Here's a little break from postcards. For the past few months I've been slowly trying to use up a stash of Lion Brand Mandala Tweed yarn. It's a very nice, soft yarn and really snuggly for shawls. I bought a lot of it on sale a few years ago and these 3 shawls use up most of what I bought in the color Cats Eye. I have a little bit of yarn left that will go into a scrap blanket. The last step was to add a button to each shawl. Now they are ready to deliver to From The Heart, along with a lot hats, surgery drain bags and some blankets. I just love the color changes on this yarn. I think this is my favorite but I like all three and.hopefully, they will bring warmth to someone in need.
The pattern is here and I used a J, 6.0mm hook. We had a nice quiet Thanksgiving at home with Mom and we head to the river to hang out with my favorite dog, Ouiser, for the weekend. I'll be back to finish the postcards Monday. My Grand Niece, Cora, will celebrate her 1st birthday Sunday so I had to get busy and make a card for her. I was on the phone trying to get an airline ticket using a credit from a canceled trip and it was taking FOREVER (45 minutes). Since I was in my sewing room I used the time to sketch out a card idea. Then I pulled my magical bin of prefused fabrics and free-form cut out the shapes. By the end of the call I had this much done. By the afternoon I had it finished! I'm pretty happy with this little cupcake. it will go in the mail today. Then I took all of the tree cards outside to spray them with glitter. They will stay in the garage for a couple of days for the VOCs to dissipate a bit. I think they look kind of cool all together. I was really happy to avoid spraying my shoes with glitter. It was a really beautiful day yesterday so I took time to take a long walk and enjoy the sun. While I was walking I thought about some design ideas for the December birthday cards. I try to make sure that they don't have any holiday feel to them. I have an idea that I'll be working on today. then I'll get back to the Christmas cards.
Yesterday was quite productive. I got both of the veterans quilts quilted. This one was made by Glenda (Mom). I think we found this pattern, or a quilt made like this, somewhere online. It's a simple 16-patch alternated with a double 4-patch where 2 of the blocks are framed squares. I quilted this one with a wavy crosshatch in a medium green thread. This is one that I made. You may remember when I was auditioning fabric for the 4" squares.Most people wanted the green but I loved the orange. If it's any consolation for the green people, I did quilt it with dark green thread. I've made several versions of this double 4-patch. Some with and some without the border. It's a good scrap buster. I quilted the center with a wavy crosshatch and the border with straight lines. Both quilted up pretty quickly. Today I'm making the last veterans quilt delivery for 2024. This is 34 quilts which will bring our YTD total to 163! We really outdid ourselves this year. For comparison, last year we did 116 and that was our biggest year.
I finally got the binding on this quilt and it's officially my first finish of November. I've made this quilt a number of times and, I have to admit, that this is the least successful one. I just don't have enough value contrast in some of the blocks. But, it's still patriotic and I think that someone will appreciate it. I also got 6 rows of this quilt together. I can get it off the design wall soon!
Today I officially start looking for ideas for Christmas cards and we have quilt club tonight. It's our annual Trash-to-treasure fundraiser and I hear we are going to have A LOT of stuff for sale. This weekend involved a lot of laundry and a visit to my brother's but I also finished quilting these 2 veterans quilts. These are made from block project for quilt club. Becky gave out the 2.5" red center squares and members bordered with patriotic fabrics. Then becky gathered all the blocks and combined them with other fabric. I think she made 5 quilts from all the blocks and these are just 2 of them. The background fabrics really changes the look and I like both of them a lot. I quilted them with dark blue thread and the stars and ribbons pantograph. This week I have one veterans quilt that needs a binding and I really need to get this top sewn together so I can have the design wall back. I'll have a little more sewing time as we wait for the trees to drop the rest of their leaves.
In September I pulled these 5 and 6 weight yarns from the stash and made a plan to use them up. I would make winter hats for donation. I've shared 7 already. I've been working on them steadily all month and this weekend I finished the rest of the yarn to make 8 more hats for a total of 15! There was a tiny bit of leftover yarn, but not enough to make another hat. These are all large and XL sizes. Because of the thickness of the yarn, these will be very warm hats. I'll finish the shawl that I'm working on and then I'll deliver all these things I've made soon. While I was cleaning off my cutting table, I found these 2 chemo hats that I made months ago and never shared.
