Victory!

Friends and Family it's FINALLY happened! No no, the construction continues and has become so horrible we now have two apartments! Can you believe it? They have taken so much of our living space and plan to do so for "two more weeks" (yeah, right) that we can't live there anymore so they have put us up in a second apartment that is across the hall until the end of construction. It's a large studio but let me tell you, it's HUGE compared to where we are now in the plastic bag. It's so sunny and has windows and we opened those windows and breathed fresh air! It's magnificent.

 

As you can imagine, my first thought was SEWING. I focused first on making sure that the hubby and cat would be comfortable. It would be a little rude to just start sewing in a brand new apartment with no regard for a sofa or bed. On Friday after work I went straight to the fabric shop in Ballard and then immediately to the storage unit.

 

Buh, buh, buuuuuhhh (sung ominously)...

 

 

What a mess! I spent an hour un-packing the unit, searching every box in detail, re-packing the unit and hauling sewing gold down to the car.

 

 

All sewing goods were loaded with glee onto a rolling dolly and into the freight elevator.

 

Then I, with slight difficulty, loaded my car. It barely fit the length of that table. But I did it all myself! Super strong woman (I paid for that later).

 

I then did the "right thing" and left it all in my car until I had a fully functioning new apartment. The benefit of this new apartment? We aren't moving everything over here, meaning we have a massive apartment for storage only (/moped garage) and an apartment for living. This means we are minimalist and I LOVE it! I have a huge sewing space this way. The biggest thing is that we left all of our clothes over in Apartment #1. So last night before bed we went "shopping," as the hubby termed it, to get clothes for work this morning.

 

But enough about the move, what about the quilting?!! Of course, how dare I dawdle.

 

 

I started a new quilt (duh!) with some crazy retro feeling fabric. The fabric almost feels like vintage sheet patterns. I'm in love. I went to the fabric shop looking for deep purples and rich turquoise but fell in love with these. You know how it goes. The Seattle Modern Quilt Guild (SMQG) is having a star quilt along where everyone works on the same timeline but on their own star themed quilt of any size. I decided my office needed a little love and have made a wall hanging size design.

 

See that lazy bones back on the bed there? She was exhausted/stressed from the move and slept most of Saturday while I cut fabric. Which was fine with me because yesterday she wanted to be a part of everything.

 

Here's the quilt breakdown. I actually saw the quilt in a series of Flickr pictures and had to have it. So I stared at it for awhile and then using Excel and Paint on the computer broke it down in to a pattern and size I could handle. I may have misjudged the finished size due to a slight HST miscalculation (oops!) but it just ends up being bigger so I'll have to rummage through my stash to supplement the backing. No problem.

 

As you can see my little orange helper was more a nuisance than a helper, per the usual. The piecing continues this week! Quilting starts in October during the SMQG Sew-In. How exciting! I'm right on schedule.

 

This weekend I'm headed to Portland/McMinnville/Gaston to visit Baby Cousin for the first time and gift her her quilt and sweater. I will also being sitting in the stands knitting my socks while watching the hubby race mopeds on the track. It should be a very interesting weekend.

 

Happy Crafting!

Knitting Abandon & Rumors of Normalcy

 

Hello Everyone! I know. That is a shameless attempt at working a cat picture into this post. I'd say forgive me, but look how adorable she is! I couldn't help myself. Summer is slowing down here and people are prepping for fall. The weather is just gorgeous! I recently had the parents and brother in town for a long weekend which was truly amazing. (Dad had the audacity to say that this blog was an excuse to put up cat pictures. I could only fake hurt for so long, it's kinda true). Besides just spending time together, my favorite thing was when we went to the new Chihuly Exhibit down in Seattle Center right next to the Space Needle. For those who don't know Dale Chihuly is a blown-glass artist originally from the Pacific Northwest. He still resides here in Seattle and is occasionally spotted down in Pioneer Square at his favorite coffee shop. Here is just a peek at the amazing inspiration from that day; and remember, this is all blown glass:

 

 

 

This last one is a perfect homage to the Pacific Northwest. I just love it! Plus, you can't go wrong with all those bright colors. As you know, I am a sucker for bright and bold colors, to the chagrin of a few people I can name (aka Grandma and my husband). I get a little carried away sometimes, I know, I know. I just love color!

