Hooray for sewing buddies! My sewing buddy, Johanna, and I had a little sewing party over the weekend where she helped me make this fabby Amy Butler top.

The Cabo Halter is such a cool design with a sexy little cross-over bodice and a tummy-hiding lower skirt, perfect for this wishing-I-was-hot-after-three-kids mama. Having had three kids, I also wanted to stitch the halter ties down so they would cover the nowadays much-needed bra. And having a sewing buddy meant no hassle try-ons and fittings! (Try pinning straps in the right place on your back alone!)

The back has an especially neat look as it is closed with an invisible zipper. The pattern goes on and on about how you gotta get a special foot for your sewing machine to put the zipper in. Naturally, I didn't have one, but my sewing buddy Johanna did!

With help from Johanna, who'd made one of these for herself, I finished up the top in one night and it came out fitting great.

The best thing about sewing buddies? Sewing buddies don't let sewing buddies have flower boob! Just before I sewed on the bottom section, Johanna spotted the unfortunately placed flower on one of the top triangle sections. Way too suggestive. So I flipped everything around and used it as the lining. Thanks for saving me, sewing buddy!

After a little dry spell of inspiration, I finally found something that moved me to pick up the knitting needles again.

My lys just put up a sample of the Hey Teach sweater in the store window and it was so pretty, I instantly started thinking about yarn. (Job well done, window display!) The sample was knit in all seasons cotton, an old favorite of mine which I haven't had the pleasure to knit in a while. I happened to have some asc in my stash - not enough to finish the sweater, but enough to start it - and so I started it. As if I've ever let not having enough yarn stop me from beginning a project before! I'll find more. I always do. (Um, if you happen to have some unwanted asc in color #170, do speak up....)

I'm thoroughly enjoying the knitting so far. The stockinette was lovely - I do so enjoy a good eight or nine inches of stockinette! The lace pattern is delightful: simple but with a striking result. And I'm having fun. It's so good to be back knitting again.

After washing and pressing almost 60 fat quarters, I have cut the first strips for B's yellow brick road quilt and my 40 fat quarters quilt.

Six strips from each of the 40 fat quarters - that's 240 strips of fabric! Then four strips from each of B's 20 fat quarters - 80 strips that I've already started to piece together into subunits for the blocks.

B says he likes them so far! And I'm spending the day in quilt class with mine... yum!

I've picked up the pace on my Hey Teach! sweater in the hopes that knitting faster will mean I use less yarn. No real chance of that, but a knitter can dream, can't she? I've got the back and one and a half fronts done with a mere one and a half balls of yarn left. It's going to be close! I'll need the half ball to finish the second front. I may be able to squeeze the short sleeves out of the one remaining ball of yarn. But I'll still have button bands and the neck band to do. Such a tease! I'm gonna need at least one more ball, I think. Or should I get two to be safe?

I spent Saturday in quilt class, working on my 40 fat quarters quilt. We cut our 40 fat quarters into six strips, then picked up one set of strips, combining and sewing them together into subunits. Naturally, we cut the subunits into six strips.

labels are the key to avoiding quilting chaos

Each set of these strips was sewn together to make a super long strip and then the six super long strips were sewn together to make one panel. (One of six panels, of course.)

click to see the whole panel!

The six strips that make up the panel are all the same as they are assembled, but right before they are sewn together, the top squares are off-set so the diagonal occurs. I love seeing the pattern in one fabric change as it travels across and down the panel!

One down. Five more to go.

All the blocks of B's yellow brick road quilt are done! They are so fun, so cool, and oh so yellow.

click for the BIG picture of some sample blocks

There are actually only three different types of blocks: some with 3 fabrics, some with 4 fabrics, and some with 5 fabrics. They were extremely simple to put together with easy strip piecing instructions. The only real difficulty now is going to be arranging them. This is where the patterns always leave you with the inadequate instruction to "arrange in a pleasing manner". Harumpf, fat lot of help you people are! I've got 54 blocks, each with a variety of 18 different yellow prints. It's total yellow chaos here!

But I think B's going to love it. Go, yellow!

With my last ball of yarn, I seamed up the body pieces of the Hey Teach sweater and added the neckband. I've got enough of the original yarn still to do the button bands. Phew! My reward for being so undaunted in the face of a yarn shortage?

I found more yarn online and, despite being a different dye lot, it totally matches. Score!

Wee one was less impressed...

read this, mommy

I have lost count of how many times I have knit the button bands of my hey teach sweater. When you repeatedly have to rip and reknit because you keep changing your mind about how you want things to look, it's best not to count, eh?

I first knit the button band as instructed, but decided I didn't like the wider (5 row) button band with the narrow (2 row) ribbing around the collar. Rip. I reknit the button band to be 3 rows, was satisfied and proceeded to the buttonhole band. I realized too late that I'd have to work the buttonhole row earlier if I wanted to shorten the band. Rip. Then I had to rework the buttonhole instructions since I was now on a RS row instead of a WS row. Rip. Then I decided I didn't like the buttonhole placement. Wouldn't it be nicer if there were a button right at the ribbing under the lace? It irked me that the button wasn't centered there. Rip. One last try.

If it weren't currently raining cats and dogs, I'd celebrate finally having finished these buggery button bands by going out to get some buttons right away. But, it seems, I will have to wait one more day.

This unending rain is getting depressing, so today I'll try to brighten things up by presenting to you twelve super-long strips ready to become two more panels of my forty fat quarter quilt.

click to see more!

Here's hoping for more colorful days to come...

I never really thought the kids would get excited about quilts, but they were positively giddy when I pulled out each of their finished quilt tops last night.

I took out B's "yellow brick road" top first since I just finished piecing it together. He literally giggled with anticipation as I was unfolding it and laying it out on his bed to check the size. He jumped right on and declared it to be "awesome"!

click for bigness!

He insisted that his brother come upstairs to admire it. Then, he and S announced that they wanted to see S's rocket quilt top (pieced long ago, but still not yet quilted) too. B immediately announced that it was "cooool!" and S proudly stretched himself out on top of it for a picture.

click for the big picture!

And in the other room, wee one was rolling around on her funky sock monkey quilt top (also awaiting quilting). As soon as she saw it, she dashed off to find her sock monkey toy so he could monkey around with her on her monkey quilt.

click!

Now there just remains the little matter of quilting these babies before they can finally be given to my babies. In the meantime, each of the kids is keeping a copy of the picture to enjoy until they can have the real thing.

Wee one woke up from her nap the other day and, with a pathetic little pout, pointed out this small tear in the edging of her blankie. The edging (a bright red Frog Tree Merino) is super soft and is her favorite part of the blankie. She always runs her fingers along it as she cuddles with the blankie. Needless to say, she was quite distraught that blankie was "ripped". We all know, however, that I've seen much worse! While she had a bit of juice to calm down, I whipped out the extra yarn and the crochet hook and put a small row of single crochet stitches over the tear.

That was easy. But I am certain that the battle to keep this blankie whole has only just begun.