Although I've been working on the Winter Picnic quilted wall hanging, I'm not very happy with the way it is looking. I'm using an outline stitch on the holly leaves, but the back of the work isn't looking like my embroidery usually does (mostly the same on the back as the front). The regular quilting looks great. I haven't quite decided which direction I'm going to go. As I see it there are two options: rip it out and start over OR embroider the holly leaves on the back using embroidery floss. I'm leaning toward option 2.
In the meantime, several other projects are calling out to me.
I've been working on a crochet baby blanket from The Ultimate Book of Baby Afghans. This pattern is called Lavender and Lace. Caron Simple Soft in Orchid is the yarn shown in this photo. It has a nice reflective sheen that works up pretty. The pattern itself is your basic 3-row repeat; easy to follow along. I only have about eighteen inches finished. I pick it up; crochet a few rows; put it down. The hook size is what's taking me so long. I'm sure it's going to be absolutely gorgeous when it's finished, but really -- a size D hook? Tiny stitches = slow progress. I like to see progress.
Kitty Kat Lullaby is another afghan I've made from this book. The pattern was complex enough that I have "counts" of the row length at the end of several rows to make certain I didn't make any mistakes. My guess is that I made the same mistake more than once and the note was a reminder. (rows 5, 7, 9 and 11 have the note "27 + ch2".) Even so I remember that this pattern was very quick to make. It turned out amazingly well!
There are 22 patterns in this book - both knit and crochet.
Not sure that I'll crochet today though. I'm leaning toward embroidery or quilting. Then again - it's Spring and I have a hankering to work in the garden in the fresh air with birdsong all around me. lol Good thing there are enough hours in the day that I can do both!
Blessings on you and yours today. May the sun shine warm upon your face and a fragrant breeze lift your spirits.
Being new to machine quilting I have a tendency to bite off more than I can chew. The local Brown Bag Challenge has provided an opportunity to compete with other quilters that I eagerly embraced. The chosen pattern seemed simple enough - a nine-patch surrounded by trapezoids and triangles. Yet something didn't seem quite right after all the pieces were cut.
The central nine-patches were simple to put together using strip piecing techniques learned earlier. The problem was the trapezoids and triangles that surround the nine-patch blocks. The triangles joining the trapezoids just seemed way too large. I put them together, but there was an awful lot of fabric left that didn't match up. After a bit of help from my friend the seam ripper four blocks were completed. The extra fabric was ignored.
These blocks were supposed to measure 12 inches when completed. Mine measured 11 3/4 inches. I suspect that my cuts were slightly off.
My original plan was to put sashing between the blocks. The blocks looked fine when laid out against the sashing and background fabric. When joined it just didn't look right. So... rip, rip, rip.
Next I tried joining the blocks together, but the points were disappearing. So... rip, rip, rip.
After two failed attempts to make the points stand out I gave up and decided to hand piece them (in progress).
Here is a picture of the blocks right now (the vertical center seam is still pinned). My question is this: have any of you had problems with trapezoids and triangles? What did you do to fix them?
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