Friday, December 30, 2011

FO: Friday-- Babies!

In the month of December I have made more quilts that month than I have ever. They were all baby quilts. And they were actually all the same. But they are adorable!
The first one I made from 8 fat quarters, a yard yard of solid and yard for the backing. 

Sorry for the poor lighting in these were taken after the sun went down. I forgot to do it in the daylight! But it is lovely! and a really really great first introduction to applique. It is nothing to be afraid of I promise.
It is currently at sewtropolis if you need a better look at it! It is a great quilt for using up scraps, the fat quarters that you are hoarding and want to keep them mostly intact. Or if you bought many fat quarters from the same line.

I quilted it on my home machine and then bound it on a road trip to Duluth. (a 15 passenger van and a needle makes for fun times!)
And then my friend Tanya just had twin nephews and she was over for a holiday swap craft weekend. And after a complete fail at attempting to make them hats (you will NEVER see pictures of that really sad little hat) so then I looked through what I had and we decided that simple applique baby quilts would be easy to do. we went through my scraps and used a bunch of heat and bond. Then she got to cut out ALL of the petals (and there were a lot. And in the end the only thing that had to be purchased for the Christmas presents were the backing and the binding. 
I wish I had a picture of the backingit was sooooo cute!

And look at how cute the twins are! I got permission from their mommy to post the pic.

The quilt is a design from the moda bake shop and I will be teaching a class on it in February at Sewtropolis! it is a great cheap way to use scraps and get a special yard of fabric you've been dying to get but don't know what to do with (and let's face it we all have one of those)
Linking up with tami's amis for more awesome FO: Friday's check out her blog!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

WIP: Wednesday Skirting the issue


I started knitting this skirt in November. I thought I would have it done by mid December. No such luck. It is near the end of December and I am still plugging away. But now with finals gone I should be able to finish it very very soon!

It is really really cute knit out of spud and chloe sweater for a store sample. I am going to teach a class on it as well. I just keep on telling myself that it is sooo cute. And it'll look great.

But for now it is just endless endless rows.





The short rows look great though. In Feb. I will be teaching a class on it at Sewtropolis! call the store to sign up! (of course you probably want to wait until I finish the sample first)

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Roadtrip

Getting some quilting done in Duluth. Heck yes it's getting done


Monday, November 21, 2011

I may have done something bad....

Last Night, I was sort of napping and sort of awake. I decided I needed a darning foot. I Googled. I went on amazon. And then I found what I needed. Infact I found so what I needed that I couldn't decide which one I wanted. Did I want the clear plastic one that I could see around it? or did I want the metal one? Well I apparently wasn't awake enough to make a good decision... So I bought both. How American of me.

I don't really know which one I will like better. But I am excited to get back to free motion quilting!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

WIP: Wednesday Backings

Yesterday I filled my tub with as hot water as possible, added some borax and a squirt of hand soap. Then I added lots and lots of yardage swished it around and then let it sit for about 30 minutes. Swished it around some more and then rinsed it as well as i could in the sink.

This morning my basement looked like this.

It smelled pretty good too.

What is all this yardage for? Well I'm trying to see if any of my fabrics will shrink/warp because the majority of them are going to be quilt backs. For these projects!




This is really more of a sneak peek post than an actual WIP wed post but hey I'm just trying to get back in the groove of things.

Two of them are basically completed quilt tops but I can' baste them until I am done quilting the quilt that seriously may be the death of me. I've never hated quilting a quilt so much (then again I've only done three)

For more awesome WIP Wed posts be sure to hop on over to Tami's blog!


Monday, November 14, 2011

Mondog #5: The Official Greeter

This is Skilos. She is 11 and a golden retriever. She is the sweetest girly and loves ear scratches and lots of pets. If you ever have a chance to drop in at sewtropolis chances are you will be greeted by her. She comes to work when ever Nikol works and always has fun.

Last time I saw Skilos the poor girl looked like this.

Don't worry the ear is still there, her allergies were just acting up. But the bandage sure got lots of sympathy pets. This was a few weeks ago though, Skilos and I keep on missing each other at the store. Hopefully her ear is all better now!

PS: Skilos is also a great scarf model!


