Thank You!!

Here are two of the awesome Christmas gifts that I got.  The first is a new stocking made by my mother! It is awesome and roomy and beautifully embroidered.

Me and my st-ister!

The other is frpm my supervisor.  When stressed, we love this scene from Zoolander...

Excellent stress reliever!!

 

 

She got me my own hand rendered Mugatu for my desk!  It's awesome...I laughed myself silly. Good times. ~ksp

Go Vintage

I became an Auntie again back in February and needed to step up and make Baby A a new quilt.  I loved the idea of using striped reclaimed vintage sheets from several awesome Etsy vendors.

• Shabby Sheets purchased here.
• So So Vintage purchased here.
• Whimsie Dots purchased here. 

I used my newly minted design board to test out an alternating 5" pattern with blocks of Kona solids

I did an all-around stitch in the ditch using Superior Thread's MonoPoly Polyester and then used a ruler (first time doing ruler work) to quilt an offset diamond pattern onto the quilt.

 

I then used a navy binding, buried the threads that I could and called it "done". I'll post a finished picture when it is delivered to baby today. ~ksp

What A Bear?

What a Bear?  You ever think of all of the phrases that use the word "bear"?

...grin and bear it...have one’s cross to bear...bear the burden of..bear the brunt of...

My at-work BFF, Michele, was in need of some greenery for her office so I built her a terrarium.  I bought a moss medley from TeresaB123 on Etsy here and a bear figurine from DoodleBirdie. She helps me bear my rough patches at work...it's the least I could do for her.

bear arms 1 carry firearms. 2 wear or display a coat of arms.

bear the burden of suffer the consequences of.

bear fruit figurative yield positive results : plans for power-sharing may be about to bear fruit.

bear someone a grudge nurture a feeling of resentment against someone.

bear a hand archaic help in a task or enterprise.

bear someone malice (or ill will) [with negative ] wish someone harm.

bear a resemblance (or similarity) to resemble.

bear a relation (or relationship) to [with negative ] be logically consistent with : the map didn’t seem to bear any relation to the roads.

bear the stamp of be clearly identifiable with : their tactics bear the stamp of Soviet military training. bear witness (or testimony) to testify to : little is left to bear witness to the past greatness of the city. bring pressure to bear on attempt to coerce : they brought pressure to bear on him to resign.

bring to bear 1 muster and use to effect: : she had reservations about how much influence she could bring to bear. 2 aim (a weapon) : bringing his rifle to bear on a distant target.

does not bear thinking about is too terrible to contemplate.

Close Up

For this reason and because I call her the Momma Bear, I included the figurine.  Turns out that's also her family's nickname for her...I love it when a plan comes together. ~ksp

Je crée, donc je suis.

I have a long list of unfinished items in my stash and in my head. While I am definitely a thinker, it's my creativity that best defines me.

One is for a lovely little girl has been without a "blankie" from me since her birth over a year ago. Before she was born, I consulted her mother about the use of Ellie Fun - Karen Neuburger's Pink Dots purchased with Fabriholics Anonymous here on etsy.

This fun polka dot fabric uses rich pinks, purples and reds. Love it!!

I scanned in a photo of the fabric into EQ6 and started doodling. Both quilts are throw size and use a 12" finished version of the Autumn Star block from Quilter's Cache as a base.  After heading Tonya's admonishments to use more contrasting colors and many adjustments, here are my two layout choices:

Option 1: Diamonds are Forever

Option 2: You Zig and I'll Zag

 Baby S is now a walking, soon-to-be-talking toddler, so I am already woefully behind in getting her this quilt.  Maybe I'll get it done before she starts college.

Which layout do you vote for? ~ksp

Better Late Than Never...

This is my "design wall"...well actually, its a design floor.  I haven't been able to get myself together enough to get my felt up on the wall...anyway, I digress.

In 2006, the now defunct Block Central hosted a block of the month titled "Nine Patch Nirvana". I previously blogged about it here.  I loved the pattern and the idea of participating but, as has become usual with me, I wasn't able to participate in the sew-along until much later.

Fast forward several years, in December of 2010, I dug in the stash and found some batik and hand-dyed fabrics that I felt lent themselves to the pattern. I used Kona Cream  as a unifying background.

After too long of a delay, two weeks ago, I got busy and started piecing...Here's how far I've gotten.

