Quilting Update

I finished quilting both Diagonal Puzzle and Life's Ups and Downs, so they are ready to turn in at our Project Linus meeting tomorrow.

Diagonal Puzzle Quilt

On Diagonal Puzzle, I ditch quilted the edge to edge seams between the horizontal rows of blocks. Then I quilted zig-zag lines from top to bottom, first going through the center of the black squares on one row, then zagging at a right angle across the solid block on the next row arriving at a black square corner and turning again.

Once all the zig-zags were quilted through the black squares, I used a chalk pencil to mark half way between the points of the zig-zags and quilted a set of zig-zags through those points so the stitching was close enough to hold the batting securely. You can see that better in the close up picture below.

Life's Ups and Downs Quilt

On Life's Ups and Downs, I first ditch quilted some of the vertical seams to stabilize the quilt. My goal was to have the vertical stitching about 5" to 6" apart, but I had to work with the width of the pieced strips.

With the quilt stabilized by the vertical stitching, I quilted horizontal waves across the quilt. First I stitched waves through the yellow lizard print and the 2 waves of continuous green (the only 3 fabrics forming an unbroken wave). With those lines as a rough guide, I quilted more waves to divide the area and leave no spot more than 4" from a line of quilting. A closer view is below.

I used Pellon Quilter's Touch polyester batting in these quilts. I bought a 60" wide by 20 yard long roll at JoAnns when it was a door buster special on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. It is a nice batting to work with. Definitely better than the 10 yard rolls of polyester batting that JoAnns sells.

Mindbender

I seldom do paper foundation piecing. Too slow and fiddly. I also don't enjoy stitching strips to a muslin foundation to create string blocks.

When I found out that the January project for my 3rd Sunday Project Linus group was string blocks, I said thanks for the warning and started coming up with a plan for something I could do with those 2" strips that didn't involve stitching them on a muslin foundation.

This is what I came up with. I call it Mindbender. Don't look at it too long or it will really mess with your mind.

What I did:

• Chose 6 fabrics, 3 light and 3 dark.
• Stitched 6 identical, 6 strip strip-sets, alternating light and dark 2" wide strips.
• Pressed all the seams toward the side with the light strip on 3 strip-sets and toward the side with the dark strip on the other 3.
• Cut the strip-sets into 24 squares.
• Keeping the same fabric at the top, separated squares into 2 groups based on which way the seams were pressed.
• Cut 1 group of squares on the diagonal from bottom left to top right.
• Cut the other group of squares from top left to bottom right.

• Stitched triangles together to make 24 units.
• Stitched units together to make 6 blocks.
• Arranged blocks and stitched together.
• Added more 2" strips to create borders.

I like this well enough to do another sometime, but will probably do a different border. It's on my list of patterns to write and publish on my website. But don't hold your breath waiting for that as it frequently takes me years to get a pattern on my website. I wouldn't want to cause any misfortune to happen to you.

A Finish on National Quilting Day

Today is National Quilting Day. Tomorrow is the 3rd Sunday of March, which means my Project Linus group meets. So I kicked into gear and quilted the Checkerboard Squares top that I made at the February meeting so I can turn it in tomorrow.

I quilted in the ditches of the borders and did a diagonal grid through the blocks. The batting is Warm & Natural and I used some red flannel on the back. Here's a closer look at the blocks and a peek at the back.

I hope you had a quilt-filled National Quilting Day. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Project Linus - Third Sunday Group - February

Checkerboard Squares, an easy 9-patch quilt, was our Fast & Fun quilt top for February, 2012. Our Third Sunday group met at JoAnns Fabrics in Independence, MO on Sunday, February 19, to work on Project Linus blankets.

Checkerboard Squares is a 41" square quilt featuring 13 nine-patch blocks separated by squares of fun fabric. Jodie had fabric kits and instructions prepared to get us started. Everyone had fun and 3 of us finished Checkerboard Squares quilt tops.

