frayed edge

working on....

2012-02-12T18:18:00.000-06:00

No big news here, at least not the kind of announcement that I am waiting to make regarding the arrival of my grandson! As you can see in this picture, Brita is nearing her delivery date! We were at the Timberwolves game with B and B this night.

about 36 weeks

The picture below shows a new-ish project that I have been working on. It is made from felted wool sweaters that I have been collecting from a local used clothing store. I finally have enough of a coordinated theme to put together a decent sized lap quilt or couch quilt. This has been kind of fun.

chopped up felted wool sweaters

I washed them twice on hot water/cold rinse and dried in a hot dryer. You never can tell for sure how they will turn out, but 5 of the 6 that I worked with shrank up nicely. They have to be 100% wool, but even if the tag says that, there is no guarantee that they will shrink down like I want them to be. Not sure what to do with the other one, probably put it with my stuff to go to the donation center! They will be able to collect twice from that one!

Anyway, I cut all the sweaters open at the seams, so I had flat fronts, backs and sleeves to work with. I decided to work on a grid of multiples of 3", so I cut chunks that were 15 1/2", 12 1/2", 9 1/2", etc. Mostly squares, but some strips to fill in as needed. I ended up drawing it out on graph paper to make everything fit into rows that could be assembled and then joined together. I wanted to keep this simple, without a backing or binding. So I just overlapped the edges of the pieces by about 1/4" (not very accurately in some spots!) and top-stitched with a wavy stitch. I used the walking foot on my machine, it would have been really hard to keep things feeding through evenly without that. When it all came together, I did one more round of topstitching all around the outside edge and called it good. I think I want to do more of this as I can find sweaters that are appropriate.

Up on my design wall--

La France by Villa Rosa

I cannot believe that I have those 2 turquoise blocks at the bottom nearly on top of each other! I did not even see that until I looked at the picture, and I had been consciously working to keep the colors scattered evenly throughout! I think the seam ripper has to come out for this one. This is a pattern that uses 5" pre-cut squares plus 1 yard additional fabric.

I finished a quilt for a customer, all flannels--

Customer's flannel quilt

And started another quilt that I introduced to you before--

Lover's Lane by Villa Rosa

This looks like Easter eggs to me! I will be able to finish quilting this one tonight since I am home alone and can do whatever I please!

The 2 Villa Rosa quilts that I have shown here will be displayed at Bear Patch, where the patterns and kits will be available.

I'm thinking that supper will be a bowl of popcorn!

finally finished

2012-02-01T13:11:00.000-06:00

This quilt has been stalled on my frame for longer than I had expected, a combination of life's happenings and a low ebb in my creative enthusiasm. Quilter's block?

I'm not sure of the name of the pattern, I will try to find out from Joyce, the maker. Now I hope I can pick up the pace again and get some more customer quilts completed. Right now I am going to run out to Joann's, the nearest one is about 10 miles away, to match a thread color for the next quilt. I have the desired green isacord thread to be used on the quilt top, but would like to match that color in a cotton thread for the bobbin. Isacord is a slippery polyester thread and works best with a less slippery thread on the bobbin. Helps with knotting off ends and setting tension. Might just have to cruise the yarn aisles, too! Then later tonight it is a trip downtown to watch the Timberwolves play, they have been pretty hot lately so I hope tonight is a barnburner!

going amish?

2012-01-31T07:27:00.000-06:00

I encountered an interesting story this morning and thought I would share it with you here. After you watch the video you will wonder about the irony of learning about the story via your computer screen.

I was glad to learn that he had some of the same experiences that I had, along with many of you, prior to the pervasiveness of electronic media. You know, back in the good ol' days. Like passing notes in class! And writing letters! Even though I love to receive letters in the mail, I find it hard to get myself to sit down and write a letter to someone. Does this happen to others? I feel like it takes too long, I think. But even writing an entry for this blog takes up a lot more time than I ever imagined.

I definitely use a lot less "social media" than people of the next generation, which I think is pretty common. I limit my email to mostly individuals, having unsubscribed to most business-related messages except for a choice few. I started my facebook account to primarily find a way to see what's happening with my kids, but they are pretty good about keeping in touch above and beyond anything they would put on facebook, so I 'm not sure why I continue with that.

I started this blog sort of as a form of journalling, and connecting with people with similar interests. I have looked at the trackers that tell me about the viewage (not sure that's a word) of the blog, but have changed from wishing it would attract more followers to just putting it out there anyway. I realized that I like doing this whether anyone reads it or not! I have always enjoyed a bit of writing, and this is one way to do it. I do love to look at the blog stats about the location of readers, I love it that people from all around the world are looking at these words and pictures.

You can read more about this young man's experiment here.

And now I should probably get on with some things around here, like writing a couple letters that have been put off!

new things

2012-01-29T09:45:00.000-06:00

I'm so lucky to have a son-in-law who's mother is a fabric lover, just like me! Mary creates wonderful bags like this:

carpetbag available at Mary's website

And now she has been busy designing fabric and very kindly sent me a towel made from the exact print that is my favorite from her collection. I love it! Every time I look at it I picture Mary busily creating.

Wonderful fabric from Mary Kaiser

And Brita and I did our own bit of creating last week to prepare their nursery for the little guy coming along in a few weeks. The color theme is brown and green (there seems to be a pattern here, this was the color scheme for their wedding, too!) and the walls have been painted green on the upper part and brown on the lower section with a white chair rail. The crib and dresser/changing table are in place, along with a very comfy rocker/recliner that is going to see some action. I found some decorator weight dark brown fabric with white polka dots and purchased enough for drapes and bed skirt.

pardon my poor photo, it was night time!

I used the directions from Sew4Home as a guideline for these projects. I hadn't sewn lined floor length drapes in a long time (maybe never!) so it took a little planning and plotting. But I was very happy with the result. Brita installed all the grommets and Ben installed the curtain rods. The drapes plus the blinds do a good job of darkening the room. The bedskirt has pleats in it but this crib kind of hides that, so I could have saved some time and eliminated the pleats. Nonetheless, it gives a nice finished look to the crib. I'm glad I had the chance to help with my sewing.

hexie

2012-01-26T22:20:00.000-06:00

I do admit to having a fascination with these little shapes. Not sure what the appeal is, but I can be looking at a whole wall of quilt blocks, and my eye will go straight to a hexagon first!

Many little hexies all in a row--
don't worry about all the little corners poking out.
They will be on the back side.

I have been working on the early stages of a project that I plan to pull together as a class for Bear Patch, probably starting in the fall. It will be set up as a series of classes and is based on a design I saw at last fall's Quilt Market in Houston. It comes all the way from Australia, and is destined to be fun! I will teach the English paper piecing method to create many assorted blocks. I am working on samples in 2 very different themes.

Civil war reproduction fabrics

My favorite brights

These blocks are 2 1/2" size, that is the measurement of each straight size. The layout and combinations of blocks are up for grabs, so I am thinking of using the more traditional type of setting with the civil war prints, using a neutral colored triangle between the blocks.

For the more contemporary-looking brights, I am experimenting with a setting that will create a ring of white around each block. I have a way to go to make enough different blocks to work into a reasonable size. It won't be a king size quilt, this I know for sure!

quiet

2012-01-23T10:03:00.004-06:00

I love a quiet day at home alone! There, I've said it, and apologies to Bob, but sometimes don't we all just need a little quiet time? And today there can be no giving in to temptation to go to the store, coffee shop, bank, post office, library, etc., etc. because I am without wheels. My trusty little Saturn needs a checkup to track down the source of a suspicious odor of hot fluids emanating from under the hood after a drive. It drives normally and no puddle/trail underneath, so not sure what the problem is. Time for the pros, but I pray that it's not a big deal. That car now has ~277,000 miles on it and is like an extension of myself. But we are at the point of those tough decisions about when to pull the plug. Hate making car payments and would really like the satisfaction of seeing 300,000 miles on the odometer!

Time for an update on the grandchild status! Getting nearer faster! Saturday I attended a fun shower for Brita hosted by her friends, it was great to see them all again and watch Brita as she experiences these new things for herself.

She is looking mighty healthy and happy! And last Monday we saw Ben, too, and must say that I think he is looking steadily more fatherly! They are getting their home ready for this little guy and wondering what this is really going to be like but of course, you never know until it happens. I'm trying to do my share and spent yesterday making and finishing a few baby things--

Brita picked out some fabric for crib sheets and I made 2 of those yesterday plus one smaller one for the cradle mattress. I posted a tutorial about the sheets on the Bear Patch Blog yesterday, so if that interests you take a look over there. I put it there because it kind of turned into a commercial for Bernina!

The crib above is set up in our spare bedroom so we will be ready for any visits from Jr. We were lucky to pick up the crib on a giveaway, we hadn't really planned on it but now that it's here, I can foresee lots of potential.

I finished up the edging on this nice little knit blankie-

from Booties, Blankets & Bears by Debbie Bliss. Alternating stripes of grey, gold and white, edged in blue, all CottonEase by Lion Brand, all rows are knit.

Here is a little leftover Christmas that hasn't been packed up-

I had a moment of inspiration and made this oversized candlemat back in December. The battery operated candle is handy for a little touch of candlelight without melted wax on my fabric!

This simulated flame and the warmth from my wood stove bring to my mind all of the good we know about fire, as opposed to the scene I witnessed Saturday night as a nearby house burned to the ground. The owners were home and got out safely, but had to watch helplessly as everything burned. We live in an area that is not serviced by city water nor professional fire crews. So there are no hydrants, but thankfully, volunteers to come out on a cold dark January night to do what they can. That means that the response time seems dreadfully long, and water has to be trucked in to operate the hoses. The house was completely engulfed in flames by the time the fire fighters could even begin to do their job. Big lesson learned for me is that I need to organize a simple box of important information that could possibly be saved if this house lit up. I realized that I wouldn't even know who to call about insurance! Bob probably would, but I need to know for myself. Would you know what to do? I never want to feel helpless about those kind of things - (lightbulb goes on here as I realize this ties in nicely to my control issues!) - so I better do something about that!

On another topic, I find myself stalking Dan's website for new pictures and info about his bike trip! What constitutes cyber stalking? Once a day seems reasonable, but what about hourly? Maybe not so good! Yes, he does call every few days so we can catch up on what has been happening, but part of me just wants to be there!

bring on the cold

2012-01-15T20:22:00.005-06:00

I have been waiting patiently for a package to arrive, and wouldn't you know, as soon as I am away for a week, the package shows up. So today when I arrived home, I was eager to find out if the new winter coat that I had ordered was everything that I had hoped it would be. I am not in the habit of buying clothes sight unseen from online sources. I came upon this coat through The Clymb, a company that gathers sources for shopping deals and sends out email notices of the current options. They have a focus on outdoor sports gear, a lot of which doesn't apply to my needs, but there have been some attractive offerings even for me. I bought a pair of shoes, a messenger bag, and now this coat. All have turned out to be good prices and good products, so if you want to take a look at their website I don't think you will go wrong. But back to the coat, it is from Lole, and turns out to be a very well made garment that will be keeping me happy until the spring flowers bloom!

I love the attention to detail with pockets, plackets, tailoring and materials.

A couple of other sewing/quilting projects to share with you--

this is called Lover's Lane by Villa Rosa Designs. An easy pattern, just 1 yard each of 3 main fabrics.

Some snazzy little shoes for my future grandson--

And this one is Nancy's little baby quilt from an Aardvark Quilts pattern. The stripes make it a winner. Finding a good assortment of nice homespun stripes in these colors is not easy, but Nancy is a fabric collector extraordinaire, and her storage bins are like a treasure chest!

One last thing that I wanted to share with you, but have been forgetting about--

This was the sunrise on Christmas day as we drove along the highway. It was truly beautiful. A gift in itself. No wrapping paper required.

settled in

2012-01-13T08:13:00.005-06:00

We are really settled in here at Nancy's house, we pretty much have everything at our fingertips or very nearly. The dining area is where our 3 machines are embedded and the large kitchen island is perfect for our cutting area. The living room with TV and comfy seating is right next to us, so we can keep up on what's happening in the world or in our favorite shows. Nancy has a fully loaded kitchen, fridge, pantry, freezer and wine cooler, so we are good to go! Last night we cooked up 2 big pans of roasted root vegies seasoned with olive oil and herbs, accompanied by a brown rice mixture. Yummo! And some summer peaches were brought out of the freezer and turned into a great peach crisp using a gluten-free yellow cake mix, butter and cinnamon. The perfect ending!

We gained one more in our numbers last night, my daughter, Brita, drove up from Minneapolis for an overnight. She is now 33 weeks pregnant--oh my!--and we think it's wonderful that she could join us. She curled up on the couch with some yarn and crochet hook to make a little baby blanket. We both talked awhile with Dan as he was sitting on the Pacific coastline watching the sunset. He was camping somewhere in the Big Sur area, I think. His biking is going well, he is in good physical condition and is learning the ways of the long distance road trip. He sounds very happy and the pictures on his website certainly look happy, too.

Some more reports on our sewing time--

I finished making and attaching the 4 border sections to my previously mentioned hap quilt. That feels like a major accomplishment for me, and I love the way it looks. I am toying with the idea of making it a little larger by adding a border all around, but I might just be happy calling it done.

I completed a little baby quilt, for a girl this time, from the Vintage Baby Quilt pattern by Yoyomama.

I used a pale yellow for the background and used a bunch of girlie colors. It is quilted as you top stitch the squares, raw edges exposed. Put on a nice striped binding, wash it up, and voila! (Pattern available at Bear Patch)

Here's a fun and easy project for you:

These are coasters and trivets are easy and quick and doable with random fabrics. The pattern is Amazingly Simple Coasters & Hot Pads by Tiger Lily Press (also available at Bear Patch). I can't find a website for Tiger Lily, but the designer's name is Nicole Chambers-Kaya. Her instructions use several layers of heavyweight fusible interfacing and batting to get a stiff material. I cheated a little and used just plain fusible Timtex instead, with nearly the same results and a lot less messing around! There are 3 sizes in the pattern, what you see above are the small and medium.

For the last feature this morning, I am sharing a group accomplishment. Leisl has taken on the completion of this quilt for a dear friend and she doesn't know about it. She is in a nursing home in Chicago recovering from heart surgery and I am pretty sure that she is not following the great literary work on this blog. In my quilt group, the Ham Lake Piecemakers, we celebrate decade birthdays (30-40-50-etc.) by asking everyone to make a block that the birthday girl can put together into a quilt. This was the one we worked on for Dianne, so each block has the maker's name on it. Dianne put them all together and put the floral vine border all around.

Then, since she wanted to hand quilt it, she marked a cross-hatch grid over the whole works. And then her life changed, she moved to her daughter's in Chicago area, and the quilting took a back seat to other things. Leisl managed to sneak this quilt away and was determined to get it done. Some of the pencil marks had gone astray, and we used Sew Clean by Bear Thread Designs to successfully remove some lines and then mark new lines. I mounted it on my quilt frame and basted it with the batting and backing. Leisl started the hand quilting, and then I took it to my mom and she got the quilting finished. I took it back to Leisl and she put on the binding. The areas that had been sprayed with the Sew Clean had yellowed, so it was soaked in Vintage Soak and turned out nice and white. Now it is just a matter of getting it back to Dianne, I wish I could see her face when she receives it! It has been fun to see it all come together, and even more fun to imagine Dianne's surprise.

Not sure what today's projects will be, but I will keep you posted!

and the fun continues

2012-01-11T07:51:00.003-06:00

Yesterday we took a field trip so not so much sewing was accomplished. We drove to Perham, a little over an hour away, to Bay Window Quilts. We have been there before, and will go again. A large stock of fabric, notions, books and patterns. Friendly people working, and make sure you get a coupon for a free beverage at the Wild Goose gift and coffee shop, my hazelnut latte was delish!

Then we drove another hour (roughly) to Fergus Falls. We stopped at Crates of Yarn but didn't find any treasures there. Then we found the Quilter's Cottage and shopped a bit there. It's a pretty big store with lots of nooks and crannies so it took awhile to see everything. Better lighting and a little more heat would be the only things I found lacking. Not a huge downfall, and I know from experience that sometimes you just have to work with what the building can offer. The space is shared with an appliance store, so you can browse the stoves and fridges at the same time as the fabric. So convenient! Nancy and Leisl were on the hunt for assorted homespun stripes and plaids, and they found some good ones in the sale area at this place. FYI, any of you MN Shop Hop fans, they have a fair amount of the 2010 and 2011 fabrics on the shelves here.

Back at the ranch, we settled down to an evening of sewing, guacamole and TV movies. I put together another border for the hap quilt. I'm thinking this should become a new pattern for Emmaline Design. I found I really needed a worksheet to keep this organized, and this is how mine looks:

I would have to incorporate this into the instructions. The block is simple to construct--

but the layout is what is key, and that is what the worksheet helps with. Each side of the block has to match up to the same fabric on the next block, so keeping it organized was easy with all my little fabric squares pasted down.

Also put together a little quilt top for a Quilts For Kids donation, this is made from pinwale corduroy that was mostly donated by Kwik Sew and supplemented with some coordinates from Joann's.

More sewing in store for today, it looks like there might be some white precipitation in the air so a good thing we did our driving yesterday and today we can stay cozy inside!

fun with nancy and leisl

2012-01-09T14:00:00.004-06:00

It's time for some serious creativity in this little house on the prairie. Watching last night's full (or nearly full) moon and this morning's pretty sunrise over Big Swan Lake is sure to be inspirational. And here are a few finishes to share with you:

binky leashes and bags

directions found here

binding done on a little donation quilt for Twin Cities Quilts For Kids, it is a pattern by Villa Rosa Designs

I usually finish my bindings on these donation quilts by machine instead of hand. For one thing, they get done quicker. For another thing, they probably hold up better through repeated washings that might be needed. I start with a 2 1/2" strip, sew a scant 1/4" seam allowance on the right side of the quilt, then press and fold it around to the back of the quilt. I use a little wavy stitch on my machine, stitching on the right side of the quilt right next to the binding seam. In the photo below you can see the fold edge of the binding is caught in the wavy stitch on the back of the quilt, and the stitch on the right side blends right in.

