Creeper Crochet Blanket - Halfway There

An update to the first installment of my Creeper Crochet Blanket (see my Ravelry project here).

So far I'm about 50% done. I've needed to get another ball of black wool, and I'll need another aqua and light green.

I'm thinking of lining the whole thing with a shelled black border, and probably sewing the holes between the squares up!

Amigurumi Octopus Pincushion

After sewing an apron a couple of weeks ago, I came to the conclusion I was severely lacking a pincushion. Pincushions are great - not only are they useful, but they can be incredibly cute. I decided to take the pattern of a useless thing - an amigurumi octopus - and use it as a pincushion.

The pattern itself is very straightforward. I found I had to take a couple of rounds away from the ball to make a more spherical shape. Perhaps it was due to the yarn I am using, some sort of cream mercerised cotton. Louella doesn't really like it - she says it feels like burlap (it does). I made a crochet coinpurse with it some time ago. It is a fairly thick, rough thread - which makes for a fairly sturdy coinpurse.

Working the round

The completed pincushion

Yes, it is essentially a stuffed toy. But you can stick pins in it, and in the legs, too! I recently watch Coraline, and was worried the button eyes would freak me out. Gladly, it turned out to be rather cute.

Quilting - Sections

Almost every night the past few weeks, I have come home after work and pulled out the sewing machine and quilting squares. I'll probably end up cutting the rest of the fabric into squares, as I am constantly running out.

Sometimes the squares don't match up (grr) but I believe I'll have everything sorted when it comes to pinning the columns together.

I believe I'm about a quarter of the way through making the front. Below you can see some of the designs I've come up with for the sections.

My typical evening these past couple of weeks.
Usually accompanied with a bourbon and Coke...

Some of the designs. Hopefully they will all work
together in the final blanket!

I'll be purchasing a walking foot at some point this week. From what I've learnt online, you may as well not bother with a regular foot (too much shifting of the batting and backing).

A Napron

Finally I have sewn something I can wear!

With the help of Louella I chose some fabric and got sewing. :)

We laid out some newspaper because we didn't have any large pieces of blank paper, and drew the pattern on top (a semicircle skirt). The first thing to do after cutting all the pieces out was to create the fringe, which involved gathering a four metre long strip of fabric. Next time I think I'll do the short-cut way and loosen the top thread tension so it gathers as you go.

Ready to go!

Sewing the fringe to the skirt

The finished fringe - see how messy!

The complete apron

So I did a lot of things wrong while sewing this - a lot due to inexperience. Nonetheless, I'm fairly happy with the result. Next I might feel brave enough to make a dress!

Quilting - It Begins

Recently I found this amazing quilting tutorial over at instructables.com. I felt inspired, so headed to Spotlight (note to self - far too expensive for quilting) and gathered some materials.

The batting size is 120cm * 150cm, so the quilt will be slightly less than that when finished. The back will be plain cream cotton, and it will have cream binding.

Each section will be made of nine squares (two colours per section) - each square being 6.5cm * 6.5 cm. Ambitious, I know!

Here are some photos from the initial set up.

Cut squares on the left, coffee in the middle, and remnants on the right