After the vacation

Here's my husband and sons on a walk on the longest beach in the world. Long Beach. At least that's what they say. My husband seems to have more energy than my sons.While at Long Beach, I appliqued these Hawaiian pieces to go with the fabric my son and his wife gave me. Here's a pineapple

and here are coconuts and palm trees.

I also knitted before, there, and after. This is a very cute vintage cap pattern that I used with a soft, soft wool. I love the look of these old patterns.

For a customer who bought a hooded sweatshirt, I made these pants and socks. I made my own pattern to suit the size of yarn that I used.

Andrew, who was in my photo shoot picture of this sweater with a crew neck, is getting this sweater. His mom liked the pictures of him in the sweater, but she wanted a V-neck for him. Photo shoots are one way to get more sales.

Another customer quilt off the frame. She actually had a fabric in there that I had used on my twin daughter's dresses many years ago.A close up view although it's still hard to see the quilting.

Borders.

And some hot pads that I finished with my fruit and vegetable fabrics.

Sunbonnet Sue

Having a store causes new contacts. A woman came into my store and saw the Sunbonnet Sue quilt that I had hanging which she really liked. The next day she brought me 21 of these squares that she had purchased at a garage sale 25 years ago. These squares are about 15" square. The background is muslin. The skirts are all hand pieced and everything is sewed to the muslin with a black running stitch.

I would like to know how old these are. If you can tell by looking at the fabric what decade they come out of I would love to know. I would like to purchase something for sashing that goes along with the style and era they are from. I'm not a quilt historian and have never studied this. Bu t these squares are beautiful. So help!!!!!

Here's a closer up view to help you see the running stitch.

A Flash from the Past

My sister called and said she was putting the bedspread on her bed that I made for her. I said I couldn't remember that at all. It was a wedding present almost 30 years ago. She sent me the pictures and here it is. Now I remember.I knitted it from a pattern book that I had bought in Germany, so the instructions are all in German. Not bad, eh? It's amazing all the time I must have spent on knitting it. I don't know if I have the patience for that now. Quilts are much easier to do king size.

Ships

A customer quilt just off the frame. Ships and Lighthouses.I tried to resemble waves in the blue sashing

And I put anchors in the red sashing.

A Little of This and That

My son and his wife just got back from a trip to Hawaii and brought me these fabrics. I have ideas of how to use them, but I will take more. Fabrics like this are beautiful but can be hard to put in a quilt.My quilt guild had their Christmas Party yesterday and these are the presents I received. I'll use the fabric to make the patterns that she gave me and of course I'll eat the chocolates. I love chocolate.

I bought these fabrics quite a while back with an idea in mind, but as I was trying things, it wasn't working out, so now I'm cutting out hot pads. I think someone will like them in their kitchen

Photo shoot

This is the sweater I showed in pieces the other day. Andrew just dropped over today with his rabbit so we took pictures of him with the sweater. Looks pretty cute, doesn't he?He really likes his rabbit.

My Sunday Football Activity

Knitting is what I do during football games. I actually came in the room to watch the game rather than from a distance because the Seahawks won, but the Cardinals won also. That won't help the Seahawks. I finished the scarf during Monday night's game, but that one didn't have as much interest for me. These are a baby ensemble.

What projects I've been working on

This is a knitting needle case that I've wanted for quite a while. The fabric is my most favorite fabric from France.I customized the pattern to fit all my double pointed and circular needles. I don't use the long straight needles at all. All sizes are in here.

I'm really happy with it.

I've also been working on this quilt this week. It's coming along.

Here's a close up of the center.

And I'm knitting this pullover for some little boy. We need more boys clothing in our shop. It's amazing how it's so fun to make girl's items, but the boys get neglected.

Quilting

Another customer quilt. This woman did a wonderful job of piecing. It's nice to work on a quilt so nicely done. The sun is shining in on it.I like showing the whole quilt because we are all looking for new ideas for our next one, whether it's color or pattern. Here's a close up of the square and sashing.

This is the backside that shows the border and the sashing better - although the sashing is still hard to see. I did a flower in the square block with leaves and little flowers in the strip.

My latest knitted sweater. This style is popular in our shop. The color on this is denim blue with gray. The coloring of the picture does not do it justice. It is a real pretty sweater.

THREE LITTLE SHEEP

The sheep on the left I made for a customer, but it turned out bigger than it should, so I made the next one at a needle size smaller, but it didn't turn out much smaller. Then I made the white one to see if it seemed like my original, but it doesn't either. But I guess I'll be happy with them the way they are. They are just to fat. Here's the original. Isn't he cuter? I used the same yarn for both and the smaller needle size is what I used on this one. My knitting style was different back then. Since then, I've learned proper knitting.

Whats on my Machine Monday

This is a customer quilt. Line dancing in the squares and feathers on the white. This woman does a beautiful job of piecing. Her points are all perfect. I'll show more when I am done.

Black, White and Red all over

with a little green and blue also. This is one just done for a customer.Feathers on the borders. Those I really like to do.

From the back side you can see what I did in the squares. A little squiggly.

More Little Things

Baby Christmas SocksSnowmen

Children's bath puffs

and one bigger thing - My snowman wall hanging.? I think it's too big for a tablerunner.

Little Things

I've been working on little things lately, like these booties and socks.I'm also adding to my zoo.

My card reader isn't working, so I have to go a roundabout way to put pictures on. A little more work but maybe I'll get the hang of it. I'm also getting lots of jobs and spending quite a bit of time in the store. Next I'll be getting ready for Thanksgiving - but I have lots of help there.

This is my Dear Jane square complete. As you can see, it's not very good. I might put this quilt on the back shelf for awhile.This is a customer quilt. She likes the edible fabrics. I like them also. I've collectied some but haven't quite figured out how to use them besides hot pads. She did a nice job. It'll make a nice lawn quilt.