What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Quilters are in two camps about quilt bindings, they either love it or hate it.  I love hand stitching the binding down, it's the last job to do and then you have finished.   Like this little baby donation quilt with the cozy fleecy back, all clipped up and waiting to go.

Binding time

I have a knitting finish too.  Remember this?  I was stitching it up back in April.  Then it got put aside for a while, don't ask me why, it just happens.

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I will be the first to admit that there are days when I should be enrolled in anger management training. However, I will say that it's not because of what I do - it's what others do to me. Within the last two weeks, I received SIX requests for information on my personal travel plans from the same person. I'm past the point of caring if anyone else knows.  

I asked why they needed to know that information, and the answer I got was lame. I decided (spitefully—I admit it) that I wasn't going to provide ...

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I can't believe this run of calm, mild, sunny weather we have been having lately.  No complaints of course, but Winter is starting tomorrow 1st June!  I've been sitting outside for an hour or two, once again, making the most of the gentle warmth.  Gemma joined me too, once she woke up from her afternoon nap.  She is always very interested in this small bark garden when she comes outside, especially in the far corner.  I can't see anything which would catch her attention, but maybe there are some tiny ants running around in the bark, who ...

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 I know that it has been ages since I last posted. But if you are a long-ago follower, you know that for some years now I’ve been a very inconsistent blogger.

It’s been on my mind for some time now that I’ve come to realize how much I missed blogging.  

First off, I can say that I’m doing well and can still say that I’m a 2-time cancer survivor, thanks to God, a good oncologist, and a surgeon.

A lot has happened since I last wrote (September 2024). Longer than I thought it was. Too ...

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 OMG!!!!!!! When I read the first line of Daphne's comment, I was going to say - I used to work at the Main Office of BMO in Old Montreal. The number of days I had lunch in the park across the street, right in front of Notre-Dame Basilica. But seriously? There is a plaque in the BMO Museum about the Pauline Vanier Scholarship! I did not know that, and I hope Daphne got a picture. That was ME!!!!!! I should tell you that story someday. I have photos at home -- it was a really big to-do. And it was a ...

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I'm quite pleased that there are a couple finishes to share today.

First finish are these leg warmers.  Yes, I know, I know ..... a bit late in the season as we are finally rolling into nicer weather.  At least, come fall, these will be ready to wear to help keep my legs warm.  There is enough yarn in the big ball, so another pair are ongoing now.  Maybe, I just might have two pairs ready to wear come fall?   For knitting, I did have to change my usual method to accommodate my hands and this new method works for ...

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Well, we certainly can't complain about the weather today.  It was warm and sunny enough to get the washing dry outside.  And pleasant enough for me to sit outside on the patio, under our Arch-gola.  It's hard to believe it's almost the end of May, and it makes me wonder just what Winter will have in store for us all.  Just have to wait and see, I guess.

So, this afternoon, I took my New Zealand panel outside for a couple of hours to do some more big stitch quilting.  Today, I was working on a heron ...

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 Orange is the colour of the month for RSC stitching, not my favourite colour by any means.  I'm not too keen on bright red either, wonder what that says about me?  I'm still working on my baby quilt and found a scrap of yellow with orangey coloured flowers - just enough for a corner block.  I was looking for something more apricot, but nothing was to be found.

That will do

I laid the blocks out on my design bed, to see what else I needed.  Yes, there were a couple of spaces that needed filling, so I stitched ...

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I decided to try doing stranded work on the LK150. I had somewhat mixed results. The first swatch showed me I'm still learning the technique. The tricky bit of trial and error is the keeping the trial going with all of the errors. 
I was pretty sure the tension was too tight so I changed that to prevent the dropped stitches. It got better but it still dropped some stitches. This try was much better. I'll have to keep working at it but I think this might not be the best yarn for this project. It is still ...

