Last day and a rant

***EDIT*** This post is from a long time back. I have no idea why Blogger moved it and put it back in play but here it is.*** Weird Blogger!



This is hopefully the last full day of Ray being gone. I have enjoyed the free time to play as I wish, but I'm ready for him to be home. I need sleep!
Last night once again, no sleep until after 4am. Grrr!

I didn't get to play in the sewing room until after 9:30 last night as the daughter came over or some Mommy time. She does that occasionally. It makes me happy.

I have started another stack of pineapples. The hardest and most annoying part is the first round as it has such tiny pieces and I can't do it if my hand are stiff. Normally on good days I will make a stack of them so I can just mindlessly piece rounds. So last night after Kari left I made a small stack. Today since I am bleary eyed but my hands are working I have added to the stack. I have about 30 and want to make about 50 before I quit. I think I can do that tonight.

I need to fuss for a minute so if you're in no mood for it stop here.

I have a Brother Innov'-is QC-1000. I got it about a year before leaving Alabama. I HATE it!! Every time I have to clean out the bobbin area it is a fight to get it back to sewing. I am in the habit of cleaning after each bobbin. I have done that on all of my machines. I also give them one drop of oil in the bobbin area after dusting. The Brother machine takes between 20 and 30 minutes each time because I have to play around and keep adjusting everything so it will sew again. There is something about the way it fits together, which in my opinion, isn't a good tight fit, that makes it temperamental. I know a lady who as the same machine bought just a few months before mine that has the same issues. It s aggravating!
I have taken it to be serviced and spoke to them bout it, thinking it was something I was doing wrong. Nope, I'm told it is a finicky machine. HOGWASH!  Why didn't anyone tell me this before I paid too much money for it?
So now this expensive machine is left for paper piecing and machine quilting. Because beside the fact the bobbin area is a pain I can't get a good 1/4" seam without cuss words. For a very long time I left it in the box. I felt guilty so I pulled it out, but it sure makes me crazy...er.

Ok rant over...back to my regularly sunny disposition. Ha ha! :)

I'm typing on my iPad so the pictures are at the bottom.
Doesn't that look like a mess? You should see the floor!

See Boo? He has a thread on his chin. He was helping me again. :)

What a find

While I was at the retreat and having so much fun I had the chance to watch Bonnie Hunter demo her hexie project. She makes it look so fun and easy! :) I on the other hand don't find it fun or easy; but I want to. I really do!
Anyway as she was demoing it the second time to the second group of ladies I was noticing her tote bag for her travelling hexie's. (Is that correct? Do I put an apostrophe there? Does the tote bag belong to the hexies? I don't know.)  The tote is from Timeless Totes and it looks to be the perfect tote for travelling and keeping everything together in tight spaces such as planes and buses. The only thing that wasn't perfect was the price. Not that it isn't totally worth the price, but if I am not going to LOVE making hexies or any other hand work for that matter it is too expensive. I just need to make sure I love the hexies or other hand work first. I'm just trying to be responsible...it's not easy.

closed tote...CUTE!

opened up...very useful!

I thought and thought the whole 9 hour drive home from Mobile what I could use in the interim. That is when the light bulb lit. Bass Pro Shops! Worm bag to be precise. My husband used to fish ALOT. We have old worm bags that would be perfect except they now smell like old worms. Not the wriggly kind, but the purple with fuchsia tail, or green with the white curly tail.  I waited to go to BPS until Ray finally came home so he could go with me. I'm nice like that. Really I wanted him to drive so I could knit, but I didn't tell him that. Shh.

They no longer make the worm bags as well as they used to. :( Now they make them with what looks like expensive, but not better, zip top bags that you store leftovers in. The refills were $5.99 for something like 20 bags. They weren't even as thick mil wise as freezer type zip top bags. No way. I was looking for better priced bag,  not a cheaply made bag. 

I was kind of sad that my great idea was not panning out. I thought I would just check out and treat myself to a hot fudge sundae at Culver's to help me deal with my grief.  Good idea. Then I rounded a corner and there they were.

 TADA!

 They fit perfect!

They have tons of grip/stick/hold on area.

These will be perfect for machine quilting. 

They are pink.

How cute!

The best part??

 $4.99!!

And they are a sponsor of American Breast Cancer Foundation. How cool is that?

 

That made the trip so worth it! But I did still go get the hot fudge sundae. Hey it was Culver's. No way am I passing up Culver's.

