Knitting Nuisances

I found some random yarn at my parents house from ages ago when I first attempted becoming a knitter.  I am left handed, and my Mom is also.  When I was young my Mom tried teaching me using my left hand, and it never clicked.  Then we figured out I knit with my right hand!  Weird, right?  Being left handed and knitting with my right!  At this point I was watching her and trying to make the stitches backwards.  Still didn't click and I ended up more confused.  Finally, my Grandmother taught me using my right hand.  It clicked, well sorta.  She taught me how to knit and purl. 

About 6 months ago I took out my knitting needles again.  So far, I have mostly made small wash cloths.  The small size makes them manageable.  I have been working on controlling my tension.  It's hard finding the balance of just right.  The cotton yarn is easy to work with and the final product is very useful.  Now I just have a ton of wash cloths! 

Just recently I purchased a Knitting book by Margaret Hubert.  It has been very helpful.  There are so many pictures of, well, everything.  I felt as though I was ready for more of a challenge, and this book has been great.  It covers all the abbreviations, and walks through all the stitches in photos and written instructions.

The book also includes instructions and photos for 200 patterns!  What makes me the happiest with this book is each of the patterns is labeled: easy, intermediate, or experienced.  To start I obviously chose an easy pattern called Trinity.  It has a nice lacy look that appears complicated.  My one complaint is I do wish the book would show the back or at least note if the pattern is double sided.

At the start of this project, I was not familiar with knitting from a pattern and my only goal was to not screw it up.  Let's just say I am thankful it's very easy undo stitches or just start over.  This is a picture of attempt 5 and I am just beginning to feel comfortable with the stitches (the poor yarn just looks overworked!).  Once again adding to my long learning curve.  

This project will become a blanket for a car seat and the largest project I have ever taken on!  So far the whole thing has either been a nuisance or an epic fail.  Too soon to tell which yet.  

Eventually I would like to make a small baby sized afghan.  At my current rate of progress that should happen sometime around the next decade.  Just going to have to stick with small projects for now ... 

Anyone out there have pointers for a newbie knitter?  I need some tips and tricks!!!  For now I am going to sit and eat some of these delicious wafers :)

Sew long for now, 

CHELS

Big Block Quilt

A few weeks ago, one of my followers made the comment to create a big block quilt that could be completed in a weekend or a day. How genius is that?  Well I had to chew on the idea for a while as I wanted it be something realistic, but fun.  The easy way out would make a quilt using squares and do some simple straight stitching.  My goal was to create something visually appealing and simple.  This cute little baby quilt finished at 37 inches by 37 inches. 

As I was working through the farmer's wife sampler quilt, I kept thinking how great the 'four winds'  block would look blown up baby quilt size.  The design uses half square triangles and squares, so it is manageable for people of all quilting abilities.  I hope you will join me in this quilt in a day challenge.

Here is the timeline for my day ... 

8:00 am. - Color selection. 

I decided on a white print for the background first then decided on everything from that starting point.  Then I paired a deep purple, an orange, and a green color together to complete my colors.  Here is what you will need for yardage (please don't feel limited to using my color selection, be bold and be daring, try something new).

Materials List: 

Orange - Color A - 0.5 yds

Purple - Color B (Center Print + Backing)- 1.5 yds 

Green - Color C - 0.5 yds

White - Color D (Background + Binding) - 0.75 yds 

2 - DMC # 3801

8:15 am - Cutting.  

Once the colors are selected it's time to cut.  Below is the quantity and size of each block and color.

Cutting Directions:

Orange - Color A - (12) 7 inch squares

Purple - Color B - (4) 7 inch by 7 inch squares 

Green - Color C - (4) 7 inch squares, (4) 6.5 inch squares

White - Color D - (8) 7 inch squares, (4) 6.5 inch squares, (4) 2.5 inch by wof

9:00 am - Set-up.

Start by matching the 7 inch squares into pairs.  These blocks will all become half square triangles.