Tuesday, October 18, 2011

YOP: I'm still here!

I'm doing knitting and I'm still alive. I really should learn my lesson though. I don't like deadlines. I have never liked deadlines it doesn't matter who imposes these rules or how good these rules are for me. I just don't like them. Why then did I decide to do this again?

It also seems with these YOP posts I have three modes:
1. I blog a lot and knit very little
2. I knit a lot and blog very little
3. I do neither and feel ashamed.

I've currently hit mode three after being in mode two for a little while. With this post maybe I will move into mode one which at the very least is better than mode two.

Changes since you've last seen my socks.

Potpourri socks

Look! a sock! I have a whole completed sock that has been a whole completed sock for about a two/three weeks (wow has it really been that long since I've made a YOP post ooops) and I have just started the heel on sock 2. It has a honeycomb heel which I think are adorable and girly completely appropriate for this sock. but I sort of find them a pain in the patootie... But still I like them better than the other option which is short row socks.

I wore my rainbow collision socks (my first finished pair) this weekend. They were delightfully warm and perfect for the retreat in cabins that I was attending. also they left a really cook rainbow stain in my chucks.

Spot Check socks.

look! since the last time I showed you them you may notice that I have a different color on them. I went with the grey instead of the red because the red was just too close to the red in the multi color. While I loved the way it looked most of the time, their was just this one point where it would run in and just be a strip of red. I'm still not sold on the grey but I really don't have another option so I'm just going to push forward with it (I think...) is YOP really getting close to half over already? yikes!

Love,
Annie

Monday, October 17, 2011

Mondog #4: 2 for 1 special



This is my fourth Mondog! (if you count the other three from my other blog, which I do!)

And as a special bonus today's Mondog is a two for one! These adorable border terrier babies come from Mary the self proclaimed (but really she is way more talented) Kwilt Noob

This is Charlie, he is one and super cute!


This is Beezie, she is two and a queen bee. And she knows it!

aren't they cute? They look like they would be awesome at puppy cuddles! Have a wonderful Mondog everyone!

(if you have a dog who'd love to be featured on a Mondog please email me at Chen.AD@gmail.com )

Friday, October 14, 2011

FO: Friday I'm a pattern designer! (almost)




This FO:Friday is brought to you by the first pattern that I am planning on publishing.

They are simple worsted weight slipper socks that I am going to call "Sleepy Time Socks" made out of Spud and Cloe Sweater yarn. I have made patterns before but have never published them mostly just using them for my own pleasure/ crafty endeavors.

Why then have I decided to publish this pattern? I will be teaching a class on it! They are just a simple pair of beginner socks but to prevent copyright issues/other things I have decided it would easiest to provide my own pattern. So far I've been learning so much about the process. It is one thing to knit a pattern (even a made up one in your head) it is a completely different thing to write down the pattern in coherent sentences.

I am still writing down the last bits of the pattern but if you're interested in my class you can sign up for it on the Sewtropolis website or give them a call during business hours. Also be sure to check out Nikol's blog. She's doing a giveaway right now (yay!) and there is also a blog post about me (!) And about puppies. Who can resist a blog post about puppies? I sure can't!

Right now I think my pattern will only be available through taking the sewtropolis class. We'll see how it goes after that though. To see these socks in person right they are currently on display at the Sewtropolis store!

For more awesome FO: Friday posts be sure to hop on over to Tami's Amis for the Mr. Linky

Monday, October 10, 2011

Diving in

Hello!

If you're here that means their is a decent chance that you've followed me over from my other blog. After recently being hired at Sewtropolis I decided that if I ever wanted to start selling things (online or in a store) that I should create a handle to unify all of these under.

After dragging my feet a little and consulting the wise Ravelry friends I have I have decided on this. So welcome to handspun rainbows. my new craft blog. Initially I though I would just change my other blog over since it is for the large part a craft blog. But I couldn't bear to let go of my old URL or blog title so instead now they are separate. Look for more posts on Neither East nor West but all craft related things will now be here.

Someday (soon) I hope to open an Etsy shop under the same name.

I am so excited about my new job, and the new ideas I have. Not only do I get to work at an awesome place, I also get to teach classes! My first one, socks! (of course) But more on that later.