Jodie's quilt top is uncharacteristically pastel. She usually goes for bright colors, but chose the kit with green and yellow 9-patch blocks separated by multicolor jelly beans and surrounded by a lavender inner border and another multicolor pastel print in the outer border.

Patti's quilt top features Batman in the squares separating the red and blue 9-patch blocks, topped off with a fun dotted print in the border.

I was drawn to the fun cat print in the kit I chose to stitch. The cat squares separate red and green 9-patch blocks and everything is surrounded by a yellow inner border and a fun, bright multicolor polka dot print in the outer border.

Here's a close up shot so you can get a good look at all the fabrics in this quilt top. Notice the paw prints on the red fabric. The quilt top is on my design wall waiting to be finished into a Project Linus blanket.

You may click on any picture to see a larger version.

Griddle Stitch Beanie - Free Crochet Pattern

Recently added to the Handcrafting with Love website, the Griddle Stitch Beanie is quick to make. This free pattern is available in 2 sizes. The stitch pattern creates an interesting texture and the hat is designed to fit snugly for maximum warmth.

Two and a half to 3 ounces of worsted weight yarn makes a hat. Make a solid color hat or add stripes for a great way to add interest and use small amounts of leftover yarn. The Griddle Stitch Beanie is a great project for a quick gift or to donate to charity.

Evolution of an Afghan

In October 2003, I made half a dozen rectangular granny squares to demonstrate a join as you go technique at a Project Linus event. I used some random bits of yarn that had been donated, including a neon green and some white.

There was only enough yarn for a few rectangles. It was just a sample for a demonstration. I never intended to make it into something usable. But I really hate to throw things away, so those half dozen rectangles sat around with the tiny bits of yarn that were left.

Occasionally more bright green yarn came my way and I added it to the bag. Over the years, I collected enough green yarn to make a whole afghan. The project went on my UFO list in 2008 (the first year I made a list).

Early this year, I got the project out and made the first 3 or 4 rounds of the rest of the granny rectangles. I used a color for 1 or 2 rounds and then changed colors. I made an assortment of different colored centers and then varied the colors in the additional rounds, so few rectangles are alike.

By March 23, I was ready to start joining rectangles. I swept the floor and laid everything out to arrange the blocks. I wrote color names on slips of paper and put those on the blocks to indicate which yarn to make the last round or 2 rounds of the rectangle with.

14 blocks joined.

23 blocks joined. Watch closely, the blocks may move to a new position.

All 36 blocks joined.

Edging - Try 1

I merrily started edging the afghan. I made 3 double crochet clusters in the spaces between the clusters on the last round of the rectangles. Then I changed colors and did the same thing in the spaces on the first round of edging.

I decided I didn't like it. The first round of the edging was blending into the blocks and it just seemed like more of the same, rather than a finish.

So I frogged all of the edging and started over.

Edging - Try 2

I made a double crochet in each stitch around this time. A bit more time consuming than making clusters in spaces. The solid, filled in texture clearly distinguishes the edging versus the blocks. I'm satisfied.

I continue until I have 3 rounds of edging complete. Weave in the last of the yarn ends and the afghan is complete.

The afghan was donated to Project Linus in April.

Where Do You Get Your Yarn?

At our knitting/stitching group meeting at the library yesterday, new member Susie asked, "Where do you get your yarn?"

"In Albuquerque," I replied.

"From Audrey," Sandy said.

Not quite the answer that Susie was looking for.

---

Audrey is known for shipping hundreds of hand knit hats each year to be distributed to Native American children. People frequently give her yarn to support the project and clear their closets. Audrey shares generously with the women that help knit hats, including Sandy.

Most of the yarn I've bought this year is sock yarn and worsted weight cotton purchased in Albuquerque 2 months ago. I've made 40 hats and counting for a homeless shelter, but only purchased a 1 pound skein of yarn to make hats.

Last October, Bonnie arrived at the library with 3 kitchen trash bags of yarn. Her daughter-in-law found it at a garage sale and negotiated the price down to $15 by telling how Bonnie and her friends knitted for charity. Bonnie selected what she wanted and brought the rest to share with us. A bag full came home with me. I'm making hats with most of it.

