It Only Took 7 Years

I’ve been working on knitting dishcloths during television time.  They are not nearly as bulky and much easier to set aside when a dog lands in my lap than my other handwork projects.  I bought this cone of cotton yarn for $1 at the library thrift store 7 years ago thinking I would never use it up.  I have no idea how many dishcloths it produced, but it is finally gone.  Tonight, I’ll weave in the loose ends.  As soon as I finish prepping, I’ll start working on hand applique from my block of the month.

Our crepe myrtles are blooming now.  The white sky is partially due to clouds and partially due to dust.

 

Sunset courtesy of Saharan dust.

Checking In ...

While I have had a difficult time making myself sit down to the keyboard and create a post, I have been at work the last two weeks.

I finished 10 anti-ouch pouches to take to the guild meeting Wednesday.  That brings me to a total of 74 this year.

There have also been some stash enhancements here.  I’m getting ready for my next English paper piecing project.  I’ve long admired the cover quilt on this book by Edyta Sitar and have decided to do it primarily in French General fabrics (but maybe not the border).  I scored on a recent online auction and was able to get a jelly roll plus four yards of fabric for what I would have paid for the yardage alone.  I have some other French General cuts in my stash, so hopefully I have enough diversity and can begin with this soon.

I’m signed up for two guild workshops with Becky Goldsmith this week and have been pulling the supplies I will need to take.  The first one is on color.  Thursday we’ll have a six-hour session on applique.

I’ve also resumed working on dishcloths while watching the Tour de France with Bob.  It’s an easier project to work on if a dog decides to land in my lap.

When nothing but mindless machine work would satisfy me, I’ve worked on miniature bowtie units.

My goal is to finish appliqueing my red hexagon quilt to its borders before Wednesday’s workshops.  I’ll probably take it with me tomorrow when I join my Tuesday group.  We’ll see how far along I get working on it some tonight.  

Hodgepodge Tuesday

Tuesdays are my day to sew with friends at the “club house” we rent.  Yesterday I worked on multiple projects.  I completed two anti-ouch pouches and then switched back to paper piecing units for my Good Golly quilt.  I finally had to quit when my Singer 404 started getting rebellious.  I think the problem was a new bobbin I was trying to use.

While watching The Voice I finished knitting a dishcloth I had started over the weekend.  I finished the last stitch just as the keeper of the remote control switched to Wicked Tuna...definitely not my kind of show.  

I picked up this cone of cotton yarn at a thrift store in 2013.  I don’t expect to ever use it up, but it’s a good go-to source for handwork when nothing else is readily available.  

Slight Detour

Life delivered something of a detour Tuesday.  While sewing with friends I received an urgent call from Bob who had gone to the ranch.  A waterline had broken and extensive house repairs will be required.  Since then, much of our time has been consumed with the situation.  My HQ16 quilter had to be dismantled and removed from the house along with other valuables.  Quilts, clothing and linens that can be salvaged are being laundered.  Ultimately, it will work out, but in the interim things are in a mess. 

As a result, I have very little quilting progress to report, but I have finally knitted up all my dishcloth yarn, except for a gigantic cone I purchased at a thrift store. 

Here is my collection of 20 dishcloths for my own use as well as the gift drawer. 

Today I decided to take a break and joined a friend for a visit to the quilt guild meeting in San Antonio.  Gyleen Fitzpatrick delivered a wonderful program on using scraps.  Lunch and two quilt stores later I was feeling much better.

Growing Stack of Discloths

These are the knitted dishcloths I have completed this year (minus a few already gifted).  I enjoy having something easy to work on in the evenings when I’m watching television with my husband, but I’m kind of tired of making these. 

This is my remaining stash of cotton yarn.  The big spool was an impulse buy at the thrift store.  I don’t expect to ever finish using it up, but I’m closing in on the rest of my supply.  Once that's gone, I’m thinking of making another attempt at sock knitting.

Jane Stickle Block Update

Here are the Jane Stickle blocks completed in April and May (I failed to log my progress last month).  I went back and reevaluated some of the blocks planned to redo.  I was unhappy with most of them because they had the background fabric I originally intended to use all the way through the quilt.  I now think they are okay to use because of the variety of background fabrics surrounding them.  So, I have 151 of 169 center blocks completed.  There are lots of triangle border blocks yet to be done, but the end is in sight for the center blocks. 

These are the knitted dishcloths completed this month.  Bob and I have been re-watching a lot of old movie series during the evenings, and I use that time to knit them when I’m not doing hand applique on Jane Stickle blocks.  The process is relaxing and they will be an addition to my badly depleted gift drawer.

Thank you to all who responded to my last post with sympathy and good wishes for my ailing dog, Chloe.  Your comments are very comforting.

A Different Kind of Project and a Major Change in my Quilting Life

 Like a number of quilting bloggers I follow, I have started knitting simple dishcloths in the evenings when I don’t have other handwork projects.  Here are some I have made to be included in a housewarming gift.  I find the process very relaxing, and hopefully I’m making something the recipients will be able to use.  When I first started making dishcloths, I didn’t expect them to be that functional.  More and more, however, I find they are the first ones I reach for.

 

An ending and a beginning….

Today was our last Sit ‘N Sew Day at a nearby quilt shop.  After 12 years of business the proprietor is retiring from having a brick and mortar establishment and will focus her energy on vending at shows.  Needless to say, it is a very sad day for those of us who have gathered there every Tuesday for years. 

Fortunately, we have located space we can rent on a month-to-month basis and will begin arranging it to our taste tomorrow.  We will certainly miss having the convience of a place to easily shop for our next project or pick up that spool of thread we forgot to bring.  We will definitely miss our friend who worked so hard to provide pleasant space for us to gather.  At least, however, we have a chance to continue our sewing time together and nurture our friendships.  I do so hope we can manage to maintain this group.  It has become very important to all of us.   

My First Knitted Pair of Socks

I finished knitting the second sock last night.  Since I was having trouble getting warm, I decided to wear them to bed, and they really felt good.  Hopefully the next pair won’t have quite so many flaws.

It was 14 degrees this morning, cold by any standard, especially for a town in Central Texas.…and look at the flag on the golf green behind our house.  It’s windy, but it’s not flapping.  The greens were heavily watered last night in order to protect the grass.  This is how the flag froze.