Stuck in My Head: "Topaz" by the B-52's

Okay. So that last post looked like something I would delete from my inbox. But really, can you believe that the only things I wouldn't try again are salted lassi and Krispie Kreme doughnuts?
I finished up "On the Riverbank." Yay! Now I can put that project to bed. (har!) You see, it's a quilt and I punned on the... never mind.
And here is "Cielo." It's another double 4-patch swap quilt. I made about 4 of the blocks in it. Pictured here it is laid out for pinning. The medium blue back is peeking out around the top. In other words, please don't think I'm putting 3 borders on this!
And here is "Liberty Bears" in progress. I've decided to leave the checked border with just the navy. You can see where I've started in on white, but I'll pull that out shortly.
Gotta big day. I'm going to a moving party, playing mah jongg, and participating in an interview about funny women. If it's as cool as it sounds, I'll tell you all about it.

Okay, it ain't handwork, but I'm hungry!

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

My never consider eating's will be italics... And the Never Try Again will be bold and italics

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare (But it wasn't on purpose--it was dark)
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (oh, come on, it wasn't on purpose!)
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel (but I've fed them!)
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut (I just don't like doughnuts)
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer (every Tuesday!)
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini (hmm, not together, but are you offering?)
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail (Really it was garlic and butter with a little snail on the side!)
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Listening to: "On the Sunny Side of the Street"

Whoa. I begin to realize that I'm not just blogging for me. I love being part of the online crafting community! Valerie asked that my "Way Too Many Projects" section be converted to something clickable. I put it off because it seemed like a real time commitment. It wasn't. But I had to think it through. So feel free to click away, kids!

I sat in the window this morning and sewed on the binding for "On the Riverbank," below. You can see I'm almost halfway done. I provided a pic of the front, because it's honestly more interesting. And during another "Escape From the House," I went to see "House Bunny." As the socks are doable without any attention (PLEASE don't say boring--I'm trying not to think it... Oh, now you've done it), I knitted through the flicker. It was just what I had hoped: innocently crass and even a little charming. So I've completed the gusset on sock #2. (Click for the definition of a gusset) So I'll call 'em 60% done on my ravelry page.

And here's the first pic of Sleeves Without a Sweater. Okay, Sleeve Without a Sweater. It's pretty basic: stockinette in the round until the last six rows where I'll put some ribbing.

Liberty Bears got a little attention, too. I added some backstitching to the bears. All that's left is the numbers and finishing. I think I may finish it soft. What I mean is that I'll make it into a mini-quilt for the wall. Border, back, binding, and some kind of stiff batting to help it keep its shape. I'm thinking of sewing two little rings on the back for hanging it up. Has anyone done that? I'd appreciate any tips on the subject.

The Mystery is Revealed!

It occurs to me that the item at the top of my Too Many Projects List has never been pictured here. Does that seem fair? So here is the Goofy Bear Button bracelet in progress. No, I'm not working on it today. But I'm looking at it. With you. Heck, that might even inspire me to add to it's regal magnificence. Someday.

Rabbithole Thoughts

Today I HAD to get out of the house. You know how it is: three people, summer heat, not enough sleep between them... So I was sitting in Daily's, a little "healthy" fast food restaurant in La Jolla, with my Big Bag of Activities*. I chose the Girl Scout vest and got to work. That made what could have been a difficult morning into a pleasantly amusing one. (I got to people-watch at the same time!)
This is my take-along sewing kit. I made it from a Ver-Mints box (ginger variety) and some scraps from current projects. I just glued the docorations on and a magnet to the inside lid. The scrap of fabric inside is stored on top of the scissors to keep it away from the magnet.
I've been quilting like a fiend (note to self: find out if fiends really quilt) and finding out that it's really a good bicep workout. All three quilts now have the binding attached and ready to be sewn down.
Here's a close-up of my deliberate meander quilting style.
And I've taken to making Continuous Bias Binding, following the instructions from buzzville. I've heard that bias binding is preferable to non-bias because it wears better. Whatever. Once I have it ironed in half, I don't want to have to iron it again later or get it tangled, so I roll it up on a TP tube. Works great. I still have one roll left to go.
Then it stays neat as I sew it down. See how it works as I'm attaching the binding to "Home Sweet Home".
*Current inventory of the Big Bag of Activities: one quilt that needs binding sewn down, multicolored sock project, the Red Thread sampler, snacks, hand wipes, one copy of Fantasy and Science Fiction magazine, and one pink Bible. It's kinda like a toddler's busy bag.

Reducing My Quilting Footprint

Normally when cutting my quilting cotton, I keep pieces 1" square or larger. Anything narrower, I have felt total freedom in tossing. Well, now I don't have to throw out even the tiniest shreds. Why? Yuki, that's why. Look what she's been up to:
This is made up entirely of little shreds. Yuki spreads out layers of shredded fabric over batting to create a picture. She then lays a piece of netting over the whole thing and quilts it. Amazing, no?

