Monday, June 28, 2010
Tshirts to Pjs
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Little Girls becoming Big Girls
Now she's doing a task she's much more familiar with: handstitching. She's quilting the two layers together with DMC floss, planning where to do the stitching all on her own. I like her sense of style! My own love of creating and design makes it very hard for me to remain hands-off and not get in her way. I encourage her to keep trying and not get frustrated when knots happen, needles come unthreaded, supplies get lost. There's SO much to learn when it comes to "project management!"
I'm so proud of my little girl; she's becoming a beautiful "column, sculpted in the palace style."
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Details
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Knitter's Nightmare
How about finding the lost sock and discovering that it's been destroyed?
I was so excited to find my lost sock (between the washer and the wall)! I gave it a quick wash along with some towels, but when I pulled it out to lovingly line dry it, I saw HOLES! BIG ONES! Aaack!
I'm not sure if they were there before the spin in the wash machine, but I will definitely be putting my handknit socks in a lingerie bag from now on when washing them. I suggest you do, too!
So, back to the holey sock. I've been known to darn socks, and boy, was I darning this one. I counted at least 5 holes, 2 of which I could darn easily enough, but the others were monsters. I decided to rip out the toe of the sock and reknit. Thank goodness I had extra yarn (and saved it!)
Here's the progress...from holey mess to 2 holes darned and toe ripped back to finished product!
You can hardly tell which one has been fixed! The 2010 sock count is back up to 6...out of 20. I better get cracking!
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Dojo, don't ya know?
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Purple Again?
And so it did. The pattern is "Prairie Girl" by Favorite Things. It's perfect for a bold print because there are few seams to break up the pattern. It took about an hour to cut out and another 2-3 hours to sew. That's with a lot of interruptions. The pattern directions were clear, but I'd recommend them for someone who has an idea about garment construction. The few drawings included were mildly helpful. The only mods I made to the pattern were to add bust darts on the sides as well as two darts up the back to pull in the fabric. Perhaps I made a size too large. The only thing I'm not excited about is how wide the shoulders are. That will get trimmed down next time!
I plan on making another one of these in a shirt length using the short sleeve option. The ruffles just aren't doing it for me. I did not make the dickie or placket to fill in the V-neck; I opted to wear a cami underneath instead. Perhaps that will be added later.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Garden Colors
Friday, June 4, 2010
Quilting Heritage
I have no idea what the pattern is called, so I'm calling it the North Star Quilt. Do you know what or even how this type of block is pieced? I'm stumped! Grandma had this neatly folded away in a cedar chest for decades, so it looks like it's fresh off the sewing machine. She even labelled it. "Grandma Koops made this." That's her mother. My great grandmother. All three of us love turquois. Must be genetic.
This isn't the only quilt I have from this woman. I've had this butterfly quilt since childhood, and now the her great great grandchildren enjoy it. Aren't the similarities amazing? She must've had a lot of turquois in her stash. If only she had Kona Cotton back then! Both quilts are tied and feature scraps cut from clothing. I really really wish I could've seen her wardrobe because there are some trippin' fabrics in there! The butterfly quilt was falling apart in places and needed to be repaired a couple years ago. I took the liberties to label it so future generations would remember who created it. Labelling runs in the family, too.