I have made progress on my hap quilt. I was so happy to finish the last of the 36 blocks that I needed, and I have the border blocks added to one side. Most of the hap quilts that I have seen end with half blocks on the edges, like you see on the right and left sides below:

I decided that I would like it better with finished blocks all around, so I came up with the dimensions to extend the blocks and fill in with some background fabric. I'm not yet sure if I will add any more border around this, I will wait and see after I get the other 3 sides done.

Besides all this creating with fabric, we cooked up some pizza last night. Not your everyday pizza. We have some special dietary needs (well, Nancy and I do, and Leisl has to share in the joy) so we ate gluten free, dairy free, soy free and meat free pizza! So even if there was such a thing as pizza delivery in Grey Eagle, MN, I don't think they would have our special pizza on the menu! We tested out 2 types of gluten free pizza dough mixes, and both were acceptable but Bob's Red Mill brand was preferred over Chebe brand. Also tried a new cheese substitute, Daiya, and it was more melty than any other product I have tried. Even a little bit stretchy like the real thing! Tonight will probably bring more culinary adventures, I'll let you know what develops!

The other really important development is the start of a new adventure for my son, Dan. He is embarking on a cross-country bicycle journey, and you can follow his progress on his website. Please check it out and leave a comment to keep him motivated!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T10:32:00.003-06:00

A very quiet and calm day here at the Hansen house on this Christmas Eve day. Time to catch up on a few things, like sharing some projects I have been working on--

This is a portion of a tablerunner from a book called Sizzlin' Sixties by Heather Mulder. It's on the quilt frame ready for me to start stitching. It will be a class over at Bear Patch. I used a new specialty ruler for the accurate cutting of those 60-degree shapes.

I showed you the next quilt previously during the assembly, and I really love the finished product. It is a design from a book, Strip Smart Quilts by Kathy Brown. All the quilts in the book use strips and another Creative Grids specialty ruler, the 90-degree Double Strip ruler. This quilt will also be a Bear Patch class. Can you tell I'm having fun with rulers?! There is one more to come, but that project is still in the very early stages. Like the stage where I have the ruler and the fabric laying together on the cutting table!

The next quilt is one that I quilted for Debbie, and it is going to her niece's 2-year-old son. It coordinates with the Cat in the Hat theme of his room. The batting was a poofy polyester because it is to be more of a bedspread than a traditional quilt. That's also why I used that repetitive squares quilting design.

This morning I have had a little time to do some reading, I love my Kindle and get plenty of books on it to keep me busy. Mostly for free from an Ereader News site. I get daily notices of bargains and freebies. But today I did a library download from the Anoka Co. Library for the first time, so I have a great new James Patterson novel for my reading pleasure over the next 2 weeks.

I also looked up something on one of my favorite sewing websites, Sew 4 Home, and discovered that they have a great freebie booklet for learning lots about basic sewing.

Here's something else I have been intending to put up here for awhile now. If you love quilts, you need to know about the International Quilt Study Center in Lincoln, NE. I have been lucky enough to visit there, but even if you can't make it to Lincoln, you can definitely make it to their great website. The link I placed here shows you the Quilt of the Month, which shows up in my inbox. A whole quilt in my little inbox! I have also searched in their collections, for example, looking for mosaic quilts. Turned up some great things.

So now it's time to get a few things done around here! Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!

happy holidays

2011-12-21T03:39:00.002-06:00

This holiday printable is available free here. Maybe I could get it printed and framed in time for Christmas 2012!

nearing solstice

2011-12-17T17:03:00.004-06:00

As our hours of sunlight grow increasingly shorter, we are all wrapped up in the Christmas holiday festivities. This made me wonder if there was any direct connection between these 2 significant events, so I looked it up to try to figure it out. But the explanation didn't really clarify it for me, a lot of references to really ancient times, actual number of days in a year (more that 365) and variations in calendars. I did learn that Leap Day helps correct for that fracture of a day greater than 365. That happens to be the expected date of the appearance of my little grandson, so I'm wondering if we are looking at a lifetime of adjusted birthdays for the little guy!

We have trimmed back on the trimmings this year, guess we are going the minimalist route. A little greenery on the stair rails, ascaled down tree, and of course, stockings hung by the chimney with care. I did get a package shipped off to #1 son since he won't be traveling home for this holiday. I only hope that it gets to him and his housemates before the 25th, so they will have our presents on the appropriate day.

Still working on a few little gift things--Brita had asked for some of these zipper bags to replace the old ones I had made, they are great for travels. The white mesh can be purchased at fabric stores like Joann's. The red mesh can be purchased at your local produce market, along with fresh fruit or vegies! I hadn't sewn on it before, and found it less wonderful to work with, but as long as it holds together I am happy!

A little knitting has been snuck in during a few hours on the couch, continuing with a baby afghan that had been on a break while I searched for some more of the gold yarn. It is Cottonease and that happens to be a color that is either being phased out or just plain unavailable in the stores around here. I tried something new and searched on Ravelry for someone wanting to sell it from their own stash. I lucked out and connected with a nice woman who sent me 2 more skeins, so I can make this blankie big enough to last. Also starting a new scarf from the Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn purchased last summer in Bishop, CA, at Sierra Cottons and Wools.

Baked scones for the first time from this recipe-

Not 100% sold on them, although you would think there is enough butter and sugar and spice in them that I wouldn't be complaining! I guess they just aren't as good as some others that I've had.

This brings me to the subject of Pinterest. Because I have that recipe on my food board there. If you haven't heard about or visited or tried Pinterest, check it out. But I am warning you, it can suck up some time! It is like a bulletin board of my favorites and bookmarks, sorted into categories, and accompanied by a visual cue to remind me what my bookmarks are! There are a ton of interesting ideas that can be gleaned from one another's boards, all with a link back to the origin. Kind of cool.

My family has been asking me what I want for Christmas, and all I can come up with is a new bathrobe since the one I am using is a raggy hand-me-down from my daughter. I think it was a gift to her for a Christmas past and wasleft behind on a hook in her bathroom so I claimed it! Not a very excitingwish list, so I think I will add something else that I want:

a lovely tattoo! Which, by the way, I found on Pinterest!

fancy pants sweater

2011-12-13T07:53:00.002-06:00

I have been very bloggy lately over on the Bear Patch blog, so a bit absent from here. We are working on a 12 Days of Christmas promotion that involves daily emails, blogs, facebook posts and website updates. It is all a new venture for us and more successful than we had anticipated. Very good news, but keeping us scrambling to keep up. FYI, if you still want to get in on any of the deals, you can go back through the days on the blog and email or call us with your order. How fun to stuff your own stocking!

I encountered a very fun video that I have inserted for your viewing pleasure--

This looks like so much fun to make!

works in progress

2011-12-05T11:17:00.004-06:00

Time to share some things I have been working on! You can see from these pictures that very few things are actually done, but mostly they don't have to be done in the near future.

English Paper Pieced blocks from Patchwork With Busy Fingers in 2 different fabric groups. I am preparing these for a class for Bear Patch starting next fall, which might seem like a long ways off, but I need to get a lot of these done BY HAND and put together before then.

More little hexagons, reconstructed from an antique quilt. 4 of 100+ blocks. Long term project!

Even more hexagons, this time sewn by machine and using a special ruler that I will incorporate into a winter class at Bear Patch.

And a little gift for our employee Christmas party last night, a table mat that I made to go with the candle wreath and battery candle. I decided that since not all people like a scented candle and the hazards of a burning flame, I would go the safe route with this one.

What have you been working on?

holidays and health

2011-12-03T09:56:00.007-06:00

It seems like we talk a lot about how much we have to do and how busy we all are during this month of December. Often I think we have an attitude that it is just all too much, and we get very little enjoyment out of what is intended to be pure enjoyment! So I am focusing on the big 4: family, friends, faith and fun! I do what I can with what I have, and keep reminding myself that it is all good.

We always do some outdoor lights, but simply done. A couple strings on the front porch, maybe a small tree near the road, and that's enough. Then we light up the tree in the house, and depending on my mood and time, we might wrap the log beams with garland and lights. Altogether, they create a nice glow and a noticeable bump in our electric bill! We have decided to convert over to LED lights for their low-energy consumption, but we don't want to shell out the money for a total light makeover. So we started with 3 new strings for the porch lights this year, and will add more as we go. They do seem to have more light output, I hope we don't have any wandering aircraft mistaking our front yard for a landing strip!

We had a little excitement this week and a reminder of how lucky we are to be living in the 21st century. My sweet parents had a bad scare when my dad's heart started acting up a bit. Here's my mom and dad from about a year or so ago--

Normally healthy and happy, this pair just seems to keep on ticking. They really are those people who are "young for their age", and although they have slowed down a bit over the years, they keep plenty active. This really is the first experience of this type for him, and was distressing at times, but overall things went smoothly. He developed a very slow heart rate, which brings with it additional problems. A heart rate of 35 might be desireable for a marathon runner, but not so much for an 85 year old guy! A quick helicopter ride from Worthington to Sanford Medical Center in Sioux Falls, pop in a pacemaker, and voila! Looking and feeling much better! These little devices seem routine and commonplace to someone like myself who has worked in the medical field for many years. But when I step outside of that perspective, this can seem much more amazing. And if this had happened 50 or 60 years ago, my dad would not have had such a good outcome from this heart problem. In fact, his life would have suddenly become severely limited and shortened. So THANK YOU to all those medical researchers, past and present, who work continuously in some lab somewhere, doing a job that might be considered boring and tedious.

When we found out early Tuesday that we would be taking an unplanned trip to Sioux Falls, I needed to quickly get not only some clothes packed, but a project or 2, of course! I had started out a pair of socks not so long ago, using the technique that lets me knit both socks at once, so I tossed that in the car to keep my hands busy. I am using a nice yarn called Noro Silk Garden Sock, which I purchased early in 2009. I would have liked to work on it sooner, but ran into a little problem. To make these socks, I needed to divide the one skein of yarn into 2 equal balls. But then one ball disappeared, and I had no idea what happened to it. I looked high and low, and resigned myself to the fact that it was permanently gone. I occasionally looked at the one sad ball remaining, and wondered what to do with it, but never was able to pick it up and do anything with it. Lucky for me I didn't! Because 2 years later, when I am removing couch cushions to clean underneath (yes, I know I should do that a little more often than once a decade) I find that missing ball of yarn way smooshed down in the crack! So I finally was able to cast on for those socks, and was making a bit of progress during waiting room and drive time this week. Until I looked more closely at what I had been creating, and realized that the cuff was going to be too small to fit over any ankle that is not emaciated! So time to rip back, and recalculate. These socks are a long time coming! Maybe I will eventually have enough to take a picture of and share, but no guarantees!

triangles galore

2011-11-21T07:51:00.003-06:00

The fibers were flying in the sewing room when I got started on cutting a few triangles for a new project--

Those triangles evolved into blocks like this:

Which turned into something like this:

This picture was taken while I was working on rearranging the colors on the design wall. The finished product will be a couple days off, I'm working on sewing the rows together. Some of the seams require careful matching and pinning to get the corners and points to line up correctly. That's something I require of myself and try to teach in my classes without becoming abrasive because I have come to realize that others often have a better tolerance for mismatches than I do! I mainly want people to enjoy the process of sewing, and if that means doing it the way I do it, or varying from that somewhat, then so be it. There is room at the sewing machine for all!

Back to this quilt--it is a pattern from a book titled Strip Smart Quilts by Kathy Brown. It is cut using a special Creative Grids ruler called the Double Strip 90 Degree Triangle ruler. The fabrics are designed by Denyse Schmidt and are called Hope Valley. This is all in preparation for a class/demo that I will be teaching at Bear Patch Quilting sometime this winter--schedule not yet determined!

And here's an image of another quilt that I worked on for a customer. The fabrics she used were all similar shades of off-white. The backing was a "corduroy" plush fabric.

This type of backing can be a little tricky to work with, mostly because they are stretchy. Mounting the selvage edges to the rollers and keeping the backing slack prevented any puckers/distortion. And a loose, curvy stitching design was needed. Close quilting and points would not have worked well. The customer was happy, and she is taking it to Baltimore for Thanksgiving to give to her lucky family there. And that's what it's all about!

Here's a chuckle from the Mark-B-Gone fabric pen that I have:

"Please try with a waste cloth cutting before use. Please take off a cap with hands, not with a mouth."

Important words to remember!

a bit of kindle

2011-11-17T05:47:00.005-06:00

I have been making good use of the Kindle I was gifted for my birthday, and I have to admit I had some trepidation about it to start out with. I had been longing for an e-reader but I was afraid I would incur too much extra expense with using it. I try to keep myself on a pretty tight budget, but that's a whole other story. I had the mistaken assumption that possessing an e-reader would be like falling down the rabbit's hole of online book expenses. Not so! I have, indeed, purchased one or two "normal" priced books, but for the most part I have been making good use of the free and/or bargain books available on Amazon. I have found more than enough good reading that way, and have started accumulating enough of a digital library that I am going to have to do some organizing and prioritization of the list. And maybe try to stay awake at night longer than the time it takes to read 1 page! I signed up for a daily deal email from Amazon with bargain books to consider. It's amazing how far I have stretched the Amazon gift certificate that accompanied my kindle. In fact, I am still using it 4 months later! Today's book caught my attention and for $.99 I think it will go into my library list.

I have no training in fashion design and scant experience in drafting anything resembling clothing. But I do have a long time, far removed interest in famous designers. The question I have is which comes first--
A., the designer's ability to predict and create hot new fashions and develop a worldwide reputation,
or B., a worldwide reputation gained by hook or by crook with a following that makes everything they design an instant hot new fashion?
This feeds right into my mini-obsession with Project Runway (and now Project Accessory!) and the experiences the struggling designers must go through to come out on top. I always wish I could know more about the critique by the judges, because they are supposed to be the people in the know, and sometimes they flat out don't fit with what my own critique says! Even if you don't get the program on your TV selection, if you are reading this page then you have access to the shows on their website. So I invite you to watch an episode and see who you would kick off the island (or toss off the runway).

On another related note, I want to give a little testimonial for the Kindle cover that I am using. I showed you this before when I shared pictures from a September retreat, but it is worth revisiting now after some time to use and test the design. I make and try out a lot of patterns and projects for classes and displays at Bear Patch, some with better success than others. This was the second pattern I made for an e-reader cover, and this one is a keeper!
It is the Reader Wrap from Atkinson Designs. It is a well-designed and very functional cover. Honestly, what else would I expect from Terry Atkinson? So if you are looking for help for your naked e-reader, this is the one to try!

so solid

2011-11-12T21:40:00.004-06:00

Another finish to share with you! This was such a pretty quilt to begin with, such a good use of solids. There has been a definite trend in quilts towards solids, I'm not sure if this is a comeback or a new thing. It seems like a lot of the quilts from the 30's, 40's and 50's used a lot of solids along with whatever calicos were available. Plus, there's the Amish quilt style that relies almost wholly on solids to create designs and pattern. So, whether it's new or a revival, in the combination above it's a good thing!

Also featuring solids is this quilt designed and made by my sister, Jan--

She asked me to quilt it, so I guess it could be called a collaboration. I wrote about it before, but what I didn't tell you was that she entered it in show, Art in the Redwoods, in Gualala, CA, (her home) and won a 2nd place award! Click on the link to see some other winners. Good job sis! Grandma I. would be so proud! She was our mother's mother, and the person that I trace back our sewing/knitting/quilting/embroidery tendencies to. She was a wonderful Grandma, and we loved it when we could stay overnight with her and Grandpa. The bed we slept in had a soft chenille spread on it, and the wooden headboard had a row of carved bumps like beads all the way across. I liked to run my fingers along the bumps. Ahh, the good old days!

major typo

2011-11-10T09:58:00.001-06:00

Just had to share this sign posted outside a barber shop that I walk by frequently. I think it is supposed to say "2 Chair Rentals Negotiable". Really does not make me want to have my hair cut there!

working at home

2011-11-08T17:11:00.002-06:00

I have happily spent my day working at home on 3 different things. First, I finished up this customer quilt. It's a big one, about 110" square, and made from lots of different shirts, which I explained in my previous blog entry.

Then I loaded this quilt, which is equally as large, and have started the echoed swirly design requested by the customer. Lots and lots of little pieces went into this one. As a reference, the white strips are 1" wide. This picture makes it look like it is the neverending quilt--to infinity, and beyond!

Sometimes when I start a big quilt that is exactly what it feels like! Kind of like I will never get to the other end! This quilt is from a book titled Quilts Made Modern by Ringle & Kerr

For some relief from these big guys, I have used my break time to work on this little wool applique project:

This is part of Christmas Wraps & Mats by Bareroots and will likely be on display at the store in our upcoming Christmas window display. And we have had a lot of requests for a class on this topic, so I am trying to organize that as I stitch.

fresh paint

2011-11-06T14:32:00.004-06:00

I have been wanting to give our bedroom a facelift for quite awhile, and it was never a big priority so was postponed far longer than it should have been. When we last painted, I was still working some night shifts and in order to get any kind of decent sleep, I needed lots of dark. So the walls were painted dark blue:

I made my own roman shades for the windows and backed them with light blocker fabric, so they really darkened the room. Over time, the system for raising and lowering the shades deteriorated with the exposure to sunlight. They only sort of half worked, lending a nice ramshackle touch to the decor. Definitely in need of help! I ordered some nice wooden blinds and although they don't block the light quite as well, they are adequate for my life now that night shifts are a thing of the past! I did get the style without holes for the cords, which helps.

