tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-299433322024-03-13T12:57:10.463-05:00Maggie Made ThisI sew. I quilt. I knit. Much else. I made this.Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08203859954322015772noreply@blogger.comBlogger308125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29943332.post-61279017001032661892018-03-27T09:51:00.000-05:002018-03-27T09:51:20.250-05:00Progress!On March 24, I finally finished my January UFO project! I didn't want to rush my work just to meet a deadline that was sort of artificial in the first place. In January, I completed all of the straight line quilting with the walking foot. Then in the beginning of March, I completed the free motion machine quilting. I used different motifs in the various areas. This past Saturday, I added the binding and the hanging sleeve. I am quite pleased with the project, and it only took a decade or two from start to finish!<br />
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I am in the midst of a major decluttering/reorganizing project in my bedroom. My bedroom is also my craft room. This project has been ongoing for months, but became more accelerated at the end of February when I bought my new friend Sergio home.</div>
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Sergio is a new Viking Husqvarna serger. I have resisted buying a serger for quite some time, but I do so much garment sewing that it really makes sense to have one. Anyway, I want to set it up on a little table so I can leave it up most of the time and move back and forth between sewing and serging without having to switch out the machines on the same table. To be able to do this I need to declutter and rearrange the room to make room for a table. I might try to put the serger on top of a lovely cabinet I bought that houses an antique treadle sewing machine. I have the new owner classes for the machine in early April, I just can't decide if I will try to figure it out myself before that.<br />
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I also finished my Easter (2017) dress. I started it for last Easter. I redrew the neckline to match some embroidery I was using at the neckline, with no thought to the fact my neck still needed to fit the neckline, which of course it didn't. I threw the dress aside, and then it turned out we stayed home last Easter anyway, because my husband Bob was not up to going anywhere. I resurrected the dress recently. I recut the neckline, chopping off the embroidery. I redid the embroidery once I had a neckline that fit well. I used bias binding in place of the ruined facings. I definitely needed a refresher on order of assembly: for some reason I left installing the zipper until last, and that was not a good idea at all! Since my return to sewing, my husband had been my helper to mark my hems for me. For this dress I tried a new gadget I bought that one can use to shoot chalk along a line around the level of your dress where the hem should go. It worked like a charm on the front, I think getting the markings on the back will take some practice.<br />
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Yesterday I made a t-shirt! I used my old tried and true pattern and the remainder of a big piece of grey knit I bought years ago at the Goodville Fabric Outlet (now Zincks). I wanted to try out the heat transfer vinyl and my Cricut machine to make a graphic T. </div>
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I added one of the little Maggie Made This labels I had made. I used thread that matched my vinyl. I really enjoyed making this!<div>
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<br />Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08203859954322015772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29943332.post-61223494222460457832018-03-04T22:06:00.000-05:002018-03-04T22:06:31.904-05:00February UFOI am following along with <a href="http://www.patchworktimes.com/2018/03/01/march-2018-ufo/">Judy at Patchwork Times </a>on her UFO challenge. Each month we are supposed to finish up a designated UFO. I think I will just be happy to make some progress each month.<br />
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My UFO for February was my quilt from the <a href="https://misterdomestic.net/epp-party/">English Paper Piecing party </a>run by Mister Domestic and and Pat Bravo. I was sick a whole week in February with the flu, but I did manage to make some progress.<br />
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Here are the six blocks that are now completed:<br />
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While I had the blocks all together for the photo, I took out my Kona sample card to choose a few colors for frames/sashing. I decided on colors called Artichoke and Khaki.<br />
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I also took some time this month to work on the free motion quilting on my January UFO. I am taking my time and enjoying the process. </div>
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The UFO for the March challenge is my Scrappy Trip around the world quilt. I am looking forward to working on it!</div>
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<br />Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08203859954322015772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29943332.post-54304794470782830482018-01-17T10:15:00.000-05:002018-01-17T10:15:33.733-05:00January UFO and a RTW RedoI am participating in the <a href="http://www.patchworktimes.com/2018-ufo-challenge/">2018 UFO challenge over at Patchwork Times</a>. As a good friend put it, it is a good idea to finish up neglected but once loved projects! The project assigned for January turned out to be this quilt.<br />
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This quilt was pieced as part of a round robin exchange with 3 of my quilty friends, many moons ago. It was originally intended for my dining room, but I think now it will go better in my living room. </div>
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Yesterday, I pin basted the layers. Then I started quilting. I did all of the straight line quilting/stitch in the ditch stuff that I could do with the walking foot. I want to do some freemotion quilting in the center square and around those sun ray sort of shapes, and also in the outer border. I am not sure I have time at home this month to finish all of that. But I do not want to rush just to finish.</div>
