And That Reminds Me...

 

Saturday being National Quilting Day... we actually did QUILT!  That is, Suzi quilted and the rest of us sewed, organized, cut and otherwise offered moral support to her.  She had some foot surgery last week so she's somewhat confined to the chair anyway.

 

This is an awesome I Spy quilt that's now finished.

This rainbow zig zag got a rainbow binding.

Our Peas In A Pod is off to a new home.

This one featured elephants and zebras. 

And lastly, our Yellow Brick Road that was made for the church Youth Auction is nearly done, just a binding needed.

We sewed until about 2 p.m., layering up four more to send home with "The Quilting Queen", got several more matched up, kitted up some more stuff and cleaned out our blanket bin.  We felt very virtuous that we worked so hard!  But we had a good time while we worked, lots of good female fellowship.

I showed one of our newer members how to do string quilts on a foundation square.  She said she enjoyed learning it and really realized the importance of pressing after every addition, or the lumps just stay in!  She did a nice job and finished up two squares that will trim up to about 10.5 inches each.

Follow THIS LINK to a tutorial on string quilting from About.com.

Several of our string quilts and other patterns are going to Ysletta, Mexico, during Easter break with the Missions group.  We know they'll find good homes there with families who could really use them!

Sew on...

Minnie Mouse

After we did the quilting group at church on Saturday, which was National Quilting Day -- quite appropriately since we did sew some quilts -- but I digress...  I proceeded to the Baby Sprinkle.  It turned out very well, the baby got some nice presents that haven't been previously worn by her big brother.

Mommy liked my Minnie Mouse hat.  I couldn't give her JUST the hat so I whipped up a pink polka dot dress and panties the night before. 

Everything at the party was pink, and if it was edible it had sprinkles on it.  That Grandma Sharon just went wild with the sprinkles!

My favorites were the cake pops.

And they were delicious too!

Party on...

Hat for a New Baby...

And she couldn't wait to get here!

I was invited to a Sprinkle this Saturday for my friend Sharon's daughter.  She was expecting a fourth child, but her older daughter is over 10 -- maybe 11?  Then she had two boys, widely spaced due to unfortunate circumstances. 

Sprinkles are kind of mini-showers, for moms who already have babies but maybe they're having a girl when they've only had boys, or it's been a while and they gave all their stuff away or whatever.  I'm sure you can google it and find out all sorts of things about them.

The new baby was due in April.  Poor mom, she didn't look like she'd make it according to reliable sources.  You know that last month if you've had a child.  It can be agony, you're tired and feel ungainly and cranky.  And then if the baby is big, or if you are, it's worse.  I remember the last six weeks before the birth of my daughter -- ugh!  Not well of course because you block those memories or no one would ever repeat the process.

Anyway, this little family loves Disney... cruises probably annually, and has a great time doing it. 

I was recruited to crochet a little hat.  The patterns are free at the blog RepeatCrafterMe (and I'm sure other places too but I picked this one).

How cute is that??!!  The pattern called for little white buttons, which I would not sew on something for an infant no matter HOW secure I thought they'd be sewn.  I used circles of white fleece instead.  Besides now it's completely soft and still washable.  They're sewn on with big stitches and four thicknesses of white thread.

The directions are good, the patterns are sized for many heads, small to large, and the variety is just what any kid would want.

That's my aunt Sonya peaking through the ears...  Hi Sonya!

Baby could not wait another month and she arrived last night.  Happy Birthday!

Now to finish up a matching dress before Saturday... oh, and I'm working on a Ninja Turtle for her brother.

Sew on!

Getting Things Done

I'm feeling very proud of myself today... not for anything I've done so far, but I got some UFOs cleaned up over the weekend.

I got my taxes done and filed.  What a relief!  Not because I'm getting a refund, but because it's done and I'm getting a refund and I'll stop getting those "what are you doing that's not doing the taxes??" look from DH when I'm sitting down with my knitting tonight.  Whew!

I also got some of my yarn inventory organized and entered into Ravelry.com in My Stash in My Notebook.  Not on Ravelry?  Why not, it's free and you can access it from your tablet while in your local yarn store so you don't buy things twice.  Or three times.  Ask me how I know this!