Finally, this weekend both of us had 2 days off, and since Bob had to hang out near his computer for work-related reasons, he was pretty much committed to helping with this home improvement project. Here's the after:

I like it! It is called Woodlawn Colonial Gray. It hopefully coordinates well with the quilt (far from finished) I have planned for this room. Still some touchups to do, removing tape, moving furniture, etc., but the worst is done. Should be able to relax and watch the Amazing Race tonight, I'm cheering for the snowboard dudes! And I know some of you are Project Runway fans, can you believe how that ended?! Not at all what I would have chosen! Now I have started following the new show, Project Accessory, and I am learning so much! Like how a shoe is made! Never know when that will come in handy!

I haven't made it to my sewing machine for well over a week, since returning from Houston I have only carried things in there and dropped them so I can get them in my queue. I have done some quilting, finishing up a small Christmas quilt that will be on display soon at Bear Patch, and now working on a very large quilt made from a man's shirts, a memory quilt for his widow. As I work my way through it, I wonder about where those shirts were used and worn, and think about how nice it will be for her when it is all done. I am glad to have a little part in it.

a little hat

2011-11-03T09:16:00.003-05:00

I showed you a picture of this hat a few days ago on the Bear Patch Blog when it was in the works. I don't have a little head to model it for you, so this jug will have to do! The literal jughead! I got as far as the fluff ball while I was traveling, but had to pause briefly. This little knobby ball is actually knitted instead of made as a pom-pom of yarn pieces. I suppose maybe this might be seen as less of a choking hazard for a baby since it can't come apart or loose like the usual pom-pom. It is created right at the end of the point of the hat, making a few rows of increases and then decreases before binding off. Before making the decreases, the inner space needs to be filled with some fiberfill. Of course, I had not packed any fiberfill for the trip! So on the first day of the Market, I went directly to the Quilter's Dream booth. I order batting on a roll from them for my longarm quilting, and it is my favorite brand. I use the Cotton Select, a thin (but not the thinnest) 100% cotton. They have a good offer for charity quilters, too, with a low price on seconds. I ordered a box of seconds for my quilt guild's projects for Quilts For Kids, and the flaws were negligible. Anyway, they also make a very nice cotton stuffing, and I picked up a little sample bag which worked out very nicely to fill the space in the knitted ball for the cap. Voila! Done!

This cap was a pattern from this book:

Thank you, Debbie, for finding this! It has several little novelty hats that will be fun to experiment with. The one I made was actually done in red and white to make a Christmas elf hat, but since my little guy won't be here in time for this Christmas, I substituted other colors. The yarns I used were Lion Brand Cotton Ease color 149 Stone and Artfibers Fauve color 11. I don't think that specific Artfibers yarn is available anymore. I purchased it a few years ago (maybe 3 or 4?) when I was visiting Jan or Brita in San Francisco. They had a nice yarn and knitting boutique near Union Square, I'm not sure if it is still there or if they have moved. They spin and manufacture their own yarns, so yarns change with fiber availability. It's kind of a dark tweedy green color, and I was surprised to see a lot of yellow-gold in the water when I washed it. The 2 yarns worked nicely together, and I am using more of the Cotton Ease for a blankie. I have started the blankie but after making about 6" I decided I wanted to change one of the colors. So I have ripped it back to start over, and in the meantime, learned from my knitting mentor/goddess (ThoraLee) about a better way to cast on so the edge will lay nice and flat. So it's a good thing to rip now and then! Thora Lee even directed me to this nice video, which helps so much! Thank you!

I also wanted to pass along a link to a wonderful online quilt show that I found this morning. It is put together by a blogger and quilter, and all of the pictures of the quilt link to the blog of the person who made it, so you can learn a little about the background. Also, when you are on Amy's Creative Side blog, check out her nice tutorials.

leaving Houston

2011-10-31T20:52:00.004-05:00

All my bags are packed.
I'm ready to go.
I'm standin' here
Outside your door....no, wait! Wrong millenium! Sorry John! (Denver, that is!)

A couple of quilts on display at the International Quilt Expo in Houston--

Some eye candy for you! I have been posting daily reports with pictures and even video on the Bear Patch blog so hop over there!

away from home

2011-10-28T22:11:00.002-05:00

I'm luxuriating in the comfort of a room at the Hilton in downtown Houston, there is just something very fun about staying in a nice hotel. I think it all boils down to the fact that someone else makes my bed and gives me clean towels! My needs are basic!

Debbie and I are here for International Quilt Market, and I will be writing more over on the Bear Patch blog if you are interested. We spent most of yesterday traveling, and had a very bumpy arrival to Houston through storm clouds. We were very glad to get on the ground!

We did a little bit of personal shopping this evening, and I could not resist this bundle of fabric---

destined for a darling grandson!

I've also been playing around with a little jewelry-making lately, after finding an intriguing group of charms and trinkets at a Michael's store. It is called Industrial Chic, and I put together a necklace using some of their components mixed up with my own treasures.

It's really kind of different, but I'm liking it!

this and that

2011-10-24T08:09:00.006-05:00

During some of my blog and random online perusing, I learned that yesterday (10/23) was the 10th anniversary of the introduction of the iPod. It's the white one above, next to my own. That was the beginning of the end for the boombox and walkman. Remember those? Some are still around, I know there are a couple tucked away in a closet somewhere in my house. But back to the iPod--were you like me and had a hard time wrapping your head around how this little thing could store and play music? It did seem strange. I'm always interested in these new techno things, but I'm not the person that runs out to buy a new gadget. Not only do I not have the disposable income to support that behavior, but I'm pretty skeptical about whether the latest greatest is a flash in the pan or here to stay. I'm happy to let others test the water. Fast forward a few years, and I was gifted a neat little iPod device, and it has been with me ever since. I just did a little research on the Apple website and found out that this 2005 version is the 2nd generation of the iPod Mini. It has a whopping 4GB storage capacity. That is miniscule by today's standards! I don't really use it for music much anymore, I somehow lost the songs I had stored on there with some update or something or other, but I do use it frequently for podcasts. I subscribe to various podcasts through iTunes, which stores any new programs for me and whenever I plug my iPod into the computer I get the updates downloaded. I love the little electronic button on the screen that says "Refresh". I think we should each have our own little personal refresh buttons to push whenever we want, and in an instant we would feel like we just woke up from an excellent sleep and stepped out of the shower! Now there's something for Apple to work on! Anyway, I don't have one of those iPod speaker gizmos, so I have figured out how to use an adaptor that fits into our cassette tape player on our stereo player, and I can listen without earbuds! This is great, because my listening happens either in the car or while I am quilting, and the earbuds are not ideal for those situations. My little 4 GB storage is enough for what I need, and I am happy with my little machine, even though it borders on antique (6 years old)!

So, you ask yourself, hasn't she been sewing anything? The answer is very little. This past week has found me at the store more hours than usual, but that's OK because my help was needed there. I have snuck in a little of this and that:

a new edition of the Baby Surprise Jacket

tracing and cutting out pieces to make this little decorative holiday design, Bareroots has packaged up kits for this and many other items, complete with everything you need except a needle!

experimenting with the shapes made by this curvy ruler

sewing sweet little baby shoes, I already made the little T-Strap style, and now will put together the Oxfords and the High Tops. I'm looking for a store that sells 12" shoelaces.

I have taken apart 6 more blocks from the antique quilt and have the pieces washed, pressed and basted to hexagon papers. They will go into my portable project bag, along with the wool project and the baby jacket. Later this week I am going to Houston to attend the International Quilt Market, and of course, I need to have some choices packed in case there is a moment of time available. Plane time is the best for reading and knitting, it's kind of nice to have no choice but to sit down for a few hours! Debbie and I are attending this trade show to purchase for Bear Patch, and we typically are on-the-go from about 7 am to 10 pm. That doesn't leave much "down time", but there might be time for a stitch or 2! If you are interested in knowing more about what goes on there, we will be putting up some pictures and stories on the store blog.

Now to get ready for the day--hope it is good for you!

the bun in the oven

2011-10-19T23:38:00.003-05:00

Brita and Ben's Great Expectation is developing nicely, and this little one is becoming a reality. Now that Brita can feel some kicks and notice her changing shape, I know she is more thrilled than ever. Here is the 20 week photo:

We both went to a baby shower for one of her friends last weekend, and it was nice to be among all these bright young women. It was interesting to me to observe the transitions in their lives as their conversations change from social events, clothing, concerts, etc. to how to remove stains and juggle baby/husband/career.

Our hayride event turned out great, we had a good turnout and required an extra wagon hitched on the back of the usual wagon. It was cold in the wind, but the sun helped (as did a few extra layers and blankets).

We had a good view, and probably our last view, of the old barn on one of the family farms. It is scheduled for demolition and a giant bonfire. What a great old building.

early sunday

2011-10-16T06:57:00.004-05:00

I woke early this morning, early for a Sunday, and decided to stop fidgeting and just get up. It is so dark again at this time of day, and earlier and earlier in the evening. I feel the winter solstice creeping up. As much as I absolutely love the looong days around midsummer's eve, there is a certain appeal to this time of darkening, too. Not much I can do to change it, so gotta love it!

I recently picked up a new book, Style Stitches by Amy Butler. I do love my bags, and am always on the lookout for the next best bag. I picked a little zip bag for my first project from this collection of bags, thinking that I could usea new little purse pack to keep my necessary things (chapstick, nail clipper, mints, etc.) in one easy spot to be transferrable to other bags. This turned out fairly well, I think the only stumbling block was the fact that it was pretty small to easily work with the details of pleating, lining, curves, bands, topstitching, pocket inside, tab loop and zipper. But it's done and serves the purpose, so I'm happy.

I dug up a little wrist strap, probably a camera attachment, to finish it off. I think there will be future bags coming out of this book--stay tuned!

Now I want to share a recent find with you, and declare my intentions--

I acquired this unfinished vintage Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt top and have been thinking about what to do with it. It is a traditional quilt using the hexagon shape, but very different than my other recent ventures with hexagons. The overall look is appealing, and it is plenty large--larger than the pool table/cutting table top. About 175 blocks according to my estimate. It does have some issues of poor construction, like blocks that won't be flat, a few holes and stains, etc. Some good examples of "make it work" construction by someone who wasn't afraid to put her own brand on a quilt by straying from the rigid rules of fabric placement!

But overall, very charming, and certainly an accomplishment even in its unfinished state. I don't know the history behind it, but I will try to learn a little more about the era of these fabrics so I can at least put some kind of date to it.

I determined that it really would not turn out very nicely to even try to make it into a quilt in its present condition. It is hand stitched without the benefit of accurate cutting and/or seams, resulting in some very odd angles and shapes in some places. But these fabrics have not only sentimental value but real value that could be preserved as a little bit of women's history. I have been having an internal debate about what to do with it. You see, I have this friend, Maggie, who encountered something similar awhile back. She decided to dismantle the blocks, clean the fabrics, re-cut and re-make them. I was sure she was nuts to take that on. But she did complete it, and it turned out beautifully. And she doesn't seem to have lost too much of her sanity! So I have started taking apart a few of the blocks to see what happens. They are a bugger to take apart, trying not to tear anything, slow going. I have decided for the time being to salvage only the colored fabrics and set aside the white muslin rows. I could more easily just replace the muslin hexagons without taking apart the old ones. I took apart one block a couple days ago, using 3/4" hexagon papers to reconstruct it. That worked, so now I am soaking 4 blocks worth of little hexagons in Vintage Textile Soak and will continue with the process. This could be a long process, ending when I am either completely done with all the blocks or completely sick of it! But I am thinking that it will be worth the effort in the end, and I could end up really liking this!

We are looking forward to a fun day today, with a ~3 hour drive to Jackson for the fall hayride hosted by Larry and Denise. Lots of other family members show up for a tour of the backroads and waysides, ending with a weinie roast and s'mores! Can't wait, I have my hotdog substitutes ready for the road, since I don't think that tofu hotdogs are on Larry's list!

a legacy

2011-10-06T07:46:00.004-05:00

I am sad that Steve Jobs died, someone I have never met, yet familiar in many ways. Especially with my fingers on this keyboard that can trace its history back to a garage at his parents' house. What a great success ! I just watched this video and felt compelled to share it.

glue, part 2

2011-10-05T10:17:00.004-05:00

Do you ever get a bee in your bonnet about something and just can't give it up? That's what happened to me with another new glue. Sometime in the not so distant past, I read about Tombow Mono Aqua glue on someone else's blog. I can't find that reference any more, so I don't know who to credit for that bee in my bonnet. It was something related to sewing or crafting, and I wrote down the name in my little calendar/notebook/address book, the old-fashioned paper kind, not electronic. I looked it up online to find a source locally, and found Office Depot was probably the most likely spot for me. But I discovered that there are few of those stores around here, they have been drowned out by Office Max, I think. I go to Office Max often to pick up supplies, and kept checking their glue shelves to see if this would show up. Same with JoAnns and Michaels, I kept lurking in the glue aisles and I was probably flagged by security crews as a glue bomb suspect! I did finally find an Office Depot just recently, and got all keyed up to score some special glue, but none to be found. :-(

Cut to last Saturday at Bargain Bill's in Rice Lake, WI. Debbie and I stopped at this familiar landmark for savvy shoppers, hoping to find some display props or paper products for the shop. As I was cutting through from the silk flowers to yarns, I passed through the black hole of scrapbooking supplies. This is a craft that I can't let myself get sucked into! So I tried to breeze through, not making eye contact with the lovely papers and gadgets and pens and embellishments. It's so hard! I had almost made my way into beading (another black hole for me!) when I noticed GLUES! And lo and behold, TOMBOW! I almost had to laugh, because this was the last thing I would have thought I would find that day, and not only the one with the blue cap, but 2 other types, as well! Of course, I had to purchase a sampling, and now I am going to test them out to see why they came so highly recommended. The key element that makes this all worthwhile for me is that there are dual tips--a fine point and a broad applicator--and that fine point is what I need as long as it doesn't clog. So far, no clogging. This has been a big item for scrapbookers so I probably could have found it at a scrapbooker's store if I had figured that out. I will have to follow up on that, because driving to Rice Lake for a bottle of glue would not be a wise thing to do!

I'm not just into glue--

I finished this baby size Chill Pill, I love the way this backing fabric fit with the blocks, and it was in my stash for years just waiting for the right moment.

And now this little flannel quilt is on the frame and will be quilted and finished lickety-split!

weekend away

2011-10-04T07:41:00.003-05:00

I had a chance to "escape" for the weekend, this time Bob couldn't accompany me (very important golfing commitments!) so I went to Potato Lake Friday to stay with Debbie and Bob (her Bob, not my Bob) a couple nights. They have a sweet little spot there, an old cabin that they have worked hard to update and make comfortable. It's only about a 2 hour drive, so easy to get to. Here's the opposite shoreline in the morning when the lake was still:

The leaves are starting to change, it was a beautiful drive. I had to be careful not to swerve when I spotted another gorgeous tree. It was a little chilly Saturday AM (around 40!) and the steam was rising off the water, making a good setting for Halloween--

When you have a lake place, most people spend a good deal of their time working on maintenance and improvement, it's not all sit-back-and-relax! Bob replaced 2 sections of aging fence--

Debbie and I took a drive up to Cranberry Fest in Stone Lake, along with a few thousand other people! A little town without a stoplight, packed full of people and all things cranberry for one day every year!

It was sort of like the State Fair descending on a little village. We did wander around long enough to find some goodies like cranberry honey, cranberry jam and cranberry salsa. Found a few Christmas gift ideas amongst the craft booths, so it was a fruitful journey! There were also opportunities to buy cranberries in bulk, both fresh and dried. And visiting the cranberry bog was a popular sidetrip.

Back at the ranch, I experimented with this Autumn Brittle--

Let me just say that I have no responsibility for lost fillings, crowns or teeth or pounds gained! And I discovered there is a very, very fine line between hot enough sugar and burned sugar!

Big Big Thanks to Bob and Debbie for a wonderful weekend!

a hexagon fest

2011-09-27T13:26:00.006-05:00

I have been working on some new hexagons lately which I hope to pull together for a new pattern. I have done plenty of hexagons before with the English paper piecing method. This is pretty much the same but with a little twist using a tip I picked up from Bari Gaudet (Sierra Cottons and Wool owner and Bareroots pattern designer). Instead of basting the fabric around the paper template with needle and thread, she has started using a little dab of glue at the corners. Something like this--

first, place the paper hexagon on the wrong side of the fabric which is cut about 1/4" larger. Fold over one straight edge and finger press the crease. Place a dab of glue on the corner and fold the second straight side over. I work clockwise, moving to the next corner with the glue. The key is to try to only get the glue in the area of fabric-to-fabric adhesion, not on the paper, so removing the paper later won't disturb all your work.

Pressing with a hot iron helps set the glue and crisp up the edges.

When you get 7 hexagons ready, they can be sewn together into a "flower", and sewn to other sets of hexagons. Use little stitches just through the fold of the fabric, not into the paper. You can add other shapes, like the white half hexagon shown above, to create a straight edge around the outside.

I read somewhere that placing the pieces side-by-side to stitch together is better than holding the 2 pieces flat, so I wanted to try that--

So far, this is not working so well, but maybe I just need some practice. Using the proper tools always makes the job easier, so here are my thoughts on that--

I have become a connoisseur of glues! No jokes about sniffing the glue, these are all non-toxic and safe for fabric and the gluer's health. These are what I have been testing for effectiveness with my hexagons. So far my favorite is the pink Sewline glue stick in the front. It has a smaller diameter than a regular school glue stick so it is easier to put the glue right where I want it. The Elmer's glue pen laying down is a similar size, but that glue seemed way too gunky. The bottle on the left is Roxanne's fabric glue, it has a fine point (large bore blunt needle) which I have problems keeping unplugged. The bottle of regular school glue has an altered tip on it to give a tiny bead of glue. That is a plastic mechanical pencil tip placed inside a chopped off standard glue nozzle. The things I do for some good glue! That sometimes plugs, too, so I am going to try the spiffy metal glue bottle tips from Bear Patch. The product on the right is also from Elmer's, and is my second choice. It has a fine tip on the end pointing up and a broad applicator on the other end. I have to be careful to not squeeze much and get too much glue.

