Unraveled Wednesday: Summer Launch

May 27, 2026 Vicki7 Comments

I had a wonderfully long weekend with just the right amount of busy-ness, socializing, and rest.

A woman and two young girls lying in bed, smiling and posing for a selfie among pillows.

Taking a quick nap w/the girls… though I’m the only one who actually napped.

The weather was pretty great, too.

Close-up of a s'more featuring a broken piece of Hershey's chocolate and graham crackers, with a blurred background.

Ann, Brian & Addie came up for a quick visit Sunday-Monday, Ali & fam were in/out a few times, we made some yummy food, and had fun making s’mores.

I’m joining Kat & the Unravelers for Unraveled Wednesday!

KNITTING:

I’m closing in on the back of Farfalle!

A knitted fabric in brown with colorful geometric patterns, laid out on a table.

I’m continuing the motif all the way up the back, though the designer has that stopping at some point and continuing with just the mosaic garter stitch. I have plenty of the Noro yarn… and I like how it looks. Two fronts shall soon(-ish) commence!

READING:

John of John for as long as I can keep my eyes open every night. I think I’m also going to start listening to it.

QUILTING:

I found some clear stacking drawer units & spent some time folding & organizing my fabric stash. I really need to see things, so this works for me!

Stacked clear storage boxes containing various colorful fabric pieces organized by pattern and color.

A clear storage container filled with neatly folded pieces of colorful fabric, displaying various patterns including polka dots, stripes, and floral designs.

The two drawers on top are all fat quarters, with just a few fat eighths & a couple of larger cuts. The middle drawer (with all the dots lined up on the left) is all Kaffe Fassett/Collective, and the top drawer is everything else I’ve collected over the years. There’s an old Craftsy kit occupying the bottom drawer right now (including a jelly roll & a thread collection), but that will likely find another spot as I think all my larger cuts of fabric (mostly Kaffe) will get folded & stored in there. I’m trying to make some room for actual sewing!!

I got together last night with The Tuesday Quilters — everyone in last winter’s sampler class has been itching to get together & work on a new project! I know, I know… there’s still a long way to go on my original project, but I’m really glad I went! One of the women in the group was 2.5 weeks out from hip replacement & doing great — using a cane, off of the hard drugs & even driving. It really made me feel good to see that.

We chose a project, will meet once a month instead of weekly (so it’ll be a little less hectic), and we’ll learn a few new things (hello, curves & strip piecing). Though I love & am tempted by all the colorful fabrics in that middle drawer, I think I might swing the other way for the new project… all those black & white fabrics, perhaps with a bit of red. And I’ll probably stick to “throw” size rather than going off the deep end again. haha.

Quilting

Weekending

April 6, 2026April 8, 2026 Vicki6 Comments

I was looking forward to my credit union stop on the way home from work on Friday because there was a chance that I’d see and sandhill crane or two… there was a pair hanging out in an open area next to the parking lot/drive-thru last year, and they’re back!

A solitary sandhill crane standing on one leg near a still water body, surrounded by green grass.

I was so excited when I spotted one… then two…

Three cranes standing near a small pond on grassy land.

…then THREE!!!! I’m willing to bet that they’re a family.

Rusty & I drove over to Wausau on Friday afternoon because he had a piece in a show that was opening at the Center for the Visual Arts. There was also an exhibit of student work from the Wausau School District… and oh, my.

A colorful paper collage depicting a black vase with three yellow flowers, set against a purple background and a brown surface.

The first piece I saw was “Sunflower Inspired by Vincent Van Gogh,” by Nellie B. — a kindergartener!!

A colorful childlike drawing depicting a whimsical character with a triangular hat, expressive eyes, and a patterned body, set against an orange background.

This was also done by a kindergartener, Sidney S., and called “Picasso Inspired Dog.” I love it so much!!

A colorful children's drawing depicting a garden with various vegetables, including carrots and beetroots, under a blue sky with clouds and raindrops.

They’ve got quite a crop of kindergarten artists over there, because this is another! “In the Garden” by Scout C.

The exhibit was so nicely done — every piece was framed & each had a tag. The lighting wasn’t that great, but it is what it is.

A colorful, three-dimensional star with various patterns, placed on a translucent background featuring handwritten text about being a star and the qualities that make the author feel like one.

I cropped this one close because the light reflection was awful… but I sure love this! “Star Me,” by Makayla C, who is a fourth-grader.

