Blogger's Quilt Festival

This is my first time participating in the Blogger's Quilt Festival. I'm entering the baby quilt I finished in April, Eli's 2D Zoo. which is only the fifth quilt I've ever made, and the first I seriously FMQed.  I think that's my favorite part about it.  It's definitely not the best FMQing in the world, but I really like how the design works with the quilt, and I saw marked improvement in my stitches as I worked.  I also embroidered a label with the baby's name a birth date - my first time labeling a quilt and embroidering.  Ha, there are a lot of first in this quilt, though I guess that's bound to be the case when you're still new to the trade, if you will.  Anyway, I hope you like it!

Front

Back

Quilting close-up

Label close-up

Quilt Stats:

Quilt Name:  Eli's 2D Zoo (I'm bad with quilt names...)

Quilt Size:  43" x 43"
Pattern:  Improvised by me, inspired by this quilt

Fabrics used:  Riley Blake Small Chevron; Robert Kaufman Spot On Tiny Dot and Small Dot; Oliver + S Roundabout Dots; Joel Dewberry Modern Meadow Herringbone; Violet Craft Madrona Road Haystack;  Kona Bone and Navy; Bella Platinum

Binding:  Violet Craft Madrona Road Broken Herringbone in blue
Backing:  Design by me, same fabrics as above

Quilting:  All over meandering square FMQ done by me on my home machine

WIP Wednesday

I haven't participated in WIP Wednesday for a while, so I figured it was about time I joined in.  Life has been crazy busy the last few months, so I haven't had that much time. I've been trying to focus on smaller projects that only take a few hours over a week or two to complete. I have had a couple finishes that I hope to show in the coming weeks, but for now we'll highlight the WIPs.

 1) Fabric cut and ready to go for my February and March Lucky Stars BOM blocks.  Yes, I'm ridiculously behind.  I have a few sewing days with my guild coming up and these will be my main project.

2) Envelope Clutch by Anna from Noodlehead. I have a few events coming up and need a good summer clutch. (I actually don't have any clutches, so I see a number of these in my future).  What do you think of the dress fabric for the lining?  I LOVE this fabric, but I'm wondering if the scale of the print is a bit too large for this project...

3) Coasters for a friend. These are on my FAL Q2 list, so I'm on a deadline. I only have the bindings left, so really it shouldn't take too much longer.  And there are 6, not 3, but the others look just like these so it didn't seem necessary to photograph all 6.

4) Gemini Tee (on Ravelry) - I'm making this as part of the Tops, Tanks, and Tees knit-along hosted by Shannon from luvinthemommyhood. The deadline is next weekend. Clearly, I'm not going to be finished (I've knit a few more rows since this photo was taken), but I'm determined to have it complete (and blocked!) in time to wear at least once this summer.

Naturally, I have a few more things going on that this, but these are the ones to which I'm giving the most attention.

Linking up with WIP Wednesday with Lee at Freshly Pieced!

Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival

The other weekend I went to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.  I'd been excited for this for over a year, ever since my friend told me about it, and I'd had the date marked on my calendar for a good 4 months.  Originally, a group of knitty friends were scheduled to come, but after a few last minute cancellations it ended up just being me and Mr. T.  I was able to lure him into coming by telling him he could pet sheep (never having been, I wasn't actually sure this would be possible, but thankfully it was!).

The Sheep and Wool Festival is really a two-fold event.  There's the animal husbandry side, with livestock and equipment for sale, as well as sheep shearing contests. And the other part is a fiber enthusiast's paradise, with countless stands selling yarn, fleece, spinning tools, etc.  A few weeks earlier I had watched a free lesson on Craftsy called "Know Your Wool," so I was excited to examine different sheep breeds and determine the length, crimp, etc. of their fleece.  I also was also hoping to buy hand-spun, hand-dyed yarn from someone who also raises the sheep, but in the end I was too overwhelmed by all the yarn and didn't buy anything.

The best part by far was the sheep dog demonstration.  It's amazing how well trained the dogs were, and how fast they can run!  They literally blurred as they sped by us going to collect the sheep.

All in all it was a cool experience, though I'm not sure I feel the need to go again.  If I did, I'd be sure to have another enthusiast with me.  As much as I love Mr. T, and as tolerant and patient as he is, I think it'd be slightly more fun to go with someone who understands the appeal of a room full of yarn.  Though it might be quite a bit tougher on my bank account...

And now, for photos! (I was a terrible photographer and didn't get any photos of the yarn...)

Bah bah black sheep, have you any wool?

This one was HUGE!

Clearly the weekend of excitement wore her out!

Mr. T waiting for the sheep dogs!

Corralling the sheep

Herding the sheep to the other end of the ring.

Shorn sheep! Missed the demonstration though : (

Very hairy ram

Little lambs. We were thinking about buying one. They were only $125!

Nom nom

  

This guy was pissed. He kept bleeting at us!

He looked feisty too. He had FOUR horns - two up and two down

 

Little goats - only $50! They were about the size of my cats.

Guest Post - Washcloths for Honduras

The crafting front has been a little slow chez Crafty Roach, so today I'm bringing you another guest post. This one comes to us from MaBrown, the mother of Mr. T's best friend from high school and college, and now one of my good friends. Just as with our previous guest poster, Lauren, MaBrown took some time away from knitting, but she's easing her way back in with these washcloths.

Photo courtesy of MaBrown

And now I'll hand it over to MaBrown:

I have recently been inspired to pick up knitting again, thanks to "The Crafty Roach." I used to knit when I was a teenager, but school, career, and children pushed my crafty aspirations to the back burner. My kids are grown now and I am exploring new ways to foster my creative side.  

