Nesting for Winter, Part II

The quilt for Habitat for Humanity's Overall Ball fundraiser is coming along. I finished putting the blocks together with sashing, corner stones and a border.



This involved a consult with Janet and another one with Julie, as we were trying to get by with fabrics on hand. I was scrambling, but managed to get the top pieced in time to pass it off to Julie at Vintage Stitchers.

We met at Janet's. Diane was appliquéing this Dresden Plate design.



Carol is finishing up her yellow quilt, the one that made me fall in love with the lovely yellow floral fabric. She's putting the binding on.



Janet was also finishing up this quilt. It's "Blue Lagoon" from It's from Pam and Nicky Lintott's Jelly Roll Quilts, the first book in the series.



She had finished piecing her "Sparkling Gemstones, also from Jelly Roll Quilts. (Janet has set a goal to make every quilt in the book.)



This was a pretty design, but when I made it, I regretted following the directions exactly. The way they designed it, it ended up with extra seams that made piecing difficult. I suggested to everyone in my group (do as I say, not as I did) to just strip piece the jelly roll "gem" fabrics as directed, and then sew the thinner strip on after the pieces are cut and sewn into the little rectangle 4-patches. Barbara and Janet both avoided my problem by doing that.

Janet has used the same gray fabric for the background that she gave me to use for the border in the Habitat quilt. I love that fabric!

You may remember that I spent a good part of the previous week cleaning and organizing my fiber studio. It turns out that I managed to injure my right knee, with the repeated climbing up and down on the kitchen ladder to fold and arrange my fabrics and yarn, and especially with the twisting, as I turned around repeatedly. It required a trip to the doctor and X-rays when it didn't seem to be getting any better. No serious damage, though. There was some fluid collected in the knee, and it's finally getting better.

Saturday afternoon the new sofa bed from IKEA came. In five boxes. We managed to get it put together and useable by 8:00 PM. It was an interesting study of two people working together: one who had read the instructions and the other who liked to be in charge. I would say the hardest part was ironing the removable slipcover. Now I have a  new knitting nook in my fiber studio. (Even though the slipcover is washable, I have it covered with my Sparkling Gemstones quilt, to protect it from the pups. I'm sure it's easier to wash than the slipcover.)



The old sofa bed went to Carol's gardener. The space has to double as sleeping space for company, as we only have one guest room. Our house originally had four bedrooms, but one became our dining room, and one became DH's "study." 

Remember my Mr. F.? He's on the move again!



I'm going to try to finish him as a present for one of the grandkids this Christmas.

I also drafted a block for a quilt I plan to make when I can get a chance, but I really want to finish up some more UFOs before the end of the year.

Johan hit two months, I think his personality is starting to show in his photos.

Finally, happy anniversary to my mostly loveable DH. We were married 49 years ago today and hope to make it to 50 if one of us doesn't kill the other! (Life would have been very dull without you, Sweetie!)

What's on my needles: Some progress on the Johan Socks socks as well as on "the elusive Mr. F." (my name for him from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austin).

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Listening to A Thread So Thin by Marie Bostwick. Still reading Joseph Lallo's The Book of Deacon from Book Bub.

What's my app of the week: FaceTime. I tried to Skype with our DS1 and DIL, but was unable to do it. We couldn't figure out what was wrong. They had the same problem on their end. We switched to FaceTime. Easy, and the video was much clearer than Skype. I guess Skype is charging now, but I'm not sure.

What's in my wine glass: Bogle Petit Sirah 2012. A nice choice, and the bottle is recognizable from the back.

What's my tip of the week: If you buy something with a label or price tag that comes off but leaves sticky stuff behind, use the sticky side of the label to press repeatedly on the sticky part, and most or all of it will come off. If the label doesn't want to come off, try running the hair dryer over the label for a few seconds. Labels are usually easily removed after this treatment.

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.

Love and Generosity

Wow! What a week! I always have to start with a photo, so here's Kay's rug:

She based this on a photo she took while on a cruise with her late husband. He helped her with suggestions and was a major contributor to keeping her interested in the project. It has been languishing since he passed away, but we're pretty sure she will eventually be able to finish it with fond memories. She's going to try again after a cruise she's taking by herself.

Margareth's been busy with her loom. Here's one table runner:

And another one:

Thursday was a busy day! Besides Common Threads in the morning, the new quilt guild met at Davidene's in the evening. I was blown away by receiving nine blocks for the Habitat for Humanity quilt! Here they all are (including the ones already received), in no particular order:

I'm still expecting to get a few more. This is one more example of how generous quilters are.

