bibbed for her pleasure

One of the crafty endeavors that's been on my mental to-do list for months now is making a bunch of bibs. The other night, I took one of the bibs that my sister gave me and used it as a quickie template to cut up a big batch of bibs. Using only two layers of fabric (as most bibs I saw seem to go) and minimal detailing, these were such a quick and easy project. And can I admit that for the first time ever, I used the walking foot to sew curves? How have I not been doing this all along? How?! Derf!

I had so much fun picking out the fabrics for this. I got a chance to play with all these cute Japanese fabrics I have stashed that I typically only use for making softies. I love the juicy colors and adorable prints. Also, I figured it would also be a good idea to have a heavier weight cotton on top for maximum goo absorbency. Because you know that cute though these are, there will be lots of goo on them, and they have to be able to take it.

And how much do I love sew-on Velcro? Lots and lots! It was a good thing that I mentioned to Matt that I needed sew-on Velcro. As I was about to lament not being able to find anything but the sticky stuff, he offered me about a foot or more of the sew-on stuff. Apparently, it's used a lot in fitting and installing art. Who knew? Well, actually, given my past work experience, I should have known. Ah, the things we forget. Or maybe it's just that my brain is turning into a fine paste these days.

The only thing I wish I had done differently with this project was that I did not cut a pattern from the original bib. I just pinned the bib onto the various fabrics and cut. Had I created one template only, my bibs would have been more uniform in size. As it is, they vary here and there, albeit by just a fraction of an inch. Not such a big deal, really. Again, I don't think any baby is going to mind as they're gooing the bib up with food.

Oh yeah! I kinda got a little carried away and made more than I needed, so I'll be sending the extras to a couple of friends. Hope they like 'em.

One last thing, speaking of bibs, I had to get the "got bob?" ravelry bib as soon as saw them because hello, cuteness! And of course, here is the obligatory shot of Mali wearing the bib:

I also took a sucktastic yet hilarious shot of LG wearing the bib. Heh, they think having a baby around is going to excuse them from enduring these photo sessions where I take cute yet embarrassing photos of them wearing funny stuff and then post them on the internet. Hah! They are wrong! So very wrong.

done-donedonedone-dooooonnnnne!

I will sum up my potholder experience in a haiku:

Candy-colored hues
a pretty pattern to make
Ouch! I've got clawhand

So hooray for the potholder swap! Thanks to everyone who participated this year. In a few days, I'll be getting together with Adrian, Maryse, Stacie, and Cheryl to sort and send all the potholders. I can't wait to see everything you folks have crocheted. You are all awesome! Also, huge thanks to Maryse for letting me take a peek at this book so I could crochet these pretties.

Oh yeah, as far as the details go:

pattern: Lacy Potholder from Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts: Lacy Crochet
designer: Sachiyo Fukao
yarn: Aunt Lydia's Crochet Cotton - size 3
needles: Clover Soft Touch steel hook, size 2 (1.5 mm)
modifications: none

I did things a little backwards with this post, but dude, my parents are in town this weekend and I am exhausted. So exhausted I am writing run-on sentences and feeling okay with it. On a blog. On my blog. The horror! Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend!

shine on you scrappy diamond

The scrappy diamond crib quilt is finally quilted and bound. Hooray! I'm wondering how or why I didn't get around to finishing it sooner. I love it! The quilting is not perfect, but it looks good. I like how the back looks like tile work, and I am pleased with it dimensions - 36 x 53 1/2 inches. And I enjoy the way the colors in the diamonds pop. The pattern itself is based on the Autumn Stretched Star pattern in Nickel Quilts, by Pat Speth and Charlene Thode. It's actually a great book full of timeless patterns that can easily be done with a fresh, modern twist. Looking through it just now, I am reminded of so many quilty aspirations. *sigh* Before I can start on any of those, I need to finish the "Little Village" quilt, which is tapping its foot at me as more houses and trees pile up on my work table and every visit to the midwife reminds me that I only have so much time to finish it.

On a different note, allow me a moment to gush about how much I love to sew bindings onto quilts. It's so easy and so very zen. Sure, initially I complain about how long it's taking me because it does take a while. More often than not, though, I become completely immersed in it after those first 18 inches of stitching while something plays in the background (some episode of South Park that I've practically memorized or I just set the iTunes to shuffle), and I manage to bang it out in a night. Oh, the joy when I stitch that last stitch and can admire my handiwork - a nice, crisp, evenly-stitched binding that totally complements my quilt.

on this sunny saturday....

