Christmas gifts can be surprising!

I bought myself an early Christmas present. Since my family usually doesn't go the quilting route for my gifts I felt I was safe. Well the book came in Friday and I immediately ripped open the box.

Stop! Why am I so excited?
I was only buying myself the book to add to my collection. I really like Bonnie Hunter and I own two of her books but had never really cared for String Fling as I have enough of a mess in my sewing room without sewing in strings. I have been saving all of my small strings and pieces to mail to a friend since she likes to make crumb blocks. I'm not a crumber either. Not that I don't have everything needed for them, just I don't need the added mess.

Well last night I was a bit on the tired/stressed/aggravated side so I decided I needed some sewing therapy. I love the look of pineapple blocks so I thought I will make me a copy of the pattern and do some mindless sewing.

Hmmm I didn't want to cut any of my strips into tiny bits so what do I do? Oh! I have that bag of scraps! I can dig out a few pieces and no one will ever know.

Do you know what happens when you unzip a stuffed bag? It explodes! This bag weighed over 9 pounds. How many scraps make up 9 pounds?
A LOT!

This is a beauty!
It didn't take very long.
I didn't have to cut any fabric.
The room is a mess, but I had fun and that is all that really matters. 

Merry Christmas!
Diane

Let the dancing commence!

We do NOT have to move!

This has been a constant stomach knot for way too long. I tell you these companies need to find a better way to conduct business that to try and up-end the whole thing the last quarter of the year, it is just too stressful!

Tomorrow night my oldest son arrives from California. I'm thanking Jesus for that as he has been really sick for the past week. I'm so thankful we live in a time of antibiotics.

I am so happy I think I will sew today!

I do have pictures of some work...Bonnie's mystery. I was all caught up, then life happened and I am back to being behind. :(
Maybe I can get caught up again. Let's see.

Later,
Diane

Hit the floor running...

We arrived home last night from the last trip of the year, I hope.  It was supposed to be the Christmas party for the company, and Ray needed to attend and I was going to stay home. Last minute he had to stay for a couple days afterwards so I decided to ride along and keep him company.
You do realize my keeping him company in the truck is usually me storing to the music he is whistling or singing. :)
Monday evening a cold front came through and wouldn't you know it neither of us even threw a long sleeve shirt in the truck this time. I got a bit chilly with that wind, but we survived and when we got home last night it was 74 and muggy.

I have been working on designing a quilt for a dear friend and thought I would shop at a couple of fabric stores on the way home. I shopped and I looked and came home with fabric but only one little piece is for his quilt. Ray asked if I found what I needed as I carried a good sized bag and crawled in the truck. I told him I didn't find anything that would work and he looked at me strange.
Ray - "You didn't find anything that would work, yet you have that big ol' bag of fabric?"
Me - "You would be correct!, I found some for other projects though. "
Ray - "You mean stash fabric?"
Me - "Correct again, now take me to that other store I HAVE to get Jimmy's quilt started when I get home!"
Ray - "Yes dear."

This store has been having all quilting fabrics on sale for $5.50 a yard so I knew I needed to look there first. I did find a dark blue but what I really needed was a background. I need 8 1/2 yards of a background and if I use what I have in my stash I will end up using all of my shirting fabrics. I will still be shopping, so I hoped to find something but no such luck.
So I will shop online today. I refuse to pay $12 a yard. Oh I know what some of you will say. "We have to support the quilt shops", "If we don't buy from them, they will go out of business and we won't have them anymore".
I have spent twenty years supporting the quilt shops. I refuse to pay these outrageous prices. I understand the quilt shops don't set the price of cotton, but I can't help that. I can buy one yard at $12 or two at $6 so I choose the latter. I have opinions about these prices but will remain quiet. I had a business for several years and I worked in several quilt shops so I know a little bit about this.

 I have two puppies that have missed me and need some play time and then outside to decorate my palm tree.

Later,
Diane

Testing 1,2,3

I am testing a new photo resizing site.

I re sized each of these photos at a site called Picmonkey.com. I am trying to see if it looks different on the blog.
I know I am probably the last one to hear about this. I am usually the last one on the train.

Here goes the test.

