Gold and Gray Lap Quilt
When I dropped off this month's installment of fabric donations to the Charity Quilts Lady [Lynn Mozingo] she showed me 2 quilts she had made from my mom's stash. I'm so glad she is making use of this fabric -- more than I could get through in my lifetime!
These are both destined for patients and families at the Mercy ICU in Oshkosh. ;-)
Remember those socks I made for my dad last summer? He liked them, but he had a hard time getting them over his ankles. Although they fit perfectly when they were on, he had a hard time getting them on and off. ;-(
So I decided it would be better if I unraveled those socks and made him a hat instead-- My father agreed.
The yarn was good and kinked when it unraveled. I could have treated it to un-kink it, but I also wanted to see what kind of hat it would make with the boucle-ed yarn.
Here it is in the yarn bowl, feeding into the knitting mill ...
Looking down into the center of the resulting tube on the knitting mill.
There is definitely more dimension to this yarn and this hat. The kinks add extra stretch and hopefully some extra pockets for warmth in the depths of winter.
This is wool yarn that I dyed myself, so I didn't want to just give up on it. I absolutely LOVE how this yarn came out!
Once again, here is the resulting hat.
The stripes in the yarn have a slightly different pattern with the kinks. I still love it!
Here's a detail shot of how the kinky yarn knitted up into the beanie hat.
I hope he likes it! If not, I'd be happy to keep this one!
[11/14/2021: He does like it!]
Just wanted to make this a separate post in case anyone is specifically looking for this kind of effect in a knitting milled hat.
Because I was making those socks for my Dad as we were taking care of my mom who lay dying, I also wanted to include this little video called Moving On, a nice little meditation on life and death. Transformations. Everything comes back around again in some other form ... unravels here, and reappears there ... Enjoy ...
This was a pattern and kit that I bought at Going to Pieces Quilt Shop in Appleton, WI, last year. I was enamored with some of the winter fabrics and bought extra for the Winter Blues [Starlight] Quilt. I fell in love with those silvery, frosty trees. So many good winter memories!
It's quilted with a simple 2-inch grid on the diagonal with the walking foot. This seems to be my go-to gitt'er done quilting design these days. I started with the red heart square and tried to make the diagonal lines highlight that one especially, so it would pop out. That seemed to work out well, though the quilting lines didn't quite line up right for some of the other squares.
I altered the pattern [and kit] slightly to add this single cranberry red square. The overall theme is chickadees -- which I absolutely love! But I was also thinking about my mom having died earlier in the year, which made me think of cardinals -- another one of my favorite winter birds in WI.
I've been attaching the quilt labels in one of the lower corners of the quilt, so that the seam lines mirror the binding and don't otherwise take away from the quilting on the front.
I used to always use Hobbs 80/20 batting, but since I started using wool bats, I feel the need to include that info on the label so I know how to launder / care for it in future.
Previous Posts on this Project:
Peace by Piece
I gave this little quitlie to my mom years ago ... She had it hanging on the wall above her sewing machine, always within view. It was a challenge piece for the quilt guild one year. I was interested in fabric manipulation, so I was experimenting with origami and folded fabric on this one. The poem and the blue-green fabric were requirements for the challenge.
If I recall, it was also one of the earliest pieces I did the background quilting on, too. ;-)
[PHOTO - Me and Ma with Piece by Peace]
The small wall hanging at the top is something I made for her when I started quilting, before this blog even. I was exploring textures and printing on fabric. She's had this on the wall over her sewing machine since they moved into the new house. I don't remember seeing the pictures of us together when I gave it to her though ...
This time, the big task was to tackle my mom's vast thread collection. She had a lot for of cotton for regular quilting, but even more for embroidery. and also a bunch of polyester threads for clothing. And then the bobbins -- different ones for the Brother and the Viking respectively.
Last time, I tossed the 3-drawer chest of Madiera embroidery thread, but it was all still sitting there. It was rotten, and breaks if you just look at it. Beautiful, but a nightmare to work with. It's too bad -- I remember when we bought those sets. I also remember my utter frustration trying to work with it after it had aged a bit, until I realized the thread was just rotten, and couldn't handle the normal tension of sewing through a machine.
