Sunday, March 31, 2013

NewFO

My NewFO for March was this little wall hanging that I began at a quilting class on the 16th.  I've posted more details about it here.  

It has joined the ranks of many another quilting project - that being the status of UFO.  Before putting it away though, it will be worked on some more over the next few weeks.  The tree will be outlined in a zig-zagged satin stitch, and of course all the blocks will be sewn together along with the center medallion.  The tree outline will be in green and I thought I had green thread but it isn't out in the open.  I may have it tucked away with another UFO project that I had begun to quilt and didn't finish.

Here is the current progress picture, and I'm linking this up at Cat Patches.

Blocks and medallion pinned to design wall. 
I need to read and find out at what point to remove all that paper in the boy, girl and star blocks, whether before sewing them together, or after.  Using the fusible web to adhere the tree to the background was a piece of cake!  I will also have to select a backing and binding.  I would love to find a candy cane stripe for the binding, or both. 

Friday, March 29, 2013

Repurposing

Quite awhile back Nick decided he was going to clear a few things out of his room that he didn't want any longer.  One of the items is this toy bin rack set-up: 

Oh my, look at that dust!

There are actually two of these and the other bins are blue and red.  He had placed them in the upstairs hallway until we could get around to actually dealing with the bin contents and deciding what to do with them.  Then I broke my foot and I've largely ignored them ever since and we just keep walking past them in our now much narrower hall space.  I have cleaned out the bins of the one rack and am even using the bins for my scrap cutting, and thought I'd place one of these racks in my stash closet.  Unfortunately, it's all of about 1/2" too wide to fit in the space between the edge of the shelves in the closet and the opposing wall, shoot!, and it's about a foot too long to fit on that opposing wall.  So what's a woman to do?  Well, without those plastic bins, I was looking at the rack and thinking "RACK" as in "QUILT RACK".  Oh I love when an idea hits me like that.  So here is what it will be...can you believe I don't have a finished quilt to put on it though, except maybe a Christmas one and that can wait until Christmas to be displayed.  A stadium throw works for now for picture purposes

I'm placing it at the top of the stairs, but off to the side, and under a big mirror (which I finally re-hung after several years realizing the hallway isn't going to get painted any time soon).  Directly at the top of the stairs is a cupboard and I can't block that off.  Now I have to figure out what to do with the other rack...and all those bins and the stuff in them.  We're overflowing with 'stuff' and I need to get busy I suppose sorting through stuff that's been placed in the garage and decide if it just gets donated or, shudder, I attempt my first-ever yard/garage sale.  


Monday, March 25, 2013

Design Wall Monday

Monday comes around all too soon, and March is Marching right along at a very quick tempo!  This is actually the last Monday of March, can you believe it?

I now have all the boys and girls paper pieced and can work on the last three stars for the corners.  I have to say, I was getting real tired of boys and girls.  The stars go much faster.  Then I can figure out how to do that center section.  Tina Curran, the class instructor, gave instruction on it towards the last hour of the day, and well, I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention, but I have her instructions sheets and the instructions on the fusible web, and am quite able and capable of learning from those.  I don't think I'll have any problems with it, at least I hope not!

Without further babbling on, here's what's on my wall:





Linking up at Judy's Patchwork Times and will be back to see what all everyone else is working on...I need lunch and it's already 1:45!



I Won! and it Arrived Today

Back at the first of the year, I'd made a comment on Barbara at Cat Patches blog for the Quilting Secrets Blog Hop organized by Mrs. Pickles Garden (Dec 31 - Jan 6).  Barbara had a wonderful tutorial on Fusible Applique (found here).

When I checked Barbara's blog on 1/3, I was very surprised to see the winner announced as #9 Lee!  At first, I didn't believe it was me as I have seen others with the name Lee, and had to go back to the comments on the 1st to see if it really, really was...and it WAS! Of course, Barbara had also sent me an email but I hadn't seen that since I don't check it every day.

And this is what I won :) and it arrived in today's mail:



Perfect neutral colors!  Now I need to start a special new project just to use these; I've not used Aurifil before.  I've linked to Aurifil's website if you want to check them out.
Thank you Barbara, thank you Mrs. Pickles, and thank you Aurifil

Friday, March 22, 2013

Fina-Lee Friday

And well, it's getting awfully close to Saturday!

