Tag / hawaiian quilt

by princesshotflash

What I made in 2023

I started a post the other day about my holiday baking. I couldn’t finish it. I was not feeling it. I decided to dump that post and start a new one about what I made in 2023.

I like doing these wrap-ups at the end of the year. It’s a great way to look back at what I accomplished. It does surprise me how much I got done.

Being a full-time caregiver sometimes feels like I’m a waitress or maid to my parents. This is the reason for my projects. It gives me purpose and keeps my sanity from the stress of caring for loved ones with dementia.

Here’s my rundown of all of my mades.

Stitching

I picked up stitching in 2022 as a way to quiet my brain. It really works. I do it in the morning with my cup of coffee.

Left to right: coaster made with machine and hand quilting, scrappy trivet, scrappy bowl

Lei-making

My beautiful pakalana plants were so fruitful in their second year. I made my ten girlfriends each a (at least three strands) pakalana lei for their birthday. Pakalana is seasonal, so the birthday leis were always a surprise as most of them arrived long after their birthday.

Many stages of leimaking

Quilting

I took on a commission in 2022 to create a quilt with the fabric provided. I could do any pattern, but it needed to be as big as possible. I got stuck for several months after finishing the quilt top. I made no move moment on this quilt. I decided to rework my workroom, which was the key to getting me going again. Now I’m on quilt #7. I got the bug.

All my scrappy quilts. One was commission piece plus seven for donation or gifts.

Knitting

My knitting has been the back seat to my quilting; I have only finished a few items this year.

Left to right, top to bottom: Grandma Nancy’s shawl; Blocking Boneyard and Grandma Nancy’s Shawls in the sun; mitts for a friend; Orange loves to help; Zabutons to throw pillows; Zig zag pillow; February hat; Zick zack scarf

Finishing up          

These are the partially finished projects that were gifted to me that I finished up this year. On Instagram, there’s a group called Loose Ends, that finishes up projects for the loved one. I guess this is my own Loose Ends project. I tried to return the finished project to the giver, or I gifted the project to someone special.

Left to right: This Hawaiian quilt pillow only needed quilting one little corner. I turned it into a pillow by adding an envelope back and binding it in some gifted fabric (in the perfect prints and color), then I made a pillow insert to finish off; I got three embroidered panels she made while recuperating from broken ankles. I turned one of the panels into Komebukuro (rice bag in Japanese) to hold her next project.

I’m stopping here or at this rate, I’ll never publish this before the end of 2024. I hope I have another productive crafty year. Happy New Year!

by princesshotflash

WIP (Works in Progress)

This is where I stand with my WIP. I like to work on multiple projects at a time. It helps me not to be bored. For me, boredom equals mistakes, and mistakes mean ripping work out. It is always frustrating to go backward. I am trying not to put down a project too long so I don’t lose the flow. It’s hard to get back into a project. I think this is why I like to knit hats and mitts. I can get through them quickly without too many distractions.

Zig Zag pillow

My current distraction is Matthew Schrank’s Zig Zag pillow from Noro Knitting Magazine #17, made with 2 colorways of Kureyon. I dreamed of working on a colorful project, and this pattern fills the bill. I love how the two colorways are playing out in this pattern. I just pulled the colorways that I had 2 skeins of. I’ve loved it since cast-on.

Starting with purple was a happy beginning.

Travel Mini Blanket/Shawl

This Travel Mini Blanket/Shawl pattern by Sue Keola was an unfinished project gifted to me. The project came with beautiful deep green lace weight yarn, a circular needle (I think it’s an Addis), stitch markers, and needle caps that look like socks. I continued with the shawl as the lace pattern wasn’t too complex. Well, I guess I was wrong. I found a bunch of mistakes and ended up spending so much time unknitting. And then I dropped half a row of stitches and lost the red sock needle cap somewhere in my unknitting process. This is probably where I decided to take the whole thing apart and start from the beginning.

I was making significant headway, and I’m past where I was when I ripped it apart.

Left: where I’m at now; Middle: new cast-on; Right: the unfinished project

Hawaiian quilt potholders

I’m working on another gifted unfinished project. Two Hawaiian quilt potholders that I’m unsure what plant/flower they are. I’m using these as practice stitching. I wish I knew what plant/flower this design is. It would help with my stitching pattern. I will wing it and do what I think looks the best.

Any thoughts on what plant/flower this design could be?

Hippy Slouchy bag

I picked up this Hippy Slouchy bag from the thrift shop. It was a mess, with holes and stains inside and out. But something about it spoke to me, and I decided to pick it up and give it a go with slow stitching and mending techniques.

I started on the inside covering up the stains with stitches. I love how the mending of the fraying seam looks.

by princesshotflash

Quietly Stitching

The holidays were a cold (in Hawaii temps) and wet one. I made use of being inside by hand stitching projects that were waiting for their patiently.

This current wave of hand stitching was brought on by the book covers I stitched in my post; I forgot to add a cover. I started stitching more patches with the same fabric as the book covers and added more stitching. But now I’m stuck about what to do next and what I should become.

I feel like it needs some kind of separation between the patches

I decided to let the patches sit while I figured out what it needed. I picked up my aloha shirt patchwork quilt. I needed to finish the rest of the interior stitching (diagonal lines) then work on the border. The half triangles are machine stitched with interior quilting and border handstitched.

I reworked some of the stitching to be more consistent overall.

