Sweet as Honey Slouch Hat

I love how this hat fits!  The pattern is "As Sweet as Honey" by Flora Cheung.  The yarn is Rico Design Creative Melange Chunky.

The hat doesn't look like much when laying flat.

Not sure yet whether I will keep this one or gift it to someone.

Progress Note: T-shirt Quilt Top Finished

I have finished piecing Madi's T-shirt quilt top.  It has been mailed to the machine quilter.  The top size is approx 89 in X 99 in.  The quilted size will be smaller but will still be a good full/queen size quilt.

The border uses squares/rectangle with graphics that were not enough to create a full row.

Progress Note: T-Shirt Quilt

I've gotten 5 of the six rows done and sewn together.  I still have one more row to complete and sew on.  Then after doing the border I'll either ship it off to be machine quilted or give the top to my sister (her choice). I'm still uncertain what the finished size will be.  My guess is between a full and queen size.

Here's a closer view of a block I made using four smaller print areas from T-shirts rather than cut a larger block from each with lots of blank space.

Madi's T-Shirt Quilt -- Work in Progress

My sister saved many T-shirts for her daughter over the years.  This past fall I was given them to make a quilt.  Actually, I will only be doing the quilt top and later the binding.  I am not comfortable physically quilting bed size quilts on my sewing machine.  I have a home Janome, not a long-arm quilting machine.  So I will pay someone else do the machine quilting for this one.

The main thing in using T-shirts for the fabric in quilt tops is to be sure to stabilize the T-shirt material.  The easiest way is a fusible stabilizer. I tend to cut widely around the T-shirt design I want to feature.  I then iron on the fusible stabilizer before I cut the square or block shape desired.  I then played with the layout of the blocks.  As my blocks were not all the same size, I created a sketch and calculated how strips would need to be added so each row was the same length and each block within the same row was the same height.

Don't you love the block above with the three girls which states "cause you're there for me too!"?  And below the one with the Eskimo and his dog?

My niece's high schools colors were blue and white.  Her college colors were purple and gray.  I chose to use the purple and gray.  Purple fabrics are being used to even up the block size.  Gray fabric is being used for the sashing between the blocks.

My niece played softball and soccer.  She recently graduated from college with a BS in chemistry.

My niece has a very nice sense of humor.

Easy Elegance Mitts

These photos don't do justice to these lovely mitts.  The yarn is a much deeper, richer red.  I took several photos but couldn't seem to capture the color.  The pattern is Easy Elegance Mitts by Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer.  I altered it and added the thumb gusset and thumb.  The original pattern only has a thumb slit.  I bought a supply kit from HeartStrings which included red Mohair/Wool yarn (Heirloom Aristocrat 12 ply) with garnet glass beads.

This photos is an attempt to show the beads in the cuff area.