Three months ago, I moaned about how fast the scrapghan I'm crocheting was using my scraps. Our next meeting, Audrey brought me 6 skeins of yarn. Skeins, not scraps. I'm knitting a few hats for Native American children to reduce the skeins to a scrap-like quantity for the afghan.

Two weeks ago, our library group divided some yarn that someone left for us with Gayle, our library staff person. I came home with 3 different skeins of variegated yarn. Great stuff for hats.

So where do you get your yarn?

Vacation Shopping

Shopping during vacation in Albuquerque is a long-standing tradition. These days, I look for bargains for my charity projects. Somehow, I always find good buys in Albuquerque.

The JoAnns' flyer had lots of 40% off coupons good September 7 to 13, right in the middle of my vacation visit. Wanda and I each had flyers, as did Wanda's mom.

I went shopping first with Wanda's mom, Mrs. L, on Albuquerque's west side. At JoAnn's I got 3 skeins of Red Heart Super Saver yarn and 2 yards of blue fabric. The blue will be a great background for 3 dimensional bow-tie blocks.

Hancock Fabrics greeted us with 2 tables of fabric at 75% off. I bought about 15 yards of great kid's prints, mostly at $1.25 a yard. I hadn't planned to buy fabric, but I'm not likely to find cotton fabric at that price again anytime soon!

Best of all, my visit with Mrs. L included free fabric. She was clearing out some of her stash and passed some things on to me. There's some nice cotton fabric for Project Linus quilts along with some other stuff.

Later in the week, Wanda and I visited the 2 JoAnns stores in northeast Albuquerque. In the Menaul store, we both bought yarn. Wanda bought yarn in preparation for her machine knitting guilds charity knit-in. I bought more Red Heart Super Saver for Project Linus.

At the San Mateo store, Wanda found 2 abandoned flyers in a shopping cart, giving us even more coupons to spend. We both bought more yarn and I also got some 10 yard rolls of quilt batting. My haul for the day was 11 skeins of Red Heart Super Saver and 3 rolls of batting. We also stopped by Wal-Mart for some plastic containers for my quilt retreat.

So what do you do on vacation?

Shopping With Someone Else's Money

Do you need some money to buy supplies for Project Linus?? If you do, let me know what you need and about how much it would cost because the Pioneers have some money that we need to spend.

I got the above email from one of my AT&T contacts last Thursday. My response: PL can always use yarn, fabric, etc. How much would you like us to spend?

I've been on a $200 shopping spree, courtesy of the Telephone Pioneers. Saturday I went to the local Hobby Lobby and got 2 small skeins of yarn on clearance for 46 cents each, 1 skein of Red Heart Super Saver (used a 40% off coupon) and some $2 a yard clearance fabric. Cute circus panels and a coordinating print.

This morning, I headed to Overland Park, Kansas. First to JoAnns where I got 4 cuts of fabric (on sale for 99 cents a yard) and 16 pounds of yarn. I used 40% off coupons on 2 pounds of yarn and my 10% AQS discount card on everything else.

After JoAnns, I went to Addadi's Fabrics on 87th Street in Overland Park. Addadi's specializes in selling a lot of fabric at very reasonable prices. I focused on the display of fabric that was $1.99 per yard or $1.50 if you bought the whole bolt. Since I was buying, a lot, for Project Linus, Mr. Addadi gave me the $1.50 price on the pieces where I only took part of the bolt. 60 yards of fabric later, I had a cute flamingo print, a baseball print, and colorful men's neckties on a white background. And lots of tone on tone prints to go with them.

Results of the shopping spree: PL acquired about 91 yards of fabric and 17 pounds of yarn and I have $222 worth of receipts to send to the Telephone Pioneers. I have pictures of the yarn and fabric, but Blogger is not cooperating. Maybe it will let me upload the pictures tomorrow. Update: Blogger finally let me upload the pictures. 8/29/2006 11:52 am