Category: Quilts

The Best Baseball Game I’ve ever been to

Marie Haigh2 Comments

WOW! I am so glad I took the day off yesterday to attend the last Phillies game in the 4-game series against the Mets. It was amazing to be there. It was hands down the best baseball game I’ve ever been to.

Our Seats

It wasn’t a playoff game. It wasn’t a World Series game. So, why was it so good? Let me set the stage for you.

Coming up to this series, the Phillies knew they had to win. If we lost the series against the Mets, we would be out of the running for the playoffs. At the start of the series, we were sitting 7 games behind the Mets in our league. Thankfully, we won the first 3 games against the Mets. Thus, the Mets were desperate to save at least one game from the series.

The game was moved from a night game to a day game. Start time was 1:05 pm EST. The crows was 42.5K with approx 40:60 ratio of Mets fans to Phillies fans. To my right was my husband. To my left was a very nice, but very boisterous Mets fan.

And so the game started. The Phillies took a quick lead thanks to the homeruns from Howard, Rowand, and Patty (Pat Burrell). By the bottom of the 3rd inning, we were winning 5 to nothing and had retired their pitcher. No way the Mets come back from such a deficite.

Top of the 4th, the Mets score 3 and in so doing retired our pitcher. Top of the 5th rolls around and the Mets score 2 to tie the game. We gave up our entire lead! Ack! Throughout this entire comeback, the Mets fans are chanting Let’s Go Mets. We’re having a dickens of a time Booing them down.

Bottom of the 5th, the Phillies come back and score 3 runs off of 4 hits. That silenced the Mets fans. We’re winning again. Phillies fans are chanting “Sweep … Sweep … Sweep!”.

No runs are scored in the next 2 innings. Then comes the 8th inning. Pitching started to fall apart for us. Condrey is having trouble throwing a strike. Gotay starts the rally off by walking. Then, Alou walks. We start churning through the bull pen. First comes Alfonseca, but that only made things worse. He got booed off the mound by the Phillie fans after giving up the lead to the Mets. Then, we bring in Mesa. Phillie fans hold their breath; this is the same Mesa we booed out of town a few years ago when he could no longer save a game to save his life. He let one run in that truth be told was a run credited to Alfonseca. Mesa shut it down after that, but the top of the inning closes with the Mets winning 10 to 8.

Bottom of the 8th, Phillies come up. We manage to tack on 1 run thanks to Patty’s home run against one of the best closers, Wags (Billy Wagner).

Then comes the 9th, the Mets fans are cheering for their team. They get booed down. Then, Phills fans start up their cheers of Let’s Go Phillies and Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!

Flash Gordon trots in while Queen’s music plays on the loud speakers. He gives us fans a 1-2-3 inning.

Bottom of the 9th, now it’s our turn to bat. Worthy (Jason Werth) gets on base with a single. He steals 2nd. Then, he steals 3rd! Ishmael (Iguchi) hits a single and brings Worthy home, tying the game! It’s 10-10. Mets walk Jimmy (!!) to invoke a double play opportunity, but next up is Chutly (Chase Utley), the best 2nd baseman in the entire league this year. In true Chutley fashion, he hits a single and wins the game!

So, do you understand now? Back and forth the game went. I have my boisterous fan on one side rooting for the Mets. Hubby & I are rooting for the Phills … of course! The crowd was electric. The game was highly fought for. There were some amazing defense plays. You should have seen the ball Worthy caught at the warning track. Then, there were all the home runs plus all the hits. I was exhausted by the end of the game. My hands hurt; my throat hurt; and my head hurt. What a great game! Hats go off to both our Fighting Phills and to the Mets.

So what did I knit on the way to and fro the game? I can’t show you. I was working on the Mystery Project again. So, instead I’ll show you the center piece for Baby Flick’s quilt that I stitched together last night.

Sore Wrist, but Worth It

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My wrist is sore from knitting constantly the past 2 days. I knit on the drive to and fro the baseball game on Sunday.

Then, I knit on the train ride to and fro Center City yesterday. Plus, let’s not forget the hour and a half of waiting for the darn train to just show up. So, I knit to keep myself from going spastic. I can only take so much of sitting and waiting. So much = approx 5 minutes. I have the patience of a tasmanian devil when it comes to waiting.

