What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Someone asked what will happen to the house. Actually, there are two houses on the property. One is the original house that my parents moved to the farm when they bought it in 1956. Hmm—I had better check that date—but it's somewhere in that era. Perhaps I can ask Mom today because I probably know, but yet I don't know. 

That house was heated with a wood kitchen stove and two oil burners—one in the living room and one in one of the bedrooms. There was no bathroom and no running water. I lived there ...

 Ned's big brother is staying with us for a little while. Here he's having a chat with Tony. Petey is demonstrating his signature move...how he can balance and beg at the same time. Definitely treat worthy, he insists. 

I found another YouTube stitcher to watch who enjoys both cross stitch and quilting. Laura at LalaDee Stitches. She has a great upbeat vibe and shares much enthusiasm for each of her many projects. She does beautiful work in both cross stitching and quilting ...

 I seem to be busy knitting a lot lately.  Probably because we have been away for several trips in the caravan, and had a bout of Covid too last month.  So sitting at the sewing machine just didn't happen for a while.

So what have I been knitting?  Socks of course.  My daughter chose this pretty pink sock yarn a while ago and I've been diligently knitting away.  As soon as I grafted the toes I just had to cast on another pair of socks, navy blue yarn I received for my birthday, so this pair is for ...

 I got a start when I glanced out the kitchen window. This guy was over close to the veranda seemingly looking in the window. I wondered what had caught his attention. I keep my camera there and took this shot while he kept staring. Then I realized there was a Red Squirrel on the wood pile in front of the window and no doubt that was what he was staring at. 

After the storm quite frequently it seems to be followed by a pleasant day – in fact I had windows open part of the day before the heat built up.  We were pleased that the storm broke up before it got to us (slightly) and we missed it all and just had a tiny bit […]

 There's a new baby in the extended family.  Robin's siter Kaye recently became a grandmother for the first time, when baby Jack arrived.  That was exciting news, making Jack our great nephew, I think.  I had already sent the new Mum and baby a colourful baby quilt, and then decided to knit him something.  Time was moving on, and babies grow so quickly, don't they.

I decided to knit the cozy little Jessie Jacket, designed by Kiwi Stitch and Knit Co..  This is knitted in a combination of stocking stitch and garter stitch, and has a little ...

I haven't decided on binding yet.  There is enough of the border fabric to use but I also have enough of the ...

 You know what it's like when you set off on holiday - you seem to have all the time in the world and then it's all over.  We were attending our caravan club rally in Napier, with plenty of plans, people to see, things to do, plus a little shopping.  It didn't all fall nicely into place though.  On my "must do list" was a visit to Skeinz, a local company which spins their own wool.  I had found a pretty 6ply cardigan pattern for myself and was after some yarn.   Of course there were several lovely colours ...

What sort of handwork to take on our caravan trips  was the question.  With no stitchery project on the go at the moment, it had to be knitting.  I usually have a pair of socks on the go, so they were packed.  This pair is going to be for my daughter, she requested a fine 4ply pair this time, and selected the sock yarn from my stash.  I often knit socks on car journeys, nice easy knitting once I'm past those tricky heels.  I knit my socks flat, two at a time, then stitch up the side seam.

Socks ...

 There's been plenty of hand work happening here lately.  One of my goals was to hand stitch tails and eyes on to my three families of elephants.   There is Mother elephant, her older calves and the two babies in each family.  A couple of afternoons spent sitting quietly and the job was done.

Once that job was done, it shouldn't take me too long to assemble the rows.  This is my number two project in the Chookshed Challenge for February and I would really like to get this top assembled by the end of ...

 I know I'm a slow knitter, and  I finally finished this pair of socks some time ago.  But I was even slower getting around to stitching up the side seam.  There they sat, and sat, waiting patiently for that single inside seam on each to be sewn.  At last they were completed, a nice pair of 4ply socks.  I wanted to use up the remaining white and coloured sock yarn from a previous pair, so had to go and purchase the blue wool to go with it.  Now I've got left over blue sock yarn - that's the ...

Yesterday it was all about the handwork, no machine (other than the accuquilt that is for cutting).  If I ever won the lottery and had the big dream house I would have bins that could be stacked up and on wheels and have the ability to pull out to look for fabric in.  I guess […]

 A little stitching, knitting, and shopping, that's what I've been up to lately.  I always seem to have a pair of socks on the go, and these are my current triple knit (12 ply) pair.  Made with white/cream home spun wool, a gift from my friend Merilyn, with added speckled yarn, they are coming along nicely.  Once past the heels, I'm now on the homeward stretch.

Well I did get started on a new New York Beauty block but I got caught up with other things and never did finish it.  Here it is with pieces cut ready to use for the foundation. And this is the little bit I got done with Well I peddle with my exercise machine I […]

 I'm notoriously slow at knitting, and even slower to stitch the items up.  Taking part in the Chookshed Challenge was the push I needed to get this completed - this was my number six on my list of ten for this challenge.  All in  all, my navy blue cardigan has taken me just over a year to complete, not bad going for me.  It was started when I wanted a knitting project to take down to the South Island early last year when we were embarking on a 10 week caravan trip.

Most of my knitting took place while we ...

Here January is about over and I first now picking my green fabric for this first Georgetown block for RSC – I won’t get it done in January but at least it will be cut out to work on when I can.  I started with sitting on the floor going through my green boxes and […]

Yesterday I started to thread baste more hexies for Noriko’s Star– the neutrals of which I probably need about 800 or more – well ok that is probably an exaggeration but a lot are needed.  Anyhow it is a start. I have found that while I peddle with my Cubii machine for exercise I can […]

Got busy on NYB yesterday and got the right side stitched I unpinned the center from the wall and moved it to the table to see how to make progress on the center – linking to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts — Monday Musings — once the center is stitched it will be joined on […]