BOM Hall of Shame

Hi. My name is Helen and I am a BOM-aholic. Maybe  it is more accurate to say that I am a recovering BOM-aholic since I am now participating in just one BOM. But it has been very difficult to restrain myself.

When Sinta announced she was starting BOM Rehab it seemed perfect for me because I am so weak when it comes to BOMs. But it also made me wonder just how many BOMs I have joined, which meant I had to count them. It wasn't easy because they are stashed in a few places. I counted 14 BOMs. They fall in a several categories:

• Fat Quarter Shop Designer Mystery BOMs (2008, 2009, 2011, and 2012).
• Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs: Le Jardin, Pumpkin Hill, Rabbits Prefer Chocolate, Baltimore Bunnies, and A Tisket, A Tasket.
• Robyn Pandolph's With Willing Hands: Mystery Quilt, and Botanika.
• Jan Patek's Girl Gang: Pokeberry Quilt, Feathered Star, and Sunshine on My Shoulder.
• Fons and Porter's Scrapbag Star (my first BOM started in 1999). 

Right now I am not ready to share how much I have accomplished on those BOMs.

One thing is for sure: I am not going to start any more applique BOMs until I finish at least one.

I am looking forward to making some progress on my BOMs and seeing the progress made by other participants.

A pillow for Penny

Even though Penny has been my best friend since we were sophomores in high school, the last few years I have struggled to come up with Christmas gift ideas for her. At this point in our lives, we have both acquired most of what we need for our homes. I can always find a silly little gift, but in the past few years it has been a challenge to think of the special gift. It doesn't help that she has consistently found special gifts for me.

Penny has two blonde  Cairn Terriers and for the past few years I have tried to find something related to Cairn Terriers, but it isn't easy. If she had a Scottie, a West Highland White, a Jack Russel, or one of the designer breeds it would be much easier. But there aren't many gift items featuring Cairn Terriers.

I have looked for quilt patterns for Cairns and it is the same story. I did find a pattern for a paper-pieced Cairn, but it had a ridiculous number of pieces,  plus I don't have any experience with paper piecing and it seemed likely I could waste a lot of time and fabric on it. It was getting close to Christmas and I needed something simpler so I could actually finish it in time. So, I drew around the edge of the paper-pieced pattern and managed to reduce the number of pieces to five pieces that I appliqued to the top of the pillow. I was pleased with the results and Penny loved it.

I loved the way the fabrics worked together. They are all Moda fabrics. The background is Hometown by Sweetwater, the first border is Essential Dots, and the large border is from Maison de Garance. I had just a fat quarter of the Maison de Garance, which would have worked for the front borders, but in a "duh" moment I realized I'd need it for the back too. Luckily, a local quilt shop had plenty of the same fabric. I'm thinking I will go get more so I can make myself a pillow just like this one, except without the Cairn Terrier.

My mini design boards

I've been enjoying reading the blogs about the Farmer's Wife quilt-a-long. And I think Lori Holt's mini design board is a brilliant idea for working on the 6-inch blocks. I followed her excellent tutorial to create five mini design boards.

This was my first experience using a hot glue gun and I learned a few things. First, they mean it when they say it is a hot glue gun. Second, my hot glue gun is not a precision instrument. Maybe next time I'll figure out how to use it without burning my fingers or dripping hot glue all over.

I like the way they turned out, especially the map fabric from Moda's Peace on Earth collection. I'm looking forward to using them.

If it is the Fourth of July...

I'll be wearing my Firecracker shawl.

Yeah, I know the days of eyelash shawls are pretty much over, but I like this one because the eyelash yarn reminds me of fireworks. I received the one ball of the eyelash yarn in a gift bag several years ago at the Acorn Street Knitting Retreat in Leavenworth, Washington. At first I was disappointed because the yarn didn't seem as pretty as the yarn the other knitters received. It had a blue thread and red and white and sparkly eyelashes. Then I warmed up to it and started thinking about how I would use it.

I decided to use the yarn for a garter stitch shaped shawl. I bought some navy blue Sevilla yarn and then started trying to make it work. I thought I would use it every other row, but there wasn't enough yarn. When I tried to find more of the yarn I was told that it was a sample yarn and there wasn't any more of it. So I came up with another plan--to use two rows of the Sevilla and one row of the eyelash. It worked great. I have work it on the Fourth of July ever since.

I know it will be the hit of my brother's Fourth of July party, as usual.

2010 Knitting Olympics

After reading the Yarn Harlot's blog about the 2010 Knitting Olympics, I decided that it would be great fun to participate. There was something about her statement to those who "would like to challenge themselves while embracing the Olympic spirit, and is just whacked enough to play along with me" that called to me. I figured I would be watching the Olympics for hours anyway. Why not use this opportunity to push my knitting skills?

I decided that my challenge would be lace. My previous experience was painful. A few years ago I took a  lace and my project--a lace leaf shawl in SeaSilk--never got beyond what could be mistaken for a thong before I gave up. It didn't help that the instructor would explain the pattern and then, as we started to work, would talk non-stop. I'd listen to her for a few minutes, then look at my lace and have to fix my mistakes. I tried working at home but that didn't seem to help. Hmmm. Yeah. Me. Just whacked enough to take on a lace project while watching the Olympics.

