Sew I See!

I've finally reached that point in the "Hunter's String Star" pattern where things are coming together. Joined units and string squares combine, from their various stacks... And turn into the building blocks for the whole quilt: It's happening! It's happening! 😉 You can see the pattern emerging!  (This won't be the final layout, but it's a start.) The perfect candy for enjoying while piecing this project in neutrals and every shade of red? Jolly Rancher hard candy in "Awesome Reds"!  😁 (The reds are always the best, aside from green sour apple, of course.) It feels like a long time coming-- I guess I'm not exactly a speedy stitcher!-- but it's finally beginning to feel like I may actually complete this quilt in the not-too-distant future! Meanwhile, I'm on the last round of the doily, so that should be done in no time at all.  There should be a finished object to show before long.

Sometimes my craft projects seem to creep along at a snail's pace, but they (usually) get there eventually, one step at a time.  Today's "one step" is on the Hunter's String Star quilt.  I'm very nearly finished with joining HSTs to chevron units.  There are only a handful left to do, and then it's on to the next step in that particular pattern.  I'm also just a step (or two) from finishing my current doily project.  There are only two rounds remaining!  They look fairly time-consuming in the pattern, but an evening or two of crocheting in front of the TV should knock those out, as long as I don't make mistakes. Of course, I could have already been done with the doily, if I hadn't taken a detour and crocheted another tissue box cozy.  (Pattern: "Granny's Tissue Box Cover", by Daniela Herbertz) Well... Sometimes a little detour is worth taking!  It keeps things exciting! - - - - - - - Speaking of detours, I'...

After seeing scrappy versions of quilts made of "Arkansas Crossroads" blocks, I wanted to make one of my own.  It's been in the works for a while. I'm not really even sure how long ago I started... Maybe a couple of years back? There are a couple of ways to make this quilt.  Slightly different results, but a similar look overall.  I used Lori Holt's tutorial to make mine. (One thing you'll notice in these photos is that the points don't always match.  The seams of the squares don't always line up.  I know that nothing is perfect, but this one's  really  not perfect.  I could do better, and maybe one day I will, but... at the moment, I'm just not willing to agonize over it.  I'm not entering my quilts in shows, nor are they destined to be family heirlooms, so as long as I'm satisfied, it's good enough.) There's not a lot to say about this quilt.  --The piecing is fairly straightforward.  Nothing advanced. Jus...

There's one more finished afghan to share-- "Lotus Moon Tiles", a crochet design by Polly Plum. I started this afghan in September 2019 and finished it in February 2020.  It's not a large afghan, so I could have finished it much more quickly, but every time I came to a point where I needed to make a color decision or begin another phase of the pattern, it went into Time Out. This afghan, like so many of Polly Plum's designs, is texture-rich and fairly complex-- a significant step up in difficulty from the granny square.  However, the pattern is very carefully and clearly written, which is a great help. I love the look of the join the designer chose (a free single crochet join-as-you-go method by The Hat & I ).  This join has a lovely twisty effect.  If I remember, I'd be happy to use it again for other afghans in the future.  It would be great for joining sampler afghans. The pattern includes a guide for calculating yarn amounts for larger versi...

During a recent reorganizing, I came across an afghan that I had completely forgotten crocheting and (as far as I can recall) never photographed or blogged. It's a scrappy granny square afghan using my favorite version of the granny square.  That is, clusters of 3 dc, 2 chains for the corners, and one chain between clusters on the sides. Working through leftover balls of acrylic worsted (and possibly aran) weight yarn, I crocheted 192 squares with three rounds each.  That sounds like a lot, but they work up quickly, and you can easily make a few at a time between projects, if you don't want to crochet nothing but 192 granny squares in a row. According to my notes, I started this project in April 2016 and didn't finish until March 2018-- almost two years later.  This included pauses to allow the scrap stash to replenish, time out to work on other projects, and probably some good old-fashioned procrastination. (Also, I actually made more than 192 squares, because...