Busy making and not posting

I've made several blankets in the last month and sewn some little girl nighties.  It was past time to get my granddaughters in some Grandma made PJ's.  I only have a picture of the third one made.  This was a pattern cut out, but unfinished, from my mother's craft supplies.  She's been gone for 16 years.  I should have finished this many years ago for the granddaughter it was meant for, I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  Now it's on her great granddaughter.  Better late than never, right?

So summery and girly.

Here is where I put all the pins I took out of the pattern.  I'll leave them, always.

There have been blankets.  It's funny how each one is so different from the rest, yet each makes me happy in it's own way.  I smile when I look at the blankets still in my possession.  I smile more, when I look through my sold items on Etsy.  I can only hope to one day sell many more.  I'll keep making them until they take over a room of their own. 

This pattern is from a quilt design called Swoon.  I've admired the quilts made from it and chose to make just one giant block, instead of the 9 to 16 that would be in a quilt.  It helped to draw it in Paint on the computer and spend time playing with color before I started cutting into sweaters.

The back, as pretty as the front.

I loved the turquoise so much, I made most of the binding from the same wool.

Gives it a nice pop of color all the way 'round.

This quilt pattern is Chain of Events.

The first time I've used black in a blanket and it's literally a little over half the material. 

The graduated shades of coral make me so happy!  I'm simple, it's true.

Color! So many beautiful colors.  There was plenty of cashmere in this, too.

Cashmere, it's the new black.

This week's blanket.  Who knew I had so many pinks?  I did, that's who!

This isn't even all of them.  I got the striped wool in the binding, from my sister, it is too soft to use for anything that will be stuffed.  But, perfect for the pretty edge to this blanket.

Folded up and ready for a new home.  I may have trouble sending this one.  Quite a few of the sweaters were cashmere.  So girly and soft.  I can see it taken everywhere, used to make forts and standing in as a super hero cape.

Happy Scrappy Triangle Blanket

Finished!  Ta da!

A close up of the backside.

There are 10 rows of  triangles.  Here all the matching colors are lined up in a box lid and I'm part way through cutting the other 120 random scrap triangles.  Finding pieces in my bags of scraps was pretty fun!  I tried to choose zingers as well as neutrals.

Laid out and ready to sew.

The first 2 rows sewn and ironed.  These made me smile, a lot!

Choosing thread color is as much a part as choosing wools.  All threads show in these blankets.

A little more done.

Folded up neatly and waiting for a new home.  Listed in my Etsy shop.

Katzfire.etsy.com

Custom order blankets

I'm so happy these are finally finished.  My customer had a bunch of felted sweaters, mostly cashmere, she had been saving for something special.  She sent them to me and requested two blankets for her son and daughter.  She liked the look of large geometric pieces and some random circles.  I've been adding a crocheted star to all my blankets.  I made about a hundred of these last summer.  They go so fast, that I had a hard time quitting, then.  It was like picking blackberries or pulling weeds, just one more.

All the blankets I usually make are quilt designs and very orderly.  She doesn't know how much harder random is for me.  These aren't my usual style, but I'm pleased with the way they turned out.  Large pieces should be easier, but not for this OCD type.  I spent too much of my time obsessing over placement.

I feel they would have benefited from some orange or green.  I always like a complimentary color thrown in.

There's a tiny blue polo player on the upper left circle.

This was the first one I made.The long strips of cashmere weren't as easy to sew as I had thought they would be.  They are so soft and tender.  I cut shorter pieces for the next one.

The blue stripe was too bold to use in big pieces, I put one long strip off center, a couple smallish pieces and used up every last bit of it in the binding.  I filled in the binding length with the lightest blue.  Love the stripes around the edge.  Now, the whole blanket gets to share that wonderful sweater!

It's time to box them up and get to the post office on Monday!

Happy Scrappy Blanket

I'm not keeping up with the quantity of blankets I had hoped to make.  I thought I could make a new one each week.  As much as I love making these, the selection process of the colors bogs me down.
This is the blanket I wanted to make, but before I cut out the star pieces, I really thought it was ugly.
I went ahead and added the solids and it made all the difference.

Looking back on this picture, I almost wish I'd put a black border on it.  It's laid out on a blanket of the same pattern.  Made it really easy to place the pieces.

