Saturday, September 6, 2014

My year in Temperatures Scarf

You may have read that 52 Quilts' co-author and My Little Sailor is on leave from Japan. The blog will be on hiatus for the month of September -- but so you won't forget us, I've scheduled a few posts for the month. I apologize in advance that I won't be answering comments.

Late last year, I read somewhere (a blog? Facebook?) about a knitter's "My Year in Temperatures Scarf." I loved this idea, so I started gathering yarn from my Cascade 220 stash. The original scarf is knit only in colors that represent the daily "average" temperature. However, in Colorado our temperatures some days vary as much as 40 degrees! So I decided to knit three rows for each day, of colors representing the low, average, and high temps.

Come September 1, I was surprised that I hadn't needed to use the color (coral) that represents 100+ degrees. It's rare that we hit 100 degrees -- our elevation is 6801, after all! With a little Google research, I found that there were two days in 2013 that the temperature hit 100 degrees. According to the National Weather Service, the hottest day on record in Denver (1.5 hours to the North of us) was June 25, 2012, when the temperature hit 105 degrees Fahrenheit.

More unusual is the cool, wet weather we've had this summer.  According to my personal records (temperatures posted by my neighborhood weather station) on June 10 the low was 40F -- but the high climbed to 79F!

Which is why my fingernails matched the low temperature stripe on September 2:


Here is my scarf-so-far:


I'm saving the "big reveal" until the end of the year; but it's at least 8 feet long now!

if you get around to it!



From the desk of your auntmartisignature

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Throw-back Thursday and Blog Hiatus

You may have read that 52 Quilts' co-author and My Little Sailor is on leave from Japan. The blog will be on hiatus for the month of September -- but so you won't forget us, I've scheduled a few posts for the month. I apologize in advance that I won't be answering comments.

Throw-Back Thursday

September 2012 was the month of dots. The Dots on Dots blog hop!

Here's what I was making:


Wonder what that became? Go to this post to find out! And BTW, my granddaughter still wears it!

Happy "Eat an Extra Dessert" Day!

From the desk of your auntmartisignature

Monday, September 1, 2014

September UFO Parade

Can you believe it's time to start our 9th UFO for 2014? It's




And what's more -- I didn't finish a single quilt this month! The only thing I finished was my "Sew Together" bag!


Oh, yeah -- and the dress I wore to a friend's wedding on Saturday. I also finished a "test sew" bag for Sew Sweetness, but you'll have to wait to see that!

Luckily, other UFO challengers did better than me this month.

Sandi made up for me by finishing TWO quilts this month. First, from the incredible Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville, "Kranberries."


It finished at 84" X 97" and I love it love it love it! Check out the details at KwiltnKats, here.

Sandi also finished "Kings," aka "Playing with Jacks." This one is only 31" X 33", I might be more likely to finish this one!


Lucky Sandi will get to meet Bonnie when Bonnie visits Southern California in October. More details about "Kings" here.

Debra has three finishes for August. First, from Idahoan Kim Diehl, "Scrap Blossoms."


Whenever I see such a gorgeous applique' project, I think, "I should learn to do that." Ahh.  No.

Inspired by her 2013 "finish," Debra also whipped up this 94 1/2" square beauty from the most recent Quiltmaker magazine. It's called "Irish Stars," and Deb -- it's gorgeous, even if you DID have to do the frog dance (rip it, rip it, rip it) on the last two rows!

'

Be sure to notice the supervisor in the upper left-hand corner!

Deb's July project was another Bonnie Hunter Special, the incredible "Orca Bay." I have to laugh at Deb's explanation for not quilt getting it finished in July:
 I tried, tried, tried but with six Chihuahua's (dog sitting) running all over the place I was able to get approx. 75% of my quilt done. I'd get a row laid out, get the box to start another, lay out another and back to square one (literally) it was. I did try but this body finally gave up the "dog fight".

As you can see, this quilt is too big for the photo! Congrats on your "finally finish," Debra!

OH, Look! Debra is doing the Marcus Brothers Friends & Companions Designer Sew-Along, too. I just got caught up on the first five blocks last night. Here are Deb's blocks:


Just in case you don't have enough UFOs, here is the link to the Friends & Companions site.


Earlier this summer, Friend Martha and I were lucky enough to take an all-day class with Bill Kerr of Modern Quilt Studio at Quilt Colorado.  Well, she finished her Transparency Quilt. (Mine is still in the plastic bin!)


Isn't it gorgeous? I think this one is a "true transparency" quilt!

