Looming Deadlines

The GRE is breathing down my neck, and I ought to have finished my writing sample by now, so of course I spent the weekend playing with fiber!

I finished the quilt top I started at Jessica's sewing bee last weekend:

This is from a kit I got at The Quilting Loft a while back (no way could I match up colors and patterns that well - I'm a bit of a disaster that way). The pattern says it's 52" square, but I haven't measured to see how close I got. I can tell I'm getting better, since the corners aren't off by nearly as much as they were on my earlier quilts, but I still have a ways to go. I need to decide on a backing fabric and figure out how on earth to quilt this.

A few weekends back, I managed to stop in at the Kingston Quilt Shop during Shop Hop weekend (purely by accident - we were on our way back from camping on the peninsula), and picked up their block kit:

The corners are really good on this one; I'm very proud. I'm going to make it into a hot pad, since it's only one lonely block. I've got to remember to get the shop hop on my calendar for next year.

I also finally cut the last square for the Beatrix Potter quilt for Adam - can you believe I let it languish for months because I was too lazy to cut a 5" square?

It's fairly tiny, so I'm going to add a border in the dark green. I think if I make it ~4", that should bring it up to a respectable toddler size. I need to pick up some peach-y flannel for the back.

Yes, these are all tops; I'm still terrified of ruining them with the quilting phase. I'll get there.

The Tour de Fleece started this weekend as well - I have several skeins that I spun leading up to it, and a full bobbin to show for the first two days:

This is a terrible photo of my progress from Saturday and Sunday. It's a superwash merino from Funky Carolina that I'm going to make into a two-ply sock yarn.

Finished skeins (pre-tour training):

Wine-Dark Sea - a bunch of stuff I carded together, mostly wool


Abyssinian Maid - a merino/silk single


Each to Each - a merino/tencel single


Eat a Peach - Spinderella mixed batt plied with New Zealand wool


Do I Dare? - Spinderella mixed batt two-ply


And Do I Dare? - Spinderella mixed batt navajo-plied

I also read Wuthering Heights for the umpteenth time. Sigh. (Although I agree with Leila: Heathcliff is a prat.)

Help Me, Interwebs!

So, I have this brilliant idea for a quilt. But, the thing is, I need fabric scraps with letters. Lots of 'em. Preferable black and white, preferebly printed, not script, needn't be too big. If you have such a beastie lying about, and you feel like giving it a new home, send me an email or leave a comment. Pretty please?