Friday, November 28, 2014

Mini and Two in One Pouch Finishes

I'm so excited to have my mini all finished up for my Instagram mini swap. It pushed me to try new things and I just love how it turned out! The mini is #7 on my Q4FAL list. I'm linking up with TGIFF and Finish It Up Friday.

Here it is in all its glory. The pattern is from Vintage Quilt Revival. I was a little nervous about the colors at one point thinking maybe it was a little too 80's track suit but I think it turned out well.

The quilting was so fun!! I did a sort of straight line spiral thing in the diamonds and squares. I think it adds fun texture. You can also sort of see my binding method. Most people were hand stitching them and I just can't make that happen. It actually looks better when I machine stitch mine so I stuck with it.

This is just for the cool texture shot. I really like the quilting on this one and I may have to do something like that again. I was going to do more quilting but the people all polled all agreed that it was better like this.

I wanted to throw in an extra little something in her package. A zipper pouch seemed like just the thing but I didn't know which one until Svetlana from S.O.T.A.K. Handmade came out with her Two in One Pouch.

Aren't they adorable?! I did a little patchwork with some leftover Scrumptious by Bonnie and Camille.

One more shot just because I love them so. I have one more cut out and ready to sew but then we had the holiday and I didn't get to it. I highly recommend the pattern. There are a lot of pictures and good explanations. You can get it here.

As a side note I got to the part with the double pointed needles on my hat. This is my first time ever attempting them and I was a bit afraid of it. Now, a few rows in, I've totally got this! I'm ready for my next challenge - any suggestions?
Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

WiP Wednesday:Fox and Knit Progress

I always like to share my finishes on Friday because of the fun linkups so even though I finished my mini and some pouches they will have to wait. I did get some progress done on my foxes and knit hat though and they are fun and worth sharing in a quick post and linking up with WiP Wednesday. If you want to see what I'm up to in between posts check me out on Instagram @julieschloemer.

This is SLOWLY coming together. I keep setting it aside for other more pressing projects. I only have three more seams per fox! I might just have to finish it up this week so I can move on without this cookie sheet on my table.

I'm loving this hat! My third knitting project is going well and is so fancy! I can't wait to get it done and wear it. I think I'll make mine a little less slouchy but otherwise I'm doing well following the pattern. I'm almost to the point where I use double pointed needles. I've never done that before and I'm a little nervous.
Well, that's my little update for now. I'll be back on Friday to share my finishes. I can't wait! For those in the states I hope you enjoy your holiday. I'm off to make a lot of pie. Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, November 21, 2014

Knit Finish and Basting Party

I finally have the internet in my new house!! It took nearly three weeks and I've done so much in that time that I can't wait to share. I have a few WiPs going but for today we'll just stick with the ones that are finished or nearly so.

So this is my second knit finish. I'm pretty in love with it. It is a seed stitch cowl using this really cool yarn that gets variably bigger and smaller. It is #10 on my Q4FAL list.

The yarn made for a really cool texture when combined with the seed stitch. It was a fun project and with record low temps in Iowa I've already gotten some good use out of it.

Next up I added the borders and basted my Supernova Friendship Swap quilt. Izzy from Dizzy Quilts and I did this together over several months and I just love how it turned out! I added two more blocks to the set that we made so it would be bigger. With me being 6' tall and my hubby 6'6" longer quilts are always welcome.

I also finished up and basted my April Showers quilt. I love how this one is pretty basic but really fun too. It shows off the fabric without being terribly obvious that that's what I'm doing.

The basting party was fun. I only have hard floors under my dining room table so I had to move it and all the chairs to baste these. I waited until I had three to make it worth the effort. The last one was my Instagram Mini Swap quilt. I just love this and have even started to quilt it already. It is turning out so well! My kids keep telling me they can't believe I'm just going to give this away and suggest I make another for myself. I may just have to do that.
I'm linking up with TGIFF and Finish It Up Friday.

Well, there's my productivity for the week. I am also nearly finished making the foxes for the orange twin-size fancy fox quilt and have made good progress on my knitted hat. Not to mention how the boxes are going away and it's feeling more and more like home here. I hope to have the mini finished this week as the posting deadline is December 1st. I can't wait to show it off! Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

I'm back - Sort of...

I had a nice move and we're getting settled in our house but still don't have internet until next week. Here I am with my nook in the Barnes and Noble store writing a post... good times. In the mean time I have been sewing. Here's an update of what I've been working on.

I finished the top of my April Showers quilt. I'm pretty taken with this one even though I wasn't in love with the line and first it grew on me the more I played with it. This is twin size.

Having finished my first two knitting projects I decided to try a hat. The yarn is so much thinner than my other projects so it feels slow going but it looks so classy! I've actually done a lot more than this but don't have a more updated picture.

So it is annoying that this picture is sideways but it shows nice progress on my Fancy Fox quilt. I have one of 80 complete. This will also be twin size.

I also finished my mini top. I started cutting yesterday and finished piecing last night. I'm pretty in love with this! Now I just have to figure out how to quilt it.

Here's the back. As far as paper pieced patterns go it wasn't crazy hard but looks pretty cool. This is for the instagram mini swap I'm in.
Well, that's me right now. I hope to post my jnitting finish later this week and be back to my usual blogging when I get the internet next week. Thanks for stopping by!