Another Twice As Nice Pouch

 Hi all -

I hope you are doing well! Things are good here. We got a couple of inches of snow last night. It sure looks pretty! We're not expecting any more until possibly Friday, but maybe this is the start of some good precipitation! I can only hope!

Yesterday I made another Twice As Nice Pouch designed by Aneela Hoey. I've got a Tula Pink English Paper Piecing (EPP) kit that I got a couple of years ago at one of the local quilt shop's going out of business sale and I want to take it to my sister's house to leave there to work on when I'm visiting. So I need to put together my supplies (needles, thread, scissors, magnets, etc) in a bag to keep with the kit. And I love the Twice As Nice Pouch for this.

Twice As Nice Pouch

Twice As Nice Pouch - Inside

I really love the colors on this one! I can't stop looking at it! Now to gather my supplies.....

I also got my second panel pin basted for Angela Walters' Arcs, Curves & Points With Rulers Quilt Along (QAL). 

Angela Walters Panel - Pin Basted

This is the smaller panel with the borders from the larger panel added. I also have the larger panel all ready to go. The first video for the QAL is supposed to come out tomorrow. It was originally scheduled for last week, but Angela pushed everything back a week because they had such a large demand for the panels and she wanted to give people more time to receive their panels before starting. I'll try to keep up with this QAL, but we'll see how it goes. I'm easily distracted!!

I've continued to do a lot of knitting this week. I made a lot of progress on my Platy Shawl designed by Laura Nelkin.

Platy Shawl

Platy Shawl - Detail

The rounds are getting LONG, but it's still a fun knit. I'm really looking forward to getting to that yellow section of the yarn!

I also started a couple of new knitting projects. First, I started Thrumola designed by Laura Nelkin. 

Thrumola

This is a headband that has thrums over the ears to keep you warmer. Thrums are bits of wool roving that are woven into your knitting. They appear as V's on the right side of the knitting, but as wisps of wool on the inside.

Thrumola - Inside

As I wear the headband, the warmth and perspiration from my head will felt the roving, making nice, warm pockets custom made for my ears. I've been wanting to try thrumming for a long time now so I was really happy to get this kit from Laura. This is the January 2026 project in her Lola's Choice club. This kit has enough yarn and roving to make two or three of the headbands, so I'll have more in my future.

Finally, I also started a Lemme Hat designed by Laura Nelkin.

Lemme Hat

This is the hat version of the Lemme Cowl that I made last week. I also have red yarn to make another Lemme Cowl to go with this hat. I'll start that after I finish the hat.

Nancy

Bluegreen Lemme Cowl Finished

 Hi all -

I hope everyone is doing well! Things are good here. We had a little more snow, which is good. Just a couple of inches, but every bit helps.

This week I finished my Lemme Cowl designed by Laura Nelkin.

Lemme Cowl

This cowl has a nice shape. It is fitted, but the stitch pattern makes it really stretchy and comfortable. And the accent beads at the top are cute. It works up pretty quickly. I have some read yarn to make another cowl and a matching Lemme Hat that I hope to start soon.

I also started my Platy shawl also designed by Laura Nelkin.

Platy Shawl

This is a fun shawl that is knit from one skein of color-changing yarn. It starts in the middle with Judy's Magic Cast On, which is a really cool cast on for things like this because it is absolutely invisible! If you zoom in on the picture, you will not be able to see where I did the cast on. The pattern is fun because you use both ends of the skein to really play with the colors. The Platy stitch, which is a stitch that Laura came up with for this shawl, is a bit fiddly to do and I don't think all of my stitches are completely correct, but they are close enough to look good so I'm fine with that. I enjoy using different stitches and creating interesting textures in my knitting.

Finally, I finished piecing the backing for my second panel for Angela Walters' Arcs, Curves & Points With Rulers Quilt-Along (QAL).

Small Arcs, Curves & Points - Backing

It's a bit wild, but I used up all of the QAL fabric that I got. It'll be fun once it's finished. I still need to pin baste this one, but the QAL start date got pushed back to January 20 and I have the other panel to work on, too, so I'm all set. Angela said that the demand for the supplies was overwhelming so they decided to push back the start date to try to get everything to everybody before they start.You can join the QAL for free and just work with your own supplies, but I'm glad that she got this response for the supplies. She's a wonderful teacher!

Nancy

Arcs, Curves & Points With Rulers Preparation

 Hi all -

I hope everyone is doing well! Things are good here. The new year has started and we continue to have unseasonable warm, dry weather. We need to get some moisture, but it sure is pleasant!

This year I've decided to participate in Angela Walters' Arcs, Curves & Points With Rulers quilt along. To participate, you purchase one of the panels she designed for this quilt along and her rulers, and then she'll provide videos and handouts showing how to use the rulers to quilt the panels. (You can participate for free without the panels, but it would be difficult to come up with a quilt top that would provide appropriate spaces for the quilting designs. Or you could just decide to practice the quilt designs on throw-away quilt sandwiches. I like to have a finished project even when practicing.) I went ahead and purchased the entire package -- the large panel, border strips for the large panel, backing/binding fabric and the rulers. If you bought the large panel, you could also get the small panel for a discount, so I went ahead and got that, too. When I started putting everything together, I decided that I didn't want to put the borders on the large panel. I have to pin baste my quilts on my kitchen floor and the borders were going to make the top too large for me to pin baste it. So I just prepared the large panel without the borders.