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The reason I can't finish is because I am taking a trip to Florida! My host told me "bring a bathing suit", so I have spent some time working on getting one together. First, I made the <a href="https://5outof4.com/product/tidal-wave-swim-shorts/">Tidal Wave swim shorts from 5 out of 4 Patterns.</a> I planned to make a top from another of the 5oo4 pattern site, but my supply order did not come in time. I plan to sew a separate bra out of swim foam into the new top for support. SInce my order did not arrive, I have neither the time nor the materials to include the appropriate support into the new top. So I cut the top out of an old tankini that does not fit, and added a new skirt to it.</div>
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<u><span style="color: #000120;"></span></u><br /></span>Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08203859954322015772noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29943332.post-87605568671642995742017-12-16T11:36:00.005-05:002017-12-16T11:36:32.643-05:00UFOs for 2018 Part 2Here are projects 7-12 for my UFO 2018 list:<br />
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#7 Cumulative Action Blanket<br />
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This is a blanket I am making using my leftover sock yarns. I started it in 2012. <br />
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#8 Scrappy Trip Around the World Quilt<br />
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Some years ago I cut strips from all of the fabrics that were in my sewing area and started on a trip around the world quilt. This is a really fun quilt and I love scrappy things.</div>
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#9 Blue Shawl</div>
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This is a lovely shawl that I didn't enter in Ravelry, so I hope I can figure out what pattern I am knitting! Anyway, I am using a lovely gradient set of yarn and beautiful beads, and it will go nicely with a blue capsule wardrobe I've been working on.</div>
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#10 Round Robin Quilt</div>
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Many moons ago, three quilting friends and I made round robin quilts. We each made a center square and then passed them along for the next person to add a border. I have a quilt hanging in my living room that has probably been there at least 20 years, and I'd love to get the round robin quilt finished and hang it in that place.</div>
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#11 Prayer shawl</div>
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A friend sent me a book about prayer shawls, and I started knitting one with some long color change yarn I found at JoAnn's, using various stitches from a stitch dictionary.</div>
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#12 Mojo quilt</div>
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I pieced this quilt top as part of a quiltalong online, I think it was called Something New Sampler. Anyway it was a way for me to try to get my sewing mojo back when I was in a funk. I want to experiment with colorful threads and some awesome free motion filler designs on all that white.</div>
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So those are my current choices of project for the UFO 2018 campaign. IF I happen to finish up something ahead of schedule, I have other projects in the wings that I can substitute. There is a list in the notes on my phone in case I wonder later what I was thinking.</div>
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<br />Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08203859954322015772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29943332.post-2177218009067641442017-12-07T13:41:00.000-05:002017-12-07T13:41:04.156-05:00UFOs for 2018 part 1Judy over at <a href="http://www.patchworktimes.com/">Patchwork Times</a> is hosting UFO 2018, where we choose 12 unfinished projects for the year, and then each month we will work on finishing up one of the projects. So this post will be the start of my list for that campaign. I am numbering them randomly, as I find photos of them to post.<br />
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#1 EPP party quilt<br />
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This quilt was part of a big online quiltalong, all English paper pieced blocks, sewn by hand. I think I have 2 out of 12 done. </div>
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#2 Amy Shawl by Romi Hill</div>
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I started this shawl in 2014. I "only" have to knit on the rest of the lace border.<br />
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#3 Bedroom quilt<br />
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The blocks for this quilt were pieced eons ago as part of a class I took on the Stack and Whack method. It was originally intended as a bedspread sized quilt, but now I want to make it a throw. I need to finish sewing the top together and quilt it.</div>
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#4 Lost in Time shawl</div>
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I crocheted this shawl in August as part of Camp Loopy, but I have decided I want it to be much bigger. I will order more yarn and continue on the pattern. I think I will add the border this time as well.</div>
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#5 Project Linus Quilt</div>
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I pieced these rail fence blocks from precuts some time ago, I have it clipped together in rows. I need to sew them together and quilt and bind the quilt. I am not sure what I planned to back this with.</div>
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#6 Swirl Shawl</div>
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I started this shawl in 2011. It involves counting to the extreme, so is not very portable at all. I think that is why it is not done. </div>
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I will compile part 2 in the next few days. I need to take some photos.</div>