The Inspector, hard at work.

This is my tried and true thread selection method.  Get a bunch of colors out and start eliminating.  Zigzag uses so much thread that I buy the big spools and have an empty spool that I put inside the cone to use it on a regular spindle.

The main pieces all together and needing a border.

The backside's as pretty as the front.

Therapy Quilting

Last fall, I was feeling down and short on cash and decided to self medicate with crafting.  It almost always works for whatever ails me.  I had wanted to try wonky stars and threw the wonky log cabins in to mix it up.
I already had the bird fabric from IKEA and left over batting from Rachel's quilt.  The rest of these beauties came form Rachel's scrap bag.  She's made so many beautiful things for her Etsy shop, there was lots to choose from.

Front

Back

There was plenty of information on line to guide me through the star construction.  In September, I went to the Portland Modern Quilt Guild meeting and Ale had a lesson in quilting with perle cotton.  Very timely.  I've done a lot of quilting, but only with regular quilting thread.  This gave me another new thing
to try.

Most of the stars.  Apparently, I can't push the save button when I'm editing the photos.

All 5 stars.  There, it's in there now.

The log cabins, with little birdies peeking out.

The binding was all pieced from the same fabrics.  I accidently made too much and used the extra to make the back more interesting.  It's about 48 inches square.  If I was to do it over, I'd use a solid for the background.  The black and white had too much pattern to give the blocks enough contrast.

I have no use for this quilt, but enjoyed the process and it really did work to lift my spirits.  I spent a total of $3 on it for the perle cotton with my coupon.

My biggest lesson learned, was that I am not a wonky quilter.  This was way out of my comfort zone.  I like having things line up.

What have you done to work through the blues?

Kaleidoscope Blanket

I finally finished the next blanket.  I love this pattern, how different it can look depending on the color arrangement.  This is the same pattern as the last blanket, just made to look like individual stars.

I was halfway done when the machine suddenly stopped.  It wouldn't move at all.  Good thing it wasn't in the needle down position.
I started with the darkest sweater.  It had lots of pattern and the fancy ribbing looked like it would be perfect for the outer border.  If you look closely you can see the button holes.
This sweater was hard to work with, it had 2 layers and it was hard to catch both edges when sewing it together.  I went back over a lot of the edges with a long, shallow zig-zag to fasten the layers to each other.

When I picked up the machine, the repairman said I wouldn't believe how much fiber he took out of it.  I told him, I would.  Ha!
I need to figure out how to open up the machine so I can periodically dig the fiber out for myself and oil it.  My last machine was so easy to service myself.

Too long

Recycled wool lap blanket

I haven't posted anything for so long.  Not that I haven't taken pictures and had something to say, we just haven't had internet at home.  I've done everything I've needed to do online at free Wifi locations.  I get done with browsing or paying bills and then think, I'll get back to my blog next time.

Next time has taken forever.  I've made plenty of new blankets and lots of stockings at Christmas.  so many pictures and no posts.  Poo!

We still don't have home internet, I think it's time to end this experiment in frugality and get back online.  I miss it.

I've been trying to make a new blanket each week.  Soon, I'll have so many blankets in my shop, that nobody will be able to search for anything without one of them popping up!  Ha!

Baby Blankets

I've finished 2 more baby blankets for my Etsy shop.  All the blankets I've made til now, have been about 40 inches square.  So many shops only offer a smaller size, I thought I'd try it out.  Trouble is, I can't seem to go simpler, just smaller.  These have just as many pieces and took every bit as much time.  Poo.  I don't know why I can't do simple, all my projects always end up complicated.  These are 30 inches square.  I do love them, but will probably not make this size again.

Next blankets I make, I really have to time myself.  It seems like I spend a lot of hours on each one, but it might be my imagination.  I'd like to sell many more, but don't want to give my time away.  A timer, plus the fact that I get faster each time.  I may be pricing myself out of the fun.

I made two colorways of the same design.  A masculine version and a very girlie one.  The next two I make will be very much like these, but bigger.

Soon, I'll have enough inventory to get a booth at a craft show.  Maybe if people could touch them it'd make all the difference.  Pictures are good, but these are so cuddly, like a favorite old sweater.  'Cause they are!