Diane

New to me

Have you ever seen this stuff before? Have you tried it?
I have horrible dry hands. I know it is from handling cotton fabric and doing dishes by hand but no amount of hand lotion will bring back soft supple skin. Do NOT tell me it has to do with age. I will dance around with my fingers in my ears singing lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala until you stop!

Anyway back to the subject. I found this stuff at a cute little quilt shop called Cotton Patch in Tulsa and wondered if it would help with my not being able to hang on to fabrics. My skin is so dry the fabric just slips through. I have no grip at all. It states that it is safe for fabric and non toxic, I have dry eyes too so I am constantly rubbing them. I don't want anything that I have to remember to wash my hands before touching my eyes or mouth.
I tried it today for the first time and I think it reminds me of the stuff I used years ago when I worked for the County. I think it was called Tacky Finger or something like that. My memory of it is that it was a yellow/gold color. This stuff is clear like a silicone and it reminds me of Thread Heaven without the glitter.
So far it works just fine. I do have to reapply every half hour or so of constant piecing. I am not certain of that amount of time but it I am guessing.


Still no news about our future whereabouts. So to give me something else to think about I have been playing in my 2 1/2" strip drawer.


pardon the out of focus shot of the design wall



lots more to add to the design wall

I determined to not cut anymore strips and only use what I had. There will be plenty of each color but not a lot of variety as I had already used a lot of these three colors in previous projects. I used up many strips that I had 15" or less. Many fabrics have been in the stash for as long as I have been piecing, it was time they got used up.
One of the classes I took at Craftsy was learning to quilt large quilts on a small machine. I think this will be the perfect thing to put what I learned into practise.

Later,
Diane

OMG! I had a great cooking day!

Not too many months ago I heard about Craftsy.com from some of my quilt guild friends in Mobile. I am pretty slow sometimes and I didn't "get it" at first.
I took a couple of the free classes and I was hooked! It is great! Last week I took the Artisan Bread Making class and I tell you what I made the BEST clover rolls I have ever eaten. The instructor. Peter Reinhart was very clear and gave lots of information. I just happened to have bought one of his books a couple of years ago but never had the nerve to make anything from it since I was a bit intimidated. Taking the video classes on Craftsy made it so understandable. I even took some extra dough and made my version of pull apart bread. I rolled little balls like I was making clover roll but then rolled them in cinnamon and sugar and threw them in a small loaf pan. YUM-OH!
What I need to learn now is how to time the bread rising and resting to when dinner will be ready. Starting dough at 4pm will not have rolls ready for dinner at 6pm. :(
But it was all good, we had them all for desert!



Clover Rolls

What is left of the cinnamon/sugar bread

For dinner I made Judy Laquidara's Green Chili Pork Stew. OMG! It was so good! You really must try it. It was very easy and I will be making this again. I have tried several of Judy's recipes and I have liked them all. I guess with my family (parents and grandparents) being from Louisiana and Judy being from there too, we have similar taste. Anyone who has ever eaten with me knows I don't do "hot" so if Judy's recipes call for an ingredient that is hot I just delete it or reduce it by a LOT.

Back to the Craftsy site. I will be taking more classes from there. I really like it. So far I have taken the Artisan Bread Making, Modern Buttercream (free class), Quilting Big Projects on a small machine; just did a quick run through so no verdict yet but it sounded very promising. The Modern Buttercream class that was free was a real class. Not just 15 minutes or so to introduce you to to the stuff. No it was over 85 minutes long! All I ever wanted to know about buttercream and how to use it.

I didn't intend for this to turn into a Craftsy commercial but I really like it so far.

Tomorrow...SEWING! After I make more bread! :) I see some weight gain happening around here! :)

Later,
Diane

Thanksgiving sewing

There was no cooking in this house today. My sweet husband thought I shouldn't take the time to cook a big meal for the three if us. He made reservations at a wonderful restaurant that we went to for our anniversary. This was the first time we ate out for any big holiday and I felt a little strange but that feeling went away quickly when the server brought out a basket with four different types of bread. I was hooked!

Since I wasn't on my feet cooking and cleaning up afterwards I went to the sewing room and had a wonderful couple of hours to play in my 2.5" strip drawer.
TADA!

