WIP's

Works in progress. I always have so many of these. Not very many personal ones...always lots of NIN ones. That's one reason I joined the sock knitting group....I need to work on stuff for me every now and then.

Personal WIP's currently include:

The socks. Finished one that fits really well, started the other last Saturday.

The quilt. Started this about two months ago now...it will hang over my cedar chest in the master bedroom. The fabrics are gorgeous IRL. Just need to finish the inner and outer borders and then get it quilted. I've machine quilted via NIN and I've discovered a) I don't really like to do it and b) I'm not that good at it.

The backpack. Finished this last summer except for the closure. Haven't totally decided what type to do. Will probably involve a decorative felted flower over the closure done in yarn remnants from this project. I have the flower pattern...and it won't take me much more than a night to knit up the pieces. Just need to make a decision and do it.

NIN WIP's. The demand for baby items at Parkland is never-ending. They deliver some 40 babies a day there, 80% below the poverty level.

The teddy bear: Started this guy last night after an internet search at midnight for a pattern. Hope to find a pattern I like so that I can whip out some of these for the Christmas bags this year.

The baby hat du jour:

The quilt tops: I have quite a collection of NIN fabrics to turn around into quilts. Got serious last Thursday night and did the tops folded up here...still have more fabric all over to piece. I usually take the bigger prints and odd pieces that won't work as 4.5" squares and piece them big enough to make a 36x42 quilt kit out of.

Quilt kits: These need to be stitched around, turned right side out, Steam-a-seamed, and finished by either stitching in the ditch and then around the edge or stitching around the edge and then tying (my preferred method, as I don't like the actual quilting process and I can tie while watching TV with Corey in the living room). Most of our prints get cut into 4.5" squares and sewn into 9x11 square quilt tops by volunteers. We match them to whole-cloth backs, layer them on batting, cut all the way around, pin, and send them back out to volunteers to finish. These were left over at the monthly meeting a month or so ago and I brought them home but haven't touched them since. :(

Double flannels: This is what I work on every Thursday at my sewing meetings. I've torn, sewn, and cut more flannel in the last 8 months than I ever thought I'd see in one lifetime. We tear big bolts of flannel into 36x36 receiving blankets and save the long strips of fabric off one end. Then we cut them into 42" lengths, iron and match them in sets, and piece those into two sides, about 36x42. We layer two sides face to face, cut them square, pin, sew around the edge, turn inside out, iron with a ham, seal with Steam-a-seam, stitch in the ditch, and finally stitch around the edge to finish. This stack of 20 or so is ready to be turned right side out and ironed with a ham, my least favorite part of the process, as the ham is a pain, but if you don't use it, the edges look shoddy. We try to do quality work and make these things as nice as possible.

Flannel quilt: My friend Linda with NIN (who leads the Thursday meetings which usually consist of her, me, and Eloise the Ironer) takes the scraps from the double flannels and makes flannel quilt tops, which we layer and finish like double flannels or sometimes we add in flannel batting and make a quilt sandwich. I've started the stitching in the ditch on this guy and just need to wrap it up. Cute, isn't it? It will make some baby a warm, snugly blanket and play area.

And finally, human WIP's: the nieces and nephews from last weekend (my side of the family). John Robert holding Abigail, Sara, Hannah, Rachel, and Peter, who had to be threatened to within and inch of his life by his mama to sit for this, the now traditional "Grandchildren on the Fireplace" photo.