I trimmed the edges of my scrappy diamond quilt with a fresh rotary blade, cut the fabric for my binding, then went out to play because Spring is here and it feels wonderful. Progress has been slow-going. I am not moving as quickly as I would like to move, partly because I'm distracted and partly because I need to nap a lot lately. Things are getting done, though, slowly but surely. Tomorrow I bind it, which will make me ridiculously happy. It's not perfect - not by any means. I am pretty enamored with it, however.

My machine and I were not working well together. When I tested out my tension and stitch length/width with the walking foot, I got this as a result (click to enlarge image):

Nice, right? I was extremely pleased with that and proceeded to sew the quilt. My results were vastly different - tight & teeny stitches that were uneven and inconsistent, crooked lines, the works. It took a lot of ripping and finagling to get it as close to this as possible. I ended up scrapping the freehand diamonds in the corners that I had originally planned to sew and just quilted around the existing diamonds and went "stitch in the ditch" with everything else to spare myself some frustration. I kept checking the tension, and it seemed fine. I think the problem was the weight of the quilt and the way I was holding it. Maybe? To be honest, I'm not sure. This is the first thing I have quilted in years, and at 36 x 53 1/2 inches, it is way larger than the doll quilts that were really my only and deepest forays into the world of quilting. I think I will play around with some more test pieces before I start on the "Little Village" quilt.

Meanwhile, it doesn't look too shabby:

Well, as long as you don't get too close to it. Heh. Again, I don't think Feisty is going to mind when he's playing on it or puking on it or when it's keeping him toasty on a cold night.

well, this is finally coming in handy

Funny thing about this baby hat. I knit this years ago, back when I started knitting in earnest and had just started going to a local knit night at one of my favorite cafés in Long Island City. I think it was back in 2002. Only 8 years ago, but it feels like forever. I was still figuring out a lot about knitting. I remember I was so proud when I finished this because I had just learned to knit in the round. This was in the way back times, back when I still used DPNs, and I was teaching myself how to knit cables. Never mind the fact that it was clearly too small for me, I was so chuffed with myself when I finished it. It was ridiculously teeny, and someone suggested I hold onto it because someday there would be a baby it would fit just perfectly. Then we laughed at my huge gauge issue, and I threw the hat into a resealable plastic bag with my fledgling stash where I forgot about it until yesterday. I finally got around to sorting the old stash out to see what stays and what goes and lo, I came across the wee hat. I laughed, and I got a little misty as I remembered the awesome women I used to knit with. I hope they're all doing well and that they're happy today.

So there's one more knit for the feisty one, even if it's an unintentional one. Hoping to get more knitting time in the next 8 weeks, but we'll see how that goes.

back it up

I pieced together the back of the scrappy diamond quilt this morning. I'm pretty pleased with the design - it's simple but has movement. I'm off to make a quilt sandwich and pin it together shortly. Don't know if I will finish quilting it tonight, but I am certainly going to try to do so. Oh yay! I'm so close to finished with this, and I can't wait!

potholder progress

As the deadline for the potholder swap approaches (March 27th - yikes!), I am in full-on potholder production mode over here. I am so excited to see what everyone's come up with this year. So far, there's been some beautiful stuff over on the rav group. Can't wait to see them all in person!

Of course, I went with a fussy-ass design, but I love it. It's just taking me a little longer than I expected it would what with the size 3 crochet cotton and the #2 hook. And to think I went bigger than what the pattern calls for. Heh.

Now here's a question for you. The pattern calls for a button as an ornament. Should I add a button to each potholder, or should I leave them as is? I remember last year Erin - putasockonit added buttons to her potholders, and it was such a brilliant detail. It worked beautifully. So I'm wondering if I should go for it? I'm looking through my buttons, and I see a few things that would fit. Hmmmmm....

one top down

I finally got around to finishing this scrappy crib quilt top. (Say that three times fast - "scrappy crib quilt top," "scrappy crib quilt top," "scrappy crib quilt top.") It's a bit smaller than I expected to make it. The finished dimensions are 36 x 53 1/2 inches. That's still a good size for a crib quilt, I think. Maybe I'm jumping the gun here because I am so eager to have this done and move on to the "Little Village" quilt, but I'm calling it done. I will be quilting it this weekend and hope to have it bound and finished by the middle of next week. I am working on the backing now.

There are a couple of things that I re-learned while sewing this all together yesterday, things that I know yet in my haste totally threw out the window. I think if I had paid attention to these details, the top would be a little nicer (and there would be fewer mistakes):

1. Always square up your blocks before you sew them together. Doing so would have spared me some wonky diamonds at the corners. There are a few bits that don't quite align, and there are seams that are not quite 1/4" inch (sometimes a hair more or a hair less) because my squares were not all nice and flush. For this quilt, I will allow it because hey, I don't think the wee one is going to be offended by that when he's puking stuff up on it. Let me state here, however, that if this were for a friend or a bee, I would have been a lot more meticulous.

