Pink Box Quilt

So I finally got to see it. My small quilt group joined in the challenge at our local quilting guild. We got a box of fabrics, and had to make a twin sized quilt with what was inside. Holly and Cheri had this fabulous floral pattern all picked out, but when they opened the box, it was race cars and rainbows! They had to do a quick change to the pattern, and here is what we ended up with:

I think it turned out so well. I love it. And I think the quilt recipient will love it too. The blocks I did are in the lower left hand corner. Cheri and Holly really did a lot of work on the border and the quilting. See that black checkered inner border? That's pieced. 1 inch squares! AMAZING.

There was vote to see which quilt was everyone's favorite. We didn't win the prize, but really, I think we did the best job incorporating all the fabrics into one cohesive quilt. The winning quilt had what I will call "easy" fabrics, gorgeous greens and purples (and florals!) but it was really a beautiful quilt as well. And if I didn't make this quilt I'd probably vote for the pretty one too!! :)

Tree Number Two!

Ok, yes this has taken a long time to post about, but here it is anyway...

Tada! This is our first year having a little tree. This one's only about 4 feet tall and is sitting in our french window. This so hard to get a good photo of, especially since it's up against my natural light source. So you are stuck with this blurry shot. I think it's cute. My dad is sad that it's so small.

So I have been absent recently because today is my last day of my class (I'm waiting for something to finish running, not really a good sign), but while procrastinating on finishing my project, I made this little cutie:

There are definitely going to be changes next time I make him, most obvious of which is getting better beads for his eyes. I think they make him look seedy, which is appropriate because they are seed beads!

Tree number one...

How awesome is this? I've been loving all the advents floating around blogland, but didn't have the time (or didn't have the foresight to start making one in July), so here is what I have. It's an advent tree from Starbucks filled with chocolate truffles. Now I'm not really a Starbucks fan (or coffee), but I went with my quilt group on Saturday to Starbucks and saw it there and loved it so much that on Sunday, after visiting another Starbucks looking for the tree and not finding it, I drove to the much further away Starbucks I visited on Saturday to buy it. And let me tell you, this thing makes me so happy.

Post coming soon about tree number two...

How I remember Nara, Japan (A photo series)

Contest submission for bittersweet's photo contest found here.

the wheels on the bus go round and round....

Inspired by this post awhile ago (who am I kidding, I am always inspired by Kelli), I decided to start taking the bus at least once a week. It probably more than doubles my commute time, but it's been pretty fun. I take my knitting with me, and it's fairly productive. Look what I got done today on the ride there and back!!

Please ignore the fuzziness. I don't like flash, and well, it was dark by the time I get back. That's almost a whole square for this blanket! I'm so excited. Can't wait to see how much I get done tomorrow.

I've got mail!!

How awesome is this? I love mail! Here are some recent acquisitions from the mailbox... :)

From a swap with cousin. Haven't finished my part yet... Love it, thanks so much!!

A bag for my knitting...

...which is already inside... :p

Other SUPER fun stuff too!!

And I won a contest on Joanna's blog, and she sent me this! It's gorgeous, right? Thanks Jo!

Mmmmm mustard yellow...

And reversible too! Who doesn't love reversible things?

Some gorgeous laminated cotton...

And here is the little bit of sewing I've done recently...

Duck pillow that I picked up as a kit from PIQF. Please excuse the wrinkles, it is already being used!

Happy Halloween!!

Boo!

In Stitches Sew Along: Sept/Oct Patchwork Bag

This bag is the original reason why I bought this book. When flipping through the book, I immediately noticed this bag. What's not to love? There's patchwork, quilting and it's big enough to fit everything I carry around everyday. I was so excited when it was announced as the Sept/Oct project. Like usual, I procrastinated and waited until the last 2 weeks of October to start the project. To my surprise, I finished it in one weekend. I think making the Weekender Bag prepared me for how many steps these Amy Butler bags can take.

Since it took me so long to start, I got to see what all the other bloggers said about this bag. Everyone seemed to like how it was turning out, and that it was actually looked like the bag in the book. No wonky corners or stuffing the bag with clothes to get a boxy shape.

I decided that this bag was going to be loved. I went out and got Amy Butler's Nigella prints to make this bag. And I really do love this bag. I made the patchwork the same as the suggested sample in the book. I love the fabric and I really like how it turned out.

Of course, bags are meant to have pockets. So I added one.

Even better, I've already used it twice! :)

Catch up

Wow, I haven't blogged in a while! Here's what I've been up to:

Favorite quilts at PIQF:



And a few more on my flickr.
Here is what I bought:

CUTEST FABRIC EVER.

And this I bought to make a Denyse Schmidt "Day at the Beach" quilt like this one. I'm SUPER excited. When I found the template, I told the lady I was so excited to find it even though it's pretty plain compared to the rest of them and she said "Yes, that's pretty plain." Oh well.

And look what the nice people from Soak sent me!

Can't wait to try it out. I've been hearing good things about it.

And last but not least, June tagged me over a week ago, so here it is:

I'm only doing the name game since I did the other one before.

Tag 2: The Name Game

The Rules

List one fact relevant to your life for each letter of your name. Her instructions are “to write your own blog post containing your name game facts. At the end of your post, choose one person for each letter of your name to tag. Don’t forget to leave a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.”

