Fall Frolic

Fall Frolic is done. Now I just have to pack it up with Licorice Allsorts and send it on its way. Licorice Allsorts is for the oldest son of the nephew for whom I made Fall Frolic. I was hoping to make the quilts for his oldest daughter and youngest son and send them along as well, so that no one felt left out, but I must get the Stitch Pink quilt done for my niece. Plus my daughter has requested a bed-sized quilt, and I'd like to give her that for Christmas. And I don't want to have to store my nephew's and great nephew's quilts until I get the others made. Plus I've got more masks to make... (I'm sick of masks).

I used the pantograph Fall Flurry by Bethanne Nemesh from Urban Elementz

and Wonderfil Fabulux thread in Majestic Sunrise for the quilting. 

You can read my previous post for more info on this quilt. 

Meanwhile, i finished the quilt top for Practice Makes Perfect 3. 

I would have rather done the border in one of the other colours rather than grey, but I've pretty much used up any large pieces of the original 5 colours used in Practice Makes Perfect. That's why I ended having to alternate the green and blue triangles in the corners of this one. One thing I noticed about this solid fabric - it really wrinkles easily. It's not like most of the print fabric that I use. So, I almost hate to take it down off the design wall until I'm ready to quilt it because it will require a very thorough pressing - again - before quilting. But, as I said, I've got those other projects that need to be done. So, this one, along with Practice Makes Perfect 2, will have to find a home on a shelf until I can get to it. 

Back to Stitch Pink, I have finished block 3, Monkeying Around. 

Frankly, I find this block embarrassing. It looks like I didn't cut the pieces big enough and then was too lazy to redo the block and just added extra strips of background fabric on the bottom and one side to make it big enough. But that's not what I did. This is actually the pattern. Perhaps if the extra strips had been print fabric instead of background, it might have looked more like a design choice rather than an afterthought. I get it - this is a 5-patch block, which can be very challenging to make into a 12" block. Templates were what was needed, and if I had to do it over again, I would have made my own templates so that the block would have finished at 12" without the extra strips. But I really don't feel like making it over again. I might consider it. I'll see how quickly I get the rest of the blocks done and how much fabric is left. 

I have to say, though, that this block kind of makes me feel the same way as these hot pot holders. 

From the top, they don't look bad, but my sewing machine wasn't liking this quilting and I ended up with thread loops and nests on the back. 

I'm not sure what was going on and I didn't have time to try to fix it, so I will be keeping these potholders. I intended to give one of them, together with a crocheted dishcloth, to someone who was leaving our office for a job elsewhere, but there was no way I was gifting something with that kind of mess. I would be ashamed. So, the individual got two dishcloths instead. 

Block 4, Flower Power, was next. 

I'm still puzzled as to why the instructions call for making HSTs by cutting individual triangles instead of putting two squares together as much as possible. Regardless, I'm doing them how I want to do them. 

I was hoping to get another block done today, and I still might, but I had a couple of lengthy phone calls and I still have to do laundry. So, quilting will pause for now. 

Dishcloths and Health Care Aide Day

October 18 was Health Care Aide Day in Alberta. It's a time to recognize health care aides (personal support workers, home support aides, nurses aides or whatever name they go by) and the important work they do. It's not an easy job - they do most of the "grunt" work in health care, and are often unrecognized and unappreciated. Last year, when I was working as a director of care in a long term care, I gave each of my health care aides a bath scrubby and some home made soap. I personally did not make the soap, as that is not one of my hobbies, but it was made by one of my retired nursing colleagues. This year, back in home care, I gave each of our health care aides a home made dishcloth.

That was somewhere in the neighbourhood of 26 dishcloths! It gave me an excuse to try a new Bernat yarn: Scrub Off. This yarn has regular cotton yarn interspersed with a scrubby-textured yarn, sort of like terrycloth. I decided it's not my favourite yarn. Like Bernat Bundle, the transitions between yarn types are not smooth - there are often loose ends that you have to figure out what to do with. I also don't really like working with the scrubby texture - a little rougher on the hands. 

While in Ontario on vacation, I picked up this book: 

and decided to start trying some of the patterns.

Orange Slice  -  Sunny Day

Cornflower  -  Wild Rose

So, the health care aides got quite a variety of dishcloths.

I took a Big Ball of Bernat Handicrafter Cotton in the lava lamp colourway (the green/pink/blue/white ones in the photo above) with me on the plane. When I finished that up, I bought one in Garden Party (the purple/pink ones). 