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<br />Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08203859954322015772noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29943332.post-3742324404225420162017-12-05T13:45:00.000-05:002017-12-05T13:45:04.273-05:00The New NormalThe new normal. I really wish I had a nickel for every time I have heard that over the past year. I haven't traditionally talked about much besides craftiness, but I feel the need to today. My family was rolling along at our status quo, when my husband got the dreaded news in October of 2016 that he had stage 4 metastatic colon cancer. <br />
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Along the way, he himself talked about our new normal, dealing with chemo, doctors appointments, emergency surgery. Each time trying to stay positive and adjust to the new normal. I struggle with the commonly used phrase "battling with cancer", because that implies if you don't survive you are a loser or that you didn't fight hard enough. I know that my Bob fought as hard as he could for as long as he could. One day in August 2017 the doctor's "there are many treatments to try" turned into "there's nothing else we can do" and we were told to go do what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. Then the reality set in that he was too unwell to do what he wanted to do. Then he slipped away from us in less than 2 weeks. He passed before sunrise on September 2, 2017. Bob had a deep relationship with Jesus, so I know he is in a better place and not suffering any more.<br />
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When you are married to someone for nearly 33 years, you get very used to being "we". He even used to talk about "our" chemo or hospital stays as if I were getting treated too. So now my new normal, I have to figure out how to be me. I haven't been just me since the 1980s, I'm not sure how to do it. It's scary to have to chose hot water heaters, furnaces, tires all by myself without someone to say they think I made the right choice. <br />
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I am still I guess going through the motions, mostly because I feel like he would be displeased if I let myself lay about crying, although he did like to make fun of me in my animal print pjs. I wonder if I will ever stop thinking to myself "I'll have to tell Bob about that." I'm really not sure I will, I still occasionally think that about my parents, and I did not live with them for the past 33 years and they have been dead for quite some time.<br />
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When my mom passed, it took me a long time to get back to crafting. At some point I thought maybe I can craft my way out of this funk, and I knit a scarf on a long train ride. That did seem to help. I think what I have right now is deeper than a funk, not sure what to name it, but I really need to make some clothes. This will help, not just as a diversion because of the activity, but also right now so many clothes I put on hold associations, like memories of sleeping in a hospital room in that shirt or this is what I wore to his first day of chemo.<br />
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It's hard to distract yourself when you've lost your best friend- almost everything here is associated with him. Even my yarns and fabrics were often bought on road trips we took together. I plan to spend the next little while, sorting and organizing and sprucing up the house. I think a part of this process will be that I will try to finish up some works in progress. To that end, I plan to join the <a href="http://www.patchworktimes.com/2017/12/01/ufo-challenge-2018/">2018 UFO challenge over at Patchwork Times.</a><u> </u> I will work on a list of my 12 UFOs for the challenge and try to rustle up some photos. <br />
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<br />Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08203859954322015772noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29943332.post-11085355728555774892016-03-13T08:44:00.000-05:002016-03-13T08:46:02.156-05:00Underpinnings!When I was growing up, my mom made all my clothes. I remember thinking 'next thing you know she will be making my undies' , like that would be the last straw. She never did. But now I do! Back in the day when a perfectly acceptable 3 pack of panties could be had for a song in any big box store, I never would have thought of making them. But nowadays, I have to buy online, and although they are expensive, they are not high quality.<br />
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So I traced a pair of decent fitting ready to wear, and my undies sewing adventures began. There have been a number of prototypes made to work out how long the elastics should be cut, and trying different fabrics. I saw a number of people online talk about using old tshirts as fabric, but I found that the fabric from the old tshirts in my house did not have very good recovery, so the garments stretched out and did not snap back! I have had success with new yardage of cotton jersey.<br />
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Then I saw a number of people online talking about sewing their own bras! Finding affordable bras has always been an issue, plus straps were never really long enough. So I signed up for Beverly Johnson's bra making class on Craftsy. Amazing! First of all, she is a great teacher. I just made my fourth edition, and I still play the class over and sew along with her. Oh the fit! Even with underwires they are the most comfortable bras I have worn. <br />
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I made my first 3 bras from kits I bought from Beverly's store, Bra Maker's Supply. The kits are very nice, although because I am large sized and need longer straps, I have a hard time getting a bra from the duoplex supplied with the kit (that is the fabric for the cups and frame.) I end up piecing the straps every time. Because of this, I have covered straps with lace, as shown above. The last bra I made was from a kit I bought from Bravobella. The kit was pretty, but I feel like the tricot they supply for the cups and frame is not firm enough. I used it doubled or lined it with some cup lining I bought separately. I feel like it is still too drapey. I made a bra that looks pretty and functions ok, but it somehow feels too delicate, and the straps bunch up and dig into my shoulders.<br />
