May NewFO

Thanks to CatPatches for hosting the NewFO Parties!

My May NewFO has a bit of history. It started with my Rustic HST quilt

And was further inspired by this quilt by Angela Flickr

Celebration of the Hand by Angela Flickr of The Artists' House

Finally, throw in a  Kona Solids Slate Rock FQ pack.

 

The result? 221 four inch blocks waiting to be sewn into a quilt top.

Size: 52" x 68" without borders. 

My June NewFO's will probably be a variety of garb for Ragnarok. I only have three weeks left and just about nothing completed. Wish me luck!

Have a Happy Friday

I haven't made much progress on my frogs the last two weeks. I only had time to work on them twice. But as you can see one of them is very happily finished and is so enthusiastic about his completion that he must restrain himself from shouting with glee.

In other news, my raspberry bushes have all decided to sprout leaves and are really looking quite healthy.

I haven't managed to construct a raised garden for them yet but they seem pretty happy in the pot. I'm hoping that after Ragnarok I will have time. That means I won't get much out of the garden this year but it will be built and ready to go next year.

My honeycrisp apple tree is also coming along nicely. I was worried about it because it looked a little anemic after I planted it but it seems all the rain we've had has done it some good. The leaves have turned from yellow to green and have sprouted everywhere!

While I was waiting for Jack's surgery to get done last week I had a chance to catch up on some reading of free ebooks on raised bed gardening. They were really more like essays, touching on only the most basic of topics but they gave me a decent overview. I just need more time to enact my new-found knowledge!

Have a Happy Friday!

Memorial Day Weekend Projects

Things have been a little crazy around here. I only worked 2.5 days last week, but it wasn't vacation time. I spent my work hours at the doctor's with Jack getting his hand taken care of. Two office visits and one surgery later, it is now properly on the mend. We were blessed with a very good recommendation from the hospital for a excellent orthopedic surgeon, and I would like to thank everyone for the many prayers and warm wishes.

I finally had to buckle down this weekend and try to get some stuff done for Rag, interspersed with some quilting for Sanity's Sake. But hey, check it out!

Jack's cloak is now trimmed. The only thing missing is a clasp, which will have to wait until he is able to use his leatherworking tools again. The trim for my cloak also came in, so I will be adding that if I can pry the clasp off.

I picked this trim up at the Pillaged Village.

I love the Pillaged Village. They have a merchant tent at Ragnarok every year and they have an unbelievable selection of trims, buttons, beads, patterns, etc. They're website has a decent selection, but if you get a chance to check them out on location you will not be disappointed.

I also started a dress for myself, by tracing the bodice section onto muslin and basting it together for a mock-up.

I've made a couple adjustments to the pattern in the shoulder and underarm. I will need to take in the back a bit and I'm trying to decide how I want it to close - closures in the back are difficult to do by myself. I was considering doing this:

By Armstreet, copyright them.

This would require altering the pattern significantly to add an extra side panel, because the waist would be made too large and the lacing used to give the dress shape. I'm still mulling my options over.

Two of the three tunics I am making for the Dark Tide Refugees are finished. I may be making a fourth but I haven't received any information on which color. The third one is half put-together. I hope they fit the people for whom they are intended. I based the pattern size on t-shirt size, which can be a little iffy.

And that quilting project I mentioned in my last post? All of the units are done, it just needs to be turned into a quilt top now!

Anemone Revealed

Anenome is completed! Link to ALYoF Goal Setting Post

I finished it a little while ago but I wanted to wait for a nice day outside to take photos.

It is bound in the same fabric used for the kaleidoscope blocks and quilted with a rainbow variegated thread.  Linking up to A Lovely Year of Finishes

Sanity Sewing

Yesterday was my annual "I don't want to go to Ragnarok, its too much work" whine-fest. We do this every year about this time as the pressure of getting stuff done to prep for Rag tends to push everything else aside and drive me up a wall with a list about three miles long. Lucky for me Jack knows what to expect and gets through it like a trooper. He took me out for barbecue to cheer me up last night (I mean old school, slow cooked beef brisket, i.e. Real Barbecue).

So that made today a Sanity Preservation Day, which means I did absolutely nothing Rag related.

I worked on my Frogs at lunch (they still need names by the way). I was really scatterbrained last Friday and forgot to take a picture to share then, but here it is a few days late.

And after cooking dinner and restoring some semblence of order to my kitchen, I worked on my Kona Solids Slate Rock Quilt. Which really needs a better name than that, but for now its a working title.

I've finished enough units for a 16 by 24 inch quilt, so I'm really just barely getting started. Taking my time on this one, trying to just relax and enjoy. I'm going to avoid stitching any of the units together until they are all done.

What a Weekend

On Wednesday last week I was invited to a graduation ceremony on Friday night (Congrats on the Vet Tech degree, cousin) and a violin recital on Saturday (way to go, other cousin!).

On Thursday, Jack broke his hand at Midweek practice and we spent the evening in the ER getting it checked out.

Needless to say, although I'm going to say it anyway, it wasn't a very productive weekend.

However, between a little free time on Sunday and after getting the hospital/surgery stuff squared away today (Yep, he's gonna need surgery to get it fixed), I did manage to work on a couple things.

