Archive for April, 2007

Mystery Quilt Phase 2A (for Ann)

Thursday, April 26th, 2007

As you all can see, I had a productive 5 days last week at the Cute Little House. With help from Marty and the extensive stock at Fields, I was able to extend my palette and produce the following:

mystery quilt 2

I like it. As you can see, it is quite different from Cathy’s. Actually I think I like Cathy’s better. Her blues and reds are more my usual style. But it is good for us to branch out and extend our range of palettes. Also, you will note that I have followed Cathy’s lead and photographed my blocks on a hardwood floor background. I think it has a warmer, richer look than the plain white sheet I have been using in previous photos.

My new Quiltmaker arrived yesterday. The next two blocks are large complex ones. I have not yet studied them closely, but they look interesting. Possibly a project for the next CLH trip.

Stars and Moons Baby Quilt

Tuesday, April 10th, 2007

Wow! There’s been a lot of activity on the blog lately. So, I finally took the time to download these pictures of a baby quilt I made for the new son of our pastor and his wife.

stars and moons

Here’s a close-up view:
stars close up

In other news, I finally finished Nicholas’ quilt!!! He has been so patient waiting for it, and now he can finally sleep under it.

Nesting Begins

Monday, April 9th, 2007

Okay, fellow Crackpots, I’ve hit the Nesting Bug. Last Friday I was out at Joann’s, because rotary cutting blades were 50% off, and I was looking at the fat quarter bundles (30% off), because I love fat quarter bundles. I had been thinking about what to do about the baby’s room, since whatever we do will need to be gender-neutral, but the gliding rocker that Nancy is generously passing along to us (thanks, Nancy!) is blue. I had been thinking about a yellow-and-blue color scheme, which wouldn’t be entirely gender-neutral, but probably close enough (and we’re not ones to quibble about the defeminizing influence of the color blue on little girls).

So Joann’s had two fat quarter bundles in pastel yellow and blue palettes. And one of them had a fabric with nursery-rhyme characters, including a cow jumping over a moon, a dish and a spoon, a cat playing a fiddle, and a dog in trousers. (I’m not sure what the trousers have to do with anything.)

But wait! One of the yellows is actually a multi-colored paisley, with pink and green as well as blue. Yellow and blue and pink and green all together are very gender-neutral…

Do you see where this is going?

So, I picked up the two bundles, a couple of additional fat quarters in pink, and combined them with stuff from my stash to put together the following palette:

palette of fabrics for future wall hanging

(Note to self: I need more greens!) Now I just have to decide what to do with it. It’s definitely going to be a wall hanging, not a full baby-sized quilt. I’m thinking about one of the large one-block baby quilt patterns that have been in Quiltmaker in the last few years, or maybe a small sampler of sorts with four blocks or so. Any suggestions for a relatively large, complex, abstract quilt block design like Arrow Crown or Memory?

The Perfect Sweater

Sunday, April 8th, 2007

My rendition isn’t quite perfect (I was rather sloppy when sewing in the sleeves and really ought to re-do that), but it’s the name of the pattern from Mason-Dixon Knitting. I recommend reading about the genesis of the pattern – it’s quite amusing.

Perfect Sweater

I did this pretty much to spec. I used the called-for yarn, Cascade 220, which has really become my go-to worsted weight wool – I love the stuff, and the fact that I’ve got an LYS with an amazing selection of it doesn’t hurt – an entire wall of scores of colors of yarny goodness. I did alter the pattern a bit to make the sweater about an inch longer. The sweater itself is a perwinkley purple (a.k.a. a version of a certain crackpot’s favorite color – sorry, Mom – it fits me!) and the hem facings and neck are done with a medium purplish blue.

Perfect Sweater Neck

I also didn’t use a smaller needle when knitting the hem facings, so there is a slightly belled effect at the sleeve bottoms. This wasn’t entirely intentional, but I quite like it.

Perfect Sweater Cuff

Oh, and I had to re-do the sleeve caps because my row gauge was off. Note too self: if you know the row gauge is off and compensate for it while knitting the body, you also need to compensate for it while knitting the sleeves. I don’t know what I was thinking.

I finished this sweater a couple weeks ago and have already worn it a few times – it definitely passes the wear test. It’s a great sweater for casual wear over a t-shirt, and I love the bit of waist shaping.

And, what’s coming up in the yarny craft category – I have a crocheted baby blanket for afghans for Afghans underway. After that, I plan to finish the rug for my living room that I started last year. I’m thinking about doing a fair isle sweater for my next major knitting project. If I start this spring, I might be done by winter. The current leader in pattern options is Hillswick Lumber by Ann Feitelson – some gorgeous pictures can be seen here and here.

Crackpot Quilters’ Blog makes the big time!

Wednesday, April 4th, 2007

Guess what I found when I was playing with Google the other day?

Someone has put a link to our blog on their blog! We’re part of the blogosphere, everyone! There’s a blog called Feeling Simply Quilty (watch out for the animated photos on that page, they’re kind of woozy-inducing) that has put us in her list of links under “Need more inspiration….” I think this is really cool!

I have no idea who the blogger is, but she’s got photos from the Bloomington Quilt Show, so maybe our southern Indiana quilter knows her?

Sara’s Quilt

Wednesday, April 4th, 2007

Sara’s quilt has been completed and sent off. I hope it will arrive before Easter.

Sara\'s quilt

The blocks in the quilt are :
Top row: Random Rails-Aunt Barb, Star of Hope-Aunt Martha, Log Cabin with a Chain-Rebecca
Second row: Ducks and Ducklings-Aunt Martha, Darting Minnows-Aunt Martha, Grecian Square-Nancy
Third Row: Review-Rebecca, Crazy Heart-Nancy, Crazy Patch-Emily
Fourth Row: Crazy Patch #2-Emily, Bunny Trail-Aunt Barb, Pinwheel-Nancy

It is very cute. There is a nice variety of blocks. I machine quilted it with a variegated thread in shades of pink, blue, yellow and green. It’s hard to see in the photos. For blocks without a definite pattern, I quilted a double heart like the one in Nancy’s Crazy Heart.

The bunny print back looks cute, too.

quilt with back

We all hope Sara will have some quality “tummy time” on the quilt.