  • Traffic's had it's usual, questionable choices by drivers; thankfully no incidents!  
  • Marty's been working from home again the last few Fridays.  That shouldn't bother me, but I've come to see this as 'my domain' during those hours.  Guess I'll have to readjust!
  • Nick is doing well with his piano lessons.  His newest piece to practice will be My Heart Will Go On, you know, that incredibly heart-wrenching song from Titanic, yeah, it always makes me tear up.
  • There's an area of town I drive through every day to get Nick to and from school that has flowering plum trees in full bloom on BOTH sides of the street.  Stunning.  I noticed Barbara at Cat Patches has a picture at her blog of some of those blossoms in her neck of the woods.
  • I've finished 5 of the 6 girls on the quilt I took a class at last Saturday....and just how is it that it's almost Saturday again? Way too soon!
  • Nick had a dentist appointment this week: "A+" and his GPA for the 3rd quarter was a 3.91 - his highest ever :) and that makes this Mama very happy.
  • On Tues I had an appointment for an MRI to my upper back and to my neck - over 45 minutes in that narrow tube without being able to flinch a muscle....was happy I had past experience caving through lava tubes to know that I wasn't claustrophobic...and it helped to just keep my eyes closed during the whole process...a good time for prayer.
  • A second appointment today to get the results of my MRI.  Some small protrusions in some areas of the neck and upper spine, but nothing that the doctor would even recommend any further procedures for.  She did however suggest I take Celebrex for the pain in my neck, which by the way, wasn't bothering me until the pain management doctor did a specific test where he pushed down on my head - perhaps with a bit too much force as it really hurt at the time...some pain management that was, eh?  That was quite awhile back now, and the pain is lessening, but I still awake with a headache every morning.  The lower back is feeling better than it had in a good long while.  I'm quite thankful for that.
  • I think tomorrow (Saturday) would be a good day to get some more sewing in.  I'll have to consider if I want to progress more on the class quilt or set it aside and work on something else.  And that reminds me, I promised to post some photos from the quilt show...oops, maybe that's what I'll do tomorrow.
  • And how long would be considered sufficient patience for a 'win' to arrive....waiting, waiting, waiting.  Is nearly three months a normal time? 

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Spring

Spring has arrived, and I know so much of the country is wondering 'where?' and 'when' as they are still getting snow or rain, but here, it's been nice and warm for the last several days.  Today was cooler, but still in the low 70s, and was overcast in the morning with the sun peeking out later in the day.

We've had flowers blooming for quite awhile, all of my daffodils have bloomed and faded, and now the freesia is beginning to bloom.  There may be more out there, but I haven't looked closely.

From my kitchen window I've noticed a new set of lovebirds (actually finches) are building a nest under the patio awning, and the hummingbird, or one of her offspring from the last three years, is rebuilding the nest.  I find it fascinating that it/they keep using the previous year's nest as the base for the new one.  Last year's was pretty much torn apart by inclement weather over the winter, but enough was still there to be added onto.

Spring is probably my most favorite season of all.  Fresh and green with beautiful flowers, lawns that begin to need mowing, and chattering birds galore.  These trees, I believe they are ornamental pear, I find exceptionally pretty as the young green leaves first start appearing while the clusters of white flowers are still on the tree.  Our neighbor also has one of which the branches hang over our fence, but these were taken in a parking lot where I was headed for an MRI on my neck and upper back yesterday.

ornamental pear (I think)

I'm not sure if this one is the same, it doesn't have much for leaves yet if it is.

These are some miniature daffodils, photo taken spring 2010 - I didn't get any photos of them this year.  I also had a yellow, and some purple hyacinths in bloom, but they were barely more than a handful of flowers on the stem, so no pics there either.  Now I'm waiting for the tulips, and I'd really enjoy if my irises would bloom as I see a neighbor's are, but mine don't seem to do well - I keep trying.    

Monday, March 18, 2013

Design Wall Monday

As I wrote about yesterday, I took a class at a nearby quilt show.  The three blocks I made in the class are on my design wall, and I will be doing some more work on this project later today.  For now, here's a shot of the three blocks:

Pattern: O Christmas Tree by Tina Curran (see yesterday's post)

Linking up at Patchwork Times.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Quilt Show Class

On Saturday, I took a class at a quilt show not too terribly far away. 

Bright and early, I got my stuff loaded into my car and drove to the home of my friend Panda, and she loaded her stuff into the car and we drove together to the show.  SHE talked me into going to this class.  It was not a class I would have considered otherwise...it was described with paper piecing, and fusible web, and nylon thread, and oh blech, that just did not sound like MY cup of tee...and good grief, what did I need another Christmas wall hanging for!  I had even thrown the brochure with the list of classes into the trash by the time she'd prodded  asked if I'd join her....it would be a lot more fun to take a class with a friend, she said.

And you know what?  IT WAS.  We had such a great time.  The class was small, only nine of us.  It was the instructors first time teaching this class...and she did a terrific job!  Very nice, personable and helpful young woman.  The teacher was Tina Curran (yes, I'm using a real name and she said it was ok).  Here she is holding her quilt that we were learning.  And you can see more of her work at her web site.