Blessings #2 & #3

These are the utility tops that cousin K gave me. I am so happy that all 3 of my children will get something that was made by Granny. I was afraid I was going to have to actually tell which was the favorite child! LOL! Not really, there are no favorites. Really. I promise. :^p

I am so blessed

I was so surprised when my husband's cousin handed me a plastic shopping bag. I thought it was polyester double knit scraps when he said, "this was Granny's". I could have been knocked over with a feather when I opened it and saw this top!
Completely hand pieced!
The next day another cousin of my husband handed me a larger plastic bag and just stood there smiling. I opened it and had to sit down. There were TWO polyester double knit tops that Granny made. I don't have a picture of them yet but will post as soon as we get home.
One more day in Tulsa and we go home for at least until after Thanksgiving. A few more clues about our job/living situation. Nothing that we know for sure but now I think Atlanta and Tulsa are off the board. Honestly we know nothing for sure but we have been hearing some whispers.

Be home soon; God willing!
Diane

Not a lot of sewing but some. I printed off some info from Carrie Nelson's blog to play with. So far I have learned I don't get a perfect seam on my original Featherweight. LOL
I am not at home so I can't run in and change my machine so I m trying very hard to be careful.
Isn't it funny how we get different results from different machines? Like for instance I get a dead on 1/4" from my Bernina 1230. I get a perfect scant from my Brother QC1000. My featherweights and Singer 301 are best used for paper and string piecing where a small bobble isn't an issue.

It's good to have a purpose in life. Know the job you are good at and do it to the best of your ability.
Phil 4:11 and Col 3:17 are on my mind today.
Lots of changes happening in our lives soon.

No concentration

There is no concentration going on in my life right now. Once again my husband came home with mind rattling news. His company is going through a restructuring something or other and we don't know if we will be here or not after the first of the year.
How can this be? I JUST got completely moved into this house and have it painted and decorated the way I want. Four years and just a few weeks ago we moved into this house. It can not be time to do this again!
So while I am in limbo I cook and clean. When I cook I don't eat much. I find that strange but I've always been that way. My Grandma Emfinger was the same way. She would cook for all of us (19 ) and she would clean the dishes while everyone ate. She never ate with us. Then when people started getting up from the table she would get a small plate and sit and eat while the rest of us finished. I found myself doing the same thing. I still to this day prefer my food only warm and not hot.
Boy I strayed off subject there didn't I? LOL
What I was getting at is when I cook lots and I don't eat that means Ray does. His doctor will not be happy with us. I think I need to take food to the neighbors.
Maybe this will be a great time to finish up some easy piecing projects. I am way behind on my Texas Flag project. Hmmmm...

Diane

She Lives!

I have finally got to the other side of this horrible virus that is going around. The doctor told me about 65% of her patients that had this virus ended up with a secondary infection and was sick for over 3 weeks. I was a part of that number.
After picking up my husband's prescription we ran into a little shop that has the cutest items for the home. I found this bag and loved it for the cute owls on it. have you noticed that owls are popping up everywhere? They must be the "new thing" this year.

 

 

After looking at the price tag Ray told me to buy it. It was 50% off which made it $21. SWEET!

When I got home I discovered this....

 

It will carry my featherweight perfectly! Now I don't have to carry the stinky black case and this bag has a shoulder strap so it frees up my hands for other things. I can see me taking my FW on plane trips now. I never wanted to take it before since I was sure I would have to hand check it and I didn't want to experience the same that Bonnie Hunter did.  If you don't know what I mean, she had to hand check her FW and it came back to her in 3 pieces. I would cry. It all ended well, but I don't want to go there.
With all the trips Ray and I make I think I will use this quite a bit. I'm happy.

Later,
Diane

 

 

 



Dragging but accomplishing!

I drug myself out of bed today determined to do more than lay around feeling cruddy.
After taking all day to shower, dress and go to the grocery store, I thought I would visit my sewing machine.
I have enough diamonds for a good size sofa quilt. I was able to use about 1/2 of the strips in the 2" drawer and that makes me happy. I would make it larger but honestly I am tired of looking at these strips. I think one if my kids will enjoy it being the size it is.
I practiced piecing the diamonds because duh! I realized about 1/2 way in each piece has to be set in. I am not in live with set in seams but I can do it.
The app I am using to post this will only put the pictures at the bottom so I won't load all that I took, just a completed section and the whole top on the design wall.
Later,
Diane

Issues... I don't like them!

This morning my husband left for a whole week of business trips. He will be in three places this week before coming home. That means a week of little/no/bad sleep for me. Ugh!