 

Diane



Thank you Bonnie Hunter, I had fun

Me and Bonnie holding my Pineapple Crazy top

I was one of the retreaters in Mobile, AL that got to spend time with Bonnie Hunter and learn from her.
I was also one of the ones that said to myself and out loud (but not rudely) that I wasn't sure I would learn much from her. I've been piecing quilts for well over 20 years. I am pretty accurate with my points and 1/4" seams. My tops lay pretty flat and square. What could she teach me since her designs are traditional and not curved piecing.
Well let me tell you some of what I learned.
1. Just because someone told you that you can cut 8,10, or 12 layers of fabric with a good rotary blade (and you can) doesn't mean you should. You will lose accuracy with larger numbers.  Bonnie recommended 4 layer max, and with the rulers she uses I totally agree. There is no way you can get a tiny nub of a point cut off at the same depth if you have lots of layers. The Tri Rec ruler and the Easy Angle ruler both all for cutting off tiny nubs. I have always had trouble with the Tri Rec ruler, but not any more.   Thanks Bonnie!

2. Stop flip flopping those rulers! Read the instructions that came with them and do what it says. Imagine hinges, it really works. Thanks Bonnie!

3. Take the time to check out your machine for proper settings.  Bonnie was brought a Singer 301 to sew with. (That is a blog post in itself! LOL) She sat down and started sewing and it had beautiful, straight, even stitches. After a short but she said, "this machine sounds dry, it needs oil". She oils the machine (all the while a crew is over her shoulders getting instructions on how to properly oil these old beauties). She puts the machine back together and starts to sew, but all she got was thread nests on the underside of the fabric. She rethreaded, pulled out the bobbin and replaced, looked for a loose thread in the bobbin area, rethreaded again, checked the bobbin again. After a good bit of time passed we heard her hooraying. She had touched the tension while oiling and showing everyone about how it worked and didn't realize it. Once she readjusted the tension it was back to perfect. Lesson: Recheck everything!!  Thanks Bonnie!

4. Use your machines! I have several. Eight to be exact. Eight working machines and one that my Moma wore smooth out; it's just for memories. I do play on three of my machines pretty regularly, but that leaves five that are being snubbed.  I don't mean to, I'm just lazy I guess.  Well today I decided I wanted to play on my Singer treadle. It worked perfectly the last time I used it, but today the belt snapped. I remembered that Bonnie was talking at the retreat about her treadle and she kept telling us to check out her block that she had tons of info there (you could spend a whole day there learning from her!) under Tips and Techniques. So I went looking about where she bought her treadle belts. She uses a clear tubing and a connector. I looked up the website and was about to place the order but couldn't get the shipping charges to show. I emailed them and asked. The response was , "we don't know the shipping charges until you place the order and UPS picks it up, but we estimate between $7 and $15,  WHAT? No way am I not going to know the price of shipping before I click buy and no way am I paying $15 for shipping me something that would take up no more room that a 4"x4x1" box on a bad day. I understand that is still less than me getting in my car and buying it from them....or is it?
Ace Hardware...My hero! 6ft tubing $1.14 + Tubing Fastener $.89 = $2.16 with tax
And Ace is only 2 miles down the road. Happy Happy Happy!  I am now playing on my 1928 Treadle.  Thanks Bonnie!

Ace Hardware tubing and connector

I really need to put everything back in place in my sewing room, but I just keep stepping over it.

Diane

I think I can, I think I can...

center of the top going together

pile of border units

If I keep my nose to the grindstone I will be able to get the Pineapple top complete. Fingers crossed!
 Then I can concentrate on packing for the retreat. :)

Back to sewing!!
Diane

360 degrees and lots of yammering

what is that saying? When the cat's away ...

Well I have been playing, in the "studio" as I am having to call it since I have moved ALL of my quilting/knitting/beading/and everything else into one room. Beading and kitting are recent loves but I decided I didn't really want to see them all over the house all of the time. When I am actually working on them while Ray is home is enough.
I already got off topic...surprised? Not me. :)

I took a couple of pictures to show off the new shelves and a drawer unit which I hope keep me more tidy and organized.

This wall of shelves and drawer cabinet is wonderful so far. I have all of my patterns in the red drawers divided by subject; paper piecing, applique, hand piecing, embroidery, etc. The fabrics (not all organized and pretty yet) are sorted by colors except the far right side which is baby/children fabrics.

The white cabinet of drawers holds all of my beading/jewelry stuff and misc. stuff I couldn't decide where to put.

The Great Wall  :)

Paper piecing above, companions below

 While Ray is gone I have been piecing again on my Pineapple Crazy. It is such a mess maker I will be glad when I am finally finished.  I have loved working on it. It is really good for stressful days or insomniac nights, but man at the mess! I didn't take a picture of the trash can and around it, the floor of strings after digging again, the front of my clothes at night before leaving the room. I am covered with threads...covered!

