Recently, I pulled out a bunch of pinkish fabric scraps to make some patchwork, and I was both tickled at what I came up with...
... and confused by how I managed to turn what was supposed to be one-inch squares into rectangles. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that it took me quite a while to figure out what I had done. But the important thing is that I did eventually figure it out, and (while I'll spare you the tedious explanation) in the end, I learned from the experience. And was still able to create some cute stuffed hearts in spite of my absent-minded cutting and piecing:
And no one but me will ever notice that the corners don't match up, and I completely missed sewing one quilting line, right?
Having seen some fun creations that use improv piecing, I think I need to give that a go. Precise measuring isn't required, but a good eye and understanding of how to piece this way is. We'll see if I pursue that. At the moment, I'm still in the enjoying-watching-others-do-it stage...
Then I turned my hand to making some Tunisian stitched potholders. I got one done, but am still tackling the second one:
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I made some years ago, but I had forgotten about the curling. I had to steam it to get it to lay as nicely as it does above. And I don't remember that this was hard on my thumbs years ago, but it is now. Maybe I need to try tunisian crochet with something less stiff than cotton...
While giving my thumbs a rest, I crocheted a moss-stitched dishcloth.
A bit mishappen, but maybe that's user error. I do like this change from knitting dishcloths, and this stitch produces a drapey cloth, much like knitting does.
It's nice to have another pattern at the ready for when I need (or want) a mindless little project to work on. I followed this tutorial:
Though, I think I might prefer this one:
I think I'm going to try making some other moss-stitch cloths - maybe one that looks granny square-ish next.
The hearts are delightful Becki! And if there is an imperfection with the dish cloth, I do not see it.
ReplyDeleteThank you, TB. :) The nice thing is, as soon as it's put into service (gotten wet) any imperfections tend to disappear.
DeleteBeautiful hearts and projects
ReplyDeleteThank you, Tasha.
DeleteThe pink fabric looks terrific and fun. The hearts are great. I'm enjoying my garter stitch dishcloths as an easy project to work on when I need something mindless. I'm excited that the dishcloths will make nice little gifts.
ReplyDeleteI Maureen, I've lost count of how many times my stash of knitted (and crocheted) dishcloths have got whittled down when giving them out as gifts. It's how I justify the quiet, stressless knitting of something so seemingly insignificant.
DeleteI have often been reminded that only God makes things perfectly so your hearts are wonderful, despite not being perfect in your eyes. I haven't made dishcloths in forever because we always end up using the knitted scrubbies. Our family all prefer the latter so those are what I make (plus which they don't seem to get stained and stinky like the cotton ones seem to do).
ReplyDeleteMary Anne, years ago a friend told me hers turn stinky. I have a pretty good smeller, and I've never encountered this. I've assumed it's because I put mine in the laundry to be washed after a day of using one in the kitchen, or sooner if I wipe up something really messy. When I'm cleaning up from a big cooking job, or if others are in my kitchen, I tend to grab fresh dishcloths fairly often. Thank goodness, I've never had the stinky problem. I couldn't/wouldn't tolerate a stinky dishcloth either. If they're stinky, they've got bacteria growing, I would imagine. But then, that's why I wash them often - probably a lot more often than most people do. FWIW, a bath towel here only gets used once, too. I'm a bit OCD about towels and washcloths...
DeleteThey get stinky here but not because of lack of washing - I blame our water which is stinky at the best of times. Sometimes it's all I can do to shower in it and it certainly isn't drinkable despite the town assuring us that it's perfectly safe. We filter it before we drink it.
DeleteOooh... that sounds unpleasant. And I can understand. I didn't mention that because when I asked my friend (who lived in the country) if it could be their water, she quickly said no. (shrug) Who was I to argue? We are on well water here and there is iron in it. I think it was last year that we finally put in a large filtration system to take care of it. I just wish we'd done that as soon as we moved in. The iron stained the detergent container of my washing machine. First we tried a small filter right before the water softener and that helped some with smell, but my sensitive nose could still smell the iron - in the kitchen especially. I'm glad to say I can't smell iron anymore.
DeleteGorgeous pinks. The hearts are sdorable. Good work!
ReplyDeleteMay
Thank you, May!
DeleteSplendid, Becki! Although I am far from your target audience and could not do any of this if my life depended on it, I love reading about your creativity.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate you stopping by, Bob. :) Thank you for such a kind comment.
DeleteThe hearts are lovely and I am not experienced enough in quilting to understand what is missing. Looks good to me. Tunisian crochet isn’t something I have tried. I may have a go at these dishcloths though so thanks for sharing the links. Liz (Highlandheffalump)
ReplyDeleteLiz, Tunisian crochet is kind of fun, but I do think it's the cotton that's making it very hard on my thumbs. Years ago I made a Tunisian-stitched pillow with soft acrylic yarn and I don't remember this being hard. But I may not have had arthritis in my thumbs at that point. The moss stitch, I am loving.
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