Scaredy Cat Ready to Go!

I finished the Scaredy Cat Tote with 3 hours 'til October--In the words of Perry Como, hoop tee-do! I really knuckled down and worked hard.

To keep me entertained, I picked up season 1 of the series, "Lost." Good show. Sorry I missed it.

Now I suppose I should get back to the New Zealand quilt. I'm thinking of calling it "Kiwi Twist!" I've got to do some frogging on it because I used the wrong black in the borders--arggh! (For those of you unfamiliar with the term, frogging or frog stitch means to take out sewing, so-called because you "rip-it, rip-it, rip-it!"

Scaredy Cat

Interrupting your regularly scheduled projects to present the current obsession: The Scaredy Cat Tote! I just adore the Beverly Cleary 1950's feel to the illustrations. It's a charm pack from Moda. Make me feel like a kid--can't you just taste candy corn? The colors are vintage-y, too. It seems I only need 1-1/4 yard of coordinating fabric--not like the directions, calling for, um, more. However, the charm pack only had 33 charms, while the pattern calls for 38. I just cut more from the coordinating fabric, but I only have one kind. So the inside pockets may look a little boring, if not odd. What's Hallowe'en without a little weirdness, anyway?

I know I'll only be able to carry this tote for the month of October, so I figure I'd better get it done in a big hurry. I started it this afternoon and, as we had guests for dinner, that took away a fair amount of working time. (Totally worth it: company always makes the food taste better!) If I work tomorrow, I can get it done in time for October 1st!

The Perfect Portable Project

I'm sitting there during open house, listening to teachers tell about their upcoming projects and what are my hands doing while the ears are doing their job? The perfect portable project:

Socks that only need one stitch, thousands of times. Knit, knit, knit, knit.... Bonjour, Madame French Teacher. Knit, knit... Howdy, Mr. Associated Student Body....Knit, knit... Good morrow, Mistress English, I like Midsummer Night's Dream, too.... Knit, knit, dodge ball, knit.... Yes, Coach, her P.E. Clothes will get washed... Knit, knit.... Algebra homework counts for how much?... Knit, knit, knit... Hey, Professor Science, did your wife put a flyer for her dental services on my car while I've been stuck in here listening to you? (sigh)

In other news, I finished another tote (that makes a total of 3!) and am working another. Here are the fabrics: I seem to be getting the technique down. I really like putting in the magnetic snap--it makes the bag look so professional!

Giddyap!

Horsey, Horsey, on your way
We've been together for many a day
So let your tail go swish
As the wheels go round
Giddyap! We're homeward bound! (Girl Scout song)

Yes, I did the horse today. The pattern calls for a brown horse, but my favorite coloring is buckskin! So why not personalize? This one's for me!



Yesterday was a bad day for thinking but a good day for goofy patchwork (i.e. stashbusting!), so that's what I did all day long! Now I have 36 of these blocks--enough for a lap quilt! I think the black I laid it out on would be good for sashing...or maybe a cream? Black would be more masculine and probably sharper, I think. What do you think?

On the cooking front: usually I don't really enjoy cooking, but tonight I got to sous chef for my DH and we made a divine lasagne. He asked, "Would you like this to be your last meal?" I responded, "I want this to be my first meal in heaven!" What a welcome, huh? Just inside the pearly gates are tables set up with all your pals and the most wonderful aroma...

New Zealand Major Milepost!

This morning I knew that I could not attend my daughter's soccer game (where she plays killer defense) because the sun was shining. No, I'm not a vampire, but sometimes I'm sensitive to sunlight. (Yeah, sure, tell me another one.) So I set myself a goal: get all the blocks set in the monotonous New Zealand quilt. I say monotonous because the sewing looks like this: one after the next after the next...

Stashbusting Alert! So, to keep myself sane, I pieced these from my strip box and my crumbs. If you look close, you can find where I used an actual 1" square of fabric. I'm very pleased with these little 6 1/2" blocks. I'm not sure what I'll do with them, but I still like 'em! I'm especially pleased because I worked with colors I'm not normally fond of: russets.


And so, after all that trouble........ Ta-da! Yes! The New Zealand Quilt top medallion is finished! (In Desirean, that means all the blocks are together but no borders have been added.)
And now I'm pooped. But I gotta make dinner. If I had smileys, I'd put a frownie face here. Chicken cooked with shallots and bacon and something...maybe biscuits, ratatouille, braising greens, vegetable soup... Sounds good.

