Monday, March 28, 2016

Life in the jungle

My mind is a jungle of ideas.  My garden is, well, a jungle. I'm still running back and forth between inside and out, trying to accomplish everything at once.  Though Easter Sunday forced me to slow down.  A quiet brunch with my tribe and an afternoon nap. Some knitting on the back porch.
Those little snowball blocks up there are slowing me down as well.  I started out sewing them on the machine, but they were pulling and bunching up at the seams, so I tried a few by hand and I was really pleased with how they turned out.  I highly recommend gathering your supplies in a little basket and hand piecing out in the spring air and sunshine.
In case you want to make some, here's what I'm doing.

From an assortment of dark/medium and light squares cut some 3" blocks

Now cut 1 3/8" blocks, 4 of the same color (light or dark) I know it makes my eyeballs hurt just typing that number, never mind cutting them to that size.

Place 4  matching tiny light blocks on the corners of a 3" dark/medium block
Place 4 matching tiny dark/medium blocks on the corners of the 3" light blocks.
Here's a tutorial on how to sew them.
I didn't mark my little squares first before sewing.  Instead, I folded them in half diagonally and pressed across the fold with my fingernail.  This leaves a faint press line that you can follow when sewing.
Arrange the finished blocks alternating light corners against dark corners (I have 4 sewn together in the bottom right side of the picture)
I have no idea what I'm going to make.  I feel like if I give this project a name or commit to a specific size, it will spoil the magic of making them.

The yarn is from Quince & Co.   I've been wanting to try out the color Carrie's Yellow, and finally went ahead and ordered some. When it won't get out of your head, you might as well give in to it.
I'm thinking maybe a very long 1x1 rib scarf to go with all those neutrals hanging in my closet. A simple scarf from beautiful yarn.

Here's a few links of things I've been into this last week, in case your bored:

"Cooked" on Netflicks
"In Defense of Food" on PBS
This U-Tube video is a typical day at my house, but replace the cat with a small dog and me saying "All I want to do is crochet" EDIT: Looks like the video was removed. Too bad, it was funny!
 
I bought this pattern, and this one, and this one too.  Haven't made any of them yet.
 I REALLY want to go to Squam for my birthday in September.  Anyone going???
The jungle grows.





9 comments:

  1. Ahh springtime--it does make one want to be outside either gardening or needlework in hand

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  2. Love the wool! Should look great in a scarf! Happy Spring....

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  3. Hmm nice yarn! Nice sewing patterns, nice quilt top!! Saw the Michael Pollan show too- it was really good. Have s great week it looks so nice and springy in your neck of the woods.

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  4. That's it! A jungle! My life has been a jungle lately too. My Easter was lovely, but still a jungle!! I long for a quiet afternoon on the porch to knit!
    Squam sounds very interesting!!!! I think I want to go too!
    xo Kris

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  5. Sounds like you've been busy busy as usual, and I'm loving those little blocks. Its interesting how some turn out to be neater to sew by hand than by machine, and you're right, a little basket of sewing outside is hard to beat.
    Enjoy the Spring sunshine!
    Gill xx

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  6. Hi Lynne! Your photos are so beautiful! Lovely idea to hand piece the blocks. I sew by hand some of my dogs at 'Dog Gone Cute' blog hop, and enjoyed it very much. I used to knit and crochet mostly because that I could do every where and all the time. Now I'm really hooked to quilting but still sometimes wish I could do it more else where and not only in the sewing room. I quilt by hand so that I do often sitting outside. Spring wishes from Greece! x Teje

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    1. Hi Teje! Thank you so much and happy Spring to you as well :)

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  7. I try to always have some hand sewing with me, EPP or something with short seams - very therapeutic!!!

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  8. Love the color of that yarn, I bought some very similar to that at the big yarn sale. Your Easter sounds wonderful. Now get some rest!
    Meredith

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You guys are awesome! Thank you for the comments!