 I was using patterns from yarn labels and the internet. Above is another new yarn I purchased in Ontario. The purple/blue one is Bernat Handicrafter Stripey. It comes in a "cake," rather than the usual skein, with about double the amount of yarn, and I find it softer and finer than the usual Handicrafter cotton.

Summer Shells (which really isn't the pattern in the book)  -  Summer Rose

Rose Granny  -  Sunflower in Circle

At home I continued with the "Year of Dishcloths."

I then made these Pretty Posies dishcloths for a neighbour who had lost her husband. This is a free Mary Maxim pattern that I've used numerous times. It's pretty and it works up quickly. I use Red Heart Scrubby cotton for the edging.

Passion Flower  -  Fancy Heart

Before the Pie  -  Grandmother's Flower Garden

October 18 was drawing nearer, so I finished off with these four, plus some other dishcloths I had left in my stash. On the afternoon of October 17, I stuffed one in each of the health care aides mail boxes at work.

Now I'm down to just three in my stash, so it's time to get started on some new ones. I decided to try a pattern I got on a leaflet in Len's Mill, Bernat Holiday Dishcloths. I couldn't find the pattern online so I can't link to it. It's a Handicrafter Holidays pattern.

Because of the stitches used (front post double crochet, alternating with back post double crochet), it really ends up being too bulky for a dishcloth, so I put it in my drawer with my hot pot holders and trivets. 

Better get moving. I've got a quilt on the longarm that needs to be finished before I can get my niece's bag done, plus laundry and cooking to do, so I'm ready to go back to work tomorrow.

A Quartet of St. Patrick's Day Dishcloths

Having started a new job in January, I had to spend several days in a classroom for training. I get bored easily sitting in a classroom, so like to take along some crocheting to keep my hands occupied so that my mind can pay attention. I don't like to take knitting projects because it's much more challenging to stop in the middle of a row, not lose stitches and know which direction you're going in. I have actually picked up a knitting project before and started knitting in the wrong direction. Not good. 
While I didn't really need any new dishcloths, they are an easy take along project. And I have a whole large bin of cotton yarn. I started out with the Hostess Dishcloths pattern from the Bernat book, Let's Dish. 

It's a pretty basic pattern and I gave all four of these away to my class instructors. Next, I decided to try the Pastel Eggs pattern in this book. 

As you can see, mine really didn't come out looking too much like an egg. One of my great nephews was visiting while I was finishing the edging at home, and we both had a good laugh over it. I'm not likely to repeat this pattern. It's not good enough to share and I don't really need any more deformed dishcloths. 😄 

The interesting thing about Let's Dish is that, while it goes through the calendar, offering dishcloth patterns for various occasions and holidays, there is not a single one for St. Patrick's Day. And, being of (half) Irish descent, that is important to me. I had already made the Celtic Knot dishcloth, which I consider relatively useless.

I haven't tried it yet, but I question the effectiveness of a dishcloth with more holes than fibre. 
Next, I did the Crochet Shamrock Dishcloth. 

It looks good, but it is kind of tedious to make for something that is probably no more useful than the Celtic Knot. Instead of making any more of these, and still having more class time to occupy, I just made another Hostess Dishcloth with the green yarn. 

Definitely much more practical than the previous two.

In my googling, I also found a knitted St. Patrick's Day Cloth. While I didn't intend to knit this one in class, it was the most practical one I found, and I made this one at home. 

Enough of dishcloths for now, I've got too many other projects to work on. 

Chelsea Rose Bargello

This is a quilt of firsts: first bargello quilt completed, first jelly roll quilt completed (though I have 2 other jelly roll quilts in progress, one of which is a bargello, that I started before this one, but this was the first one finished), first scrappy border... And first blog post in over 2 months! It's not that I haven't had anything to say. It's just that I prefer to finish a project before I blog about it. And, aside from small projects like dishcloths and potholders, there's not been a whole lot of finishing going on around here. I counted and I actually had 8 quilt tops finished and ready for quilting. With this finish it's now down to 7, but as soon as I put the border on the Licorice Allsorts quilt, it will be back up to 8 again. It's not that I've lost my zest for longarm quilting. It's just that it's inconvenient and expensive. If I was content to finish all of my quilts with Bumpity or a similar, simple pantograph, I could have them quilted lickety split and not have to pay so much for longarm rental. The Chelsea Rose Bargello would have probably been done in under 2 hours. It's only a 50" x 60" quilt. But it took me 4 hours of quilting time, not including the time it took me to load and set up. That's because I wanted a "suitable" pantograph. When I chose the Abstract Rose

pantograph, I knew it would be challenging. Anyone who does machine quilting knows that for each of those points and tips, you have to bring the machine to a full stop - even if just for a fraction of a second - in order to make them sharp. So, the more points and corners a design has, the more labour intensive it will be. And this one has lots! While I was wholly sick of quilting this pantograph by the time I was done, the results are really beautiful.

