Theme-a-licious and WIPocalypse Updates

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Heather

So, my goals were to finish Teresa Wentzler’s Cutwork Compass Rose and work on the humbug bag canvaswork. Yeah…

Ack! Ran out of braid!!

On the plus side, as I posted the other day, I did work on the small canvaswork ornaments I’ve had on the stretcher bars for months. And since I finished one of them, that definitely counts for WIPocalypse. (Check back here for a picture.) The third (and final) ornament is as far along as I can take it until my new spool of #12 braid arrives.

And, since I am such a beginner at canvaswork, all of this totally counts for August’s Theme-a-lcious too, which was to try to stretch ourselves. So, yay!

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Time for Lunch!

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Heather

The little man starts school next week, and even though he will only be going to junior kindergarten and only be there for 2 1/2 hours, he is still supposed to bring a snack. So, what’s a crafty mommy to do? Sew a lunch bag!

Lunch Bag

I used this tutorial, and was very pleased with the results. Since this is a snack bag, rather than a lunch bag, I went with regular quilting cotton for the outside. It is, however, lined with PUL, just in case. (Note:PUL is not food safe. I’ve come across a lot of patterns that use PUL where it will touch food, and that isn’t a great idea. I feel comfortable using it inside this lunch bag since it will not directly touch food, but I would never choose to use it somewhere where it would be in direct contact with something someone I love was going to eat.) There is a layer of Insul-Bright sandwiched in between, which means that it is actually insulated and will keep things cool if I pop in ice pack inside.

Lunch bag interior

I even got creative with my fancy sewing machine and embroidered the little man’s name on one side of the bag. 😀

I also wanted to make some small reusable snack bags to pack his goodies in. But, unfortunately, I had a hard time finding a pattern for a lined bag that didn’t use PUL or rip-stop nylon (neither of which were a good option in my mind). But, the other night when I couldn’t sleep, I had a brainwave! I could use a heavy-duty freezer bag to line the pouch and use French seams to make sure it was all sealed.

Reusable Snack Bag

Taadaa! A fully lined, washable, enclosed seam, reusable snack bag. It is easy to turn inside out and clean every crevasse, and I suspect it could even handle being thrown into the washing machine. So, now the little man is all set! All that is left is to count down the days until I’m free he starts school.

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Socks and Scarves

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Heather

I’m working on keeping my head and toes warm, again.

Bias “Before and After” Scarf

The scarf is Bias “Before and After” Scarf by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas (available through Ravelry or here for US$5). The pattern is written for fingering weight yarn, but they do have a supplement available for knitting it out of sport weight yarn, specifically with Louet Euroflax in mind. And what did I happen to get as a gift from Erica? Why, some lovely Louet Euroflax in a colour called Wild Grape.

Beaded cast-off

The cast-off is done with beads, which adds a lovely weight. And to make each end the same, it uses a provisional cast-on, which is then cast-off with beads as well. (The colour in the first picture is more accurate, by the way.)

As for my toes, the other week I finally finished off my Wimbledon Socks, which I started back in February. But, um, take a good look at the stripes on both socks…

Wimbledon Socks

Yep, I made a mistake. The first sock was actually knit with the incorrect stripe pattern. Unfortunately, I knit the second sock correctly and didn’t notice until I was at the heel. At that point, I decided that fraternal twins were just fine with me! The yarn is Berroco Comfort sock in White and Dunedin, and pattern purchase details are at the bottom of this post.

Wimbledon Socks – back button

Right now I’m working away on my last pair of socks for the Summer of Socks knit along. The pattern is fairly simple, and once I get up some energy, I should be able to finish them up fairly quickly. I have to admit, I’m looking forward to the cooler weather so I can wear all these new socks!

 

 

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Delicious Delight

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Heather

My sporadic adventures in canvaswork continues.

Delicious Delight, designed by Carolyn Mitchell

This is Delicious Delight by Carolyn Mitchell. It is part of her Gourmandise Gems Collection, but I am stitching it out of the Festive 2010 issue of A Needle Pulling Thread (which featured three of the 10 designs in the leaflet).

