this and that

Just a quickie today. A few pictures to share:

I was quilting @ Trains in Tacoma.

1st - the Kaffe quilt...I'm really getting hooked on this fabric, thanks to my friend Amber.

2nd, the star quilt from Shibori - I love how this turned out. (with pink John Deere Backing - is that a hoot?!?)

my instructor for the day:

Barb Frazier (who's also our featured artist at our quilt show in May).

and last but not least - our guild's Block of the Month - won by my friend who gave them to me as she knew how I lusted for these blocks. Can hardly wait to piece them together!

A Mixed Bag

I finished the latest KAL from Skacell - but I can't enter. I didn't use the chosen yarn - It was a self striping in brightish colors that just didn't strike a chord with me - BUT - I had some Fortissima that I had dyed with Kool-aid. I put it in the dye still in the skein so that the outside would be darker than the inside. It worked!

I knit the socks so the darker color was at the top fading to the lighter - I should have made the leg longer and the color change would have been more dramatic. I wasn't crazy about this sock pattern in stripes, but I really like it in this yarn. It has a nice lacy look. And it had a garter stitch short row heel that I think is my new favorite heel. Very easy to do, nice effect on the sock and very cushy on the foot. Check out the web site for the KAL.

Right now I'm modifying her 2nd KAL pattern. It was for mitts and the ribbing was twisted and the stitches were twisted. So I'm trying it in toe-up socks. I'm only a few inches in and I really like the effect. I'll post pictures in a day or two.

The other thing I wanted to share today is our Guild's Block of the Month for April. Amber W designed it and it is going to be a very dramatic quilt!

She's designed it so you can make 5 blocks at a time - bright soilds with black. I REALLY want to win this one. I can't imagine all the different colors that people will chose. With black sashing, this will be amazing. I'm probably going to make one of my own - but not till I see if I win the drawing at Guild next month. I never win the Lotto, maybe I can win this!

Tomorrow I'm off to spend the day quilting at Trains, so sometime next week I'll have some finished quilts to share. The Kaffe from my last post is going to be the first quilted...still have to decide on what color binding. So wait and see.