I finished the last ten Ragnarok XXVIII Survival belt flags! All Akronians who attended Ragnarok last year and are not currently in possession of said belt flags(i.e. Mike, Kyle, Scott, Chris, Kalah, Adam, Nikko, Nikko's friend, Manda, and Deb)  may catch up with me at Saturday's practice. I even had the bright idea to put labels on them so I make sure everyone who is supposed to get one actually gets one. Those of you who are out of state may attend Saturday's practice if desired, but it might be easier to catch up with me at Ragnarok or have them mailed.

These were truly an exercise in patience, because something about the zig-zag stitch on my sewing machines makes the thread break constantly, requiring a re-threading every couple of inches.

I also started a tunic for As' friend Zabo, who requested dark blue and gold as his new character is a sorcerer.

I decided to dress it up a little bit with one of those nifty stitches on my sewing machine, so I added a string of stars.

Turns out that with a pair of ambidextrous scissors, Jack can be pretty useful for cutting out sewing stuffs, even with a broken thumb.  Thank you for the help honey!

Finally!

First day in a while without pouring rain. I snuck outside under the grumpy cloud cover (its supposed to rain on and off for the rest of the week) and planted my apple tree.

Poor thing has had a rough time of it. I think it came in the mail about three weeks ago and I was really supposed to plant it right away but we kept having storms roll through, with damaging winds. I was worried that it wouldn't have time to root before it was knocked over by the storms. It looks like the worst is passed for now, so I took advantage of Jack being at Midweek Practice to mow the backyard and plant my little tree. I feel like I should name it. I also dug up a couple of bushes that I wanted to get rid of along the fence line. There are at least two more to go in the backyard and then there is all of the ground cover in the front yard I really want gone.

Meanwhile,  this is where I am planning on putting my raised garden.

And if I decide I really like growing my own food, there is a large patch of grass behind the garage that used to be a garden  (it was mostly overgrown when we moved in) that will probably do nicely.

I was initially concerned that the pine needles would cause a problem with the garden but a couple minutes of internet research suggests that they make great fertilizer and mulch.

Just a Bad Photo to Show

...that yes, I am making slow progress.

Bias tape on Survival Belt flags: completed. And thanks to a donation by Rune, I now have enough red fabric to finish the hurricane symbols.

Also, with the recent delivery of thread, I have all the materials needed to complete these. Hoping to finish by practice on Saturday.

Simplifying My Life: Day 1

Dear College Text Books

I will miss you horribly - I have hung on to you because I still harbor a dream of quitting my job and going back to school full time, becoming a first-class physicist, and trying to take over the world! um, saving the world!

However, I feel it is best for us both if we part ways. My life is becoming too complicated, I have too much stuff, and we haven't talked in five years. I wish you all the best in your future endeavors and hope that you will find happiness with someone else.

Sincerely,
Kaelyn

Finishes on Friday

Yay for finishes!

I finished the first Loaner Garb item - this was really a pattern test for the garb I will be sending out to our Dark Tide Refugees.

I think it looks a bit like a basketball jersey but I was told that it is legal garb. Add a belt and it will be just fine. I might add little cap sleeves to the next one I make, to see how they look.

Finished five more Ragnarok XVIII Tropical Storm Survival Belt Flags...

I would have finished seven, but I had to order more thread. Oh well, that makes eight total done, only ten more to go.

My usual Friday Frog Update:

I really feel like I should name these little guys (there will be a third frog on the left). Any suggestions? What about Alvin, Simon, and Theodore? Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos?

The night is still young, maybe I'll get Jack's cloak finished tonight too! Linking up to Fiber Arts Friday and TGIFF.

Got Stuff Done *sort of*

So in between cooking dinner (chicken, cheesy taters, corn on the cob) and cookies (hey, I wanted cookies) I started this!

This is loaner garb - Dagorhir garb for people who haven't had a chance to get their own garb together yet. I'm going to try to make four of these by Saturday. I went to Salvation Army, picked up a couple bed sheets, and started sewing away (after a thorough washing of course). The other sheet is this pretty rust red with the most awesome trim that I am going to cut off and save for another project.

It is actually red and not pink. Bad lighting. I've also been chugging away at the Ragnarok XXVIII survival belt flags. I'm supposed to make 18 of these, but a lot of the people who should be getting them haven't shown up for anything in about a year, so I'm not sure I should waste my time.

And lastly, but not least, I started a new quilt.

I wasn't sure I'd made the right decision with the randomness of this but it is growing on me. Easy as pie, making random 4 inch finished blocks.

Plus, I have cookies.

Hope your week is going as well as mine!

A Lovely Year of Finishes/NewFO - May Edition

I've been slacking the last few months with ALYoF but I picked an easy one this month.

I want to quilt and bind Anemone.

For my NewFO, I also would like to cut up this stack of Kona cotton...

And make HST and QSTs for a solids quilts.

These plans may be derailed because of Ragnarok, but I guess we will see! In addition, just a week ago at the Dark Tides Dagorhir event, the campsite was hit with a flash flood and everyone there lost all their camping gear, Dagorhir garb, and weapons/shields/props. Anything they brought with them was destroyed. The Kingdom of Akron will be sending a care package out to help them replace lost equipment and I have volunteered to make basic tunics. Its going to be a busy month!