Another Round Tuit

All right! So I'm awarding myself another Round Tuit today, for my work last night and today. I got out the binding fabric for Kiwi Twist, my king-sized quilt. I haven't done anything since Quilt Diva Yuki quilted it. (Yikes!)




See why I had Yuki quilt it? She did this freehand! What a woman!

What's been done:

1. Got out the binding (it was already cut.)
2. Drew the diagonal line on the end
3. Sewed them all together with a diagonal seam (it's stronger!)
4. Iron it and rolled it up on a TP tube
5. Unrolled it and creased it with the iron
6. Rolled it back up again
7. Cut the excess backing and batting off the quilt
8. Looked up the instructions in a Quilt-in-a-Day book
   
9. Sewed the binding to the back, around the quilt with 1/4" seam, leaving 8" free
10. Sewed the ends together, correctly (I think there should be a way to do it diagonally but I probably won't figure it out)
11. Finished sewing the binding down. (Phew!)
12. Got out needle and thread (It counts as a step!)
13. Started sewing the binding to the front by hand. I've probably done about 90" out of 400", but it's moving along

Still to Do

1. Finish hand-sewing the binding
2. Make the label
3. Sew it on
   

Ah, the Orient!

I finished the back for my Oriental Lanterns quilt. I used leftovers from the front and two yards of this blue "eternity" fabric. Hoop-de-doo! Now I can send it on to Quilt Diva Yuki. It's way too big for my humble machine. Besides which, she does an amazing job as opposed to my merely adequate work. I'm even sending binding fabric so she can attach the binding for me. (But I'll hand-sew it down. I like that part.)

It's going to be glorious on my DD's bed!

To the right are close-ups of the fabrics I used. I really like the dragon fabric. It's just right for her.

While we were on vacation in Texas, we went to a little town called Bandera. I was poking around in a shop and my DH surprised me: he found a quilt shop! Was I surprised! Well, I couldn't disappoint him by leaving with no fabric, could I? That would be ungrateful! So I made the supreme sacrifice and purchased these lovely fabrics.

Apron Day

I've been meaning to make aprons for some time... heck, maybe a whole year, but I figured out how to get around to it (see the round tuit!)

I put it on the calendar! Last Thursday was Apron Day, celebrated (as far as I know) only in my household. In preparation for Apron Day, I pulled out five fabrics and washed them in warm (cuz that's how I wash a dirty apron). Yeah, five was a little optomistic, but hey! I still have three new aprons. Stashbuster Alert: I used up 3--count 'em 3!--yards of fabric!

History of Apron Day:

Three years ago, our family was traveling to the Caribbean. On the airplane, we were seated in back, close to the galley. The stewardesses all had these DARLING aprons on. I asked and it turned out that the woman I was talking to made them and would bring them on her flights for herself and her co-workers*. So I asked about the pattern and how she made it. She explained and then handed me an extra. "Here, use this as your pattern." I was blown away and very grateful.


So, until Apron Day was made official, I've only made one. And I use it. A lot.

The How-To:

So here's how I did it: I layed out the apron on top of a folded piece and drew around it, leaving a quarter-inch margin. That gave me two identical apron-shaped pieces. I then cut 2.5" strips for the neckstrap and sash. After I sewed the sashes, I pinned them on one of the apron shapes (pointing in, of course!) Then I pinned the other apron shape over the whole thing. I sewed them wrong sides together and left a space open to turn. After I turned it right-side-out, I sewed around the apron shape with a quarter-inch margin, moving the straps out of the way as necessary. With scraps I could make a pocket--absolutely required! I have to have somewhere to put my iPod!


*Note on the hyphenation of co-workers. I know it's not normally hyphenated, but if I don't, it looks like cow orkers. I don't know what orking is, but I'd guess that the cows don't like it.

New Camera!

Hooray! I'm so happy that the new camera arrived today and is in working order! I took a quick pic of Leapfrog. Looks like St. Patrick's Day exploded, huh? But when you really look, there are hundreds of litle frogs. The unofficial title of this one is The Second Plague. Get it? The plague of frogs! I spent much of Monday sewing these blocks for the Marine Comfort Quilt project. I used scraps and orphan blocks tht Beth and Yuki gave me. I mailed the blocks out yesterday (before the camera came), but I made this one later. It's a good way to use 'em up for a good cause.

Naked Stranger!

Yes, there was a naked man in my front yard yesterday! Okay, so he was only temporarily naked and he was really in the street in front of my house. But still, he was nekkid! I think he was changing from being at the beach because I think I saw a wetsuit but, cheese louise! We live a good ten or fifteen minutes away! Isn't there a men's room between here and there?