And yet I have a story of injustice to a talented quilter: She made another incredible quilt. Aargh! I didn't take a picture. But take my word for it: it was bee-yoo-tee-full! Pink, white, and yellow roses made in a crazy quilt fashion surrounded by a ribbon completely made from quilting thread. The whole thing looked three-dimensional. She showed to to some proficient quilters who hardly said a word about it.

• "Did you see my rose quilt?"
• "I saw it."

What in the world? I mean this is an incredible work of art. We are a community and must support each other. And quilters, I think, are the only ones who really understand what goes into something like that.

The only thing I can think is that these were traditional quilters who couldn't wrap their minds around art quilts. I can understand walking past the art quilts in a show when your focus is traditional, but at a friend's house? Here is my remonstrance: play nice!

Quilt Wisdom: It's Not Finished 'Til It's Labelled

What is with me? I'm an old-fashioned housewife, making quilts, knitting socks, cooking (not altogether willingly) dinner from scratch most nights but absolutely in love with science fiction. I've been watching Firefly on Hulu. Good show! Well, I guess that's just me: Stuck in the past, dreaming of the future... Okay, self-examination complete.

Wahoo! The Second Christmas Scrap Quilt is done! I love that word--DONE! Originally known as "The Girl," it is now
I finished sewing down the label during the Women's All-Around Gymnastics last night. I won't say who won just in case you haven't seen it yet.

The Game is Afoot

Holmes: What do you see here, Watson?
Watson: Hmm, a sewing machine and gardening gloves. What can this possibly mean?
Holmes: Elementary, my dear Watson. A woman with small hands has clearly been using the quilting function on her sewing machine. The gloves provide the purchase needed to manipulate slippery fabric.
Watson: Brilliant, Holmes. You never cease to amaze me.

Three for the Price of One!

Four, actually. I participated in a quilt block swap back in November. Most of the blocks I kept, but I sent out and received back quite a few. The total number of these 8.5" Double Four-Patch blocks is

87.

Well, I thought that would make a nice bed size quilt. That was before I thought about finishing a nice bed size quilt. Molly's a normal-sized machine and a muscular quilter might fit a twin sized quilt in there, but a queen: no way! So I pulled out the most masculine 30 and made a quilt for my dad a few months ago. (No, I don't have a picture.) That left

57.

I put them away for a while until I could figure out what to do with 'em. So Thursday night, when everything was going wrong, I pulled 'em out to see what could be done. You quilters know that multiplication comes into creating a layout. 5 blocks x 6 blocks makes a 30 block quilt, 4 blocks x 5 blocks makes a 20 block quilt and so on. Well, I started laying 'em out and noticed that many of the blocks I made had a brick-red color going on, so I put 'em together. Turns out there were 20. Here's the layout:
That left

37.

That was when I noticed some were softer colors, so I put them together. And there were just 20. That's another 4 x 5 quilt.
So then I had a few leftover:

17.

Well, you probably know that's a prime number and unless I want a quilt that's 1 block by 17 blocks, I'd have to do something else. So I pulled one out. And I was left with a group of bolder, saturated colors.
So now I have one leftover and 3 quilts to finish. I already have the fabric for borders, binding, and backs. What does that mean? I gotta get back to work.

PS: This is what's left of the binding for my second Christmas scrap quilt. I need a name! The first one was called "The Economics of Christmas", because everything was free except of course my time. I'd like to keep it in that vein: a subtle reminder that a person doesn't have to spend to have something nice.

Splicing binding

Okay, my experiment totally worked so here's the low-down:

How to splice your binding ends on the diagonal

I've run into a little persnickity thing when binding my quilts. Many instructions call for a diagonal seam to create the binding, but then finish off with a straight seam that goes right across. I wanted the finish to be diagonal, too.

This is just about finishing binding a quilt. I'm going from the binding directions in the back of most Quilt-in-a-Day books, so follow their directions ('cuz they rock!) except cut your starting binding edge on a 45° diagonal before you start sewing it down.

1. Measure 4" from where the cut hits the fold and start sewing, following the QIAD directions. We'll call this the starting edge.
2. So you've gotten all the way around your quilt and stopped sewing 4" from where your binding will overlap. Good.
   
3. Unfold your binding from both ends and lay it wrong side up. Plan to cut your ending edge .5" past where the two strips will meet. Mark it with pins or chalk it at the top of the diagonal and the bottom. Check to make sure your marks will go .5" beyond the starting edge.
4. Now it's time for the struggle. Get out a cutting mat (the smaller the better) and jam it in between the ending edge of the binding strip and the quilt. Cut, based on your markings. You should now have something that looks like this:
5. Pin the right sides together and sew, using .25" seam. Note the little dog ears when pinning. This helps when sewing a diagonal--I learned that at the quilt festival!
6. Fold back over and finish attaching the binding, using the QIAD method. Ta-da!

I hope this was clear. If you have any suggestions for making my instructions a little better, let me know. Happy Tuesday! Oops, it got late. Happy Wednesday!