Judy Niemeyer quilts and mushrooms!

I'll end this year with three photos.

I've been working on the blocks for that Judy Niemeyer quilt; I'm a little more than half way and trying to finish it up before I take another class building on the same techniques...  Here's part of what I finished this morning.  When I sew them together, the blocks will be 16" square.

Next are the fabrics for the class next weekend.

And finally, meringue mushrooms I made. Making these (or any meringue, really) was on my cooking bucket list. They were absolutely adorable and totally yummy, although a close inspection would indicate perhaps I need more practice with a piping bag. I took a small box of them to S and to P earlier this week when we had lunch in Carmel Valley, so now there are none left... So sad...

Happy New Year to all!

Quilt in progress

Quilt to be

Mushrooms, made from meringue

Fishy!!!

I've been wanting to make this fish since I bought a book containing the pattern (I'll edit the post with the name, I promise!) at a little quilt store in Queenstown, NZ.  I've been afraid of machine applique forever, and even cram-dyeing the fabric and putting all the supplies in one bag did not cause me to get over myself and start it.  Until last week.

When I put Fishy on the dining table he looked tiny! Fish is approximately 40" long and about 12" wide; technically it's woven, and then quilted. Do I need to make a larger fish, a humongous cotton representation of all the ones that got away? Time will tell!

I promised the final picture of my dress; here it is, all ready for presentation to the class. Too bad it's two sizes too small for me (at least); but it did fit the model, and that's what counts.

On other projects:

• I'm still listlessly knitting away at skirt... it's slow! And I'm bored of it. It may need to rest for awhile.
• I brought out the quilt I started in February, and finished another block; it took me a while, and I ruined a small bit of it, as I'd forgotten the method. I think I've got it down now, so more blocks to come before the end of the year!

Food wise, I've had 3 adventures...  I made a duck, andouille, and shrimp gumbo combining a recipe from Epicurious and a recipe from Paul Prudhomme; I decorated cookies with my knitting group at S's house and learned all about edible spray glitter; and I made 3 batches of macarons one afternoon with my friend J and managed to get her to take them all out of my house!  It was perfect. I'd like to combine my new-found love of edible spray glitter with macaron making...

I'm looking at 2018 goals for the studio and other than getting the new loom up and running, I'd like to be more focused, and finish some of the long standing projects hanging around in boxes and bags, as well as work through some of my stash. Most of the cabinets are a little tight, and this should help. Towards that:

• I'm taking another Judy Niemeyer quilt class (clamshell) out of my hand dyed fabrics.
• I plan on starting the Persian Dreams blanket out of primarily stash yarn; I'll need to order a background color to be consistent.
• I'd like to make some quilts (mostly baby and toddler) for donation; I've already identified a stack of free patterns I would enjoy, and a couple of locations where the donations would be welcome.
• I've got my list of currently planned or started projects as well;  I'm still looking at it. 

Yet Another Green Object (YAGO)

Isn't he cute? I call him Yago.

I'm helping a friend, C., with a group of 4H kids who want to learn to weave. This little guy is representative of what they did for their first project, which is stick weaving (we used straws).  This, by the way, would be a great project for kids of any age!!! The kids' weavings were much cuter, and theirs had googley eyes instead of button eyes.  This week, we're doing circular weaving on old CDs.

Very little else has been going on other than preparing the house for holiday guests and a small holiday party for DH's workmates. This did force me to straighten the studio and get rid of more boxes; I'm down to two boxes, I think... It's starting to look like a place I want to be.

Loom with a view

Other than that:

• I finished my final school project, a shift dress with low French darts (photos when I get it on the model)! Sadly it's a pattern-size 10 (class requirement) but if it were my size, I'd like it enough to wear it. 
• I finished a doll that I found partially finished in a box I unpacked (you can just see it by the spools under the window in the studio picture).
• I'm knitting away at my skirt which may be finished for summer 2020.

And I attempted to get organized by making a project list which gets eerily bigger every time I look away. I'll let you know how that goes.