The Stitch Up

Finished WIPS and the Holidays!

I managed to finish most of my works in progress before the Thanksgiving and Christmas craziness really got under way.  

I knocked out the two big applique squares for my planned "Best of the West" quilt.  They were really fun to do and I loved the way they came out.  They were a pretty good stash buster too!

I"m excited to put this together with some other squares and see how it all comes out.

I also made the grocery bag holder.  Let me just say that I had more problems with the elastic than I think I should have, but I managed to figure it out and it's working like a charm to cut down on the plastic bag clutter.

I also found a little time to put crochet trim on my cherry border tea towel.  

I still have not been brave enough to try the sock knitting pattern but I'm hoping to give it a shot after Christmas when everything calms down.  

We had a great Thanksgiving with lots of family and great food.  My plan now is to get into the full Christmas swing and knock out some holiday crafts.  Hopefully I'll have lots of fun stuff to post!

WIPS for November

It is finally Fall!

We've had a little bit of a warm Fall, but the weather is finally starting to change and we are getting some lovely colors around the neighborhood.

There is enough of a nip in the air now however to justify a cozy fire in the evenings and what goes better with a cozy fire than some sewing and knitting?

I have a few WIPS for this month although, I'm not sure if I should call these projects "Works In Progress" if the only progress I've actually made is thinking about making them.  They are probably more along the line of "To Dos" but I figure listing them is at least a step in the right direction so here goes:

First, I finished up a projects that's been on my to do list for about a year:

That tea towel has been my go to travel project for a long time.  I was picking it up any time I knew I'd be sitting in a car or plane for several hours.  I'd make periodic progress and then wouldn't pick it up for months.  Finally after finishing a few other things, I decided to wrap it up. 

The pattern is one of the repeating patterns from the JF Ingalls catalog.  There used to be a web site with all of the patterns linked but I think it's closed now.  You can find most - if not all - of the patterns on this flickr site.  I also think the book is available on the internet archive as an e-book.  There's a lot of good stuff in there.  I'm thinking of adding some crocet edging but that should be pretty quick so I'm considering it finished at this point!

Next on the list is getting started on my 'Best of the West" quilt.  That's my working name for it anyway.  I have a lot of fabric, patterns, photos - just a collection of things from our trips out to Wyoming and Montana that I would like to combine into one crazy - and hopefully cool - quilt.  The first squares I'm working on for this quilt are two applique squares I bought on our first trip out to Montana.  The artist is McKenna Ryan.  She has a variety of designs but the ones I fell in love with were her patterns of bears and deer.

I've started the bear design and will hopefully make some progress on the deer design this weekend.  After that I'll be adding different embroidery squares and photos on fabric as I have time.  I do realize that I have yet to wrap up my Spanish Quilt Project and perhaps should not start a new quilt until the first one is finished.  But each of these squares is really it's own seperate endeavor and I get more accomplished when I work on what I'm inspired or excited by at the time, rather than slogging through one project before starting the next.  At least that's what I'm telling myself.

I don't do much applique so this has been great to get back in the swing and I really love seeing the design come together.

Next on my stuff-to-do list is a knitting project.  I am trying to improve my knitting skills but so far I've just managed some basic scarves.  With the chllly weather I've been inspired to take out some yarn and a pattern I picked up at the Knit n Needle Yarn Shop on our last trip to Montana. (of course!)

The nice lady I spoke to at the yarn shop claimed that this is a simple pattern.  I'm not sure it will be simple for me - it's knitting on double point needles which I haven't done before.  I've loaded up 5 or 6 tutorials on you tube which I'm hoping will make sense and that I'll end up with something wearable. 

Last on my list is a plastic bag dispenser.  This is really more of a spring "get organized" type of project but I'm trying to get our basement/laundry room into shape and for whatever reason the mound of plastic bags I'm currently just smooshing into a large paper bag is driving me crazy.  I have a pattern from the Spring 2010 edition of Stitch Magazine which looks cute but I've also bookmarked a few patterns from around the web that are also adorable and seem like great patterns.  Make It & Love It and In Color Order both have nice tutorials.  I'll update which pattern I used and how it looks as soon as it's finished.  It seems like a pretty quick project.

Not a huge list but I'm hoping to get these things finished by the middle of the month.  I have my plans for Christmas gifts and I know myself well enough that I'll need to get hopping on those before Thanksgiving if I have any hope of giving them as gifts during the holiday season.

I hope everyone's WIPS are going well and that Fall is beautiful whereever you are!