6 pairs - Color A (Orange) & Color D (White)

4 pairs - Color A (Orange) & Color B (Purple)

2 pairs - Color C (Green) & Color D (White)

2 pairs - Color A (Orange) & Color C (Green)

**You can place the 6.5 inch squares to the side.

Begin by marking each with a pencil line, diagonally from one corner to the other.  This creates a guide line to sew a quarter inch from either side.  

9:15 am - Go time!

First thing, sew along either side of the guide lines for the half square triangles.  Cut the squares diagonally along the guide line.  Press open, for half square triangles I usually press the seam open, but pressing to one side also works.  

Next, trim all the squares to 6.5 inches.  Use the diagonal sew line to help you square the blocks.  

10:00 am  - Assembly + Snack.  

The image below is to help layout your quilt.  Start by putting the rows together. 

Once the rows are together, press the seams in alternating directions.  This will allow them to 'nest' making the next step easier. 

Sew the rows together.  Press the whole quilt.  Once the top is completed, it's time for a snack!  

11:00 am - Basting. 

This is my least favorite part of the process.  Although this quilt is small so it was painless.  

11:30 am - Hand-quilting.

If you would like to use the same method to hand-quilt, check out my tutorial.  I have to admit I am not the fastest at hand-quilting so these times could vary.  Another alternative is to machine quilt and it would also be much faster.  

12:30 pm - Lunch.  

1:00 pm - Back to hand-quilting.

I really like how the back is turning out.  This is an unplanned pleasant surprise!

3:00 pm - Binding.

Start by sewing each of the 2.5 inch strips together.  Press the strip in half.  I use a walking foot to bind on my quilts, but I'm not sure it matters.  

Time to hand stitch the binding.  I usually put on a good show and just relax.  

5:30 pm - Celebrate.

Ta da, this quilt is done!  In total, it took 8.5 hours.  I happened to complete the whole thing in one day, plus time I spent photographing.  This little project could easily be broken into multiple days. 

Phew, this is a long post.  Hope you enjoyed my quilt in a day.  If you also decide to join me, please send along pictures.  I would love to see them!  

Sew long for now, 

CHELS

Farmer's Wife Sampler

Today I worked on my farmer's wife quilt sampler again.  I love reading the stories in the front of the book about life on the farm in 1922, such a different perspective on the world.  More like, get drawn into the all the letters and intrigued about farm life.  

I have a great appreciation of the farm and farmers.  My parents house is close, but, not quite a farm.  My father does have a rather large barn, a couple tractors, some few hundred Christmas trees, and a garden.  Seeing how much time and labor goes into running their small slice of land, I can only image the labor and toils of a real working farm.

**Just wait until you see what I did with this block on Friday.  I just love this one!

Here is a photo of his old International Harvester taken a couple summers ago.

This old tractor has been a staple in our family for a long time.  I have many good memories being carted around on this old thing as a child.  When my father uses the tractor he calls it work, to Mom and I it looks like playtime.  (Insert rhoom rhoom sounds).  He has just got to a point where he rolls his eyes at us every time we tell him about his play.

That's all I have to show for blocks today.  Completing the blocks in sets of 5 has been quite manageable.  Although doing more at a time would make this process faster.  Sending out some good luck to all those out there also working on their farmer's wife quilts :)  

Thanks to Freshly Pieced for allowing me to link up with her blog!  Head over and check out what others are doing on this WIP Wednesday.

Sew long for now, 

CHELS

Churn Dash

Just finished all my churn dash blocks.  These blocks started as 6 inch blocks that were cut into quarters and paired with a solid color.  

I used the tutorial from the Missouri Star Quilt Company.  She used a 10 inch block to start so my scale is smaller.  The directions are very clear and easy to follow.  

More blocks .... 

More blocks ... 

And more blocks ... 

Here is the lot of them finished!

Now I just have to decide how I am going to pair the 7 inch churn dash blocks and the 6 inch original blocks.  

For the backing I decided to use Geekly Chic's yellow glasses.  I used squares of the cream with glasses on the front.  I love the idea of the bold yellow paired with all the colors in the fabric.

Decisions, decisions.

Sew long for now, 

CHELS