My thread of choice is Aurifil 50 wt. cotton (on the orange spool) in a neutral color. For this type of hand sewing I love the Black Gold needles from Clover. They are slick! They look a little strange, with a black tip, but they make a difference especially when I was working with batik fabrics. And the one I was using on this project has a really little eye, and my up-close focusing isn't so great when I have my contacts in, so the little tabletop needle threader (also from Clover) handles that problem for me. All of the things here can be obtained at Bear Patch Quilting Co., by the way!

Is that enough about hexagons?? Oh wait, take a look at this quilt I finished this morning for my mom--

Do you see the hexagons? Do you see the stars? Do you see the cubes? Pretty cool, don't you think? These are not just diamonds any more!

big news

2011-09-22T18:04:00.002-05:00

Look at all those apples!

We need to get some pickin' done before that branch breaks! This is going to be a bumper crop of apples from our 2 trees this year,the first time they have done so well. Bob has paid special attention to them all summer, getting advice from the nursery on what to treat and how to help the trees be happy. Well, I think they are very happy! Bob bought a new electric juicer and started making apple juice last night.

I have some more very fun news to share, I have been holding off for a long time, ever since June. The need to keep this under wraps has been an awful long wait for me, but at least I don't have to keep it hush-hush for 9 MONTHS!

Can you guess what that means?!! Brita and Ben are blessing us with our first grandchild, due in late February--hoping to avoid Leap Day! That's them on the right, with Dan and Grandpa and Grandma Herbert back in June when the baby was maybe peanut-sized. Brita is healthy and fit, no morning sickness, Ben is looking out for her, and things seem to be developing just as they should be.

As for me--since it's all about the grandma, right?--I'm planning on some things to make for our new little one. Trying not to overwhelm Brita with a whole pile of baby things all at once, but here's for starters--

I'm trying to learn how to make little knit booties from this wonderful new book filled with totally cute baby stuff. You will notice that the yarn is black, kind of drab for little baby, but this is a test run and as soon as we get the results of Brita's next ultrasound I fully anticipate a switch to another more appropriate color! Also made a couple little flannel receiving blankets, an easy way to pacify my need to start a supply of handmade items for babies!

Making these little quilts for donation is a fun task, and I got all three finished, bound, and washed today, ready to deliver to Deb and Quilts For Kids. This is the same corduroy I talked about last week, and after washing it is nice and soft.

Here's another quickie that I made today--

wine bottle gift bags from Quilt Smart--the pattern is printed on fusible interfacing and sewn right into the bag. Makes it so easy! The pink one is destined for the upcoming silent auction at Bear Patch to raise money for Susan G. Komen fund. Watch The Bear Blog for more information.

fresh quilts

2011-09-17T21:26:00.003-05:00

Had a busy day on the longarm yesterday and stitched these:

Debbie made this one from Riley Blake fabrics and Texas Two Step pattern by Terry Atkinson. The fabric group is called "Happier", and it really is!

These are 2 of the 3 little quilts that I put together last weekend on retreat. They were made from some donated fabric packs that were salesman's samples, so they were multiple small pieces in varying sizes, stapled together to a cardboard label. They are all pinwale corduroy. I found some solid brown at a store to supplement all the little prints. I just kind of made it up as I went, trying to waste very little and pull together something that would please a child. They will be finished up and donated to our local Quilts For Kids chapter as soon as possible.

And that's what's happenin' here!

hello again

2011-09-16T09:16:00.007-05:00

OK, when I got up this morning I determined that the first priority was to get a blog post done! I have been so sidetracked lately and not feeling like I had anything to say. I'm blaming it on the lovely vacation we had in August and the letdown that I typically feel afterwards. Do you get that way , too? Or am I the only one? I do have the bad habit of over-anticipation for upcoming holidays/vacations, which occupies most of my thought and attention for days preceding the event, and leaves a big black hole in my head afterwards. So coming out of that black hole...

The Minnesota State Fair, also known as the best place in the world to watch people, was a great outing twice this year. Sometimes we don't go at all, but this time I happened to attend twice. This actually worked out better, 2 short visits rather than 1 long one was much more enjoyable. With the heat and throngs of humanity in combination, 4 hours was the point at which it changed from fun and enjoyable to miserable and annoying. This little item on display caught my attention--

How odd! Hardly even looks like a tomato! Brita and I missed out on witnessing the birth of twin calves, but we did see the cow in labor and learned some interesting things from the vet in attendance. Even though I lived on a farm for 17 years, I never saw the birth of anything that big. Saw some piglets born, but never a calf. Probably a good thing, after watching some videos of other calf births.

Last weekend was a fun quilt retreat with members of the Ham Lake Piecemakers. We went to Bridge Creek Cottage in Augusta, WI, near Eau Claire. It is a great place for this type of gathering, and our group of 14 had an excellent visit. Lots of sewing, creating, laughing, eating, and sharing. A little sleeping thrown in there, too! This place has excellent beds, which is very welcome after spending many retreats at church-camp-type facilities that offer bunkbeds without the comfiness that ladies of a certain age desire! A couple things that I worked on:

"Vintage Baby Quilt" by YoYoMama and "Reader Wrap" by Atkinson Designs. The baby quilt is raw edge squares sewn in a grid on a solid piece of fabric, and this one is intended for a boy baby since I sorted out the pinks. Those will go into another little quilt when I accumulate enough to make it interesting. These are mostly 'homespuns' or woven plaids, and finding them in pastel colors is a challenge. That's why you see some of the tans/beiges mixed in there to make enough squares. It was a fun project and I am happy with the way it turned out. The Reader Wrap houses my Kindle, and turned out very neat and professional-looking. It's important for me to avoid that 'dorky homemade look'! The black elastic band makes a perfect closure, and since it is an elastic headband and I had to buy an assorted pack, I now have plenty of other colors for future projects!

I worked on making some more blocks for my selvage spiderweb quilt, it is growing slowly. I also added to my batik hap quilt. Both of these are ongoing projects that will eventually reach completion, but they are the type of blocks that I like to work on sporadically.

A couple projects from others, these gals really put the pedal to the metal! That's Tracy on the left, with a quilt made with the X-Blocks ruler. I have seen this pattern before but seeing it put together with these colors made it much more appealing! She continued on with adding a border of pieced blocks. On the right is Erika holding her quilt that looks like stained glass. It turned out beautifully, but I don't know what the pattern was. I will have to check at our next meeting.

Carol C. used the Little Twister ruler and a pack of Halloween squares to create this little wallhanging or tabletopper-

This little ruler/template is just perfect for making a complicated-looking project from uncomplicated sewing. I have used this template before and highly recommend trying it out in any of the 4 sizes available.

I offered to teach a little tutorial for the group on making 9-patch blocks from fabric squares instead of strips, and put together this sample project with directions for them. I love using this method, learned from a Primitive Gatherings book.

And that brings us up-to-date on the happenings around here. Enjoy your day!

"If I had to live my life again, I'd make the same mistakes, only sooner." --Tallulah Bankhead

back on task

2011-08-29T08:20:00.004-05:00

Since the first intent of this blog was to share some of my fiber fun, seems like I better get back to that after the vacation interruption. I had started on a Christmasquilt for Debbie before I left, but had only gotten as far as mounting it on the rollers. There it languished while I was away having fun. But first day back and I gotmy bobbins wound, machine cleaned and oiled, tension adjusted, good book to listen to and ready to roll.

We had decided that I would do my echoed loops and curls, a favorite all-over design, in a green thread. This quilt pattern is called Shadow Song and is designed by Terry Atkinson. It will be a class at Bear Patch this fall, a one night session for the Easy As Pie seri es. Our example uses a great group of Christmas fabrics, but as with any quilt pattern, you can choose your own favorite colors and designs. The picture above shows a partially quilted area and illustrates something that occurs during the process. See how the area of unquilted fabric in the upper left seems kind of loose and has some ripples? The quilted area doesn't look like that. I keep the tension of the quilt layers a tad loose so I am not stretching everything, and the rows of stitches take care of the rest. The more densely an area is quilted, the smaller it becomes in relation to the surrounding area. That is why it is important to keep the total quilted surface in a somewhat evenly quilted pattern, or you will end up with bubbles and puckers. Ask me how I know! This principle can also be put to work in a beneficial way for a quilt top that is pieced together unevenly, the biggest culprit being border sections that are too large. More stitching in those areas can do a good job on camouflaging bumpy borders, to a limit.

Flight time is perfect for me to work on a small knitting project, so I took along this scarf that I had started last spring.

I think this was yarn that I bought in a store in Sebastopol, CA, Balls and Skeins, last July. The pattern is one I have shown you before, the 22.5 degree scarf, available free on Ravelry if you sign up to be a member. I have lost the yarn label somewhere along the way, but I think it was from Araucania. It is a very nice yarn to work with. I never used to understand what that phrase really meant before I ventured into more knitting projects. Isn't all yarn just a bunch of string, anyway? Oh, no! Not by a long sight! After using a few different brands and types, I found some yarn that I would never use again because it felt rough or split between plies, or had knots, etc. Generally it is a problem encountered with yarn that I do not purchase at an actual yarn shop, not saying that everything at Michael's and JoAnn's is not useable, but it's just a case of buyer beware. Same principle applies to fabrics purchased at a quilt/fabric store as compared to a chain store. You can find some gems and/or disappointments no matter where you look, but you will have a much better chance of success at the store that is providing the individual service you are looking for, rather than departments for every craft under the sun. Just sayin'!

Can't resist one parting moment of vacation pictures--

Dan and Liz hard at work cleaning up the kitchen after our last dinner there.

And a beautiful wildflower from the shores of Convict Lake. Very interesting story about that lake if you want a little fun history and a tale that could be a John Wayne movie! What Wikipedia fails to tell is that the convicts were later captured nearby (Round Valley), taken to Bishop, and some were hanged. Not a happy ending--let that be a lesson! I like the image of the star flower much better!

what I did on my summer vacation 3

2011-08-22T09:17:00.005-05:00

A few more notes for you about our vacation, today is our last day for fun and frolic. Yesterday we took a fun hike to Crystal Lake, this was a good trail because it was challengingly uphill all the way to the lake, not terribly long, good resting spots on the lakeshore and a breeze to get back downhill to the parking lot.

Here we are perched on the trailside while another hiker was kind enough to capture the moment for us. That is Lake George in the background, one of the lakes in the Lakes Basin just outside Mammoth Lakes.

This is the Crystal Crag, and our hike did not include scaling the rocks to get to the top! Dan tells me he has gone up there, I'm glad I wasn't around for that one! Somewhere up there is a patch of shiny crystal rocks, hence the name.

These petite little alpine flowers were growing near the creek at the lake's outlet, each blossom is only about 1/4".

Later in the day we took a short drive out to the area of hot springs just south a bit along 395. This whole area has a lot of volcanic history, and these areas of natural hot springs are a reminder of what's going on inside our earth. Bob and Dan were enjoying the soothing warmth, Buddy not so much! Buddy is Liz's little dog, who also lives at the house Dan lives in, and he came along with us. He was not a big fan of being in the water, but he had a good time scouting out the sagebrush all around and studying the cattle grazing in the area.

One of the highlights of this trip, for me, was our visit to Sierra Cottons and Wools in Bishop. I just can't believe that I didn't take even one picture! I was too busy admiring the creative inspiration inside their doors, and having a good visit with Barri. She is the designer of Bareroots patterns and owner of this lovely shop. Her patterns feature a lot of hand embroidery mixed in with some sewing and quilting. I visited her shop in the tiny town of June Lakes, CA, about 3 years ago. Since then she has re-located to the less tiny town of Bishop. This seems to be a good spot, since there were people coming and going all the time I was there. And this space is much larger, with room for more fabric, many of her beautiful samples, a classroom space and a whole room of yarn--I think I could move in! I was able to lay my hands on a brand new book that she has authored, Quilt a Gift for Little Ones.

It is published by David & Charles, and the photography and design of the pages is exceptional. They did a wonderful job of showing the details along with the corresponding directions, just as in Barri's previous book, Quilt a Gift. This is a new release, so shops should be getting them in stock soon. There are several appealing projects in this book, you can bet that I will be making some of them! If you are eager to get your own, contact Sierra Cottons and Wools or Bear Patch Quilting to place an order. I just have to decide what to start first! Of course, I was also tempted with a book of baby knits and beautiful yarn, so the choices are many!

what I did on my summer vacation 2

2011-08-21T18:16:00.004-05:00

The opportunities to enjoy being out in nature seem to be abundant here in the mountains, and we have been trying to make the most of it. We actually feel kind of guilty driving around when we see people running, biking and hiking everywhere we look. There are whole teams of runners who come here for training at an altitude, including Olympic team members. When you see these gas prices it kind of makes you want to walk or pedal even more!

Bob and I made the hike to Devil's Postpile Monument and Rainbow Falls. We rode a shuttle bus into the park, I love those buses loaded to the max and hardly any cars on the narrow, steep switchback roads.

Of course, I saw a quilt pattern in the rocks above the Postpile--

Naturally formed hexagons! Then we walked on to Rainbow Falls, which is still plenty full of water this August after the heavy snowfalls of the winter.

We took one morning for a drive up to Yosemite, it is less than an hour north of Mammoth Lakes. We went in the east side of the park via Lee Vining, which also required a stop at the Mobil station at that intersection and a visit to Whoa Nellie Deli. A place of local legend and excellent food. They have a great park-like picnic area for dining and outdoor music performances. Then onward and upward into the park--a beautiful drive when I'm not the one driving! Excuse the bugs on the windshield!

It's always a neat feeling for me to approach the peaks. We only drove as far as Tuolomne Meadows, and noticed that there were whole lot more people around than the last time we were there in the end of September 2 years ago. It actually was a challenge to find a parking spot. But we did get parked and out on the trails, quickly leaving behind the bulk of the people mass.

These pictures were taken along a section of the John Muir and Pacific Crest Trails, and we saw many fully outfitted backcountry hikers in this area.

We did not do anything remotely like long distance backpacking, but I did always have a fascination with the idea of doing a trip like that. Then once Bob and I did a 3 day backpacking trip along the Superior Hiking Trail, and I learned that it is much harder than it looks! But walking the John Muir trail and sharing the path with the people who can do that was a treat, and now I can cross it off my bucket list!

Now I am being urged to get going so we can drive out the the hot springs, so I better get a move on!

what I did on my summer vacation

2011-08-17T18:09:00.007-05:00

Last Monday we hopped a plane to Reno and headed south on 395 destined for Mammoth Lakes. It's a pretty drive through mostly rural areas, once past Reno and Carson City.

You know you're not in Minnesota when this is the sign that you are scanning the countryside for! It's a distant memory, but the last time I dined on an In-n-Out burger it was delish! Watching Bob savor his Double Double while I snacked on some fries was almost enough to make this girl fall off the vegetarian wagon.

We found Dan as we were checking into our room at Mammoth Mountain Inn, very conveniently located at the foot of Mammoth Mt. and just across the way from Dan's office. It is gorgeous here, and so different from our previous visits in winter. We have done some fun activities and sightseeing, and relaxing a bit this afternoon.

Yesterday morning we rode the gondola to the tippy top of the mountain, not the best place in the world for a scaredy-cat of heights, but the view is heavenly! As long as I ride in the gondola seat that faces in to the mountain and keep some conversation going, it's not half bad! Posing for this picture was anxiety-producing for me, and it was so windy it felt like we could fly right off the top.

For a fun comparison, look at this picture taken 3 years ago, I think, and a picture taken yesterday by the same sign--

Dan took Bob and I for a bike ride on a very nice paved path from town towards Twin Lakes, but it was all uphill and a bit much for my flatlander lungs and legs, so we had to turn back before we got to the lakes. Later Bob and Dan took bikes on the gondola to the top and rode back down to Main Lodge, and Bob has only a few scrapes and bruises to show for it. Mere flesh wounds, nothing to take away from the fact that he accomplished something he had never done before. The mountain is criss-crossed with bike trails and humming with activity even without the snow--well, there is a bit of snow here and there, but not an obstacle to the daredevil bikers.

While they were cruising downhill, I was hiking uphill to Minaret Vista, about a 3 mile round trip. I was glad I forged on up the hills and crossing snowbank remnants, because the view was worth it and I needed to be able to justify my calorie intake last night at our fabulous dinner at The Lakefront Restaurant. We also managed to fit in a beer tasting at the Mammoth Brewery earlier in the day, so we had a very busy and full day. Stayed tuned for more...

one more step

2011-08-12T12:39:00.005-05:00

You, my readers, seem to enjoy my pictures of nature in my yard, so here you go--

The flowers and leaves and fruit are like little gems.

I'm nearing the finish line with the Katy quilt, even though I already thought it was done. This bit of the quilting process didn't make itself clear to me until I had finished everything I had planned to do. I had outlined all the flowers and leaves, stitched on the binding and rod pocket, and finally acknowledged that little niggling voice in my head that had been telling me that the yellow border needed some attention. Since the quilt was no longer on the big frame, I decided that the best choice was to add some straight line stitching to help frame up the center design and keep that border flat.

So trusty Bernina came to the rescue! Five randomly positioned lines were just what the doctor ordered! If you are not a quilter and wonder about that odd looking foot on the machine, that is called a walking foot. It is absolutely necessary for this type of stitching through multiple layers, because it has a mechanism that "walks" along the top layer of fabric just as the feed dogs do underneath the fabric. That keeps the layers moving evenly--another name for the foot is the even feed foot-- and is also what I use when I want to match plaids or stripes. On the left side of the foot is a detachable adjustable guide bar that allows me to use the previously sewn line as a reference for guiding my new sewing line. It is kind of like the row marker on a corn planter, only in reverse, for all you farm girls. The planter row marker extends out to the side of the planter and marks a reference point in the dirt for the next row. Lessons from the farm pop up in the most unexpected places!

