My Recent Knitting Projects

This is a sweater I finished a couple of weeks ago.  I put it in our store  and about 3 hours later a lady ordered one a size larger with yellow ducks.  (You'll get to see that one another day)  I had thought it was so cute that someone would want it.

This sweater is knit from a super soft cotton, Comfy Sport from KnitPicks.  I love the way it feels.

I finished the collar in white because I ran out of blue.  That came pretty close.  I'm glad I had a way out.

This sweater is from a Debbie Bliss book New Baby Knits.

Do you like the duck. I quess his scarf got in his face.

This is a sweater I just finished for a customer.  I made it a size larger that the pattern called for but it worked out just fine.  It is a pretty sweet one.  This is from Vintage Knits for Modern Babies.

You can see the eyelet pattern in this.  It's nice to do a pattern.  It keeps it from gettin monotonus.

Now I'm working on a dress using size 1 needles and stockinette stitch.  I knitted 1 1/2" last night and I have to go to 11 1/2 ".  How many nights will that take me?  I have done the back, so I did make it through one piece.  There is hope.  It will be very cute when it's done.  There is a story to this one.

Quilting and Flowers

This is the quilt I put on my frame this morning. You'll see more later.

These pictures or lovely old fashion flowers in my garden.

Evelyn's Quilt

Today was my day to take charge of  Bella Jean Boutique.  My girls were out at classes or babysitting, so I took advantage of a sewing machine that is always set up (mine I have to set up on my dining room table) and sewed on Evelyn's quilt.  This quilt has a lot of chain piecing.

I was glad when customers came in to give me a break.  I had the Fire Marshall who is helping us to have the correct extension cord , a fire extinquisher and address numbers on our building.  He did charge us to do this service.  I had a couple of people come pick up clothing  that the girls had sewn for them, another regular customer who has given us good stories of her life when her family lived at the Manhattan Project during WWII.  History is so interesting and it does affect us now.  Another asked about renting my long arm machine. I haven't ever done that.  I think even this lady would be better off hiring me, as she didn't seem very confident about what she wanted to do.   Having people drop in to our little shop does make the day very interesting.

As you can see, with all that, the quilt is moving along.  I think the yellow adds a nice touch.  The flowered fabric I bought years ago in Seaside Or at a little quilt shop.  I made a double wedding ring using it, and this is the leftover fabric. 

Eva's Quilt

This is the quilt I'm working on the days that I'm not working on Evelyn's.  This quilt is in the design process only - all on paper.  I did the borders and the layout on EQ6  but I haven't worked with the program enough to feel comfortable making my own templates on it when they don't have exactly what I want.  Maybe I need personal classes on the program.  So I use bowls and plates and a pencil and ruler and go to work.

This is the inspiration quilt for this project.  It is from the book Whitework Quilting by Karen McTavish.

I get a lot out of her books, especially as I'm starting to do whole cloth quilts more.  This one has applique and trapunto which I also love to do.  My quilt will have some noticeable differences, but hopefully achieve the same kind of elegance.

Evelyn's Quilt

I've started 2 new quilts this week. I'm alternating days that I work on each one for variety's sake. Today is our second day of summer weather, so I'm set up outside to take advantage of the 70 degrees. Is 70 summer to you?  But tomorrow it's supposed to be in the 60's and rain is on it's way.  When you live in Washington, you've got to grab the good weather whenever you can.

But as for the quilt, this is a baby quilt.  I'm using the pattern from the book Big Book of Rotary Cutter Quilts.  I'm only doing 2 of the large squares which is enough for me.  This  quilt has lots of little pieces, so it might take work to have them even. .

This is a view of what I get to look at while working outside.

The Making of a Wholecloth Quilt Part 5

I have the quilt on my frame and am having lots of fun.  I've owned my machine less than 2 years, so I feel like practice is what I need and this is a way to get it.  It doesn't look as perfect as I'd like, but as I go on I can tell I'm gettin better.  The trapunto helps my machine to flow.  It seems to know where to go.

It's also going faster than I had thought.  I gave myself 2 weeks but it'll probably only take one.