Yet, I am pleased to say all that knitting paid off. My Big Dipper Scarf is completed! As you may recall, this scarf was knit for EtsyFAST’s August Celestial Challenge. However, I won’t be selling the scarf in my Etsy store. There are 3 mistakes in the pattern. I have no desire to rip out 6 inches of knitting to fix any of these mistakes. Nor am I willing to mark the scarf down in price. So instead, I have decided to keep it for me. It will make a perfect biking scarf in the winter. It is extra thick thanks to the double knitting technique, so it should keep me warm when the 20F winds are whipping against me. Besides, I’m worth it and I don’t rightly care about the silly mistakes!

I should have completed more knitting over the weekend though. Saturday was also supposed to spent traveling to and fro a Phillies game. But, the weather was so stifling that we called it off. Instead, I stayed home (inside!) and started on my baby quilt. I finished the middle square. Can you tell what letter it is?

While working on my quilt, Jake waited patiently (his patience is about on par with mine) while I finished cutting all the squares out. Which is a nice way of saying that Jake whined constantly until I got up and took him outside. It spoils him, but I can’t help myself. He’s so darn cute!

Little to Show For

Marie Haigh2 Comments

I’ve been knitting several hours every day. Yet, I feel like I am not making any progress on my Big Dipper Scarf. I am convinced that after I knit several rows someone comes behind me and rips out the very same rows. It’s downright wicked behavior. If I catch who’s doing it, I’m going to draw and quarter them!


So, I need some quilting advice.

I was so proud of myself for attaching the binding fabric.

OK, I’ll admit it: I cheated. I went to Wal-mart and bought the pre-made quilting binding strips. It matched my quilt fabric perfectly and it saved me from having to make binding strips. I was sold! I attached it the same way I would have it the strips were home-made. I left the binding folded in half, lined up the open ends with the quilt edge and stitched with a 1/4 seam.

What is the problem you ask? Well, as you can see there is not enough fabric to wrap over the 1/4 seam and attach to the back. I don’t know what to do. Do I rip it all out? What is the proper way to attach it?

Onto the good news of the day:

  • I sold my 1st pattern on The Knitting Vault.

  • I am now listed as a designer on Ravelry. I have only added information on my Lucky Drawstring Purse and my Vase Cozy. I hope to add more patterns next week.

  • My entire weekend is going to be spent watching baseball. I am attending the Phillies games on both Saturday and Sunday.

  • Naturally Spun sent me a picture of the Christmas Yarn. You see it here laid out to dry. The dye has set and it will be ready to spin soon. The amazing part of the spinning process is that she will be doing all of it on a drop spindle! I told her that she had the patience of a saint.

Weekend Work

Marie Haigh5 Comments

How was your weekend? I hope it was wonderful!

I spent the weekend quilting, gardening, cooking, and being followed around the house & yard by Jake. Hubby even took me out for lunch on Sunday. It was a lovely weekend.

The quilt is almost finished.

I completed the border and stitched it to the front. Then, I made the “quilt sandwich”, holding everything together with safety pins. (I’ve decided that I am never going to hand-baste the layers together. Why? Pure laziness.) Finally, I machine-quilted the piece together. The majority of the quilt is machine-quilted via the technique called “stitch in the ditch”. Only the diamond in the middle has a 1/4 inch stitch (a.k.a. I stitched 1/4 inch away from the seam).

Next on the list:

  1. Learn how to make a hanging sleeve
  2. Attach it to the quilt back
  3. Stitch on the binding.

So close! Which means I am all the closer to starting on my next quilt – a baby quilt.

Sunday was mostly dedicated to working in the garden and hanging out with Hubby. I am in the process of creating specific paths to mow between. If my husband mows down one more of my plants, I’m going to throw the mower out! He’s killed a Japanese Maple sapling (with Jake’s help who peed on the tree when it was trying to grow back), and injured my rose bush (again with Jake’s help … I think they are in cahoots!) and 2 hosta plants. So in an effort to ensure he doesn’t nick my rose bush again, I ripped up the grass under and around it, laying down mulch along the way.

Hopefully, next weekend I can “save” the other rose bush.

So, what knitting did I accomplish over the weekend? Um. Does knitting 2 rows this morning on my mystery project count?