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I will not be posting photos of my finished granny panties. I might photograph finished bras if I can figure out a stand in model for me. I have no dress form, so I will have to get imaginative!Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08203859954322015772noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29943332.post-28752027730344199632016-02-04T22:45:00.001-05:002016-02-05T10:11:37.350-05:00Progress!First, here are the blocks I made in the month of January for my 1930s Farmer's Wife quilt.<br />
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I have ordered the fabric for the setting triangles as well as the backing. Now that I have more than a third of the blocks done, I will start piecing them together. I think I will also quilt that 1/3 of the quilt, too, and then sew the sections together at the end. I need to figure out a plan for the quilting.<br />
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I finished the back of my Charlie's Cardigan, and have cast on the first front piece. I need to remember I want to wear this on Easter, and work on it even though it is boring.<br />
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Progress is much slower on my Hedgerow. Plus sized tall sweaters in fingering weight yarn are not projects to rush!<br />
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Linking up with <a href="http://www.patchworktimes.com/2016/02/05/on-the-needles-february-5-2016/">Judy at Patchwork Times for On the Needles</a> !Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08203859954322015772noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29943332.post-39540571163856992822016-01-15T11:43:00.002-05:002016-01-15T11:43:40.124-05:00A Tale of 2 SweatersIt's no secret that I am far from a monogamous knitter. I love to flit from project to project as the mood strikes. I have no guilt about this.<br />
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I have two fairly recent project starts on the go now, both of them sweaters. The first is a plain white cotton cardigan with lace fronts -<a href="http://www.amyherzogdesigns.com/2015/01/05/charlies-cardigan/">Charlie's Cardigan by Amy Herzog</a>. This is intended to go with a capsule wardrobe I am working on and will look great over my planned Easter dress.<br />
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The second is a project of a bit more epic proportions- a stranded colorwork sweater, <a href="http://www.annkingstone.com/shop/patterns/hedgerow/">Hedgerow by Ann Kingstone.</a> I am making this in colors that I hope are like the ones in the pattern photo. This is a bit of a crazy mix, and as such will be worn with plain tops underneath. At the moment the colors are making me question myself, but I think as I add more, it will make more sense.<br />
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This pattern is found in a book called Stranded by Ann Kingstone, and I highly recommend it. The patterns in it are all lovely, but she also includes some fabulous tips for techniques that I have found quite helpful.<br />
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<a href="http://www.patchworktimes.com/2016/01/15/on-the-needles-january-15-2016/">Linking up with Patchwork Times for On the needles Friday</a>.Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08203859954322015772noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29943332.post-53602293045413455012016-01-08T09:55:00.001-05:002016-01-08T10:04:15.510-05:00Lofty GoalsI don't usually make any sort of resolutions. For some reason they tend to stall me out and then I feel like a failure. But I have jumped on a resolution bandwagon of sorts over on Ravelry in the Hats for Sailors group. You can find info about Hats for Sailors <a href="http://hatsforsailors.com/">here</a>.<br />
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Anyway, the gist of it is, we wanted to be able to provide hats for larger ships. To do this we need more hats, obviously. Someone set herself a personal goal to send 16 hats in 2016. That started the ball rolling and a bunch of us took that challenge as well.<br />
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I am on hat #2 right now. The pattern is called Spirals and Helices, and it is a nice way to use up little bits of multiple colors.<br />
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My first hat of this round was from a pattern by Kate Osborn called Seathwaite. It is a beautiful pattern and I think the pattern in combo with some lovely yarn from Magpie Fibers, made this one the nicest hat I have ever knit!<br />
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Linking up with Judy over at <a href="http://www.patchworktimes.com/2016/01/08/on-the-needles-january-8-2016/">Patchwork Times</a> for On the Needles Friday!Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08203859954322015772noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29943332.post-79388658906124236052016-01-07T10:53:00.002-05:002016-01-07T10:57:27.396-05:00Farmer's Wife Quilt Progress in 2015I had quite a lull in my Farmer's Wife block sewing, as I needed to concentrate on finishing the pillow project, and then spending time with my family for the holidays. I managed to do a good bit of sewing between Christmas and New Years, and took this photo of all of the blocks I had sewn in 2015:<br />
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I made 4 more blocks this week, and now I am pretty much caught up and can get back to the current sewalong. I need to keep up when I am in any kind of craftalong, or else I lose my motivation.<br />
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I was reluctant to piece any of the blocks into a top yet, because I knew I would be adding more fabrics, but I think I will try to figure out some sort of quilt as you go type method and go ahead and start on that aspect as well.<br />
