When it Rains it Pours

Just popping in to let you know I'm still here.I finished this chartreuse triangle scrap quilt almost two weeks ago and it is still waiting for a real photo shoot. I need a tall person to hold it for me. Luckily, two tall people have moved home from school. Soon there will be pictures. I promise. It just needs to stop raining while a tall person is at home.I've also been working on the Alegria quilt for Michelle.I am ALMOST finished with it.Has the spring cleaning bug hit your house? We had a fit of spring cleaning fever this weekend when M came home and was allergic to his room. Lots of wiping, washing, rearranging.... now I kinda want to clean and rearrange the whole house. Have you ever wanted to take everything out of your house and just put back the things you really want and use? I used to do that to my room and closet every year when I was growing up. It would probably be a good thing to do but I don't think it will happen. We have accumulated a lot of stuff in the twenty three years since we moved to this house. It's a little frightening to think about, really.

Quilting Feathers

I've been quilting on this quilt the last few days. I thought I'd share a little of my method while I'm taking a wee break.First I made a cardboard template for the center spine of the feather that goes in each block.The sewing plan for these is to work on one row of triangles at a time completing one triangle before progressing to the next.First, I sew the center spine towards me. Next, I free stitch the right side feather lobes working away from me. When I get to the far point of the feather I start sewing the lobes on the left side of the spine. The lobes are shaped so that they fill the triangle space. I have gotten a lot of practice with this the last few days. I suggest that you get out a pencil and paper and practice a bit before trying it with the sewing machine; that will help you get the feather shapes that you want.I hope to finish the feather quilting this weekend and share the completed quilt later in the week.edit: When stitching the spine, sew with the fabric moving away as you would sew a seam. For the first side of feather lobes the fabric will move toward you as the feather lobes are stitched going away.

Knee Socks!

I started a new pair of socks yesterday! These will be my first pair of hand knit knee socks.These are the Norwegian Stockings in Nancy Bush's Folk Socks: The History & Techniques of Handknitted Footwear. You can see some fabulous finished stockings here  and here.  I'm using some fun yarn from Socks that Rock that I got at the Michigan Fiber Festival five years ago. I love the way they are turning out but I think I'll start over and do the ribbing on smaller needles. I tried them on and the ribbing is looser than the colorwork on the leg. Also, It was hard to keep the floats loose enough on the first two rows of the star pattern. The ribbing pattern tends to pull the stitches closer together and make the floats tighter. The long floats at the bottom of the stars are just right. When I reknit I'll pay attention on those rows and try to get it looser.I know I said I wouldn't start any new projects until the UFO piles were gone but let's just say that I meant I wouldn't start new SEWING projects. A girls gotta have some handwork handy. I mean, really, I can't sew at the sewing machine while watching a movie with the family. Well, I could but it wouldn't go over well with the rest of the family. I also can't do machine work in the car. So, since I finished my latest socks  (pictures coming later) and also finished the applique on this UFO, which has now moved into the sewing UFO pile, I thought it would be OK to start these which have been on my to do list for years. Also, it is using up stash yarn. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.