Night before last my left ear was itchy and my throat was feeling scratchy. This morning I woke up achy and whiny with a sore throat...etc. Ugh!

Tonight after being a slug all day and listening to the last of my audiobooks on my iPod I tried to download a couple more to help me make through thus week. Now I don't know how you feel about ITunes but I have a love gate relationship with it. I live it because it allows me to listen to all of my wonderful George Strait music and all of these great books I have "read" over the past two years.
Tonight we are having a fight and it promises to get bloody! It hates my ancient iPod. I have the "classic" mega large iPod that holds tons of music and books. I love it! I use it every single day and have for years. But lately iTunes refuses to see it or it licks up when I try to sync. Every male in my family hates to help me with this problem. I think that is rude!
Before Ray left he downloaded an app to my iPad so I can watch tv. I guess I should be thankful and go back to sleep.

I hate issues.
I hate ear aches
I hate sore throats.
I hate being whiny.
Goodnight.

More stripping

I've continued to use up the strips in my 2" drawer and 2.5" drawer. I really want to use just those and no more. I would love to empty both but since I only need two 2.5" pieces per unit I know I will not make a dent in that one.
I can't remember if I shared where this pattern came from. Several years ago as I was blog surfing I saw this design on Keryn Emmerson's blog "quilting twin" and it was love at first sight.
So far I have 50 units made and see I will need at least 100+ more to make a good size. They go very fast and they take no more thinking than picking dark or light.
Later,
Diane

Fine week

I have had a fine time so far this week. I spent several hours Monday with my friend Karen. We went to fabric stores, lunch and more fabric stores. We even ran into the Goodwill store. We didn't find anything we needed at GW but it was fun.

Tuesday Karen picked me up and took me to the guild meeting. I got to see ladies I can only see if I go to the meetings which may be only once a year if I'm lucky.
While at the meeting, the next quilt show raffle quilt was brought out for everyone to admire the quilting.
Let's see if I can post the picture from this new toy...

I think I found it!

I am staying at the recently remodeled Hampton Inn in Mobile AL. and I do believe I have found the perfect sewing desk.
I have heard for years women telling how they took a solid core door and put it over two file cabinets and always just waved the idea away. I thought it would be too flimsy or not roomy enough or something or other.
The new desk in this hotel room is basically that idea only nicer. I think I will be looking for some nice drawers to put with a sturdy door when I get home. I really like this.

Diane

On the road again

This is what I see in front of me.
I'm headed to Mobile with the husband. It was a fast unplanned trip ( on my part ) so I haven't been able to plan anything with friends. I am hoping to go to a guild meeting but we will see.
I brought my Singer 301 and some strips to work on a mindless project. Let's see if I get any sewing done. ;)
I hope to get a chance to go to the fabric outlet. It's the only fabric prices I will pay. I refuse $11&12 a yard! I have too much stash for those prices.

Ray brought home an iPad Friday night so I am posting from it. I hope it works like the phone. I need easy!

Later,
Diane

Thinking of piecing

I have been beading some bracelets but thinking of piecing quilts.
I have 9 shirts from my father in law that I am still deciding what to do with. I want to sit at my Bernina and mindlessly zoom strips together but I can't seem to go in there.
My mind keeps going to bow tie blocks so I think I will make a few of those with the shirts.
Who knows...
Diane

I love old stuff

Today Ray and I went out for lunch to one of our favorite BBQ places in St. Pete. After a wonderful, relaxing lunch we drove over to an antique shop just to putter around for a while. We had such a good time looking around and seeing things we had never seen before.

 Have you ever seen one of these before?

 

From everything I can find on the Internet this is a dime collector. It is made by the B & R Manufacturing Co. in New York, around the 30's and 40's.  It will hold $5, but I only had $3.70 so I need to get more dimes.

 

 

 

 

This iron works like the Oliso iron. It has this peg that pops out to keep it up off the ironing surface. It gets REALLY hot.

