Category: quilting

My first quilt

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Is this Thursday, already? Oh, wonderful, it means tomorrow is Making Friday (Skinny Laminx style). I have been dedicating it to my first quilt, and outstanding goal for 2011.

The top is sewn, so are the two back pieces, and the sandwich is made. Quilting is in progress, but being a beginner quilter, I prefer to take it easy and go slowly.

There were some challenges concerning the alignment (or lack thereof) – I realize, being a first-time quilter, I didn´t make my life any easier by choosing a pattern with two directions of alignment (horizontal and vertical).

Still, with all its quirks, this is a quilt I´m proud of, most specially for being my first one, yes, but also because it makes me happy to look at it, its colours and the way front and back match.

I´ll show again once finished, can´t wait!

Quilt top

Quilt top

The back

My crafty new year resolutions

One of the things I hate the most is the feeling of not having time to do something and having to postpone it. So this year I decided to get on with my crafty objectives as soon as possible, as if the year were about to end in a couple of months.

Without further ado, I present you two of my crafty resolutions for 2010:

1. Knitting with more than one yarn (and colour).

Yay! My first swatch with stranding!

Yay! My first swatch with stranding - reverse view.

This was long overdue. It was actually a 2009 goal but knitting projects came and went and I didn´t have the chance to fit this one in. Also, I knit portuguese style (yarn goes around my neck for tension) and thought that it could only mean: huge mess. Well, it isn´t. I think it is even easier than to use both english and continental styles at the same time and I can say that while knitting this swatch I almost got the same speed as if I were knitting with one yarn only. I need to add here, though, that I´m not a speedy knitter nor pay much attention to speed when it comes to knitting; it is only to illustrate how not messy it is.

I´m going to knit a dress to my older niece (so that it will fit my younger niece in a couple of years!) with a decorated yoke. I researched a bit for knitting techniques and decoration design but the pattern is basically a combination of different sources.

This is my Ravelympics project and it is ravelled here. More photos available here.

2. Learning to quilt.

Learning to quilt

Learning to quilt

I am a quilting beginner, so I welcome any suggestions or links to useful resources you may know of. I read as much information as I can find on the web and I watch lots of youtube videos. So far, I´m loving it. I started with some fabrics I had at home (used on abbrigate* packaging) but am now hungry for more. I still don´t know what I´m going to do with this small project but I think I want to finish it and it may serve as… I don´t know, a doll quilt? For one of my beautiful nieces? Hmm? We´ll see.

For more photos of this project, click here.

Well, we´re still in January, so there´s plenty of time for new and improved crafty goals for 2010, right? Coming soon, my entrepreneurial goals, though this is a far more complicated topic!