Thirteen Spools

Not bad progress for a night that I had to force myself to plug in the sewing machine... 

It wasn't progress on the quilt that I intended to make progress on last night, but it was sewing that didn't require any decision making and after about an hour of piecing spools I gave myself permission to get back to the knitting project that's kicking my butt.

Remember those Express Lane socks? The first pair didn't turn out because although the yarn and pattern are both great, they're not great together. (The new owner of the socks disagrees with me and I'm happy that she's happy with them.) The second pair is a better combination of pattern and yarn, but the yarn is splitty and there's a  spot where the gradient didn't do its thing (and I didn't catch on soon enough because of a weird long splice) and yesterday afternoon I made a HUGE mistake with the pattern on the cuff. As in, I didn't knit the first two repeats so that part is plain stockinette. Now I'm just trying to get them done so I can play with something else.

Knit Picks is having their Summer Yarn Sale and after sitting out the Big Yarn Sale at the end of last year, I've got a whole bunch of pretty new fingering weight headed my way. Along with two new pairs of dpns because even if no one does anything stupid, they don't last forever.

Spools

It's been a long time since I counted spools. Without a permanent design wall, it's a hassle to make the space and time to lay out this many little blocks. To get this picture, I had to put my cardboard cutting mat on the bed and stand on a chair.

 The total is at 161, out of the 400 I need. Unless I've got another stack of spools hiding somewhere. That would be a happy surprise!

This post is linked to Patchwork Times and Jo's Country Junction. 

Jo's Challenge

I didn't manage to get up to the sewing room and look for a bag of scraps that I hadn't already gone through for Scrappy Little Trips, but I spent enough time at the sewing machine to finish another forty spools. Even project hopping is progress, right?

119 Spools

While I was sorting fabrics for the nail polish quilt, I cut 1 1/2" strips of anything that looked like it would make good spools. It's working  out well. When I've got time to spend at the sewing machine, I cut the 3 1/2" and 1 1/2" pieces and get them assembled.

This post is linked to Design Wall Monday at  Patchwork Times.

86 Spool Blocks

I'm having fun with these blocks. They're easy to cut from 1 1/2" strips and quick to piece. I'm not loving all of my fabric choices, but I think once I get more fabrics mixed in it'll all work out.

If it doesn't, there's nothing that says I have to use all of the blocks I make!

This post is linked to Patchwork Times.

A New Project for the New Year

Quite a few years ago, I fell in love with a spool quilt and started setting aside fabrics for it. They were all tiny dots, or tiny things that were close to dots. I don't know why I never made more than four blocks.

Then, a few years later, Bonnie Hunter posted her Spoolin' Around Leader/Ender Challenge. I was still making Cheddar Bowties, but I pulled out my original spools. In my memory, they were a reasonable size, not these huge 6 1/2" blocks. I told myself that I needed to finish my bowties before I started playing with spools and tucked it back away.

But now that quilt is done and I'm ready to start some new projects. I'm so much happier with the 3 1/2" blocks I started making yesterday!

Just look at the difference between these blocks. If I'd finished the original quilt it would probably be in the back of a closet, because the more quilts I make, the tinier I like my pieces. Maybe I can find that bag with the original fabrics and add those to the mix, but I'm not gong to make myself crazy looking for them. 

This post is linked to Judy at Patchwork Times.