 

Maybe this will help me get back in the sewing room. :)

Diane

The Lord is good

The last visit we had in Arkansas with Ray's dad was the last we will ever have with him, here on earth. Just one day after we arrived home from seeing him we got the call he probably wouldn't make it through the night. As hard as it was, there was just no way to get Ray back to his dad. No flights in time and not enough hours left to drive it again.
Ray was ok with that. Well as ok as he could be. He had a great last visit with his dad. They got to spend time talking and remembering good times. Wain was never a demonstrative person, but he shared that he respected Ray and the man he has become. What more can a son want than the love and respect of their father? Maybe some more time. So Ray is glad he got to spend his father's last week of life with him.
While we were there I got to see and hear such beautiful moments. A son helping his ailing father get ready for bed. The father pat the son's arm and say, Ray, I sure am glad your here. A father and son embrace both saying they love each other and always will.
The Lord is good.

My FIL had many varied interest. Just one was needlework. He quilted, crocheted, cross stitched, needlepoint and more. Years ago he made all of his children an afghan for Christmas. A few months ago on one of our visits he said he had a large stack of afghans and he wanted each of his grand daughters to have one. Since I was there I went ahead and picked my daughter's but decided to put it away until he gave the rest of the girls theirs. He has five grandsons and I didn't want them to feel left out so I asked his wife if I could take a few of his shirts to make some small quilts for the boys. Now I am going through all of my quilt books looking for ideas and patterns.

He was also an avid Honda motorcycle rider until he was in his late 60's.

Breath of spring? Long hard winter.

If anyone would have told me 31 years ago I would miss it I would have told them they were nuts.

Just about every time we went to Arkansas we stayed with Ray's daddy. Wain was a talker and had an amazing memory. He was the best story teller and had a story for every occasion. I didn't alway understand my father-in-law. He had a different kind of humor.
Every morning that we woke in his house over these years he greeted me with the same smile and said "Good morning sunshine. You look like the breath of spring." Now if he ended there I would have felt live down to my toes. But no, there was more. Then he would add," Well really you look like the end of a long hard winter."

Now as a child of 18 to hear your FIL say that to you it kind of trips you up. Kind of gets you right in your low self esteem.
My FIL said that to me for the last time last week. We were there and the first morning we woke he smiled and said it. I laughed with him and truly was glad to hear it. Then I said to him. You know Wain one day I'm gonna miss hearing you say that to me.
That was the last time. The next morning he was in distress and never came out. Wain passed away last night at 8:30 pm.
Why is it just when you start to understand some people and how and why they tick the time is up?

Diane

Jubilee Quilts, random thoughts and turtles

I never want to leave again!
My back is killing me from too much car time. We did stop and spend the night about half way this time, but still.
While on the way we did a fast (30 minutes) stop at a small little shop just about 30 minutes from my father-in-law's house. I picked up a couple of charm packs. I am not sure why except they made me happy and that was enough at the time. I also spied this cute little turtle pincushion pattern by Heather Bailey. How cute is that??

Henrietta Turtle

Coming home we had plans to stop at another shop but I decided I just wanted to keep going and get home.

Now for random thoughts and questions.
I have been seeing a lot about Jubilee quilts all over the blog world. Is this just something random someone thought of and others jumped on the band wagon or have people always celebrated like this and I have never paid attention?
I have been thinking about my next birthday. It will be my 50th and I am just starting to come to terms with that number. I don't understand my qualms with it, since it is just a number, and I feel terrific for the shape I'm in. You know the round shape causes great issues with people. Doctors and Insurance companies don't like round. Round makes it hard to put on your shoes, which in turn makes it hard to go for a nice long walk to change your shape to a new shape. But I got off track didn't I?
Ahem....
I have been thinking about making a Jubilee quilt. I don't know if I want to make one of my own design or if I want to use one of the beautiful patterns I already own.
Have you seen Nana Girl's jubilee? It is going to be beautiful! Karen is so nice and talented. She also has a great eye for color. I loved looking at her quilts when she did a show and tell at the retreat. BEAUTIFUL work!
Bonnie Hunter  has a jubilee quilt in the works.
The Colorado Lady has one she is working on.
Lori over at Humble Quilts, and Tammy over at Treadleworks by Tammy,  Barb at Fun with Barb, and Julie at JulieKQuilts just to name a few.
I am not usually one to do stuff just because someone else is doing it, but since I have been avoiding even looking at the number 50 much less saying it and putting it in the same sentence with the words "I'm turning", maybe a Jubilee quilt will help me not pay so much attention. Maybe it can come and go and I will concentrate so much on the quilt I won't notice...so much...maybe?

