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