Nonfat Jelly Rolls?

Well, some of them included fats (fat quarters)...cut into 2.5" strips. But you could make all these with Jelly Rolls, the non-fattening kind.

Members of Vintage Stitchers have been making quilts from Pam and Nicky Lintott's Jelly Roll Quilts. This book has been popular with members of our small minigroup.The first one is Janet's Bars of Gold. (By the way, the names are all the names from the book. Most of us have renamed our quilts, but if you have the book, this will tell you which quilt is featured in each photo. They are presented in the order they appear in the book.)

Here's Janet's Blue Lagoon:


Several of us made Sparkling Gemstones. This was my version:



I was the first one from our group to make this quilt. I realized that there was a problem with the piecing instructions, resulting in an extra seam that makes putting the blocks together difficult. (If you make this quilt, send me a PM before you start cutting, and I'll tell you what I did.) My friends in Vintage Stitchers who made this quilt followed my suggestion.

Here's Barbara's Sparkling Gemstones:



The back of Barbara's quilt features a great fabric:



This is Janet's version of Sparkling Gemstones:



Janet also made Civil War Scrappy, but with very different fabrics:


I made Pandora's Box out of batiks for our older granddaughter.


My Log Cabin Hidden Stars was for our second grandson, born during the year of the dragon, therefore the dragon appliqué.



Here's Barbara's Spiral Strips:


Daisy Chain was popular. Here's Janet's:


I made two Daisy Chains. Here's one:


The other is pretty much the same, but went to a different home.

Several of us made the Floral Bouquet. Here's Janet's:



And here's Carol's Floral Bouquet:



I used batiks to make the Floral Bouquet for our daughter and her family:



Here's Carol's Friendship Braid:



I used Twin Stars to make a baby quilt for our youngest grandson, born during the year of the horse. As was the case with the dragon quilt, the appliqué block was an addition to the pattern from the book:



Not from the book but present at Thursday's meeting were:

Carol's "Zig Zag"—



Carol's "Birds and Flowers"—



Barbara is proud of her peacock appliqué—



And her BOM stars—


Marilyn shared her panda quilt:



Not part of the Vintage Stitchers meeting (yet), my Pine Burr is moving along. Here's Block 15 (out of 16):


One to go!

We're going on a cruise this summer, so I'm starting to gather yarn and patterns for socks to take along, an easy project to travel with. So of course I had to stock up on some sock yarn at the Knit Picks sock yarn sale. (Sock yarn doesn't count as stash, I'm told.) I have lots of natural colors of Palette for the cardigan, but almost nothing in gray tones. In this order I got some Marble Heather and Pumice Heather Palette. The sock yarn I got was Blue Yonder Stroll Tonal, some Navy Stroll, then Stroll Tweed in Rabbit Heather, Firecracker Heather and Dill Heather. Also replenished my needles for socks and for the cardigan.

Also in preparation for the trip, I've been trying to finish off my Johan socks, started during our trip to meet Johan, our youngest grandchild...born in July. I was determined to finish the socks before I swatched for DH's March of the Fibres sweater. (He wants a cardigan.) I'll have to show you the swatch next week, but here are the socks, almost done.

Also this week, as Holy Week began, we presented selections from The Messiah with professional soloists and choir members from most of the churches and the synagogue in Park City. The audience could sing along to the chorus parts.

So, for this week's cuteness: Soren (by the window) and Johan (in Daddy's lap) on the Zoo Train.

What's on my needles: Working on the Johan Socks, second sock almost done.

What's on my Featherweight: Pine Burr, ready to start block 16.

What's on my wheel: Full Circle spinning fiber in "Pigeon."

What's on my loom: Still some warp for another scarf.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished listening to The Curse of the Blue Tattoo by L. A. Meyer, the second in the "Bloody Jack" series about a British street urchin who disguises herself as a boy to work as a cabin boy, from my library as an audio download on the Overdrive app. Then listened to Faro's Daughter by Georgette Heyer, also from the library on the Overdrive app. Now listening to False Colors, also from Georgette Heyer, but from Audible. Still reading Jennifer Coburn's Tales from the Crib, also on the Kindle app. Funny and poignant.

What's in my wine glass: Alice White Shiraz. The big bottle, to tantalize me. (I gave up my second glass of wine for Lent, and as we enter Holy Week, I'm starting to regret it. Looking for the biggest glass in the cabinet....)

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.

Blocks and Cables

The Pine Burr quilt is coming along. Here's Block 11:


And Block 12:


I should point out here that this is paper-pieced. The pattern is "Pine Burr Made Modern" by Konda Luckau from May/June 2012 McCall's Quilting. I've had the pattern and the foundation sheets in my notebook since it came out, but wanted to improve my paper-piecing techniques before trying it. The "Delectable Pathways" quilt gave me a good start. A recent class and the purchase of an Add-a-Quarter Ruler made it a lot easier for me to do paper-piecing. I'm going almost totally scrappy on this quilt, unlike the one in the magazine. With all different background fabrics, the piecing of the background will show up more. I think the effect will still be nice, though.

