Design Wall...

OK, I know today is Tuesday. I missed getting this up on Monday.

I have a finish. Well, 2 finishes, actually.
2 T-shirt quilts for the sons of a co-worker.
The sons are grown, but the parents wanted quilts made with their shirts from activities when the boys were growing up.
I agreed to do these the end May and was given the shirts then. I posted about them earlier. They were to be Christmas gifts. I did get them finished for Christmas, though it took me much longer than I expected. The parents were really excited when they saw the finished quilts. I haven't heard how the boys liked them. I am hoping that when I go back to school my co-worker lets me know.

I am working on another project, although it is too larger for my design wall. I have it draped on my quilt machine for now.

This is the base for a Twister quilt. I love batiks. I have used all batiks in this quilt. My Christmas gift from my husband was to go to the quilt store and buy whatever I wanted. I did show some restraint, but it was hard! I got a package of Hoffman Bali batik 10 inch squares, plus some fat quarters for another quilt I am working on.

I am using the Hoffman batiks, that I cut into 5 inch squares (they didn't have 5 inch packages at the quilt store) plus more from my stash in this quilt.

I don't think I am going to be able to get this quilt top finished before I go back to work. I am still working on the base, not even half sewn. Then I need to cut it using the Twister tool and sew those together. That's ok. I would hate to run out of something to work on.

Ha, like that will happen soon. :)

Another disappointment

In my last post I mentioned that I have been knitting scarves. 

I had been seeing fabric yarn in the stores lately. I finally decided to try it. 

This scarf is knit with Yorganza in a black/white design. 

It is a little pricier than the other yarns, but it is pretty. 

And, since it is light weight it would be nice for warmer weather.

 The disappointing part... it has a funny smell. 

I think the smell is from the fabric dye.

I am hoping that goes away. 

I have had it hanging up for about a week know and it does seem better.

I have also been working on another t-shirt quilt. 

I have been asked to make 2 quilts for this family.

This one was started by another quilter who decided not to finish it.

Some of the t-shirts were already cut up ... raggedly. 

Not sure what the plan was, but it was different than how I usually cut the t-shirts.

I have squared them up as best I could and am now trying to come up with a good lay-out.

The customer and I both agreed that black would be a good choice for setting the blocks together.

The blocks in the center - the ones that say 

'Just when you thought it was safe 45

... He's back!!! 45' 

are the front and back of one shirt. I think they should stay together. 

I am trying to decide if they should be framed with red or white. 

Either will work since those colors are in several of the shirts.

The school colors are red, blue and white.

I am working on a lay-out to show the customer before I start cutting any fabric.

The other shirts can all be cut nice and square. 

But, I am wondering if I should make them not square so that quilt is similar to this one. 

I will make a lay-out like that to show the customer and let them decide.

You can also see in that picture a pile of knitting on the back of my rocking chair.

That will be a sweater as soon as I find time to block the pieces.

My photos aren't the best. Something happened along the line somewhere and I can't seem to edit my photos. I just have not had time to mess around and figure out what the problem is.

Disappointed

I have knitting scarves. Lots of scarves.

These are made from Red Heart Sashay and Ribbons yarns.

 

  

This scarf is made with Bernat Boa. 

I love the colors of the one I already knitted and the 2 other skeins I bought. 

I thought they would all look so pretty. And, the yarn is so soft.

 

But.... it SHEDS.... HORRIBLY! :( 

This is the floor in front of my chair after knitting this yarn. My chair and clothes were also covered.

I noticed this right away, of course, but kept knitting, thinking it wouldn't be so bad when finished. No, still shedding horribly. 

I had the thought that maybe if I vacuumed the finished scarf 

that would remove the loose fibers. 

No, still shedding horribly. 

The scarves were intended to be gifts.

I would not wear this scarf. 

I certainly will not gift it to someone knowing it will cover them head to foot with loose fibers.

So now I have 1 finished scarf and 2 skeins that I will not use.

So disappointed.

Design Wall Monday

Wow, I can't believe it has been so long since my last post.

School has started - and it has been hot, hot, hot. Four days last week our district dismiss 1 hour early due to the heat. I have been just beat by the time I get home so not much is happening as far as sewing or quilting is concerned.

I did manage to get this wheelchair basketball player appliqued onto this ball court panel. It will be surrounded by t-shirts from tournaments my son has played in the last 4 years. I am making 2 of these quilts for his basketball coaches.

Other things I have worked on this past month are:

 Bonnie Hunter's Leader and Ender  Challenge for 2013 - Split Nine Patch.
The first picture shows a block laid out on design boards.

The tutorial for the design boards can be found at Bee in My Bonnet.

The second picture shows how far I got before I took it off the design wall to put up the wheelchair basketball panel.

I am hoping this uses up a lot of my scraps!

 I made myself an apron to hold my tools when machine quilting. I finally figured out that I was spending a lot of time walking around or to the end of the frame to retrieve the scissors or seam ripper. Hope to same some time. Maybe I won't need the seam ripper if I carry it with me!

Used up some scrapes with this project, too!

I made a pincushion/thread catcher/tool holder for my machine. Again, I hope this cuts down one the time I spend searching for the tools I need. I had made the thread catcher a few years ago so it didn't take long to get it all together and put to use.

I have also been doing some knitting.
The scarf, above, I gave to my sister-in-law. We both have a love for the color green. It was an interesting yarn - a ribbon type yarn that transitioned from a thin yarn to a slick, shiny ribbon with the color changes. I did not enjoy knitting with it, but I do like the finished scarf.

To the left are 10 scarves knit from ruffle-type yarns. I used several different brands/types. I am not sure what I will do with these, probably gifts. I like them because they knit up so fast - a great project for those evenings when I just don't have the energy to do anything except watch TV. And, I think they are pretty, too.