Posted in quilting

SAHRR Round #5: Moving forward with 4

Posted on by Laura Kate

Our quilting guru for this round is Quilting Gail. She has suggested that we make this border inspired by the number 4. That can cover a lot of turf. One could use blocks made of 4 patches, or 4 different colors in the block, or build the border to be 4 inches wide, or all of the above. Here are the fabrics I have selected for the bottom row of my SAHRR quilt.

The warm and earthy palette of this round is informed by the colors of the American Southwest desert. My goal is to depict a (deadly) drought.

Here are the aspects of my border that accomodate the number four. I started with a piece of fabric about 5 inches square. I then transected it vertically, inserted a strip of black, cut across the block and inserted another strip. Four sections are divided by the sign of a cross. I proceeded to make four blocks containing crosses.

I also made a few four patch blocks, a few blocks sewn from 2 1/2 inch strips and a few one-piece blocks.

Here is my collection of blocks for the four-inch bottom border.

After this week, my quilt looks like this:

There is much left to do before I can proceed with round 6. I need to make the left and right borders of this round. I also need to finalize the top border, which now contains the fishy square in squares. While I will be seeking additional inspiration, I can reveal one thing: There will be more butterflies landing on these borders.

If you are curious to see how other Stay at Home Round Robin challenge participants have interpreted this week’s prompt, you can find the link to their posts here.

Posted in quilting

SAHRR Round 4: Stumped by the Square

Posted on by Laura Kate

I got a start on this round with an idea about fish in a stream. I had a man’s shirt printed with what appeared to be trout.

Using a quick sketch on graph paper…

….I made several squares, adding some green painted fabric to the square within a square.

But I’m not convinced that the result works with my concept. So I will take a pause and not complete Round 4 this week.

Posted in knitting

Cast-on Monday: Brioche Beanie from stash

Posted on by Laura Kate

On the advice of Kathryn who posts as Backstage Knits, I am knitting a beanie as my first project using brioche stitch.

I’m using two orphan skeins. The red is a superwash wool by Lambs Pride. The grey is the natural alpaca and wool worsted leftover from Henry’s Biome hat.

So far, this seems to be a swift knit. I am making the odd mistake here and there, which slows me down as I re-knit part of a row. But surely and steadily I am getting the hang of brioche.

I’m hoping to take this project as a travel knit on an upcoming trip. But I may have it finished before we depart.

The pattern is Brioche Basic Beanie by Marilyn Bracketer and it is available for free as a download from Ravelry. 

Posted in knitting

Friday Finish: Adult Balaclava

Posted on by Laura Kate

Here is a follow-up on one of my recent stash-busting projects. My first balaclava was for grand-daughter Lu and was ALL stash-buster.

 https://dailyfiberfun.com/2023/08/18/friday-finish-child-balaclava/

This version actually required new yarn. My daughter wanted one, and her color requirements were vastly different from her daughter’s (no surprise there.)

It is a pure coincidence that the colors my daughter chose are nearly identical to the ones used by designer Gretchen Tracy in her pattern post on Ravelry.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/kids-dice-check-balaclava

If you would really like to make yourself one of these cold-busting head coverings, I recommend that you knit the child’s version first. For the adult version, I made at least three modifications that will adjust the size. My number of cast-on stitches and my gauge were the same as the pattern. I lengthened the rectangular crown piece to 7 and 1/2 inches and the length before joining in the round to 10 inches, (center of head to chin.) I also made the neck section and cast-off ribbing longer, but you can try the piece on while in process to get the neck edge to your liking.

The gold yarn is Malabrigo Rios. The white is KnitPicks Hawthorne DK in bare and Swish DK in rainforest heather.

Posted in quilting

SAHRR 2024 Challenge 3: Brave World

Posted on by Laura Kate

Our host for the Stay at Home Round Robin challenge this week is The Darling Dogwood. She suggested that we use triangles. That should not be difficult to achieve. Many, many traditional blocks are made of triangular pieces. I decided to browse the very useful Quilter’s Recipe Book, by Celia Eddy to get some ideas that would work well with my design. In addition to using triangles, I needed a pattern that was not too difficult and would work well in a long row.

Here’s a four-square block called Brave World.

Each unit is composed of three triangles and a square and four units make up one block. I have specific plans for the square piece, so I say yes to Brave World. But to make it work for my border, I will only make 2 units. Here are two test blocks:

This photograph gives you a broad hint at the subject matter for this week. I have fabric with some animal silhouettes. These are the creatures of the forest and arctic ice that have been displaced by fire and melt. I also have some beehives. No bees though. They are out of the picture for now.

Bottom edge border

Right-side border

Lower right corner

And here is my quilt at the conclusion of the round.

I like the way that the triangles in round one are in conversation with the triangles in this round. You may notice the white sashing. I am using this design feature to outline the borders like a snail’s trail. My quilt is now 30 inches square.

Thanks for stopping by. If you want to see the work of other quilters who are taking the challenge, enter the linky party HERE.