L - Lacrosse player. I played lacrosse in college and I still referee now.
Y - Yarn. I started knitting back in my second year of college, and it's really fueled all the other things that I do now. I can't imagine that I'd be sewing, quilting or crocheting now if I didn't start with the yarn and knitting back then.
N - Naptime. I LOVE naps. Actually, I just love sleeping. I'm one of those that believes that any sickness can be solved just by sleeping some more :)
N - Nintendo. As nerdy as it sounds, I've been spending a lot of time with my nintendo ds.

Man that was hard. Why doesn't my name have easier letters? At least it's short.
Ok, I'm not really one for tagging, but I'll tag Kristine, Oiyi, Sara and Liz, although you guys all have good excuses not to do it what with the fire and babies and sucky october and what not.

Quilt + pillows = quillows!

I've always loved things that transformed into something else. Like popples. Loved them. Reversible bags? Great (as long as there were pockets). When I first heard about quillows, I remember thinking hmm... sounds interesting. I think I just like words that start with "Q". But a quillow is basically half quilt, half quillow. My friend Holly taught a bunch of us how to make quillows last weekend, and I finally finished it last night. So unfortunately for you, I wasn't really in a photo taking mood this morning, so here is what you get:

Pillow form

Quilt form (in it's natural state)

The best part about this is that you sew a pocket to the bottom so you can turn it inside out and stuff the quilt inside. But it doubles as a foot pocket. The only thing I don't like about it is that it's made from a single cut of fabric. While that makes it easy, it makes the quilt fairly narrow. About 41" for me. My dad already requested that I add on to the sides. Does anyone have a good technique for that? I think I'm just going to graft on some super narrow quilts to the side....

WIP: Sampler Blanket

I started this blanket about 2 years ago, and it's still being knitted. It's nice because it's knit in small squares, and it's easy to carry around. My knitting group has seen parts of this blanket many many times. Pattern is from Debbie Abrahams 100 Afghan Squares to Knit. I think right now I have about 68 of 99 blocks completed.

One thing that bothers me about this blanket is that I used Knit Picks Merino Style. Perfect match for the called for yarn, but it's not washable! Stupid me. Good thing that Soak exists now! Has anyone tried it yet?

Owls!

Ok, so it all started when I noticed that Dallas left me a comment. I clicked over to her site, and ohmygoodness there was an owl swap that I didn't know about! And then I noticed her owl scarf that she received (gorgeous), and then I clicked over to flickr to try to find the pattern. And of course, MORE owls. And here is the result of my owl hunting:

1. advanced wriggling, 2. owl, 3. owl cushion, 4. Owl #4, 5. owlpillow, 6. Olwen the Owl with Patchwork Quilted Belly, 7. owl quilt back, 8. bound, 9. Orlando the Horned Owl

In any case, Dallas' site is GORGEOUS, and I ordered a owl quilt pattern online today. I'm so excited for it to come!

(oh and yes, the baby is kinda random, but the quilt behind him is beautiful, and he has a cute owl sweatsuit on!)

S-T-R-E-T-C-H bag

I'm in on Ravelry! I'm so excited. It really is everything I've hoped for. I'm really bad at explaining things, so you should just go check it out. But essentially it's a place online where you can organize your yarn, projects, project queue AND check out other people's finished objects in the yarn that they used. It's great. If you're on Ravelry already, please add me! My username is Lydigann.

But because I'm so excited about Ravelry, I've been running around my house looking for things that I've made to post, and I found an object that I never blogged about. A while back I made a Saturday Market Bag, with Liesl's changes. I believe it might have been when Al Gore's movie came out since it is a reusable grocery bag. It was an easy-peasy project, and super quick too. And stretchy! Now I just have to remember to take it to the grocery store and use it!

Quick Update and Reno Trip

I am so excited because I am #315 in line for Ravelry! Which means I'll probably be getting my invite today... hurray!! So I am almost caught up with my block of the month at the local quilt shop. I've spent all week working on it. I only have the embroidery left to do. And I made a swatch. Except that now I can't decide which needles I like better... both sides of the swatch look good to me!

And just because no one likes posts without photos... here are some from my recent trip to Reno.

New yarn for a new project

Here is the yarn I talked about yesterday from Oceanwind Knits. It's gorgeous. The color is berrijus, and was not what I expected, but I absolutely love it. This will turn into a lace project, but since it's a Christmas present, I'll just leave it as that. :)

Free Vogue Pattern

Ok, quick post today. I was searching the forums on sewing.patternreview.com and I came across a post that said that Vogue is giving a free pattern (you still have to pay for shipping). I believe it's any pattern that's not designer or Marfy. The details are in this link. I am thinking of getting this one:

I'm not sure how long the promotion is for, but there really isn't anything that jumps out at me.

I also got yarn from Oceanwind knits today, it's gorgeous! It's for a Christmas gift. Hopefully I'll be home before the sun goes down so I can take photos for you all...

Embroidery Lesson 4

Oh wow! Thanks everyone for your input to my quilt! Of course everyone has different opinions... I'm leaning toward #3 because it is one of the easier ones and it is more friendly on my limited amount of fabric. Now I just have to actually start it....

Have you ever had one of those weekends where it seems live EVERYONE in blogland has gotten tons of stuff done and you have nothing? It was one of those weekends for me. Here is my homework for Embroidery Lesson 4, finished this morning:

Definitely not a dress I would wear out, but it was fun to do all the french knots and try out all the new stitches. I especially like the herringbone stitch, even though mine turned out super uneven from one side of the dress to the other.

Lookie what I got to help with embroidery! I've really been enjoying the embroidery school at Crafty Daisies, and I've been thinking about getting one of these for a while.....

A light box from Michaels! With a 50% off Labor Day coupon of course.