making progress on designs and quilting

Last night I finished the second version of the button box cloche.  Now comes the hard part... actually writing up the pattern!  With two versions, multiple sizes for each, plus some instructional photos it will take me awhile to get it looking clear and cohesive.  Before I tackle that big project, I decided to write up the (simpler) pattern for a hat I finished earlier this month.  I took the photos this morning, much to the amusement of my neighbors.  They probably wonder what that crazy girl with the tripod is doing.  Here is a closeup of the stitch pattern.

  After the photoshoot I came back home to type up the pattern.  My knitting assistant pooped out pretty early on and provided moral support from afar. 

At night I have been hand quilting my throw blanket.  I'm having a really hard time making the stitches small, I think I picked a batting that is too lofty for hand quilting.  I suppose that is just one of many mistakes I will make as a beginner.  I bought a neat book called the The Quilters Catalog by Meg Cox and it is packed with information.  Definitely not a 'how-to' book, but more a resource guide of teachers, history of quilting, different quilting machines, etc.  I'm not even 1/4 of the way through the book and my brain is already boggled.  I read a profile of Eleanor Burns and checked out her website http://www.quiltinaday.com/  I was really happy to find that her videos are available for free online.  I watched a couple of them and found that she is really entertaining and easy to watch while providing a lot of useful tips and instruction.  I laughed every time she unceremoniously threw her scraps over her shoulder and kept on working.  If you are a quilter and haven't watched any of her videos, check them out.

Ok, enough funny business.  Time to get back to work!