mama sewed the quilts, Kate helped make little patchwork pillows for her dollies, too.  Here are a couple quick shots of the beds as made….

Aren’t these lovely?  (And, truthfully, the little coin quilt may be my favorite ever.)  A huge “THANK YOU” to Rachel at Payne Street Doll Boutique for the beautiful beds!

A long time ago I got a silly idea in my head to make my daughter a twin-size quilt (my first) with all kinds of small pieces and circles that had to be eased and sewed just right.  I am thrilled to report that after some prodding by a friend (the one who got me hooked on quilting as if it were crack), I  dragged it out of my Chinese cabinet and spent three hours finishing the top.  And here it is…

I promptly boxed it up with the batting and backing, and far too much dog fur (the doggies are shedding with a vengeance) and sent it off to Plain and Simple Quilts for hand quilting.  The plan is to have their least experienced quilter (at 7 stitches per inch) do the hand quilting.  It’s expensive, and we’ll have to wait months for its return, but how many times in my life will I actually make anything nearly this gorgeous?

Here’s a shot of my favorite girl holding up our very first square…

Note:  Quilt design by Denyse Schmidt, of course.

Yesterday Kate and I made clay dogs in the image of Jack and Phedora (Kate made Jack on left; I made Phedora on right).  In five minutes or less, we managed to capture their true doggie essences.

And these are the real doggies (in reverse order)…

I just cut the thread on this dolly-sized Chinese coin quilt, made from scraps of treasured fabrics…

My six-year-old has been sleeping in her own bed, proudly earning stickers and working toward a set of handmade bunk beds I found on etsy at Payne Street Doll Boutique’s store.  Of course these beds need handmade quilts, too, and here’s one of them.  I have always loved Chinese coin quilts, and this is my first.  Very exciting.  So exciting, in fact, that I stayed up ’til 5:00 a.m. to sew the binding on.  I am bleary-eyed, but immensely satisfied.

I’ve always loved cables, which look much trickier than they actually are.  Here’s a hat I finished today, on this lovely 90 degree day.  The yarn is Frog Tree merino; pattern from Linda at The Yarn Tree in Brooklyn.  It’s a perfect hat, with just the right amount of slouch.

Here’s a quick shot of a Blue Sky Alpacas cowl I knit on size 19 needles.  Although cowls always seem like a great idea, I’d much rather wrap a scarf around and around than wear a cowl, wouldn’t you?

I’ve come to the realization that I hate blogging.  So much more fun to create, rather than engaging in self-absorbed, overly indulgent blathering on and on about yourself and what you’re up to.  Having gotten that off my chest, I also admit I found myself missing “the blog” today when I took this picture of my kid, her baby doll and two new hats I made for friends….

I am infatuated with Cascade 220.  The colors are outrageously good, and you can actually knit a fab hat for under $5, which means there’s always $$$ for cashmere on another day!

I just can’t seem to make enough socks.  And, yes, I always knit during pedicures.  Here’s my latest, in progress…

OnLine Supersocke Afrika sock yarn

So, here it is.  Our first quilt.  The one my daughter and I cut and sewed and arranged and sewed again together.  This one I had machine quilted, with somewhat less than ideal results.  But it’s still beautiful, and it will keep my little girl warm and happy when it’s chilly.  I tell Kate there’s so much love sewed in here she’s sure to be cozy, and she looks up at me with her most earnest face and tells me she can feel it.  That’s so cool.

Quilt pattern from Free Spirit Fabric. Fabrics from Bee Square Fabrics and Purl Patchwork.