We shared tips and tricks, and I learned a few new things. Even though some of the tips I already knew about, it's always good to be reminded.

Then we had show-and-tell. I had sent the baby quilt off already, so I only had the photos on my iPad to show. Here are some of the quilts we got to see in person. A block exchange that was all houses:

Paper-pieced hearts, part of a block exchange:

OMG, I love this quilt! Dianne made this for her DDIL, but had to change the colors somewhat after buying the fabric. She did it with the help of some bleach and some tea. (Long story, but if I thought I could get away with it, and wouldn't feel incredibly guilty, I would steal this one. I love these colors, and the workmanship is superb!)

Dianne also showed us this embroidered quilt:

We also saw this beautiful July quilt. (Sorry, I'm still learning people's names):

This one was was supposed to be a Lone Star, but the quilter, Jill, had some "issues" with it, so she reworked the pattern and named it "Broken Pie Chart."

Sometimes life gives you lemons. I think it's a wonderful quilt!

Someone brought some adorable baby sweaters, made for a charity she helps.

Davidene, who owns the shop where we meet, is incredibly generous with her resources. For example: I wanted to make a label for Johan's baby quilt and sew it on when we get to his place. (The quilt has gone on before us for the Baby "Sprinkle" tonight.) Unfortunately, the ink-jet printer we need to use has stopped working. (These appliances always seem to have a shelf life that's a lot shorter than ours.) Since I'm short of time with all the stuff going on, I thought I would buy the fabric printer sheets and have the copy store print the label for us. Davidene offered her printer AND to break up a package so I only had to pay for one! I elected to buy the whole package, since I'll need to make a label for the Habitat quilt anyway. When I calculated the cost per label, it seemed like a bargain, compared with the work involved in preparing and printing my own. The label turned out great! We included Johan's first photo and the photo of his Finnish great-great-grandfather, after whom he was named.

Speaking of little Johan, he's home and doing well. We're grateful that he was near medical attention, though, because babies who arrive "underdone" often have issues. His were minimal, but a lot of precautions were taken, and he got great care. He resembles his brother a lot at the same age. He's longer-waisted and has bigger hands with very long fingers. It will be fun to see how he grows into his own individual self. Here he is meeting his big brother:

We'll be meeting Johan in person in just a few days. I've been packing and cooking, in preparation for our trip. DH will bring the trailer to the house after his dentist appointment tomorrow. Then we'll hit the road on Thursday, the pups in the back in their car seats, and I'll be riding shotgun surrounded by my fiber fun. Not much to do, riding shotgun, except keep the audiobook running and appliqué or knit, unless we're attacked by bandits and I have to use my knitting needles and appliqué thread for unintended purposes.

I love spending time with family!

What's on my needles: Cat Bordhi's "Bavarian Twisted Stitch" socks from her book, Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles and some plain vanilla socks for mindlessness.

What's on my Featherweight: Back to Delectable Pathways, still working on the hand appliqué for the last panel. Most of the leaves done. Planning to get the flowers done while we're gone. Wish me luck!

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to Dean Koontz's The City. It has been a busy week, so I haven't had as much time. Still reading Black Diamond Death by Cheryl Bradshaw from Book Bub on the iBooks app. Only at bedtime. It's an interesting story, but I never go through an eBook as fast as an audiobook. Also watching the video lessons to my Craftsy class, "Mastering Foundation Paper Piecing" with Carol Doak. It's so nice to be able to watch a class offline. You don't need internet (except to download) and it takes less power to watch offline. Great for traveling, if you have enough memory/storage on your device.

What's my app of the week: It has to be the Messages app. With phone reception not strong in the hospital, especially NICU, we were getting most of our information from text messages. An added bonus: All those wonderful photos we got of Johan's adventures during his first week in the world were delivered by text. What a joy, when we couldn't be there in person!

What's in my wine glass: Bolla Romagne Sangiovese 2012. Another big bottle. (See a trend?)

What's my tip of the week: When you have a gazillion stitches to cast on using long-tail CO, and you're afraid you'll run out of "tail" before you get to the end, many people elect to use a different CO. However, if you have a center-pull ball or at least  two balls of the yarn you're casting on with, you can tie two separate strands together, leaving just a little tail of both. Using both strands, attach a slip knot to the right needle. Then, using one strand as the "tail" and the other as the working yarn, CO as usual, not counting the slip knot. When you finish your first row/round, slip the slip knot off. Don't knit it. You will have two extra tails to weave in at the end, a small price to pay for not having to start over five sts away from the 456 you need!

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.