Early Christmas to the sewing room, I have started in earnest on the five Quilts with a Christmas theme. I finished the first, Courtyard Lattice yesterday. I had finished it Wednesday, but I realized I had sewn on one of the outer borders upside down. Thankfully before it was on the frame this time. I spent a little time fixing it, then continued on with the construction of the blocks for Seasonal Patchwork. I am making it a lot larger than the pattern calls for, 44″ x 52″, my version will be almost queen sized. The tree blocks in this quilt are a bit difficult to make as described in the pattern. I tried one and it was too wonky, I had to resew it four times to get the outer triangles to lay right so the block would be 5 ½” square. Creative grids rulers to the rescue. The Two Peaks in One ruler is perfect for cutting this size. The twin tree block is a bit more pointy though, and I am trying out the 45 Degree Diamond along with the two peaks one for these. I have a few more to cut and make for a total of 64 skinny trees. The stars are next, the pattern calls for folded corners, I have a dislike of that method. There will be some creative math involved this those too. It’s an 8 inch finished size block with four flying geese around a square in a square in the center.

Knitting projects have been progressing too, I am inching towards the half way point on the baby bear sweater/romper. The stitch holders are for the sleeves, and I am working on the main trunk part. There are only a few increases in each RS row, I have learned a new to me type of increase called a KLL and a KRL, much neater and they don’t leave a hole below. I printed out the instructions for them from Coco Knits, for reference. For some reason, I can’t seem to remember which is which. It’s because the KLL is made under the right needle and the KRL is made under the left needle. There is also a new to me thing called a shadow wrap, a different way of doing a short row. I think I am done with those for this project, as they are for neck line shaping. I am hoping to get this done before my trip in early December to meet the recipient :). Meanwhile, I am still waiting for the yarns I ordered for the four five Christmas hats I want to knit. Amazon has so spoiled me, as much as I hate to admit it. Remember the days when 4 to 6 weeks was the average time to get something delivered through the mail that you ordered through a catalog or over the phone? I still love to get hand written letters and cards too, sigh.

I did get the Forest den quilt on the frame, and chose an Oak leaf and Acorn panto for it. It is not as dense as the one I used for a few other projects, but still 25 minutes a row. Once this one is finished, I start the Courtyard Lattice one, I need to piece a backing for it first. My TODO list is growing. I did fix the errant diamond on the green peacock quilt top and pieced a backing for the Glow peacock quilt, those are in the TBQ pile too.

Finally, the Fairy House has been languishing, as knitting is taking over evening stitch time. I have made a little progress since last post. This week I think I averaged about 100 stitches a night. The next house, the Log Cabin, was released, along with a bonus house, The Tudor. Strangely, I am not too excited about the extra bonus, it won’t fit on my projects Aida cloth, and I think the past ten months of stitching on this exclusively, has worn down my enthusiasm a bit. I was watching a Flosstube with Lori Holt and she was showing her finished version of Lillies of the Field. I really miss working on that piece, but I know if I pull it out and work on it, the houses will go into the land of UFO’s.

Be Kind.