Karin Jordan Studio

Honey, I Made a Cowl. . . a k a I'm Knitting Again

I had no idea how much I'd missed knitting. I took a class many years ago in Harvard Square at a place called Woolcott & Co. I'd made scarves and basic items prior to that, but the confidence from being in the supportive community of a class gave me the nerve to jump right into a cardigan. It turned out well, so I made my mother one, too. 

I knit off and on until I had Annabel (she's 4 and a half now). I finished knitting her a baby blanket and that was the last thing I completed. Who would have guessed that by hanging out with a bunch of wonderful quilters, I'd be inspired to get back to my knitting! Many of the women in the Seacoast Modern Quilt Guild knit, too. The other day I opened this pandora's suitcase of yarn. It's moved with me twice and I knew I'd get back to it, I just didn't know when. There was a lot more yarn, but I donated much of it during moves so that I could contain it all here. The vintage suitcase actually once belonged to a nun. There's still a tag inside left over from her. 

There's yarn from finished projects, one WIP, and skeins for one blue and grey cashmere scarf. I did not make the Latvian mittens; they were a gift from a family member (my father is Latvian) and they stayed with the knitting supplies for safe keeping. 

This is the last project I was working on — a baby blanket for Colton, just like the one I'd made Annabel. It's hard using the same pattern twice, even with different colors of yarn! 

Now that I'm looking at these photos, I'm realizing how much I love the colors. The squares were perfect for our lifestyle at the time, as we traveled a lot and it was easy to work on airplanes. I'd take a few balls and the patterns for two different squares and have them done by the time we got home. 

The other day, my mother gave me this colorful blanket that my grandmother knit many years ago. She completed it while watching the Olympics, and watching me knitting during the Sochi games reminded my mom that she had it stored in a trunk. I love it, and it's so funny that it's reminiscent of the patchwork blankets I made piecemeal on airplanes. 

The colors are fun, and I can't stop poking at it.

The first project I decided upon was the popular Honey Cowl by Madelinetosh, available for free here on Ravelry. For yarn I chose ToshDK in the color tart. It's great to have something to do with my hands while sitting on the couch at night, in addition to binding quilts. 

After my mother gifted me the wonderful blanket, she declared her plan to run off with the honey cowl. It is her color, after all. How could I complain?

xo Karin

        

February Bee Blocks: Wonky Triangles

For our February do. Good Stitches bee blocks, our Harmony Circle quilter (Colby of sew. quilt. explore) decided upon a quilt based on this one by Alissa Haight Carlton, entitled Didn't Get the Memo. I'm all for wonky, so I had fun making 16 squares for each 12.5" block. 

The quilt is going to be all black, white and grey. I chose seven shades of grey solids to go with the black and white, which helps add some additional movement to the triangles. 

Squares are trimmed to 3.5", triangles had to all face left and three corners of each square needed to be 'open' to give the illusion that the triangles are floating. 

These are being packed up and sent to Minnesota. I look forward to seeing Colby's finished quilt!

 

To add some color to this post, I'm excited to add that I'm headed to QuiltCon in Austin next February. It's 12 months away, but I'll have something wonderful to look forward to all year. There are many exciting things planned for this convention already, including an exhibition: The Quilts of Gee's Bend. I've always wanted to see them in person. It's a good thing we no longer have to buy film for our cameras!

xo Karin 

        

The Sunny Crib Quilt PDF is Online at Pellon Projects

My pattern and tutorial for this fun little crib-sized quilt is now available on the Pellon Projects page. Click here to check out and download the easy-to-follow PDF!

We've been getting pelted with snow again, so I'm enjoying these bright, cheery colors — particularly the big square patch of sunny yellow.

xo Karin 

        

January Lucky Stars BOM: The Sparkling Star

So. I turned 40 yesterday. Forty. I'm not sure when or how this happened, but for the past few weeks I've felt somewhat like an alien. I've never been one to fuss over birthdays or numbers, but this one was different; it took more getting used to. Now that I'm here, I think it'll be okay! 

I finished the January Lucky Stars Block of the Month recently, and I'm happy with it. There is one seam that isn't right. Ordinarily I would have ripped and reripped it out until it was perfect. In this instance, there is so much that looks good that I thought it might be an interesting exercise to leave it in as a metaphor. Concentrate on what works, because there is a lot of good going on — many positives that merit recognition. Stare at the one glaringly imperfect thing and it'll overtake your ability to enjoy the rest of it. I'll let you know how it goes. ;)

 xo Karin

         

 

 For more information of Elizabeth Dackson's Lucky Stars BOM Club click here:

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

We potato stamped Valentines for Preschool this year. It was a dreary, snowy day (again) and it was nice to have some bright colors in the house! I used a cookie cutter pressed into the potato to get a perfect heart, and then cut away the area around the cutter before removing it. 

I mixed the Crayola washable paint — red, pink, purple and white — applied it to the stamp, and Annabel stamped away. I'd cut sheets of bright white card stock in half and folded them; two cards from one piece of paper. One of my best friends also did potato stamping with her daughter and wrote a cute tutorial on her blog Kaesey. We must have been on the same wavelength! 

Last year Annabel and I made paper spin drums for her Valentines. The kids loved a card that made noise, and we still play with them. Check out the tutorial here. 

