Simple Life

Praise God, Emily's okay!

I'm stitching today: I hope to finish the April portion of The Red Thread...and I did! I don't know why the picture turned out so yellow; the close-up of the flowers is more true-to-life.

A very good activity for a quiet day. It was HOT today--that means my solar clothes dryer worked lickety-split! You know what a solar dryer is, right? Here's a picture of one: Take a look at the captions: it's wryly funny. If you click on the image to enlarge it, you'll be better able to read the words.

Kiwi Twist is Finished!

Kiwi Twist is FINISHED! Hip-hip-hooray! I FINALLY got the binding on. The same night I put the label on ("It's not finished until it's labeled!") and I'm so glad. I put it right on the bed. DH came and looked and was amazed by the quilting. Yes, Yuki, the quilt diva rocks!

Next news: I'm awarding myself yet another round tuit for getting out the batik and cream Jacob's ladder swap blocks and sewing them into a top. I just love the way they all set together, like facets in a jewel. I think that one-third of the blocks I made. The rest I sent out my blocks and received others in trade. Also, (stashbuster alert!) I pulled out five yards of fabric from my stash and put it together to create the back. There's an adorable fabric featured, but you'll just have to wait until I get it back from Yuki to see it!
You have GOT to see the new sewing machine: the short arm quilter! Take a look, even if you don't sew at all!

Finally, the red thread lives. These little kites are the March installment. I'm working on April. Perhaps I'll have it done tomorrow. You never know!
PS: Please lift up a prayer for the safety of Emily. Thanks!

Readin' and Knittin' and Stitchin'

Okay, Kids, I'm still working on that border for Kiwi Twist. I sit down and set a timer for 20 minutes. I've still got one side and one corner left. So it's moving along. I hope to have it done this week. Maybe I'll even make a label. Ol' Molly is sitting idle, waiting for me to do some more machine work!

The baby blanket is also moving along. I just measured and it's 14" long. That's about 1/3 done. I actually took it to the movies and knitted in the dark, slowly but without mistakes. No mistakes that I could find, anyway.

I thought I'd let you know about this fun site I've been going to: Paperback Swap. It works on a credit system. Each credit is good for one book. I got a credit for posting my first 10 books. I get a credit for each book I send out. (I've sent out over 30 books!) AND, if YOU sign up, using my link, I'll get another credit. Even if you forget to credit me, I still think it's a cool system and I'd love to have you enjoy it too. And if the book you want isn't currently available, there's even a wishlist--they'll contact you when it shows up in the system. If you're interested, there's a link under my photo.

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....