Hummingbirds and Spring

It's odd to say that spring is in the air when there's still snow on the ground and more in the forecast, but the days are getting warmer. After weeks of single digit temps we're finally getting into the 20s and 30s. It's March so winter isn't over, but the promise of an end is near. I figured with my spring mood it would be the perfect time to share the ipad case I made my mom for Christmas.

I couldn't find a pattern for what I wanted to do, but thought a simple case would be no problem. My mom goes to lots of meetings and conferences so I wanted her ipad to be well protected with all of the travelling she does. I created a beautiful bag that was well padded with a zipper to keep everything in place. Unfortunately it was too small to actually put the ipad in. While my side-to-side measurements were too small, I had more than enough length. After cutting off the zipper I realized that the bag was okay, it was just the opening of the zipper that was too tiny. I went with a simple finish on the bag, and am rather pleased with how it turned out.

The adorable humming bird is a pattern designed by Quilt Art Designs. The block measures 12", but since I needed a pocket smaller than 12" I printed the pattern at half size. 

It's Growing!!!

Blueberry continues to grow. I've already reached the increases! I'm really loving the pattern this verigated yarn is creating, and the lace is still centered.

January Finish

At the beginning of the month I gave myself the goal of finishing my Compass Rose Table Runner from my quilt guild's fall workshop. I'm so glad I set this goal because it helped me focus on finishing this rather than starting a new project (which will be my goal for next month.) Since this table runner is a gift for someone who actually has a table built for more than two people I'm hanging it on the coat closet door for the moment. This was way too much work not to appreciate it for a little while before giving it away.

This table runner turned out to be a study in how many things I don't like can be used in a project and still have me love the end result. Going into the workshop I hated paper piecing (it has grown on me since learning some better techniques.) I also wasn't happy that the teacher told us to use batiks. After I purchased my fabrics she changed this, but I'd already made my purchase. Finally I'm not a huge fan of feather motifs in quilting. They're okay, but are a bit too traditional for my tastes. For some strange reason I ended up doing a feather in each point of the main star. I absolutely love how this table runner turned out. I'm not great at labels so I don't know if it's really modern, but I at least feel like my voice wasn't lost in the project.

The Return of the Blueberry

I finished Hermione's second sock!  Yes I still haven't woven in the ends, but that bit won't take long. 

I've finally returned to Blueberry. It was painful, but I knew I wouldn'tlove this   sweater if the lace was off center so I ripped it out. I'm being very careful in the set up and  so far everything is looking good. 

North Wind Quilt Interview

I got a great surprise on Monday. Lisa Ruble from Fabri-Quilt wanted to feature me on the Fabri-Quilt blog. My North Wind Quilt is in Fons and Porter's Easy Quilts (which is on newsstands right now.) I hope you'll head over to the Fabri-Quilt Blog to check it out. Lisa had some great questions that really helped me describe the process of getting my quilt published. Hopefully the winds will settle down this weekend and I can finally take my own pictures of North Wind to share with you.

Hermione Sock Part Two

After finishing the Christmas knitting I decided it was time to work on something for me. I debated between socks, finishing blueberry, a cowl I've been drooling over, a hat that I have the perfect yarn for, or mittens. Our high today is -10 before windchill (yes that's in Farenheit and yes that is bone chilling cold) so maybe I should have chosen the mittens or hat, but I've decided to bring back my socks. I thought that I had finished the first sock sometime last fall and was shocked when looking through my posts to see that I finished the first sock in May. 

Thankfully I've written fairly good notes so I'm not too worried about the socks matching. I think that I used a smaller needle for the second cuff, but after switching to a size 2 needle for the body of the sock it's looking the same as the first sock. These socks are for me so I'm not going to worry about them matching perfectly. If one cuff is tighter than the other it is okay.

Hermione's Everyday Socks

New Year's Goals

I've never been fond of New Year's Resolutions, but I do like the idea of goals. (I know a goal and a resolution are basically the same thing, but goal has a better conotation for me.) Last year I made the goal of making 2 blocks a week for the Farmer's Wife quilt and getting a pattern published in a magazine. I finished 80 blocks for my Farmer's Wife quilt before losing steam in September. One of my goals for this year is to finish the last 30 blocks, but I haven't worked out the plan for how I'm going to accomplish this goal. The other big goal I had for 2014 was to get a pattern published in a magazine. It was a much bigger process than I expected with way more headaches that I thought there'd be, but I do have a quilt in Fons and Porters Easy Quilts Winter 2014!

My goal for 2015 is to get more organized. My mom gave me the book Hidden Treasures which focuses on the Fly Lady's cleaning system. I do okay with getting the house cleaned up, but I can never keep it clean. I'm hoping by adopting her techniques I'll develop the routines to keep my home clean.

I also want to get back into blogging. My goal is to make at least one quilting and one knitting post a week. One way I plan to accomplish this is by joining Lovely Year of Finishes over at Fiber of All Sorts.

In October I took a Judy Niemeyer paper piecing workshop. Last month I finally got my table runner finished and figured out a plan for the quilting. My goal for January is to quilt and bind this table runner.