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 It was time to send a few more items off to new homes.  You may remember the crate of knitting my granddaughter got down from the loft for me, it contained knitted jumpers I had done for future great grand children.  It was time to let two of them go, plus a several knitted hats I had finished recently.

Off to new homes

The pink jumper was knitted recently with yarn I had purchased from an Op Shop, and the navy one is a reknit of a pattern I made for my first baby Michael many years ago.  He is ...

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I've pleased to have finished the quilting on the final  (third) quilt I'm  making for a special family.  I really struggled with the quilting, and couldn't understand why the tension was wrong and the machine was really struggling.  My  Bernina had just come back from a service so should have been running fine.  Eventually, after rethreading yet again, I decided to change the fancy embroidery thread I was using to standard cotton.  What a revelation, no tightness in the tension, no strange noises, and the final quilting line ran smoothly.  When I sent my machine for a ...

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I picked up some of this cute yarn at the local big box store to knit a few hats. First, I knit a swatch at what I figured were the right settings on the LK150. I like the resulting fabric so I did some  stich counting, measurements, math, and cast on. 
I used instructions I'd seen on the Machine Knitting Beginners and Returners Circle to make the crown of the hat in four sections.. I only dropped a single section when working. I had failed to load the yarn in the carriage. 
I sewed it up and it came ...

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I put this medallion piece back up on the design wall and tried a few pieces for continuing borders, trying to figure out if it needs medium or dark or bright fabric.  I have a box full of 4" Broken Dishes blocks that might get used for a border.

I also have the other Maria Derse tall triangles quit top in progress that needs a decision on the insert strip fabric.  I think this one will come down and that one will go up on the wall.

I cut 20+ more green fabrics in 1.5" squares but I see ...

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 With my sewing machine away being serviced, I've been spending a little more time knitting.  Last week I came across a stalled knitting project and set to work finishing the two fronts, knitting with  some hand spun wool sent to me by my late friend Merilyn.

That didn't take too long, and now I'm working on the front bands.  I've almost finished them, so the next step is the neck band, and sew it all together.  Wonder if I can get this finished by next week?

On to the front bands

The weather is certainly turning ...

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 Just for a change of pace this week I've put my summer cotton top I've been knitting aside.  There were several very small balls of left over yarn hanging about so I decided to knit a baby hat, just to use them up.  I had a little of pink, white, grey and burgundy so knitted up a striped baby hat.  That didn't turn out too bad, nice easy knitting in the evenings, and I was pleased to see those tiny balls gone.

Striped baby hat

Then I came across a stalled knitting project, so pulled it out ...

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 Here is one of the Mother trees near our laneway featuring in a photo taken Wednesday. 

It's still mostly winter here and that's all I'll say about that. I suppose it's appropriate that I'm still knitting my very warm afghan. Here's how long it is now.

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Our Daylight Saving has come to an end here in New Zealand, so it was time to turn the clocks back one hour.  The clever lap top, tablet, and cell phone can all do it magically themselves. That left the kitchen clock, and the clock on the stove for me to do, I had a bit of tuition last year so knew exactly what to do.  My bedside clock is a bit of a problem, so I just take the battery out and wait for the time to catch up, then reinsert it.  There must be an easier way, so ...

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I needed to start sewing this quilt together before pieces start fluttering off the design wall.  I had the window open a couple days ago and found 2 pieces on the floor when I returned to the room.  I can sew 2 rows at a time because the triangles are pointing in opposite directions from one row to the other as I work my way across the rows. While sewing I have the 2 piles in the position they are in, in this photo.  When I start the first row I have a little flag attached that reminds me that ...

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 I've been doing a bit of this and a bit of that all week.  Remember those blue stars and hearts I've been working on for a secret project?  I've finished stitching the binding down on the stars, just need to do the binding on the hearts now.  I'm not sure when I will be meeting up with the recipients to hand these over though, could be a while.  But I'll keep them safe and sound and share photos when they finally go to their new homes.

I've also done a bit more knitting on ...

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