progress on x and plus quilt

I had a pretty productive sewing time yesterday!  I worked on the x and plus blocks that I'd started the other day with the pale turquoise and taupe and grey fabrics.  Most of them are from "Hometown", by Sweetwater, for moda. 
The block uses these shapes that have connector corners that flip back.  Usually I trim away the extra fabric behind the top triangle, but because these are white, I left them there so that the seam wouldn't shadow through to be visible.  It doesn't add too much bulk in the seams, and I'm pretty sure I won't be handquilting through the layers!

When I set the blocks side by side to see how they would look together, they seemed sort of darkish.  I wanted to get more of the light fabric into the design, so I thought about adding some sashing between the blocks. I decided to piece the sashing with more of the dark fabric to amplify the pattern.  I think I like it, although it is a little different from what I had expected when I first started sewing the blocks.  However, I have to remind myself to be open to what happens, even if I have to see it as a different kind of quilt. 

I wasn't expecting it to be as dark as it's turning out to be.  the + designs are very dominant.  It reminds me of the snowball-ninepatch combination,

like this one by Bonnie Hunter, found here

I really like those quilts, and have made one before, but I like this effect too.
Still thinking about getting an overall lighter effect, I placed some of my leftover  (partway through, I changed my mind from making 30 blocks to 20 blocks) sections together to see what they'd be like as a border.

I'll have to think a bit more about that, and welcome any input you might have...

On another note, this is what I came home with the other day after shopping!

 Some Alexander Henry fabrics, and some others, including more of the beige linen! yay, they had more.  Also I went to the yarn store, called "Wild Fibre" to get a bit more of the red that I need for the scarf I have in progress, and some beautiful shell pink that I'm thinking of using for a cushion cover,
Isn't it strange how even when you are shopping for various projects, the elements often seem to go together really nicely?

Window shopping in L.A.

Yesterday R went to his meetings, so I had the day to wander around on my own. 
So, I did lots of window shopping!
First, there are some interesting displays in the windows of restaurants:

These are some 3-D origami swans.  I'm not sure what paper they used to make them, but they are quite pretty.  There is tons of origami paper available in the shops here in Little Tokyo.
Sometimes, you don't need origami paper though-- these roses are made from one-dollar bills.  I imagine that to give someone a rose like this is to wish them good fortune and prosperity.

This little tiger is prowling among the menu dishes in the window of a Japanese restaurant.  The Chinese New Year is coming up in a couple of weeks, so we are at the end of the year of the tiger, and will be entering the year of the Rabbit!

These bells are in a "window" built into a wall. 

 I was on my way over to West Hollywood.  I'm not too interested in Hollywood Boulevard where all the craziness is, but there are some other nice areas over there.  A while ago I got a knitting book called "Greetings From the Knit Cafe", written by the owner of a yarn store/coffe shop.  I found the address of where it was supposed to be, on Melrose Ave.,  but when I arrived there, all I found were high end designer shops like Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera, Marc Jacobs, and in the spot where the Knit Cafe was supposed to be was Diane von Furstenburg. :(
Apparently the area got quite upscale a few years ago, and the Knit Cafe was forced out by economic forces-- which is a shame, because it was partly because of such hip shops that the area became popular.
One of the designer shops really caught my eye because of the window displays.  The wedding gowns are all placed in fairy tale settings:   (sorry for the glare on the window glass)

 At one point, I noticed a little space between buildings filled with interesting bric-a-brac,

 More windows found more interesting animals:

 

Another street that has amazing shopping opportunities is West Third Avenue.   It is where I went to search out a "newer" yarn store called "Knit Culture".  (They have a web site, here, but I confess that I haven't explored it yet)

I spent a "while" there cchecking out all their gorgeous products!!

Actually, it was pretty nice to be in a comfort zone like a yarn or fabric store with beautiful samples, books, incredible yarns!!!  They have a really beautiful range of colors, and stock a lot of lovely yarns, lots of silk and cashmere, merino, angora, Noro, Koigu.....

 This scarf really caught my eye, and it is a free download on their site: (here)

Yes, I confess, I purchased the yarns and intend to make one, but who knows what it might evolve into....