Here's a photo of the first 12 blocks on my design wall. (Sorry about uneven lighting. I have track lights in my studio.) This isn't how they will be arranged. I'm going to play with them when I have all 16. There will be sashing, cornerstones, borders, etc., too.


Now there are more, but it's hard to get a photo of them all together because of the table in front of my design wall. 

Here's Block 13:


And Block 14. Only two to go!


Thursday was a very busy day. Common Threads met at Karan's again. She's working on a hot-air balloon mobile for her first grandchild. It will be a series of little hot-air balloons with the little baskets to carry the tiny imaginary people up into the clouds. She has two of the balloons done.


She's also making progress on her "Flying South" cardigan.


Susan has been working on "zentangles," something I had never seen before.


Ginny was there, too. She's still hand-quilting her pillow shams.

Then, Thursday evening, the Park City Quilt Guild met. We were supposed to bring examples of how we worked with color or how we chose the colors.

Linda brought this great quilt top, where the border fabric was an inspiration for the other fabrics.


Several people mentioned that they often choose a fabric with colors they like together, then use that to pick the other fabrics for a quilt. You don't even need to actually use the inspiration fabric in the quilt.

Colleen blew us away with this awesome Baltimore Beauty:

She had a class a few years ago with Elly Sienkiewicz. That's when she started this. It's all done by hand. She shifted the traditional red-green color scheme off a little, to great effect.

Davidene showed how using one unifying color could make mismatched fabrics work together.


This quilter challenged herself to use orange and pink together in this great tulip quilt (Jill's sister, I think, but I've forgotten her name). : 

Jill brought this Twister quilt to show:


And here's what she made with the leftovers:


Jill took this quilt top entirely apart because she didn't like how it looked. This is the new, better, version.


I took my "Thousand Years of Friendships" quilt, where I took a ball of olive-colored yarn with me as I chose the fabrics.


I also took "Antique Diamonds," made from the Keepsake Quilting Millennium Quilt kit given to me by a friend who was cleaning out her quilting studio. The color choices here were made by eliminating any wild fabrics and then matching up lighter and darker fabrics for contrast. Then I strung some colors together just to emphasize those colors.

Both of these are hand-quilted. (I didn't photograph my quilts at the meeting, because I was busy holding them up but these old photos show the colors well.)

In knitting news, the first Johan sock is done:

The yarn is Stroll Tweed in Flagstone Heather, sort of a slate gray in real life. (It sort of looks blue-green on my monitor.) The pattern is "Bavarian Twisted Stitch" from Cat Bordhi's Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles," but I tightened up the gauge for my skinnier feet, didn't twist the purl stitches and used a regular flat toe.

I started these socks on the trip to Oregon last summer to meet Johan, our new grandson. Guess I've been suffering from "first-sock syndrome." The second one will go fast. I just picked up more sock yarn at Knit Picks latest sale, and I have lots of plans for socks I'm dying to make.

I tried something new (to me, anyway) with this sock. I always wear out the bottom of the heel, so I knitted with two strands across that area, cutting the extra strand when I reached the gusset/instep stitches. Here's how it looks on the inside:

I think the extra strand will stay put. Watch this blog for a report on how this works in practice!

I'm ready to start March of the Fibres sweater, but I decided I needed more gray Palette yarn, so I have some on the way.

On Saturday, the pups and I went for a short "hike" in Toll Canyon, an area adjacent to our neighborhood. It was a nice day, and we met other people along the way. There wasn't enough snow for snowshoes, but my Yaktrax would have been welcome.

Sunny and Rocky have 4X4, so they were able to run. I just had to be careful.

Sunday was church, the opera and practice for The Messiah Project...performance this coming Sunday.

What's on my needles: Working on the Johan Socks, one sock done. Also still working on the second Martha Washington's Wreath appliqué block for my First Ladies quilt, not much progress this week, and worked some more on hand-quilting my "Spring Flowers" quilt.

What's on my Featherweight: Pine Burr, ready to start block 15.

What's on my wheel: Full Circle spinning fiber in "Pigeon."

What's on my loom: Still some warp for another scarf.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Music from Park City's Messiah Project. Finished listening to An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor, then Breakfast With Buddha by Roland Merullo, both recent "Daily Deal" offerings from Audible and both very enjoyable and beautifully written. The second book is a novel about a road trip a man takes with his sister's guru. It's about the nature of religion, anger and joy. Very special. Now listening to The Curse of the Blue Tattoo by L. A. Meyer, the second in the Bloody Jack series about a British street urchin who disguises herself as a boy so she can work on a ship as a cabin boy. This one was available from my library as an audio download, so I'm listening on the Overdrive app. Finished reading Beyond the Cliffs of Kerry by Amanda Hughes on the Kindle app. It was an interesting story, but the writing didn't flow. Just starting Jennifer Coburn's Tales from the Crib, also on the Kindle app.

What's in my wine glass: Corbett Canyon Merlot. ("You had me at Merlot.") Always a decent wine.

