WIP Wednesday

 Oh, my goodness. I finished a boat load of stuff this past week. I blame the snow! 

This morning, I finished the binding on The Cool Side of the Rainbow.

Yesterday, I sewed the button on my Marine Mom tote.

 

Monday, I quilted and bound the Selvage Log Cabin.

 

I needed a break, so I crocheted this adorable blue elephant on Sunday night.

 On Saturday, I made myself a tray table ironing board.

I finished the Friendship Star on Thursday night. I've been enjoying hand stitching bindings at night while I watch TV.

 

I also finished a secret little project on Thursday. (Come back on Friday for the reveal.)

 

In progress: 

I made 48 string blocks to use as "thread" in an upcoming spools workshop.

I've made a few more Wild & Goosey blocks as leaders/enders. This one might become the primary piecing project soon.

I went to a workshop with Thomas Knauer last Wednesday which was awesome! I'm not ready to show that piece yet. It still needs some tweaking.

 I guess it's time to dig out some older WIPs. What will Tina finish next week?

Blue Elephant

This sweet little elephant is waiting to be named by Julia when she comes home next weekend. It was supposed to be a surprise, but I'm really bad at keeping secrets. I texted her a pic last night!

 This is my first attempt at amigurumi. I haven't even picked up a crochet hook in over a year. This is a free pattern from Lion Brand, but you'll need to sign up for a free account first. Here's the link on my Pinterest board. The pattern calls for two colors, but I only had one.

She only took a couple of hours to make while watching SNL40. I need to work on placement of parts (one leg doesn't touch the ground) and reducing the gaps where batting shows through. She might need a little flower behind her ear.

 

I'll leave you with my favorite baby elephant pic from our safari.

Crochet Bucket

 A couple of family members have been feeling under the weather, so I've been playing nurse maid for about a week. That doesn't leave much time for anything else, let alone quilting. At the end of a busy day, I didn't have the energy to start quilting Garnet and Gray, but I was desperate to get my craft on.

One night while trolling Pinterest, I came across this tutorial for a crochet basket. I immediately went to my yarn stash and dug up some pretty colors, along with three random bits of white. If you click over to look at Julie's tutorial, you'll see that I opted to not do the spike stitch. And my bucket finished a lot bigger than her basket, which is probably why it is so slouchy.

 

In just two sittings, I was able to finish this fun bucket. OK, maybe calling it finished is stretching the truth a bit. All the yarn ends are still dangling inside and strategically placed out of site. I'll weave them in someday. Maybe.

Looking forward to a healthier, quiltier week ahead!

Spring Wreath Re-Do

I'm completely addicted to Pinterest.  (See my boards here.)  I really needed to take a break from pinning and start doing!  So, last night, I grabbed my bag of wool and a crochet hook and started making flowers.

 Does this wreath look familiar?  I made it last December.  I never did find a decent bow for it.  My mother didn't think this shade of green was appropriate for Christmas, and that sickly bow did nothing to help its case.

 Then along came a Pin of these great crocheted flowers.  The flowers and leaves work up so quickly!  They are just pinned into the styrofoam, so I can move them around easily or switch them out for other colors.

I love it!  It really brightens up the inside of our front door.

Granny Goodness

 I had the privilege of working on this afghan for a friend today.  It was made by her Great Aunt many years ago.  We're not sure how long ago.  I'm wondering if the variegated yarn could help date it.

Anyway, my friend loves using it, but it is falling apart in a few (OK, more than a few) places.  It seemed like all the loose stitches were in the same round.  Odd, I thought.  What is it about those knots that made them come loose but not the other rounds?  Hmm...

I've known how to crochet since I was a kid, so I figured I'd be able to repair this.  And I did! 

Some blocks were trickier than others.  The tail of darker blue yarn below wasn't long enough to make all 3 double crochets there on the top.  It's not perfect, but I think it will stay together for a while.

 The 2nd round of yellow below required a bit of stitching with needle and thread to secure the ends.

This was the worst square.  To fix this one, I had to undo so many stitches, that the pink center fell right out!  I may have panicked slightly.

Better, but not pretty.  At least there is no more gaping hole.

I didn't get a great picture of the border.  Can you see how cool that is?  The granny squares were set on point, so the outside edge is all pointy and fun.

I'm so glad my friend's family is snuggling under this blanket again tonight!

Am I becoming a bag lady?

My WIPs this week seem to be all bags. I'm slightly addicted to slicing up old t-shirts and immediately crocheting the "tarn" into bags. (Tarn = t-shirt yarn. I think Plarn, for plastic yarn, has a nicer ring to it.) I expect to run out of shirts soon, then I can move on to something else!

I wanted this one to be bright, but I ran out of bright yarn. I need to cut more!


I love the more subtle colors in this one and the vintage button.

It is a little wider than the earlier bags, so it is well suited for holding my only knitting project.