I'm headed to the sewing room..
Diane

On the road again

I may never get to stay home for more than four days in a row again.
My plan was to do all the big house cleaning jobs so I could play all weekend in my sewing room. Plans changed when we got a call about Ray's dad. So we are off.

Maybe I should change the name of the blog to Dyed thinking of Quilting.

Diane

Testing: Friction Pen and Clover White Marker

I have had a niggling in my thoughts lately about the Frixion Pen and the chemicals that are used to make it do what it does. I have read on multiple blogs about it leaving the fabric discolored. So I thought I needed to do some testing.
I have used the Clover White Marker pen for years to help with applique and marking where to place vines and stems. I got to wondering about the chemicals used in it also.

I will show what I did incase anyone is interested.


Frixion on prewashed fabric

Frixion after ironing

 



Frixion in freezer after ironing I don't know why anyone would put their quilts in the freezer, but it seems lots of people are afraid of it coming back in the cold. My conclusion was it didn't come back.

Frixion after washing

 All four of the fabrics still show my name after washing in detergent and drying. 

Clover White Marker

Clover White Marker after washing


 

Even though you can't see it well, the brown batik on bottom shows my name slightly. The red fabric on top doesn't seem to show any residue.

 

 

Conclusion:

 

I will be VERY careful if and when I use these pens again. I will use them I am quite sure especially for projects like the dinosaurs I made. You have to mark each piece and sew corners and all so it really comes in handy. I will just make sure I only mark where I am going to trim off.

There is no telling what the chemicals will do to the fabric over time. It may weaken it or discolor it further. I can see more testing in the future.

 

Diane

Hurricane effects

We came back home early due to the hurricane in the gulf. I'm still glad we came home even though it is going to miss us unless the winds change  and come in from the opposite direction. Oh wait, that would be Mary Poppins...sorry she is still on my mind. :)

I have spent the last day and a half cleaning. I never think about the house getting dirty even though we aren't home to mess it up. It is so dusty and needs a great shaking out. All of the windows are dirty and MUST be cleaned.

I am off to Sam's Club to buy a new vacuum since mine is giving up the ghost. While I am there I will buy refills for my Windex Outdoor All in One window cleaner. It really works! Since I am kind of on the short side and can't reach the top of a regular window, my extra tall windows are extremely too high up there. I tried this stuff and it is great!

My goal is to get my house back in order and then attack the sewing room with a vengeance. I have one top at the quilter and as soon as it is finish I will be sending the next. I will be so happy to get those two back, get pictures then send them to the intended children.
I have a couple of baby blankets to make and send. I found cute flannel in PA and thin they will be used more than a quilt, as Houston is hot too much of the year there is no way I would put a baby in a quilt.

The weather outside is windy, hot and humid. The hurricane won't get us, but it is effecting us. I need to go and get back home before I run out of energy.

Quilty pictures soon,
Diane

Home

It's true, I am happy to be home!
Lots to blog about but too much to do before then. Here is a picture of my parrot head umbrella from the Mary Poppins play. I Love it! I have always wanted one ever since the first time I saw the movie. Too cool!
I'm going to look for a pretty umbrella stand now.

Change in plans

We were thinking of going back to NYC today, but thankfully changed our minds to sleep in some.
The shooting in front of the Empire State Bldg. made us rethink. Then I spoke to my friend Lynn and she mentioned the storm in the gulf. Ray did a little looking online and talked to the airlines. We have decided to cut this short so we can be sure to get home.
We have had a great time! It was so special yesterday and last night. I lived almost every minute of it.
More when we get home.

Mary Poppins

That was my surprise!
We have the best seats!
The play is wonderful!

Update on NYC

I am so tense!
Ray is enjoying all the "fun" driving he is getting to do. Me? Not so much.
We are sitting in the car resting for a few minutes. We found ONE parking spot and jumped in it. Horns blasting and all! I actually think the space was empty due to the fact there is a fire hydrant not too far from our back bumper. If a police officer comes up we will just have to explain we were too exhausted from all the traffic and had to stop for a short rest.
So all of you praying I get off the cloverleaf, it worked! Now pray we don't get a ticket!

New York

I had no idea what to expect!
Too many cars, lots of people and my husband drives just as aggressive as everyone else!
Scarey!