I usually only use cream, white, gray, or black cotton for piecing quilt blocks. This is always on the back (or inside the quilt), and never seen from the from the front side. But my mom, was quite the shopper -- She has thread in every color imaginable ... in cotton and Rayon (gone now) and Polyester ...
I saved the multicolor threads, because I use those in quilting the sandwiches. I also saved some of the neutrals -- just to have some basic supplies up there when I visit. Although my sister's bright idea is to transform the sewing room into a guest room, we'll keep a practical sewing corner, since that is the spirit my mom imbued into the space.
I haven't touched the Anniston-Robeson embroidery thread. Those will go with the sewing machines -- Those threads are still good yet -- strong and lustrous.
Next time I'll tackle batting and possibly the scraps -- 3 bins of scraps. Sheesh! I know I'm making progress, but there's still a lot to work through ... Inch by inch and bit by bit.
More bins of fabric to the Charity Quilters of Oshkosh this week. And lots of patterns -- many of which my mom actually made and gave away.
I know I should say something philosophical here about the threads of life, but I'm too mired in the actual stuff and dispersing it all to go that route right now.
Remember those red socks I made my Dad a year ago? They fit so well, he had a hard time getting them on and off his feet. So he asked me to make him a hat instead. That I can do ...
I thought this would be a perfect job for the circular knitting machine I bought a while back ... so I watched a few You Tube videos, and figured out how to do it ...
How to Knit a Hat Using a Knitting Machine
Shenandoah Hat Addi Knitting Machine Tutorial
Making a Hat on the Addi Express King Knitting Machine
Making a Hat in Less than 30 Minutes on the Addi Express Knitting Machine
Here's the knitted tube before it is transformed into a hat!
The ball of yarn. I love this blue -- But I don't remember what yarn this is anymore.
... and in about 35 minutes, I was able to churn out a cute little knit hat--after work, waiting for supper last night. I used an app on my iPhone for the counter (I use it when running warp strings). It was fun, and it looks great! Trouble is: It's sized for a kid. The knitting mill I have only has 40 needles / hooks. So if I want to make hats sized for adults, I'd need a larger knitting machine.
So what to do? There are some cheaper Sentro (toy) versions out there and then there's the Addi King which is a bit expensive, but built to last.
So I made a list -- Ben Franklin-style to help me decide what to do:
The Final Decision
In the end, I opted for the cheaper Sentro Knitting Machine. It should be here in 5 days. It gets decent ratings for the lesser quality. I am not planning to make hundreds of hats -- just a few. Enough to keep me entertained, and use up some yarn. It will hopefully meet my needs--for now. We shall see if I made the right choice.
Holly's Memorial Christmas Quilt
This has been a good year for finishes!
This is the Christmas Quilt I made last summer after my mom died. She was born on Christmas Day, so Christmases were always merry and bright, until she got sick ... I never really did much to decorate my house at Christmas because my mom always did enough for everyone! Now, I feel like I've got to do something to recognize the season and remember her.
When it came to quilting this one, I considered using a holly and Christmas ornament motif, but realized it wouldn't really show up on this "wild" Christmas quilt. Some quilts are more in the mode of "Getter done" where I opt for a quick quilting treatment -- like this 2-inch grid.
I used this green variegated thread for the quilting. It blends nicely with the riot of colors and patterns in the middle. And still looks nice on the creamy border, too.
The batting is wool (which has been my go-to lately). I figure this is a Christmas quilt when weather will be colder, so it's only fitting to have a wool quilt on the back of the couch for when you need it in winter. I am really happy with the puffiness of this quilt. It was not hard to handle quilting either. Very nice batt!
Here's the label, hand written. I've started sewing them into the corners so they are easier to find.
The backing fabric has holly and cardinals. Some say that loved ones peak through cardinals ... I'll go along with that, since we have a pair in our neighborhood / yard.
This is the Double Slice Layer Cake pattern with Christmas fabrics. In the video above, Jenny Doan at Missouri Quilts demonstrates.
Here the previous post about this quilt:
Holly Matucheski
1950 - 2020