I have been outside digging in the dirt all morning, uprooting a heap of violets and yarrow that have multiplied beyond reason in my flower beds. They can be kind of tough to pull, especially to remove as much as possible of the root system. They had overwhelmed some of the other plants, so the thinning out has helped highlight some other nice plants.

This is one section along my front walk, now the walk is covered with everything that I pulled! This is my 3rd session so I finally feel like I am making progress and can see the end. All that bare dirt will need to be mulched and I can start planting and transplanting some other things. See those paver steps on the right? I put those in there probably 18 years ago, and they were completely overgrown so I had even forgotten they were there!

details

2011-08-07T17:00:00.003-05:00

I was so happy today to open up the windows and shut off the A/C, as the air around here became much more breathable and pleasant. I was even inspired to pull weeds from some flower beds that have become too congested with yarrow that has spread all over and is choking out some other lovely plants. While out there, I saw some large yellow butterflies flitting about, and got a picture of this guy who must have been getting a sip from the bottom of the lily--

and close by was this tiny little guy, his wings were only about 1" from top to bottom. I don't have a proper telescopic lens so this was the best I could get. Always makes me appreciate the diversity of nature and the details that I often overlook.

Another detail I enjoy is finishing up a quilt like this one for a customer--

A lot of work went into this one. Many, many little triangles!

button, button

2011-08-05T11:17:00.003-05:00

Don't you just love a good button!? I can hear Bob saying "No"! He just doesn't get some of the same things I do, and vice versa, so we're even. I think I told you that one of my birthday presents was some little packs of buttons, so here they are--

I think those 3 at the top look like caramels, don't you? These all look perfect for some bags or embellishments, I might have to design some special things just to use the buttons!

And then the button theme went one step further with the gift of this unique little button bracelet--

This is from Prize Possessions, a frequent vendor at quilt shows among other things. The card with this bracelet states that these are waistcoat jewel buttons circa 1870--how special is that?! This prompted a discussion of what really is a waistcoat, and a little wiki research explained that it is another word for a vest. I have been studying these little gems and imagining the stories behind them. Where did the wearer live? Who stitched them? What adventures did they see? And who's the guy that wore pink buttons on his waistcoat?

I've been kindleized

2011-08-02T10:19:00.005-05:00

Last week we had a special occasion here. On Thursday night we had a dinner table surrounded by family--Brita, Ben, Jan, Serra and Aurora! It was so fun to have them all here from near and far, and I sort of forgot about the fact that the next day was my birthday. But they didn't let me forget, and brought cake and presents! Jan brought me buttons, very special ones from Britex, she knows me like only a sister can!
And Bob and the kids totally surprised me with a Kindle! Something that I had been lusting after, and it's not even a textile! So I lost some sleep time that night while figuring out how to make use of the various features. So far I am learning on just the free stuff, which includes a lot of classic books and many games. Did you ever play that dots and squares game? I remember doing it during church on the back of the bulletin, working out a grid of dots and then challenging whoever was sitting next to me to connect the dots and claim squares. Well, that is now in the electronic version on my Kindle! Who would have thunk it?

Today I am watching the rainstorm, the second day in a row of big storms. Everything is very well watered. And I am up and down to the basement between quilting and checking the weather. This is what I call the Katy Quilt, and this is why I love quilting! Can you say Marimekko?!

If you don't know what Marimekko is, you need to read about it here. When I think 'Marimekko', visions of the 70's come to my mind. I'm not sure why, but I have always been a big fan of the designs and colors from that company. I think it is partly related to my time in Sweden in 1971-72 and living in the midst of the Scandinavian design style. Plus Elna, my Swedish mom, was an interior decorator and had lots of beautiful fabric swatches that I loved to look through.

So when Katy of Mammoth Lakes inquired about making a quilted wallhanging from a panel of Marimekko fabric, I was immediately interested. Turned out she had in her possession a vintage piece (1975) of classic fabric by a Japanese designer. Katy is a graphic artist/designer who works with my son, Dan, and he brought the fabric to me on his trip home at Christmas. I found out what Katy had in mind for this project, and put a simple border around the panel. We both agreed that the printed selvage edge should be part of the picture, kind of like the artist's signature.

So today I have it on the quilt frame and will finish up the quilting. My goal is to have the binding finished in time to personally deliver it to her in 2 weeks when we go to Mammoth for a vacation. She said she likes yellow, so there is lots of that!

happy day

2011-07-28T06:51:00.004-05:00

It's a good Thursday! I have everything done for my 2 new patterns and company is coming! I have the day at home to tidy up for our overnight guests, Jan, Serra and Aurora. That's my sister, Jan, from San Francisco, along with her daughter, Serra and her daughter, Aurora, from near Seattle. I don't think Serra has ever been here, and I'm absolutely sure Aurora (age 3) has not been here before. So I'm thinking we should have some fresh sweet corn and green beans from the garden. The basil is prime for pesto, so maybe a pasta dish? No tomatoes from my own garden yet, so a trip to the Green Barn is on the schedule.

While we are on the subject of barns, that reminds me of the fun wedding we attended last Saturday! Out in the countryside of western Wisconsin, near New Richmond, is the home of my cousin, Reanne, and her husband, Lester. Their daughter, Stephanie was married to Spencer in the front yard under beautiful shade trees (and black clouds and thunder but not a single raindrop). Followed by dinner in the backyard sheltered by a huge tent and then music and dancing in the barn. We left before the bonfire and that may have gotten rained on, if the deluge we drove through moved in their direction. It was one of those rainstorms that makes you wonder whether it's safer to pull over or keep driving slowly along with the other cars on the road. I chose to keep driving. Anyway, this is the spot for the "I do's"--

And here are the 3 sisters that I haven't seen together in a long time, my cousins Lori, Lisa and Reanne (mother of the bride). We had a little chance to catch up with each other and remember things about the best grandma ever.

It was a wonderful party and I even got to step into Reanne's creative space. She designs and makes custom garments, including the dress she was wearing in the photo. I always find it fun to see the sewing room/design studio of other people.

My own latest design--Row Low--

I had quite a rigamarole getting this picture finally done. Since this measures 70 x 80, I don't have a good indoor location to get a full photo of it. My next choice is the pergola in the backyard, but it was partial sun/shade by the time I got organized to do the picture-taking, and that doesn't work because the picture comes out looking spotted. So my next choice is to use the styrofoam panels propped against the front porch. Those panels are stored in the basement, and getting the 4' x 8' up the stairs with a landing and 180 degree turn is probably comical to watch, but I wasn't laughing! Then get them propped up and duct taped together, standing as vertical as possible. Haul the ladder out of the garage and get the quilt pinned up as perfectly straight as possible. Spill the box of pins on the landscape rocks, which causes the dilemma of whether to just let them stay in the rocks and use other pins, or take the time to pick up the pins while the sun and shadows are moving. Get the tripod and camera in place, realize the tripod won't extend far enough to get the camera centered on the quilt. Find 3 cardboard boxes of matching sizes to put the tripod legs on. Take several pictures, download to the laptop and examine them to see where the pinning needs to be adjusted. The crooked spots in the edges really show up in the pictures much more than when I am just looking at the quilt, and will really really show up on the cover of a pattern. Go back outside and pick up the styrofoam and quilt off the ground because a breeze blew the whole thing over. Have a little hissyfit and put it all back together. Get smart and duct tape the panels to the porch. Take a bunch of pictures, download and delete the worst, make some adjustments to the best ones and send the pick of the litter off to Dan for placement in the pattern cover template. Decide that it was really too shady, take the quilt inside, and in the afternoon full sun put the quilt back out there and take another set of pictures that I like much better. Dismantle everything and put away, reverse the image of me struggling to get those big panels of styrofoam back to the basement without breaking them in half. Send new and improved picture to Dan and breath a big sigh of relief! Now it's time for supper and some creative quick cooking! So just in case you are thinking of how easy it would be to design your own patterns, you do need to consider how much fun it is to just get a simple little picture taken! Now the quilt is on display at Bear Patch, and the patterns are ready, and it is truly rewarding to have total strangers stand in front of it and say, "Wow, I really didn't much like this fabric until I see it put into this quilt! Can I buy the pattern and kit?" Bingo!

steamy hot

2011-07-19T18:19:00.002-05:00

Hard to imagine how cold and snowy it was at the beginning of this year, when we are in the middle of a heat wave! It really seems like two different worlds. This beautiful water lily spent the winter in a cube of ice and now is putting on a spectacular display--

It seems almost artificial, but I swear, it's the real deal.

A big thunderstorm moved through at mid-day, which helped keep the hottest temps at bay for awhile. I was at home, and came up from the basement for a breather and found dark skies and stormy weather. I stood out on the porch for a bit, and could hear continuous low rumbling thunder, which gradually got louder, then lightning flashes and wind. Some of the lightning seemed almost purplish, I don't know whether I was seeing things or if that was real. It is pretty awesome to just experience that amount of thunder for such a long time. The storm moved on through in time for me to get out and meet Brita for lunch at the Good Earth in Roseville, a great restaurant that has many vegetarian options.

Yesterday I was outside quite awhile in the morning, trying to get a good picture of my new quilt. It is quite a production, made less enjoyable by 90% humidity and 90 degrees. Oh well, I think it helped steam any wrinkles out of the hanging quilt!

This is a hard quilt to show clearly, it is kind of muted and the scenery blocks just come out looking like an abstract design when shown in the whole big picture. Probably would turn out better with a pro photographer. I'm glad to have this much done, and a draft of the directions being proofed and double checked. The next quilt is on the frame, and with luck and some stick-to-it-iveness, I will get the quilting done yet today and the binding started.

I have to give a shout out to my friend and neighbor, Deb Lewis, who did me a big favor and did the hand stitching on this binding in order to save me a bit of time. Deb is one of our fine state employees who has been told to sit home and twiddle her thumbs while our politicians mess up at the capitol.

I hope you are staying cool wherever you are!

the pieces fit together

2011-07-14T08:57:00.003-05:00

There has been much thread flying around here as I work on putting together 1 or 2 or 3 new quilts for Quilt MN. This limited edition fabric includes a border print fabric which fits so nicely into my previously designed pattern "One Row To Go". I have expanded that design with new blocks and a larger layout to more closely fit a twin bed. This is a portion of it...

and when I finish getting the borders done today or tomorrow I will show you a better shot. I took the partially finished quilt top to the store yesterday for some feedback on borders, etc., and decided how to finish it off. Plus I was able to show it to a few people, and was encouraged by their responses, so that helps me push onward!

It's a cloudy day today with a light rain, and I was outside admiring my hydrangeas:

These have gotten so large that we have to trim them back to allow access to our front walk. This all developed from 1 small plant, I never imagined it would become so large and thick! I don't put any additives in the soil to bring out the blueish colors that are often found in these flowers. I like the simplicity of these big white flowerheads.

"Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced." James Arthur Baldwin

a fine fishing bag

2011-07-09T09:41:00.004-05:00

On my recent fishing excursion, I used this bag for my boat gear. I like to have a few basic things handy to me, since we are out for a few hours at a time and it is definitely not convenient to go back to the resort on a whim. This bag was a gift from Debbie, and is made entirely of duct tape. If you want to make something like this for yourself, you can find many instructional ideas on the web. Many of the directions I found describe making a woven bag, but my bag was overlapped strips like the one I found on this video. It was waterproof enough to withstand some splashes and raindrops. And a good size to hold my little tackle box, rain jacket & pants, snacks, sunscreen and water. And, it was a definite fashion statement! I am noticing lots of new colorful tapes in the craft stores and online, so I am sure there are endless possibilities for you. What will you create with duct tape?

sweat shop

2011-07-06T22:27:00.004-05:00

It has been a busy day in my sewing room, the multitude of threads clinging to me is good evidence! I am creating some new/revised designs for the Quilt MN fabric. I haven't written up any new patterns for quite awhile, so the fact that I am working on 3 new things is a bit of a departure for me! I'm not ready to show all the details, but I do have a sampling of what I have been up to.

Working on a set of courthouse step blocks--

I do use EQ6, the software by Electric Quilt, for a lot of my basic layout, sizing, color placement, etc. But I still go to paper and pencil for the finer points of cutting and calculating.

Then it all goes into my MacBook and hopefully ends up in a coherent form. These have to be ready by July 29, which is steadily creeping up on me. After I get this sewing done, they need to be quilted and photographed, too. No time to waste!

My sewing room is on the second floor, and even with 2 fans and air conditioning, it collects heat. The halogen lights and steaming iron might also have something to do with it! So the 'sweat shop' image is appropriate for what my day was like! Good thing I got to take a break to get my teeth cleaned, one of my least favorite things to do. I want to know who invented flossing. No one said anything about flossing when I was young, when it might have been a good idea to do it and prevent all those later nasty gum problems that are used as a scare tactic at the dentist's!

a lovely day

2011-06-30T12:10:00.002-05:00

I found these folks hanging around on my patio this morning--my stalkers! My mom and dad are visiting from Iowa, and Dan just left for his return to CA. Because Dan's time here is in short supply, and my parents don't travel across the country as readily as they used to, we had them all here at the same time. It is so lush and green here right now, everything is growing like gangbusters. The woods around our house become so dense with the underbrush, vines, weeds, etc., that we really feel isolated because we don't see much of the neighbors' houses. Kind of feels like being on our own little island! Today is sort of hot and steamy, so the A/C is feeling good.

Not much sewing or quilting going on around here, but I will be back at it soon. I have several things in the queue.

This was my souvenir of the Twins' game--an empty root beer bottle! I know, some people buy all kinds of fabulous team gear and baseball stuff. I just collect the free stuff! When we used to camp a lot, nearly all our cups and glasses were from the ballpark! Actually, I thought it was pretty neat and will be good for holding a stem or two of flowers. And it was very tasty root beer, too!

big fish story

2011-06-28T14:27:00.005-05:00

I have been away a few days with family festivities. Last week #1 son Dan got here from his home in Mammoth Lakes, CA. Then we drove north a ways for the annual gathering of the Hansen clan and 3 days of fishing on Lake Winnibigoshish. Now we are back home and my parents are visiting for a few days. I am so lucky to have enough flexibility in my work schedule to make it all happen!

Since there are up to 38 (or so) Hansens involved in this expedition, it really helps to have some routines and understandings about how things happen. Before hand, we get meal assignments so the main meals can be made ahead and frozen as much as possible. We always have 1 fish meal a day, so that's a given.

We also have assignment sheets made out in advance designating fish cleaners, meal prep, clean-up, fish cookers, etc. Everyone gets slotted in to one or more jobs throughout the 4 days. Luckily, there is a whole new generation to take on more of the responsibilities, and the older cousins educate the younger ones on what to do. Like, for example, meal clean-up includes wiping off the tables and sweeping up the big chunks on the floor!

Another key component to making this a real group experience is the boat assignment. Here John is laboring over the assignment sheet.

This becomes a very complicated puzzle with many variables. Reminds me of those logic problems we used to do. The number of boats varies a little, but let's just say 9 on average. Some boats hold more than others, the pontoon carries the most and Josh's boat the least. Certain people know how to run the motors, and how to get around the lake, so they are captains. But we don't want one person to have to captain every day, so that has to be shuffled and new captains have to be trained in. Then there are the littlest people to consider, they have to be in a boat with someone responsible for keeping them from drowning and help with bait and unhooking fish. And there is Grandma, she needs a comfy seat and she never has to bait her hook or take off a fish. And then we shuffle everyone around so distant cousins, aunts and uncles get to spend time together. And some people make it for 3 days, others for 2, 1 1/2, or even 1 day, so that adds to the mix. Out of all of this, we get the master list. Seems like there should be an app for that!

For the most part, we stick to the assignments unless there is a compelling reason to make a switch. I really enjoy the fact that I can spend several hours with 2 or 3 of my family that I seldom can spend time with, and sitting out in a little boat does bring out some stories and laughs and memories that would never happen otherwise.

This year we caught plenty of perch and fewer walleyes.

This is the textbook walleye, and these are the real deal:

Dan and I tied for the largest walleyes, both measuring 24", but I do have to say that Dan's looks a tad bigger. Of course, he is thrusting it out at the camera man to make it appear much more impressive, while I am just trying to stay upright in the wind and rain! Those fish are "in the slot", which means that they cannot be legally taken and they go back in the lake. But the catching is most of the fun, so that works for everyone!

Also the usual northerns, a fish that I don't have any fondness for. They look all snakey and evil.

On the other hand, the one sunny that I caught was a work of art. It was much more colorful than this drawing depicts. Beautiful turquoise and gold coloring.

Last night we had an outing to the baseball park in downtown Minneapolis to watch the Twins play the Los Angeles Dodgers. We suffered a sad loss, but we had a good time.

Dan, mom, dad, Brita and Ben gave each other moral support.

It's wonderful to have opportunities like these, times we will never forget!

MN quilt show

2011-06-17T13:26:00.003-05:00

Lots and lots of eye candy yesterday morning as I wandered the aisles of quilts on display and vendors. I haven't been to the state quilt show in 4 years, and that time I was only there for about 2 hours to test drive longarm machines. So seeing all the displays was great fun. I am not showing entire quilts because for most of these I don't know how to credit the pattern designers, so it would be better to not take the chance of violating any copyright rules. One of the things that I did notice is that there could have been information on the labels and signs to tell who did the designing. As a pattern designer myself, I would like to think that if someone used my pattern to make a stunning quilt in a show, there would be some small mention of my own design contribution. Here are a few selections of things that caught my eye:

I tend to focus in on the quilting stitching on most of these, which is not to say that the color and fabric design is to be minimized. The quilt above was interesting to me because it was all about letters. Letters were quilted into the yellow portion, you can see the shadows, I think. There were buttons with letters and letters appliqued to the flower centers. A great whimsical quilt for a child.