The quilt looked a bit empty; it needed more than the diagonal lines. I decided to add some stitching around the white flowers on the green triangles. Slightly smaller stitching than the diagonal lines makes it stand out a bit. More in the style of the book covers.

Working in tandem with the patchwork quilt, I picked up an ancient project sitting in my project pile, a Hawaiian quilt kit I started. I don’t even know when or where I got it or created it.

I did a really crap job attaching the applique. My Quilting Yoda would not have been happy. I restitched the applique, adding many more stitches to lay flat. Some of the corners were pretty awful; the turn-over edges were coming apart. The stitching was close enough. Ugh!! But the more I worked on it, I got into a rhythm, and my stitches were more consistent. So satisfying. I like it now.

I’m quilting around the applique now.

All the while, as I hand stitch, I’ve been binging Silent Witness on Prime Video. It’s like a CSI, UK version, focusing more on the pathologist up to the season 16 when they combined department with forensic. It has 24 seasons, more than enough to keep me company while I stitched away.

I finished this while I was writing this post. I’m so proud of it.

Oh, by the way, I finished the my Hawaiian Quilt Patch. What began as forgotten project, turned out looking better than I expected. I’ve decided to turn it into a pillow. Now I need to find the perfect backing for it. I’m hoping I have it in my stash.

by princesshotflash

I’ve been away so long

I didn’t realize that it was April 25 when I last wrote. Well, I started a draft and kept adding and editing it. Today I decided to dump it and start all over. Like in knitting, I frogged it. haha.

I decided this would be a crocheting, knitting, and quilting update. Here’s what I’ve been up to.

Project 1

A secret gift.

The beginning

I found this pattern, Windowpane scarf by Adrienne Lash. I liked how the pattern looked on people in the finished projects section of the pattern on Ravelry. It has a great structure to it and very easy pattern to follow that you can pick and put it down and still know where you left off.

I’m trying to let go my love of wool and thought buying a bunch of cotton/linen blends would do the trick. I bought this variegated Bella Lino from Classic Elite. It’s a linen/viscose/cotton blend of blue/green/stone. It’s discontinued and I got it on sale at WEBS.

Almost done, less than a quarter skein left.
Trying to weave in my ends. Guess who thought it would be nice place to nap.

Project 2

I got me 6 skiens Zooey from Juniper Moon Farms in 2 colorways: taro and artic blue–3 each. I wasn’t totally sure what I was going to do it them.

My first thought was market bags but how many market bags can I knit or crochet before I get bored? I did find a few that had an interesting bottom or interesting netting pattern for the main area. Here are two links to market bags that I’d like to try:

https://www.twoofwands.com/blog/french-market-bag
I like this because of the handle on it. More elegant than the pattern I previously used.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hiroba
Found this on Ravelry. It has an interesting closed pattern on the body of the bag.

Several people from my knitting group were knitting an interesting scarf pattern that they said wasn’t too hard. I resisted for a while. I don’t like making scarves. so repetitive. But I got sucked into it and I gave it a try. Kureopatora’s Snake Scarf and this is how far as I got. Love this colorway.

Looking sad from neglect

Project 3

My knitting group decided to do a toe-up, two at time, Judy’s magic cast-on as knit-a-long. I had just got a great Saver’s run with tons of wool. Yes, wool. The fiber I’m trying not to buy. haha. I’m hopeless

Saver’s stash! Nice!

I decided to use the gray and pink super wash from my Saver’s run to make a pair hiking socks for my trip at the end of September. I found a simple sock pattern I wouldn’t give up in the middle of the sock, Trusty toe up sock by Tanis Lavellee.

The beginning

After three attempt and one adjustment–picked a too big size, cast on the wrong number of stitches twice, and too out increases to get the right ease (tightness) on my socks.

Added a lifeline to rip out some rows for my ease adjustment
Left the lifeline in after I adjustment was made to remember what I did.

Project 4

My Hawaiian quilt project with instruction from quilting master Kay from my knitting group. It’s sadly sitting in my quilting back waiting to be picked up again. Weather has turned hot and I haven’t been to the monthly quilting bee (no ac). I have a couple of other projects in my queue that have higher priority so I’ll wait till the weather turns a little cooler or finish the higher queued projects to pick these up again.

Pineapples positive pattern, all stitch down
Pineapple negative pattern: about half stitched down

I did find a partially finish Hawaiian quilt project I started many moons ago I guess that get put in the queue after the pineapples. I can’t even remember when I started it.

found project: anthurium quilting stage

Not too bad but not as good as the ones done under the supervision from Quilt Master Kay.

I have more to post about the going-ons of my life. I need to stop talking so much. haha.

by princesshotflash

2 years

img_5519
@ Hawaii Loa Photo by Jodie Roeca

2 years since Oat passed. 2 years being on my own since I met him 33 years ago. 2 years since the saddest day of my life. 2 of the hardest years of my 58 years.

I’m trying my best to carry on, working through things slow.

I’m keeping busy learning new things, quilting, stamping, preserving and spinning.

And making new friends and connecting with my old crew. Laughing, talking and just being silly as we enjoy each others company.

Oat would have enjoyed moving back to Hawaii with me. Maybe too much to do for him but so many opportunities for him to create a new costume photo shoot or a shelter we could use to go camping in. Who knows what he would have came up with all the stuff my dad has. He would have loved all of the tarps. Miss you.