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

Scrappy Tops Done!

Good news! My camera and my computer have kissed and made up. Their little tiff has kept me from blogging. Here's a picture of Jingle Bell Christmas Tree Farm. I've been playing with it lately so the next picture will show some progress. The pattern calls for fancy-shmancy overdyed silk threads and specialty stitches and beads, too. Fun stuff!

And in other news:

Tripping Out quilt top (for Vince) is done--yay! The detail picture shows the border fabric which I used for inspiration. The back will have travel fabric as the cross, a deep orangey sashing, and a denim-blue background.





Sunshower quilt top is done, too. See? I found the corners. (There are still 3 of those units left--the scrapper in me needs to find a home for them.) Valerie keeps teasing and telling me it's too bad my quilts have such muted colors. What do you think?

Snow's Done and SunShower Nearly Over

As you can see, SunShower is just about done.

What is left for Sunshower?

1. 2 sides with corner pieces attached. (Oh, and I have to find the corner pieces!) Somebody abandoned some 4-triangles-make-a-square units in the scrap bin at church. Yay for me!
2. Choose materials for the back. (That may mean piecing together scraps for the cross.)
3. To Cathy, who finishes most of my prayer quilts with a bee-yoo-tee-full cross back!To Therese to quilt it and birth it.
4. To any of several angels who put the ties in... so glad I don't have to do that!
5. The hand-colored label gets sewn on the back.
6. We pray over it and send it off to the recipient.

Ta-da! Cold Feet, Warm Heart is done, matted, and framed! Yay!

This quilt was started yesterday. I know it's a little hard to see yet, but it will be cool, I promise! I set four blocks on top of the inspiration fabric, which will appear in a few blocks and as the border. The pattern is called Stitched Scraps and goes together really fast. (I LOVE making scrap quilts!)

It's a prayer quilt for a guy with inoperable liver cancer. Say a little prayer for Vince, will ya? Here's a link for our prayer quilt ministry. Scroll down to the bottom and you'll find it.

Swapping Stars

I've been swapping quilt blocks on About Quilts. It's a fun way to do scrappy quilts. Here's how it works:

1. You make a bunch of blocks
2. send them to the hostess
3. she sends you back a mix of blocks from other people.

The above blocks are for the Batik and Cream Stars Swap. Before I assembled them, I played a little with the components and made an entirely different star block!

I attended the San Diego Quilt Show for the first time today. Lots of great quilts in the competition and plenty of vendors. I purchased this pattern, Bamboo and Pinwheels. It makes two quilts at the same time, and is written in a work-saving style with COLOR diagrams.

Charmed, I'm Sure

On Sunday, I took a fun little class at Quilter's Paradise: Party Charms tote. These are the fabrics I chose:
And this is the tote I made. Cool, huh? It's got topstitching and a magnetic clasp. I am just as thrilled as I can be!

Carol, the teacher was very encouraging and explained every step. She actually adjusted the original pattern to make it work even better.

I've finished all the stitching on Cold Hands, Warm Heart. Now it calls for French knots, but I hate making French knots. So I'm putting in beads instead! This little guy is gonna be done in no time. (Especially with shows like Top Chef on!)

Hotel Studio

Did you hear about that lady who was sewing in the hotel room? Yes, that's me, holding up a block from the New Zealand Quilt. Okay, here's the scoop:

1. My daughter is away at camp.
2. My mother-in-law was owed a visit.
3. We were driven out of house and home by termites, okay, not the termites. They were happy to coexist with us as long as we continued to feed them. The fumigators drove us out.
   

So... off to Newport Beach for a couple of days. Of course I overpacked! Not only did I bring the New Zealand Quilt (pictured), but I brought three other quilts in progress and three cross-stitch projects. Not to mention a couple of books. (Phillipa Gregory's The Queen's Fool and Diane Mott Davidson's Dark Torte, just in case I finished one!) Well, I only got to read a little and I only got to sew a little, but it was still nice.

You can see progress on Cold Hands (during long talks when my fingers got itchy.)

Turns out the desk at the Hyatt was big enough for both Bill and I to use: he was on the internet and I was on the Featherweight... and we weren't jogging elbows or anything! Ah, bliss!

I also had the opportunity to visit the best discount fabric store in southern California, perhaps the world: M & L in Anaheim. Woo-hoo! I got flannels galore and some great quilting cottons for 25% of the retail price. I even picked up a non-floral white-on-white bolt of fabric for making more masculine quilts... or at least not girly!

Restaurant Recommendation

The Pleasant Peasant
Newport Beach, Ca

Not just the food--the pureed turnip soup was amazing--but the atmosphere, the service, the reasonable prices, and the surprisingly generous servings of country French food.