 

On the subject of crafting we are still in construction-mode although I've heard rumors of just two more weeks until semi-normal. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but oh man, two more weeks until I get my sewing table back?! I'm secretly ecstatic. In lieu of a sewing table I have been knitting like a crazy person. First off, I finally finished that baby sweater for Baby Cousin.

 

 

 

There are a lot of mistakes, but I think well hidden enough that it's not that big of a deal. Or, it won't be a big deal until the cousins have had some time to really look it over and by then, I will be gone, haha. That pattern was a dousey and I will never do it again. The yoke, however, is my ultimate favorite part.

 

Upon immediately finishing that sweater I began knitting a pair socks for myself for the upcoming winter months. Now why did that sweater take me so long? I have cranked out the below sock in like 4 days. Ridiculous!

 

 

I guess that's just showing that I am inspired and ready to get back to full fledged quilting again. While knitting and wishing to quilt I have been binging on blogs and have many ideas for new quilts/placemats/wall hangings/you name it. The socks will continue and hopefully you'll get some fabric cutting news soon. I already know where I want to start.

 

Happy Crafting!

A Quilt Finished for Baby K&K

I was able to finish and hand deliver the quilt for Baby K&K who is due any day now! It was literally a pain to finish as the construction continues and you don't really realize how good you had it until all of your stuff is gone. Here was my set-up...

 

 

A dining room table chair (our only one left) and the low coffee table. I was basically bent in half quilting this thing. Not only that but I have to say it was the first quilt I haven't enjoyed quilting. I'm sure that's because I was on a time crunch and in a really not enjoyable position/spot. I hate our apartment right now and even being there is just draining me of energy. It's like living inside of an opaque plastic bag.

 

Regardless, I got it finished. I did a meandering stipple but with a loop thrown in. I love these baby quilts because they allow for me to try a huge number of quilting motifs in a small way. They are my guinea pigs and with a king size quilt in the works these smaller quilts are helping me define where to head with that one. I used the lightest purple thread I could find. I didn't want to use white due to the fact that there was so much negative space on the quilt. It needed some color.

 

 

You can also see that I had one happy kitten! She was obsessed with the quilting process this time around and wanted to be nowhere but on or near that quilt.

 

Once quilted I pulled out the binding I'd pre-prepped and added it to the mix.

 

You'll have to forgive the photography. In my genius I also packed our camera into storage, meaning I snapped all of these on my phone and it was really dark by time I put on the binding.

 

Once I finished quilting it and got the binding in place I laied it on the floor to have a look at the overall scheme. I hated it. Something just didn't feel right. Maybe it was the loops? Did I not space it all properly? Was it the solid purple binding? Yuck!

 

I folded it up and set it aside. Not much I could do about it now. I waited a day before tackling the binding to finish it. Neti only seems comfortable in the bedroom lately, where the least has changed due to construction. To help her stay calm and relaxed and for me to feel some distance from the creative-killer plastic barrier, I grabbed my scissors, thread, and finished quilt and headed to bed. Literally.

 

Neti and I curled up in bed, in the silence of a Friday afternoon, to hand sew the binding. It was wonderful!

 

We had a great afternoon together! Once finished, I labeled the quilt for Baby K&K with love and threw it in the wash. I did not take a look at it again in full, because I felt good having it finished and didn't want to ruin that peaceful serenity found spending some time in bed with the cat and a quilt. I dried it and folded it for a trip to Selah, WA. 

 

Once there with K&K I could not have been happier with the result. They "ew'd" and "ah'd" over the finished quilt and once I laid it out and their cats swarmed (they have four) I felt really good about it. I think it has something to do with our apartment space right now. We are so closed off that it's just killing my creative spirit.

 

The trip to see K&K was amazingly refreshing though and inspired me to take our first weekend home in a month to spend an entire day on the couch knitting. Yes, I finished the baby sweater. Tonight it will be blocked, tomorrow buttons will be purchased and then it's off to Gaston, OR to give it to Baby Cousin who is recently back in the USA! Hurray!

