Okay, so here’s a picture of a couple of the plain shirts I bought.  I’m thinking of embroidering around the collar and down along the slit in the front.

Well, I haven’t done it yet because I haven’t decided on what design to make, yet.  But I did get my feet wet a little by jumping back into embroidery by trying my first attempts at a few crazy quilt patches.  I figured I have so much scrap cloth from my patchwork days that it should be a good way to practice while also finally trying crazy quilting.  So here are a few of the scraps I picked out, including cutting one red piece in the shape of a heart.

I stitched all these scraps together, then practiced some hand embroidery on it.  I ended up making three squares.  Here’s what they looked like when they were “somewhat” done.

I actually ended up stitching a bit more on these including some buttons and seed beads as well.  The heart on the bottom square was still not sewed on in this pic, either.  At first I didn’t know what I was going to do with these, but then I decided that my storage boxes looked a bit like they needed some decoration.  Here’s what my storage boxes looked like before I put on the squares.

And this is what they look like after the squares.

Yeah, it’s a bit funky, I know, but I guess that’s why they call them crazy quilts?  Anyhoo,  I’m happy with the results because I feel like I’ve killed a few birds with one stone–using up my scraps, getting a feel for what crazy quilt making is like, decorating my storage boxes, and getting some embroidery practice in. 

Other projects I’ve finished is this hat for Brian.  He wanted a double layered knit hat, so I decided to try my hand at making a reversible hat.  I figured if I just knit from the top to the brim, then back again I could just flip the hat inside out to make it reversible.  I decided to make it plain on one side and striped on the other to test it out.  Here’s what it looked like after I cast off.

If I tuck in one side it looks like this:

And if I flip it inside out, it looks like this:

This was my first attempt at making a double layered hat, and at the same time I figured out how to make it reversible, too.  Another check mark on my list of things to try and learn.

I also finished my multidirectional scarf, which is also a new technique for me. 

I used Iris Schreier’s pattern from her Modular Knits book.  I love her technique because there’s no picking up stitches, they’re all live, so no hand sewing any pieces together.   It’s all just knit along the way.   Now that I’ve learned that, I want to try other modular knit patterns.

Then Matty was moving things around in his room and we were talking about wall hangings.  He remembered that he liked one of my old patchwork tops I was working on “years” ago.  I happened to still have it stored, but not finished.  I pulled it out, and he still liked it, so I’m gonna try to finish it up this year as well.  Here’s what it looks like so far.

I actually found that I still have quite a few patchwork tops that I haven’t finished and are still just stored. . .  So, I guess that’s another thing on my list to do–finish my old projects!  But I think I’m gonna work on the small ones first.  Here’s another small one that I’ll try to get to this year as well.

If I eventually do finished these, I’ll try to post them.

Okay, so back to being productive!  Oh, I also just finished reading The Day We Lost the H-Bomb by Barbara Moran today.  My!  Another captivating story!  Will try to post my comments on it another time.

Toodles for now!

Marlakins

And here’s what it looks like today.  My sewing machine needs servicing, so all the quilting had to be done by hand.  I’m not the greatest quilter, but with practice I should get better.  I hope. . .

I designed this myself, but was inspired by some Amish quilts I saw when we visited Lancaster, Pennsylvania many years ago.  The Amish and the Mennonites make such fabulous quilts.  I had to give it a try.  I’ve already put together a few more patchwork tops, but have yet to put the batting and the backing together on those, but will post those once I finish them.  With all the projects I’ve line up for myself, I likely won’t get to those quilts until next year.  But I was looking at them last night and was inspired to finish them because I think they actually look pretty decent.  Nice to see them with a fresh set of eyes and still think they look okay.  Course it could just be my personal taste. . .
Alright so here’s a set of baby socks and a few hats I knit for my sister’s roommate, too.  Gotta keep him warm when he pops into this world!

If I have time, I might knit up a little bunny for her, too .  I saw this really cute knitted bunny with a free pattern online.  You can see what it looks like here.  The instructions look super simple, too, and I think it’s very small bunny.

Okay, better get dinner on.

Marlakins