That’s right! I’ve managed to start and complete a project! Remember the crochet from the last post? Well, it’s done and has been done for a while. I’ve just been so busy with work, baby and moving house. The main reason I’ve made progress on any of my projects is my commute to work. Which means, of course, that the only projects that get my attention are the portable ones!
First, I finished the crocheted scarf. I really enjoyed the double-hook Tunisian crochet process. It was quite a lot of fun… once I figured it out.
The scarf was one long piece that I’ve sewn into a twisted spiral. It’s effectively a Möbius strip. And because I only had one skein, it is more of a cowl than a scarf. But I like it! 
With the scarf completed, I went through my project closet to see what I had that was in progress and doable on my commute. I rediscovered my Alabama Chanin Indigo Star Quilt! The nice thing with this project is that once the top is done, the project is done! I used Inklingo 6″ Le Moyne Stars to print my shapes.
Apparently I started this blog after I started and abandoned the AC Indigo Star quilt. I bought the kit from Alabama Chanin, the fabric and notions, shapes not precut. It came with a printout of the blog entry and I was told that the shapes just needed to be enlarged. Except they didn’t fit with each other and I didn’t know how much to enlarge them by. Maybe it was my experience as a quilter, but I just couldn’t handle the vagueness of the instructions. This was what sent me off in search of a better solution: Inklingo!
I was told that the finished block size was 7.5″ but at the time, Linda only had the Le Moyne star in 4.5″ or 6″ blocks. I decided that 6″ was close enough and set off printing and cutting diamonds. Just so you know, printing on cotton jersey works just as well as printing on quilter’s cotton!
I already have many stars sewn together but I haven’t really printed many of the squares yet. I’m hoping to get those printed soon because it’s really satisfying seeing the completed block.
Here is the kit I’m currently taking on my commute. Two stars completed in this bag, a third star almost finished, and a stack of diamonds to go.
And in Big, Exciting news, the Winding Ways baby quilt top is finally complete! Doesn’t it look glorious in all its precise-matchedness? And the circles are so perfectly round. Makes me happy.
It’s also basted and in the midst of quilting. I’m currently quilting a quarter-inch inside the circles and I’m thinking of adding an extra ring an inch or two inside of that. Still deciding, though the single ring doesn’t feel like enough quilting. 
So that’s the update, finally! Next new projects will likely be of the wood furniture variety. To be continued!
I finally squeezed in the time to make this shirt. As I learned with the Oliver + S Secret Agent Coat, the instructions were excellent and I didn’t have to unpick any seams. One thing that wasn’t clear, but only because my experience with sewing knits is minimal, was whether I should be sewing with a stretch stitch or straight stitch. Of course, if I had read the instructions all the way through before starting, I would have seen that stretch stitch is specified when required. Sigh. So I have stretch stitches where I didn’t need them, but that’s not a disaster on my first try. 
The teacher of the class had us make up prototype blocks. I’m not really sure why except maybe to give us a sense of the scale and how our fabrics look together. In retrospect, a good idea, ha!
And finally, my Winding Ways quilt.