I have to thank Denise Schillinger for such a stunning design.

I think if I was ever going to do a whole cloth quilt, this would be a design to consider. It almost seems a shame to use it on a pieced quilt where the quilting just disappears into the background. However, I don't feel like I'm in a hurry to use it on another quilt. My feet were really aching by the time I was finished. If only I had my own longarm quilting machine, I could work on my quilts an hour or two at a time. Or even half an hour. And I wouldn't have to worry about how much it was going to cost me when I use a more labour-intensive pantograph. That's a contributing factor in why I have so many quilt tops waiting to be quilted. For most of them I have chosen pantographs that are more "involved." 

I want to use Farm Tractor for the Deere Country quilt. Look at all that detail, and all of those points!

I chose Pine Bough for the Wintry Woods quilt: yikes - it's mostly points!

So I have been rather reluctant to book the time to finish these quilts. Another consideration is what happens if I can't finish it in a day? Or even in the time I have booked. At one studio where I rent, you have to book in 2-hour increments. What if I don't finish the quilt in the 4 or 6 hours I have booked, and someone else has booked the 2-hour increment after me? And what if I book 6 hours, and the quilt only takes me 4-1/2? I doubt that they will refund me for the remaining hour and a half? And what can I quilt in that remaining time? A table runner? I had actually booked 6 hours to complete the Bluenose II Pixel quilt, and it ended up taking me 7. Fortunately I started early enough in the day that I had time to finish and there was no one booked after me, so I could take the extra hour. That's why I prefer the other place: you only pay for the actual quilting time, and it's cheaper, though they did increase their hourly rate when they switched to a newer machine with a bigger throat space. 

And $25/hour is still $25/hour. And it's a shame that I end up paying as much to rent a longarm as I would to pay someone else to finish my quilts. And, even though thread and prewound bobbins are included in the rental price, I often end up buying my own because I'm not always happy with the selection. I'm fussy like that. 😉

In the case of this quilt, I bought both upper and lower threads, the two Glide threads on the right. The two Aurifil on the left were used to attach the binding. 

And on the subject of thread, I had a discussion regarding appropriate thread for longarm quilting with the repairman at the studio. Since he repairs these machines, I think it's safe to assume that he knows what he's talking about. Cotton, specifically King Tut cotton from Superior threads, is what he recommends. Not polyester. Hmm, my understanding of the rationale for using polyester is that the high speeds of a longarm quilting machine would result in the thread breaking more frequently when using cotton thread, but Rod (the repairman) didn't seem to think that should be an issue. If I ever get my own machine, I will have to experiment and find out. The interesting thing is that both studios where I rent offer Glide polyester as the thread included with the rentals, but Rod doesn't recommend that. He said that Glide is actually an embroidery thread, which I've been told before. Meanwhile, I purchased a Glide colour card, so that I can chose thread colours at home, for when I order online or when I don't want to drag fabric samples along with me when I shop in person. 

Now maybe I need to buy a King Tut colour card. But I already have Aurifil colour cards. And the repairman didn't seem at all familiar with Aurifil, confusing it with Wonderfil. So likely an Aurifl 40-weight cotton would be as good as a King Tut? As I said, if and when I get my own machine, I will do some experimenting. 

Speaking of machines, the bad news is the touchscreen on my Janome Memory Craft 8000 can not be replaced. The part is no longer available. It has been giving me trouble for a few months now - working inconsistently. Sometimes it would work fine and sometimes not at all. Following instructions I found online, I was able to recalibrate it and it worked fine for awhile. Then it started acting up again. Sometimes I could "trick" it into working again by switching it on and off and sometimes by just switching it off and leaving it for a while. But towards the end, the touchscreen wasn't even responding to the recalibration technique. And I ended up leaving the machine on constantly if I was working on a project. Turning the machine off, the machine would default to the basic straight stitch when I turned it back on, and I needed the touchscreen to change the stitch to move the needle for the ¼" stitch. I finally took it in for repairs and that's when I found out that the part is no longer available. I haven't had a chance to pick it up, or do anything about it. I wasn't planning on replacing it yet. My "machine" priority has been the longarm. I still have the Memory Craft 6000, which doesn't have a touch screen. It's fine for piecing, but I tried using it to embroider the quilt information on a couple of quilt backs, which is what I do instead of a label. Unfortunately, unlike the 8000, it doesn't have a viewing screen to see what I've entered so that I can tell if I've messed anything up. It also isn't consistent in spacing the letters.

