Simple Knitting

I love to knit. I have knit socks and sweaters and other time-consuming stuff, but sometimes you just need something quick and cute on your needles. (If you are a beginner, this is an easy one!)

Enter the TGV shawl.

I found this great pattern on Ravelry. I used size 5 circular needles and this wonderful yarn in lightweight.

The yarn knitted up beautifully in simple garter stitch.

 

And now I have a beautiful scarf to keep my neck warm. (P.S. If you are not on Ravelry and love to knit, go there NOW. Prepare to spend the rest of the day online looking at knitting and crocheting. I'm Beadkate on Rav and my projects are listed here. You have been warned.)

Enraptured By Tiny Squares

Looky!

What the heck are those, you may ask? Those are boxes and boxes of 1 1/2" fabric squares. Arranged by color. Stacked in old Saran Wrap boxes. Nope, these don't belong to me. They belong to quilter extraordinaire, and the proprietress of Hen Scratch Quilting, my friend Janet.

Here she is with her square-aganza.

Every time I go on a quilt retreat with Janet, like this past weekend, I learn something new. I just watch what she is making and absorb her knowledge like a sponge.

She began by pulling out the aforementioned fabric squares and started laying them out on Fusible Quilter's Grid. Then after ironing the entire piece to fuse the squares to the grid, she folded lengthwise along one grid line and stitched a 1/4" seam all the way down. She repeated folding and stitching in one direction, then clipped the intersection of each square. Then she turned the quilt and stitched the other direction.

Here is a photo.

The results are perfectly stitched 1" squares. Next she made a quilt sandwich with the top, some cotton batting and a plain piece of fabric for the back and stitched diagonally across the squares to hold everything together.

Then she squared it up and bound the edges. She made two quilts and they now reside in a cradle, ready for her granddaughter to play with.

She appliqued a doggie on the back of the top cover. I am 45 years old and I wanted to play with that cradle more than anything!

Instead, I got to work.

And cut and sewed and cut and sewed until I made this bag.

It's kind of big, but I love it!

It measures 17" x 12". I put a pocket on the back and it's perfect for toting around my laptop and other random items. I used premade handles and stitched them to the bag with short strips of leather.

More tales from my quilt weekend to come later, but now I am off to cut more squares! You think Pinterest is addicting? For me it's got nothing on these tiny squares.

Quilting...

I am at a wonderful quilt retreat this weekend. Here is a sneak peak of my project.

Stay tuned, 'cause after I get back I have a couple of posts planned on how I cut those super cute bird shapes... and an awesome project using the tiniest squares of fabric imaginable!

Now off to make five more squares!