Crossover Sewing...

Not a lot of sewing going on over here.  I thought I'd get back into it after the holidays, but somewhere along the way I seem to have misplaced my sewing mojo.  If anyone finds it, please send it back this way!

I did motivate myself enough to finish up one small project, a new knitting bag.  This is the Miranda Day Bag by Lazy Girl Designs.

This is the first of their patterns that I've used and I have to say their directions are very clear and easy to follow.  Lots of pictures as well.  The most time consuming part of making the bag was quilting the panels.  I quilted the main body of the bag with Diane-shiko and I outlined all the flowers in the bottom panels.

The bag has lots of pockets inside and you can customize them to the size you want.  I measured all my different knitting paraphernalia ahead of time to make sure it would all fit.

It's plenty big enough to hold everything.  I'm in between knitting projects, so there's not much in there right now.  However, it easily holds a 10 lb cat with room to spare...

I also made an Across the Pond Pouch from Cabbages & Roses to hold all my notions.  (There's a free pdf of the pattern if you're interested.)  It went together in an hour or two.

I did buy one of the acrylic bottoms to go in the bottom of the bag.  I found it gives the bag a lot more support.  Lazy Girl Designs sells them, but you can usually find them at craft shows as well.  I also used a magnetic snap closure instead of velcro.  However, if I ever make this bag again, I think I would use a slightly heavier stabilizer for the body.  Overall though, it's a vast improvement over the little plastic tote I've been using for my knitting.

Moses has been finding all kinds of hiding spots lately.  She's spending a lot more time in my sewing room than usual and she's definitely keeping herself amused!

“We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead.” 

2 Corinthians 1:8-9 (NLT, 2nd edition)

The Not So Blue Angel Shawl...

All of my quilting projects seem to be turning into long term projects, but I'm finding that my knitting endeavors offer more instant gratification.  That's probably because I've been sticking to scarves and shawls.  But it's cold outside, so that works for now.

Recently I finished another shawl.  The pattern is the Blue Angel Shawl by Stefanie Japel.  However, I went way outside my comfort zone and decided to make mine in bright orange!  I'm trying to stretch myself lately by using fabrics and yarns in colors I wouldn't normally choose.  By the time I finished this one, I wasn't even sure if I'd be able to wear it.  I'm happy to say though that I was bold and wore it to church.

I really love the lace edging on this one.  The pattern was pretty simple except that when you get to the edging, you're working off 2 different charts.  But if you can keep them straight, it's no problem.  My one complaint was this was supposed to use 1 skein of yarn.  I actually bought it as a kit with both the yarn and pattern.  When I saw that I wasn't going to have enough yarn to finish, I had to rip out a bunch of rows and make mine smaller.  In the end, I left off 16 rows.  (FYI - If you make this shawl, you can make it larger or smaller by adding or subtracting multiples of 16 rows and still have the edging work out correctly.)

I used Heritage Cascade Yarn in Mango to make this.  I could see making this shawl again, but in the future I think I'd pick a different color and perhaps a softer yarn.  This was a mix of superwash merino wool and nylon, but I bet it would feel great with some silk or baby alpaca in it.

The weather hasn't been great the last few days and Gabriel has been cooped up.  My husband usually takes her for long walks, but because he wasn't able to today, I bundled up (think 'stay puft marshmallow man') and took her for a walk.  Does that face say happy or what?

“No one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.” 

Mark 2:22 (NIV) 

Where Irons Go To Die...

I've been a quilter for about 11 years now.  And in that time I've gone through at least 7 or 8 irons.  I've used a myriad of brands such as Sunbeam, Black & Decker, Rowenta, Oliso and Reliable.  But I have yet to discover an iron that can make it to it's 2nd anniversary.

That seems like it should be such a simple thing.  How hard can it be to make an iron that will last a couple of years or more?  Of course, I tend to use my irons quite a lot, almost every day in fact.  Probably most iron manufacturers don't expect them to get such heavy use.  But even the ones marketed directly for quilters aren't much better.

My most recent iron was a Reliable Velocity V100.  It was easily both my favorite iron and my most expensive one.  Late last year it simply stopped heating up.  It lasted the longest of all my irons though at around 21 months.  I would love to just buy another one; however, they no longer make this model (which costs $139) and the next one up is of course even more expensive.  And if it's not going to last that long, I just don't know if it's worth it.

Reliable Velocity V100

While I debated what to do about a replacement, I pulled out my little $10 iron I bought at Dollar General.  For the money, this iron is an amazing buy.  It's small, but gets very hot (much hotter than my Oliso iron did).  I've been using it the last couple of months and it's really done a respectable job.

In the end, my iron choice came down to practicality.  I had a gift card to one of the big box stores and used it to buy a Rowenta Professional Iron.  The thing that sold me on it this time is that I was able to purchase a 2 year service plan to go along with it.  Since I've never had one last that long, I'm fairly certain I'll be making use of that in the future.  It's a nice heavy iron and gets really hot.  I wish I could bypass the auto shutoff, but I'll just have to learn to live with it.  Considering the iron was free and if it dies anytime in the next 2 years, it's replacement will be free as well, it's a trade off I'm willing to make!

Rowenta Professional Iron

By the way, has anyone else had a different experience with their iron(s)?  Do yours last longer than a couple of years?  If so, I'd love to hear what you're using and if you like it.

I haven't had much to share quilting wise for a while, but I am working on a small project right now that I hope to finish before too long.  Right now I'm doing a bit of Diane-shiko.

Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

1 Thess. 5:17-18 (NLT) 

2014 - A Wrap Up...

Every year I take the time to look back and see what it is I've created over the past year.  I didn't expect it to be a very long list this time.  I haven't felt like I've finished much lately, certainly not like in past years (not that it's a contest.)  And it's true.  I only made 10 quilts in 2014 and half of those are still waiting to be quilted.  But looking closer, I noticed something else.  I've really grown as a quilter this past year.  I could have finished more projects, but I spent quite a bit of time custom quilting several projects.

Festivities

The back of Summer Meadows

The back of Whit's End

I also spent a lot of time quilting a couple of quilts that I haven't quite finished yet...

Celebrations - A work in progress

Winter Wonderland - A work in progress

These are the quilts/quilt tops I did finish in 2014...

Stepping Stones, Tic Tac Toe, Trip for "2" to Boston and Harvey

Tickled, QOV Quilt, QOV Mystery Quilt, Mystery #28

I also finished 24 Farmer's Wife blocks.  I had hoped to make a lot more, but these are fiddly little things.  Because each one is cut out separately, it's going to take a little longer than I originally thought.

Farmer's Wife Blocks

I made 2 more Ladies of the Sea blocks.  I only have 2 more ships left (plus the borders.)  If knitting hadn't taking over my TV time, these would be done.

Ladies of the Sea

Last year was a year of learning for me.  I took up knitting and found I really enjoy it.  It's very relaxing to pull it out at night and work on a scarf or shawl while a cat or 2 naps in my lap.  I also conquered my fear of baking!  I learned how to make both bread and pies.  In fact, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I made 9 pies from scratch.

As for this year, I hope to do more custom quilting.  I have a pile of quilts that are calling out for it.    However, not every quilt needs it and I would love to finish at least 1 or 2 more for our king size bed.  Charity quilts are a must and I still have a number of UFO's that are begging to see some progress (namely the Ladies of the Sea quilt for my husband).  Then again, only the Lord knows what this year will hold and I truly hope it is a good one for each of you.  Happy New Year!