Saturday, August 18, 2012

We have a winner (or two!)

This is just too funny.  Look who the Random Number Generator chose as the winner of the Anna Maria Horner Multi-Tasker tote pattern and fabric:




And who do you think that is?


Susan, who won the last drawing!  Seriously, is this not a study in random numbers?  Since Susan said not to include her in the drawing, let's try again.

And the winner is:

 

Who is Rhonda, who said:


Rhonda, I'm sending you an email. This is what will be on its way to you as soon as I get your postal address:


Congratulations, Rhonda!

The next giveaway will be when the blog hits 200 followers -- not far off!  I already have some goodies picked out for it.











From the desk of your auntmartisignature

Friday, August 17, 2012

Celebrate!

Notice anything new?  Or rather, old?

Yep, the header is back on the blog.  Celebrate!  My Little Sailor (aka Younger Son) is back in port and repaired the header.

In further celebration, I present the August "Another Year of Schnibbles" entry, "Dimestore."


Quilt #40 for 2012 -- I only need to sew three quilts per month for the rest of the year to meet my goal.  Yeah, I'm all about the numbers.


I didn't use charm squares on my Schnibbles, because I had this excellent Liberty Lifestyle Bloomsbury Garden yardage:


I bought my Liberty Lifestyle from Purl Soho.  The orange cornerstones are Kona cotton "School Bus."  I didn't have enough different prints to make all 16 blocks, so mine is only 12 blocks and will finish at 25" X 33" -- perfect to hang above the bathtub.

To celebrate, I'm linking up to "Can I Get a Whoop Whoop" at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

 
Remember to enter the giveaway for this personally autographed copy of Anna Maria Horner's "Multi-tasker Tote" pattern and enough fabric to make your very own tote:

Be sure to go here to comment.


Thank you, MC3 Allison.  Smooth seas and following winds on the rest of your summer cruise.










From the desk of your auntmartisignature

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

WIP Wednesday

It feels so good to be back at the sewing machine after 16 days knitting knitting knitting!

I've made 20+ more string blocks for my "block a day" challenge from Anna Lenas:


AND I've got a good start on my August Schnibbles, Dimestore:


I'm using my Liberty of London Lifestyle prints from Purl Soho in New York.   Remember how I complained that some of the quarter-yard cuts were short?  Well, I sent them a (polite) email, and wow -- they replaced all five short cuts and told me to keep the ones I already had!  Purl Soho was on one of the shops I visited last summer in Manhattan.  They were so nice in person, I should have known they would be just as responsive for online sales.



At this point, I'm not completely sure about my Dimestore.  Not enough contrast?  I used the orange (School Bus) Kona for the cornerstones in an attempt to bring in a color besides blue.  Here are the photos I used as my inspiration:


Really, in person, the rocks are just as orange as that Kona cotton!

This particular day the sky was a perfect Colorado cerulean-blue, and the sun was shining intensely against the rocks.  I am so sorry I only had the little "point and shoot" camera with me!
Oh -- for those of you not from Colorado, the photos are of Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.  The middle photos is the "Kissing Camels."  See them?  This area was threatened by the Waldo Canyon wildfire in late June, but luckily was spared.


Have you commented on my giveaway yet?  You could win an autographed copy of Anna Maria Horner's pattern, "The Multi-Tasker Tote" and enough AMH fabric to make your own tote!  Go here to comment.


Speaking of links, I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced, hosted this week by Cindy of Live a Colorful Life:  selvaging my sanity one stitch at a time.  I guess only a quilter would get the "selvaging" joke, huh?






From the desk of your auntmartisignature

Monday, August 13, 2012

An Anna Maria Festival -- and a giveaway!

Last weekend, the Front Range Modern Quilt Guild was lucky enough to host a "big name" fabric and quilt designer -- Anna Maria Horner.  Anna Maria presented a great lecture and trunk show Friday evening, then members of the guild got to sew with her -- all day Saturday!

 We're watching Anna Maria teach us a slick trick to make nice, sharp corners!

We made the "Multi Tasker Tote."
download MTT cover(photo from Anna Maria's website)

I was excited to take the class with AMH, because I had purchased this pattern a long time ago and couldn't figure out the directions.  Now, I've made dozens of bags, so I realise if I had just cut out the pattern and jumped in, I probably could have made the bag with no problems.  But after reading through the directions and losing my place numerous times, I put the pattern away.

Big mistake.