I want to learn how to do this--

when I look at the individual lines, it seems pretty simple. Something tells me that I could do it.

This next one is an area of background quilting that perfectly fits with the floral applique that was the focus of the quilt. I need to remember to do that.

I went to the show with Debbie, and saw many familiar faces in the aisles. I was happy to see that it was pretty crowded during the time we were there. We did end up leaving earlier than planned because a bus of 28 quilters was stopping at Bear Patch and our presence was needed there. They had come from Osh Kosh (WI) to stay overnight and go to the quilt show today. An event like this becomes a major social event for a lot of ladies (and a few gentlemen) all around the area. Taylor Swift was performing in the adjacent Excel Center last night, but I didn't see her at the quilt show. I bet she was there in the afternoon after I left, don't you?

I am having a totally new experience today! This morning I picked up contact lenses at the eye clinic. I have never worn contacts before. I didn't start wearing glasses full time until I was in my late 30's. Now I have been having problems with sore spots from the glasses, and no amount of adjusting really fixed that problem. So I am trying this instead. A unique feeling for my eyeballs. I am lucky that Bob is an experienced contact-wearer, so if I have problems I know who to go to for help on short notice! I am hoping that getting these will prove that you can teach an old dog new tricks!

and they're off!

2011-06-16T07:11:00.003-05:00

A shared sense of excitement is present this morning among many women of a certain age and interest in Minnesota. The annual Minnesota Quilters' show opens its doors at River Center in downtown St. Paul! I am appropriately dressed and wearing comfortable shoes, sporting my name badge and little purse of necessities. You know, cash, plastic, car key, phone, camera and chapstick! Heading out to pick up Debbie and make our way into the city, hoping to return with a bunch of pictures to share with you! See you later!

over the weekend

2011-06-13T15:12:00.004-05:00

Last weekend I put in some hours at the quilt shop, and then some hours at Leisl's where we were taking advantage of the fact that her husband was out of town. Oh yeah, big party--used to be our parties were BYOB (bring your own bottle), now they are BYOC (bring your own cheese) so I can have my fake mozzarella on my vegie pizza. The kids at Papa Murphy's always have a hard time with my order: vegie delite pizza, but use red sauce instead of white and don't put on any cheese. Yes, just crust, red sauce and vegies. And then they ask me if I want cheese bread with that!

I worked some more on this quilt:

which was started a few years back and taken out of the mothballs last January. I am over halfway there, if I choose to leave it at 6 blocks x 6 blocks. There will be some kind of border added, and depending on if I want to make it the right size for my bed there might need to be more blocks, too. This is a quilt design that is traditionally called the Hap Quilt, not sure where the name came from but it has been around a long time. The block is a log cabin variation called Courthouse Steps.

This is one block, and the colors have to be matched up with the blocks on all 4 sides. These strips start out at 1 1/4" and the block is 9" when completed. The idea for making this from batik fabrics came from one of the early posse trips to Iowa. We stopped in a little quilt shop on a farm and saw a quilt like this. It was really a great looking quilt, and the idea stuck with us. Leisl has some strips cut, too, but she hasn't let them out of the bag, yet.

When I got tired of those strips, I pulled out another well-aged bag of blocks and fabrics for this:

It is a pattern called Diamond Jubilee by From Me to You. I'm not sure how big this one is going to be, I just keep adding blocks until either I run out of fabric, ambition or space!

It's hard to get a picture of this, but I think you get the idea. Lots of variety, lots of color.

Enjoying a great summery day here, and counting down the days until a certain young man is giving me a hug--you know who you are!

yummo!

2011-06-10T22:03:00.005-05:00

I came upon a new recipe last week, my co-worker Beth brought this to work. I was hooked. I admit it, I am a sucker for the chocolate/caramel combo. She told me the recipe from memory, so something tells me this was not her first batch, if you know what I mean! She did not tell me a name so I decided I would call it:

Chocolate Goodness

1 box (14 oz. or 8 cups) chocolate Chex cereal

6 tablespoons butter/margarine

3/4 cup brown sugar

3 tablespoons light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup white chocolate, melted

Put the butter, brown sugar and corn syrup in a microwaveable dish, 2 cup size or larger. Heat in microwave 1-2 minutes until melted and stir together to mix. Add the baking soda and stir well. Pour over the dry cereal in a large microwaveable bowl,stir to coat. Microwave on high for 3 minutes, stopping to stir after each minute. Spread the coated cereal out on a flat surface covered with wax paper or parchment. Let cool. Drizzle the melted white chocolate over all. Try to wait until it is cool to eat it.

A note of caution--that white chocolate really stinks up the kitchen when you burn it. Vanilla almond bark is an acceptable substitute.

I took some of this to my Ham Lake Piecemakers meeting last night, the lovely ladies were demanding the recipe, so here you go!

I also took along this quilt for Carol--

I think it turned out wonderfully, even though she wasn't sure she was up to the challenge of all those angles and diamonds. I was happy that she let me quilt it for her, but I had to bring it back home with me. You see, as soon as she unfolded it, I immediately saw one lone little diamond that was missing its curlicue. So tonight I got that quilt back up on the machine, found the right threads, and in about 5 seconds I finished it up! I will get it dropped off in the next couple days, so it is home with Carol where it rightfully belongs.

Here's the offender--

I usually grow a few herbs each year, mostly basil, cilantro, chives, and sage. This is the first time I can remember that my sage survived outside through the winter, and now it is big and blooming. I never even knew it flowered!

We are fast approaching Midsummer, and this quote seems appropriate:

The summer night is like a perfection of thought. Wallace Stevens

tick town

2011-06-09T15:59:00.002-05:00

Now that I have shown you Poison Ivy Place by my driveway, I will share with you a little more about the landscape here. We also have an area I call Tick Town, it's full of small shrubs and long grasses. There has been a bumper crop of ticks this year, and Bob has had his share. One night at about 3 AM, he got out of bed, went into the bathroom, flushed the toilet, and came back to bed. I truly thought he was walking in his sleep. It took only one word to explain. Tick. Left me wondering where the thing had been for the past several hours, and if he was a loner! A little hard to get back to sleep! Today I was minding my own business, sitting at my sewing machine, and felt a little tickle on my neck. Yup. Tick.

Luckily, we have not had any attached ticks yet, and no deer ticks spotted. This area of the country, along with New England, claim the most cases of Lyme's disease. And now it's not just Lyme's but a few other diseases to worry about, too. We need a natural predator to wipe out the ticks, I'm not aware of any purpose they serve except to annoy people.

If you make it through the poison ivy and the ticks, you will find your self out back in the itchweed. At least the itchweed reaction is temporary and non-life threatening! Really, it's not all that hazardous here, because every now and then a tornado comes through and that takes care of the ticks, poison ivy and itchweed!

plants and poison

2011-06-07T12:48:00.006-05:00

I've been out poking around the yard this morning, before it gets above 90. It gave me the chance to take some garden pictures:

a row of little green beans from the rabbit cam

perky little onions, the ladder in the background has to stay there to get up to the squirrel hole to get it repaired

a cluster of basil hoping to become pesto when it grows up

Also on my mind is poison ivy, and The Selvage Quilter understands what I am talking about! Before we bought this property and built our house, I had no experience with poison ivy. That quickly changed as we worked on removing brush and plants to make a little oasis in the wooded area. I had more than one break out, and now I know that I don't mess around if a rash starts, because I inevitably end up getting a cortisone prescription to get over it.

I'm no horticulturist, but I'm pretty sure this greenery by my driveway is the real deal. The proof would be taking a roll in it, but that's not happening! Every year, we spray with Roundup. Every year, it comes back. Probably slows the spread, but never completely gone. In the fall I see the lovely red leaves and white berries. Why is it that birds eat the seeds and don't need steriods? Why aren't the bunnies scratching themselves to death? And why hasn't niece Ali perfected the poison ivy detector spray that she had hoped to develop? She worked as a gardener/landscaper and had the wonderful idea to find a way to identify poison plants by spraying a liquid that would turn color on the offenders. I would love to be her beta site!

A couple more spots along the driveway, don't worry, I was standing as far away as possible!

If you want to learn more about the wonders of this plant, here is a helpful website. While you are doing that, I am mixing the Roundup!

weekend fun

2011-06-06T07:34:00.002-05:00

We just had one of the nicest weekends, this is why I like living in Minnesota! Clear skies, no storms, mid-70's most of the time, lush green landscape, flowers blooming. Who could ask for anything more? Well, in between weeding flower beds, joining friends at grad parties, and sipping wine by the fire in the backyard, I snuck in a little sewing. Very little! But enough to double the number of these spiderweb blocks--

I started this awhile back, and my box of selvage edges keeps growing, so I took some time to make a few more blocks. I used the basic format shown in this tutorial, but randomly adding selvages instead of fabric strips.

I did these spiderweb blocks while I should really have been doing something with this--

a bundle of fabrics for the 2011 MN Shop Hop! Just received some bolts at the store on Friday, and I am cooking up some ideas of quilts, etc., to feature these prints. Only on paper so far, I am having "quilter's block" with deciding what to do. Just have to clear my mind and cut into it!

how does your garden grow?

2011-06-04T09:40:00.004-05:00

We have had a small vegetable garden in our yard since we built our house and moved here in 1988. In the beginning, it was mostly my deal, as were the flower beds that developed all around the house and lot. I do like the feel of some good black dirt and the pleasure of watching little things grow. Now Bob has become more interested in the vegie garden, so I make a willing assistant. We have warded off rabbits, deer and even a rogue woodchuck. Last year the deer had an especially fine time with Bob's garden plants, and he resorted to MacGyvering a taller fence out of stuff he could find in the garage. It served the purpose of keeping the deer away, but wasn't so much to look at, sort of a ramshackle look. Not quaint or folksy, just plain trashy! Yesterday he installed some new fenceposts and wire fencing that will be a much nicer barrier. However, he hasn't yet quite figured out how to close off the end of the garden near the patio. He positioned these 2 chairs to partially block it off, but I think they actually make a good spot to collect an admission fee from the animals as they enter Bob's Old Country Garden Buffet! It's still a work in progress!

I always have a stack of "charity quilts" to be completed, and Thursday it occurred to me that I hadn't quilted one since February. So this quilt had been languishing the longest, and I am happy to say that it now is done (except for stitching down the binding). It was made from blocks that were donated by customers of Bear Patch and might be found in our next Breast Cancer Awareness display and auction.

Feeling very domestic on this fine Saturday morning, baking brownies and monster cookies. Wish I could share them with you! Even without my goodies, I hope you will have an excellent weekend!

video time

2011-06-01T22:16:00.002-05:00

I found this interesting video about San Francisco which is so fun to watch because I have had family living in this lovely city for a long time. They probably have seen it, but it is new to me. As I listened, I realized that so many of the places highlighted in the video are places that I have been able to visit. If you have never visited San Francisco, you really should go.

Then, a little video that I prepared and posted on the Bear Patch blog:

hooked up again

2011-06-01T07:13:00.004-05:00

After another 1.5 hours on the phone to troubleshoot the new modem, Bob has succeeded in getting one of our 2 computers back online--yay! The man deserves a medal! So here are some photos:

First, the quilt that I quilted for Bernina Barb--

I don't know the pattern name, but I do know that a kit for it is available at the Bear Patch Sewing Center. The unique part of this quilt is the machine embroidered designs that match the designs of the fabric motifs. The machine embroidery is a whole new element to incorporate into quilt designs. When I purchased my new Bernina 730 last December, I opted not to include the embroidery module. Maybe need to re-think that? Here's a closer look at a small section of the machine embroidery.

After completing that, I decided to do one of my own quilts that has been waiting for some attention! This is a small baby-size version of my Star Light pattern--

And I love it when the planets align and bring me the perfect fabric for backing and binding!

I love cinnamon crunch bagels at Panera

2011-05-30T17:38:00.002-05:00

I am rewarding myself with one of life's little pleasures--cinnamon crunch bagel with hazelnut cream cheese and coffee at Panera. I am also soaking up their wi-fi, since for some unknown reason my service at home is not working today. It stopped about 6AM during a thunderstorm, but has not returned. We have been in the process of changing our service provider in order to benefit from some price breaks for bundling together cell phone, TV and internet, and awaiting a new modem so that could have something to do with it. I do have to say that this has been a very dissatisfying experience, even though they (the companies in this case are Qwest, Earthlink, Verizon and Direct TV)) say they are all about customer service, this has been anything but positive. And Bob has born the bulk of the hassle, he has spent HOURS on the phone over the past 10 days, and it still is not right. Hence my trip to Panera! He really has been so patient with the assorted people from the assorted companies, I can only take it myself for about 30 seconds before I am ready to strangle the person on the other end of the line! So I kind of stay in the background, making encouraging noises and bringing him the adult beverage of his choice. We intended to discontinue our landline and go the way of the cellular generation. So far I still have a dial tone at home, so that clearly has not happened.

Since I can't get my pictures to upload, you will have to use your imagination to picture the beautiful quilt that I finished working on this afternoon. It has large blocks of machine embroidered designs amidst pieced fabrics, stitched on one of the Berninas by Barb. Once it is bound, it is planned to be on display during the upcoming Minnesota Quilters' annual show.

It is beginning to look stormy here again, with a tornado watch in effect, so I should probably cut this short and get on home. Maybe another thunderstorm will bring back my internet! I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

success!

2011-05-26T15:13:00.005-05:00

Yummo brownies!

I baked up a nearly perfect batch of brownies this morning, and for once they baked evenly and didn't collapse to half their size while cooling off. I seem to have had a bad run on brownies, and hadn't made any for quite awhile because they just weren't cooking up well. Hopefully I have that monkey off my back now!

These were made from a recipe from the Olive Grove Olive Oil Company using their blood orange olive oil. The pan is one of those fancy-dancy convoluted a ll crust pans that is supposed to make them cook more evenly and gives a crust edge on every piece. Right now I am thinking it was worth the investment!

It is beautiful outside today, so I took my newly completed quilt top out for some fresh air! After I get it quilted it gets a binding of that blue check. I really like those check prints! Bob and I had quite a session trying to get these blocks arranged, yet I can see that some things are not in the best places. Too much red stars over on the left, for sure. But it's done for now, so those blocks will just have to stay where they are! It is depicted as a tablecloth on the pattern cover, so I am thinking I will not use regular batting when I quilt it. Instead, I will either use some thermore (very thin poly batting from Pellon) or a heavyweight flannel.

spring things

2011-05-25T08:31:00.005-05:00

Yesterday the baby robins left the nest! They were getting way too big to co-exist in that little space. There were 3 babies, and this one is that child that always gets left behind--

It took him several hours to leave the safety of home after the others were out exploring the world.

Finally we have lots of things blooming, later than usual this year. The apple trees and lilacs are in good shape, and the violets are all decked out in purple. The bleeding hearts are looking fine, I love the little details in each tiny blossom.

The next one is called bergenia, I think, and is a sturdy perennial here. It gets these flower stalks sprouting out of broad dark green clumps of leaves. The leaves stay green under the snow instead of just disappearing like so many perennials. That makes them easy for me to find in the spring! I can never pull very many weeds in my flower beds until after the first of June, since sometimes I'm not sure if it is a weed or something I want to keep!

We have had lots of rain here and bad storms in the area, thankfully not right on top of us. The water level on lakes and creeks is above normal, with some standing water in fields. The ground was nice when I was planting tomatoes, peppers and cilantro yesterday.

I have spent a good deal of time on this double wedding ring quilt for a customer, and finished it last night!

It is pretty big and is to be a wedding gift, with the colors chosen by the bride-to-be. I like the combinations, kind of a contemporary twist on a vintage design. Hearts were requested for the centers, and that was the hardest part for me. It had me looking at the price of a computerized module to add to my machine, but the $16,000 price tag seems a little out of reach at the moment! So back to the drawing board to find something suitable and 'heartsy'. The rest of the quilting (scrolls, loops, vines, etc.) was all done freehand, but my freehand hearts always come out looking drunken--very tipsy and smashed! So I resorted to drawing up a design that I could use as a template. Once I decided on the design, which is a process in itself, I had to carefully draw it out in actual size on paper. Measure each block to find and mark the center. Move the machine to thatcenter and make 3 tiny stitches to anchor, then hand tie the thread tails and bury the ends with a needle. Put the machine needle down into the center spot to hold it in place. Walk around the table to the other side, put the paper design on the table top with the laser light in the center of the design. Make sure the design is square with the table (and therefore square with the quilt) and carefully stitch the design. Walk back around the table to the other side where I can make 3 tiny stitches to knot off the threads, cut the threads and knot and bury the ends. 42 times. Amen!

I had planned to listen to some of my podcasts to help pass the time since I was out of books on tape. But I was having trouble getting my ipod hooked up with the stereo and ended up listening to TV for awhile. My eyes are too occupied with other things, but listening works if it is something like Dr. Phil or Oprah, which is the time of day I had for quilting yesterday. Those are shows that don't require visual contact, unlike a mystery or comedy. So I got to see the goodbye Oprah extravaganza (part 2) which had some good in it, but came across as very over-the-top. I do like Oprah, by and large, and credit her with changing the scope of daytime talk shows from shocking to uplifting. But I read Kitty Kelly's unauthorized biography (yes, somewhat suspect as entirely factual, but based on a lot of research) and I came away with a bit more skepticism of the Oprah machine. I do admire her accomplishments and the benevolent work that she does. And I hope that she finds plenty more good works to do now that she can focus on something other than her talk show. I have watched some things on her OWN network, and I hope that develops into more.

There has still been some squirrel wrangling going on here. We thought we had the problem licked when we trapped a juvenile and an adult and got the hole outside plugged. But then we heard some more suspicious noises, and ended up trapping 2 more younguns. Hopefully that is the end of it, aside from repairing the damage done. Although now I hear any little creak or random noise in the house, I think I hear another squirrel scurrying around the attic!

