Socks Done! And I've been moving piles...

My spiral socks are done. You may recall that I began with this:

And now I have these - Dorothy's Slip Stitch Spiral Knit Socks!

If you want to see the kind of yarn, link for pattern, and more, check out my ravelry.com page here. This may not be my favorite sock pattern but the technique is fantastic and will work on any circular knit. I will definitely use it again! There is a little orange left so it will show up in another pair of socks. 

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I have another quilting retreat coming up. Yes, I just went on retreat, I know! But when you get the chance... I was looking through my studio for UFOs and found a few things to take and a few to just finish. Truthfully, I didn't have to look too hard!

This twin sized quilt needed quilting and binding. It was already pinned. Now it needs the hand work on the binding.

This totem pole wall hanging now has borders and is ready to pin and quilt.

This QOV quilt is finally sewn together. Seems like it took a few years - not sure why. It's now ready to pin and quilt.

I found a bag with 2 1/2" strips of different lengths. I think I was going to make a jelly roll race quilt - so I did! Now it is  ready to pin and quilt.

So ... I moved one quilt from the quilt pile to the binding pile a very short pile.  And I moved 3 quilts from the finish piecing pile to the pin and quilt pile a very tall pile. One of these days I'll move some quilts to the finished pile! Isn't the pile moving game fun?!

Scrap Socks or Leftover Socks?

I love making scrap quilts - it always feels like they are free! But what do I do with leftover yarn? Now I know! Is that called scrap knitting??? I found a pattern to use leftover yarn and it works great!

I had this leftover variegated/self-striping yarn.

I had this yarn in my stash that was also self-striping.

I would never have put these together but I did...

And I love the result!

One day soon I'll show you the finished socks and share the pattern and other information.

Donation Quilt done!

The two grandsons that live nearby and enjoy sewing made a donation quilt. They have made other quilts but this one is different - it will be given to someone they don't know. They decided that they were making it for a sick boy and talked about him while they sewed. They hoped the sick boy would feel better when he used  the quilt.

They tried it out and decided it will work great!

The blocks for this quilt began with a square - we used different sizes. With right sides together,  a plain piece of fabric it doesn't really have to be plain was sewn to the square on all four sides. We then drew an X on the plain fabric and carefully cut on the lines drawn. After opening and pressing the seams, another piece of plain fabric was sewn on all four sides of the larger square ... Just continue until the blocks are the size you want.

The binding/border fabric which was in my stash really goes well with the colors in the blocks.

I think the sick boy might smile when he sees this bright quilt!

A very special quilt

These two grandsons love to sew! I think they just like power machines that they are allowed to use. Someday the saws and drills will be better than the sewing machine. Almost every time they come, they ask to sew. We have made quilts and they are just about done with a donation quilt but we had to stop and make a very special quilt.

Their grandpa on the other side of the family is ill with cancer. I thought we should make him a quilt and they totally agreed. I did some prep work and we accomplished a lot in one day last week. (notice the top picture) They sewed most of the day. They took a couple of breaks and then wanted to sew more. Their Grandpa's birthday gathering was Saturday and they wanted to give him the quilt then.

They both use the sewing machine - the younger one with help. The older one also uses the rotary cutter WITH the glove and supervision. They both use the iron with supervision - I think the older one understands pressing better though. Their work was amazing - their 1/4" seams were almost perfect!

I finished putting together the quilt, quilted it with a walking foot and put on the binding. The quilt is 72" square. This is the fastest I've ever made a quilt this size - 5 days! Of course, I had great help!

It has green flannel on the back.

I stitched in a little love.

This precious label took 4 tries! They wanted it perfect - they do love their grandparents! - and were trying so hard that one of them messed up 2015 on one label! 

I'm sure Grandpa Mike will be able to feel the love in this quilt and I hope it gives him much comfort knowing two of his grandsons made it especially for him.

More finishes!

It's been rather busy around here lately. We are getting a new roof and then they will fix the water damage that we had from leaks while we were traveling AND they will also fix the water damage we had from last night's storms. So glad I heard the water dripping on our new hardwood floors!

In the meantime, I've been busy! Yes, more finishes! I am determined to move through at least part of this pile of WIPs!  This is a donation quilt that I began because I wasn't sure if I needed a baby boy or baby girl quilt earlier this year. The darling little girl was born and this quilt never got finished but now it is! It's about 48" square. 

I used the walking foot to straight stitch the quilting on the blue areas and I free-motioned the little design on the white squares - you can really tell that I need more practice with my free-motion quilting. It's one of those skills that requires constant practice and I haven't done any for weeks. I'm hoping to change that in the next few weeks.

I love the fabric on the back.

I put together this wall hanging at the July retreat. It is now quilted and ready for October. It is a kit that I picked up at The Sugar Pine Company in Canmore, Alberta, Canada.

I free motion quilted a few spider webs and a spider.

The back is full of spider webs and spiders.

My knitting needles also have been busy. This cowl is on the blocking mat.  If you want to know about the yarn and pattern, it is all here.

There are more finishes coming! Another very special quilt will be shown soon and just wait until you see the next pair of socks!

A two-year quilt and a new pillow

This bright string quilt was started at a retreat in June, 2013. 

The top was finished in October of 2013 and finally sandwiched and quilted this past spring. 

I finally hand sewed the binding  at the retreat in July. It has now been laundered and it is finished! Whew! It's a good thing every quilt doesn't take me over 2 years to make!

The back is a patchwork of lime green fabrics - bright and fun. I think this will go into the donation pile but I'm still debating - I love it!

I also finished a pillow. At the recent retreat, I had a kit that I bought a few years ago. It was for a small twister table topper. A piece was missing and I didn't really want the table topper so I started making a pillow. A couple days ago, I used the binding fabric to make the cording and I quilted the top with paisley - the first free-motion quilting that I have done in over 2 months. The back is an envelope - the same color as the light fabric.

I'm working on a large pile of WIPs. And I feel like I'm making a LITTLE progress!