Large Panel Pin Basted

Since I didn't use the borders on the large panel, I decided to put them on the small panel. Because the top and bottom borders have the printed design turning the corners, I had to cut out some of the middle of the borders to make them fit the small panel. It's noticeable if you look closely, but it isn't glaring.

Small Panel With Borders

Since I only purchased the backing/binding fabric for the large panel, I need to piece a backing for the small panel using some of my own fabrics. I want to use up as much of the quilt along fabric as possible, so I started by preparing the binding for both quilts so I knew I would have enough for the binding.

Prepared Binding

To get enough for both quilts, I had to prepare 550 inches of binding! I made it as one long strip to make the most efficient use of the fabric I could. With all of that done, I could start piecing the backing for the small panel. I thought the panel fabrics looked the most like my batiks, so I looked in my batiks for some fabrics that looked good with the blues and reds in the panel, Then, I just started sewing pieces together without much thought. I got as much of the backing pieced as I could before I had to stop for the Broncos game. (We are hopefully going to win home field advantage for the playoffs today!)

Small Panel Backing So Far

I have one more piece of the backing fabric (the light blue fabric that makes up most of the backing so far) to include, but the rest of the backing will probably be the dark blue fabric used for the small squares you see. I hope to get the backing for the small panel finished and the panel pin basted this week. The first video drops January 13. Since I have the large panel basted, I'm ready to follow along even if I don't get the small panel finished. A couple of ladies in my Englis Paper Piecing (EPP) group are also participating, although they both quilt on longarms while I'll be quilting on my domestic sewing machine.

This week also marked the start of Laura Nelkin's annual first quarter knit-along (KAL). For the first quarter of every year, Laura has a KAL where if you work on any of her patterns and you post pictures of your progress, you are put in a weekly drawing for a prize. I started this year's KAL by finishing my Boublay scarf designed, of course, by Laura Nelkin. 

Boublay

Boublay - Close-Up

Boublay is a simple boomerang scarf with large bobbles (she calls them Boublay stitches) on one side and the bottom border.  You can't see it in the picture, but the Boublay stitches on the bottom border have a beads on them. After the Broncos game, I'll decide which project to work on next.

Nancy

Room With A View

 Hi all -

It's hard to believe another year is almost over! Time sure does fly! 

This week I made a Room With A View bag designed by ByAnnie. Or maybe I should call it a container rather than a bag? It's a cube with a vinyl window on the front so you can see the contents.

Room With A View

It has handles on the sides and top, and a zippered mesh pocket on the inside.

Room With A View - Inside

I thought this would be a nice container for storing quilting projects. I made the largest size so it could store the supplies for a good sized quilt. The main fabric is a fun Tula Pink design that I thought would be fun for a bag.

Room With A View - Main Fabric

I quilted a wavy line in the dinosaur strips and a loopy design in the other area.

Room With A View - Quilting Designs

Because the two quilting designs go in opposite directions, after quilting the fabric was really distorted and bumpy. I'm sorry that I didn't get a picture of this! I was worried that I would have to throw away what I had done and start over again. But I ironed the fabric from both sides with a lot of steam and it flattened out really well. The construction of this bag is pretty straightforward, but the shape of the bag did make it difficult to get everything in the right position under the needle. This was especially true when sewing around the ends of the zipper, which were right next to the back corners of the lid. When sewing zippers on a bag, you generally have to zipper pull when sewing near it because there's not enough room for the zipper pull next to the sewing machine needle. For most bags, you can just leave the needle down in the fabric to hold the bag in place, raise the presser foot and then slide the zipper pull past the presser foot. With the corner next to the zipper ends, I had to instead pull the bag out from under the presser foot and cut the threads, then move the zipper pull. Then I could start sewing again at the point where I had stopped. That worked just fine, it just isn't quite as neat as a continuous sewing line.

I also was able to finish adding the stars round to my current rosette for my La Passacaglia quilt designed by Willyne Hammerstein. 

La Passacaglia

I also took out the papers from the inner shapes and ironed everything. I like to iron the seam allowances for each unit back into their original positions since they get folded back sometimes when I'm stitching. I also like to iron the papers after I take them out so they are nice and flat so I can reuse them. I still have several more rounds to add to this rosette. With how bright this center is, my next round will be a green or blue to calm it down a bit.

