Sew much going on...

Sew little time to blog about it...

I've had a lot of quilty things going on lately, but I've struggled to turn them into blog posts.  Last Monday, the Mad City Quilt Guild had a workshop scheduled with Jacquie Gering, but unfortunately, she had an emergency and couldn't make it from Chicago to Madison. In addition to the workshop, she was going to speak at our evening guild meeting.  We needed a last minute replacement, so I volunteered!

In January, I was scheduled to present a paper piecing demo, but our meeting was cancelled due to the Polar Vortex. This worked out pretty well, because I had a lot of the prep still handy from a few months ago.  The talk was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed sharing one of my favorite techniques.  I don't have any nice photos to share of the evening (I was a bit busy!), but I can include a few pics of things I shared in the trunk show portion of the talk:

My first paper piecing project (I use them as coasters!)

Some fun pumpkin wall hangings:

A Mariner's Compass wallhanging (still needs to be quilted)

One of many trees I've been making with no real purpose:

A Christmas Tree I drafted last year (not yet quilted)

My Circle of Geese:

WIP: Cartwheels

My Featherweight wall hanging (I don't have a 'final' picture handy, but it's done!)

A baby quilt for Little Leah:

And a baby quilt for Amelie (Kaffe Fassett's pattern)

But wait, I have more to share!!  I'll keep it brief and maybe post more on this later...

Last Saturday the Mad Mod Quilt Guild had a Sew Day at The Electric Needle.  I was able to join in for a few hours and made an adorable little gnome.  I was a bit distracted and didn't get any pics!! Maybe tomorrow?

And finally-- tomorrow is a big day.  I have the day off from work, so I can attend the Prairie Heritage Quilt Show in Sun Prairie.  I entered 2 quilts.  AND-- this coincides nicely with the afternoon meeting of the Mad City Quilt Guild.  Hooray!!  See?  Sew much going on!

Sunday Stash

I haven't had much free time for sewing this week.  I have made up for it with shopping!! And attending guild meetings.  J

• Monday : Madison Knitters Guild
• Thursday : Madison Modern Quilt Guild
• Friday : An Evening with Franklin Habit
• Saturday : Knit-In (shopping only for me)

It's a pity that yesterday was National Quilting Day and I didn't sew a stitch.

I have plenty of additions to report to my fabric and yarn stashes:

These purchases were made at Stitcher's Crossing on Thursday.  One of the fat quarters is a Safari Moon print. 

Here are my pretties from Knit-in.  Caution-- I splurged!

This is from Hidden Valley Farm near Valders, WI. 

It is wool roving wrapped in silk.  The sample swatch was really different and intriguing! 

 

This yarn is from Shady Haven and is at least my 3rd purchase from them, if not my fourth?

They are located near Howards Grove, WI-- only about 10 miles from where I grew up!

The fiber is 100% alpaca and it is so incredibly soft!! I tried a colorway that is a little different for me.  I'm normally drawn to earth tones.

 

Lastly, is this Mohair from Bleating Heart Haven to go with the other skeins I won at my knitting guild meeting earlier this week.  I might make a color block shawl with them?

 

I did purchase a cute yarn ball/needles ornament and a scarf pattern, but I don't have photos.  I can't wait to dig into all of this knitting!  J

Linking up with Molli Sparkles and Sunday Stash.

Knitty News

This past Monday was the March meeting of my knitting guild (Madison Knitters Guild). I had a lovely time, as usual, but tonight was extra special--  I was one of four lucky people to win a door prize!! There are over 500 members in our guild! It is one of the largest in the country. Competition is stiff for the prizes.

A big, BIG thank you to Bleating Heart Haven for gifting me with 3 luscious skeins of MOHAIR!!! wow. 

Also, this is the weekend of Knit-In. My guild organizes a weekend of classes, talks and shopping in Madison. I didn't register for any classes, but I did attend "An Evening with Franklin Habit" last night. It was so much fun! He spoke about Victorian Era handcrafts and there are a lot of absurdities!
Weldon's Practical Needlework was the main focus of discussion and he had a few samples of their patterns, included a 'Child's Harness' and men's swimming trunks. The names they gave to patterns were hysterical: 'Houseboots for Invalids' and 'Cheap Shawl for the Poor'!! I wasn't able to buy a book, because they sold out before I made my way to the book signing. Instead, I had my picture taken with Franklin and his wool swimsuit. Priceless!!

I'll end with some of my recent knitting. A few weeks ago, I finally finished the world's cutest baby tank top.  This is for Baby Audrey who will be 1 in April.  I only cast on last September. =O

There is a baby mini-explosion at work and I'm trying to make sure each one has a hat. Two are done and two more to go.  =)

p.s.
Did you know Eleanor Roosevelt was a knitter??  Love!

Lazy-ish Saturday

The way things are in my life/schedule right now, I can pretty much only sew on Saturdays.  I had grand ambitions to sew tons and tons of X's for my Goodnight Irene quilt this week.  The way my Saturday unfolded, it wasn't looking too promising...

First thing on Saturday morning, I tackled some chores.  I couldn't avoid it!

Then at 10 am, I went to an awesome local indie craft show - "Ritz Crafters".  This is the 2nd time attending and it didn't disappoint! 

I did my best to support the artists. =)

 

This mug is made by my fellow Mad Modder, Nicky Ross of N*Star Studio!  I can't wait to use it!

 

After shopping, brunch was in order.  Lazy Jane's!! Yum!

 

And this brings me to the laziest part of the day.  When I got home, I didn't feel revved up to start sewing, I instead needed to nap.

 

 

You see, it was March 1st.  We've had a particularly brutal winter in Wisconsin.  I'm rather tired of it.  And Mother Nature decided to give us another snow storm.  This picture doesn't capture my view as well as I would like it to.  But this snow was very 'snow-globey'. 

 

 

After some much needed lounge time, I finally made my way into the sewing room.  At this point, it was after 4 pm!  The outlook for several X's wasn't looking good...

But I persevered and made a bunch more.  The quilt is starting to take shape!

In addition to the Irene X's, I finished the 4th X O block lotto block that was in the works.  I think this is officially a new UFO and can't be called a block lotto (the drawing was last month)!  I'll call the quilt 'X O' for now.  It might change to something like Ring Ding? Ring Toss?  Who knows.

 

Linking up with Judy's Design Wall at Patchwork Times and Lily's Small Blog Meet Up