What's my tip of the week: When tracing templates on fabric or otherwise drawing on fabric, place the fabric on top of a piece of sandpaper. The sandpaper will keep the fabric from stretching as the pencil moves across it. Slight pressure on the template helps. You can glue the sandpaper to a stiff surface, like a piece of wood, plexiglass or heavy paper to keep it from sliding around.

I found this item all ready to go at a quilt store. the plastic can also be used for glueing, but I don't do that very often.


Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.

One FO (Finished Object) and Other Projects

The Brick Cardi is done, and it fits.

(I need to get another photo of it, as my shirt is peeking out below the top button, and I cut off the shoulders in this photo.)

Fresh off the needles, it had a nice bath in some Euclan, and then I pinned it on my blocking mats. I wanted to be sure I wouldn't have scalloped folds when it dried, so I used my lace blocking wires in the sleeves (top and bottom) and on both sides of the body.



My blocking mats were on the floor in front of our Jøtul gas stove, and the ceiling fan was on high, but it still took two days. Maybe the rain slowed down the drying, but also the yarn is worsted-weight, so it was able to absorb a lot of moisture. It's Plymouth Homestead in "Brick." That's a pretty thick yarn, and at the pockets, there were three layers to dry. Here's what it looked like after it had dried.


The pattern is Aleph by Hannah Cuviello, but I tightened up the gauge and made some modifications to make it the way I like (shortened the ribbing at the bottom and cuffs, lowered the pockets, adjusted the raglan decreases and changed the neck).

Next big knitting project: The March of the Fibres for DH. It's a pullover, but he wants a cardigan, so I'll steek it.

Wednesday was the second monthly class of "Tales of First Ladies" at Davidene's, based on the book by Eleanor Burns. This month we made the Lucy Hayes, aka "Lemonade Lucy," block.


We used Eleanor Burns' technique for making flying geese, but it requires using a special ruler I don't have. I got to use it in class, though, and to finish, I made a template of the right size flying geese patch and stuck it on the back of one of my rulers. Not as easy, but it worked.

Because I'm making the blocks as part of a class, it's a long-term project. My current short-term quilting project is the Pine Burr, using the pattern from McCall's Quilting's "Pine Burr Made Modern" from the May/June 2012 issue, designed by Konda Luckau, although my version will look very different, not just because of the colors, but also because I mixed up the backgrounds, so the sashing seams will show up more.

Here's block nine of 16.



And here's block 10:


I've been having a hard time getting the colors accurate in the photos of this fabric combination. The flash really yellows the colors, and available light varies so much, depending on the weather. Block 10 has some green fabric, in the points. It's a very dark avocado green. The other colors are gray, tan, brown, rust and gold, with the backgrounds mostly off-white.

Sooooo...back to hand-quilting my "Spring Flowers" quilt, which I think qualifies as a UFO, because I started it when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Well, that's an exaggeration, but it has been in the works for a long time. I bought the fabrics back in 1999 and started work on the appliqué blocks about 2001. I think it was about 2004 when I started hand-piecing the LeMoyne star blocks. I'm hand-quilting this hand-pieced and hand-appliquéd quilt. (Sense a trend here?) I'm quilting the third of the four appliqué blocks.



I've been getting up early to get DGD1 up to go to work at one of the local ski resorts. She had been having a hard time getting up, so I had to wake her, but she's getting up on her own now, so maybe I can sleep in...until 6:00 AM. She seems to be enjoying her job and getting in some snowboarding, on and off the job. After she's off to work, I have a long day ahead of me to get some projects done.

Time for some cuteness. Here's Zachary, wearing his heart on his sleeve...er, on his shirt:

What's on my needles: Back to the Johan Socks, but getting ready to start the March of the Fibres sweater. Also still working on the second Martha Washington's Wreath appliqué block for my "First Ladies" quilt and worked on hand quilting my "Spring Flowers" quilt.

What's on my Featherweight: Pine Burr, block 11.

What's on my wheel: Full Circle spinning fiber in "Pigeon" I was spinning before the spin-in.

What's on my loom: Still some warp for another scarf.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Music from Park City's Messiah Project. Finished Only the Innocent, by Rachel Abbott, which was very good. Suspense and mystery. Now listening to An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor, reminiscent of James Herriot's books, but set in the 1960s in Ireland (and the patients are human—most of them, anyway.) Both of these were recent "Daily Deal" offerings from Audible. Still reading Beyond the Cliffs of Kerry by Amanda Hughes on the Kindle app.

What's in my wine glass: Domino "The Perfect Play" Cabernet Sauvignon 2013, a Wine Enthusiast best buy.

What's my tip of the week: When weaving in ends after finishing a knitting project, you can hide the end easily anywhere you have stockinette stitch on the inside of your work, as in the ribbing. Thread your yarn needle and start at the closest end of the stockinette stitch. Run the needle in the side of the first stitch in same direction as the stitch. Skip the next one and then go through the next st. Continue, threading through every other stitch until you reach the end of the ribbing or the end is well out of sight. If you really want, you can go back up the other side of the vertical row of stitches.



When you pull the yarn through, it will be invisible. (You may have to adjust the tension by pulling slightly on the needle or by stretching the fabric a bit.)



Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.