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March 6, 2020
» Bayou Quilts

Yesterday, I sat on the back porch reading and watching the birds feeding in the rain. All of a sudden there was a whoosh and mourning doves, finches, and sparrows  all took off at once.  I looked around to see what had startled them and saw this Cooper's (?) hawk settle on the fence.


I waited for him to fly away, but after about five minutes, I realized the rain didn't bother him and he was in no hurry to leave.  I looked at the time and decided to wait and see what happened next.  I kept reading and ...

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March 5, 2020
A New Zippered Pouch PDF from Where Art & Life Meet

With all my free time (insert eyeroll and a sigh here), I designed another zippered pouch! This time an abstract design – Playing with Shapes and it’s a little bigger than my Rhino Pouch. This one is 14″ x 12″. It is also fully lined, has a zipper and the wool front is perfect for… Continue reading A New Zippered Pouch PDF

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February 12, 2020
Cranky Socks from Becca's Crazy Projects

I grabbed this blue and green Felici by Knit Picks to make a pair of socks for a friend (this color has been discontinued). I realized the colors match my Frolic Mystery Quilt.
This is the first pair of socks I made on my circular sock knitting machine. 
See how well they match! Well, they don't match each other but they match the quilt. I think perfectly matching socks are terribly overrated.
I even made a label for the socks. Because sometimes labels matter.

If you are interested in having sock yarn knit into a tube to knit hybrid ...

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January 15, 2020
First Week in the New Year from Bayou Quilts


25 Million Stitches Project.  Panel 2. I think I'm finished with this panel.  Time to get it in the mail.

I enjoyed working on both panels while making my way through some Netflix shows and listening to podcasts.  Often, however, I would sit down to stitch and simply let my thoughts take me where they would, in silence.  Both panels are typical of the way I stitch, improvising on patterns, threads, and stitches as I go, but I loved finding the quote for this panel to give me a more thoughtful beginning.

It also pleased me to include a ...

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December 27, 2019
Cranked Socks from Becca's Crazy Projects

On Christmas Eve I decided I needed a couple pairs of socks to gift on Christmas day. I grabbed some of my Felici from Knit Picks and got cranking.
I used a ball of solid for the cuffs, heels, and toes on both pairs of socks.
Here is the sock train. One long piece of work joined by waste yarn.
After I pulled out the joining yarn, you can see the socks ready for toe grafting. I spent some time closing the toes with the kitchener stitch and had socks to gift by lunch time.

2019 sock knitting count:
  • Cranked ...

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December 23, 2019
Knitting Update from Becca's Crazy Projects

As usual, I have more knitting projects in progress than any sane person should. This is one of those easy to carry projects. Only a few balls of yarn and big needles to make a simple scarf or small shawl.
I've been working on this fun shawl from Stephen West's latest shawl book. It might be the smallest shawl in the book, but it isn't the quickest.
I picked up this fun sock yarn by Into the Whirled at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival
Yesterday I finally wound it into a cake so I can make ...

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December 4, 2019
Odds and Ends from Becca's Crazy Projects

I have been in a sort of creative slump. I'm having difficulty getting motivated to embark on some new sewing adventure. That doesn't mean I'm not creating, I don't think that is possible. I just haven't found a new project I'm really excited about. 

I did finish my Helix Hat. It isn't shaped like the pattern because I wasn't paying attention when I read the pattern. It was a good project, though, and I will likely make another.
Sometimes I think my motivational block is caused by some of the clutter in ...

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December 1, 2019
Hanukah Gift Ideas: Paper and Fabric Judaica to Make, Sell, or Fling from Gefilte Quilt

Is it a bird? Well, birds are involved....

Is it a plane? No, more like a Frisbee - if you fling it, it flies, but not well enough for a game of  Frisbee golf. Wait, I remember! It's one of the yarmulkes (little Jewish hats) I brought to last week's artisan fair at my nearest synagogue, Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center!

I rarely do fairs - it's nearly impossible for a fiber artist to charge enough for the hours we put in. Nobody wants to pay $60 for a potholder. But someone I adore asked me -  and here she ...

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November 25, 2019
Knitting Up Leftovers from Becca's Crazy Projects

I learned about the Helix Hat pattern on Instagram. Someone had made one and I was intrigued. I needed an easy to take along project and hats always fit the bill. I cast on and got stitching. 
I grabbed some of my leftovers and just kept going. This is a very scrappy project. Perfect for using up those worsted weight leftovers. I failed to follow the instructions so my hat is going to be much pointier than the pattern intended, but I'm going to keep going with it. As my son would say "One's head can never be ...

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November 18, 2019
a good deal . . . from Count it *all* JOY!

. . . of fun.  A good deal of weekend fun!

