current things going on

Hey,
I'm in Utah for Thanksgiving and such...
Brought some knitting with me,
and I have been working on it...
(the socks I started for myself.)
I have also been working on something
my grand-daughter said she was wanting.
I also like shopping at the Deseret Industries Thrift Store
while I am here in Utah,
and I found a large bunch of yarn (12 skeins)
at 50cents a skein.
It's Lion's brand "Wool Ease"
but again I don't want to state the color
or the project I've started with it...
Both things above mentioned
excluding the socks
will be Christmas gifts
so hope you understand the reluctance to go into details.
I will list the details
including yarns, colors,
patterns, and such after Christmas.

Meanwhile,
the other day we drove up the
canyon where the Timpanogos Caves are located,
(they're closed for the season),
the drive was nice -a bit cold-
but the scenery was lovely...
going to spend the day today with my daughter.
We'll be going to the Southe Town Mall in Draper/Sandy
for the free Christmas concert.
Sponsered by FM100.3 lite.
It's most tues & thurs till Christmas
and features local artists.

Wed. night my husband and I are going
to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra
in downtown SLC, at the Energy Solutions Center
(The home of the Utah Jazz)
If you've never been to Salt Lake City,
winter is a great time to see it.
Bundle up and head down town,
Temple Square is lit up beautifully,
with thousands of Christmas lights,
nativity scenes...
The lights are delightful,
and great restaurants abound.

this week

sorry this is a short blog this week,
I just wanted to post some pictures.

I did work on a few things this week,
but they are items I have already mentioned in previous blogs.
I did finish the knitted scarf using the Debbie Mumm yarn.
And I did start a pair of socks using a lace pattern
from the book "Knit Socks" by Betsy Lee McCarthy
I have only tried a lace pattern once before
in a knitted dish cloth.
By the way,
Dish cloths are a good way to try out new knit patterns...
They're small, fast, and it doesn't matter if they're not perfect.
But if it matters to you-
well, they're small and quick.

I found some older quilts I had made and wanted to post them.
I also took a photo of the quilt my grand-daughter is making.

She'll be 8 in december...
She chose the colors and placement,
She sewed all of the blocks together,
and she sewd the borders on the quilt.
As I mentioned before-
She did the blocks in a four-patch style,
then layed out the four-patch blocks till
she was happy with the look.
I really didn't do a whole lot other than
give her pointers on how to do the sewing.
At almost 8, one is pretty fearless with trying new things.
At least this one is,
but then she's one who wants to go on all the big
roller coasters at the amusement park,
and laughs in the caverns when they turn out all the lights.
(And her cousins are screaming to turn them back on)
I am leaving out her name and photo
for privacy reasons...
(Can you tell that I'm a very proud grandma.)

that's about it this week-
the photo's are labeled with what they are.

So...
I have been playing with my 4inch squares.
I cut them with leftover pieces-
that don't fit in with my measured stacks.
I keep my quilting stash in six measured groups...
a. one yard pieces
b. fat quarters
c. large pieces for backing/borders, etc.
d. pieces for children's quilts
e. 4inch squares
f. bits and pieces (pieces for string quilt, bits for applique)

I cut all the pieces that don't fit into the other categories,
into the 4inch squares.
Sometimes I come across a piece that is u-u-ugly...
A "What was I thinking" piece.
That I cut up,
sometimes they aren't that bad when put in small pieces with other things.
Then I lay them out on the table in rows by color ways
and I randomly choose 100 different squares-
and package them up.
Then sell them on ebay,
or gift them to another quilter.
Whatever...
It's a lot of work,
but kind of fun,
and a way to reduce the stash a bit.
I have way more than can ever be used.

The fabric with the children's prints,
I eventually plan to use for charity work,
Such as "Project Linus,"
or something similar.

Meanwhile this week...
My grand-daughter was allowed to pick out some of the 4inch squares,
and she has gotten them all sewn together.
We used matching squares to do some simple 4-patch blocks.
It will be a quilt for snuggling in front of the tv
or napping, or whatever.
It's not quite twin sized,
but larger than crib sized.
She's got the squares all sewn together,
and now we need to add borders
and put it together with a back and batting.
She wanted to learn to sew...
so she is learning to sew.
I will post a photo of the finished quilt.
Her deadline is dec 7...
It's her day for sharing at school.

I did get some more work on that batik strips quilt,
have more to do...
got side treacked by the grand-daughter.
But I can't think of a more delightful way to be sidetracked.
Don't we want to encourage another generation of quilters?

I did get some more knitting done on my scarf
using the Debbie Mum Yarn.
I can work on that while watching a movie in the evenings.