Other Stuff

How much fun it is to, once again, be able to work on more than one thing at a time.  I finished my FatCatPatterns.com second fish.  I am also enjoying figuring out which square of the background fabric to use: the colors are so different from square to square. 
















I also completed the February teapot from Rhonda.  If you have seen my feathered star table topper, you will see that I am using some leftovers for this pot.  As I look at it I am thinking that I may applique it with two different threads: I have used only one on the others.  I guess we will just have to wait and see.







And part of the reason for waiting is The Return of the Dragon.  Monday afternoon I pulled him out and began machine appliqueing him down.  I had originally planned, and begun, hand appliqueing him but the batiks are so tight that my hands would give out after three spikes.  Now, it is not easy to machine applique a whole cloth piece, either, but I am more likely to get it done this way.





I am zigzagging with a bright variegated thread so the stitching will have different colors on the different spikes.  I think overall it is going to look really good.  But don’t hold your breath until it is done: it is really a come and go project.








Yesterday was also the “finish up the laundry” day.  So as I was putting a new load in the washer, Ms. Murphy decided to investigate the dryer.  At first all I could see was her tail but by the time I got my phone out of my pocket she had turned around.











Then it was time for her to come out: she refused.  And when I reached for her, she moved to the back.  So I started throwing wet clothes in around her.  It took 5 handfuls of wet clothes before she decided there wasn’t enough room in there for the clothes and her and jumped out.




See, I may live in the middle of nowhere, not have a job, and not get much done in any given day, but my life is just one adventure after another.

Design Wall: moving right along

So here is my wall with a few more wedges completed.  I still have about 20 more to press open but I have been distracted (see below).  However the big news is that I think I know what I am going to do with them.  I am so excited about the idea and a little concerned that I may not be able to figure out how to execute it. 

I have not been able to work on the above much because of this:  
The quilting is finished and I am so happy with it. 







Didn’t the cats turn out great?  What I learned is that even though my echoing has a lot of bobbles, the more lines I included the better it looked. 



When I was quilting this last row I suddenly looked at this block and saw barbed wire.  Don’t ask where that came from but that’s what I see.








I quickly cut, sewed and pressed the binding and here I am sewing it on.





I only got part of the turned binding on when I found I was getting tired so I quit and will get back to it today.

edit 2/22/12:  The cats quilt is done, washed, dried, and was placed on a sleeping DH yesterday morning.  I hope to have pictures of him and the quilt later this week.



Now I realize that sometimes it seems like all I do quilt and/or talk about quilting.  But sometimes we do other things.  This past week we opened surprise packages from my mother.


This is a  blurry picture of the owl bag she sent me.  I collect owls, mostly glass owls, and she just knew that I would love this bag.  It is large enough to hold the file folder I use for my Weight Watcher’s paperwork so it is going to see a lot of use.  What I really like about it is that it has an inside and an outside zipper compartment so I can carry personal items as well as work.




And this is what she sent to DH.  What a sense of humor she has, huh?









Of course so does he.  When I looked at this I realized that this is what I have to look forward to…….in the not too far distant future. 

So while we are waiting for what seems to be in my future, it is time to check out all that is going on at Patchwork Times.

Personal and Quilting Change

Personal:  20 weeks ago I agreed to lead a Weight Watchers meeting out of my area.  I tend to be in demand when the group wants a meeting time that is during the day.    I really didn’t want to do another meeting (already doing 3) but I also hated to deny people the opportunity to loose weight if they wanted to do the work.  It was to be a 15 week group and I was assured there was already someone in training who would be ready to take over when we were done.  My members were college personnel and between the holiday vacations and on campus meetings it stretched to 20.  However, this past Monday I did my last meeting and turned them over to their new leader: I now have my Mondays back….YEA!!

 

Quilting:  While I was pressing the wedges I started playing with them on the design wall.  What do you think of this snake-like design?  Can’t really see it too well?

 

 

Here is the one on the top.  Nothing is sewn together but I kind of like this and can already see some possibilities for quilting.  Of course I don’t know how I would put this all together but I like what I see.  The wedges are 1” long so that take up a lot of linier space.  They are narrow, approximately 2” at the top down to about 3/4” at the bottom.  Anyway, I am open for opinions and/or suggestions.

I love my husband.

I really do. However yesterday, while working on these, he came home from work toting a bright red jacket and a red baseball cap.

Would/Could I embroider a “B” on the cap, the jacket front (to cover something else) and on the back? Seems it is needed for the play he is helping with which, by the way, is going on this weekend.

So I spent some time on the computer finding a good font and then setting up three designs, the letter “B” at 1.5”









4.5”





and 6”. I got the cap done and the front of the jacket but then had to leave for my Weight Watcher’s meeting: I left the machine stitching away so the letter was done when I got home. The jacket, however, went to rehearsal and didn’t make it back so I guess I will be appliquéing it on tomorrow.

Today was laundry day (no pictures of that. LOL) so when I was done I spent some quality time in the pool. No shots of me in there but the thermometer ducky also had a good time.

Then I decided that the best dinner we could have was pizza so we jumped in my car and enjoyed the wind in our hair on our way.

Then when I got home I noticed that one of my hydrangea bushes seems to have a flower coming. I searched both plants but didn’t see another potential flower.

Quilting Rebellion

My design wall still has the Christmas swap blocks on it and then over them I have put some ideas for a gift quilt. I, however, have decided that at this time I don’t want to work on either. I will leave them up until I need the space and if I am not ready to work on them by then, back to the UFO shelf they go.

On Friday I took a stroll through a local nursery and these hydrangea bushes “jumped” into my car.

I had them sitting in the shade of an oak tree and started digging a hole. This was not a successful venture as we live on clay which is HARD. I dug a little and then filled it with water with the idea of the clay getting softer. When I went out later there was a really big hole. Seems that DH had seen my puny effort and took that as an excuse to go to Walmart where he bought a post hole digger. So we got the first one planted in. Then we started the little bit of digging and water soaking routine for the second. Last night we had a storm and are having off and on storms all day today so the ground should be receptive by tomorrow and the second one can go in.


I have started a new project. I have decided to do a Snail’s Trail quilt, similar to one I saw in the latest issue of Fabric Trends. I am going to do this one in batiks and these are the ones I have chosen.

And this is all I have gotten cut. The pattern calls for 14 fabrics so there is still a lot of cutting to do: did I ever say I HATE cutting?

My other sewing accomplishment was to get my Eleanor BOM block done for July. This is the second Dresden plate block I have done: this one I machine appliquéd which was much easier on my hands. But this block is so easy that I may think up a Dresden quilt to do.

And now, before I get to the dishes and then the studio, I think I will accept DH's invitation to lunch.