Wishing you a lovely Valentine's Day,

xo Karin

        

Open Wide Zippered Pouches {a Noodlehead Pattern}

I wanted to make these pouches the moment I saw them. It was SO fun picking out fabrics! The elephants are by Kokka, and the cars by another Japanese fabric company called Cosmo Textile. Both are from Fabric Supply. The bottom pieces are Robert Kaufman's Yarn Dyed Essex in Red and Denim, available at Fresh Modern Fabric. The red seems more difficult to find, of course, because I love it.

For the lining I used Pure Elements Solids by Pat Bravo for Art Gallery Fabrics. I'm not entirely sure which colors the orange and lime are — guess I need a color card!

The VW bug pouch is the large size and I made the elephants in medium. There is also a small version of the pattern which I have yet to get to. . . 

Pellon Shape-Flex (SF-101) was recommended and I'm glad I used it; the bags have a nice stiffness to them so they stand up well on their own. 

Colton's 'broom broom' Matchbox cars and Lightning McQueen racers should all fit nicely in here.

I might have to keep the elephants for myself. Is that bad?

This is another combination I came up with. I thought the Kokka fabric would make a cute for little bag for Annabel to keep hair accessories in. It's Red Yarn Dyed Essex for the base, polka dots for the lining, and a bright pink zipper from Zipit. 

This is the one I'm unsure about. I like this combination for another open wide zipper pouch, but a friend on Instagram suggested I use the Cloud 9 sheep to make a bag for the knitting supplies I'll be needing to tote around when I start knitting again. I haven't picked up my needles since I completed Annabel's baby blanket more than four years ago, and it's starting to feel like it's time to get back to it. I've been staring at the Honey Cowl pattern on my bulletin board for a few months now.

Meanwhile, it looks like I have a few more pouches to make. Anna Graham's tutorial is easy to follow and fabric combinations are endless. I highly recommend it, even if zippers freak you out. Confession: I'm still a recovering zipper-phobe. The zipper foot is my friend. . the zipper foot is my friend. . :)

xo Karin

        

Craft with Kids: Fabric Scrap 'Quilts'

Annabel (age four) likes to sit under my desk and collect small fabric scraps as I create them. If she's busy while I'm working, she'll go through the bin later. With a glue stick and a piece of paper, she's started making 'quilts' by arranging the scraps on paper and then gluing them down. This is her Riley Blake Challenge project, entitled Icicles. It's quite a bit different than my ferris wheel pillow, but it is winter in New Hampshire and I thought it was cool she was able to use the pointy triangles that were left over from my paper piecing marathon to make something relevant to what's going on outside. I taped two pieces of standard-size paper together so she'd have a larger 'quilt'. 

Instead of wadding up the scraps, we make small piles so the pieces stay flat. Ordinarily these are what ends up in the garbage. They're so colorful it's sad to toss them. I love seeing her work — watching her process in arranging the pieces in ways I never would have come up with myself. 

These were the little pieces of Kate Spain's Sunnyside that were left over from my cat quilt. So cheery!

The best part of this for me, honestly, is that I did the exact thing when I was a kid. I used to sit under my father's drafting table collecting cardboard scraps from his architectural models and make mini buildings with them. It's great to be passing on another tradition.

xo Karin

        

The Riley Blake Challenge: A Ferris Wheel Pillow

Riley Blake Designs is the sponsor of the 3rd annual Modern Quilt Guild members fabric challenge. Several months ago we each received six fabrics, the five you see above in the paper pieced pattern and a solid grey. The challenge was to make anything we wanted with the fabric, as long as it was quilted. We could add any solid colors we wanted, but other prints had to be Riley Blake. The combination of bright colors and prints reminded me of a carnival, and I started thinking about Ferris wheels. 

Right away I decided I didn't want to add many fabrics; I wanted to see what I could do with what was given to us. I bought one additional Riley Blake fabric for the front trim and back of the pillow. It's called On The Go, and it's all little cogs — the gears that make the Ferris wheel go. The background on the front is Kaufman's Essex linen. 

For the blocks on the front I decided upon this asterisk pattern by Sew Take a Hike, available on Craftsy. At the last minute, I wound up rotating the entire front 90 degrees to the right. What is now the bottom was originally intended to be the right side of the pillow's front. 

I fused the front and back pillow pieces to Pellon Fusible Fleece, and quilted the front in a square spiral starting at the center. Finished size is 22".

I wasn't able to make the Seacoast Modern Quilt Guild meeting this past Saturday where everyone presented their work (check it out here on the SMQG blog). Family first. I don't talk much about family here, other than in goofy pictures, but Jason flew to Pennsylvania Friday to be with his parents. His mother has been suffering from advanced stage Alzheimer's for some time, and it was clear she only had a few days left. Jason made it out on time; he was able to be with his father in their home to say good-bye to his mother on Sunday night. Ordinarily, Jason & I do everything together, but in this instance we decided it was best I stay at home with the kids. It was a heart-wrenching decision. As my friend Laura put it, I want to do both jobs, mommy and wife 100%, and at this particular moment I cannot. I've been glued to the phone, waiting. I received the call as I wrote this.

I am so grateful Jason got there in time to say good-bye alongside his father, even though she could probably no longer hear them. 

xo Karin