Needles Are A Clicking

Here is how far I have gotten on my sweater.  It really isn't ruffely its just that there are well over 300 stitches on that 40" cord.  I need to knit 8" before I can begin separating the sleeves and working on less stitches.  I can't wait.




I am still knitting dishcloths.  I find it very relaxing and easy.

 

 

 

And I am refinishing a hat.  Readers may remember that I knit a hat for DH for Christmas.  Well then we got "destructo dog" who ate part of the ribbing off of it.  So last week I pulled all of the pieces of yarn off and found the last full row of knitting: the stitches were holding well so I threaded them on the needles and began reknitting the top and now the ribbing.  I am going to have a long rib and then double it under for warmer protection for his ears.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And just so everyone knows, I am finally quilting DH's Boots quilt.  I have only started the first row but hope to get more done this weekend.

Little Done, Lots Planned

This is as close to a design wall as I have gotten this week.  I put these three mug rugs on the HQ and have them mostly quilted.  I stopped a couple of days ago because I began suffering from thread breakage and since I couldn't immediately figure out how to correct the problem.  I'll work on that this week.

I have quite enjoyed making these "NO COFFEE!"  rugs but I am ready to move on to other things.

 I was going to take them to show at the next guild meeting but then I thought, "what would I do if they wanted me to make some for the quilt show in November?"  So I think I will just pack them up and keep quiet about them.

Sunday I finally got my new baby settled in the studio and even played with it, a little.  I spent some time going over some of the things I learned in my lesson last Thursday and was really pleased that I remembered as much as I did.  






 

And even though I have said that I am cutting back on my knitting time, I have started a sweater.  This cardigan has only one closure and I as it is knit from the top down, I have already made the button hole.  So far I have been able to follow the pattern but as you can see I still have a long way to go.





When I finish the mug rugs I am ready to load and quilt the boots quilt for DH.  I also need to make several quilt labels (I usually do them with machine embroidery).  I have 3 BOMs to do this week in order to be caught up.

I also have a little computer problem.  Every day or two I can't connect to the internet because the driver that makes that happen disappears.  I have had to recover it over and over but can't seem to figure out how to stop it from happening.  So sometime this week I hope to be able to contact Microsoft and see if they can help me.

Wow, that all sounds a little daunting, doesn't it?  Oh, well, I'll just get done what I can and what ever doesn't get done I'll assign it to next week.

I'll be linking up with Patchwork Times on Monday: if you pop on over there you will get to see some beautiful work.  Have a great week,  Gari

Learning Fun

I said I would share the information about Dianne Springer, the speaker at the workshop I attended last weekend.

Here is her book and isn't the cover colorful?  Dianne really likes color and uses bright fabric not only for quilts but on almost everything else.

Here are two pages that show just some of the items she has covered with fabric.

This is one of the first things I would like to make, a mailbox cover.  I haven't read the directions yet but I really want to see this out on our country road.









And this is the other non-quilt quilt I want to make.  Dianne did go into how she made hers so now all I need is the fabric she used as the base (info in the book) and a big enough space to lay it all out.  I would love to see a runner like this on the kitchen floor, it would sure brighten the place up.







I have spent every day this week learning about my new sewing/embroidery machine.  I spent most of Monday just unpacking all of the pieces to the machine and identifying most of them.  What I can't identify I put on a list so I can find out when I go for my official machine lesson.

 

 

And then today I practiced with the embroidery module.  Even though I have had previous models of Babylock machines, this one is quite different and fancy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the very fancy things is that there is a camera located just above the needle plate.  Why is this important?  Well it will show a green cross-hair that shows exactly where the needle will fall.  This may not seem important but when one needs to match up a stitch it is very important.

 

One of the things I will be learning tomorrow is the tablet that hooks up to the machine so I can edit embroidery design while they are in the machine.  Another thing I need to learn is how to use the two foot pedals.  Yes, I said two.  They are attached to each other and somehow they can be programed to do some of the work of the machine's buttons. 

 

Later this week I will finally get around to installing the new programs and I need to load DH's Boots quilt.  Seems like I am falling behind with my BOMs, too.  I guess I better stop playing with my new toy and get busy ........ after tomorrow.

Owls and Other Things

Last week I was having a great deal of trouble getting a post done.  However since my design wall hasn't changed I am happy share it now.

It was the week of the owls BOM.  I completed the April owl and this is all I have done so far.  These are on the wall in the order the designer planned.  I still need to put the borders on a couple of the little ones and then plan the sashing but we are beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel. 

I had a really good time picking the fabrics for this month's owl: the body fabric is really tree tops but it just looks fluffy on him. 

When he was ready to fuse to the background I discovered I couldn't find the background fabric.  So I had to take quite some time out to clean off my cutting table and, lo and behold it was buried deep under several projects. 

And here we finally have our owl, firmly fused to the background fabric.  I think he looks quite different from when he was resting on the wax paper.

Over this weekend I went to a quilt show in Pensacola and attended a workshop put on by my machine dealer.  The speaker was Diane Springer of Quilt in a Cup and since I had bought two of her cups more than 5 years ago, I was interested in seeing her in person and finding out what other items she had created.  Here is a picture of what I will be making for myself soon.  I also bought her book:  I will share a picture of it later this week.  Diane is a unique quilter, and former school art teacher, who sees color and excitement in almost everything.  Can you tell I had a great time?

And here is another reason I had a good time, my new machine.  I have wanted this machine for the last 2 years.  It has been upgraded twice since that time and I felt this was the right time to make the leap.  What you see here is me looking at some of the paperwork and disks that came with the machine.  Boy am I going to have a lot of work to do tomorrow to get this beauty registered and running but doesn't it sound like fun?

And I even have been doing some knitting (dishcloths) and bought yarn for two sweaters.  Of course I can't knit and sew at the same time so sewing and the new machine will be taking most of my time.  And I know everyone feels sorry for me.  ;-)

Have a great week,  Gari