Brushing off the Trail Dust

Yee-haw! Cowboy Christmas has finally finished the trail ride and is in the stable. Quilting wisdom says that a quilt isn't finished until it's labelled, so here's the evidence.You all are my witnesses. It's done!

Prideful & Prejudiced socks are making about as much progress as my slog through the book--I think it's just that I know the story so well, I'm not turning the pages with any anticipation. But I have finally made it to the color work part and I seem to be doing okay.

This is a hat for Tiny. You can barely see it, but there are some subtle sparkles in the yarn that should make for a gently shiny hat.

And then there's the Damn Classy Hand Towel. Since I switched over to wooden needles, I'm actually making some progress. The linen yarn is slippery and behaves better with less slick needles. (yay) And I (ack!) just found the receipt for the yarn. I won't tell you how much it cost, because I would seem like a very silly woman to spend that much on a hand towel. But a damn classy one.

How to Juice a Purse

I hit a couple of finishes at once so I'm sharing! Here's the Fish Cozy, done at last. There was even a chance to make an initialed hem, so... Coolness, huh? You can see the lace finish, too, although it's a little blurry.Cowboy Christmas is hurrying toward doneness, too. As you can see, I'm sewing down the binding. It's about half-done. Hope I'll be telling you it's finished, too.
And I thought I'd show you how I finished the Juice. I knitted and knitted until I was down to about three yards of yarn. Then I turned the whole thing inside out.

I'd read about something called the 3-Needle Bind-off. It sounded like it was just the ticket.So I searched online and found a video tutorial, followed it, and voila! There are others, but this is the one I used and had success. This is what success looks like.Turned it right-side-out again and I added the handles. I didn't really care for them in the standard installation, so I flipped 'em and created a kind of echo to the shape. (That's how I do my hair, too.)I carried the purse yesterday and it didn't fall apart, so that's success to me!

Just About Perfect

The Dream Dancer is moving along, albeit at a snail's pace. But the shield is done (well, it looks done because I haven't sewn in the white yet, but let's just humor the nice blogger) and the outside of the cloak is done (really). I've decided that she needs a name. What do you think of Running Water?
And here's the back for Cowboy Christmas. I was going to piece it from stash fabrics because I didn't have enough of anything that would work nicely, but something wonderful happened: at Prayer Quilt Ministry, Applecheeks held up this cloth--3 yards! and said,

"This was donated to the ministry but we can't use it because* it's Christmassy
and it seems to be a shame to cut it up. Can anyone use it? Anyone? Really, I
was hoping someone would be able to put it to some use..."

Now go back and see where I put the *. It was at that point that I ran up and wrapped myself in the fabric, but she wouldn't let go and just kept talking and talking. Boy, that woman is strong!And here's a nice little close-up. I think it's just about perfect!

...but No Whining!

I've been invaded by a slime monster. It resides in my head so thinking has become a challenge. So I will write very little. But here's some pictures.

Arctic Anarchy close-ups.

Arctic Anarchy in full.

Cowboy Christmas top. Worked on it during the Superbowl.

Dream Dancer continues to improve. This shows the blue behind her head has grown. I've done more. Maybe the next post will show a ...ah, forget it. I'm going back to bed. The best part of being sick: not being expected to do anything!

I Liked It So Much I Bought It Twice!

I was stuck. Really stuck. I used this fun Jacobean print with the polka dots, but I only had 1 measly yard and used it all up in the blocks. But I still had to make the final border. What would go with everything? I am against using white in the outside of a quilt because that's where hands mostly go. Hands aren't always clean. I think you can follow the logic. So I'm pulling out purple, pink, blue, yellow. Nothing looks right. I mean, really. This quilt is crazy (although it's not a Crazy Quilt). So, in a fit of what-the-blank, I pulled out the multicolored fabric boxes and guess what? I found a whole 'nother yard of the Jacobean! Ya-hoo!

Also, I'm starting two more quilts before year's end: this one will be simple. It's called "Late Bloomers" because it's floral on black. It's a great way to, what? That's right, use up stash fabric and use the pink fabric Santa brought me.The pink and the orchids will alternate, and this will be the border.Also, I pulled this puppy out. I've been wanting to work on it for a while, so it's going to get some attention!