<br />Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08203859954322015772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29943332.post-34557524244823448602015-12-15T13:36:00.004-05:002015-12-15T13:36:49.973-05:00The Pillow ProjectSome time ago, I think it was probably on Easter Sunday, one of my favorite relatives commissioned me to make some pillows for him. His parents had recently passed, and he had boxes and boxes of his father's tie collection. He wanted me to make pillows for him to give to his siblings and nephew. <br />
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I got a slow start, and then the request came in from my cousin for the quilt and bear for her new grandbaby. As a result it was probably November before I finished the prototype pillow. <br />
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I decided that I wanted to include as many assorted ties as I could, and that I would try not to repeat any tie twice on any pillow. To accomplish this, I pieced the pillows in pairs so I could keep track of what I had added to each. For the initial pillows, I had to deconstruct ties as I went, so about 40 ties to make that first pillow. After the first pair, I added 10 new ties to the mix, so that each pair had some ties that were different, plus a subset that were the same.<br />
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I cut strips from the deconstructed ties, and pieced them onto a muslin foundation, which I had cut to about 10 inches square. Once I had the 4 squares for each pillow pieced, I trimmed them to 9.75 inches square for a finished pillow size of 18 inches.<br />
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I used blue wool suiting fabric found at the Goodville PA Fabric Outlet as the backing, and to cover the cording. The backs close with nice blue coat type buttons. I embroidered some labels, and those are hidden under the button placket.<br />
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This is a care label, the other labels included the personal information for the family , so I won't share it here.<br />
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Here's the whole collection:<br />
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I am super happy with how they turned out!Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08203859954322015772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29943332.post-36743672175589411432015-12-11T09:35:00.000-05:002015-12-11T09:35:11.638-05:00On the Needles Friday Dec 11, 2015This really should be called "off the needles" because these items are done! I finished the Christmas knitting for my mother in law, a hat and some dish cloths.<br />
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The hat is Peerie Flooers by Kate Davies. It is knit in an assortment of yarns pulled from my stash. The dish cloths are Grandmother's Favorite knit using Peaches and Cream. I have 3 or 4 large cones and this seemed to be a nice kitcheny color!<br />
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I should finish off some old WIPs next, but instead I want to start swatching for Charlie's Cardigan by Amy Herzog. I want to knit a lace front cardigan in some white cotton blend yarn, and this will be a nice sweater to go with my Easter dress among other things.<br />
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Linking up with <a href="http://www.patchworktimes.com/2015/12/11/on-the-needles-december-11-2015/">Judy at Patchwork Times</a> for On the Needles Friday.Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08203859954322015772noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29943332.post-48679137287290111552015-11-30T09:30:00.000-05:002015-11-30T10:02:31.531-05:00Misty SewalongThanks you to Alicia over at <a href="http://pandorasews.blogspot.com/2015/11/misty-pullon-jeans-sewalong-parade-of.html">Pandora Sews</a> for hosting the Misty Jeans sewalong! I really liked the pattern, by StyleArc when Alicia posted about the sewalong, and they had extended the size range so my measurements were included! So I bought the pattern and planned to sew along.<br />
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I made a muslin first of the size 38 with no alterations. This size was seemed like it might be big in the waist, but I wanted to be sure I could get it on over my hips. I figured I could make the elastic the correct size for my waist and I would be ok. When I got to the trying on stage, they were really big in the leg, so I took out a lot of volume, on the outside leg seams only and only below where the pocket seams were.<br />
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Here are photos of me in the practice pair, which I made in $2/yd stretch denim I got from the FabricMart brick and mortar.<br />
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I am not dissatisfied with how these look, but I am forever having to pull them up. </div>
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So then when I was going to make my "real" pair, I slashed the pattern and took 0.75 inch out of each pattern piece. when I tried on this pair, the legs fit much better, but they seemed a little tight in the torso. This pair also needed pulling up constantly. When I took photos of that pair, which I am reluctant to share, they seemed to somehow be simultaneously baggy and tight. The back bagged, but it also pulled in the crotch. I think I need to do a full tummy adjustment, because the tummy area is pulling too much of the pants fabric forward, making the back crotch too short.</div>
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OK, I will post the back view photos, but the front looks like a giant spotlight being targeted on my gut, so I will not post that one!</div>
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I really want to get this pattern to work out, I feel like these could be a great go to pant for my lifestyle if I can work out the fit issues. I am currently watching the Craftsy class Plus Size Pant Fitting, and will apply what I learn there to this pattern before I try again.</div>
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Here are some closeups so you can see my topstitching, etc. I could not see the topstitching very much on my first pair, so on my second, I used a stitch on my machine that basically lays 2 straight stitches side by side. This made the topstitching much more prominent.</div>
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This is the pocket of my second pair:</div>