Photo courtesy of MaBrown

Every year my husband and I go down to Honduras on a medical mission trip with the Luke Society. We take care of patients in the mountain villages with all sorts of medical issues. I am a pediatrician and love seeing all of the kids. Many of them have never seen a doctor, much less a pediatrician, so we have lots to talk about.  They are grateful for any small thing we can give them, so every year, with the help of my church friends, we fashion "hygiene kits." They include a toothbrush and toothpaste, deodorant soap, anti-dandruff shampoo, and for the babies I throw in some baby shampoo and baby lotion.  I am happy to be able to knit the colorful washcloths, which add a personal touch to the kits!

Photo courtesy of MaBrown

Thank you, MaBrown! I'm sure the kits are much appreciated, and its always satisfying to create a product that you know will be well-used. 

Materials
Pattern: Slanted garter stitch dishcloth/washcloth (not the exact pattern, but similar)
Yarn: Lily Sugar n' Cream

Guest Post - Curves Ahead Cowl

It's finally time for another guest post!  Several friends have been churning out amazing items, so I hope to have more of these in the near future.

 

 
Today, I'm happy to present my beautiful friend, Lauren!  She took a bit of a hiatus from knitting, but now she's back and here to tell us a bit about her project.

I decided to get back into knitting because a new yarn shop had opened in my town. The owner was the friendliest knitting shop woman I had ever come across, and her store was so beautifully set up, with couches, coffee, and the nicest yarns I had seen in a while. As soon as I stepped inside, I couldn't wait to start a project. She suggested this cowl because it was slightly more advanced than I was used to and would get me back into the swing of things. Also, it was a one skein project, so it would be quick to finish, which would be encouraging to continue knitting more.

My favorite part about this was knitting in the round and doing the increases and decreases. I loved this pattern and the final look of the cowl is super fun. I recommend it!!!

 
Thanks for sharing, Lauren! We will definitely be taking a trip to this shop the next time I come visit.  I just love this colorway.  Doesn't it look gorgeous on her!

 
I've also seen a pillow she currently has on her needles, so we'll be hearing more from Lauren soon!

Materials
Pattern: Curves Ahead Cowl (free)
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Baby Me Boo

Eli's 2D Zoo

As a child, I was part of a big brother/big sister program.  Every Sunday after Hebrew school, my PAL, Marcia, and I would go toiling around the suburbs of Atlanta.  We kept in touch even when I "graduated" from the program, moved away for college, and never returned.  She has always been an important part of my life (and I can't imagine that I was an easy kid to get along with - very moody and non-communicative), so when I learned she and her husband were expecting their first child, I couldn't have been more excited.  Naturally, I immediately started planning something special.  I was unable to go to their wedding a few years ago, so I felt that this had to make up for that absence as well.

After harassing Marcia about the color scheme for the baby's room and scouring the internet for ideas, I settled upon a minimalist approach using this quilt as inspiration. I wanted something subdued and classy that didn't scream BABY, but also had a bit of fun and whimsy.  The Alexander Henry fabric was perfect. The colors were just right and, based on the registry, the nursery has some nods to jungle animals. I paired the focus print with a few shades of brown, as well as some blue and green for accents. I didn't want bright white for the background, so I used Kona bone, which compliments the different shades in the quilt really well.

When it was time to piece the back, I had just watched Elizabeth Hartman's Creative Quilt Backs class on Craftsy, so I was feeling inspired to try something festive.

For the quilting, I kept with the square theme and practiced my FMQ, inspired by Angela Walter's book.  It's not perfect, but it improved over the course of the quilt.  Though I definitely had a sore back and arms by the time I was finished, especially trying to wrangle this quilt through my machine's 5 inch (if I'm being generous) throat space .

To really make this quilt special and personalized, I tried my hand at embroidery for the first time. I used #5 DMC perle cotton, which I really liked, though in retrospect I probably should have used stranded floss instead just so I could have made the lettering a bit thinner.  Next time...  Anyway, I think this simple label with the baby's name and birthday, plus my initials, is the perfect touch.

Finish with some Madrona Road to pull in all the colors for the binding, and that's it. My fifth completed quilt! Marcia and Eric, I hope you love it and Eli gets some good use out of it!


Quilt Stats:

Quilt Name:  Eli's 2D Zoo (I'm bad with quilt names...)

Quilt Size:  43" x 43"
Pattern:  Improvised by me, inspired by this quilt

Fabrics used:  Riley Blake Small Chevron; Robert Kaufman Spot On Tiny Dot and Small Dot; Oliver + S Roundabout Dots; Joel Dewberry Modern Meadow Herringbone; Violet Craft Madrona Road Haystack;  Kona Bone and Navy; Bella Platinum

Binding:  Violet Craft Madrona Road Broken Herringbone in blue
Backing:  Design by me, same fabrics as above

Quilting:  All over meandering square FMQ done by me on my home machine

Mr. T got a little impatient during the photo shoot.

Check out the awesome backdrop (you might need a magnifying glass)!

This is my first finish for FAL 2013 Q2! Much better start than last quarter!

do. Good Stitches - April 2013

This month Linda tasked us with making half-square triangle blocks of contrasting values to make a quilt like one of these. The last time I worked with HSTs was my first ever quilt (in retrospect, probably not the best idea knowing what I know now about bias edges), so I was excited to try them again now that I know more about fabric and better piecing techniques.

So here are my blocks!

Fabrics: dark: Dear Stella; light: Denyse Schmidt for JoAnn

Fabrics: dark: Free Spirit; light: Dear Stella

I must say, I'm quite please with my center points.  I don't think my points have ever matched that well, except maybe when paper piecing.