Q as in Quilt

I am projecting again. First off, I took a quilting class at JoAnn's yesterday and I am hooked. It was awesome. I began making my first quilt, a basket-weave pattern. Here are all of the fabric strips sewn together. The next steps are to create the pattern, sew on each of the borders (there will be 3), put on the backing and batting, and then snuggle with it. I love the colors and I am so excited to see the finished product.Today we went to the Coventry Farmer's Market (the highlight of my week) and they were having a fiber festival. This is when people from all over, who make their own yarn, come and sell it. It was amazing. There were so many beautiful things to choose from and I finally settled on this verigated yarn. It is going to make a great scarf. I learned so many neat things from knitters who are more experienced than I could ever hope to be. The extent of my abilities are scarfs and hats.

Well, I hope that everyone is having a wonderful weekend. I am off to start my new scarf!

Coming Apart at the Seams

Before our big move my Grandma surprised me with one of the most thoughtful gifts. A sewing machine. I have been trying to teach myself how to use it without patterns...and on smaller things this has been fine...but today I had to un-seam my very first project. It was sad; heartbreaking really. I would have just thrown it away (in my frustration) but I wanted to keep the fabric and try something different.

Here is what is left of your birthday present, La :) But don't worry. Something much cuter will be coming your way. This just goes to show that, in life, sometimes we would all do well to follow a pattern. As one of my professors puts it "Don't re-invent the wheel." Until I get a little bit more experience under my belt I think I am going to be a little less proud about taking help from patterns.