If you like smocked dresses you can see what my twins are doing.

Our New Toy

When my oldest daughter was about 5, I smocked a dress for her.  I've never done one since, although I love smocked dresses.  I did have some that the girls wore from Guatemala.  But now we want to smock.  We took some lessons from a woman in my quilt guild that smocks and then we bought this.

This is our smocking pleater.  I'm hoping the girls go to work on it, but if they don't seem to have time, I will.  We'll see what happens.

Guild Quilt

This is a quilt I quilted for our guild.  They want to have it at the Thurston County Fair.

It was pretty fun to do.  I enjoy freehand feathers.

I also like to use swirls.

Donna's Quilt

This is a quilt I finished for Donna.  She had started quilting it by hand and decided she just wouldn't get it done.  She had it all basted together.  I loaded it on as one piece which worked quite easily.

This is a close up view.  I did a leafy vine on it.  I was trying to find an example of pine needles to do, but nothing could be found that was what I wanted.  This leaf was the best.

The Making of a Wholecloth Part 4

Summer came to us today.  It might even last more than one day, which would be unusual so far this year.  Our friend Carla is having a garage sale in our parking lot.  It 's a great place for a garage sale, because we live on a busy road and have lots of room for parking.  We also like it because it brings people to Bella Jean Boutique, our store.

After helping her get all set up, I decided to lay this sheet on the ground and cut on my wholecloth quilt outside.  I do have to take advantage of the nice weather.

This is  a close up view of the cutwork. I am using a pair of surgical scissors that a woman in our guild receives from a surgeon she knows.  They work very well for this kind of thing. 

These are the scissors.  They cost me all of $2.

I'd better get back to work outside.  I want to enjoy the sun

The Making of a WholeCloth Quilt part 3

After  tracing the design onto my fabric, I loaded  the batting on my machine.  I made the mistake of going to buy my batting at the last minute and neither of the stores had what I wanted, although I'd seen it the week before in one of them.  They had sold out.  So I bought 2 medium loft polyester battings and put them together to make one thick one.  That seems to be working. Here it is with the top on my machine.

I used a blue pen that had a thin line and it wasn't always easy to see, so I marked the difficult spots with my purple air-erasable as I went.  Next time I'll buy a felt tipped blue marker.  They work much better.

This work goes pretty quickly as I only outline the design where I'm going to cut.

Yesterday, these children were in my yard shooting footage for a children's song.   They had a lot of fun going around in that circle.

I was able to put one of the girls in a sweater I had made for a photo shoot.  This sweater is a Sirdar pattern, but I made it from a cotton/linen yarn.

I also have this clematis blooming on the backside of my house.  I never get to see it unless I'm out in the back as I was with the children yesterday. The flowers are so large and beautiful.

Zoe's Quilt

This is another baby  quilt just finished.  For this one I got to use my new crosshatch rulers.  They are great to work with, but I do need a little more practice, especially when I get to the bottom of my frame.  My hand gets in the way and I make a bump.

I also enjoyed doing the scalloped edge.  It worked out easier than I thought it would.

This is a pretty cheerful quilt. The mom and baby should enjoy it.

Sharon's Quilt

This is a customer's quilt.  It looks like the great Northwest.  Could that be trout swimming?

Here's a closer view.

What should I post today?

I didn't really have anything new to post today,  but Mary came over with Lucy and I got a picture on her quilt.  My daughter was photographing so she really wanted to get the outfit that she had made for Lucy.  Therefore not too much of the quilt shows.

She does look pretty cute though and the quilt seems to be her style.

Lucy's Quilt

I finished the quilt for baby Lucy and gave it to her.  And then I took it back because I had forgotten to take a photo of it.  So here it is.

Here are some close-ups of it.  A friend did the embroidery and she did a great job.

Dress Quilts all Finished

It's so nice to get a big job completed. And they did come out better than I origonally thought they would. And I'll get a big chunk of money also.  The better to pay my machine off with.

Here's a closer view of the fabrics- silkies, even a chiffon or similar, wool, knits, etc.  It's all there.

She was happy with the first one, so I'm sure she'll like these.