I enjoyed stitching this much more than I am enjoying working on my other piece of canvaswork (Chocolate Kiss Humbug Bag from Northern Pines). Carolyn Mitchell’s charts and instructions are much clearer to me, probably because I am such a beginner and still think of things very much as a cross stitcher would.

Delicious Delight – close-up

So, the technical details: it is stitched on 18 count mono canvas using #12 Kreinik braid, DMC #5 perle cotton, DMC floss, Rainbow Gallery Petite Very Velvet and Swarovski crystals. The crystals are a different colour than those called for in the chart–I used Golden Shadow rather than Violet Champagne.

This is the second of these ornaments I’ve completed. I’m now working away on the second, but it look s like I will run out of the gold #12 braid before I finish. 🙁

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Witches and Owls (Spoilers!)

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Heather

I think it is interesting how we sometimes get into a really groove in terms of stitching subject matter. Last year, for example, I stitched a lot of Christmas things. And this summer, I seem to be all about the Halloween stitching.

Friendly Full Moon Witch by Chatelaine (WIP)

I’ve made a bit of progress on Chatelaine’s Friendly Full Moon Witch. The fabric is from Picture this Plus, I believe. Maybe one you ladies will recognize it, since I can’t remember the name. Maybe it is Crystal Gothic?

Very Scary by Lizzie*Kate (WIP)

And, of course, there is Lizzie*Kate’s mystery design Very Scary. I’m not as far along in part 2 as I’d like to be, but given that I’ve made six quilt blocks and finished one knit scarf and a pair of socks, I think I’ve got some good excuses. 😉

I hope to have Very Scary done in time for Halloween this year (and framed to! Do you hear that, husband?), but I’m in no rush to finish Friendly Full Moon Witch since I don’t really have any place to hang her. I need more walls!

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Blocks and Blocks

Posted on August 21, 2012 by Heather

This past weekend I hauled out my sewing machine for one of my sewing binges. The goal was to get caught up on the Craftsy Quilt Block of the Month class. I had fallen dreadfully behind, with six blocks to make and two more (those darn paper piecing hexi blocks) to fix. One broken sewing machine needle and several silly mistakes later, and I’ve got a bunch more blocks for my sampler quilt.

Hexi Stripe (English paper piecing)

This block and the one below are from April. I had originally sewn them to broadcloth rather than black quilting cotton. Once I got over that horror, I decided to cheat and use a heat activated permanent fabric glue to attach them to the proper fabric. Well, when I dug them out over the weekend, I discovered that the glue wasn’t as permanent as the label claims. So, I took them off their background and sewed them down on yet another square of quilting cotton (the broadcloth has been hidden away to make sure another mistake doesn’t happen).

Hexi Flower (English paper piecing)

The colour is really off on these. The prints are much brighter in actuality.

Next, I tackled June’s blocks, which are variations on the nine patch. I used half square triangles again, and I still like doing them.

Greek Cross (nine patch)

Octagon (nine patch)

I did have a bit of trouble sewing together the octagon block. :/ I shared the picture here on Twitter.

July’s blocks were Dresden plates, which turned out to be easier than I expected.

Dresden Plate

Hmmm, well, the circle in the centre of this one didn’t turn out very well…

Dresden Wheel

That’s much better!

And, lastly, August is all about stars! First, the classic Ohio Star block, which makes use of quarter square triangles:

Ohio Star

And then the more complicated Double Star, which uses Flying Geese. They were also much easier than I expected. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to line up my seams very well. None the less, I think it looks pretty nice for my first attempt.

Double Star

Next month is curved piecing, which I’m a bit worried about. But, so far all of the instructions for the class have been excellent, so I’m sure I manage to figure it out just fine.

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TUSAL – August 2012

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Heather

It is the new moon yet again (or at least it was a couple of days ago!), and time for the Totally Useless Stitch Along! If you’d like to join in, check out the post on It’s Daffy Cat’s blog here.

TUSAL ort collection for July/August

Look at that! My little Lantern Moon ort holder is just stuffed full! There is yarn from the socks I finished up, and bits from the little man’s sweaters. There is all kinds of bits from Lizze*Kate’s Very Scary and TW’s Cutwork Compass Rose.

My jar sure is getting full! I expect by the last update for the year it will be nearly full. And, if you can believe it, there are only four more updates to go! Wow!

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