Tina Curran with "O Christmas Tree"

I only took a couple of photos at class so here are two of the ladies who were there.

This is "P", she flew in from a point north of us that would be about a 5 - 6 hour drive by car!  She was at the same table set-up as Panda and I.  She was very nice and we talked quite a bit.  I especially enjoyed when she told me how much space her stash occupied in a moving trailer/van when they moved north, ahem, makes mine look puny! 

This is "M".  She likewise was very nice, and I'm afraid I've already forgotten where she said she was from, but it seems it was closer than "P" though I could be wrong.  She was at the table behind us, so we didn't get to talk as much with her.
We had two ladies from a location about 6 hours drive east, another was from a couple hours to the east, and the others I don't know.  As this was my first class at a quilt show, I was a bit surprised that people came from so far away to attend the show and classes.  I guess to them, it's a three-day retreat.  So with that in mind, Panda and I just might take an occasional road trip if only to just get away from the sameness of our area and to see what lies beyond.  

The class was from 9 - 5, and it sure doesn't seem like we got much done, time passed very quickly, but then, paper piecing does take a bit longer, and it's a method I've only done once before many years ago and was not overly fond of it.  With that project, it came with pre-printed tissue paper sheets.  For this class, she printed her patterns on standard printer paper and newsprint.  We had the option of choosing either one.  After the tissue-paper project, I really felt I did not enjoy paper-piecing.  Using the stiffer paper, I found it to be much more enjoyable, although I'm still not crazy about how much time it takes - I'm a slow piecer anyway. 

These are three blocks I managed to get done during the class. 

This is the boy.  There will be six.

This is the star block, there will be four, one for each corner.

This is the girl block.  There will be six.
When you look at those faces, or their clothes, can you just imagine adding a little embellishment for eyes, nose, mouth and buttons, or belts, or a hair bow?  And I suppose, if you're really creative, you could come up with some toes or shoes and socks.  The boys and girls alternate with each other around the outsides of the quilt, three on each side, then in the center is a tree made from half-square triangles.  I was able to sew about half of them together before it was time to pack up.  The tree is made independently and then adhered to a center background square using the fusible.  It is then machine embroidered around the outer edges, and I'll have to go to the pattern to find out where and how that nylon thread is used - I missed it while she was explaining (I was busy sewing instead of paying attention!).  

I'll show some of the photos I took at the show of the quilts on display sometime during the week, probably spread over a few days.


Stash Report - Week 11

It's that time again where we post our Stash Reports over at Patchwork Times.

It looks like my last report was back on the 25th of February....late even, so it's clearly time to report in again.  And this time, I have sad news, well, ok glad news, well, view it however you wish, but I haven't decreased my stash, rather, I have again added to it!  You see, there was a quilt show this weekend, and what does one do when they go to a quilt show and there are vendors with fabric?  Exercise restraint? I don't think so.  But oh, there was so much more I petted and wanted to buy, so I DID exercise restraint, lol.

Without any further adieu, here are my numbers....an increase of 9.625 yards over my last report.

Used This Week: 0 yards
Used Year to Date: 0 yards
Added This Week: 9.625 yards
Added Year to Date: 14.625 yards
Net Used for 2013: -14.625 yards 

And this is what I brought home:

This set of 6 fat quarters was a WIN for posting on the facebook page of one of the vendors that was there! I had a choice of these, a $10 gift certificate, or a Charm Pack.

Another set of 6 fat quarters, love these!  These weren't free though.

I don't like orange....usually.  You won't find much orange in my stash unless it was given to me.  But there was something about this fabric that grabbed me, so I bought both 1/2 yard cuts available.

One of the vendors sells 'pre-owned' fabric.  The gray-blue on the left was 1.125 yards, and the other was a yard.

And lastly, this set is two one-yard cuts and 3 half-yard cuts, all sold independently of the other but to my liking and for no specific purpose other than I liked them.  Which is really why my stash grows a bit at a time.
Also following me home were these items:


A bobbin box, a 3" tumbler template, and two quilt patterns.
And there you have it, my report for this week.

Friday, March 8, 2013

Acrylic Quilting Table Attachment

Wayyyy back here, I wrote about my breaking my acrylic quilting table attachment.  Was it really that long ago?  Yes, yes, well, I'm here to let you know, I finally searched for the super glue, found it and attempted to fixed it.

Why would I consider Superglue you might ask? Even further back in my quilting history, I'd dropped my 6" x 24" ruler on the floor, right onto the hard tile floor, and it chipped a good 1" piece right out of a corner, so I got out the Superglue then and fixed it.  It's held wonderfully, though it may not be as pretty as from the manufacturer, but with that in the back of my brain, I decided I'd try to fix the acrylic attachment.  I figured nothing to lose as at this point it was a useless, high-cost, piece of acrylic.  Had same, said brain been fully functioning, I'd have taken those 4 white legs off and put the tape on the other side and not had to worry so much about now getting the excess dried glue and the blue painter's tape that stuck to it off!  

