I'm sewing again!!

Holy cow did it ever feel good to sit in front of my sewing machine again!! Last weekend I got about a third of the squares cut for my Half-Square Triangle Block of the Month (HST BOM).

I'm not sure which order this blogger app will post them, so I can't give the descriptions in order, so I'll do it chronologically.

I took a picture right after I finished the cutting to show the stacks of 4" squares. There's just over 500 there.

I took another one once I separated out the fabrics since I had cut them 6 layers at a time -- loving my new 60mm rotary cutter! There is nearly a quarter yard of each of the prints. I purchased 2 metres of 108" wide backing fabric to make the background half of each square, and cut 8-10 strips so far.

I was so happy to be sewing that of course I had to take a pic! I used 4 of each print and ended up with 104 HSTs. Pressing and trimming of them is tedious beyond words!!

Finally I show my finished square. It's a slight variation of the windmill block from one of the months. This is being donated to the quilting group I belong to and is going into a quilt that will be raffled off. I am very happy with how it turned out, with nearly perfect matching points and am even more enthusiastic about working on my quilt!!

What *am* I working on?

Anyone who knows me even slightly can attest to the fact that I am *far* from a monogamous crafter. Now that I've added sewing and quilting to my current hobbies, of course that means even *more* WIPs (and the resultant UFOs as well). This year I've been trying to focus better, and I think I've been pretty successful in resisting the urge to start every "Ooh shiny!!" project that tempts me. Of course I still have a multitude of projects, but I'm getting pretty darned good at producing quite a few FOs also.

Knitting:

Knitting is still my favourite pastime, as the callous on my right index finger will attest to. Strangely enough, I only have one project that I'm actively working on, and that's sample socks. I'm getting one done at a time, finishing one before casting on the next. I am halfway down the foot of my current project, and have three more socks to knit for photography purposes.

Crocheting:

I've been crocheting for over 20 years now, so it's inevitable that I would come across some pretty old UFOs. My current "living room" project is my oldest (that I know of) UFO. It's an afghan that I began in 1998 or 1999. I have about 6 more rows to work before doing the edging, so I'm anticipating finishing in the next day or three. My current "travelling" project is another crocheted afghan. It's a plaid design worked in strips and I purchased it as a kit from Herrschners this spring. I have completed over a third of it, and don't expect it will take very long to complete.

Quilting:

I have a large bin of projects ready to quilt, and more ready to "sandwich". I am not too worried about those right now, but I have 3 quilt tops cut and ready to sew. The first one I want to work on is a pink ribbon bargello. It's in honour of Auntie Wendy, whom we lost just over 5 years ago during her third battle with breast cancer. I've put away my sewing machine for a little while so that I can spend my energies on designing and writing. We shall see how long I can resist *that* temptation!!!
Most of all, I'm having fun working a combination of my own designs and OPPs (Other People's Patterns), and in a variety of mediums. Doing that helps in keeping me motivated. I added a bunch of new-to-me yarns to my stash while on vacation this summer so I'm looking very forward to seeing what they want to become. I also increased my fabric stash by 2 over-flowing suitcases, so that will be fun to play with as well!

Till next time,
Nicole =o)

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Back to school means back to work!

Where has the summer gone? For that matter where has the year gone?!! It seems like it was only March a few days ago.

The kids started school last Thursday, and Derek went back to work yesterday, so today is my first "real" day of work since some time in May. My ISP has been extremely "helpful" in making sure I was productive today... my rocket stick isn't working!! I found out after a few calls to their useless customer service line that they are working on the cell tower by my house. There is no tower redundancy out here in the middle of nowhere, so I'm stuck with just my mobile phone (from a different company). Gotta love modern technology!!!

Even though it's been quite a while since I have released any new patterns, I *am* still busy designing. My most recent release was on Knit Picks in July, "By the Sea" socks: http://www.knitpicks.com/patterns/By_the_Sea_Socks__D11821220.html I have two more sock patterns in the works, and three finished sock patterns that are currently on hold until I get the results of the design contest they were entered in.

I picked up a new hobby this spring, quilting/ sewing. Derek bought me a shiny new sewing machine for Mother's Day, and I've put quite a few miles on that the last few months. Speaking of miles, check out my current tally of yarn consumed!! I have a couple things to add to the meters, but I'm well over 11 km used between knitting and crocheting.

I'm trying to decide what to work on next. I've always been an "Oooh! Shiny!!" type of person, so it's hard to stay focused on just one or two things. We shall see what the new school year brings...


Till next time,
Nicole =o)


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