There are two blue batiks and Kona Cream from different dye lots...ya'll know I like to keep it scrappy.  I've got some extra half-square triangles of various sizes that I will work into the border and back...I think. 

So far, I like it a lot.  Next up...the border and back.  If I can get it together, this will be my brother's Christmas gift; after all, blue is his favorite color. ~ksp
 

Host/Hostess Gift

Here is a fun project that I completed as a gift to my cousins this past fall season. If you would like to make your own, choose other colors for a more neutral or seasonal palette.

I was inspired by a post on the Purl Bee.  Ever smitten, I ordered one of their Spectrum Bundles.

 

I paired them with some handkerchief linen that I got at my local fabric store (Halsey Fabric) and followed the purl tutorial here.  Handkerchief linen can be very wiley and slippery if you aren't paying close attention, which made this a bit tedious.

With the leftover scraps, I made a scrappy log cabin table centerpiece.  I used Insul Bright batting and a cross-hatch quilting pattern.  The batting makes it heat resistant and lessens the likelihood of a hardwood table being ruined by the evening's casserole.

Tedium aside, but I had a blast making them.  ~ksp

Hand Made Christmas - Let's Bake Cookies

While I did bake cookies this holiday season, I also played with chocolate.  Several of my favorite local chocolatiers offer a chocolate enrobed Oreo cookie...it's decadent to say the least.

I stopped by Hanna Krause and picked up their chocolate "cote" products in dark (personal fav) and milk chocolate.  The process was rather simple, I dipped the cookies in the chocolate (heated on a double boiler).

I decorated them with some sprinkles I had left over from a batch of sugar cookies.  I think I ate more than I gifted...It's the thought that counts...right?

Have a safe New Years eve everybody.  ~ksp
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Kwanzaa Day Six:  Kuumba (Creativity): In some respects, I think I exhibit this principle the most throughout the year...having said that, there is always more/different that I can do.  In all endeavors I will do as much as I can, in the way that I can, in order to leave my communities more beautiful and beneficial than I inherited it.

Handmade Holidays - Merlot

The gift queue included a stash busting Double Irish Chain quilt.  When asked, the recipient reported their favorite color as "merlot".  Ah...merlot is one of my absolute favorite libations so a Merlot Double Irish Chain Quilt.

Grabbed a long-languishing Moda jelly roll (ETA: The colorway is Portobello Market) and two different burgundy fabrics and I followed this link.  Those who follow my blog know that I love the scrappy looking quilts so I go out of my way to incorporate variations in colors and fabrics.

Please pardon the crappy phone photos. I forgot to snap photos before wrapping and delivering it, so I had to grab a Blackberry photo.

Here's a close up of the center square. 

I very much enjoyed this quilt and it went by rather quickly...or I become delirious... The week of Christmas, I quilted it on a long-arm machine at Olde City Quilts with a meandering stitch pattern.

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Day Four: Ujamaa (cooperative economics): During the coming year, I will work to support local and minority-owned business whenever possible.  I will work to circulate the money I spend in my community of residence/interest.

Day Five:  Nia (purpose): I will continue to build and develop my community and its members in order to restore and maintain values, traditions and customs.

Handmade Holidays - Quilted Sunshine

A good friend of mine is going through a rough patch.  She lives several states away so I cannot be a physically present help to her.  But, I can do something for her, I can bend a rule.

My general rules for quiltmaking are as follows:

1. Quilts that I make are to be used.  I have never made a wall hanging quilt, I usually make bed/lap sized quilts and I want them to be used.  I don't care if they fray, I can make another one. 
2. Most quilts are to commemorate a significant event.  Now this rule is a bit tricky because I most often gift quilts on the occasion of a new birth, but I've given for other reasons.
3. I make the rules; which means they are subject to be altered at my whim.

With this quilt I exercise rule #3.

I followed the Oh, Fransson! tutorial here.  I wanted it to be bright and cheery and possibly coordinate with her living room which is an asparagus green.  I raided my stash and found a bright fat quarter bundle full of bright oranges and pinks and added to it as necessary.

I obviously cannot follow simple instructions and need a cheat.

I had the hardest time keeping track of the proper order of the fabrics...I was going for cheery, not perfect, so I pressed on.  I used a lattice lay-out for the 8" blocks.  The finished quilt was roughly 50" x 72".