Today is election day so I'll be at the precinct from 5 am to 8 pm. You probably won't hear from me until Thursday. On Thursday, Mom, Kim and I are headed to Sandbridge to enjoy the beach for a few days but I'll post from there. We are having a little sewing retreat and we'll get to see my Great Niece. Yesterday was another beautiful day to be outside and to go buy more plants. But the evening was perfect for finishing the last 35 surgery drain bags. That brings the total to 130 for this batch. This is what they look like. The strap is a ribbon that goes through the loop on the other side. The patient will be able to adjust the length by tying the strap to the loop. Now I can get on with the Christmas card making. In gardening news, I bought 3 rhododendrons for Chris to plant today and about 90 daffodil bulbs that I will plant. I'm also repainting the address sign that my brother made for me a couple of years ago. The weather here is just amazing and will be amazing for at least a week so I'll be outside as much as possible. Leaf blowing will commence very soon too.
Yesterday I went out in the morning to use my new pruning saw and made a good dent in the work that I want to do around here. Just for the record, and after only one day, that little battery saw is awesome! After lunch I got back to quilting and finished the two veterans quilts. Mom (Glenda) made this one. Brenda made this one. She is also a longarmer and quilts about half of our quilts. But I needed another top to go on a gray back so she trusted me to quilt this one for her. I used my new favorite pantograph, Macrame. When I ordered it I had it enlarged some to be wider so this one quilts up pretty quickly. When I went outside yesterday I saw a Praying Mantis by the guest house steps. I know we have plenty of them around here but I haven't seen one in a long time. It did follow me around with it's eyes as I moved around it. I think they are pretty cool little critters.
and finished the Fab Farm quilt top this weekend. I really just don't love doing sashing and borders so I always procrastinate finishing a quilt. It was time to buckle down and get this one done. I absolutely love the quilt and now I need to think about dyeing a quilt back. With the quilt top done I could put up the veterans quilt blocks on the design wall. This is going to be a fine veterans quilt but, I have to admit that it's not one of my best quilts. There's not enough value difference in some of the blocks. Once it's quilted with some stars and ribbons, it will be improved. I'll look at the arrangement for a couple of days. I won't be sewing again until the weekend, after Mom and I get back from our little adventure. The truth about my weekend is that I was more interested in crochet than sewing. After finishing the blue blanket I needed to start a new blanket. I have way too much yarn, all of it purchased on sale, so I have a lot of options. I decided to do this pink yarn because I already had a pattern picked out. I made this blanket 3 years ago with the same yarn in blue. It's a pretty and easy pattern, perfect for watching TV. During Saturday football I got this started. During Sunday football I worked on the hat yarn that I pulled out a couple of weeks ago. These are made from 6 weight yarn and I had enough for 3 hats. This is the pattern that I used with an L hook. It only takes about an hour to make one of these hats but I won't buy 6 weight yarn again but these will be toasty warm for someone. Next I will work on emptying this bin of 5 weight yarn. The pattern is basically the same, just written for 5 weight yarn. I think I might get 8 - 10 hats from this bin.
Today I might have time to put the veterans quilt together. We leave for Asheville Tuesday so if I don't post tomorrow, I will not post again until Saturday. I finished my big blanket! This is a charity blanket and finished about 48" x 58". I really like how it turned out and it did a fine job of using up a good chunk of yarn. I've made this pattern twice before here and here. Pattern: Sober Granny by Christa of The Secret Yarnery - she has excellent tutorials and patterns Idid not do the border K (6.5 mm) hook Cast on 33 sets of 4 + 2 Color pattern: 8 rows navy 3 rows light blue 5 rows white 3 rows light blue Start and finish with the navy Last row: CH3, 2 DC in 1st SC from previous row * SC in CH2 space from previous row, 3 DC in SC from previous row* SC in last CH2 space If you are looking for a quick gift or donation blanket, this one is awesome. Once you get going you can almost crochet without looking at your stitches. It goes very fast.
Now to find my next blanket project. |
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I'm Vicki Welsh and I've been making things as long as I can remember. I used to be a garment maker but transitioned to quilts about 20 years ago. Currently I'm into fabric dyeing, quilting, Zentangle, fabric postcards, fused glass and mosaic. I document my adventures here. Categories
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February 2025
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