On the knitting front: the baby blanket now has three blocks and I found a picture of someone else's finished blanket. Cute huh?




Also, I made a quilt top I'm calling Leapfrog. As we'll be off to Texas this coming Saturday, I may have very little chance to blog. Golly, I hope my camera comes today. Then I can show y'all what I'm up to! See how I added that y'all right in, like a real Texan? Shoot, I don't really speak the lingo but I'll give it a Yankee try!

New Camera on its way

Yes, the Borg-vision persists, but a new camera is on the way! HP took me through the dance, trying to figure out what the problem was. Their diagnosis was "internal hardware malfunction." I was told that was "unfortunate." I'll say! I got the impression they were cutting me a deal when they offered me various models of new and refurbished HP cameras. I did a little research and discovered the "deal" was nothing less than full price. Ack! So I ordered the camera I wanted from Beach Camera through Amazon, for $52 less than HP's price and NO SHIPPING charge!

So there!

In stitching news, I picked up Old Sturbridge Village today and got a little more done. It's really not got far to go so maybe I can finish it before it has to go away again. Yes, I know this isn't a picture of my stitching, but it is Sturbridge, after all. As a crafty blog, I feel that pictures are required.

Borg-Vision!

This is what my work would look like if I had borg-vision. I guess that's why they're not known for their handwork. (Yes, my camera is misbehaving.) The baby blanket is green, but not this green! And what's with all the horizontal lines? This is my stitching without a flash--it's usually a little dark, but oh, dear! And here is my stitching with the flash--a very green pink, wouldn't you say? The good news is that I have completed the March stitching on the Red Thread SAL and started the border with weathered barn floss--I like it a lot better than the coffee color for my fabric... although it's hard to tell....

Funky Frogs of Looove!

See what I did yesterday? I tell you, this pattern works up so fast! (Even when you barely have enough of some of the fabrics! The lovelovelove and the stripey fabric was just enough to do the job.) I wonder how many of this pattern I'm gonna make.

Stashbuster Alert! I was driving home Sunday and thinking about my stash. Hmm, I thought, I've got some frog fabric. So I got into the green box and pulled out the two from there. I think I could use some pink to offset the green. So I opened the pink/red box. Ooh, pink frogs! But they won't go nicely with the green frogs. Guess I'll have to make another quilt with just pink frogs. So I cut up the green frog fabric and the pink frog fabric and coordinating fabrics for both. You know, I think I may have some really ugly purple frog fabric... And whatever happened to the orange frog fabric? So it's called "The Funky Frogs of Looove". See the frogs? See the love?

... and the Red Thread Continues!

Here's the February installment of the Red Thread. Gosh, I like this project! I almost want to start March now, but discipline is a good thing. You might be able to see where I used the hand-dyed threads as opposed to the standard DMC colors: The hat & little heart and the red thread itself. It's nice to have options. Especially less expensive options!Warm Water Wash is moving right along. The trunks are a little like my DH's, and I've had a black bathing suit with a gold buckle--how funny is that?And here's Liberty Bears! I'd like your opinion. As you can see, the pattern calls for a checkerboard border around the whole thing. I'm thinking of deleting the border and just framing it without. The border seems awfully busy and will just underline the country theme which is not really my style. Will the no-border look just kinda bleed off the edge? Am I just trying to finish it sooner?

Singin' the Blues on Pink Street

I finally finished the flannel blanket that's been sitting in pieces on my desk for (ahem!) three months... or more. I call it finished because I put the label on it, too. The rule is "It's not finished until you've put a label on it." Quilters can be so rule-bound! Took me a while to come up with a name for it, but as it's going to a singer... although it was sewn on an Elna... never mind.

The fluffy side
The "smooth" side

Below is a quilt I started last Friday at PQM. Today, all I had to do was cut and sew the last two borders. I was planning to only have two borders, with a large purple outside, but inspiration hit. I would have loved to put a little of the disco floor fabric in the border, but I used it all up! Same goes for the black. It's hard to see in the photo, but it's actually a checkerboard black on black. This is another Disappearing 9-Patch, ala Life is a Stitch. It always blows me away how fast these little boogers go together! I'm going to title it, "Geometry."
Stashbuster Alert! These are blocks I've had waiting around for me to do something. I made about half of them and the other half were part of a swap. And here's the layout for my next prayer quilt. I think it's the one for my pop. He's got polymyalgia rheumatica and it's no fun. What do you think, Mom? I know you're reading this. Will he like it? Maybe "Geometry" would be more appropriate.