Feline Friday - 8/31/12

Do you know what the best part of Momma's second job as school tax collector is?
New boxes to investigate!!!!!



What have your kitty's been up to lately? Link up a post so we can check it out...




Giveaway winners will be posted Tuesday.
Happy Labor Day to my fellow Americans and I'll cya then...

On fabric dyeing

I'm afraid I forgot to take the pictures I planned to share today of a pending project...pictures on the camera are slim pickings so please don't hold it against me :)

Last week was our monthly Guild meeting and our program was on dyeing fabric. The speaker gave a very short program on her history with the process of dyeing and then for anyone who wanted to participate, we were allowed to use her supplies! We had been forwarned to bring PFD fabric and the $10 fee as well as wearing old clothes. I would be happy to do this every year cuz there is no way I could stock the supplies to do a little fabric at a time for just ten bucks.

Glynis taught us to dampen the fabric (I used unbleached muslin I had on hand) or just not dry it after a trip thru the washer, to place it in a gallon sized bag, add the dye (about 1 or 2 teaspoons to 1 cup water) and the soda ash (about 1/2 cup). The bag can be swooshed around for a more even dye or it can be left alone or you can even leave the fabric dry, twist it into a knot and then dump the dye on it. The air is then let out of the bags and they are left to sit for at least 24 hours. The fabric is then "sandwich washed" - first cold water, then hot soapy water and then cold water again. I did the first wash in the sink so I could make sure the water was running clear for each color. The next 2 washes were done in the washer. Yes, I did wash them all together with a couple color catcher sheets. The red was the hardest to get the water to run clear and the color catchers showed that.

Anyways...here are my dyed fabrics. I think it's somewhere between 2 and 3 yards. Some of the colors are not as vibrant as the original dye but they are all still yummy colors!

Yipper - those are new undies on the left - when some of the guild memebers found out what I was doing they asked me to model them at the next meeting.  :^)

Camping #4

This is probably my last camping post regarding my trip in July. I didn't take any pictures this past weekend and that will probably be the same case come next month's trip.

On Monday morning, I climbed Bald Mountain, also the home to the Rondaxe Fire Tower. It's unbelievable that back in the early 1900s someone thought to climb this mountain, found the top to be mostly rocks with a great view and transported building supplies for housing and the tower and then people lived there for years to watch for forest fires and survey the surrounding land.

The mountain's peak is 2,350 feet up and it's just under a mile from parking lot to peak. It took me 45 minutes to get up and another 45 down, not bad for an out of shape asthmatic climbing over rocks and tree roots and several "hills and valleys" before getting to the actual peak. The path is not really obvious at times and I often wondered if I was going in the right direction - the hills and valleys on the way up only made it seem more confusing. I thought it would be faster coming down but I only shaved off about 5 minutes while dealing with the rocks and roots in reverse.

Yes - these next  photos are the actual hiking path - made of rocks and tree roots!

I was able to get an early start on this hot day so the fog was gorgeous

The view from the top was amazing - and after climbing the restored Fire Tower the view was 360 degrees!



One of these mountains was Blue MT where I went to the museum.

In a local store I had found this great book that pointed out various mountains and such from 16 different points around the compass. Well worth the ten bucks. The book is shown on a topographical map at the top of the tower.

And just to prove it was me on the mountain:

Hmm...maybe I need to climb this again in September to do a little leaf peeping...

Crazy 8s Tutorial

Earlier this month I started making the Crazy 8s quilt from The Scrap Sensation. The magazine is by Quilter's World and at $9.99, I think it's expensive for a magazine but with 25 scrappy projects it's still cheaper than individual patterns.

Anyway, Denise had asked about the pattern and just in case the magazine wasn't readily available I decided a tutorial was in order!

My blocks are made from FQs so this is how I have been making the blocks.


From each FQ, folded in half, cut a 3.5" strip and a 6.5" strip.

Trim the 6.5" strip into 4 (A) rectangles that are 3.5" x 6.5"

Trim the 3.5" strip into 1 rectangle that is 3.5" x 14.5"

You will also need a 3.5" x 14.5" strip of your neutral or background fabric. My background will be scrappy neutrals but using one fabric would bring some continuity to a scrap project.

With right sides together, sew the print and neutral strips together along one long edge. Press the seam towards the darker fabric. Subcut into four 3.5" (BC) pairs.

Laying out the pairs and remaining rectangles as shown, sew together 4 (ABC) units and press towards the rectangle.

Layout the 4 units as shown and sew together. Press towards the rectangles and pinwheel the final seam so that your block seams will nestle together when assembling the quilt.