I bought some yarn bins that hand from the closet rods and I filled up two completely without making much of a dent in the closet they're hung in.  What filled them was the stash that was shoved into nooks and crannies in other places.  I thought to myself, at least it's now all in one spot.  But it was still kind of helter skelter so I ordered two more.  They came Friday and I filled those two in no time at all.  But now I can see the floor in front of the yarn closet!  :-)

I always buy a new white tee shirt every spring.  This year the ones at Kohl's were on sale and such lovely fabric I also picked up a red one and a black one.  But they had round necks.  Ugh!  Not my style, and usually too tight for my comfort. 

So I changed two of them to vee necks and one to a scoup neck.  First I did a row of stay stitching just a couple of threads above where I wanted the new neckline to be.  Then I cut the shirt's original neckline about 3/8 of an inch above that line.  The fabric was nice so it was pretty easy to just flip over the seam allowance and stitch it down. 

 

 

I wish I had found this picture sooner -- this is a rough estimate of where a necklace of various lengths will fall... it would have helped with the total neckline measurement.  I like to be in about the 20 inch range.

 

I also shortened the sleeves on a sweater I've had for about 10 years.  (I know, what took me?)  I had them folded up for years.  Sometimes I'd try to push them up but there was so much extra fabric there, I felt like Popeye...  I cut off the end four inches.  Since it's a knit and probably from the cuff up, nothing raveled.  I zigzagged the edges and turned them up to the now nearly permanent fold line.  Then I did two rows of the straight stitch for knits that has a tiny bit of give.  Done! 

 

Now I feel like I have a new wardrobe.  And four things are off my 'got to fix this' pile.  Actually five, I almost forgot the embroidered tee.  I bought an awesome black tee with flowers appliqued and embroidered around the neck.  Scooped neckline, fit me just right.  When I put it one, I knew why it was at the Goodwill.  Scratchy on the inside!  The no-sew fix was to iron some soft interfacing on the inside where the embroidery is.  I pinked the lower edge so you can't even tell it's there.  I wore that one to church. 

 

Sew on...

I Should Buy A Lottery Ticket!

This week, our local quilt guild held a fund raiser to purchase batting for the quilts we make and donate.  It was a lot of fun.

The premise is that everyone with a stash has stuff they know they're not going to use, or they have too much of something.  Everyone brought 'stuff' to donate to the raffle, whether it was one item, a kit, a packet of half yards or fat quarters, whatever a sewist would like to have.  It didn't have to be sewing related.  Someone brought a big bag of chocolates, and someone else donated a basket with cheese and wine.

Wine always goes well with sewing, or sewing always goes well with wine... lol!

The two piece tickets were 50 cents each.  You tore off half and put it in a small paper bag near the item you were interested in winning.  We spent quite a while 'shopping' at the various tables that were set up, examining the wonderful items.

 

After a brief couple of announcements the fun began in earnest!  The ladies running the raffle picked up a bag, showed the prize and drew a ticket.  We had such fun cheering for the winners.  There were a couple of items I wanted that I didn't win, but for the most part I did well, as did my friend Suzi.  She ended up with a quilt kit in purple.  She rocks purple...

I got several kits:



A small quilt kit of cupcakes...



Small kit for a wall hanging including the hanger.  This will go in my kitchen.



This kit is like a wreath or something, I have to read the directions...



These are the pieces, precut, and very tiny!

I also picked up the 30th anniversary packet for the Log Cabin Quilt Guild -- that was the year before I joined.  The booklet is so interesting, listing all the past presidents, where meetings used to be held.  I guess everyone else had one because mine was the ONLY ticket.  I won.  Go figure...

There IS a cute little log cabin pouch and an adorable button flower in here.

 

My favorite prize was this packet of fat quarters.  I make a quilt called Yellow Brick Road, and you need six fat quarters to do it.  There are six pastel fqs on the left, and five black/white/red fqs on the right.  I will add one more and probably make two tops to donate.  Score!

 

Then there was a Ziploc baggie with a bunch of stuff in it.  There were patterns and some rubber stamps.  I didn't really look too hard at the stamps, but the baggies inside were filled with:

 Which is a pattern and these stamps...

 

So after I read the directions on THIS packet, I realized that this was designed to stamp on fabric.  You stamp the shapes, you can cut them out with a scissors and hand sew (yeah, I know, right?) or you can machine piece.  The inside line is the sewing line, the outside the cutting line.

It looks like someone used this stamp for a 60 degree triangle.  It's about 2 inches on a side...  With the dawn of rotary cutting I think this method of piecing went the way of the dinosaur, although I did come across a web site last week where this system was featured.  I thought "how interesting, that someone would have you stamp on the back of the fabric!"  Then, viola!  I win a quilting stamp.  But it might come in handy for other things.

The bag also contained some patterns and other things but the real find was this stamp:


Abstract designs, this is about five inches square and will completely cover a small notepaper.

Also included in the bag were a tiny book and a few miscellaneous notions... check out the little ruler with the scissors handle!  Yes, it's a total of three inches long, as is the book.  The book has a thimble on a ribbon as a bookmarker.  There are all sorts of quotes about quilts and quilters in the tiny pages.

 

Some things still had the prices tags on them.  I spent $20 on tickets and got what I calculate to be over $125 worth of items. 

 

We raised a little over $300 which we will use to buy batting for the quilts that members sew and donate to various charities in the area.  For a group of probably about 50 women, we did well. A good time was had by all.  Only two things didn't go home with new owners.  Those items will be given away at some future time.

 

I want to try and make up a few of those little projects over the next month.  I think I'll take some of them to Friday sewing with my family. 

 

Sew on...

 

 

Oh Pickles!

This weekend was so completely awesome weather-wise that I forced myself to finish up errands like going out to the office supply to pick up tax prep software and going to the drugstore to stock up on toothpaste and mouthwash.

Doing all that made me feel very virtuous, so I rewarded myself with a trip to the quilt shop in Elm Grove, Patched Works.  It didn't hurt that I had a gift certificate for PW either.

I had seen some black and white fabric on someone else's blog that I NEEDED... it was a print that looked just like greenbar accounting paper!  (Only I guess you'd have to call it whitebar since there was no green in it.)  There was also some graph-paper type print, one with words and something that may have been bar codes, I don't remember exactly.

I found the words and what I thought was the bar code BUT I also found crossword puzzle and Sudoku fabric!  Had to have that too.  I passed on the bar code but here's what I did get:

The red added a bit of whimsy to the group.  I'm thinking I need a couple of tablet holders, since my Kindle Fire doesn't fit into the one my previous Kindle used -- I bought the smaller version. 

And then I found Pickles!  I love that cartoon, it's the one thing I miss about not getting the newspaper on Sundays (that's a post for another day).

She's talking to Earl about quilting.  In one panel I think she used his jeans to make a denim quilt. 

In another one, she's discussing the fact that she doesn't have the right color thread to fix his shirt and that means a trip to the fabric store.  At which suggestion he abandons his request!

So add 7 yards to the stash that I am not counting in this lifetime!  But I had a wonderful time... and I'm anxious to get my new tablet keeper started!

Sew on...

Pet Peeves

We all have them.  Why?

 

My daughter calls me the Grammar Queen.  I know I'm FAR from perfect but some things just grate on my ears.  I cannot listen to the local news lately without laughing out loud at the grammatical errors.  A few things that just drive me crazy are:

• On one station, the anchors will make statements and they're not full sentences, such as "A bad accident on the freeway this morning."  What, it happened, there will be one, what???
• The misuse of apostrophes in print -- on signs, wherever:  Martin's Car Wash -- OK,  Car's Washed Here -- not so much.
• The use of the word 'myself' when it is not appropriate.  "Please call John or myself as soon as possible".  Leave out John.  Would you say "call myself"?  That one just blows my mind any time I hear it!

And careless pronunciation  is like fingernails on a blackboard for me.  I know we have a lot of funny place names, but seriously, if you're going to be on the news in Wisconsin, learn to SAY it!  Also learn to say WAU-kesha, O-CON-omowoc, and New BER-lin (as opposed to New Ber-LIN.)

I'm ashamed to say it but I judge performances of the national anthem by any singer or group -- based on whether they say 'per-il-ous' or 'per-o-lis'... 

Ain't it fine over by the bubbler??  (If you understand that phrase you grew up in Milwaukee...) 

I know, loosen up!

I'll try.

Sew on...

A Word of Advice for Monday...

It turns out that according to many experts and all sorts of insurance people, one of the most dangerous times of the year for people in cars is the MONDAY after DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME begins.

Studying accidents over the last ten years, the Fatal Accident Reporting System shows a 17% spike in accidents on that day.  Most of the accidents involved trucks and happened in the early morning hours.

 

Turns out that our body clocks don't like being deprived of an hour's rest.  We don't make it up by going to be an hour earlier.  Even if we do, it takes a week before our bodies catch up.  We end up going to work feeling sleep deprived, we make errors in judgment, and those of us who don't drive well under normal circumstances (you know who you are) are even -- well, you know, dumber than usual.

So this coming Monday, if you have to go out in the morning, use

• Watch out for trucks
• Drive carefully and defensively
• Go in late on purpose -- or better yet, take a 'mental health day'

Drive on...

Color of the Year. Wait, What?

Saw this jotted down somewhere and thought it appropriate on so many levels...

The color of the year -- huh, who knew?

According to Pantone, the color authority for everything from paint to fabric to plastic spoon handles and beyond, the color of the year is marsala.

 

 

Seriously?  Who decides this stuff?  They must know something I don't.  Or they're trying to sell someone something.  You can decide.

 

The color of the year for the past 14 years has been all over the map. 

I LOVED the color of the year in 2013.  I decided it was going to be MY color of the decade.

So what is up with marsala?  What does it go with?  Who looks good in it?

I don't much care for muddy or muted or 'shades of' color.  I think I'll take mine straight up, thanks.  So give me red, teal, even last year's color, Radiant Orchid.

I guess 2015 is a non-starter for me colorwise.  I'm going to live in the color of 2013.

Sew on...

Sick Days and UFOs

I normally go visit my doctor every six months for checking up on my blood pressure, my prescriptions and all that good stuff.  Lately I've been getting letters from my insurance company saying "flu shot due" or "mammogram due".  That's a nice service.

Monday I went to discuss the high cost of a certain prescription and the possibility of getting a generic brand, and since I had a congested head, I got a 'two-fer', that is two consultations for the price of one!  Well, it turned into almost a dozen because I got an exam, changed the prescription, got an antibiotic for a sinus infection, left blood for a bunch of tests AND got a tetanus booster!

I can't remember when I had a tetanus shot last.  Probably over 10 years, maybe more.

Monday night I had a tough time sleeping.  It's hard to sleep when you can't breathe out of your nose.  So Tuesday was a sick day.  I just could NOT make myself get up, get dressed, and drive to work in snow.  I guess the roads were bad, but I can't say for sure.

So after 24 hours on the antibiotic, I started feeling better, so I hauled out a basket full of UFOs.

About a year ago I started a sweater for myself, called February Lady's Sweater.  You can find the pattern free on Ravelry.com.  If you're not signed up for Ravelry, you should be!  It's free and fun and there is a ton of fun stuff available there.

Left front... this is top down knitting and I'm into the pattern rows.

Right front, close up of the pattern.

Pattern

Center back

I think my left front is off as far as the pattern goes.  There are supposed to be holes where the yarn overs are, but I have some thick branches instead.  It's a really simple pattern, done over seven stitches on four rows, and the wrong side rows are just pearl stitches.

So I've done about 15 rows, and I think I'm going to have to rip back.  I can't decide if I should try to rip back just the section that's off, or if I have to pull out the whole 15 rows.  Or if I can live with the out of pattern stitches.

I'm thinking ripping a section. 

Speaking of ripping, if you love funny stories about knitting, may I suggest that you check out Stephanie Pearl-McPhee at the Yarn Harlot Blog ?  She's too too funny, and I swear I have lived some of her stories verbatim!  She's turned some of her stories into books, which I've recently picked up on Amazon.com.  Love her!

Knit on...

The Weather, and Under It

OK so maybe we don't have as much as the East Coast.

We have enough to make the birds unhappy...

And DANG but it's cold this week!  The normal high is in the low to mid 30's but we've been having below zero temps and/or wind chills for what seems like months.

Brrr...

And to top it all off, this week I'm under it.  The weather I mean.

This should give you some clues as to how I'm feeling.



Taking a lot of this.(I know, I've kind of got that same fuzzy feeling in my head...)



Drinking lots of water....

Using up a lot of these!



 

My boss says I sound like a frog on the phone.  I have coughed so much my sides ache, and not in a good way!

 

I am looking forward to a NICE quiet weekend of vegging on the couch.

 

Although I did get a new package of yarn yesterday --  but knitting doesn't seem too strenuous as long as the pattern is easy.  I grabbed up a kit for a baby sweater from the clearance section of Love of Knitting this week and it arrived quickly. 

 

Yeah, that much I think I am capable of.

 

As long as no one moves my tissues.

 

Knit on...