Productive weekend

Does anybody else notice that they are now pronouncing the word 'weekend' like Dame Maggie Smith? "What is a weekend?"

I had a very productive Memorial Day weekend. I finished off the two May blocks for Toes in the Sand and 99% of a quilt top. I only have pictures for the BOM blocks. The recommendation is pressing seams open. It is EXHAUSTING and more than once my fingers got a little singed. I am not a fan. The blocks turned out well. I again swapped colours out. There are a lot meeting seams and some of the triangle points are a good bit shy of 1/4". I've thought about ironing on interfacing as a bit of stability and then sewing the blocks with the background. Has anybody done that before? Recommendations?

Ugh!

Another friend of mine found out she has cancer. Two friends in less than a year. Healthy, going about their daily lives, young women. This time I made a pillow instead of a quilt. It is summer and she has to go in for both chemo and radiation. I thought something serviceable would be good.

I like the way it turned out. I used heavy duty top stitching thread to stitch in the ditch. It turned out ok, but it wasn't what I had expected. I lengthened my stitch length, but the effect wasn't what I imagined. I think I was hoping for more a shashiko effect. I want one of those so badly. I wish one of my LQS would rent that out as well like a long arm. The pillow needs to be sat on so it fills out the corners and the back doesn't bulge. I hope with use it all falls into place.

May gnome

I got nothing to say.

Snow in May

Des Moines received 7 inches of snow over two days. Two days in May. This is what I awoke to this morning.

I had picked up a silk and wool blend at the yarn show in March and figured I would get a head start on next winter. Little did I know that I could use what I made with this extended winter. I love my cowl. I turned into a mobius strip so it is all twisty and interesting. I used a pattern from Fiber Flux that is essentially blocks of single, double and treble crochets. It was a good pattern to jump back into crochet. I have enough length to be able to wear it long or wrap it twice so it is tighter around my neck.

So here are a couple pictures my friend Emily took. It was windy and I was cold but they get the point across.