Rather messy, isn't it? But I wasn't about to rip it all out and start over. The 6000 hasn't been serviced in a while because I haven't been using it, so hopefully a good servicing will make the lettering more consistent. But if I take it in for servicing, that will leave me machineless, except for a really cheap Omega that I don't have a ¼" foot for, and the little Janome I bought for my grandson. And that's really only suitable for children's sewing: can't change the pressure foot and only 1 speed. So, maybe it's time for a new sewing machine. The longarm will have to wait anyway, as I've got some other developments in my life, which I will likely discuss in a future post. 

Meanwhile, back to the Chelsea Rose Bargello quilt - 

I have long wanted to do a bargello quilt, though I didn't originally order the Boundless Chelsea Rose jelly roll for that purpose. I intended to use the strips as setting frames for focus fabrics, but decided that a lot of this fabric is too busy and would distract from the focus fabrics. I was planning on doing the bargello with a different jelly roll, but found that jelly roll lacked sufficient contrast, and I ended up using it to make the Licorice Allsorts quilt (look for that one in a future post). And so finally decided to use the Chelsea Rose fabric to make the bargello. Here's the MSQC video: 

I also bought the pattern because I really needed it for the cutting directions and layout. However, I should warn you if you plan on making this quilt that the strips for the contrasting fabric (the teal in my quilt) need to be cut 8½", not 9". Not sure how this escaped anyone's attention, but it says 9" in both the video and the print instructions. 

So now I can cross "Bargello" off my quilting bucket list (though, as I mentioned, I do have one more bargello WIP), and I can't say that I will be in a hurry to try it again. It's rather tedious. 

Mystery has given this one his seal of approval. And it will soon be off in the mail to my newest great niece. 

I'm hoping to get Where the Charming Roses Bloom quilted soon 

but feel hesitant because I intend to use the Abstract Rose pantograph again. It's 70" square and I calculate that it will take about 7 hours to quilt. 

Now for some dishcloth finishes:

Orange ones for my daughter

a couple in pink and a Celtic Knot one which I think will be rather useless because of all the open spaces in it

finished all of these from one Big Ball of Bernat Handicrafter Cotton

Christmas Pretty Posies

and a container to put them in

several Pretty Posies

I also finally finished a CAL (crochet along) from 2015, I Want That Bag. I should say that I finished the crocheting part. I still have a zillion ends to work in, and need to line the bag. Will post once all of that is finished.

First Finish of the Year

No, these are not extremely early for Christmas 2018, though I have every intention of starting early this year, and, indeed have already begun a dishcloth for next Christmas. Since I was able to purchase this haul of yarn for $0.99/skein (with Tinker's approval),

I'm already ahead of the game. But the potholders above and the dishcloth below, while they are my first finishes of 2018,

they are actually for this past Christmas (and most of them were started before year's end). However, as I live in an area with a high percentage of the population being of Ukrainian descent, and Ukrainian Christmas isn't until January 7, I'm really not late! 

As you can see, Mystery approves. And no, I do not have to encourage him to pose for these pictures. He just likes being in the centre of wherever my attention is focused.

I got to use some of my very yummy Aurifil thread in holiday colours. The red and green came from the box in the background.  It's the Home for the Holidays collection from Craftsy. I think I bought it in the Black Friday sale, but I'm not sure. I've placed several orders with Craftsy lately (Black Friday,  Boxing Day, end of year), that I'm not sure I can remember what came in which order. Not that I have all of my orders yet.  Still some exciting parcels on their way!