When I started thinking about in-progress crocheted bags, I remembered these two made with an assortment of leftover yarns. They are both patiently waiting for lining and handles. I bought the black handles months ago and I have a magnetic closure somewhere in the craft stash.

I was thinking about covering the twill tape with fabric for the straps on this one. Apparently, I was planning to insert a zipper on this one. (It was tucked in the bag.) I am getting more comfortable with inserting zippers, but I'm not sure how to make it work in this bag.

I think these bags have been sitting unfinished for so long because I don't know if anyone would ever want to use them. I'm not sure I would use them. Should I finish them or release them?

Go visit WIP Wednesday for more goodies!

A New Crochet Project

Just what I needed to do days before a craft show: try something new!
There aren't many tutorials out there for these crochet ball covers, so I started with one and changed it up when I got lost! I've been using at least 3 different kinds of thread which work up differently, so I adjust as I go along. I should probably write down my favorite stitch combos.
Thank you, Jim, for getting me started!


I've had this box of satin ornaments for YEARS! I think I bought them for my Girl Scouts to experiment with, but it didn't go well. I'm happy to finally have a use for them.

Each one takes me almost and hour to crochet. Now I'm struggling with how much to charge for them. $3 or $5? I think they need a bow around the top loop.

Julia has been stringing my rolled paper beads into bracelets. The bright colors add to the look I'm going for on my awesome new white tree!

The tiny wooden spools of thread were an antique show purchase a few years ago. Until now, they have been displayed in baskets and in a glass pedestal trifle dish. Strung with crochet thread and a few buttons, I think they are super cute!

And, of course, I needed a tiny tree skirt to complete the look.
Almost ready for a show or two!

More Crochet

I'm on a crochet kick this week. I'm enjoying the instant gratification of working with hook and yarn on small projects.


The tutorial for this cute bowl can be found at crochetspot.com.

Next on my to-be-crocheted list: snowflakes in bright, modern colors to hang on my white tree trimmed with ric-rac.

Wool Crochet

I've been crocheting flowers from wool yarn that will be felted and made into brooches for upcoming holiday fairs. I try to keep my bag of yarn in the car so I can crochet a flower whenever I have a few minutes to spare.

My mother and I stopped by the local yarn shop yesterday and I picked up the red, some green for leaves and that beautiful plum was on clearance. Even though it is 100% wool, it won't felt. My clue should have been the word "superwash" on the label! The flower is still cute, so I might make a few more. I'm still trying to get the leaves right.

Most of the flowers in the photo have not been felted yet. You can see the size difference between the two red flowers above my glasses. This morning, I made all the covered buttons for the flower centers using scraps. Yeah! A scrap buster project!

We're having our roof replaced this week. The dark blueish gray is the new roof. I hope it's not too blue, but it's too late now! I'll be looking at it and wondering for another 30 years!

Road Trip!

Look where we went today!

Ryco's Creative Sewing Center in Lincoln, RI.
It's definitely worth the trip.


And look who we met!
Shellie (center) from Shellie Sews works here part-time!
And that's Karen on the right from Sew Many Ways.
Happy Rhode Island bloggers!


So, why didn't I take a picture with my BFF Janet? Sorry, Janet.

We had fun drooling over 6,000 bolts of awesome fabric and aisles of trims to die for. I bought more than I should have, but I'm happy. I started out with the green and orange fabric and ric-rac, moved on to some small-scale Christmas prints, added some stripes to play some more, waffle weave for tea towels, black gross grain ribbon for Julia, and the dresden ruler because they are "in".

There are lots of sample quilts hanging from the rafters of this old mill building on the banks of the Blackstone River. I love the strips in this antique quilt.

I'm ready to jump in and start the big projects on my list and some little projects, too. While I waited in the high school parking lot this afternoon, I crocheted two wool flowers that will be felted and turned into pins. I need to get busy on things I can sell at the holiday craft fairs!

Isn't that bag great?! Janet made it for me because she knits and I don't!

Ready, Set, Sew!

T-shirt Yarn

What fun! In the process of cleaning the "studio" I found several bags and a big bin of old t-shirts being saved for t-shirt quilts. I remembered seeing Arlette's tutorial for how to make yarn out of t-shirts. So I started cutting.


Since all of the t-shirts had printed images we wanted to save, I only cut the bottom portion of the shirts into yarn. I used an old June Tailor Short Cut ruler to quickly cut 1" strips. Use Arlette's instructions to make a continuous strip. I've used this technique before to make yarn out of plastic grocery bags.


When you stretch the strip, it rolls onto itself. Julia took a break from homework to pull some yarn for me. She said she could do that all day! Roll into balls and start knitting or crocheting.


I decided a tote bag would be useful, since one can never have too many tote bags! The yarn is not easy to work with, and a blister is forming on my thumb. But it's worth it. I have this great new stash of yarn from something I would have thrown away. Now what to do with the sleeves?


Have a crafty day!
Tina

P.S. Don't you love my grandmother's enamel table I unearthed in the studio?