whackadoodle coconut

I don't really have anything to tell you about today.  a little bummed that it has been slow lately.  there have been a few adventures, but I'm really not at liberty to say.  there are fun outings planned for, but when I get there I'll tell you about it. what I do know is, I have a serious case of ocd just shy of a real problem. do you see it there?  yes by some kind of crazy that only I exhibit, my first nail polish purchased in over a decade, it is identical to the color of my phone.  what the hell?  really? what's funnier to me at least, as I was looking for just the right color, not comparing or anything, I saw several colors, too purple, too bright, too sparkly.  this one was just right...and sure enough it's the same color as my phone. I normally don't take photos of feet, except when they are in socks I knit, so it's not like I "like" feet, but this was uncanny.

yesterday I visited the quilting group in Orcutt at the Old Town Quilt shop.  the group meets once a month and they work with scraps.  it was a nice midday "retreat" with a ton of information.  they started with a brief overview of using scraps and then there was some show and tell.  I didn't know I was supposed to bring some, so I just enjoyed others.  and they finished with a short discussion of paper piecing and using your scraps. there was so much information I was furiously taking notes to get it all.  I did learn two new patterns, one is the paper piecing and the other is a larger 9 patch square that you cut into four pieces and then rearrange. very cool. I didn't take any photos, but if your interested you can contact them here . next, today is the second to the last class for my quilted duvet cover so I am excited to get it put together and ready to use. lastly, I've decided to join the tour de fleece a couple weeks ago and I've done a terri...

yesterday midday I finished the center of my quilt.  I laid it out to see how it fit on the bed and it looks pretty darn awesome. I'm very pleased with it.  I still need to work out some measurements on it.  this way I can determine the amount of borders I need to finish. I've also decided to hand quilt it to the backing.  since it's just a duvet cover, it doesn't need fluff, just a backing pocket.

the latest quilting class is a big endeavor for me.  not only am I working on a curved pattern for a quilt, but I am also wanted the design to become a duvet cover.  this means that I need 72-10ish inch squares for the center and those get cut into quarters.  so in reality I will need 288 5ish inch squares.  you read that right, two hundred and eighty eight.  this is the largest number of squares I have ever sewed together and I think the largest number of pieces I have ever done! it's a pretty big deal.  take a look. this is my small workspace at home.  I have two tables that are 2 x 4 feet that I can arrange most any direction in the living room.  it fits everything just right, with the ironing board, cutting board and sewing machine.  wish it was more glamorous, but I have to work with what I got!   the stack of pinned coffee filters to the smaller 8 inch squares. due to my "almost" disastrous cutting mistake, they still fi...

I have to be quick about it this morning since I have a ton of quilting homework to start today from yesterday's day one class.  there is a huge queen/king sized duvet cover on my task list so I best get on it.  and there's the issue with the latest spinning adventure for tour de fleece. okay so here we go - the merino silk sample I spun   this is the fiber that John picked.  it's Ashford merino silk blend in the colorway Ocean.     to me it didn't look like ocean right away. until I spun a little.  I think it was the greenish brown in there, but once it's spun you can't tell it's really in there.  just a little, like the ocean floor and kelp swirling around down there.     did you notice this one has silk in it?  would you know what to look for?  it's that sheen, a slight shine to the yarn.  I looked yesterday at Betty's to see if I could find any other silk yarn to compare to and I really ...

finished modifying my cowl from the sea lettuce shawl I saw at Betty's a couple weeks back. turned out really cute with a hombre effect turning from raspberry to lemon.  I love the yarn, I love that the hand spun was so soft and easy to work with, I love that it turned out light and airy. what I don't LOVE is that the color transitions and in general the color didn't quite resemble sherbet like I wanted.  it did until I knit it up.  strange how that happened and I think the issue is that there was too much yellow.  the picture I took doesn't nearly accentuate the color difference from my imagination, and actually if it looked more like the photo I would be happier with it.  don't get be wrong, it's gorgeous and soft and lightweight.  everything I wanted in a beautifully designed yarn and pattern!  it's just not "perfect". So from this - To this, it's otherwise pretty amazing!

but not a dollar short....you know how the saying goes. I did finally finish my quilt binding and it took an extra day to get it done.  it looks fantastic and I'm looking forward to starting my next one.  it's the drunkards path pattern and I am hoping to convert it into a duvet cover.  I found some instructions to work from so I think I have a good plan in place.  I also asked the teacher for help since she seems eager to tackle a problem. it really doesn't look much different from below, except there isn't the white batting...     I'm also finishing up my knitting project, will post soon!