Kelly's Kwilts

On the Needles – October 23, 2015

I really didn’t need a new knitting project, I finally started working on the ribbing of my sock (no picture of that today!). Last weekend after my son’s birthday parties (one with his school friends and a family party all in the same day) I needed some majorly mindless hand work. So I dug out my ball winder and the 3 skeins of yarn I had decided to use for a shawl. Cast on and just started knitting away. It’s a really easy pattern, just stockinette stitch for the whole thing. I’m loving the colors in the yarn, and the stripes it’s making. I hope to finish the socks soon, but I’ve been up during the night with a certain little girl and haven’t been getting a lot of sleep, so mindless is what I need!

Linking up with Patchwork Times, check to see what everyone else is knitting!

Major Update!

OMG have I been busy lately! I entered some items into our County Fair and of the 3 items I entered I received 2 ribbons! Both were cross stitch pieces that I did a few years ago and was really proud of how well they turned out so decided they need to be entered along with a memory quilt that was made for my grandmother’s 80th birthday. Next year I hope to enter another of the seasonal quilts cross stitch and hopefully one of my hexagon quilts – if I ever finish one!

I enter a lot of giveaways and never win, well I can’t say that anymore! I had entered this one at My Quilt Infatuation and figured I wouldn’t win anything, lo and behold I received an email asking for my address! I love the colors and can’t wait to figure out what to make with the 10 fat quarters. Perhaps a Xmas gift?

I don’t have any pictures because it’s a guild challenge due in December, but I’ve been spending time working on a red/white quilt. The center and first border are done, the blocks for the second border are done and I am working on the applique pieces that go on the first border. Hope to have the top completed soon!

I also finally finished my second commission quilt, from what I hear the family loved it, I took a few pictures of it before I mailed it to my friend but I can’t find them right now. I might need to take them off the DSLR. When I find them I’ll make sure to post again!

Talk soon!

On the Needles – September 25, 2015

I finally finished the first sock! I am also a good chunk of the way through the foot on the second sock. Just making slow but constant progress! I do really like how it looks with the striping, but it is definiitely too big in the foot. I also somehow managed to mess up the cast off and need to find some better instructions on how to do that on the next one. I already have the yarn for my next pair – it’s an awesome color way called Once Bitten that I found on etsy, making a pair of socks for my sister! Doesn’t look like they have it in the shop anymore but it’s red, grey and black – yep, OSU colors! She’s a big fan of the Buckeyes and I can’t wait to make these for her!

Lots more to update, hopefully I can get it done this weekend! Head over to Patchwork Times to see what’s on everyone’s needles!

On the Needles – August 14, 2015

Well, I have made some progress on my sock! I finally sat down with the instructions and read through them a million times along with reading some posts in the Ravelry group for the Fish Lips Kiss heel and it just finally clicked! Took me a few hours to get it all done, but I love how easy it was once I got it! I think I’ve got enough stitched that I’m going to start ribbing now, just have to decide if I want to do 1×1 or 2×2 ribbing. I’m thinking of going with the 2×2 but what does everyone else do? I still don’t like how big this sock is, but I’m not starting it over! I will just make the other one a little smaller – it’s my first pair and it’s a learning process! I posted last weeks update on instagram and Facebook and my mother calls me and says “You are knitting socks? You do know you can go to the store and buy them right?” I just laughed and told her it was something I always wanted to do! Hope to have more done by next week, maybe even starting the next one!

Linking up with Patchwork Times – check out what everyone else is up to!

Shopping and Hexie Insanity

We were camping over the weekend down near Millersburg so mom and I decided to take a trip over to Miller’s Dry Goods on Friday. I found a few things that I could use 🙂 The panel is for the back of Alex’s bed quilt (that I need to get working on!) and so is the Thomas yardage. The white on white (hexagons!) and the Moda Marbles is for the hexie insanity quilt. My mom bought the rolled up fabric for Cassie, it’s an ABC book I need to put together for her. I also got some Aurifil thread in white for hexie insanity, but it’s already in the workbox. It was a nice shop but it’s almost 2 hours from our house to get there, it was only a half hour from the campground we were at. They have TONS of Moda Marbles colors, I simply loved the one I bought called Sea Glass. I’m debating buying more of it to use for the solid border in hexie insanity, I only need about 3 yards of fabric for that border alone, but I’ll decide that later, at least I know where I can get some more colors!!

So I already cut up that half yard of Moda Marbles on the Studio so i can start using it. Didn’t take but 15 minutes to cut into 760 2″ squares and a small amount of waste. Now I can baste and make some flowers and diamonds with it! Planning on cutting up that new white as well, get it mixed in with all the other whites I have prepped. I finished adding the white path on another diamond and have a second almost done – both worked on during the camping trip.

