Accelerating Towards Halloween

Vintage Stitchers met at Barbara's this week. Her home was already decorated for Halloween.

Diane was working on a scarf. The pattern is called "Lacy Leaves." She just had a copy with her, and there was no source, but she said it was from a booklet with four or five patterns.

Marilyn has been busy embroidering with her machine. She made some dish towels, like this:

and this:

She also had finished this wall hanging. Just the binding to go.

Rebecca showed us this framed cross stitch.

and this table runner, using hand-dyed wool.

We talked about our upcoming quilt retreat in Washington, Utah. DH and I will be taking the trailer down, so we can sleep in our own bed. Others are staying in local hotels. I think most people will be taking hand work, but I may take my Featherweight.

I picked up my Pine Burr quilt from the quilter on Friday. Just the binding to go. (You can get a glimpse of the backing at the upper corner folded over.)

The pattern was "Pine Burr Made Modern" from McCall's Quilting, May/June 2012, but it looks completely different because of the fabric/color choices and the fact that I elected to make the background scrappy.

Remember the Kaleidoscope fabrics I was expressing my admiration for last week? I ordered 12 of them for a new quilt. I'm leaning toward "Fresh" from Simply Retro with Camille Roskelley. It's sort of a quick and easy version of a block that looks like the LeMoyne Star.

In knitting news, my first Pucker Up sock is finished and the second started.

The pattern is Cookie A’s ”Wanida” from Sock Innovation. The yarn is Knit Picks Stroll Brights in “Pucker.”

What's on my needles: Pucker Up Socks. Still hoping to CO the March of the Fiber Animals Cardigan for DH. Finished a few more hexagons for the Busy Bee Throw.

What's on my Featherweight: Binding for the Pine Burr quilt.

What's on my wheel: Languishing, but I have some yummy spinning fiber to inspire me.

What's on my loom: Multi-scrap scarf, no progress since before the trip.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Lady Maybe by Julie Klassen on the Audible app. Now listening to A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce. This book is an award winner, and I can see why. Finished Blood Red from the library, an actual book. Delightful. Now reading Cut from the Same Cloth, by Kathleen Baldwin, one of my new favorite authors, from Kindle. This is the last of the "My Notorious Aunt" series. Funny.

What's in my wine glass: Foxhorn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon. Nice value.

What's my tip of the week: I save all those ends of bread no one wants to eat and keep them in the freezer. When I need bread crumbs, I thaw them, break them into pieces and grind them in the blender to use as topping on casseroles or any time I need bread crumbs.

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.

Bunnies Multiply!

The girl bunny is finished, although I have plans for a sweater to go over her sun dress



Girl bunny went with me to Vintage Stitchers, where she met Julie's fox and elephant. They became fast friends.



Julie made their arms and legs longer than it called for in the pattern, an easy alteration.

She also brought these "ugly" socks she made for a relative who wanted ugly socks. I think they're pretty striking.



Marilyn showed us this great towel she machine-embroidered:



Rebecca finished this exquisite fairy in costume just in time for Halloween:



She also pieced this Christmas quilt from a Jelly Roll she bought a year ago.



Barbara was working on this great Halloween quilt:



Janet had finished this great comfort quilt top:



I took my Spring Flowers quilt to work on, but most of my crafting time this week was devoted to the bunnies. Joanie and I stopped by Blazing Needles in SLC on Friday after I took her to see her surgeon. They were having a knit group, and I showed off the bunnies, which one person recognized as Little Cotton Rabbits. We talked about whether they were difficult or not (not). It was fun to see what they were working on, and Joanie discovered a pattern she loved: a sweater with built-in cowl.

I finished the boy bunny, all but the clothes, on Friday night.



Saturday, the power went off, so blocking his shirt took some time. Boy bunny was patient, though, while I heated the old cast-iron iron on the gas fireplace and used it with a damp cloth.



It took longer to dry than normal, because the iron wasn't really hot enough, but soon he was dressed and ready to go out.

He watched his first World Series game.



I followed the pattern except for giving him some undies (tidy whiteys) and some lace-up Nikes. I had to do a leg transplant, because I had made a mistake on the number of rows on one foot, and it ended up smaller than the other. So I just made another. Good practice!
The bunnies are from Little Cotton Rabbits, and the designer, Julie Williams, has just come out with a new design: a mouse, available as a boy or a girl.

On to bunny number three! Happy Halloween, everyone!

(Pirate bunny by Heidijan, http://www.ravelry.com/projects/heidijan/boy-bunny-with-a-piebald-patch)

What's on my needles: The second boy bunny. I still have the Johan socks and Mr. F's clothes to work on. I've decided my Mr. F. will be a birthday present, which gives me more time to finish his clothes. My quilting needles are still working on the hand-quilting of my Spring Flowers quilt.

What's on my Featherweight: Crystal Stars has gone off to the quilter for custom quilting when she finishes the Reflections quilt.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Victoria Holt's The Shadow of the Lynx. Then I listened to Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor, one of the most entertaining reads (or listens) I've had this year. It's the first volume of "The Chronicles of St. Mary's." Adventure, suspense, mystery, history, romance and lots of humor. I want to read them all! Still reading Cheryl Bradshaw's I Have a Secret, from Book Bub.

What's my app of the week: iBooks, where I store my great patterns from Ravelry and elsewhere.

What's in my wine glass: Crane Lake Malbec 2013, one of our favorites.

What's my tip of the week: Keep your phone and other devices charged up as much as you can. You never know when you lose access to power for charging. However, we have a emergency power source (a portable jump-starter) called "Instant Power" that we can charge up and then have ready to charge devices or start the car if the battery dies. We mostly use it for camping, but sometimes a construction company severs a power line and 2200 households are suddenly camping.

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.