I decided to give my neighbours Christmas gifts this year. That's what all the dishcloths and potholders are for. I delivered most of them this evening. The first neighbours, however, did not answer their door, even though I could see lights on in the house.  I was going to open the screen door and hang the gift bag on the doorknob,  but the screen door was locked. So that wasn't even an option.  I know some people don't really use their front doors much. I don't, but I have a side door with easy access from the street. These neighbours only have a back door in a mostly enclosed backyard. I really don't think it's polite to wander around in people's fenced-in yards. Evidently, they don't want unexpected company.  Or maybe no company at all. So, unless I happen to catch them coming or going, I might just have to choose another neighbour to be the recipient of their gift. The rest of the neighbours answered their doors, up until the last one. These people have a big, nasty dog and a "Beware of Dog" sign on their front window. (Obviously, they don't want company either). I really didn't want them to answer! The dog started barking before I even knocked. So I knocked,  hung the gift bag on their doorknob  (they don't have a screen door), and left before they could open the door and let "Brutus" out to eat me. Actually, I have no idea what that dog's name is, but Brutus seems like a good name for a dog with such an unlovely  disposition. Or maybe "Killer." I have yet to figure out why people keep such animals. Makes me wonder what goes on behind closed doors... At least they walk him regularly, which I'll give them credit for, as I've seen them go by in the early morning or evening on several occasions. But he doesn't have a muzzle on, which would make me rather nervous should I meet them on the sidewalk. 
Anyway,  I am writing this on my tablet with a stylus and the onscreen keyboard. What a pain! But my computer is "Working on updates 27% Don't turn off your PC. This will take a while." A while??? I started it before I even turned on my tablet. Meanwhile,  I went upstairs, retrieved my tablet, booted it up, and composed this whole post without the benefit of a full keyboard, and the updates are still only at 27%!!! And unfortunately, I can't add pictures to my blog post when working on my tablet. So, I will have to save this to draft and come back later to add the pictures if and when my computer ever stops updating.
<SIGH> It wasn't the tablet. I wasn't able to add pictures to this post from the computer either. I had to download them to the computer, and then upload them to the blog before I could add them here. I don't know what's with that. I haven't had this problem adding pictures taken with my Android phone directly here before... Oh well.
Happy New Year, everyone!

A Homemade Christmas

I don't know if it's because I'm getting older or less organized or because being short-staffed at work has impacted my outlook at home, but Christmas came much too fast this year. I didn't get anywhere near as much done as I had hoped, but sometimes I think I expect too much of a single-homeowner who works full-time. 😉 However, I was still able to get some of the important things done. Like spending time with my grandson. That's always high on my priority list. 
This year I determined to make some homemade Christmas tree decorations with him. I have a 4' green tree that I bought to use as a prop when I was teaching his Sabbath School class at church, and I was using a camping theme. I'm no longer teaching his class, and I didn't have any decorations for this tree, so this seemed like the perfect vehicle for his homemade decorations. I had bought some clear plastic baubles at Walmart in the after Christmas sales last year. I used one of the bigger ones to make a fabric decoupage bauble for my tree 

and he used a smaller one for his tree (with Grandma's help, of course).

He also filled some of the baubles

but you have to be cautious in filling them, lest the filling have too much weight for the hook. And let me forewarn you that if you try to fill them with those tiny styrofoam snowballs, static makes them stick everywhere!

Covering a styrofoam ball with pom-poms made another ornament.

The majority of the ornaments are salt-dough, cut with cookie cutters,

dried in the oven, painted and sealed with acrylic sealant spray. 

We also collected pine and spruce cones and made them into ornaments with glitter paint and ribbons. 

This one is felt glued to foam and decorated with sparkles.

I have lots more craft supplies for making ornaments, but this was sufficient for this year. However, as I was determined that, aside from the lights, and possibly the tree topper (I have an angel from my childhood tree that is probably around 50 years old that I was planning on using on this tree, but I never got all of my decorations out of the garage), all of the decorations on this tree would be homemade, I had to decide what to do about a tree skirt and garlands. I wanted Damian to be involved in as much of the production as possible, so I googled for a loom-knitted tree skirt, as I know he can loom knit. I found a pattern, but the instructions were kind of vague and left me guestimating how to make it. I bought some Bernat Blanket yarn as Damian loves soft, fuzzy things like blankets and stuffies, and got him started on the knitting loom. I hadn't counted on the attention span of a 5-year-old and knew we'd never get it done on time for Christmas, unless we had started way back in January. I finished three of the wedges myself and stitched them together, 

but I really didn't feel that they were going to work. They were lopsided and the space in the middle was going to be much too large. Knitted tree skirts are actually quite rare, so I googled and found this crocheted Snowflake Ripple Christmas tree skirt pattern that I figured would work and produced this. 