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Front detail of the second pair:</div>
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Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08203859954322015772noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29943332.post-85245540877971098352015-11-18T23:48:00.000-05:002015-11-18T23:53:48.350-05:00Farmer's Wife Quiltalong Week 7Between my bronchitis and a death in the family, I did not get much sewing done for almost 2 weeks. I only yesterday caught up with my quilt blocks.<br />
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Here is a group photo of some of the blocks- top to bottom, left to right they are Aimee, Nancy, Margaret, Milly and Addie.<br />
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It struck me funny that the two blocks Margaret and Milly are similar construction, and we made them together. My mom's mother was named Margaret and my dad's mother was named Mildred. They were depression era wives, but not farmer's wives. Anyway, I thought it was cool, maybe it was the cold meds!<br />
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I'm sure I will fall behind again as the holidays approach, but it feels good to be caught up!<br />
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Linking up with<a href="http://gnomeangel.com/farmers-wife-1930s-sampler-quilt-sew-along-link-up-party-6/"> Gnome Angel's</a> Quiltalong party!<br />
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Linking up with Lee at <a href="http://www.freshlypieced.com/2015/11/wip-wednesday-starry-skies.html">Freshly Pieced</a> for WIP Wednesday!Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08203859954322015772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29943332.post-78119144811951446292015-10-31T19:42:00.000-05:002015-11-04T18:25:52.349-05:00Farmer's Wife Quilt Week 5This week we made two blocks, Granny and Jenny. I have been in a fog all this week with a bad cold, so I did struggle to get these blocks done. As usual, they were both foundation paper pieced.<br />
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This is Granny. I carried the yellow print forward from the last block, and added the blue dotted fabric. I can see that I should have worked out how to make the fabric grain all go the same way.<br />
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Then the next block was Jenny. For Jenny I used the blue dot, and added the large scale red print, and the yellow solid. I did a lot of seam ripping on this one, trying to get the angles correct on those diamond shapes.<br />
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Here are all of the blocks we made in October!</div>
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<a href="http://gnomeangel.com/farmers-wife-1930s-sampler-quilt-sew-along-link-up-party-5/">Joining the quiltalong linky party over at Gnome Angel!</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.freshlypieced.com/2015/11/wip-wednesday-show-me-what-you-got.html">Linking up with Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!</a>Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08203859954322015772noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29943332.post-52868207224264096902015-10-30T10:34:00.000-05:002015-10-30T10:39:46.030-05:00On the Needles Friday Oct 30, 2015I am about halfway through my last Mindy sleeve. I also have a raging cold, so will no way finish by tomorrow as I had hoped. Now I hope to finish before I go on a little trip next week.<br />
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I wanted to join a knitalong in a Ravelry group I am in, Colorwork KALs. I needed to cast on before the month of October ended in order to participate. The theme is to either knit stripes or knit something by Kate Davies. I have longed to knit her <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/peerie-flooers">Peerie Flooers</a> for ages, so I dug through stash and cast that on yesterday!<br />
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This is the first of the Christmas knitting.<br />
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Linking up with <a href="http://www.patchworktimes.com/2015/10/30/on-the-needles-october-30-2015/">Patchwork Times for On the Needles Friday!</a>Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08203859954322015772noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29943332.post-36870503281783196972015-10-24T16:11:00.000-05:002015-10-28T12:30:49.671-05:00Farmer's Wife Quilt Week 4This week we made three blocks for the quiltalong!<br />
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First, we made Old Maid, the block on the left in the photo above. This one was fairly easy, made entirely of triangles of two different sizes. My main difficulty with this block was just trying to figure out how to line up the fabrics. I used the yellow polka dot carried over from the last block, and added the red print.<br />
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Then we made Susannah and Katherine. Both of these blocks have the element of a rectangle with a triangle pieced on the end. For Susannah, I carried the red print over from Old Maid, and added the low volume red and white print, as well as the large scale green print. I had a really tough time on the Susannah block, getting those center triangles right.<br />
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I can't wait to see what blocks we do next week. I can't believe we are done about 10% of the blocks!<br />
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<a href="http://gnomeangel.com/farmers-wife-1930s-sampler-quilt-sew-along-link-up-party-4/">Linking up with Gnome Angel's quiltalong Linky party!</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.freshlypieced.com/2015/10/wip-wednesday-its-all-greek.html">Joining the link-up at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!</a>Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08203859954322015772noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29943332.post-68738895032521175492015-10-23T08:32:00.002-05:002015-10-23T08:33:48.250-05:00On the Needles Friday, Oct 23, 2015I was living in a state of denial this week. Last week I finished the back of my Mindy cardigan, and then I knit all of the icord edging on. In my little dream world, this sweater was nearly done! But only in my dream world! Unless this was a sweater vest, the reality is that I only had one sleeve! <br />
