One finished, one halfway

Friday evening I finished up the quilt that dominated the 6 days that it took.  I'm really pleased with it despite the temperamental purple fabric and I'm a little sad to see it go.  I think Madeline might have spent more time on the quilt than I did...or under it.  (She loves to cover herself up- I think it's adorable)

She game me the saddest look when I took away "her" quilt and stuck it in the wash.  I don't know what she loves about quilts so much- she absolutely loves to wrap herself up on my big Swoon when I'm working on the binding.  The fabric crinkled up nicely in the wash and it gave the quilt that instant-retro look.  The top two pictures are before the washing, and the third is after.  You might not be able to see much of a difference, but the batik fabric faded quite a bit and it really softened up.  Plus I have the peace of mind that it's not going to fall apart the first time it's washed or bleed all over the pale purple. 

I did the actual quilting bit on my super retro sewing machine.  I'm not thrilled with it, but it would have taken weeks to get in to see my lady who lets me use her long-arm, and months if I had done it by hand.  I'm not sure I'll ever do it again on my machine- it's a LOT of work!  I did the binding on the machine as well this time by leaving the backing fabric several inches longer than the quilt top and then pulling it forward and sewing it down.  The backing is also a batik but more tie-dye than painted. I think it looks nice with the quilt top. And that's that.  Baby quilt done, monkey off my back. 

I also went to go see Les Mis this weekend with a friend and it dawned on me the night before that I didn't have any good movie knitting- that is a project that I don't have to actually see to work on.  When this sort of thing happens I normally start a new sock or baby blanket to keep my hands busy for a couple hours.  It then occurred to me that I started a sock last April and was somewhere in the middle of the heel flap.  Listened to my audiobook for a bit, finished the heel flap, turned the heel, and was nearly all the way through the gusset when I had to go.  I only had 3 more decreases to do when the movie started, and luckily I was able to keep count during the brightly lit scenes and within 20 minutes it was smooth sailing and plain knitting.  By the time the movie ended, I was here. 

And after Once Upon A Time and Downton Abbey tonight, I had a finished sock!  I really like it!  Let's hope the second sock doesn't take 11 months too.  Yarn is Regia Design Line- Erica Knight colors.  I bought 4 balls (2 of 2 different colors) at Mass Ave a few years ago and am just getting around to working on them.  I know Regia isn't the softest but I enjoy the colors that some people consider "tacky" (it's for socks.  Who cares if they're bright and don't really go with anything?) and the yarn wears like iron.  

Upcoming projects for this week are...a doily (shock!) and 2 warshcloths.  My web designer is getting 2 that were meant to be a Christmas present- oops! And I'm doing a swap with my knitting group and we're including a warshcloth.  Plus I'm loving the addition of new colors to my freeform crochet bath mat, but more on that later.  Have a great week!