The best news is, the glue worked here too! and my quilting bed is now functional again.  You didn't know that was part of the reason I haven't been getting any quilting done, did you?  That's my excuse, and I'm sticking (love the pun?) to it ;P

Not 'perfect' but oh-so-close, and certainly not pretty, but it WILL WORK.


If you have any ideas to smooth out the little bit of overflow and remove the rest of the tape that's stuck to the overflow, I'd be appreciative of your suggestions.  Water may remove a little more of the tape, and I'm not sure if a super fine sandpaper or steel wool will smooth off the glue without further scratching the acrylic.  Worst case, I'll just put another piece of blue painter's tape along that line as fabric will glide over it pretty easily, and may even over the residue, but it would sure be nice to have it clean up a little.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Design Wall Monday

In less than two weeks, I will be off to a quilt show where I will spend the entire day with a friend in a class making a Christmas wall hanging.  She talked me into it!! I hadn't planned on it and had thrown the brochure away even, thinking I might not even go to the show, but she talked me into it :-) And I'm glad she did.  I will be learning some new stuff.  I've never done machine applique and will be using a fusible web, and using invisible thread, which I've only experimented with once, quite a long while ago.

I don't know why this rotated :s

I've pulled some fabrics in reds and greens.  Not all of these will be used, or maybe they will, I will have to decide. They will be used in a tree made of  half-square triangles, some in stars, and some in clothing. The tree's trunk is HST's in brown; there are boys and girls so there are dresses and pants and shirts, and skin, and hair, so I need to cut the suggested size pieces from these fabrics.


 The quilt has two light backgrounds, again I will have to choose - I may still re-check my stash.

The browns at the left are for the trunk, the next set is for hair, the black and navy for pants, and the far right pile is for skin colors.
I am beginning to really look forward to the class.  Just last night my friend emailed me and asked if I was ready - only 6 days to go, lol. NOT, I think she's really anxious to start the class, as it's not until the 16th, that's still 12 days away!

See who's posted over there Design Walls at Patchwork Times 
.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Anger, Bitterness & Prayer

This post contains nothing about quilts, or food, or embroidery, or cats, but is a very personal request for prayer.

Have you ever been so angry over something or with someone that it throws you into a tailspin right into the depths of darkness where you feel you'll never see the light of day again?  I guess you could say that's where I've been.  I won't go into the who, what, where, when etc. with all the details, but will say that the last couple of weeks have been emotionally and spiritually brutal.  I know that I need to turn to my Heavenly Father, but my heart has been so darkened that even that has been hard to do.  My own repentance from this sin of anger and bitterness is needed, and yet I'm still struggling with it.  These two sins have probably been my life-long hardest ones to overcome, but overcome them I can with God's help.  Know that the issue at hand is not one of murder, or adultery, or theft or anything like that, but here and now, my own anger and how I have dealt with the issue and the offense, perceived or real.

I shared some of the details of the issue with a 'close' friend, and was met finally with being confronted and while much of her chastisement was valid, some was not, and I battle with a heart-attitude of retaliatory confrontation to the log in her own eye on some issues with which she has vented to me over the last year.  I laud her for being bold enough to confront me and risk our friendship by doing so.  I am not angry with her, but do find I have some feelings about her own hypocrisy.

On another note, we have recently been told of a close friend who has cancer.  We have known this man for a very long time and he was our best man at our wedding.  He is in his early 60's and no wife or children to care for him, though he does have a sister and her family.  He underwent surgery to remove the main tumor, somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 lesions from his liver, a segment of his small intestine, and his gall bladder.  The surgery lasted 8 hours; a hospital stay of 1 week, and 3 months recuperation at home.  The word before the surgery was that he hopes to make it to 70 but he was unsure if that was possible.  It's a progressive cancer.  I don't know since the surgery and further testing what the current prognosis is.  My husband and some other friends left after first service this morning to go visit him in the hospital, so I may learn more later today.  We have so many good memories with this man and hate to see this trial come upon him, but he knows the Lord and his faith is strong.

Please, my Christian sisters (or any brothers who happen to be lurking too), please keep me in prayer to the Great Healer.  He rescued me out of darkness in 1987 and I know He can revive this heart of clay again.  And pray for my friend, especially as this is the early stages for him and though his faith is strong, he still questions the with the 'why's ... but even Job never knew why, though we do now, and it had nothing to do with Job aside from Job's faith and Satan's desire to take him from God - as if!!  No one can snatch God's own from His hand.



Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...