Because of course, when the Guild announced that AMH was coming to town, I couldn't find my pattern.  So I bought another one.  And then a pattern was included with the class fee.  So now I own three copies of this pattern (more on this later).

Anyway, since I already had the pattern, I was the first to have my bag cut out.  And the first to make a mistake:


Anna Maria is such a gracious person, she didn't laugh at me.  Much.  (All four pieces are supposed to be connected.  Good thing I had my cute, pink seam ripper.)

Everyone got her bag either completed or (cough cough) almost finished.



I had left the handles at home, so I finally finished mine today.  The outside fabric is AMH's garden party, purchased at Fringe in Salida.  The lining is Amy Butler's Midwest Modern, and the handle fabric is from my personal "collection."


The best part of Anna Maria's lecture was seeing photos of her very newest collection, "Field Study" and hearing her talk about what inspired the collection.  Lucky me, now that Elder Son has moved to Denver, I have an excuse to visit the Fancy Tiger shop more often.  And they have the complete Field Study line!

Really, I was quite conservative.  You can see in these photos that I have "checked" the fabrics I now own -- only 12 of a possible 36!

Gypsy Palette:


Moonlit Palette:


Patina Palette:



This gives me something to shop for during my Seattle personal shop hop later this month!

To reward everyone for being patient while I knit hats, I promised a giveaway.  And what better to give away than an autographed copy of  the "Multi Tasker Tote" pattern and enough AMH fabric to make your very own bag?



Here's all you have to do:
  1. Be a follower of this blog.
  2. Leave a comment on this post.
  3. Before Saturday, August 18 at Noon MDT.
  4. Yes, international entries are welcome.
Good luck!


From the desk of your auntmartisignature

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Gold!!

I made my goal!

One hat per day, each of the 16 days of the 30th Olympiad!

The last hat photo I posted was #6, so here are the remaining 10:
 
#7 is a  within-Navy-regs Watch Cap knit of Cascade 128 Superwash.  It's more black than it looks in this photo, and I have it on very good (Chief) authority that it is within regs, so it can be worn with the Navy camo uniform.


Hat #8 is a favorite -- when it is blocked, it will be a "Tam."  The space-dyed yarn (Knit One Crochet Too Ty Dy Wool) was perfect for this pattern.

Here's another "watch cap."  This yarn is Vally Yarns Superwash, and I love the way it knits up.  I'll make all my "watch caps" from this yarn from now on.

Not so sure about #10, it looks better on a real person's head than it does on my hat-blocking form.  The yarn is Queensland Collection Rustic Wool, and there was barely enough on the skein to make this style.

#11 is a "Slouchy Beanie."  Elder Son has a beanie made from this pattern and wears it -- I know there will be a sailor on the USS Decatur who loves this one!  I have enough yarn left over to make a hat for ES's roommate.

Another "chunky yarn" experiment, this is the "9" hat from the 789 Hats pattern.  Perfect if you need an emergency gift!

My friend and knitwear designer, Deb Buckingham, let me test-knit the Christine Hat.  I think I would make it a little longer before beginning the decreases, but this Cascade 128 Superwash is a wonderful "blueberry" color.
Here's another Deb Buckingham design, the Jennifer Head Hugger hat.  This pattern has already been published at Knit Picks -- a smart knitter would have noticed it requires worsted weight yarn rather than bulky.  But it really fits well in spite of that!

 I think Hat #15 is my favorite of all.  It's knit of a hand-dyed yarn from the Royale Hare that I picked up at the Madrona Fiber Arts Festival in Tacoma.  When I bought it, I was thinking of knitting socks with a flame design -- but it makes a better hat, doncha think?


Hat #16 is my magnum opus -- I knit the ribbing with leftover Valley Yarns Superwash, using the 789 Hat pattern from Ravelry.  Then I knit two rows of each yarn (with a few variations) I used on the previous 15 hats.  The decreases are the same as Hat #15, Mr. Tom's Beanie.    I am tempted to keep this one myself, to remember my Olympic Knitting accomplishment!

Here are all 16 hats on display:



These hats are designated for sailors on either the USS Decatur or the USS Higgins as part of the 2012 Hats for Sailors project.  Details are on the Hats for Sailors website, here.  

If you are on Ravelry, you can see the details of all 16 Hats for Sailors at my Ravelry page here.

Quilting continues next week! 

 I think we should have a giveaway to celebrate the Ravellenic games, don't you?  How about something from my visit with Anna Maria Horner?








From the desk of your auntmartisignature