I had such a great time just enjoying all the wools, and also got some lovely soft yarn in a light robin's egg blue shade --- hopefully enough to make a short sweater.  

They had some nice fingerless gloves made up, and I am interested in them right now, so started a pair this morning.  

The store person who rung up my purchases kindly offered to wind a couple of my skeins into balls, and so I went a couple of doors down to a fabulous French cafe (Little Next Door) for coffee while she did that. 

 Cappucino and an orange flavored madeleine, perfection.
I went back, picked up my yarn, and went back to the hotel.
To be continued....... (in which I go to a very posh restaurant for dinner)

Yarn Sale

 Spread the word, if you live in the Saskatoon area!! 
Yarn Sale for Weavers (and Spinners and Knitters)

Due to the retirement of a long-time weaver from Saskatoon, I have been entrusted to find new homes for the lovely yarns that were in her stash.

 You will have the opportunity to purchase a variety of all natural fibers next Saturday, December 4 between 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.  at my home in Asquith.

 There is quite a bit of wool, in weights ranging from very thin (2/24) up to very chunky, from manufacturers including LaMieux, Louet, Borg’s of Sweden, and Cottage Craft,
Linen is also well-represented, with a wide range of colors in No.4 and No.8, and other weights in natural linen.
There is also some silk, cotton, and mohair.
I can also take offers on an electric bobbin winder and a spool stand.

 
Why not make a date with your weaver or fiber loving friends and come out together??

 
Most of the yarns will just be sold on a weight basis, for example wool will be $2.50 and $3.50 per hundred grams. (Very inexpensive prices - mostly we want the yarn to get to people who will find it useful!)

Hope to see you then!    email me if you need directions to Asquith!       

A Big Project

I haven't really talked about this big project that I've been working away at recently.  A member of our extended family retired from a weaving career, and moved into an apartment.  I volunteered to manage the dispersal of the yarns that had comprised her working "stash".  Well it has been quite a learning experience for me-- I've learned a lot about fiber content, weights of threads, plies, and how to describe yarns.  My plan was to:
1. sort things into like groups
2. whip those groups into order
3. identify what the yarns are
4. make a list of what's there
5. get the list out to people who might be interested in purchasing some of the yarns.
Along the way, I had to modify the plan because I didn't have enough space to organize all the yarns at once.  So, I focused on a couple of the yarns that seem to be useful for knitting and crochet, and have been trying to sell them and get them out of the storage area.  Fortunately there have been a couple of people who have come out to the house and bought some stuff here, which is nice because there are lots of odds and ends. 

 This is a shot of the storage room table, and some of the yarns.  There are a lot more of them!

I continue to work through the 5 step plan, and am currently on numbers 2, 3 and 4.  Hopefully there are people who will be interested  when I get to step 5! 

The Yarn Tasting...

The fabric tasting was pretty good!  I arrived at the yarn shop yesterday morning at about 10, armed with a double shot latte, and found my place at the table.  There were about 11 participants.  The owner of the shop had made up trays of "goodies"

They were little balls of various yarns, all sorts of fiber content and thicknesses- 25 of them.  She had also prepared a handout that listed each type of yarn sample and all known info about it.  Then, we went through and identified each yarn and taped a sample of each to the handout.  As we did this, she handed around sample objects made with each type of the yarns so that we could see how each of them felt and looked when they were knit up.  This was quite interesting.  Then we had some type to knit up some swatches, each little  sample was about 10 yards in length.  It was all quite a lot of fun.  I happened to be sitting amidst a bunch of quilters, so they also instructed me as to where to find the local quilt shops within driving distance! 
After wards, I spent some time looking around the shop, and appreciating the amazing variety of yarns that they have in stock.  I have some more swatching to do, but later this week I hope to get the yarn for my second run at the sweater I started at the lake, but was unable to get the right amount of yarn to complete...

I'll have to try loading more images again tomorrow, because right now I can't seem to get that to work, possibly the wifi connection here is too weak.. However, I have so much to tell you about the last couple of days, that I'll post this anyway right now ,