WIP…Thursday? – July 27 2017

Sorry for the one day delay everyone. Computer glitches are annoying at times, but as long as they can be resolved, I’m usually pretty happy. It’s just unfortunate that I didn’t have the energy to deal with the glitch, and complete my post for Wednesday morning.

Once again, I haven’t worked on all of my projects this week. I’ve been able to resist the urge to start anything new, even though I’ve been tempted by several projects. I joined a crochet along for a Grease afghan and it started on the 17th, so it’s been a real struggle to hold myself back. Now week two has been released, and it’s even worse! I’ve been seeing the blocks that other participants have done and I’ve been so tempted, but I know that I need to get a few more things done first.

The following are the in progress projects that I didn’t work on this week.

• Winter doily – by Grace Fearon at Emilyandthe Handmade.
• Evelyn doily – by Grace Fearon at Emilyandthe Handmade
• Alluring knitted throw – from Leisure Arts Big Book of Quick Knit Afghans

And now for the fun stuff!

I did a bit more work (4 more rows to be exact) on my Feather and Fan Shawl, using my Lion Brand Shawl in a Ball yarn, in Lotus Blossom. The lifelines I’ve been using have been making it much less stressful for me. I used to worry so much that I would make a mistake (because for me that meant starting over), that I couldn’t really enjoy my knitting. Using a lifeline (or two or three) has allowed me to enjoy watching my project take shape.

I’ve also finally started putting my blocks together for the Pins and Stripes Learn to Quilt Quilt Along by Tracy at It’s a T-Sweets Day!. I mentioned in last week’s WIP Wednesday post that I had found a tutorial on using freezer paper to help square up blocks that are slightly too small, or a bit out of whack. Here is the link to that tutorial. I found it helpful, and I think it has helped with some of the issues I had.

Basically you cut a square the size that your block was supposed to measure when completed. Then, on the dull side of the freezer paper, you draw some lines…diagonally, horizontally, and vertically to mark the center of the paper. You can also add lines to mark the seam allowance.

After centering the paper over the block with the waxy side down, you iron the paper to the back of the block. As long as the edges of the block are well within the seam allowance, you should be okay to stitch along the marked lines on the paper. I found it useful to also mark the orientation of the block so that I didn’t get mixed up. (I figured this out the hard way after mixing up the orientation on my first two blocks, twice.)

And here are my first two blocks joined together! I was so excited!

And this is the first row after it was all put together. (I couldn’t get all 10 blocks in the picture.)

I was able to get my first two rows sewn together and although you’ll notice that the points on my pinwheels are not perfect, and my seams don’t always meet up where they should (not as noticeable in this picture, but trust me there are some wonky ones), I have learned so much about what to do, and what not to do while working on this quilt. I already know some of the places where I made mistakes, and now I know to be more cautious in those areas, so that my next attempt will turn out better.

No matter how imperfect it is though, it will not stop me from enjoying the pretty colours, or the comfort it brings me when I wrap up in my quilt during the long, cold winters here. I will always have the memories of shopping for my first quilt materials, and putting them together to make a cozy quilt.

What have you been working on this week?