We stayed overnight in Wausau because there’s no way I was driving for two hours, hanging out for two or three, and then driving two hours home all in an afternoon/evening. I guess you could call it a #whirlwindarttripwithrusty! The hotel was packed with kids & a few dogs, many people there because they still didn’t have electricity at their homes due to an ice storm the day before. We had some of that, too, and I had to wear Yaktrax to get to my car! Anyway, there was another ice storm predicted for Friday night and indeed there was. My car was crusted over! We were able to navigate the parking lot & the roads were fine, but everything else was coated, and there were a lot of broken tree branches.

It was nice to get home by noon on Saturday — I had most of the weekend ahead of me! I went out to High Cliff State Park to walk with Katie & Kai, I worked on taxes, did some laundry, puttered…

Book cover of 'Knit the City: Building Blocks' by Jake Henzler, featuring a colorful knitted pattern resembling city buildings.

…and opened the mail! I was a winner in Colossal’s recent Knit The City giveaway! Jake Henzler’s designs came across my radar a while ago because of their similarity to the Safe At Home blanket that I made a few years ago. It’s a lovely book & there are so many possibilities because the patterns are all “building blocks,” just like it says. I have a cushion or two in mind!

On Sunday, I finished up taxes and took the rest of the day to play.

A colorful quilt featuring a patchwork design with various patterns, including florals, dots, and geometric shapes, arranged in a grid format against a dark purple background.

I sewed the last three rows of squares & sashing together, then laid it all out on the floor to make sure I liked what I was thinking of for the cornerstones before getting too deep in that. I only had enough of three colors of the “dotty” fabric & wasn’t sure that would be enough variety… but I think it’s perfect. The other “dotty” color I used in the blocks was a bit more vibrant than these three, and I like how subdued they are… if “subdued” can even be used to describe any part this quilt. haha. So, I’ll be sewing together those rectangle-and-square rows, then sewing the whole darn thing together.

I started knitting the second sleeve of Farfalle, too, but I made the same mistake starting this one as I did the first, so will be ripping & having another go. Thankfully, I’m not too far along, and I finally understand the stitch pattern, so it’s going a little quicker overall.

See ya Wednesday!

Quilting · Weekending

More blizzard weekend shenanigans

March 19, 2026 Vicki7 Comments

I can’t believe I didn’t share recital photos!

A smiling young girl in a light blue dress holding a red rose, surrounded by blurred figures in a busy setting.

Two smiling girls in formal dresses, one wearing a light blue outfit and holding a rose, and the other in a beige dress, standing together indoors.

They were in the same class & they did really great! It seemed like their group was one of the better prepared (i.e., confidently knew their dance moves).

Ginny was a little iffy that morning, having fallen asleep in a funny position the night before & suffering a very sore/stiff neck. She was using my flax seed heat wrap (purchased at My First Rhinebeck) and it ended up on her head…

A young girl wearing a stylish head wrap and a black sequined top, sitting and looking thoughtfully at the camera.

A young girl wearing a black shirt and a large fabric headband laughs joyfully while sitting indoors, with a phone held up in the foreground capturing the moment.

…which was totally giving Girl with a Pearl Earring vibes, especially since she just happened to be wearing pearl earrings! Ann was trying to direct the pose & the wrap kept slipping off her head… resulting in some pretty good pics.

A hand placing a candle on a birthday cake decorated with green icing and colorful sprinkles, featuring the text 'Happy Birthday' and the numbers 5, 1, 8, 2, and 4.

And the birthday cake! We decorated it with all the number candles (that just happened to be green!), and a few random other ones. It was so good. There were four pieces left & I sent them home with the kids — cake for breakfast (if it even lasted that long).

A snowy landscape featuring several chairs buried under thick snow, surrounded by trees in a winter setting.

And the snow! This was Monday morning… there wasn’t a spec of snow back there on Saturday. I thought those chairs looked pretty comical with their big “snow cushions.”

Colorful quilt blocks arranged on a cutting mat, featuring various patterns and vibrant colors, including floral designs and polka dots.

A variety of colorful fabric swatches arranged on a cutting table, featuring patches in different patterns and textures, with a roll of striped fabric from the Kaffe Fassett Collective.

Not related to the blizzard, other than that I did a little sewing over the weekend, I stopped at the quilt shop last night. We looked at quite a few fabrics with the sashing in mind — pinks, purples, even a yellow — my two faves were a grungy dark blue/black & a grungy purple. I ended up going with the purple — I think it ties them together better. I’m going to get it all put together with sashing & cornerstones before I make a final decision on borders — but that stripe is definitely in the running. Before I start anything, though, I have to trim up all 20 blocks so they’re consistently sized/squared!

