Quilting on the Edge

Knitted Sock: Second Attempt

Here's my second attempt at knitting a sock.  This time I used a heavier yarn, a wool acrylic blend, and it is much more substantial in weight and appearance.  Fits great!  It went a lot easier than the first one, altho I still had a few fits with the heel turning, I'm definitely improving.  Now I'll make the mate for this one.

Hobie Kayak Launch Today!

What does a quilter do when not quilting?  Lots of things, including kayaking.  Today we launched out Hobie Kayak for the first time........it turned out to be a good shakedown trip, we had to learn how to insert the pedals, seats, and then actually use the kayak.  It was a windy day, which was sort of a problem, but we learned a lot.  The pedals really make the kayak move, much more than the paddles.  We love it........looking forward to taking it back out on a calmer day.  Next time it won't take so long to get it ready to go since we did the learning today.  I recommend it!  The use of the pedals is good exercise too.

Moda Strips Quilt Top

                     This quilt top was made from a collection of Moda fabric florals fat quarters, about twenty of them I bought at a nearby quilt shop.  I decided to use a pattern from a Kaffe Fassett book, the patterns is called Wallpaper Strips Quilt.  This was easy to piece, but I plan to hand quilt it in the Baptist Fan pattern to give it interest.  I'm making this for myself, or should I say for my cedar chest, altho I have a feeling I'll love this one too much to just leave it in there unused.  The feeling is very dreamy, romantic, and colors are muted and dusty. 

Knitted Sock

well, here it is, my first knitted sock!  Learning to knit socks is one of my resolutions for 2008, and here's my first attempt.  Don't think this was easy for me.......after checking out several online patterns, a few book patterns, watching some how to videos on YouTube, and tearing out stitches more times than I want to remember, I finished my first sock. NOW I get it the big picture of what I'm doing, so next time should be easier.  At first I didn't quite understand how I was turning the heel and all that stuff, but NOW I get it, so I'm looking forward to making more socks, this time I'll make a pair using some nicer yarn, perhaps some wool blend.  I like to knit as a nice diversion from my quilting, sometimes it allows for my quilting ideas to percolate in my subconscious, and new ideas rise to the surface later.  Anyway, I'm feeling pretty smug about finishing this sock, since I know how hard it was for me to "get it". 

Photos from Selby Gardens Christmas Tour

In mid December I attended the Christmas Lights tour at Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida.  It was beautiful to see the lovely gardens all aglow with lights, here's a few pictures.  The third photo, of the tree trunks, was taken as an inspiration for a future quilt.  They appear so mysterious in the night, with their bending trunks and textured surfaces.  I recommend this event if you have the opportunity in the future.

Sunrise Walk on Anna Maria Island Florida

Almost every morning I take a 30 minute walk around sunrise.  Here's a picture of early early sunrise from my front yard, in Anna Maria on the north end of Anna Maria Island. The next photo shows my street, Palmetto Avenue, as I head toward the Gulf of Mexico.  I took these street photos after my walk, it would have been too dark earlier. Next is Gulf Drive, I go about a block down here till I turn onto the street heading directly to the Gulf, which is the next photo.  I usually leave abour 7 AM.  The next group of photos shows the sunrise, in order from earliest to later pictures as it developed across the sky. 

Hope: January Challenge Quilt for SAQA group

This is my January challenge piece for the SAQA online group. It's 15 by 9 inches. I call it "HOPE". I also thought of calling it "the promise" or "Late March".  Either way, I wanted to convey a ray of light into an otherwise monochromatic environment. It all came to me very quickly, after several days of staring at the background, I went into my studio yesterday morning and started cutting out leaves and flowers from my black and white fabric collection  It seems to have made itself.   Comments welcomed.

Wool Felted Bowl

                  Isn't this a great bowl?  My daughter in law, Prachi, made me this bowl for Christmas.  It's knitted with wool yarn, then felted.  I use yarns and other fibers in my art quilts sometimes, and they were always just thrown in a plastic bag in my closet.  but now I have this cool bowl to keep them out for me to see and easily available to choose.  This is one of my coolest gifts..thanks Prachi!

Natural Florida

About a month ago I found this fabric in three colorways at a nearby quilt shop, and created this piece from those fabrics.   I wanted to show the blues dripping into the greens, greens into the blues, and yellow-orange pieces dripping into both sections.  I added the contrasting "sun" to create a focal point.  Quilting is done in a circular pattern about the sun and throughout the quilt.  It's about 18 by 19 inches. When I finished, it sparked the title "Natural Florida".  It has a calming feeling when I see it.