 

I'm trying to keep my head up with all this construction. I'm debating between starting to knit a pair of socks I've had waiting in the wings or cutting all my fabric for the king size quilt. That way, when the construction is over all I have to do is start sewing. Maybe I'll do both. Although, I'll have to go digging in that storage unit again. Shucks.

 

Happy Crafting!

Elation! & Orcas Island

It's been forever! Unfortunately, not much has changed. We are still wrought with construction and obstruction of our apartment space. Crafts have been on a standstill.

Don't worry! This is no gloom and doom post. The hubby and I just celebrated our 1st Wedding Anniversary! To celebrate we treated ourselves to a weekend on Orcas Island. First off, this is a picture heavy post, and secondly, this is one of the most serene and beautiful places I have ever been.

A 2.5 hour drive north from Seattle takes you to Anacortes, WA where you hop on a ferry for just over an hour of winding between tiny islands before you arrive on Orcas. It feels incredibly secluded. Orcas Island is one of the islands in the grouping called the San Juan Islands. I've lived in Seattle for four years now and JUST got up here. It's a chore to get there, but the ferry ride alone is well worth it.

Our first morning on the island we drove up to Moran State Park.

And hiked up to the top of Mt. Constitution.

This was my favorite place visited. Look at this view! We could even see Canada.

Me & the hubby on top of Mt. Constitution's watch tower

The exersion of the trip (haha!) demanded a relaxing afternoon at the Rosario Mansion sitting out by the pool. Couldn't you just live here?! 

The backside of the mansion

And of course, the ferry ride home to Seattle was all too soon but oh so beautiful. We made the ferry ride on Friday night before and missed a lot of the homes tucked away within the islands. It was just breathtaking.

We came home rested (sunburned) and back to construction. One of my favorite things to do while traveling is visiting the local fabric and knit shops. Orcas has NONE! Can you believe it? I spoke with an avid knitter on the island, who also happened to be our B&B owner, and she said that the community just doesn't support those specialized of shops and so most of their shopping is done online or on the mainland, Bellingham and such. So sad!

Well, once back home I had the itch to sew (and quite the time crunch). This weekend I'm headed to Yakima, WA to visit some friends who are expecting their first! You may remember Baby K&K being mentioned in this post. Well, you may also remember that I have her quilt completely basted and sent my feet away to storage while our apartment is being destroyed.

I took my sister's advice and went digging.

You were right, Devon. I found it in under an hour. First column from the left, second box down. Elation!!!! I'm now off to buy some thread and get started! I'll find a spot to quilt... somewhere.

Happy Crafting!

Stitch 'N Pitch

With the apartment down for the count I've been trying to source new places for working on crafts. Being home is depressing. So this year was my first annual Stitch 'N Pitch!

Picture yourself, if you will, in your local major league baseball stadium. Three whole sections of the stadium have been sold out to knitters working on projects of all shapes, sizes, and species (found a lady working with some raw alpaca that was awesome!).

It was an epic experience. The Mariners played the KC Royals (that's a shout out to you, Auntie Lou!). We had hundreds of knitters working on projects. There were even some booths with all the food vendors selling yarn. Beautiful displays! I didn't buy anything, but I sure did gawk.



It was my very first time in Safeco field. I don't really have anyone who knits or anyone who loves baseball, so I struck out on my own. I called Dad on the way, an avid baseball fan, wishing he was there with me, knitting and all. It made me miss home and family and recall the days we used to go to Cardinals games together. I treated myself to a hot dog and soda for old times' sake. You may not believe this but you can actually get amazing sushi at this stadium. Seattle-ites do love their food and the stadium was gorgeous! It was the perfect day for a game.

This was the view from the yarn booths and food vendors. Man I love this city.

I worked diligently on that baby sweater I just can't seem to finish. I had to frog one of the sleeves but I just picked up where I left of. In between chants of "Charge!" and clapping I continued to work on that bumpy lace pattern. I think it's turned out super adorable. I got a good chunk done at the game.

Stitch 'N Pitch was a blast! Next year I'm gonna make sure the sister is out for it, or something! Games are way more fun with family and friends. I had a blast though, I will definitely be doing this again.

Happy Crafting!