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

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?