A Little Bit of Sewing

I've done a little sewing while up here at the lake,

This is the center of the quilt for the new pattern Marmalade I mentioned earlier.  The blocks are a smaller size for this one so that there are still enough of them to make a nice repeating pattern layout.   I think that it would have also been nice to use a dull purple where the blue is.  I haven't trimmed it yet to add the borders, but I have to wait to get the fabric for them since I didn't have any with me when I came here. 
I also sewed together this table runner out of 6-inch stars, and although the colors are a bit different for me, I used some of my favorite fabrics from my stash and quite like the result.  Again, no borders yet. 

It's funny that I didn't bring border fabrics, because I did bring along some batting and backing in the event that i got to the quilting part.  But a funny thing happened when I was setting up my sewing machine.  The walking foot was on the machine, and when I took it off to replace it with the regular sewing foot, the whole thing just fell apart in my hand.  Yes, it came apart into 3 pieces, which did not seem to want to go back together into one piece again. 
However, I must confess, that much of my time has been spent by the fireplace: reading my new Sue Grafton book, knitting, doing a little hand stitching and exploring blog-land!!!

I hope that you are able to set aside some time for just relaxing before the holidays begin too!

Not much sunlight now

The days are so short now in terms of light.  Even though there are 24 hours, much of it is spent in a sort of twilight.  This afternoon I took these photos, and the sun was starting to set already at 3 p.m. 

From the front window of the cabin, I see lots of white, blue and grey.

There aren't very many people up here at the lake this time of year.  However, Fred came by earlier and plowed out the driveway.  I'm glad that I am up here safe and sound and snug with lots of birch firewood.
I moved a little table to look out the window while I sew.

 Haven't done too much sewing yet, but I have started.  I am test-driving the small version of a pattern I have in the works called Marmalade.  I named it that because the original version that I made some months ago was done in some nice orange shades with a lime green accent. 

The smaller version I'm making is quite different.  It will have brown, blue and cream colors..
Brown where the orange is, and blue where the green is.  The blocks are also a bit smaller.

Another Frosty Day

I love the mornings when I wake up and the trees are full of frost.  There is one part of the yard that when I look out from the upper floor window, reminds me of Narnia, when they tumble through the back of the wardrobe. 

I think today is a day for monochromatics. 
However, this is an update on where my new felted bag is at.  One of the interesting things about felting is that you can't really predict the proportions of how it's going to shrink unless you do a swatch and measurements.  Of course this is a bit tedious to do for every project, so I tend to wing it most of the time.  This time the bag seemed to shrink more vertically than horizontally, and so the bag is more shallow and wide than I expected it to be. 

 You can also see that the woven green parts are not so bright and clear as they were.  That's okay.   I pulled out my jar full of knitted and crocheted flowers to test drive some decorations.  I think I need to make a few leaves out of the lime green wool to add as well.  However, the bag is very thick!

this is the third collage made from Lakadaisises patterns.  I really like the silhouette idea and by making the cutout silhouettes from felted wool actually creates a little bit of shadow. Subtle but nice.  I'm still undecided whether to frame them with glass or without.  So far, they are without, because those are the frame I had on hand. 

Yesterday I was in the mood for some senseless knitting.  You must know the feeling.  I've been working on and off on a sweater that has a sort of complicated pattern on it in two colors.  I can only do about 4 rows before putting it aside.  Lately I have been happy with a couple of handbags I made that were knitted, so I embarked on another one.  This one is in red, because I love red, and also because this is the season for red!

Actually, I am still mulling over the idea of trying to knit a red floor mat. No, I mean crochet.. I did a test swatch with bobbles on it that create some depth.  Haven't yet decided on it for sure..
However, this bag is definitely knitted.  I like the idea of the woven in accent color that I had tried before with crochet.  The actual weaving in and out part can be a bit tedious though, so I decided to space out the vertical lines.  So, the bag is 40 stitches wide, knit on 8mm needles with 3 strands of wool! Not sure why I decided to use 3 strands, except that I thought it might turn out to be the right size for a lap-top and some extra padding would be nice.( For anyone who is interested in the actual knitting -- To make the openings for the weaving part, I did this:  Right side rows:* knit 4, bind off one stitch*, repeat,  Wrong side rows, purl, except where there is an opening from the bound off stitch, yarn over, to put the stitch back,)

 Again keeping in the seasonal mood, I used a nice combo of lime greens as an accent. The handle was 11 stitches wide, and about 48 inches long.  I just sewed the raw edges together, and then used red yarn to tack it down the center so that it wouldn't "roll" and distort during the washing. 
The top edge of the bag opening I decided to do a simple rib to pull it in a bit. 

 

 

 Now I need to go throw it in the wash!
Are you working on anything in seasonal colors?  What?

Look at these Pillowcases!

Look at these Pillowcases!

they are from the You go girl! blog, here, where she provides a very comprehensive tutorial how to make them!  -- in 4 parts!
and, then there's this:

well, crochet edgings, gorgeous fabrics, wool felt applique, pin cushions,--- all things that I love!  guess I'll be a regular reader of this blog!