linques design speaks

happy halloween!

Love, Cosmo the Lobster

Framed

I took my friend Jessie to lunch today for her birthday. We went to our "regular" birthday lunch place, House of Japan. They cook your food right there and do a nice little "show" for you too.

Of course I had to make her something for her present! I made her a pair of crystal + pearl earrings, and I framed one of my FL embroideries for her. I want some for myself now! Except I'm saving some of my other embroidered things for quilt blocks. I guess I'll just have to make some more now!

Quilted Goodness

This is what I worked on yesterday. I had cleaned up and reorganized all my fabric this weekend, but didn't put a certain stack away. I have had this little bundle of pink fabrics on my table for months now. I wanted to make a baby quilt, but I do not know anyone that is going to have a baby girl. So they just sat. Derek finally said I should just make one, and keep it for myself. So that's what I'm doing! It will be a little juvenile, because of the prints, but I don't really care.

I started with this pattern as a guide, just because I wanted some measurements. But aside from the measurements of the colored fabrics, I didn't really follow it. I made those 3x7, and the muslin strips are 3x the width, which is about 42". I think I will have 10 colored stripes. The pattern calls for a shift in each colored row, but I kept mine lined up to keep it a little bit wider. Everything's cut, and the strips are pieced. I just have about 1/2 more to go to get the muslin pieced in too. I have a great vintage pink sheet that will be the backing, and maybe a border too. It's nice because I don't feel a rush to finish it, but I'll work on it here and there. We do have maintenance coming this week to check alarms and replace filters, but they'll just have to make do with a work in progress quilt on the floor. By the way, don't you love my cluttered table? I try to clean it, but then I misplace everything. So clutter (as controlled as possible) is nice.

I'll end with a little shot of puppers. He was on the quilt strips, but I think you've seen enough of that.

What I'm Reading

Knitting in Plain English by Maggie Righetti. This is a great book. It's literall in english, with very very few illustrations or diagrams. I've found it very instructional though. It's the first book that has given me a clear idea of how to hold the needles. With no picture! Wow. She's got one for crochet too, so maybe I'll check that out of the library next. This is a big book too, not skimpy; it goes over everything you should know before knitting!

Here's a stack of books I currently have out. I've mentioned before that I love our library, and this is why.  I am currently in a knitting phase, but would never ever want to BUY all these books. So now I get to take them on a test run. Why the sudden urge to knit?

Here's a sweater I made for Cosmo 2 years ago. It's too small now, but I MADE it! Wow! I didn't know a thing about knitting, I just picked it up from a cheapo dog knitting book. This has increases and decreases, a neat neckline (that his fluff covers up), and raglan sleaves. I didn't know what I was doing, but I managed to follow the instructions pretty well. I need to finish up the knitting book I'm reading so I can start on some larger, much more scary projects.

yay

There's no real picture I can post for this, but I got a new job last week! Still with BMW FS, but I've posted up and am now going to be in the insurance department. Pretty nice, since there are only 4-5 people there. Plus, I still get to do job share with my partner. Yay! I'm doing a little crafting here and there, but we had a wedding to go to this weekend so it's minimal. More later!

in the works

Lots of things in the works around here...job stuff, a knitted scarf, a wedding present for Derek's cousin, and this log cabin thing. I don't know what it will become, or even if it will become anything. It was fun to make, and when I have spare time I've been embroidering some of the items. It will probably never get made into anything, because I'm thinking that quilting wouldn't look very good over the embroidery.

The wedding present is my favorite "in the works" project right now. I'm embroidering a pair of pillowcases for them. We got some nice cream cases, and I'm using a slightly darker cream linen floss. I like them so much that it may be hard to give them away! Well, off to work now, and then off to New Jersey soon for the wedding!

Martha Aprons

I made these a few weeks ago. From those dishtowels I got at that crazy KMart. I'm sure you've seen them before, as they're Martha. SO cute. Hard to press though. Again, I don't cook...but who could resist?