I "felt" that

ok, probably to be correct, that title should be "I FELTED that"

the piece of knitting I've been working on at odd times when I needed a break from the needlework spent considerable time in the washer yesterday

-- agitate, reset, repeat --

it didn't shrink quite as much as I thought it would, but the felting part did really well

and the colors didn't fade or run either, so on the whole I'm pleased with the project

it's now ready to have a zipper and a lining installed

and if I do another one I will either cast on fewer stitches or I'll switch to smaller needles

meantime, last night I cast on the coral yarn for the scarf I wanted to make up for the show I'm doing in November and December -- I've done this pattern before, so this is pretty low stress work -- a good thing

I finished another project last night that is going to the State Fair -- I just can't show you a picture of it because it is also a Christmas gift for someone that I know reads this every day -- sorry folks, you'll have to wait until after Dec 25 for the great unveiling!

that means I'm done to only two things to finish before next Wednesday -- looking like I'll make that deadline without a problem -- just need to go get some thread so I can stitch the finished sashiko piece together

this is the other piece that I still need to do a bit on

I made this quilt for my daughter and gave it to her last Christmas with the understanding that I could borrow it for the fair

when I put it together I decided to try some different things on the angel's wings -- I wanted them to have the look of being sheer and sparkly and that worked really well except on the smallest wings

those were made of two layers of fabric -- a Moda Marble with an overlay of a sheer that had glittery silver stars on it -- unfortunately that overlay just did not stand up to the wear and tear of being used and washed (which is exactly what I wanted her to do with it)

so the overlay has been ever so gently removed and I will be re-quilting just that little section

and maybe using some fabric paint to add some sparkle -- we'll see

the award winners for the Hoffman Challenge have been posted now --- I did not win an award, but just to be selected for the traveling show is a great honor especially since this was the first piece I had ever entered -- the show that will have all of the quilts on display will be held in Northern Colorado this month, and I'm really looking forward to getting to see what my competition was

I also can't wait to see the fabric for the Hoffman 2011 Challenge!