Sunday Morning Bliss

My week has been filled with a lot of activity, some good, some not so good.
As you may know from previous posts, I kinda came to quilting during a very difficult time in my life. I hadn't been feeling well for a long time and no one could figure out why, and quilting was a great distraction to keep me out of my own head. (it's become far more than that now...but it still is a good distraction when I'm having a hard week...this was a hard week)
My story in a nut shell....When I finally went outside of the normal health care options I found that I had some major food intolerances, wheat/gluten, dairy, eggs...just most of the major ones, outside of nuts. It has not been easy, especially the first weeks removing what had been the staple of my diet from my diet....seriously I practically lived on egg McMuffins... and don't even get me started on the nightmare that is package labelling, and figuring out all the sub-names for wheat and gluten., dairy... I have a huge new appreciation for anyone who has major food allergies that are life threatening....
I jokingly tell friends that I am still at the whining stage, which is only half a joke. It is so hard to let go of old family favourite recipes, and food that is so yummy, even when you know it will make you sick to eat it. It is even harder to find replacement foods for the family favourites. I feel like I have already wasted so much money on items I have purchased and items I have tried to bake that only end up in the garbage, but I have decide to stop my "whining" and  seriously open some of the cookbooks I have started to purchase and find some new favourites.  Even if the means a lot of it will may end up  in the trash.
So with that as my goal I set up a new blog called, UpStairsHobbyRoom Goes Vegan-ish. Cheeky I know, but basically with my food intolerances I eat like a vegan... but I still eat meat, especially bacon!!! There are no posts yet(first post is up),  but as I try out recipes and hopefully find some good ones I will post my reviews and create links, so that the information is journaled for me, and you... if you'd like to follow along. If you are in the same boat as me or know someone who is, please I'd love to hear from you.....links, recipes you've tried and loved, etc!!

For now let's get back to the real show....

What Happened in the HobbyRoom this Week:

The List:

1. Finish last 4 Around the Block blocks for my nephew's quilt
2. Test some of the blocks from Lorna of Sew Fresh Quilts new pattern Forest Friends! Its a good one too!!
3. Set up the Link Up party for Oct 30-Nov 5 for the October block of One Block Wonders.
4. Start on the December Block tutorial and sample.

The Bliss:

I won 20 gorgeous wooden labels from All This Wood and attached the first one to my mini Sew Together Bag!!

I tested Kristy's new Feather pattern, Coming the beginning of November 

over on her blog Quiet Play. I even blogged about it here, with some sewing tips.

Completed more rows on my Knit Sampler Afghan

And took my son-in-law's business logo and created an oversized coaster (8") for his desk and part of his birthday gift. (FYI: don't forget to mirror your pattern when the direct matters! This is actually backwards, but being a W it was at least salvageable! I will owe him a proper one...maybe for Christmas, lol)

Clay Post Crocheted Afghan

I am so sorry it has taken me this long to get the information together and post about it. I have been busy with the One Block Wonders BOM and just kept forgetting. Better late than never... ;)


When I finished this afghan a few weeks ago,  I was so thrilled to hear by your feedback, that you loved how this turned out as much as I did. I certainly will be using this stitch again and making another afghan sometime soon, so for you and me to reference, I thought I would share some tips...

Pattern can be found here in my Craftsy Pattern Shop:

Clay Post Afghan

Approximately 46"L x 65"W

(3) Bernat Worsted 14oz (400gr) balls (Clay)

(2) Bernat Super Value 7oz (197gr) (Natural)

Size 5mm crochet hook (US 8)

ch: chain

dc: double crochet

sc: single crochet

fpdc: front post double crochet (dc done around a dc post from a previous row)

Here is a link to a YouTube video I watched to help me understand the instructions for the FPdc stitch.

Row 3 explained:

 Basically you dc every other sc and FPdc every other dc from the previous row.
The 5th row you start with ch 3 skip first sc and dc in next sc, this will give a staggered or diagonal affect to the pattern.

Hope this all makes sense. Let me know if you are confused.

It's hard to crochet and take pictures or video of yourself....

*

So Many Things to Procrastinate With

Lol....Have you ever known that you have deadlines to meet and all you keep doing is finding other projects to work on, that are not that deadline or goal?? I have been so distracted by lovely pattern makers and fabulous paper pieced patterns that need to be tested....and are just begging me to get involved!!!

So I did!! 

Geometric Pig  by Kristy at Quiet Play

and I know I have share this one with you all but it is worth another picture....

Dusk, by Diane  From Blank Pages pattern to be released in October. Stay tuned there is more fun coming with this one in October!! 

and a new crochet project...

because it's fall and I need to stay warm!!

Sorry I have no idea what the name of this stitch is. I have a crochet book that has 500 stitches, which is a bit of a stretch, because a great number of those stitches are just variations of a stitch. This one is a good one though!!

But now I must stay focused!!!!

There are only 2 weeks till the  One Block Wonders BOM starts

I will not let you down,

and this is not for dramatic affect...I seriously don't have the tutorial ready yet. 

That is todays goal so it leaves me plenty of wiggle room to check and re-check everything. 

So that's it, a recap, and a personal push from me to me, lol!!!

Have a great week everyone! 

Oh wait, this was a late entry for Monday's Sales post and I sure would hate for you to miss this sale, so mark your calendars....

(click on the image to get all the details)