Chili Pepper Quilt Top

Marie Haigh2 Comments

The quilt top is completed!
(Here’s hoping my sister doesn’t read my blog as it is her xmas present).

Well … almost. It still needs a border. Since, I have several blocks leftover of both the 9-patch and the 2-triangle, I plan to use them in it. As giddy as I am to complete the border, I won’t be able to work on it until this weekend. I have too much knitting to do.

More quilting news: I went on a Quilt Blog search this morning. Apparently, they are sprouting up like weeds, similar to the knitting blog craze. I found 3 blogs that I added to my daily reading:

Be sure to check them out.

Quilt Progress and Vase Cozie backwards progress

Marie Haigh1 Comment
Saturday, I spent the afternoon finishing up the Vase Cozie I am making for the EtsyFAST’s July Challenge. Then, not only did I manage to seam the cozie together inside out, but I also realized that I made it several inches too short. So, I’m back to the halfway point. It seems as if I didn’t accomplish anything. Although, I have learned another valuable lesson: it takes more yardage to cover curved areas when making a snug cozie. So, don’t look for the cozie in my Etsy store today. It’s not there. It’s still on the needles.

Saturday night, I went with my husband to see a live MMA show by BoDog fight in Trenton, New Jersey. No, he didn’t drag me to see it. I really like to watch the shows with him (so long as there isn’t any blood involved). We watch, UFC, BoDog, and IFC at home all the time. This was our first time watching a live show. The fight card listed 9 fights. There ended up being 10 fights. Some were amazing, such as the Women’s Title and the Lightweight fight of Masvidal vs. Edwards. Masvidal ended up spraining/breaking (?) his ankle in an amazing kick to Edward’s head – dropping Edward’s to the ground. Which leads me to my 1st of 2 complaints: no instant replay. The 2nd complaint: it was way too long of a show. We got there at 7:30 pm and didn’t leave until 1:30 am.

I woke up normal time on Sunday, since Jake won’t let me sleep in. He has tags on his collar that jingle. So, the trick is to walk heavily on his feet, jingling his tags, until somebody gets up – normally me. He’s lucky he’s so cute!

Sunday I spent the afternoon quilting. Here is what I accomplished:

Lots of ironing! Plus, the 28 blocks are halfway completed. The squares are just as they look – awfully small at only 1 inch. It has made piecing them together a bit of a pain, but the sewing goes quicker. Once the blocks are completely done, I’ll move onto the triangles. I’m only slightly nervous about that step.

More knitting news: I cast on for the mystery project and for the AWHF Shawl. I am nervous about my measurements for the mystery project. I measured the gauge several times before ripping it out to get the estimate yardage needed for the whole project. I am now having a anxiety attack about the gauge. I think I am going to knit the gauge back up, wash it, and block it just so I can double check my measurements. The last thing I want to do is knit the whole project only to realize that my measurements were off ever so slightly. The shawl is going much better. I’ll post a picture later this week of my progress.

Happy Knitting, All!

A Birthday Party & Beginnings of a new Quilt

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Saturday we had friends over to celebrate M’s 43rd birthday. (The whole reason … well, excuse, really … to make the potato salad).

Aren’t these candles the cutest?!

Then, on Sunday, I finally got in some quality quilting time. I’ve been so busy knitting that I haven’t had a moment to dedicate to the 3 quilts I want to finish by year-end. If I don’t start soon, they’ll never get done in time. I’ll be up Christmas Eve night until all hours, which I suppose I’ll be doing anyway, but that’s not the point. My point is that I am so glad I had a chance to start the Chilli Pepper quilt I am making for my sister. (Here’s hoping she doesn’t read my blog).

As Mrs. Porter and Mrs. Fons would say, I worked on onesies last night. I ran out of steam when I came face to face with the mountain of squares that now need to be ironed.

You don’t see any chilli pepper fabric in my onesies, you say. Here’s the fabric waiting to be cut up into large squares and triangles.

When finished, the quilt will be small enough to hang in my sister’s kitchen. It will be laid out in a barn raising fashion. This is the first time I am working with triangles. Of course, I should also mention that this is only my 2nd quilt. Thankfully, it’s just going to my sister. Goodness knows she is not going to take a magnifying glass to my work. Or at least she better not!