Faith's Baby Blanket

Here is the world's tiniest photo of the Baby Blanket that we presented to Faith this last weekend. This was a joint effort by several knitters. We each got to choose the stitch/pattern of our choice and knitted a strip 144 sts wide by aprox 4 inches tall. We all used Knit Picks Shine Worsted weight yarn. Which if you have never used it is very very softy and comfy. A crocheted border will get added to it next. But at least it was far enough along to gift it.

Mostly we passed the strips around, so there wouldn't be a lot of seaming, but for the out-of-towners that just wasn't going to be an option. So I volunteered to Kitchener (a.k.a graft/seam for those non-knitters who may be reading this) any strips that may need it. Turns out I only had to do 3 seams. However, Kitchenering 12 sts across the toe of a sock is way less time consuming than doing 144 sts. After the first seam took me 4+ hours, I was a little worried about what I had gotten myself into. But the first seam was my "learning" experience. I wasn't sure how much extra yarn I would need to sew the seam. I ended up with WAY too much. After taking a stitch, I had to pull the yarn FIVE times the length of my arm in order to tighten up the stitch. Well I didn't want to end up with 3 inches to go and no yarn left. Was so not a problem! Then I found out the the rule of thumb is that the yarn should be 3 times as long as the length of your project. After that the next 2 seams just flew by. They still took about 1.5-2 hours, but hey it was worth it.

I actually finished the last seam on Sunday morning 2 hours before I had to pick Faith up for the party. Just in the nick of time!

We all met a Rachel's house for lunch. And boy was it yummy. We had Taco salad fixings, Gazpacho, GF crackers, hummus, chips, cheese, Blueberry lemonade, veggie tray, deviled eggs, fruit salad, chocolate covered strawberrys, creme puffs w/ice cream, GF cupcakes. Everything was extremely yummy!

I Was So Productive

I really can't believe how much I got done at retreat. I had 1 item on my list that HAD to get done, but the rest was in the 'want to get as much done as possible' list.

The one that I HAD to get done was Dawson's Colts quilt. Yes, Teresa if you are reading this it is done. So I need to know when you guys are come up next and if it is not anytime soon, I will mail it. Anyway, here it is.
Then I worked on my Temple Guardians Quilt. This is the Siamese Cat appliques that I have been working on for the last 2 years.
It has one more border that needs to be put on. The design on the fabric runs salvage to salvage , so I will have to do some fussy cutting as the the length is over 60" and the S to S dimensions are only about 42. Just in case you are curious, here is the fabric I will be using:

It is called Luminosity by Paula Nadelstern and printed by Benartex. I just fell in love with it when I bought it several years ago. I didn't know what I would do with it when I bought it, but I new I would find the perfect project for it and I think it will be great at the final border on my Temple Guardians quilt.

Then I worked on my Lillibet's Garden BOM. I didn't realize until I started working on it this weekend, but it was started in 2006. It was the retreat project that year and Kathy J. and I were the only two who attempted it. I had the blocks and sashing already done, but I had to finish the applique flowers in the center and then assemble all the blocks. This was one of the "want to get as much done as possible" projects, but I actually got it all done. It was close, but I finished it up around 11 am yesterday. We had to start packing up around noon, so we could be out by 1:30.
I was talking to my Mom one day and she said she would like to look for a new quilt for their bed. I told her I had a quilt top that I was working on that I would give her. It wasn't quite done, as I still had some applique to do, but if she wanted it, she could have it. Well 2 days later, she called to let me know that she had already bought the batting for it. So I thought it would be prudent to take it to retreat with me and get to work finishing it. She hasn't seen this, but I think she will be happy with it.

Here are a couple of other projects of note:
1. Marie's Dear Jane blocks. She was laughing, because she only got 7 of them done, but damn, I think they take 2-3 times as much time to make as regular sized quilt block. They are 6 1/2" squares. Click here to see what the finished quilt is supposed to look like.
2. Helen's Soduko Baby Quilt - There will be 6 puzzles on this quilt. The Baby's Mom is a Math major. I love the colors, but I want to make one with fussy cut pictures like 9 cats, 9 dogs, 9 oreos, etc. I think that would be a great I Spy project.


3. Deanna's Christmas Ball - This ornament is just beautiful. I have ideas for this. Deanna was my 'table mate' at this retreat and it was really fun talking to her.
4. Steve's Tribute to Oz quilt. I honestly don't know what he is going to call this quilt, but I thought that title sounded great for my blog. Anyway, last retreat we did a project called 'Mexican Tiles' (Here's mine). Steve decided to use Wizard of Oz fabric. I love the way he created Tornado's from the blue & black sky fabric. He got more of this done, before we left, but I didn't get an updated photo of it. I think it is just fabulous and I so can't wait to see the finished item.

5. Sharon's quilt for her granddaughter. I love the clean lines. It's great.

Of course there were plenty more great projects going, but I can't post them all. And I got too little sleep, because I was working so hard. I had wanted to take a walk, but the weather was too cold and wet for me. Luckily I wasn't driving, because I took a small nap in the van on the way back and then took a 2 hour nap when I got home last night. I'm still tired though. That's what staying up until 2 am every night and getting up for 8 am breakfast will do to you. Gonna go to bed early tonight though. Right after I watch Heros!

Awesome News!!!

I have 2 good bits of news to share.

First:
Baby Dawson Jeffery G. was born last night at 8:17 pm in Indianapolis. He was 21 inches long and weighed 8 lbs. 10 ozs. Teresa (Mom) is doing great and Mark (Dad) did well through the delivery except for near the end. I'm told he almost passed out and was woozy enough that they didn't let him cut the cord. Oh well, this is his first, I think we can let him off the hook on that one.

Second:
My car is fixed. I get it back tomorrow. (could actually get it today, but I have to be to the 2nd job by 5:30 so I figured I'd just wait.) The good news is that it was not the transmission. A mouse built a nest in my engine and chewed the electrical wiring harness connected to the transmission. YEAH!!