2. Always press your seams in the same direction. I was consistent with pressing my seams in the center for the first 2/3 of this top. Since I put this away for a while, I totally forgot that's how I had done it throughout and mixed it up while finishing this last part. (I should have taken 2 seconds to turn over the part of the top that I had already finished just to check and see. Doh!) Not sure if that's going to pose a problem when I quilt it, but for now it's no big deal. Going forward, however, I am going to pay attention to this because it is an important detail (even if you can't see it once the quilt is finished). That and my machine prefers sewing center-pressed seams.

Now that I think of it, I'm glad I will be quilting this top before the "Little Village" top because doing so will be a refresher for me. I haven't quilted anything in a long time, and as you can see I just might have a lot of stuff to re-learn. Happy weekend, folks!

prints & promise

I went to the Fabric Corner in Arlington last night for the first meeting of the New England Modern Quilt Guild. It was wonderful to meet so many inspired and inspiring women who are so into modern quilting (and crafting in general). Of course, I couldn't walk away without picking up some fabric. How much do I adore this Michael Miller print? It reminds me of those plastic tote bags they sold at Woolworths that my godmother would always pack towels in when we went to the beach or of some fabulously tacky oilcloth tablecloth from the late 70s (probably spotted in my godmother's house because clearly she had a thing for this type of print). I guess you can just say it reminds me of my godmother, which is only strange because she isn't one to ever wear bold prints or bright colors. I would describe her as pretty safe in style, demure even, yet I think she was fond of flashes of crazy prints and peeks of wild color in her home. She has always been a huge source of crafty inspiration for me. She was a quilter, crocheter, and embroiderer who always had a project in the works and made so many beautiful things for her home and her loved ones. She taught me how to handsew and how to embroider, so it almost comes as no surprise that a piece of fabric would make me think of her. I don't think she sews much now that she is in her late 70s, but I cannot imagine the woman without a crochet hook in her hand or her hair.

I have no idea what I will be making with this print yet, but I bought a couple more different prints as well and am already looking through my stash of Kona cotton to see if I have any solids that would work well with all these prints. I'll figure something out. In the meanwhile, I have to say, I am excited about joining this guild and look forward to future meetings. It's a bit of motivation to finish up the two quilts I have in progress and to start on some more.

getting to it

As many of you may know by now, the great potholder swap of 2010 in well underway on Flickr and ravelry. I'm so inspired by the beauties people are whipping up in both groups. I have finally decided on a pattern and have started my potholders, and I do not want to stop. I'm gonna go with this momentum! It's potholders away over here this weekend!

get yr sock on

It almost feels like all my attention span can handle these days is wee socks. There are a million and one preparations to make, and most of them are boring stuff - finishing every last assignment/commission I have on my plate so I can take April & May off, taxes, passport renewals, endless minutia and tiny loose ends that need to be tied up and neatly put away so I don't have to worry about them in the coming months. Not to mention all the chaos caused by the work that's being done in the apartment. Although we've managed to go 3 winters here with no heat in the living room/ studio, we're not sure how a wee one will feel about that. (Yeah, I know, oh those first world problems! Heh.) Hence, I am tired, my brain hurts all the time, and I need quick little projects that are full of satisfaction. That's where the wee socks come in - a super-fast and easy project that is chock full of joy... and a great way to use up all those sock yarn leftovers, to boot!

As I was knitting these wee socks, it struck me that I don't have a lot of leftovers to use, and the reason why is painfully clear. It's the same reason why I faltered at the heel of the first wee sock and the same reason why I had to think about how to kitchener a toe. I have not been knitting socks. The realization awed me. How can I not be knitting socks? I always knit socks. I know at least four different types of heels and five different toes right off the top of my head (thanks to Nancy Bush)! How can I suddenly draw a blank while knitting wee socks? And how could I have gone the whole winter without knitting even one pair of socks for myself? I think I have at least two pairs on the needles now. Here's one:

I have no idea where the other(s) may be what with our apartment having been torn apart the last week or so. What is wrong with me? Where has my sock knitting mojo gone? I think I can find it, and I think this is going to help me find it. Wanna play along? Go to Elinor's blog and read the rules. There's also a Flickr group and a ravelry group. Elinor's put a lot of thought and effort into organizing this, and it promises to be a lot of fun. Let's all get our sock on!