Paper piecing machine and stuff

 I'm not sure how much I love my computer being in here, but I am trying it. I thought I would like watching Netflix or DVDs in here, but I find myself watching the screen instead of sewing.  Music may be my best bet.

Finally all of the pineapples!! Some knitting

 Look! See all of those blocks? That is all of them! So exciting! Of course I thought I had them all finished and then I counted and saw I was one pineapple short. :^/ But I remedied that!

Scrap digging...and a mess

I'm so ADD! Look at that mess. Very far left is three different block/quilt designs I have been working on. Then a pile of light scraps on top of a tray with PP.  The books are some I have been looking through for some new quilt designs then more scraps.  What you can't see is a stack of books and magazines and quilt drawings, two huge plastic boxes of leftovers from fabric cuttings. When I took out my cutting table I lost the area to have my drop box. The drop box is where I put the scraps that are too large to strip into 1", 1.5" or 2" strips, but too small to put back on the shelves.  Right now they are being stored under my cabinet the Bernina sits in.



My constant companions and helpers in all needlework

It us going to take some more thought to get the room clean and organized properly. If you know me you know I will change it three more times before it feels right. But then that would mean I would have to stay home to do this. Fat chance! Ray keep saying he wants to retire so we can travel. I want him to retire so I can stay home! We travel enough! Too much sometimes.

Later!

Diane

Thoughts for this year

I know, I know most people do this after Christmas and before New Years Day so they are ready for their NY resolution announcement on the first. This is me though and I am never on time...unless my husband is driving!

I will not make resolutions because once again, this is me... but I will write down things I would like to do this year. Goals.

Personal Goals:

 Be more organized.
 Not just in my sewing room or kitchen, but everywhere. We travel so much now that it seems like all we do is search for items because we can't remember where we put something that we unpacked from the previous trip.  Case in point. Ray looked for 45 seriously stressful minutes at 2am this morning for our video camera. Not fun! He thought he might have left it in the rental car. That is another problem with owning black cases on everything and renting a car with black interior. When and if I ever buy another car I promise it will not have black interior.

 Move more.
Fibromyalgia and RA causes lots of discomfort and I tend to give in too often and say to myself "I don't feel good, or this or that hurts" so I don't go for a walk or work in the flower beds.  I give in way too often.  I really want to get more exercise. I don't want to lose any more mobility.

Cook more healthy delicious meals.
Again, with travel and pain I can go a long time in between home cooked meals. NOT GOOD! I want to get organized (see #1) so I can write up menus and grocery lists so life is easier and the meals are better.

 Go shopping and buy a couple of nice outfits.
I seriously hate clothes shopping. I hate it so much that I have to put it on the calendar and make myself go.

Craft wise:

Get more serious with machine quilting. 
I need to become a quilter and not just a topper. I have promised quilts that need to be finished.
 
Bead at least one really pretty necklace and bracelet.
I always forget that we have a couple of company functions that I need to get dressed up for and I never have anything pretty to wear.

Knit a pair of socks.
Or two!

Home goals
 
Paint the formal rooms
Get bookcases for Formal Living room
Buy a small table for the breakfast area
Get some bar stools
Rework the flowerbeds
Put more rocks around lanai
Get floors done!
New ceiling fan for sewing room
Blinds for front door, front windows and back door.

Now I'm printing this out and posting it on the fridge, on my bathroom mirror and  in my sewing room so I can stay focused! Hopefully!


Diane

Working for more fun

I haven't been lost or gone away. I haven't quit the blog or quilting. I have been redoing the whole sewing room.
UGH!
Along with redoing the sewing room I have ha to rely upon the help of those stronger than me for this work, namely my husband. His work schedule is way different than mine.
Also I have managed to injure myself during the process so deep restorative sleep has been traded for drug induced, knee jerking sleep that keeps me in a fog. 😡

I tell you though when it is finished it is going to be great! I have one whole 130" wall that is Ikea shelves. I am so excited! After many months of living with the furniture arrangement I have decided that the "U" shaped sewing area needs to shift 90 degrees. The wall that did house my fabric shelves traded places with the design wall. 

The reason for the whole change up was this. While quilting the cousin quilt and working on the quilting for a baby quilt I discovered that I really couldn't use the back part of the sewing cabinet that lifts to give you a large support area for your quilt. If I lifted the table with much struggle from lack of room to get behind it, I could no longer get into my fabric closet due to the same lack of room. One could say that would be incentive to get the quilting finished quickly so I could move on to the next project, but really? Does that sound like me? Didn't think so.

You would think with the husband being home for two full weeks we would have this done by now, but...anyway...

122 inches of wonderful storage!

I promise pictures as soon as it no longer looks like the previous post pictures. Believe it or not it looks worse now than then.

Take care,

Diane