I've been cheating on my knitting needles...

...with my sewing machine. I just finished my very first quilt! It seems like every year around this time I get the sewing bug and churn out a few projects before going back to my knitting. This year, I decided to stop drooling over the various quilting blogs I follow and try my hand at it. This is a simple "brick path" quilt, using Michael Miller Dick and Jane fabrics that I have been hoarding for a couple of years now. I bought a set of fat quarters when I saw them in the fabric store, with no idea of what I was going to do with them--I just thought they were adorable. But orange happens to be my son's favorite color and he needed a new blanket for his bed, so I decided to break them out and figure out this quilting thing. The final size is 45" x 60".

I haven't washed it yet. I took pictures before that, so if it all went to hell in a handbasket in the washing machine I would have photographic evidence that it looked nice at one point! 

I enjoyed the whole process so much! I have definitely found a new crafty love.

Help!

Does anyone know why I can not comment on blogs that use captcha when I use Firefox as my browser? I have been trying to fix it, but as of now the only way I can comment is to use Internet Explorer (and I hate doing that because it makes my computer slow as molasses). I am getting sad that I haven't been keeping up with blogs like I like to...any ideas? I thought I would ask the bloggy people. :)

Progress Report: Weekend Getaway Satchel

Just a quick update...I had to take almost three weeks off from knitting because of the tendonitis in my right wrist, but I was able to keep working on my mom's felted bag because the motions used in embroidery didn't hurt me at all.

As a small side note: I had all this Free Time in those three weeks. The house was clean, the nails were painted, books were read! I am wondering if I need to find a little balance now that I am able to knit again. Maybe take one or two nights off a week to do something else. Maybe. Hehe.

Anyway, the bag is knit in pieces and felted separately, then sewn together; the sides, bottom, and back are all solid black, while the front is a riot of color. The color is accomplished by knitting the main blocks for the flowers and leaves in intarsia, then embroidering on the stems and detail work. Doing that embroidery took about as long, maybe even longer, than knitting the whole 30" by 34" inch intarsia panel. But when I was done, I had gone from this:



To this!





I've also felted the whole thing but haven't had a chance to take pictures yet. After this week, I should have time to sew the whole thing up and give it to my mom! I can't wait to finish.