I put together a little video tutorial for Bear Patch, you might like to visit the store's blog for a good example of amateur videography!

Enough jibber jabber for now! Profound thought for the day:

What you will do matters. All you need is to do it. ---Judy Grahn

it's a zoo here

2011-05-19T09:36:00.005-05:00

Mama robin is tending to her 3 hungry beaks in a corner of our front porch. Not such a good picture because it is taken through the window in order to not scare her away. Good thing we don't have very much traffic to our front door!

And the squirrel wars have escalated and we now have captured the enemy! No matter that the enemy is a little baby squirrel, unable to fend for itself out in the world. But it's time to get these critters out in the open, not tucked away in a nice cozy corner of our attic!

Bob found a hole chewed under the eaves that was the front door for our squirrel family, and was able to figure out sort of where the activity was happening in the attic by following the noises we could hear upstairs. The live trap placed in the attic near our little trapdoor was unsuccessful. He had to resort to cutting a hole into the sheetrock, and after getting some insulation out of the way he spied one or two little squirrels hiding from him. We baited the live trap (peanuts and peanut butter), barricaded the opening, and this morning had a little squirrel trapped. We put the trap outside and waited for an adult to come around before opening the trap.

Run, little squirrel, run!

The saga is not over, we have to set the trap again to find out if there is another baby, then make sure the adults are out, then repair the damage outside the house and the sheetrock inside. The outside hole is in the very peak of the roof, 2 stories high, and not a place I can climb to alone. Heights are not for me. Doing heights alone is definitely not for me! Heights alone while trying to cover a hole is like a disaster waiting to happen!

On a much more pleasant topic, I have been piecing together some blocks that will make a table cover that is part of the Clothesline Club at Bear Patch. This group focuses on patterns and fabrics from Darlene Zimmerman, and the prints are all reproductions of the 30's era. There are 30 of these blocks and a border to finish it off.

During some evening TV watching, I have started stitching together some of my hexagons, assorted colors and shapes. This is what I have so far--

and I'm not sure where it's headed! These are English paper pieced shapes, which is why you can see my basting threads on some of the blocks. I remove the basting and papers from the center blocks as more are added.

I tried a new ruler that Debbie ordered for the store and it is very timely because it fits right in with the 9-patch blocks I made for an upcoming class. So nice when things work like that!

This ruler is used for the technique that uses squares instead of strips for piecing the blocks, something I learned about in January from a Primitive Gatherings book. That technique does work best with a block size that is easily divisible by 3, but this ruler makes it possible to get around that. I tried it out this morning with squares that started at 4 7/8", and it worked!

I used my new stockpot (thanks B&B) to cook up a batch of a good soup, the recipe is here on a good website for vegetarian recipes. Several more things on their recipe list that I want to try, I need to keep working on variety and protein to keep this vegie plan going. I am mostly very happy that I have made the switch, but I do find that eating out is challenging. Next time you look at a restaurant menu, try eliminating everything that has meat and/or cheese in the description, and you will find that you are not left with much to choose from! I did splurge last weekend when I was enjoying a dinner out with Bob to mark our anniversary. I ordered a chicken breast and it was yummy, but I deeply regretted that choice at 1:00 in the morning! If/when I decide to return to my carnivorous state, it will be a gradual change!

Such is life here on this pleasant spring day!

it's rhubarb time!

2011-05-16T22:06:00.004-05:00

I have had 2 pickings of my rhubarb and will probably bring in some more tomorrow. I only have one plant, I would like to have more just to make sure that I am never caught short. I gaze longingly at gardens that have several clumps of rhubarb, I bet those people don't know how lucky they are!

My favorite thing to make with rhubarb is just plain and simple rhubarb crunch, probably because I always have the ingredients on hand. You probably have your own version, but this is what I do:

Gather ingredients--several stalks of rhubarb, fresh from the garden. Oatmeal, either kind will do or mix both. Brown sugar. Flour. Butter or margarine.

Cut off the leaves and toss them on the compost heap. I always pull the stalks from the clump so I have that odd little husk thing on the bottom of the stem so that needs to be sliced off and the whole stalk washed. I make a small batch that fits in a baking dish that is 6 or 7" square, and use about 10-12 stalks. This is kind of a small batch by some standards, but since I am the only person in our house eating this, I don't make very much at once. Bob is a pretty normal guy in every other way and if you met him you would never guess that he is a rhubarb hater. We all have our flaws, I guess. Cut the stems into little chunks about 1/2" size, but perfection is not key here. The rhubarb shrinks a lot with cooking, so cut plenty.

Now put together the topping:

Melt 1/2 cup of butter or margarine, or even use Smart Balance like I had to do this time because there was only a little bit of butter in the fridge. We use Smart Balance for just about everything since Bob has a tendency towards too much cholesterol, and this seems to be helping. I keep waiting for it to balance our smartness, too. But I digress. To the melted shortening add: 3/4 cup brown sugar, 3/4 cup oatmeal (I use roughly equal portions of the chunkier old-fashioned oats and quick oats to get the perfect consistency), 1/2 cup flour. These amounts are approximate and can be altered as you prefer. The flour is what makes it really crumbly, the way I like it.

Sprinkle some sugar, maybe 1/4 cup, over the chopped rhubarb in the baking dish. Spread the crumbled topping over it, trying to cover all the rhubarb. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, until the juices are bubbling around the edges.

Do you like my vintage baking dish? It is a classic and was a wedding or shower gift. Today happens to be our 36th anniversary--Wow! Last week I was cleaning out a junk drawer in the kitchen, and found many interesting things, among them a little notebook containing a record of our honeymoon trip! Yes, I keep all my most important documents in the junk drawer, don't you?! Anyway, it was fun to read and reminisce. We took about 2 weeks to drive to our destination of Tom's Place, California, and back to Minnesota, camping along the way. We had very little spending money, so we watched every penny and most of my little journal was a record of what we spent! Primarily gas, which was averaging about 56 cents/gallon so we could fill up the pickup for $10 or less! Tom's Place is a little resort in the Sierra Nevada mountains and the home of Bob's aunt and uncle, who hosted us for a few days. It was a memorable trip, we had a great time. When we returned home, we moved into a little ghetto apartment (complete with cockroaches) in downtown Minneapolis and started our summer jobs as nursing assistants at a nursing home. I think we probably used our wedding money to help pay the rent and expenses, although we did splurge on a new TV--a black and white set from JC Penney! We were living the high life! It's amazing to see where life has taken us.

any recommendations?

2011-05-15T09:31:00.003-05:00

I have been sewing up some more hourglass blocks (that's the name given to these blocks that are made up of 4 equal triangles), aka quarter square triangle blocks, for my newest rendition of my Hocus Pocus quilt. I wrote about this not long ago and realized after getting a few of the pieces up on my design wall that the dark brown sashing strips that I had planned (and cut a heap of) were too strong for the look I was hoping for. So now I have auditioned some other choices and have moved closer to what I want, and wanted to share the process with you a bit.

Looking through my stash, I found 2 solids that might work. The first one is that first strip that runs from top left to lower right, it is kind of a muddy goldish color up close. When I saw this on the shelf I immediately thought it would be just the ticket, but up on the wall I am not loving it. Then just to the right of that is a brighter yellow strip. When I saw this on the shelf I thought it was way too bright, but when I see it with the blocks I like it. On the right is the dark brown that is getting the axe. And even though I hadn't really considered it at first, there is the option of going with the white that is the design wall showing up between blocks. A viable option, but I am leaning towards the yellow.

I share this with you because I know that picking out colors to put into a quilt is a big road block for many of the people that I meet at the store. They don't feel they have the confidence or the skill to pick anything that goes well together. Well, I have never had an actual art class, never dabbled in paints, never studied color theory. I do own a color wheel, but it is pretty dusty, which shows how often it gets used! Most of what I do is trial-and-error, just like the process I described above. Some of it is intuition, some luck, partly kismet, and mostly practice. What I choose also reflects my personality and mood. How do you choose? If you have any advice, please feel free to share!

on a yarn break

2011-05-10T17:00:00.004-05:00

Have you noticed that I haven't said much here lately about my knitting? We have been on a break, I guess-- sort of like Ross & Rachel!

I have written previously about this scarf and finally finished it off. And today it's about 80 degrees! The effect of ruffles on each side is achieved by using short rows, which is a great knitting technique mainly used for creating sculpted shapes that make sweaters fit bodies. Here is a close-up view down the length as it was blocked and drying.

and below curled around my neck, little ruffle looking like a victorian costume! I think I now understand the reason they used to wear collars like that--it hides any extra chins!

Oh yeah, I cut all my hair off! I wore my hair like this for a long time, starting in 1996 when I was glued to my bike seat and needed something convenient to go under my helmet. Then about 2 years ago I decided that the mother of the bride should maybe have some hair to style into a lovely "do". That was good for a while, but my hair is very thick and gets kind of 'fluffy' from time to time which drives me crazy. So I am reverting back to my old ways, and liking it.

I have been thinking about putting together a new small tote bag, using some inspiration from some Japanese design books, and came up with this--

The handles were purchased and the rest of the bag is just some coarsely woven plain cloth with 3 little hexagons added. It's just the right size for a magazine or notebook.

My Mother's Day was graced with a pretty bouquet from Dan, and this rose is so beautiful I just had to try to capture it and share with you--

Now off to a nursery to pick up some annuals for flower boxes and pots. Time to get my hands dirty!

a day for mums (moms)

2011-05-08T21:18:00.003-05:00

This has been a great day for mothers, don't you think? And for all those other ladies out there that don't fall into the biological mother category, but have someone that they help or protect or nurture, this is for you, too. I found some interesting facts about the day:

Mother's Day History

Contrary to popular belief, Mother's Day was not conceived and fine-tuned in the boardroom of Hallmark. The earliest tributes to mothers date back to the annual spring festival the Greeks dedicated to Rhea, the mother of many deities, and to the offerings ancient Romans made to their Great Mother of Gods, Cybele. Christians celebrated this festival on the fourth Sunday in Lent in honor of Mary, mother of Christ. In England this holiday was expanded to include all mothers and was called Mothering Sunday.

In the United States, Mother's Day started nearly 150 years ago, when Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian homemaker, organized a day to raise awareness of poor health conditions in her community, a cause she believed would be best advocated by mothers. She called it "Mother's Work Day."

Fifteen years later, Julia Ward Howe, a Boston poet, pacifist, suffragist, and author of the lyrics to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," organized a day encouraging mothers to rally for peace, since she believed they bore the loss of human life more harshly than anyone else.

In 1905 when Anna Jarvis died, her daughter, also named Anna, began a campaign to memorialize the life work of her mother. Legend has it that young Anna remembered a Sunday school lesson that her mother gave in which she said, "I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mother's day. There are many days for men, but none for mothers."

Anna began to lobby prominent businessmen like John Wannamaker, and politicians including Presidents Taft and Roosevelt to support her campaign to create a special day to honor mothers. At one of the first services organized to celebrate Anna's mother in 1908, at her church in West Virginia, Anna handed out her mother's favorite flower, the white carnation. Five years later, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution calling for officials of the federal government to wear white carnations on Mother's Day. In 1914 Anna's hard work paid off when Woodrow Wilson signed a bill recognizing Mother's Day as a national holiday.

At first, people observed Mother's Day by attending church, writing letters to their mothers, and eventually, by sending cards, presents, and flowers. With the increasing gift-giving activity associated with Mother's Day, Anna Jarvis became enraged. She believed that the day's sentiment was being sacrificed at the expense of greed and profit. In 1923 she filed a lawsuit to stop a Mother's Day festival, and was even arrested for disturbing the peace at a convention selling carnations for a war mother's group. Before her death in 1948, Jarvis is said to have confessed that she regretted ever starting the mother's day tradition.

Despite Jarvis's misgivings, Mother's Day has flourished in the United States. In fact, the second Sunday of May has become the most popular day of the year to dine out, and telephone lines record their highest traffic, as sons and daughters everywhere take advantage of this day to honor and to express appreciation of their mothers.

So Anna Jarvis may not have enjoyed this day of mothers, but I think she did a good thing that lives on far beyond what she probably imagined. Phone calls and hugs have made the day special for me, and I thank Anna for that!

a rainy day at home

2011-05-05T08:24:00.004-05:00

Today is my work-at-home day, starting out with some quilting on a t-shirt quilt for a customer. These are very popular for graduates to showcase their collected shirts. It turns into a personal history, and even though I don't know this recipient, I can see that there is some TLC going into putting this all together for her.

I have been on what I call a 'fabric diet' here lately, following my sewing room clean-up and reorganization. I self-diagnosed a fabric collecting disorder, and went through a period of purging before I settled down into a healthier fabric lifestyle of controlled accumulation. Only bringing home the necessities to complete what I had already committed to. Ignoring those Joann's coupons. Resisting temptation each time I went into Bear Patch. This has been going on 4 months now, and I am pleased that my shelves have stayed neat and orderly and still have a few empty spaces. But there is one group of fabric that I have been lusting for and I capitulated last week. I brought home this:

A neat, tidy bundle of Denyse Schmidt's Hope Valley fabric! No immediate plans for it, other than relishing in the look and feel. I'm halfway glad that I held off on buying these prints, because sometimes the restraint makes the end game more sweet, don't you think?

Speaking of end game, let's talk sports! Not my strong suit, but I have been enjoying Bob's participation in a Family Fantasy Baseball League. Dads, sons, cousins, uncles, etc., have been reviewing stats, trading players, and pouring over every baseball game result. Bob used to do this back in the stone age, before the dawning of the world of personal home computers. The weekly results were actually typed or written on paper and circulated by the group leader! Imagine that! Now they all log onto the internet and statistics, points, rankings, details, etc. are all automatically tabulated. The first couple weeks Bob has been struggling to gain some ground amidst some stiff competition. Garnering a point here and there for some player's good performance. Not one to quietly slip into the night, I wanted to stand by my man and get him into the World Series. So I have developed a new points category that supersedes all those RBI, HR, DH, and PBR statistics. (That's Pabst Blue Ribbon, for all you non-baseball people!) Two of Bob's players are Morneau and Mauer. Because they have more vowels than consonants in their names, I am petitioning The League for bonus points for Bob. Sounds reasonable to me!

While I am waiting to hear back from the Commissioner, I have started this book:

I have not been successful in finding much reading time lately, although I do listen to books every time I am driving, so that counts for something.

I did find time to start a new quilt just for my own purposes. We badly need a makeover of our bedroom, and this is the start. I am going for something totally different with this quirky, fun, colorful hedgehog fabric--

I'm calling it the Not So Nermal quilt (named after Dan's pet hedgehog). I put together a bundle of coordinating fabric, using prints, solids, stripes and dots. This is a small sample of what I hope to do:

I'm wondering if that dark brown sashing is too stark, I may have to audition something else. Walls will need to be repainted, I am thinking grey. Window coverings are also needed, no decision on that yet. I don't think Bob knows what he is in for! Well, he's usually a very good sport about my home dec projects so I'm not too worried.

I better wrap this up, I need to check on our birdfeeder in the backyard. We are having squirrel wars. Amazingly, the squirrel barrier that has worked for about 10 years to keep the little critters at bay has been surmounted by a rogue squirrel. I have spotted him twice on top of the pole, helping himself to seed from the 3 feeders suspended there. Do you think this is an example of evolution of the species?

remembering

2011-05-03T08:16:00.003-05:00

Our little church, Cedar United Methodist, has an Easter tradition of displaying lilies in remembrance of deceased loved ones. This year, the lilies were a beautiful yellow instead of the typical white, and I think they are gorgeous. We brought home the 2 that were dedicated to Bob's father and brother, and now I can admire them each day. And remember the good times we had with those 2 wonderful men. We miss them. I will try to transplant these outdoors when it is a little warmer. Yesterday morning brought a dusting of snow again, I hope that is the last of it. This seems to be the never-ending winter!

Another sign of spring is the appearance of the Better Homes & Gardens Quilt Shop Sampler, with 10 stores highlighted. I have a good collection of these magazines, they are very useful when it comes time for a trip or excursion. There is a shop in this issue that is located in NW Illinois, not such a long drive from here so maybe a destination for an overnight. But I was also pleased to see a store in New Hampshire that I have already visited--Quilted Threads in Henniker. In August, 2007, I travelled with Nancy, Leisl and Maggie to Boston. From there we rented a car and cruised around New Hampshire and Maine for a week, stopping at every quilt shop, yarn shop, antique shop, lighthouse and seafood place that we could possibly fit into those few days. It was an excellent adventure!

This is part of the photo spread and story in the new magazine:

This is my scrapbook picture of the 4 of us outside Quilted Threads and my journal notes about it:

Monday, August 20, 2007

We left the hotel in time to get to Henniker (20 miles away), at 9 am to meet Mary at Quilted Threads. It is usually closed on Monday, but she arranged to meet us and we are really glad she did! Quilted Threads was a beautiful shop, neat and clean. They had Daiwabo fabrics, batiks, good samples, Moda and Lakehouse fabrics, and Block of the Month projects by From My Heart to Your Hands. They have drawn up plans to expand and we met the owner as we were leaving.

Our impression of the store has been verified by the powers that be at BH&G! I think they should just send us around the country to find the best shops!

ready for spring

2011-04-28T22:15:00.006-05:00

A few shoots of green are gracing our landscape--I especially like the deeply textured and colorful rhubarb plant. I have already pulled out my rhubarb cookbook, the better to plan for the upcoming harvest of this wonderful plant. I am so lucky to live in a part of the world that grows rhubarb!

Last spring I was all about this 'Big Twister' plant that I found at a local nursery. I actually found 3 of them, and they were a fun addition to the patio. They grew well there, and the biggest one earned a spot inside the house for the winter. It must be a very resilient plant, because it has survived my benign neglect to live another summeron the patio!