It was a lovely, busy weekend with lots of stitchy-crafy things going on.  On Thursday I was inspired at work to turn our 3D Popcorn Box die cut into these darling little favor boxes . . .
I used Christmas images (I printed seamless background images onto the cardstock), but these could be done for *any* holiday or themed event. They were fast and easy to put together, too -- a happy bonus.  I love it when I find a fun something!

I found just the thing I needed in my floss stash to finish up ...

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November 11, 2019
So Many Socks from Becca's Crazy Projects

After getting the 72 slot cylinder for my circular sock knitting machine I have been working on holiday gifts. The 64 slot is perfect for socks for my small, narrow feet, but I know so many people with human-sized feet. This is the pair of monster socks I knit up. It's nice to use up those little odds and ends leftover from making matching socks. 
There was some coffee along the way, too. 
I even finished up this tiny sock knit on the machine. This sock is worked bck and forth on about 24 stitches and is seamed up ...

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November 5, 2019
acorn tutorial time . . . from Count it *all* JOY!

These little fellows were just so much fun to make ... and to me they were especially endearing, knowing that their little caps came from our own trees!  They whip up really quickly and easily, so if my instructions are tough to follow, it's me, not them!

First, round up some caps!  We have a number of different types of acorn-bearing oaks in the camp, so I was able to find some different looking styles and sizes!  
We've been really wet over the past several weeks, so after I picked up all the caps I wanted, I put them ...

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October 28, 2019
Cranked Socks from Becca's Crazy Projects

Last week I cranked up this pair using Uneek Sock by Urth Yarns. I purchased this yarn locally from Cloverhill Yarn Shop in Catonsville, MD. I loved the many colorways of Uneek Sock so I picked one with purple and that was it. The colors are amazing. I still need to kitchener the toes closed but these are going to be great!
I finally caved in and bought the 72 needle cylinder for my circular sock machine. It's been on my mind for a while. I ordered it, marked the needle positions and loaded it up. The machine was ...

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October 21, 2019
Cranked Socks from Becca's Crazy Projects

Time for another sock update.

I've been meaning to add to my sock machine workbench for a while now. I finally picked up the right materials and fashioned a panel to put on the workbench. This was a precut piece of lumber from the local home improvement warehouse. I had the 1x3 stock leftover from another project. I clued the small stock onto the back of the board, clamping until dry. This piece won't be moved about very often, so adding another physical fastener (such as nails or screws) wasn't necessary. 
Then I adjusted my workbench (Black ...

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October 7, 2019
Framed! from Becca's Crazy Projects

Since I picked up such great art at the Crafty D.C. Festival I had to buy some frames so I could display that art. I picked up this fabulous print from Jen of Zooguu. All the frames on Amazon had white mats so I had to pick up a black on locally.
I had never attached a print to a mat before, so I did a little research on YouTube and found a great video that really had way more content than I needed. It did give me some tips to get me started, though.
I'm really pleased ...

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October 4, 2019
Quest for Pockets from Becca's Crazy Projects

I've been known to say "what people really want is pocket equality." What is pocket equality? There are more than a few articles written about pocket inequality. Here is one that shows sizes and compares the pockets in women's and men's pants. It is interesting, and somewhat baffling, why there is so much disparity. What I do about it is carry a purse that fits all the things I want/need to carry. Most of the time it is way more stuff than I really want to carry, but I don't carry a handbag every day ...

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September 16, 2019
The Undermining of “Craft” from Where Art & Life Meet

“Crafts” have occupied a large part of my life. I was fifteen years old when I knitted my first sweater.  My mother taught me to knit when I was so young my fingers had trouble wrapping the yarn around them.  I didn’t realize it then, but being left-handed certainly must have made it more difficult… Continue reading The Undermining of “Craft”

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December 3, 2016
Samoyed Quilt Success! from The Quiltopians



After a big Friday evening and Saturday of sewing I finally finished the Samoyed Quilt for Auctions. I have called it Never Too Many Samoyeds.  It uses the friendship star (sourced from a book called 500 rotary cut blocks- and what a gem that book is) and the Samoyed foundation pieced block by silver linings designs. I used fabric by Joel Dewberry, Amy Butler and Cotton and Steel with a few pieces from my stash as well. It turned out so beautifully with quilting done by Kyeen Marie Quilts a friend from my quilting group. Kyeen appropriately quilted Snow flake ...

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June 25, 2016
Crafty Cards from Incomparable Buttons

There's no better feeling than giving...but if its just a thoughtful little something, often the card can cost as much as the gift. So why not whip up a few handmade cards of varying themes and keep them in a drawer to accompany a wedding, anniversary or Valentine's gift (you guessed it, the theme here is love and hearts) It's never been easier to create your own homemade greeting

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