I have a few quilts that need backs and quilting, I need to get the commission quilt finished before the end of the month and that is at the top of the list. Looks like this week is going to be busier than I thought so I don’t know if I’ll get to work on it or not. Certainly going to try!

Hexie Insanity Update

We’ve been in and out on vacations and various camping trips, but I’ve finally made some progress on hexie insanity! I’m now 8% done! LOL Seems silly to be proud of that, but that’s ok, this is going to take awhile to finish! I have lots of white on whites that I’m using, most of them were acquired from the guild fat quarter swap. I’m using 7 different ones in the path around each diamond, so I’m hopeful I won’t have the same ones next to each other! I found a nice container at Walmart recently that I have all my basted hexies in, along with a stack of diamonds waiting for the pathway, plus my scissors and thread. It snaps closed so if Cassie gets if off the table they won’t go everywhere!

Kids are doing awesome, Cassie does new things every day. She’s now climbing on the couch – actually on anything she can. She’s learning new words too and now calls her big brother Bubba since she can’t say Alex! Alex is going to be starting his second year of preschool in another month and then next year – Kindergarten!

Off to get something done before Cassie is up from her nap!

Good Night Irene Update

I have FINALLY gotten all the center of the quilt put together. When I originally signed up for the SAL and designed it in EQ I was going to put a border of just one fabric on it. I decided I didn’t have anything I liked or wanted to use for the border and I’ve now designed a border with 9 patches to go next. After I finish working on my next commission quilt I’ll get back to this one. I’d like to get it finished and put in the “to quilt” pile.

I’ve decided to work on Bonnie Hunter’s leader/ender project this year since it’s tumbler blocks. I have SO many 2.5″ squares that have been cut over the years that I needed to do something with them. Cutting them just a little into tumblers is so easy and I can easily make some kind of quilt out of them. I just ordered a template from Missouri Star Quilting Company and after a discussion in one of my Facebook groups, I found out that Sizzix makes a die for cutting 2.5″ tumblers (4 at a time) and it will work on my Studio, so I happened to find that die on MSQC as well and ordered it. I need an adapter to use it in the Studio, so until I find out the thickness and either buy one or have daddy make me one I can use the template.

We finally got together with our friends so we could give the girls their birthday presents. I’ve had them done and sitting here wrapped for over a month! I made them Mondo bags in their school colors and I’m happy to say they loved them!

It’s getting late and I want to get a few more things done before bed, hoping to be working on projects more and being able to post updates!

On the Needles – July 10, 2015

I’ve gotten a bit farther on my sock, but I’m realizing now that It’s going to be too big. I was following a pattern and increased to the number it said I needed, and of course I think it’s too big by like 8 stitches on each side. I’ll finish it the size it is, but then I’ll need to decide what to do on the second one – make it the same size or decrease it to where it should be? I really like the striping and I’m sure the second one won’t turn out exactly the same, but I’m perfectly ok with that! I think it’s turning out pretty well for a first sock! I’m just about to the spot where I need to figure out how to do a heel, hopefully it’s not too hard! I’ve been working on this and hexie insanity at the same time, trading off when fingers are sore so I’m slowly making progress on both. Hopefully by next week (yeah I’m hopeful!) I’ll be working on or have the heel finished. We’ll see how much time I have this week!

Linking up to Patchwork Times – see what everyone else is up to!

Hexie Insanity Update

I’ve been busy with the kids and camping this summer and just haven’t had a lot of time to work on my projects. Cassie is teething and that means lots of sleepless nights for her and for me.

I’ve been working on white hexies for hexie insanity, and started putting the pathways on diamonds so I can start deciding how I want these to go together. I’ll be awhile before I actually stitch them together – I think – but at least I won’t have to do the pathways too. We have a lot more camping trips scheduled for the summer, mostly weekend trips, but one of them is a longer trip to Virginia to Smith Mountain Lake – where we are having something of a family reunion – get to see my BIL, his girlfriend and all the kids along with lots of other family members. I’m going to try working on hexies in the car this time, which I didn’t even try on the Missouri trip, just because I really wanted to read on that trip! I have a lot of white hexies to baste! I hope to post again tomorrow with an update on my sock knitting, getting close to where I need to figure out how to do the heel!

On the Needles – June 26, 2015

I finally did it! After ripping out and starting over multiple times I finally got the hang of Judy’s Magic Cast On and Magic Loop to get the toe done. I had forgotten to take it on vacation with me, so I couldn’t work on it until we got home. Took me a whole afternoon to get it figured out and now I have all the increases completed. Now it’s just mindless stockinette until I get to the point where I need to work on the heel, and I’ll have to figure out how to do the heel too! I’m liking the way it’s knitting up with the stripes, doubt I’ll be able to get the second one to match exactly, but that’s ok with me, as long as I can complete them! I’m using Red Heart Heart & Sole yarn in the Razzle Dazzle color-way.

Go over and visit Judy at Patchwork Times to see what others are knitting this week.