Nancy

Blingola

 Hi all -

I hope everyone is doing well! It was another tough week here. The winds were even stronger last week than they were the week before! We ended up not being part of the planned power outage on Wednesday morning, but the wind took out our power at 4pm that day. The power stayed out the entire next day and then on Friday, when the winds got even worse, we were included in a planned power outage. On Friday they had a wind gust measured at 113mph! All told, our power was out from 4pm Wednesday through 2:30pm Sunday -- just 1.5 hours shy of 4 full days with no power! And when I don't have power at my house, I also don't have heat, water or internet. I usually have minimal cell at my house -- enough to call or text the power company to report outages or get status. However, this time I only had blips of cell. I was pretty miserable! But I was definitely happier having a long power outage than if there were fires anywhere in the region with that wind! With the warning for the planned outage, I was able to fill some buckets with water so I could flush the toilet when necessary, and I was able to charge up the camping battery so I could recharge my phone and tablet so I could read and listen to books and play some games to pass the time. The difficult parts were the cold (the house stayed at 45degF) and the dark. I have flashlights, a battery-powered lantern and kept a candle lit when I was awake, but the dark is overwhelming when you only have sunlight for 10 hours a day this time of year! But, as I said, things could have been a lot worse and it's over now!

I did get some knitting done this week. I decided to make my Blingola Scarf designed by Laura Nelkin.

Blingola Scarf

Blingola Scarf - Close-Up

This scarf is made with a cotton/wool blend yarn held with a sequined yarn. It was surprisingly easy to knit with the large sequins in the yarn! And you can't really feel the sequins on your neck when you wear the scarf. This will be a fun scarf to wear! This was the project for the November 2025 Lola's Choice club. I really enjoy this club, which sends me a fun, small knitting project every other month. 

This week I also made some more progress on my La Passacaglia quilt designed by Willyne Hammerstein. 

La Passacaglia

I was hoping to get all of the stars attached to this rosette this week, but it was just too dark and cold to work on this while the power was out. Maybe this week!

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!!

Nancy

The Answer Finished

 Hi all -

I hope everyone is doing well! We had some crazy weather last week. It's continued to be unusually warm, but the wind went crazy last week. We had three days of non-stop winds up to 90 mph. Along with the wind we, of course, had the power going in and out. I was definitely glad when the wind died down and we got back to normal! I just got an email from the power company that more winds are expected this week, so we'll be battening down the hatches up here!

This week I was able to finish my The Answer scarflette designed by Laura Nelkin. 

The Answer

I think this turned out so cute! I love the color changes in the yarn and how light and airy it is! The pops of beads in the body of the scarflette are fun and the beads on the border give it some weight which will help the scarflette stay in place. This will be fun to wear!

I also spent some time this week on my La Passacaglia quilt designed by Willyne Hammerstein. This is the project that I've been working on in our monthly English Paper Piecing (EPP) small group meeting, which we had last Friday.

La Passacaglia

This doesn't look like a lot of progress, but EPP is done all by hand so it takes a bit of time to get anywhere! I'll probably work on this some more this week, as long as my hands hold out since hand sewing can strain my hand muscles. It would be really fun to get this round of stars finished!

Nancy

A Couple of Bags

 Hi all -

I hope everyone is doing well! Things are going well here. My shingles are pretty much gone. I finished my medicine this morning and there's just some pink where the rash was. Now I just have to deal with the insurance company who decided to charge me for the RSV vaccine and the blood test that they gave me while I was there. It's always something, isn't it??? We finally had some good snow and winter is here. It really is beautiful! It looks like one of the critters in the yard is preparing for a cold winter! When I went outside this morning, I saw this in a tree:

Stuffed Animal in the Tree

Stuffed Animal in the Tree - Close-Up

Isn't that hilarious? There's some kind of a nest that's been up there for a long time, but I've never seen a bird or animal up there. Now they've dragged on of Grace's stuffed animals up there. I'm guessing it was a squirrel because I saw a squirrel playing with one of her bigger stuffed animals outside a couple of weeks ago. Very industrious!

Last Thursday I went to the local sewing center with a friend to work on bags. She was incredibly productive and finished four Clam Up bags designed by ByAnnie.  I also made a Clam Up bag:

Clam Up Bag - Outside

Clam Up Bag - Inside

I also started an Easy Does It bag also designed by ByAnnie that I finished at home:

Easy Does It Bag - Outside

Easy Does It Bag - Inside

I added pockets to the insde of this bag and I really like them!

After I finished my bags, I was looking for something else to do and came across my Flower Pincushion designed by Sue Spargo.  I had finished the embroidery a while ago, then put it aside until I had a chance to assemble it, then, of course, forgot about it. So I picked it back up and finished it.

Flower Pincushion

Flower Pincushion - Side View

The pattern just had the rick-rack and button around the side, but I thought it should be dressed up a bit so I attached the rick-rack with some visible sewing and added small french knots. I really like how it turned out!

I've also been continuing to work on my Kalme Throw designed by DeBrosse.

Kalme Throw

As usual, that little purple marker indicates the beginning of my progress. I found that this was a project that was hard for me to do with shingles. The shingles was in my right arm and I do a lot with my right arm when crocheting, and I found that I would get aches in different places in my arm and hand if I did much work on this project.

Because of this, I switched to a new knitting project. I started The Answer scarflette designed by Laura Nelkin.

The Answer

This was the May 2025 project from Laura's Lola's Choice club. The yarn is beautiful and soft as a cloud! To add some fun, you roll a die to determine where to put the beads in the bead rows.  I think this will be fun to wear, too.

Nancy