The back.

Close up of meander machine quilting.

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Day Two: Kujichagulia - Self-Determination: I will actively work toward defining myself, creating for myself and my community and speaking for myself and my communities of membership.

Day Three: Ujima - Collective Work and Responsibility: I will use my energy to build and maintain my communities, to assist my brothers and sisters solve their/our problems together.

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ETA: Delivered. She lurves it and it has already been installed. ~ksp

Irresponsible Me!

I am sick and tired of being responsible.  For the rest of this weekend...

I will play!

Enjoy as much of your weekend as you can. ~ksp

To become a quilt for Baby S. (born late June 2010).

To be a quilt for Baby Jr. (due in September 2010).

A Blankie for (Another) Baby

For several years I lived just outside Boston as I worked on my doctorate in social policy (no, I don't talk about it). During part of that time, I lived with Lea. While we began simply as roommates, we quickly became friends. Our mutual dislike of most things Boston strengthened the bond between us. I don't get to see her often so we keep up through email and occasional phone calls.

I was pleased to pieces to find out that she was expecting her first child at the end of summer 2009. As is often the case when my friend's become preggers, I searched my knitting books to find the "perfect" pattern. Lea's full name is often mispronounced as "uh-zeyl-yuh" (like the flower) so when I saw this pattern I knew it would be perfect. Lea also likes bright (often mis-matched) colors so I had to pick something bold.

Lastly, most of Lea's work is international, splitting her time between, Haiti, Rwanda and South Africa so I wanted something durable and something that could withstand multiple laundering applications.

I recently met up with her whilst in Boston on a business trip to give it to her...she loved it!

At the Boston Sheraton


Stitch definition close up.

Crochet bound off edging.

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Project Specs

Pattern: Azalea by Marianne Kinzel in the First Book of Modern Lace Knitting

Yarn: Dream in Color Classy in Golden Experience purchased here.

Time on the Needles: March 5th - May 25th.

Comments: There were several fits and starts because I had a hard time understanding the vague pattern instructions of yesteryear. While I loved knitting this doily on worsted weight yarn and I love semi-solid yarns, I wish I had played closer attention to the variation in the veiled dyed yarn. In some parts it makes what looks like rings that I think are distractions to the pattern.

Neti Pot Prophetess

"It's been a long time, I shouldn't have left you
Without a strong rhyme to step to
Think of how many weak shows you slept through
Time's up, I'm sorry I kept you" ~Rakim*

Several years ago, while living in Atlanta, I developed "the worse sinus infection I've ever seen"**. My ENT referred me to a surgeon who put me under to fix a malformed middle turbinate...I know, I know, more than you wanted to know. Anywho...the surgeon taught me ho w to irrigate my sinuses with a Waterpik. Now if I know my readership as well as I think I do let me answer the obvious questions.

1. yes, a Waterpik
   
2. yes, it was as uncomfortable as it sounds.
   

Since then, I still irrigate my sinuses but I rely on the wisdom of the ages instead of the brute force. I use a neti pot. I'm not really sure who introduced me to them, but I know it was pre-Oprah. I have since inculcated several folks to join me running water through my nose and sinuses. If you haven't already tried it and you suffer from head cold and sinus pressure. It is truly a life saver.

On to knitting news...
The needles have been very busy around here lately. I finished my first ever sweater in time for NY Sheep and Wool. All of that will be discussed in future posts. For now we will combine two of my loves fiber and food.

I was in the NYC for a Midtown button run and took the opportunity to visit one of my favorite old haunts. Anyone who reads this blog regularly (or as regularly as I have been posting) knows that I loves the East Village (West Village too for that matter!).

Here is the Dumpling Man chillin' on the swatch to my latest project.

I think I made dumplings...or was a dumpling in a previous life.

No meal is complete without the hot sauce.

Here is the latest project. It's a Snuggle Snack from the PurlBee. I am going through MAJOR stash busting so this project is 90% stash (I bought the white) Knit Picks Swish DK Superwash. I am dubbing it the Mint Chocolate Chip Sundae Snuggle Snack.

It's to be a gift for one of my hairdressers who's having her third child.

*  A little hip hop reference...for those in the know

** A direct quote from the ENT.  It made me feel great to hear.