Sewing Scraps

Jodi over at Pleasant Home is having a scrappy sew along and I am participating.  This is huge for me because as much as I love the look of a scrappy quilt, I have yet to have made one.  Yeah, I dig into my scraps now and then and include a piece or two in a quilt but I have never made a pure scrap quilt.  I haven’t made one yet because I have been overwhelmed with how much more work I thought it would be, but it isn’t!  (if it is then I am not noticing because I am having so much fun) 

First she talked about organizing your scraps.  Mine have been sorted by color for a long time but more recently have been put in the drawers of my sewing center for easier access.  (even though until there hasn’t been much accessing) 

Now that I am using them, I am loving having them right there.  I did what Jodi said to do which was to sort through your scraps and pull out the squares that could start as your centers and then sort out some bigger pieces and strips.  I actually started in the reds (my favorite color) thinking I would make a red and blue quilt but when I saw the deep burgundy colors I thought they would be beautiful paired with pink.  So I pulled out all the burgundy scraps from the red drawer and then started pulling pinks that looked pretty with them. 

I love that you just pair things up and sew.  You don’t have to measure or be precise.  You don’t have to make sure you sew the next piece on a certain side like a log cabin you just put it where it will fit.  It is so fun! 

I think the most exciting thing for me is that even though I don’t like most of my scraps, I love these pink blocks I made.  It is like I gave my scraps a makeover.  The blocks are all different sizes and I plan on bordering them all to the same size and sewing them together.  I will probably need to make a few more but than I think this will make a cute baby quilt.  I am thinking about hitting the blue scraps next!

Autumn Haze

I had such a huge response to the afghan I started knitting.  It seems you want to knit it too and who could blame you.  It’s tempting, isn’t it? 

Pattern:  Autumn Haze (free pattern)

Yarn:  Berroco Comfort

Mods:  I did change one of the colors.  I went with Iron Oxide instead of Filbert.  I wanted a darker red/orange than the pattern called for.

I bought my yarn at Unraveled Yarns and they carry all the yarn to make the blanket.  It says on their website that they will ship the yarn to you. 

I am still plugging away at it and enjoying it very much.  The only problem is that I don’t have the time to sit down with it as much as I want to.  Let me know if you decide to make it! 

Clapotis

As you can see from the tag line of my blog I quilt and I knit and I love them both.  Often one gets a little more attention than the other.  My new job of making quilt samples has kept me quilting regularly but I haven’t worked much on my own projects.  With the weather turning crisp and the leaves changing colors I have turned to my knitting with a fervor.  There is something so cozy about working with wool when the weather cools.  I can’t seem to get enough of it. 

The first thing I did when I got the itch was to find the shawl I had started as a knit along project with my knitting group.  They had all finished theirs and mine had gone into hibernation over the summer.  I am happy to say it is done and it is gorgeous.   I have enjoyed wearing it as a scarf and as a shawl. 

 

It has a lovely drape and the yarn is part wool, part silk so it is very soft.  I love the ocean blue color. 

Pattern:  Clapotis

Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss (fingering weight); 2 hanks and part of a 3rd

Needles: size 7

This pattern was so enjoyable to knit that I would love to make another one. 

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I have jumped right into another knitting project.  I fell in love with a sample I saw at my LYS.  I wouldn’t normally take on an afghan because I worry that I would never finish it and I can make a quilt much faster but this one is so gorgeous and has so much going on that I knew I would not be bored. 

And I am not bored at all, in fact I can’t seem to stop!  I am so crazy about the colors and the yarn is so soft and smooshy.  This picture was outdated right after I took it because I knit more on it right away.  I hope I can finish it before fall is over but if not I am sure I will enjoy it all winter long.   

My Round Robin

I am so happy with how my round robin turned out!  The ladies in my group did an awesome job.  My block is the mariner’s compass in the middle with the striped border. 

I passed it on to Susan who set my block on point and added those gorgeous corners that look just like my block.  Then Dolores added that wonderful checkerboard border.  Mary Ann was next and she did the flying geese border.  I love flying geese and was so happy to see them included in the quilt.  Ada finished it off with the colorful piano key border with the wonderful black with white polka dot fabric. 

I love the look of it and haven’t decided if I want to add to it or not.  It was really fun to see all of the other round robins revealed that night too.  You might recognize the first four as they are ones I worked on and posted on here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you ever have the chance to do a round robin I encourage you to do so.  They are lots of fun and they stretch you to be creative.  And in the end it is so fun to see what everyone did with your quilt!

The Last Round

I finished the last round on the last round robin quilt that was passed along to me.  I had a lot of fun making pinwheels for my border addition.  If you want to see what it looked like before my round was added go here.  If you want to see all the round robin quilts I have worked on just click on the round robin label on the sidebar.

This round robin challenge has been so fun.  I have really enjoyed the challenge of it.  There is talk of maybe doing a row robin next.  I think I will have to take part in that too!  Come back soon to see how they all turned out, including mine!