The last time I saw my friend Susan she showed me a shawl she made out of SeaSilk. She used the Ostrich Plumes pattern from A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns. She said it was pretty easy. So I decided to tackle that pattern.  I promptly ripped out the lace leaf shawl and waited for the flame to be lit to cast on. That's where I ran into my first problem. The pattern directions said, "Multiple of 16 sts plus 1." Uh, huh? Was that 16 sts plus 1 = 17 for each repeat? So, if I wanted to have seven repeats that would be 7 X 17? Or would that be 7 X 16 + 1. I knew I was in trouble, but I decided the first option must be right. I cast on the 7 X 17 stitches (don't make me calculate that here). I was off and running.

The first three rows were easy--just simple stockinette. I should have been more concerned about the fact that I dropped a stitch in the stockinette even before I got to the pattern. Then I got to the pattern stitch (K1, yo) 3 times. Got it. (ssk) twice Check. Sl 2 knit-wise--K1--P2sso. What the.... I had never seen that stitch. I checked all my knitting books but since I don't have any beginning lace books they were no help. I went online and found a very helpful YouTube video. Okay. So, got that.

But somehow the pattern wasn't turning out. I suspected I cast on the wrong number of stitches.

The next day I went to Acorn Street Yarn where Bridget was kind enough to look at my knitting and let me know where I went wrong. So I cast on the correct number of stitches and am off and running again.

Lace. Yeah. And the Olympics. I might need to rethink my challenge.

Still tired

I love Thanksgiving, but I've got to admit I am still a bit tired from the festivities. And it is Saturday. Holidays are so much fun, but what wears you down is all the preparation. It doesn't help that I have a cold.

I don't usually host Thanksgiving. After our parents died, Thanksgiving was always at my brother Mark's house. He and his wife Hester  had a large house with a huge kitchen that included two ovens and lots of counter space. But he and Hester divorced this year and sold the house. My house is the next biggest house in the family and so I offered to host. My house is a decent size and the kitchen is fine for average family dinners, but it is a bit small for cooking holiday dinners.

I started shopping for supplies on the weekend. On Tuesday I did the bulk of the shopping. My nephew Trevor works at QFC and his company gave him a coupon for a turkey up to 24 pounds, which he gave to me for the dinner. I found a turkey that was 23.55 pounds, which was the largest I saw under 24 pounds. As I was wheeling my cart around the store with my 23.55 turkey, three pounds of green beans, two gallons of milk, three quarts of heavy cream, three pounds of onions, and various other items, I saw this young couple with their cart.  In their cart was the smallest turkey I have every seen. It was barely bigger than a chicken. And they had all the smallest sizes you could find of holiday items. She was pregnant and they looked excited and happy about shopping for the holiday. I assumed they were spending the holiday alone. In a way I think that was very sweet, but I could never imagine celebrating the holiday without at least a dozen people. This year we had 16 for dinner and that's a small dinner for us.

On Wednesday after I got off work my sister, brother Mark, niece Jessi and I started baking pies. This year we made four pumpkin, two apple, and two pecan pies. We also brined the turkey and made the first phase of Hester's grandmother's apple peanut salad, which involved cutting up the applies and making the dressing and putting them in the refrigerator. We got off to a late start and didn't get to bed until 1 a.m., but it was good to have that all done.

On Thanksgiving day we relaxed for a bit in the morning before we got to cooking. Here's a picture of all the pies. Notice that half a pie was missing. That was the Quality Control team, which declared the pie fit for company.

Then the cooking began. We got the turkey in the oven. My brother Kirk and his wife Jolene were the first to arrive and were immediately put to work snapping beans and peeling potatoes. As the day wore on all the dishes came together--the yeast rolls, scalloped corn, sweet potatoes, and green beans. All our favorite dishes that we only make one or two times a year.

Our goal had been to have dinner ready by 6:30 and miraculously we had it ready by 6:45. That's the closest we've ever been to our goal. I think about my mom who insisted on preparing the entire dinner herself and managed to get it done earlier. I can't imagine preparing the entire meal by myself. But maybe our team will be able to improve on our time at Christmas. Or not. The important thing is to enjoy the process. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, which was also important.

I'm just glad the next holiday isn't for several weeks. I might recover by then.

Do I have to?

My sister and niece Jessi have been telling me that it is time to take down my Halloween decorations. I don’t know why they are in such a rush. It is still early November. And I am still enjoying having the Halloween decorations displayed, especially since they aren’t displayed for that long. And Jessi did such a great job of decorating.

The fireplace niche displays my collection, of, hmmm, I guess you would call them baskets since they have a handle. I'd never use them for a basket. The sconces are also decorated.


Here's a closeup of the "baskets."


The sconces are decorated with black cat napkin rings I bought on sale from Pottery Barn years ago. And one has Count Sockula.


I also have a porcelain "basket" with a collection of glass pumpkins.


On the piano are the Halloween candy boxes I bought on a trip to Whidbey Island. I was going to give one to a friend for her birthday, but couldn't part with any of them.


The candlesticks are decorated.


So is the lamp.


This year Jessi also used Martha Stewart Living patterns to make some decorations. I think they turned out great.


And don't forget this couple. I found them a few years ago at Safeway. I didn't expect to find something so cute at a grocery store.


I will miss all the Halloween decorations. Until next year.