Dang! Martha also finished three quilts this month! You guys are making me feel like a slacker! This one is so fun, it's all Australian fabrics with snakes, for her brother-in-law. Lucky guy, I bet he will love it, Martha!


(Hi, Martha!)

Her third quilt is for a vet at the Idaho State Veterans' Home in Boise.


Martha, some Idaho veteran is going to love this. Thank you for supporting our vets!

Mary also finished a charity quilt. This one will go to the Ronald McDonald house -- I think the colors will be great for a child, Mary!


Mary used orphan blocks to kick of this colorful quilt. Details on her blog, Zippy Quilts, here.


Gill in the UK caught the "Sew Together Bag" bug and made not one, but FOUR STBs this month! Her son even wanted one -- aren't the the most fun?


Gill's "drawn number" was this darling kitty cat cushion for her Mum. 


I had to laugh at Gill's story about the cushion:

. . .  finished just in time as she was on the aeroplane from Australia for her annual visit!! The reason this project stalled (it was her birthday present last November) was because I suddenly realised that I couldn't just cut up the fabric any old how because it would mean decapitating cats - which I guessed wouldn't be a good thing for a present for a cat lover! So there was lots of fussy cutting involved... At least it's done and given to her now!!
I'm a cat lover, too, Gill, so I'm glad you took the extra time to "save the kitties!"

Heather finished this lovely, scrappy number -- "Frontier Foundations."


The colors in the quilt are inspired by the toile backing. Visit Heather's blog, Peachy Pages, here to read the details.

Sue's August "challenge" is really a challenge. She's working on a Mariner's Compass using instructions and tools from one of my favorite Colorado teachers, Cheryl Phillips. Even though her Mariner's Compass isn't quilt finished, I think she should get credit!



Sue, I've made one (one!) of these, and I know what a challenge it is!  Details on Sue's Quilty Bits and Bobs, here.  

Kerry started this quilt as a mystery in a class at Road to California Quilt show in 2013. It is called "Expect the Unexpected" by Karen Sievert.



She says, "It is a very large quilt 90x104, but did go together fast once I got to it!  Glad to have this one finished."  I'm glad, too, Kerry!


Irene is ready for the Holidays with her finish. Two Advent Calendars, she says she has been working on them for five years!


Woo hoo, Irene! Check out the back story at her blog, A Serendipitous Retirement, here.

I love the model for Elisa's August finish!


She says:

This is destined to become an outdoor blanket for the grand-girls and me. The older granddaughter is allergic to grass, so this will (hopefully) keep her from breaking out in hives when we do fun things outside. And it's always more fun to go out to play when there's a hand-made quilt involved, right? Blog post is here: http://yarn-tails.blogspot.com/2014/08/h2oh-summer.html
Wow! Nineteen finishes this month -- and that's not counting Deb's blocks or Sue's partial Mariner's Compasses. I thought quilters took the summer off!


Mr. Random Number chose Heather as the winner for this month's Parade. Congratulations, Heather! I have a "Little Bites" pattern and some fabric candies to send you.

My Little Sailor is coming home on leave from Japan very soon. 
52 Quilts will be on hiatus the second half of September, and the October 1 UFO Parade will be late. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't be working on UFO #5!  Send in your photos as soon as you're finished  -- I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone makes in September!


From the desk of your auntmartisignature

Sunday, August 31, 2014

De-Stash Sunday

Nothing added to the stash this week (gasp, can you believe it?). 

I did get my dress finished in time for the wedding, though! I meant to ask someone to take a photo for me, but in the excitement, I forgot. DH did snap this shot of me with the bride and groom:


[Helpful hint: ask the photographer to stand up when he takes the photo. This is not a flattering angle!]

De-Stash

Look what I have to de-stash this week! Nearly 5 pounds (that's more than 14 yards!) of Moda 3 Sisters. Mostly Chocolat and Double Chocolat, it's left over from my very first Quiltmaker's Scrap Squad 2013 project:


Here is the "pile." Some scraps, but mostly fat quarters and fat eighths:


And here it is on my postal scale. Yes, I zeroed out the scale when I put the ruler on it to hold the fabric.


Would you like to add it to your own stash? Here's the deal: I'll give away the fabric, free. The recipient just has to pay postage. Anywhere in the world, just be the first person to comment and pre-pay the postage via PayPal, and it's yours.

This de-stash batch will "just" fit into a medium flat-rate box, which costs $12.35 to send anywhere in the U.S. Of course, international postage would be more -- as much as $65 US, so be warned.

Please comment with your PayPal email address and I'll send you an invoice for the postage. The first person to reply with both a PayPal address and zip code is the "winner!"




From the desk of your auntmartisignature