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I had knit the first sleeve back when I started this sweater. But the truth is, I hate knitting sleeves. Because of this I ignored the fact that I only had the one sleeve. <br />
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One night earlier this week when I had finished the whole edging, I cast on for that second sleeve. I was feeling optimistic and asked my husband "Do you think I can finish this by Saturday?" He blurted out "No." He was being realistic, because this is what my sleeve looked like:<br />
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He is right. Now I am just hoping I can finish this month!</div>
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Linking up with on the needles Friday at <a href="http://www.patchworktimes.com/2015/10/23/on-the-needles-october-23-2015/">Patchwork Times</a>.</div>
Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08203859954322015772noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29943332.post-32938765754619797362015-10-17T17:46:00.002-05:002015-10-21T11:16:30.076-05:00Farmer's Wife Quilt Week 3This week in the Farmer's Wife Quiltalong we made two blocks- Belle and Coral. I decided this week that as much as feasible I will foundation paper piece all of the blocks. Since I am only making each block once, there is really no reason to worry about which method is the most efficient or anything.<br />
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The Belle block involved sewing Y seams. I used <a href="http://www.msmidge.com.au/the-farmers-wife-1930s-sew-along-13-belle-paper-piecing-y-seams/">this tutorial</a> when sewing the Y seams. The directions were clear, but I ended up sewing the wrong side of one set, because I should have laid out the entire block before I just went off sewing like a maniac. This mistake means that you end up with two of the same side of the block!<br />
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I little ripping never killed anyone, so it's all good!<br />
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The Coral block was back to regular squares and triangles, so that made me happy. My only issue was that I started to feel like I was wasting too much fabric, so when I precut my shapes for the paper piecing of Coral, I ended up actually cutting some too small! So I am for sure going to cut my pieces big from now on, and not worry about waste. It is no fun to worry and fight with getting the pieces to fit!<br />
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Linking up with up with <a href="http://gnomeangel.com/farmers-wife-1930s-sampler-quilt-sew-along-link-up-party-3/">Gnome Angel </a>for the quiltalong linky party!<br />
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Linking up with <a href="http://www.freshlypieced.com/2015/10/wip-wednesday-productivity.html">Freshly Pieced </a>for WIP Wednesday!Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08203859954322015772noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29943332.post-14950252329051778682015-10-15T23:55:00.002-05:002015-10-16T08:22:12.083-05:00On the Needles Friday, Oct 16, 2015I finished the back of my Mindy cardigan, and am working on knitting the collar now. It is a rather strange construction and I hope it works for me. Here's a photo in progress.<br />
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Once I had the back finished and had joined the shoulders with a 3 needle bind off, I sewed the side seams so I could do a proper try on. It has a lot ribbing, and it seems to pull in a little more than I imagined. I might need to wear it open. I think it will close fine, but it clings a little more than might be good for me.<br />
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I am for the time being pretending I am almost done, even though I have only one sleeve finished, and the whole front edge of the sweater gets an icord knitted onto it. I'll keep plugging along until this thing is done!<br />
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Linking up with <a href="http://www.patchworktimes.com/2015/10/16/on-the-needles-october-16-2015/">Patchwork Times</a> for on the Needles Friday!Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08203859954322015772noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29943332.post-49575935043006497642015-10-09T22:30:00.002-05:002015-10-14T16:20:43.817-05:00Farmer's Wife 1930s Quiltalong, week 2This week we sewed the Betty and Caroline blocks. Both of these blocks are made up of triangles. I foundation paper pieced both of these, and I am happy with the results. I rough cut triangles, mostly to keep from having any of my pieces go crazy off grain.<br />
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This is Caroline on the left and Betty on the right. I carried the red in Betty over from the Aunt block from last week. Then I carried the low volume yellow print from Betty over into Caroline. I like the solids, I might have to order more of them if I find myself trying to put a solid in every block!<br />
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<a href="http://gnomeangel.com/farmers-wife-1930s-sampler-quilt-sew-along-link-up-party-2/">Joining the Linky Party with Gnome Angel!</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.freshlypieced.com/2015/10/wip-wednesday-geese-everywhere.html">Linking up with Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!</a>Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08203859954322015772noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29943332.post-5186107515249755632015-10-07T10:18:00.002-05:002015-10-07T22:05:29.044-05:00WIP Wednesday - Oct 7 2015 - Necktie PillowsI have a commission to make some pillows from a rather extensive collection of really nice ties. I've sewn with ties before, so I know that they are a pain to sew with, being cut on the bias. So I decided that I should string piece these ties onto a muslin background for stability. I also knew that I did not want to repeat any ties within any given pillow, so to accomplish that I am only working on one or two at a time.
