Silk Jacket Pattern

I've cut out some silk for a light jacket and since it is a size 24, I won't be looking as nice as the models on the pattern front. I will be feeling wonderful having this beautiful fabric around me, however.

Posting Pictures to this Blog

I'm still trying to post pictures to this blog from my iPad. Here is my sweet Goku Kitty. 

Dahlias

I'm working on a shawl for my daughter's birthday in August. It has two very nice yarns, Casbah and Changeling. Casbah I purchased through Colorsong which is in Oregon and delivery is usually a matter of days to reach me in Northern California. I dyed the bare Casbah a Sapphire blue from Darhma Trading Co. The stripes are made from Changeling Kidsilk Mohair from Solstice Yarns in the color way Faery Lights.

October

 The past month has seen a bumper crop of pears. Preserving pears, cooking with pears, and now my second year of making pear wine has kept me busy. Now that job is done and it is time to think of family, friends and neighbors for the holidays.  The daughter of a dear friend is expecting her first child, so I've been pondering a quilt design for her baby boy. It would be easy to purchase a kit and make it quick, but I always feel compelled to make up my own design or adaptation of a traditional quilt. I am thinking about a playful animal theme with a monkey, a giraffe and a zebra. It's ambitious, and the baby may be 2 years old when I'm finished, but, it will be something that I've put my whole creativity into.

Back to the Needles

I made it through the  angst-ridden holiday season and actually enjoyed myself. I made a nice dinner for my 2 adult sons, my husband and myself; and, we spent a very peaceful day together.

My niece loved her birthday present and I am very happy about that!

My sister and my niece suggested that I visit the website, Ravelry. I did and it is huge!  Ravelry is a fiber art, knitting, crochet,  and all things yarn community. I have spent hours and days visiting forums, downloading patterns, and buying yarn like I'm going to live forever.  The project pages are amazing. People make the most beautiful things.
I have made a dishrag and a knitted hat for my hubby.
I fell in love with a lace shawl called, Wintersweet, by Boo knits, The ladies in the forum suggested that I make a smaller shawl first. I had to buy a book and watch a bunch of YouTube tutorials to learn how to make the stitches that I used to know about 25 years ago. It really is so fun to re-learn and knitting a pattern is so absorbing. I hope it will help keep what little brain I have left in good shape.

Christmas Anxiety

Christmas always brings anxiety. What to get everyone? Will they like it? Maybe I should make something? I don't have enough time. I don't have enough money. There's too many people I want to give presents to. I love everyone. Do I really love them if I can't get them a gift? I'm selfish. I'm cheap. Everyone is going to be disappointed in me. My property tax is due. Mr car registration is due. The water heater is leaking.Then there are some of those past Christmases and their associated miseries. I won't go there. People who aren't here,now. I won't go there either. It's dark, cold, rainy. I think I'll listen to Christmas Music. I think I'll make some cookies. I think I'll write a card to my friend. I think I'll sit in my comfy chair with my cat, Goku, on my lap. I think I'll work on that quilted project for my niece. Her birthday was last week. I'm always late. I love Dobby.Merry Christmas everyone.

Learning to sew

Greetings Readers and welcome to Lala's Quilt Blog. I have been sewing since the seventh grade. I'm 61 years old as of this writing, so...it was a long time ago! My first Home Economics class was where I gathered my first sewing notions like a seam gage, needle threader, pins and bias binding. The first article I made with fabric?... an apron. All of my grandmothers were daily clad in aprons, so one of them was the lucky recipient of a grey and yellow apron that Christmas way back then. I remember the teacher had an eye condition that caused her eyes to move back and forth very quickly from corner to corner. It made me dizzy to look at her when she was speaking to our class of 12 year old girls. I wonder how she managed but was too polite or shy to ask her. At that time, my father was stationed in New Jersey and was a Master Sargent in the Air Force. The Viet Nam war was going on. My dad was a Navigator on Constellation Cargo planes and he would take trips and make more money when flying through flack in the war zones of South East Asia. I attended Northern Burlington County Regional Junior and Senior High School (what a mouthful.) I transferred in without a friend in the world. That was where I began the awkward and humiliating time of adolescence.So much to tell, but let's stay on topic and see if I can upload some links and pictures for you. Thanks for reading, Lala