Much more sparse than it looked last summer, but still clinging to life and hopefully ready to flourish once again over the next few months. We have had about 1 day where it was decent enough to leave it outdoors, but surely by the 4th of July it will be warm enough to leave it outside for an extended period of time!

I have developed a new (to me) quilting design, an adaptation of the usual medium sized meander with some curly-q's thrown in for good measure. Here's the front and back of a quilt sporting this style:

I am christening it the Funky Monkey, since the curls remind me of a monkey tail!

Getting ready to celebrate The Wedding with The Royals in my spare time. This is the look I am going for--

I am amazed that this woman has such a good reproduction of the hat I will be wearing! I hope we don't both show up at the same parties!

Ta-ta for now!!

a laundry lesson

2011-04-26T05:51:00.004-05:00

I had one of those 'I can't believe this happened' moments recently after I washed this quilt.

It had been on our bed for awhile and was due for some cleaning. I don't wash my quilts very much, and I don't often pre-wash the fabrics before cutting and sewing. It was made of good quality fabrics that came from Bear Patch, designed by Kaye England and used for a class I taught. I should have taken a close-up picture of it after that first wash so you could understand my dismay. There were reddish dye splotches all over the light colored areas. Horrors! I was so disgusted that I just folded it up and put it out of sight.

Last time I was out running errands, I stopped at a WalMart to look for Shout Color Catcher sheets (our local grocery store, Soderquist's, doesn't stock them).

That purplish blob in front of the box is what happened to the plain white color catcher sheet after it went through another wash with my poor quilt. I also threw in that cloth just to the left which is another 'dye magnet' cloth that had been sort of off-white before it went in this load. It is a re-useable cloth, as opposed to the Shout product that is intended as one-time use. The Shout sheet is more like a paper towel/softener sheet.

Well, I couldn't be happier with the result--

No trace of excess dyes running where they aren't supposed to be! I really had not expected this to work as well as it did, but I am now a True Believer! If you want to give it a try, I even found this offer for a free sample. I have no idea how these products work, especially since the dye magnet cloth seems just like a piece of ordinary terry cloth, so maybe that's really all it is and I could just save a few cents and toss in a wash cloth. I was pretty amazed at the dark color that showed up on the Shout sheet, so I think that probably makes the expense justifiable!

the good and the bad

2011-04-25T21:13:00.003-05:00

First, the good news--

I had fun with this cute big star, quilting it up in a bright thread color, with one of my favorite freehand designs. Curly-q's and plumes, loops and circles. I remember when I was first learning how to use my longarm machine, it took awhile for me to even be able to freehand a simple loopy meander design. I wondered if I would ever be able to do something more artful. So now having the ability to pull off this type of freehand design is very rewarding.

And what's the bad news? I am lamenting the elimination of my cowboys from the Amazing Race. I think I have been watching too much TV! Really, how did I get so invested in this simple reality show??

old and new

2011-04-15T17:20:00.003-05:00

I am sharing a picture of another older favorite quilt that I have made--

This is called Pinwheels and Posies and is from a book by Liberty Homestead. The book title is Farmhouse Quilts--All the Stars Above. The pinwheel blocks are each 2" x 2" and I made them from a lot of assorted fabrics from my stash. The other blocks are hand embroidered with applique wool flowers. Instead of quilting it as usual, I decided to go for a more old-fashioned look with ties in the pinwheels and a big running stitch around the flower blocks.

In 2008, the Posse took a road trip to the Kansas City area and were lucky to be able to visit the Liberty Homestead Mercantile and Retreat center. Leisl is a big fan of quilt kits, and Liberty does up some good ones. She was looking gleeful about this kit--

We had a tour through the back room and upstairs, the areas used for retreats. It was very nicely done, and I was very impressed with this antique yo-yo quilt there--

Today I am finishing up quilting this great batik quilt. Aren't those colors of blue, grey and green just wonderful together? It reminds me of sea glass.

"Life is like a mirror. Smile at it and it smiles back at you." --Peace Pilgrim

whew!

2011-04-14T20:36:00.006-05:00

That was a lot of binding! This quilt binding seemed to go on and on and on, must have been at least a mile. But here's the final result, and I am liking it--

Soon to be found on display at Bear Patch Quilting Co. and available as a series of classes. This pattern is Civil War March by Yellow Creek Quilt Designs.

In my quest for leading a less meaty diet, with the hope that I will in turn become less meaty, I tried a recipe today for Black Bean patties. This came from the Angry Chicken blog, which seems an odd name for a place to find vegetarian recipes! But the result was quite tasty, and oh so much better than the frozen black bean patties I have purchased at the grocery store. Now I have my own supply of delicious patties in the freezer. In the making of this recipe, I needed to use some oatmeal. The recipe did not specify what type of oatmeal, and this always leaves me in a quandary. I have regular old-fashioned oatmeal on hand for my granola, and I have quick oats for the days when I only have 1 minute and 10 seconds to make breakfast. Don't let that 1-minute claim fool you, oh no, you have to allow at least an extra 10 seconds to get the right consistency. Anyway, I finally learned everything you ever wanted to know about oatmeal so now I know what to use in my recipes. I'm sure you are just as relieved to know the details as I am!

weekend update

2011-04-11T07:18:00.006-05:00

Well, I accomplished 3 of the 4 things that I wanted to do over the weekend. Finished quilting this--

and this.

Sewing room was occupied part of the time while putting together this--

and binding this.

The spring cleaning of the car yielded this--

Sunglasses which were missing since September and presumed forever lost. The car is all spiffed up inside but revealed a leakage problem on the garage floor over the weekend, so will go to the car clinic tomorrow for a checkup. The puddle is green, which means it is bile, so must be a gall bladder problem, don'tcha think?

After an interminable 2 weeks since the last Amazing Race, my patience was rewarded with another spellbinding episode last night! Those crazy goths are getting on my nerves, and my cowboys were flirting with danger by taking the wrong flight and ending up at the tail end of the pack. But due to their superior intellect and the ability to leap over tall buildings, they avoided elimination. Crabby dad and his sweet daughter got the boot instead. Oh well.

I watched this short and sweet video that I wanted to share with you. I enjoy my alone time (mostly) and I love the quiet. If being alone seems awkward to you, this might help--

No doubt about it, solitude is improved by being voluntary. --Barbara Holland

a good day

2011-04-08T19:59:00.005-05:00

I spent my day working at the store, enjoying the positive and upbeat mood there. After all, what's not to like?! Plenty of folks in and out, enjoying a little shopping and a nice sunny day. We had the doors open wide without having to wear our jackets! New fabric to unpack, projects to inspire, people to meet. The day was done before I knew it!

Then home to a delicious stir-fry dinner prepared by Bob, our first venture into the Land of Tofu! I have been on a meatless kick lately, just to see what the life of a vegetarian is like. Bob joins me in my meatless meals most of the time, but I'm pretty sure he sneaks in some bacon when my back is turned! Doesn't this look tasty?

I had not prepared tofu at home before, but feel I am needing some additional sources of protein, so this was a good start and it turned out well. I already don't eat dairy, being the lactose intolerant that I am, so I don't even have to think about cutting that out of my diet! Eggs are still fair game to me, thank goodness for that!

Anyone watching those eagles? Three (3) little fluff balls in the nest now! Yay!

Quilted up this fun little quilt, made with Riley Blake fabrics. Patterns and kits soon available at Bear Patch. With the peace signs and daisies and dots, I thought I was having a flashback to the 60's!

During some browsing around this morning, I found this amazing egg embroidery. Yes, embroidery on eggs! How about that for an easter basket!

Looking forward to a weekend of sewing, quilting, walking the neighborhood, and cleaning out my car! What are you doing?

quite a little about not a lot

2011-04-03T10:01:00.005-05:00

I have an affinity for words, have all my life, I loved spelling tests and spelling bees--yes, call me a dork! I also love to look at maps, but that's another story! I would be perfectly happy to sit down with a dictionary and an atlas and nothing else to do.

I like to find word conundrums, like this recent example I found on another blog. Some great examples of the idiosyncrasies of our language. And yes, that is how idiosyncrasies is spelled because spellchecker told me so. I wonder if other languages have such puzzles over words and meanings and pronunciations? I was fluent in Swedish at one point in my life, but I do not recall any similar word puzzles in that language.

I like rhymes, but I have never written a poem. I have incorporated rhyming into my business name, Emmaline Design, and pattern titles (Hocus Pocus, Aisle Style, Going Sewing, Flour Power, etc.). Sometimes I just run words through my head trying to think up the next great title! I do make use of a little online rhyming help sometimes to get the ball rolling. Also palindromes are good for pondering. You know--bob, noon, dad, did, gig, racecar, and my favorite, kayak.

One confusing pair of phrases that always amuses me is "quite a little" and "quite a lot". They basically can be used to describe the same thing in a vague measuring sort of way, but the word 'little' does not have the same meaning as 'lot' when used alone. And when you put 'quite' on the front of it, it seems like the whole idea changes. What's up with that?

I know there are lots of word games out there to be played on my computer, but I am not a computer-game-playing-person (yet). But I did find a fun thing called Wordle that I am experimenting with, thinking of ways to blend it into my other interests. Stand by for more on that one!

checking off the list

2011-04-03T07:42:00.005-05:00

I have enjoyed getting some sewing time lately, and havebeen able to finish up some things languishing on the "To Do" pile. I haven't been watching eagles nesting all day long! I started this one in January on my escape to Door Co.

I was able to get the majority of the blocks constructed there, but it has taken me quite awhile to get the setting triangles sewn into the rows and the rows sewn into a whole top. It's pretty big, this only shows part of it because my display apparatus (aka Bob) was pushed to his limit even while standing on a chair. This is a good example of a quilt that has gone through several levels on my like-o-meter. I picked out fabrics from the Kinkame shelves at Bear Patch, I have lusted after these soft Asian-inspired fabrics for quite awhile so I was happy to have decided on a class project that would make good use of them. Looking at my pile of fabric was a good feeling. Then came all the cutting and sewing of the blocks, which was medium on the scale. Then I had to sew all the triangles in-between, and I was not sure it was going to turn out at all like I had hoped, it just seemed too mixed up and disjointed. But then the rows started coming together, and finally the outer border pulled it all into shape and now I like it again! Whew! I have the backing ready and will start quilting it today probably.

I finished quilting Nancy's rustic applique quilt, it was fun to work on all the little sections. The little chocolate bunny was looking good enough to eat! But what is with those weird veggies? Are those supposed to be artichokes or something? They look like they came from another planet! I get the carrots and turnips, but I think Nancy was smoking something when she put those other ones on!

I have no pictures to show of the 2 little baby quilts that went off in the mail yesterday. Two more members of the Hansen family were born in March--Jaxson Motley in Phoenix, AZ, and Bode Bulfer in Northfield, MN. Welcome to the world, little guys! I hope they get much enjoyment from them.

I finished quilting this last night--

I never tire of batiks, they are a delight to work with. This is a customer's quilt, and the pattern is Popsicle Sticks by Atkinson Designs.

So that's what I have been up to, what about you?

We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are. --Anais Nin

it's a bird!

2011-04-02T18:29:00.002-05:00

I have been tuning in lately to the eagle cam located up in a tree in Decorah, IA. This eagle pair have been keeping 3 eggs warm for weeks and today the first one hatched! If you are lucky you will get a glimpse of the little fluff ball. You will also notice a dead rabbit on the edge of the nest, they must be keeping it handy for a snack on those long days and nights with the younguns. It is interesting that the behavior of the adult eagle on the nest has changed dramatically with the first hatching, before they always just sat still like a statue, now they are fluffing and moving around much more. It is a rare chance to see these huge and regal birds up close and personal!

Live Broadcasting by Ustream

Brita sews!

2011-04-01T10:39:00.005-05:00

See Brita sew. Sew, Brita, sew!

All kidding aside, didn't this pillow cover turn out great? Brita is learning how to run her sewing machine, and helped me stitch up a couple spots of color for her couch. To spark up the oatmeal for Ben!

This fabric was a remnant that I nabbed at a shop in Colorado last fall, and is designed by Anna Maria Horner for Free Spirit. It's always a good feeling when something that I like is also something that my daughter likes! A nice change from some of the teen years when it was more of the opposite. This is from an older fabric line so I think she is looking online to buy some more.

These cute little zip bags are from a pattern called Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo.

It is made with the Double Diamond Ruler to make that interesting little cutout on the front. The ruler helps you cut little V slits that are then folded back onto each other, laid on top of a backing fabric, and result in a new design element.

Although I don't own an e-reader, I am ready for one with this cover and tote that I have made for an upcoming class at Bear Patch.

The fabric gives me a happy feeling. It comes from Adornit, a fairly new fabric design company with a scrapbooker influence. The pattern is E-Cozy from Whistlepig Creek. They also have a pattern for the Ipad cover, do you suppose if I make the cover, the Ipad will come?

I have spent the morning cleaning and doing laundry, so now I am rewarding myself with some sewing time. All is right with the world!

Rabbit to you, Jan.

driving with the window open (a bit)

2011-03-26T08:22:00.007-05:00

Yesterday was a fine, fine day, even though it included a visit to the dentist. I had several places to go and missions to complete, and since most everything is at least 10 miles from my house that means a bit of driving around. But it was a sunny day and in the afternoon, I found myself enjoying the open window and tunes on the radio as I shuttled from bank to grocery store to PO. I may have been a little premature in my thoughtthat the glacier was receding because 2 days later we got another healthy snowfall (about 8"). So we are not exactly back to square one, but took a baby step backwards in the snowbank game.

Speaking of snowbanks, how would you like to be waiting for this one to melt?!!

This picture and the next are from the Mammoth Mountain website. If you check their website and the "My Mammoth" tab, there are photo galleries there that will allow you to view these and many other pictures. The one below shows #1 son Dan leaping to his death over a cliff, I don't know what possesses an otherwise reasonable young man to do this!

Must be some fun in it, though, otherwise he would be living at home!

On my frame--

Nancy's primitive applique quilt "Town and Country", not sure who designed the pattern but it might be Sue Spargo. I am doing freehand quirky quilting around and inside some of the shapes. I know Nancy really enjoyed making this (except for the forest of little trees!) so I am taking pleasure in adding the quilting to her applique. This is one panel of about 15 that make the total design. It will fit perfectly in her new home.

Very happy to receive a little package in the mail yesterday with a new jar of my favorite and best winter skin care product, Surgeon's Secret.

Their beeswax cream is just what I need to heal up those little cuticle cracks and rough heels that are an annoyance. I sound like a commercial! If you do try some of this, don't be surprised with the consistency of this product. It is not a cream, it is not an ointment, it is nearly a solid. They do have other lotions and creams that might also be very nice, but this is the only one I have tried so I am sticking with it!

"Reality is the leading cause of stress among those who are in touch with it." --Lily Tomlin

new (to me) video

2011-03-23T20:37:00.003-05:00

This short video was brought to my attention by my friend, Sue. It is an inspiration.

update

2011-03-20T16:10:00.003-05:00

A few days ago I shared a project that I had started, and now have finished:

Cold

Colder

Coldest

And it's Christmas on the quilt frame!

This is a quilt that will go to my friend, Diane, and was partially made of blocks from her quilting friends a few years ago. Diane added her own applique blocks to make it complete. This has been a real group project, with many hands making it possible. Diane has had some bad health and bad luck lately, so it will be fun to get this back to her.

It has been warming up around here, and there are signs that the glacier is receding!

For about 4 months, Bob has kept a little path clear from the back step to the grill (because a guy never knows when he might need to grill even in the middle of a blizzard!) and now the edge of the ice is shrinking away. It's a promising sign!

the big picture

2011-03-10T09:17:00.004-06:00

Sometimes I need to push the pause button and take a step back and a deep breath! To regain perspective. To remember what counts. To not sweat the small stuff. Last weekend Bob and I went to visit our parents, who conveniently live within driving distance of our home. It's about

3-4 hours drive out of the city and into farmland. Not only were we privileged to spend time with our parents, but some of our brothers and sisters and offspring, too! One overnight, 2 full days of talking, laughing, playing cards, and catching up. It is so good for us to step out of our daily routines and be with the people who we come from. That's probably not grammatically correct, but I think you know what I mean! As we were making the trip home Sunday night (the last hour in blowing snow and snarled traffic-yuck!) I started to think of everything I didn't get done on the weekend. How stupid is that! I gave myself a little mental smack on the head, and stopped to think about the precious minutes we had spent with the VIP's in our lives. Yes, remember the big picture!

Here's a fun book that changes your perspective, literally!

It is a volume of aerial photos from around the world, within information about each of the places pictured. A different photo for each day. It is not a new book, this one is copyrighted 2001, and there may be other editions since then.

I love to look at the pictures overall and then up close.

The picture on the left shows the big picture, which looks kind of strange and puzzling. What am I looking at? The picture on the right is a closer view and explains things better, we are looking directly down on a camel caravan with long shadows laying out on the sand. How cool! There are a few people on foot with the caravan. And what do you suppose they are thinking about? Is this a regular daily occurrence for them? Where do they live? Do they have families? What do they eat for breakfast? Do they mind walking all day in the desert? Do they wear the same clothes each day or do they have an overnight bag packed? If they are wearing long robes, do they wear underwear? Do they ever get to visit their parents?

Back to my little world--let me show you what is on my design wall--

The top left section is all sewn together, the rest is coming along steadily. This uses a bunch of the 3" nine patch blocks I made in January from the book Nine Patch Gatherings from the Primitive Gatherings folks. When I started putting these blocks together, I was a little perturbed because the nine patches weren't all measuring up to the right size and the edges were uneven. I want to use this for an upcoming class to teach a new technique, so it needs to look good when displayed for a bunch of other quilters to see. Rather than start over with new blocks, I decided to go ahead with them and see what would happen. And when I look at the big picture, there is no doubt that they will work just fine, because the imperfections are nowhere to be seen! Another reminder to step back and pause.