And more Bulky Socks

I needed lots of socks for Christmas presents so I just kept at it.



The red for my DIL and the cream/grey for my son



These were pretty straight forward but done on the 5 needle system.  They even seem to fit.  Yeah!

The China Dolls

Sometime back in the 1980s these small china dolls were very popular.  My sister and I got our hands on a few.  We made one up for her with a beautifully embroidered pinafore.  She was blond.  Somehow I have a blond one and a dark one in my cupboard....

 Kind of fun to work on.  Easy too.  The legs and arms are just glued to the china parts.  The last step is putting on the heads.

I thought they looked pretty crazy without their heads.  More prosaic with them on...

More Pillow Covers

It seems my DD has a couple of pillows that are in need of covers, and the ones I made for myself seem to appeal to her.  Hmmm, 18" pillow forms you say.



But this time around I thought I would make the angle of the wedges a bit bigger so I could get the centre smaller and have a smaller pillow too.  This time I did 15 degree wedges instead of the 11 degree ones I did on my version.



Lots of tape on my ruler and more figuring but it was a good challenge.  I sewed together two strips 3 1/2" wide and then cut them at 15 degree angles.



I was a bit worried about my ad hoc template but it worked great.



Some diagonal quilting and then I found some suede fabric for the backing as she has a leather couch and I hate cushions that slide... oh, yes and invisible zippers...

More Socks

Ok, those two needle socks were pretty cute but I still have this favourite pattern made from the book of Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders.



These little footlets are adorable and really quick so I just had to use up some Kroy sock yarn.  It was cool but a bit frustrating as the yarn had no repeat of some of the colours so I couldn't make them match.  I still like the result and I am sure they will keep feet warm.

Knitting projects - Socks

Just in time for the chilly weather (OK, its super cold, I live in Canada after all...did I mention the prairies...?) I got a couple of books and began another sock journey.  First I made these crazy two needle socks...



They turned out amazing and they had the advantage of less row counting.  You see, when you are knitting a row and purling a row, you only do the decreases on the knit side.  Super slick.  Then she recommends you do a crocheted seam to complete them.  And it cleverly landed just at the edge of the cable.



Toasty in my new socks.

Small Clicky Purses

We were driving around Inglewood, recently, and my DH stopped in front of the yarn store called Stash, heehee.  (He remembered it being a coffee shop - wow when was that??)  He patiently waited while I perused the place.  I don't actually need any yarn but they had a lovely set of bamboo needles that I had to take home and these small purse clasps.  Sooo, cute.

I hand sewed the fabric bag to the metal through the holes provided.  Then I decided that my stitching didn't look very neat so I inserted a piece of coordinating ribbon to cover the messy bit. (with Aleene's glue) it worked like a charm.

Ridiculous!! All I'm going to say.

Christmas Wreath Pillows

I have a wonderful friend who loves to decorate her home.  She tells me that pillows are very in and I should have more on my couch... As it is coming up to Christmas, I thought that this might be a good idea and I would make some Christmas themed ones.  I hunted out some red fabric ( a couple of Christmas ones too :)

I cut 3 inch strips and sewed them together in pairs so I could cut wedges from them.  The ruler I happen to have is for 11 degree wedges, sigh so lots of strippy bits later....

Sewing for my Mom - Rainbow table runners

Back in June 2014 my mom gave me a couple of table runner patterns and some strip sets she had made to make the bargello pattern.

Time passes and here we are summer 2015.  But I remembered them and here they are done.  They went together quite well and look grand I think.  When I gave them to her recently she was delighted and we had to clear off the kitchen table and put one on under her pepper and salt and spoon mug...

The backs were nice too and I even found some pre-printed labels to co-ordinate.

Pencil Case for my drawing pens

Pencil cases used to be something that we got new at the beginning of the school year.  Not whole wardrobes, just a pencil case...

I have been stepping up the amount of drawing I have been doing lately as well as observing the cool pencil cases I see on the internet.  I think I need one of those now.  So after a little pattern drawing, away I went.

You can see that I prequilted the sides and ends.  The side piece has stripey fabric put on to both ends like binding on a quilt.

Zipper in and ends trimmed.  I left the seams raw with zigzag overedge stitching to keep them from fraying.

New Laptop Cover for my Honey

My husband got a new laptop.  It's big.  So big that there is no commercial bag or carrying case that is big enough to accommodate it.  So I made him a case the same way that I covered my ipad.

I use super heavy 1/8" thick iron-on interfacing with out-y seams on two sides.

Can you tell he picked the fabric out of my stash?  I laughed when he pointed out what he wanted.  I am pretty sure these are two he picked out as cool at a quilt fabric store somewhere.  He's consistent though.

 On the open end I added the flap and velcro so it wouldn't slide out.

My new sit-up-straight Chair

My darling husband built me a new chair - yes, chair.  It is specially designed for me.  He measured me seated and made the back the correct angle I need.

I love it. Isn't he brilliant?

Baby Afghan in Green

I just finished this baby blanket.  I knitted it with 6mm needles and baby yarn.  It is very soft.  I used a simple K1,P1, moss stitch so it was easy to work on in the truck driving across the prairies.  My sister-in-law, suggested I just single crochet around the edge so I got some white yarn that is made of cuddle fleece and did a couple of rows around.  Soooo soft.

I hope my niece,  likes it and that her baby arrives safe and sound.

Wheelchair Bag

This was a secret project so I didn't post about it sooner.  But the recipient is now in possession so here goes.

 First I chose some rainbow coloured fabric.  She loves rainbows...

Then I stitched up the bag in a simple messenger style.

As you can see the straps are loops only.  They fit over the chair pushers and keep her stuff handy.  Oh, yes and a small peek inside...

Oops apparently I made the straps a bit short.  Hopefully we will be in the same city soon and I can fix the issure...

Foxglove at Night Wall hanging

I just love these blocks.  The colours are sooo vibrant.

And finally, put together and all those paper bits removed from the back.  Yeah!

Alphabet Progress

I have been delving into old projects and trying to finish some that appeal to me.  This one I began with the letter blocks in June 2014.
Now look...

And now...

And more...

Braided Strip Quilt

Progress on this rediscovered lovely...

First some math and measuring...

Ta Da... one top done and ready for quilting...hmmm

Wheel Around Quilt

Here I am back to working on this project.  More than half of the blocks were done from my last go round (Sept 2013) with this project and they were all cut and prepared for sewing so it was easy to put these last blocks together.

Then into a finished quilt top.

Finished Our Father Quilt

Yeah, this was done a while ago but...just enjoy...

Some straight forward outline stitching....

I followed Jenny over at Elefantz and am very pleased with the resulting quilt.