Tiny Blue Heaven

This is a 6" version of Quilter's Cache Blue Heaven. (Their's is 12".) It's for Stashbuster's charity block roundup. I thought I'd give it a try and see if I liked it. They said ANY two fabrics and, I swear, the blue-orange-purple is only ONE fabric. I received it in a fabric swap... so it was an "Obnoxious Fabric" swap, but I think it works here. Still, I'm kinda glad it's used up!

Done! (Almost)

Ew! Scary inside-out tote!




The Vibrant Tote is nearly finished. It just needs two large buttons sewn to the outside pockets. There's a method to my madness: I don't want to finish it until I can get credit on Stashbusters.... and since it doesn't need to be finished until Christmas, I'm okay!

I've started on another tote, too! But the recipient reads this blog and is smart.

Vibrant Progress

I've worked a little more on the vibrant tote. Today I decided to try out one of the fancy stitches on my Elna to quilt the handle. I figured if I hated it I could just toss it. Well, it's not getting tossed!

In other news, I've joined the UFO challenge at Stashbuster. You join the group by sending 2 fat quarters and a list of your quilting Unfinished Fabric Objects (within their guidelines, of course!) In a very intense way, you will be encouraged to finish projects. I have a list of 17, which appears quite paltry in comparison to others!

How to Look Busy

I finished these stitchery projects quite some time ago and rediscovered them a couple of weeks ago. I signed and dated them--this year, seeing as that was part of the stitching (shameless justification, I know!)--and took 'em to the framers. I LOVE how they came out. Nothing like rice paper and velvet to va-va-voom it up!

The girl was so cute: she told me they were trying to figure how how to tell me the pink and green Sweetheart Tree one was lost so they could take it home!

The Amazing Six-Hour Quilt

Presenting the amazing... Six-Hour Quilt! This baby was cut and sewn in only six hours: one quilting session. I swear, I think the Holy Spirit got into my sewing machine yesterday! I call it Ballerina blocks. It has 48 6" blocks, only because that's how much fabric I had. The inner burgundy border had 1/2" of leftover fabric (eep!) and the outer border had about 8" by 4" left. (Enough to please Bethie as a little gift!)





I'm not the only creative one in the household, though. My daughter and her bud volunteered to make the banner for their soccer team, The Cherry Bombs. Teamwork made it fly: 3 1/2 hours and done! (And that includes shopping!)



Sad news: I had to spend plenty of time frogging the bottom of Jingle Bell. Boo. That sad little pile of threads in the corner are all that's left of 200 stitches or so. (sniffle)

Revving Up!

I've decided to make a number of totes; most of my creative time today has gone into cutting the fabric. Here's the selection for one of 'em, inspired by a vibrant shirt on a gorgeous blonde.

Friendly Totes!

Isn't it amazing how a pattern can look entirely different based on differing tastes? Mine's this jungle-y one:
My friends finished their totes and let me take pictures. Bethie insisted that her beautiful smile be part of the picture. Who can blame her?

...and here's Valerie's Tote!

Your Opinion is Solicited

Trippin' Out, the quilt for Vince, has come back all assembled from Therese. See the beautiful cross back that Cathy made?

Also, I spent a little overtime at PQM meeting and finished the top for Siesta. See the gauchos havin' their nappy-time? The crazy 9-patch blocks were rejects from a swap--they didn't quite fit the guidelines, but now they have a home. And the siesta fabric has been begging to be used since we started this ministry. I can't wait to see how Cathy does the cross for this one! Opinions solicited: I really liked how the blocks just floated on the blue, but maybe it's a little weird; should I trim the blue and add another border?

Now I must must must spend some time working on quilts for the family! Has anybody else noticed that charity quilts get done and personal quilts just sit in the box?

Ta-da!

It's finished! I know it's not perfectly symmetrical, but it was my learning piece and I love it. (so there!) P.S. Anybody out there doing Quilt Pink?

What color is your soul painted? Grey Your soul is painted the color grey, which embodies the characteristics of elegance, humility, respect, reverence, stability, subtlety, wisdom, strong emotions, balance, and cancellation. Grey falls under the element of Water, and symbolizes the moon, tide, ebb and flow. Click Here to Take This Quiz

Quizzes and Personality Tests

Grey? Me? Grey? Elegant? Huh? Who wrote this thing?