I had to abbreviate the pattern because I was using such bulky yarn and was making this for a small tree. Here it is under the tree: 

Much nicer looking, in my opinion, than the first pattern I tried. I used the leftover yarn to make the garlands, combining the red and cream for one garland and a gold tinsel-y yarn from my stash with the cream for the second garland. So, there you have it: Damian's Christmas tree. He also said that he would like a white tree, since Grandma has a white tree. So I brought in my white fibre optic tree, also about 4' tall. I never did get around to decorating it, but he was quite impressed with the fibre optics nonetheless. 

Meanwhile, I was busy trying to get some dishcloths and hot potholders completed. Unfortunately, knitting and crocheting dishcloths exacerbated my carpal tunnel syndrome, so I had to employ my splints in order to get as many done as I wanted to. 

This isn't the total haul. I actually made two more, but they had already been given away by the time I took this picture. And I still want to make one more. 

Surprisingly enough, I was initially only able to find one of the big balls of Bernat Handicrafter cotton in this Mistletoe colourway in our local Walmart. And nothing in a solid red or green. I find that the pattern shows up better when using solids than when using a variegated yarn. Walmart later got in some smaller balls in different holiday colours, which are rather expensive compared to the non-Christmas yarns, but I was able to find one more big ball of this yarn. You can tell it was from a different dye lot as the green is more faded-looking in the second ball. Most of the dishcloths have been knitted:

these 5, plus the two that have already been gifted. Each pattern is different as I'm working my way through this book:

 I'm not loom-knitting, however. I'm using needles as I find needles are faster than the loom, and the pegs are too far apart for worsted yarn on most of my looms. It makes the stitches much too loose. 
These are the crocheted dishcloths: 

Top left is the Linen Stitch dishcloth. Interesting that it's produced a sort-of plaid pattern when using this stitch. You can tell that I started the new ball about one third of the way up. Bottom left and top right are variations of Cable Stitch dishcloths. And the bottom right is one I just made up. The final one is Tunisian Crochet 

using the diagnonal stripe pattern from the Button Down Pillow found in this book: 

All of these dishcloths look like they could use a good blocking, but why would I block something that's just going into the dishwater? 
When I couldn't find a second ball of the Mistletoe Ombre, I took a brief detour with the Psychedelic colourway. 

I can't remember whether I got one or two dishcloths done in this yarn (and I don't know where they are at the moment), but when I found the second ball in the Mistletoe Ombre, I decided to continue with that colour as these are Christmas gifts. I've used the Psychedelic before, but didn't end up with this problem: 

The dye was colouring my hands, so, before I gift these dishcloths I will have to make sure I give them a dye-fixing bath. I intend to finish the whole ball, however, and then do them all at once. 

When I went to Damian's school Christmas program, I saw posters up for their pajama day the Friday before Christmas, where the students wear pajamas to school. (I have no idea if the teachers do or not...). So, in the midst of all the other Christmas hubbub, I threw together some awesome and warm pj's for my grandson from McCall's pattern M6224.

In order to complete them, I had to find my black binding, which necessitated dumping out multiple rough totes of fabric, creating havoc in my living room.

As it turned out, it wasn't a school day for Damian. He's in kindergarten and only attends Mondays, Wednesdays and alternate Fridays. So, no pajama day for him. I gave him his new pajamas for Christmas instead. 
Damian and I also took time to decorate a gingerbread house. Being a newbie builder, I incorrectly decided to put the decorations on first before building the house.

I promised him a carrot cake which will be our "plot" on which to build our house. I'm waiting for his next visit to complete this part. 

Next project was quilt-as-you-go potholders. These two have already been gifted.

Might seem bizarre, but I find that there are certain colours that don't show up well when photographed on a horizontal surface with a cell phone. These look kind of yellowed out to me. 

See: when I take the picture vertically the potholder doesn't look yellowed out like the ones in the previous photograph. 

Last time I did these potholders, I used cat fabric for the centre. This time I decided to go with these cardinals. However, I cut the cardinals out smaller than the cats, with the result that a lot of the corners are not covered by the third round of fabric strips and I have to add a little tiny piece to the corner. Frustrating, but I'll try to remember for next time. 

I've got 9 more potholders to add binding to, and one complete potholder to do and then I'll be done. 

Except that for 2018, I plan on starting in January, doing one or two a month, and then I'll be sailing come December.