Today's Post is Brought to You by the Letter Q

I really don't sew, but I have been known to quilt a little.  To me, they are two very different things.  "Sewing" is when you make garments that fit someone.  "Quilting" is playing with little bits of colored fabric and occasionally making something pretty and/or useful which may or may not be the item you set out to create.  Lots more latitude in quilting - at least the way I do it.

I haven't done any for ages, but seeing my sister spend hours at the sewing machine when she was here visiting brought out my inner quilter.  Unlike knitting, where I recklessly cast on giant projects without a backward glance, I tend to be a bit more intrepid on my quilting forays.  I have never made anything bigger than a throw or a wall quilt and those have been few and far between.  Little items are more my style, so I decided to start with a potholder.

I am proud to say that the fabric you are about to see came completely from my teeny fabric stash.  I even had matching thread!

Potholder #1 was a humble little square.

No binding.  Very rudimentary machine quilting.  I also did a dismal job of matching up lines and points.  It is a potholder only a mother could love, so I tossed it into my own potholder drawer.

Potholder #2 showed considerable improvement.

Much better job of getting the pieces aligned and the points to match.  The machine quilting is still not great, but I managed to outline one square and 4 triangles.  And check out the snazzy binding!

By Potholder #3, I was really hitting my stride.

The pattern is a little random - I was just using up the squares and triangles I had left - but the execution is pretty dang good.

Corners and points in good alignment.

Reasonably straight machine quilting in a pleasing pattern.

And honest-to-goodness mitered corners.  I am ridiculously pleased with the corners.

Now that I've had a little practice, I may try to make a couple of potholders in colors that match my mom's kitchen and coordinate with the placemats I wove for her birthday.

After nearly a month of yarn-overs, I finally finished the lace shrug I was knitting.  The pattern is "Viennese Shrug" from Interweave Knits and I made it out of Berroco Comfort.  My camera flatly refuses to admit that this yarn is shades of purple, so you will have to take my word for it.

It is ridiculous to take a picture of a shrug that isn't being worn - they look like blobs with sleeves.  Unfortunately, I can't put my shrug on for a picture until I alter it.  As you might guess from the photo, the part across my back is way too wide and the sleeves are too short.  I need to have someone help me pin it and then sew the underarm seams longer.  Maybe I'll tote it along to Yarn Cravin tomorrow night and recruit a helper.

The coolest thing about this shrug is that you start in the center back with a provisional cast-on and work one side down to the cuff.  Then you pick up the stitches from the other side of the cast-on and head off in the other direction.  I had my doubts that this transition would look seamless, especially with a lace pattern, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Can you find the line?

My most recent weaving is just a boring scarf.  The warp was generic gray DK wool from my stash and the weft is called "Swizzle".  It is a totally gorgeous superfine alpaca, but weaving doesn't seem to be the best way to show it off.

Just kinda blah.  Incredibly dense and warm, but blah.  I have another ball of Swizzle in rosy pink and I am going to have to find a better way to use it.  I'm going to check Ravelry for possible inspiration.

Comments

[Katie B.]

Quilting is addictive, but I have too many hobbies on my plate (including sewing) so I leave it to my MIL.

I can indeed find the shrug "seam", but only because I'm looking. I'd love to see it in person.

I actually really like that scarf. I don't know if you see it, but the variations in color make subtle diamonds up the middle - at least, in the portion you show. I like subtle. :)

[Kim]

oh my GOSH! Ok, you definitely have many talents. You are just the craftiest. Your potholders progressed quickly and the gift for your mom sounds perfect.

The provisional cast-on is a great idea. There have been a couple of shrugs here that would have worked well for.

[Jeanne B.]

Great idea! I've been avoiding quilting because of the massive investment into a large-scale project, but you've just given me ideas for a smaller-scale introduction! I love your potholders. What would be a lovely gift idea? A matched set of quilted placemats, edged napkins, and potholders.

All of your projects are looking good.

[Karen in Toledo]

Wow. You make me tired! When do you sleep?

[Cooking With Dia]

Very cool, wish I could do stuff like that. I'm not so good with quilting!