new knitting bag

Each April my friend April spends her birthday month making things to give away. How wonderful is that? I was surprised with this beautiful bag in my mailbox the other day.

I do love it because it is gorgeous Amy Butler fabric, but I love it most because it is from April. I miss her so. It almost makes me cry as I write this. She was my knitting, learning to spin yarn, koolaid dyeing, craft show stocking, homeschooling, bike riding, long walks partner. I haven’t found another quite like her yet.

So I knew just what to do with the sweet gift for HER birthday–

I filled it with knitting. I’ve got a cowl (neck thing), a pilot cap for a fresh new nephew, a t-shirtish sweater for me, and a jacket for Eva all in the works.

the rainbow wheel

When we put up all of my new school room shelves I decided I needed rainbow quilts in the wall space above the desks since my books are arranged in color order. What I had in mind for one side was this quilt from Purl. I drew up a pattern to fit my wall and raided my scrap bin. My mom also sent me a box of her scraps and I bought a few more.

This is my first time piecing curves, so it’s far from perfect. My seam allowances on my rainbow ended up a smudge less than 1/4″, so my top came out a bit ripply. I could have ripped it apart and started over, I guess, but I’m more into getting things done than I am into perfection. I just made good use of my iron and quilted concentric circles to remedy the waviness.

I like it on my wall. It is bright and cheery.

Who knows when I’ll get to making something to hang above the other desk…

The ride

Today I got on my road bike for the first time since sometime in the fall of 2010. The weather was perfect as I wound my way along the bike path through the state park just minutes from our house. The cottonwood trees are just starting to get their leaves. The wading birds are starting to fly in– I saw several white faced ibis shaking their curved beaks in a pond. The mallards are nesting, the red winged black birds are calling, a ring necked pheasant jumped out at me from a clump of cat tails. High in a dead tree I saw a woodpecker that looked like a northern flicker, but bigger, so I need to figure out what kind it was.

It was a reminder of my college days wandering Cache Valley Utah in search of wetlands with avocets and cranes and heron rookeries.

I don’t ride me bike to be fast. I ride to watch the birds.

diamond baby quilt

I pieced diamonds! I made this little quilt for a friend’s new baby girl. I found all the fabrics for the top in my stash, then designed from there. I had a lot of fun doing something new and love how it turned out.

I had to buy fabric for the back and binding, though, so I tried a new quilt store. Snappy Quilts was full to the brim with my favorite designs, and I came out with some Joel Dewberry fabrics that went with my top perfectly. It was expensive, though. It seemed all of their fabric was closer to $12/ yard than the $9 or $10 I’m used to.

Of course, I quilted it in swirls.

Anyone have some tips on photographing quilts? I’d love some advice because I’m just not thrilled about my quilt photos lately…