I'm a Marsupial (See my Pouch)

Look what I can do! This pouch measures about 9" square and has a real live zipper. I used the fancy stitches on my machine to finish the bottom. Yes, it's lined. The fabric came from a 10" squares swap on About.com quilting forum.

Cool, huh? It's just begging for embellishment so I'll show it to you when I've done that. (hint: Lepidoptera order)

Vacation Memories in Stitches!

Old Sturbridge Village is moving along. After frogging a bunch of green shadows that should have been gold (aargh!), I focused on the house and it shows. Nothing like sittin in the air-conditioned splendor of Starbucks and stitching! The stitched piece will be a diagram of this living history museum in Massachusetts. (link)I've visited twice and would happily go back. It's set in the 1830's and people dressed in period costume talk about the history of the place and do the work of the townsfolk. From the banker to the country housewife, there are wonderful conversations to be had and activities to enjoy. I, of course, love the handwork and learning about women's roles in history; my beloved really enjoys getting into intellectual conversations with the historians on-site; and our daughter played rounders (kind of a proto-baseball) on the green and helped the housewife in her baking.

Escape to New Zealand

Today the weather in San Diego was hot! My dear friend Valerie agreed to let me quilt at her place, where they have air conditioning. (You can almost hear the Allelujah Chorus!) I brought the fabulous Twist and Turn New Zealand quilt and made real progress. All the blocks are done. To my shock, I discovered I had made 44 blocks, not 30! And thus the quilt got bigger.

This detail gives you kind of an idea of where I'm going with it.

Any ideas for names?

Uses for Leftovers or How to Make a Tassel

At the end of a cross-stitch project, there's always leftover thread and as a scrapper, I can't just throw it out! So I make tassels. Now, there are plenty of instructions for making tassels online, but I couldn't find one that had a smooth hanger. They all seemed to have a hanger with a knot, and I like to hang my tassels on stuff like scissors and knobs. So... here are my instructions!

1. Find a selection of threads and pull out 4 thick strands: 3 to use for the hanger and one--preferably the darkest or lightest color--for the band.

2. Wrap each strand around a likely-sized item. I like this cassette box. If you're picky, you can make exact measurements on a piece of cardboard, but that's not my deal. Wrapping them one-by-one is important, otherwise you get a chunky messy tassel. As you wrap, leave the long ends hanging off one side of the cassette box.
3. Make a restraining knot: Use a piece of spare floss (you'll be throwing this one out) to sneak under the wrapping and tie around one end of the wrapped threads. (This should be the end without the loose ends.) Make sure you get 'em all. (I'm not sure how necessary this step is, but it seems to keep things tidy.)

4. Leaving a 4" tail, tape down the three strands reserved for the hanger and braid 'em.


5. Slip the braid under the wrapped threads and tie an overhand knot. Slide it up to the restraining knot and leave it there.


6. Cut the wrapped thread on the end with the long loose ends. It's okay to trim some of the really long ones if they're in your way. Move the hanger until the overhand knot is about 3/4" inside the threads, hidden from view.

7. Remove restraining knot. Thread a needle with the thread reserved for the band. Lay part of the thread in with the cut ends of your tassel, hold it there, and wind it around the top of your tassel, about 3/4" down, right over that overhand knot. Wrap round and round until there's about 1/2" of a band. Take the needle right through the band several times.

8. When the thread feels secure, take it through the band, downward into the tail of the tassel. Tighten it and remove the needle.

9. Brush the threads until they separate. I prefer to use a stiff toothbrush. (Try not to use the one you'll be using on your teeth because it will pick up the colors of the tassel--yuck!)
10. Trim the ends to the same length. You may need to brush out the tassel several times in order to get them the same. (Note: if your thread is kinked from being on cards for too long, wet your tassel and let it dry before trimming the ends.)

A Microscopic Look at a Christmas Tree Farm

Jingle Bell Christmas Tree Farm is moving right along. The complicated stitches, however can only be appreciated if you

get really close!

The beaded stitches are called Modified Smyrna Crosses and the plain white are called Smyrna Rice. What is it about Smyrna anyway and why do they sew so funny there?

pattern from The Victoria Sampler