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I started by opening up all of the ties and pulling out the facings and interfacings. I ironed the ties in batches just before I cut them. I have so far only processed about 50 ties. I will add some more newly processed ties as I move on to more of the pillows. Then I rotary cut some strips of various widths, mostly between 1.5 and 3 inches.</div>
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Then I sewed the strips onto the muslin background, which I had cut into 9.75 inch squares. </div>
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After covering the foundation with the ties, I trimmed the blocks square and then sewed 4 smaller blocks together. I am really quite happy with these!</div>
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Next I need to cover some cording for the edges and sew the pillows together. I am backing these with wool suiting in a dark navy.</div>
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Linking up with <a href="http://www.freshlypieced.com/2015/10/wip-wednesday-kaleidoscopes-back.html">Freshly Pieced</a> for WIP Wednesday.</div>
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Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08203859954322015772noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29943332.post-52605328342188976642015-10-03T19:38:00.002-05:002015-10-03T19:44:00.633-05:00Farmer's Wife Quiltalong - Week 1<span style="font-family: inherit;">Years ago (probably at least 15!) when I went to my first quilt show, one of the vendor booths had a huge sampler quilt with probably 100 different 6 inch blocks. This particular one I believe was made with Civil War reproduction fabrics, because that was a big part of the stock in this vendor's booth. Since that day I have wanted to make one of those sampler quilts. I am not sure why I have not done it yet.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Last month on Instagram I saw someone post about a sampler quilt quiltalong based on </span></div>
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<span class="a-size-large" id="productTitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; line-height: 1.3 !important; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Farmers-Wife-1930s-Sampler-Quilt/dp/1440241465/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443917752&sr=8-1&keywords=farmers+wife">The Farmer's Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt: Inspiring Letters from Farm Women of the Great Depression and 99 Quilt Blocks That Honor Them</a> . I fell in love with this quilt immediately, and decided to join in on the quiltalong! (If the Facebook group is any indication, so did about 3000 other quilters.)</span></div>
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<span class="a-size-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; line-height: 1.3 !important; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;">The photos in the book are based on 1930s reproduction fabrics, but I decided I did not want to use those. Instead I bought a curated fat quarter bundle from the Fat Quarter shop. It includes a palette that is rich tones of red, yellow, blue and green. I will carry around samples so that I can add more fabrics as the year long quiltalong progresses.</span></div>
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<span class="a-size-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; line-height: 1.3 !important; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;">Here are my fabrics and book:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This week was the kickoff of the quiltalong, and we made 3 blocks- Becky, Bonnie and Aunt. This quiltalong is set up so that we do the easiest blocks first, and work our way up to the harder ones. For Becky, I paper pieced the smaller sections, then rotary cut the other pieces. I did Bonnie totally by rotary cutting and piecing, then I did Aunt entirely paper pieced. I want to be back in the paper piecing groove before we hit the harder blocks! For each block, I choose one fabric that I used in the block before it, then choose different fabrics for the rest of the block. I am hoping this method will help me avoid using the same fabrics together all the time, but also spread the fabrics throughout the quilt.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here is a photo of my first 3 blocks, along with my lovely assistant Honey. I'm sure Honey will claim this quilt as her own. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Linking up with our hostess <a href="http://gnomeangel.com/farmers-wife-1930s-sampler-quilt-sew-along-link-up-party/">GnomeAngel </a>for the linky party!</span></div>
Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08203859954322015772noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29943332.post-77372946757448374152015-10-02T08:45:00.000-05:002015-10-02T09:52:49.847-05:00On the Needles Friday Oct 2, 2015For some crazy reason, I have been looking at poncho patterns for ages, and wanting to try one. Two things stopped me: 1- I was not sure I wouldn't look like a lunatic in a poncho and 2-most poncho patterns have miles and miles of knitting, which I was not willing to do in case I looked like a lunatic! I kept seeing photos of ponchos, and I thought I would end up sewing one to try the shape on me. Then Julie gave me a knitting machine! I can knit miles in a day. So I decided to make my poncho fantasies come true.<br />
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I found some sample poncho knitting patterns, and the ones that seemed the most doable to me were made from 2 long rectangles. Julie had also given me cones of yarn passed on from the machine's original owner, so I chose this cone of burgundy wool/silk blend in laceweight. I originally thought I would add some lace patterning to the body of the poncho, but the lace carriage of the machine kept breaking the yarn, so I kept it simple instead. These rectangles ended up being over 200,000 stitches and took me only a few days to knit. I seamed them together, and I think I will like wearing this!<br />
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The thing about pieces that are all stockinette like this, they want to roll up something fierce. To remedy this issue, I decided to use the yarn doubled and knit edgings onto the poncho. So far I knit a garter stitch edge onto the neckline. <br />
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Now I am working on a lace border on the bottom, based on a stitch pattern called fan shell I found in my Barbara Walker book, "A Treasury of Knitting Patterns".<br />
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I am so glad to have this additional practice on the knitting machine. I tried a new way to bind off that I found in the instruction book, and this new way leads to way less trouble with dropped stitches. This makes me really happy.<br />
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Hopefully I will get some modelled photos of the poncho before next Friday. Linking up with Judy at <a href="http://www.patchworktimes.com/2015/10/02/on-the-needles-october-2-2015/">Patchwork Times</a> for on the needles Friday!Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08203859954322015772noreply@blogger.com5