Quilting · Unraveled Wednesday / Knit & Read

Unraveled Wednesday

March 11, 2026March 11, 2026 Vicki8 Comments

I’m joining Kat & the Unravelers for Unraveled Wednesday!

KNITTING:

My knitting time has been limited, but I have been plugging away on my Farfalle Cardigan! Unfortunately, with the changing of the clocks, I didn’t have an opportunity for a picture in daylight. I’m just about to the third increase on the first sleeve, and then it’s straight mosaic garter stitch until I reach the specified measurement. I’d be a bit further if I hadn’t sailed right past the second increase… I had to rip out & redo about a half-dozen rows. Così è la vita!

QUILTING:

The quilting has been a bit slower, too, but somehow I’m only one block away from the required number. Here are the latest two:

A patchwork quilt featuring bright, colorful patterns, including polka dots and circles in various sizes and colors.

This is a block I found online called Sunset Trail (the sample looks more like a sunset).

A colorful patchwork quilt square featuring various geometric patterns and vibrant colors, framed with a purple and blue polka dot border.

This is the one I showed last week as a concept of a block. It’s made from all of the corners that I cut off (and saved) while making previous blocks. I sewed the cut-off triangles together to make half square triangles & then arranged them in a way that I liked (it reminds me of the Economy block). The squares are small, so I had to do some math to add a border to make the finished block the correct size… and I did it wrong, so there are two borders. Quilter’s Math is different than Knitter’s Math, but my biggest mistake was thinking I could do it all in my head!

The last block will also be made up of half-square triangles — some of these & some others — I’m using scraps! I sewed & pressed a bunch of them at class last night, now I need to trim them. I’m sure I have enough for three blocks… choices, choices! Most everyone else in class had their quilt tops assembled with sashing & cornerstones, and were working on the border — it was so fun to see them all coming together! Soon… I’ll be there soon!!

READING:

No change… (bedtime pages): No Time on My Hands by Grace Snyder. I think I’m at the point in the book when she really starts getting into quilting… she just got a sewing machine!

Quilting · Uncategorized · Unraveled Wednesday / Knit & Read

Unraveled Wednesday: Sophie

March 4, 2026March 4, 2026 Vicki10 Comments

I’m joining Kat & the Unravelers for Unraveled Wednesday!

KNITTING:

Don’t faint!

A colorful knitted item resembling a coiled cone, resting on a wooden surface with a window in the background.

A close-up of a colorful, hand-spun yarn roll resting on a wooden surface.

Ravelry Project Page: I haven’t made one yet
Pattern: Sophie Scarf by PetiteKnit
Yarn: Ewetopia Pashm, Tapestry colorway
Size: Large
Needle: US 4
Start to Finish: February 6-ish to February 27, 2026

And, as promised, I’ve also resumed kitting on my Farfalle Cardigan… it took me a minute to figure out what my notes, scratches & numbers meant, but I’m back on track (and those notes will be helpful going forward). I’m just about to begin the third repeat on the first sleeve, so it’s slow going but, hey, I’m not in a race with anyone (it’ll be nice to have a finished sleeve though)!

QUILTING:

Oh man…

A grid of twelve colorful quilt blocks arranged on a wooden floor, featuring various patterns and designs in vibrant colors.

A colorful display of various fabric quilt blocks arranged in a grid pattern on a wooden floor.

I had to do some laundry at Ann’s the other day. I took all my quilting stuff so I could lay it out on that large, unobstructed expanse of floor she has over there. On the left, 12 finished quilt blocks, per the pattern. On the right, 13 finished quilt blocks + some ideas for combos for the others I’ll need to make it big… really big! I want it to not only cover my bed, but have a good drop, so I’m probably going to do a double border & I’m considering doubling or even tripling the sashing, too. It’ll take a lot of playing around to figure it out.

But, first, I need to finish all these blocks. I’ve lost count, but these were finished yesterday/last night.

A colorful patchwork quilt square featuring vibrant floral patterns in pink, purple, and teal hues.

A patchwork design featuring colorful fabric squares with a variety of patterns, including circles, dots, and a central blue and purple pansy flower on a pink background.

The one on the left is one of my new favorites… which makes up for the one on the right, which is my new least favorite. It’s been suggested that the last favorite block be positioned in the lower left corner — mostly in terms of a wall hanging, I’m guessing — but that would be my side of the bed… so whichever one is in least favor when it comes time to put it all together, it’ll go on the lower right. heh.

I spent some time the other day trimming all of the half square triangle blocks that I made using the cut off parts from previous blocks.