WIP Wednesday: Note to Self

The next time you start on a quilt project then set it down for 3.5 years, leave a copy of the pattern with the fabric! 

Now that my friend's quilt is done (she was speechless when I gave it to her!), I debated about what to work on  next. Since I have several U.F.O, I resisted the temptation to start a new project and pulled out one of them. 

Several years ago I used the same fabric line (Chez Moi by Posh for Moda) to make 2 quilts: one for a friend's baby and one for my sister. My sister's is shown below:

I really liked the fabric so decided to make another quilt for my bed in a pattern I found in a Quilt Sampler magazine. I started cutting the fabric then set it down for some reason and it's been sitting in a box ever since. 

Last Saturday, I got it out again only discover I had NO idea which magazine it was in. Dur. I had taken a photo of the project in the magazine so I had a partial project title to go by but alas which issue of the magazine was not shown in the photo. I dug through my piles of magazines and of course it was in the 3rd to last one! My husband also googled variations on "I Wish", such as "I Wish Upon a Star", "I Wish I May" etc (clever man) and he came up with the issue at the same time I found the magazine. 

The project title is "I Wish I May":

Here are the fabrics I'm using: 

The pattern has a star in each corner (not shown) so I'm going to use the solids for those and all of the "wheels" will be made using the prints for a scrappy look.

And I'm planning to use these fabrics for the zig zag border:

This project has ~1000 half square triangles so it's going to take a while, but it will be a fun summer project. My husband also scanned the pattern for me, so I won't have to go on a search for it if this project stalls out again.

As always check out more WIP at Tami's Amis!

Bloggers' Quilt Festival: Spring 2012

It's Bloggers' Quilt Festival time again and my entry this year is a quilt I made for a friend who was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer last November. I asked her daughter what her favorite colors were (peach, dark reds and green) and I knew she loves flowers so I tried to incorporate all of that into the quilt. I had it cut it out before last Christmas last but then all progress ground to a halt because I got married this past February! I started working on it again in April and I just finished it so am planning to give to her this week! She has told me over and over how much she loves my quilts so I know she'll be thrilled that I made her one.

WIP Wednesday: Inevitable

. . .thinking maybe this will block out . . . but knowing it won't. . .

1. Sleeve #1: when I changed from a 9" circular needle to 2 needles (magic loop) my gauge for some unknown reason got a lot smaller 

so I ripped it back:

I now have one finished sleeve!

2. Collar: I picked up too many stitches and started the short rows too low:

so rip went the collar:

  

3. The bottom 4" of the body: I increased too frequently after the waist shaping so I had this funny pleat that made the sweater flare out weird:

so I ripped back to just below the waist detail which was painful because I'd already sewn down the hem:

Hopefully I can finish this sweater without anymore frogging!!

Check out more WIP at Tami's Amis!

WIP Wednesday: Amazing

I got my quilt back from Margaret my machine quilter yesterday and it looks amazing!!! 

Here are a couple of photos she took of it:

You can see a couple more on her blog.

Something Blue: I was hoping to have one completed sleeve by today but I still have a few more inches to go:

I also decided that in addition to having to redo the collar I'm going to redo the bottom of the sweater. I increased out too quickly after the waist shaping (because I added more than the pattern called for) so it flares out weird now. My husband kindly pointed this out when he was helping me measure the sleeve length. This project is starting to feel like a chore so I may take a break after I finish the sleeve and work on something else for a bit, and if I don't my WIP posts will remind you of the movie Goundhog Day. . . 

Be sure to visit Tami's Amis for more WIP!

WIP Wednesday: Grateful

Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to visit my blog during the Knit Crochet Blog Week! It was a lot of work but so much fun too. I found some great new blogs to read, discovered  several designers/patterns, and got some ideas about color for future projects.

Now onto to my WIP: I finished the quilt top! My machine quilter (Margaret)  lives ~3 hours away so she comes to the area the first Wednesday of every month to pick-up/drop-off quilts at the LQS. I had a really busy weekend so it was a photofinish to get it done by today but I made it! Now that the border is on I really like it. I am glad I persevered with this project.

The LQS had the perfect fabric for the back! I'm going to use the outer border fabric to bind it so shown is the back with the "bound" edge next to the front:

Because Margaret is so amazing, there is always a wait to get something quilted so I wasn't sure how long it would take. Her website does say she tries to accommodate special situations. I called and told her it was for my friend with Stage 4 colon cancer (my friend was diagnosed last November and so far has had 2 surgeries and is halfway done with her chemo treatments), and Margaret said that the quilt could be just the boost she needs to make it through the rest of her treatments, so she is going to quilt it right away then ship it right back to me! I am overwhelmed with gratitude!

Now that the quilt is off being quilted I hope to get some knitting done. Perhaps finish the sleeve of Something Blue and restart the collar. . .

For more WIP check out: