Clouds

The other night on my way home, it looked like it might rain.  As I drove west through the suburbs, the most amazing cloud formation was right above my head.

 

While stopped at a long light, I turned on my phone and took a few snaps.  It was just in one area although the area was pretty big!  By the time I got close to home I had passed under it, or it had passed over me...

 

Isn't it beautiful?  I thought it might be a storm brewing, or that I might find the face of God somewhere.

 

You can see it was lightening up as I got closer to home.

What a wonderful world!

Happy Friday...

Yo!

I remember people using the word YO as a greeting when they were trying to sound cool...  but this is something entirely different.  Whether it's cool or not is a personal opinion.

A couple of meetings ago the speaker at our local guild meeting was a lady who makes yo-yo quilts.  She patiently took us through the process, and some of us even executed one or two yoyos at the meeting.

I'm sure you know what yo-yo's are in the quilting world.  You take circles of fabric, and with a hand needle and doubled thread knotted at the end, you do a running stitch all around, and gather the stitches to the center of the circle at the front... or is that the back?  I don't know... I'm not a big fan of yoyos myself although I do know how to do them.

Circles can be tricky to cut well if you're using a scissors.  They have some fancy gadgets now that let you cut them by machine.  Sizzix has one, as do Fiskars and Olfa.  I bought one from TrueCut that I like a lot for large circles for applique.

You can draw around your favorite jar lid...

There are circular rulers.



If you're into production!!



Lots of folks use this one from Olfa.

Fiskars.

I have this one.  Disclaimer:  No one paid me to show this to you, or any of the others for that matter.

OK so we've solved the cutting conundrum.  So on to the hand sewing.  A lot of you are going "ugh" at the H word.

I don't mind a little hand sewing.  It's something to do when DH is watching sports or other boring TV but he really wants me to stay in the room with him.

To make one you take your precut circle and do a running stitch around the outside while turning under a little less than a quarter inch but slightly more than an eighth of an inch.  It doesn't matter exactly, as long as you're consistent.

There's even an "app" for that, a sewing APP (notion) from Clover.  So far I've resisted buying one.  It tells you how big to cut the circle and helps you get the stitches even.  I've even seen them for shapes other than circles.


I get no money from Clover for showing you this notion either.  Clover, are you watching??  Call me!

Then you sew the resulting finished yoyos together at four 'corners' to make a piece big enough for whatever it is you're making.  This piece is shamelessly borrowed from the internet.  I don't have enough made yet to even sew two together.

So for me, making a whole bed quilt out of yos - I doubt I'd live long enough to complete one.  But they are kind of cute, and you might make something cute from them, once you have enough.

Here are a few ideas:

Toys - always cute...

The right girl would have to like this...

Table topper?

I could do this for the holidays.  Especially if I start now!

Sew on...

Not a Happy Weekend...

I am so not a happy camper...  yet!

 

If you remember the saga of the jean jacket patches and my bent sewing machine from a couple of weeks ago, you know that I sent my machine in for service.  It came back quickly and I was very happy that it didn't cost me the proverbial arm and let for the repair.  That post was on Sept. 28.

 

And the result was a naked bobbin case, with no cover.  After several calls back and forth, the part was supposedly ordered.  I say supposedly because this was a conversation that took place between someone at the repair shop and my husband.

I trust my husband with my life.  Everyone else has the benefit of the doubt the first time.

Here's my machine, on October 16, bobbin still naked.  "Viking parts have been very slow coming in".  Uh huh.

I have projects all cut and ready to start!  Like this table runner.

Oh I have other machines, so it's not like I can't sew!  But my Viking is my main workhorse and has all my favorite tools and lights attached.  It's what I use when I want to blaze through projects.  It's also set up in my favorite sewing spot, and weighs about 32 pounds so moving it is not a fun job.

Last night I found an on-line parts vendor that has my little bobbin cover in stock and it will ship today.  Of course I'm going to pay twice as much plus shipping, but at least it will be in my hands.  In a matter of days, not weeks.

So what's the matter with my repair shop that they don't have access to Viking parts?  Maybe they just want to sell new machines or something, I don't know.

Color me disappointed... I would much rather shop locally than on the internet, but if I can't get what I need, I will reach out to the web.

Now I need time to get down into the studio and get sewing.  My next big project is Miss A's confirmation stole.  We worked out all the designs yesterday, and the big day is two weeks away so I need to get to work.

Sew on...