The original quilt directions call for eight rows of seven 12" blocks. Four additional ABC units will be needed as corner stones for the 6.5" border. The finished quilt is 96" x 108." I also think you could easily scale this block down to fit strip sizes you already have on hand.

I am only working on my project when I need something mindless to work on...I'll post more pictures as I get them. Please let me know if you have questions on this tutorial.

Don't forget Friday is the last day to enter both my giveaways: Feline Friday and Hexie Linky Party.

Design Wall Monday - 8/27/12

Certain people - and you know who you are - will be disappointed to learn that I did not win the lotto this weekend. Phooey!

I had a nice trip up to the mountains this weekend. It was short and sweet with perfect weather and time with the family. Friday was spent on the beach, Saturday shopping with Mom and canoing with Dad on Sunday with lots of biking and playing with the boys sprinkled in between. The food was great because my SIL loves to COOK when camping but nary a smore was seen. We did make quasi-fried-dough in the pie iron which was spectacular. I even bought a cookbook that is all kinds of meals made entirely with pie irons of different shapes/purposes. I just might spend my trip next summer with just a pie iron. LOL.

Needless to say I did very little sewing this weekend. In fact I only finished one rose star, bringing my total to 5 now.

It is, however, a good thing that I do not join in Judy's weekly Stash Report because I went totally overboard at the quiltstore in Inlet this weekend. They are retiring in October and everything is 25% off. Denise and I are splitting the batiks but I also found some nice panels and coordinating fabrics that I can work into some nice quilts. There were also FQs and an awesome poison green. Whew. I haven't even used the fabric I bought there in July and I'll be back again in September. I need to search out some projects I can make for the upcoming Christmas Bazaars...

Don't forget that this week is your last chance to join in my THREE giveaways. There haven't been an overwhelming number of entries yet so you have pretty good chances...

Check out Feline Friday where I will be giving away some adorable cat fabric.
Check out Hexie Linky Party as there are actually 2 prize packages. One will be given for the person who helps me pick a name for the monthly party but another package will be given in celebration of it being my 500th post!!! Both packages will have fabric and hexie supplies generously donated by Paperpieces.com and Creekside Fabric and I'll be adding in some other goodies too. I mean what's a prize without chocolate?! Good Luck!

Feline Friday - 8/24/12

Ahh...the lazy days of summer with a breeze and a comfy chair...

Now it's your turn - what are your kitties up to? Have they entered the giveaways from last Friday yet? Check out Feline Friday and Hexie Linky Party. Only another week left...

Puttering

I did some puttering last night...
Another block for my Crazy 8s quilt - a very scrappy quilt with cat fabrics in all colors.

I stitched another pile of selvage pairs

I also fixed up a mug rug I wasn't happy with. I had seen one online made with a twister template of unknown size. I had used the lil twister to make mine but I thought it was way too big. I dug out my bitty twister, trimmed it and I'm much happier with the size. That leaves another cat toy that Squeaky loved playing with last night.

I even cut out another Rose Star block altho I didn't take any pictures...just know that there are stripes. LOL.

I had a good time but I never washed out the dyed fabrics from guild which were "setting" overnight. They will need to be washed tonight...cuz it turns out I am going to the Adirondacks for the weekend to crash with my family who are already there!!! Woohoo!!!

Camping 103

Just a couple more camping posts to go...

On Sunday I went to the Adirondack Museum. I had been there many moons ago but it has since expanded and turned into a whole day affair. I had fun but it was a hot day for a lot of walking and by the end of the day I was too lazy to cook over the campfire and instead went to The Ole Barn for the best eggplant parm I think I have ever had. And there were leftovers for the next day's lunch!

The Museum has several exhibits in addition to it's little "village" of buildings. One of them was food traditions of the mountains and I just loved this little menu printer. It allowed restaurants to customize their daily lunch and dinner menus with all the commons words stored in 2 drawers.

The Museum also had a quilt exhibit. Not only were there quilts scattered in their normal exhibits but there was also a special room with darkened windows for another exhibit. You will see in most of the pictures what look like blue/white star blocks near each quilt. It's really the 3 part "story" for each quilt (top, middle/makeup and backing/backstory) and I thought it was very clever.

In addition to the special exhibits, there are many buildings that show the progression of motor vehicles into the Mts, logging, boating, etc. There is even an art gallery. The gardens were wonderful too.

Washed out in the background is Blue Mt - named for it's original blue colored peak from Blue Spruce trees. Unfortunately they are being crowded out and the color is no longer so obvious.

Blue Mountain Lake

View from the top of the fire tower - wouldn't this be gorgeous in the fall?

I encourage you to visit the museum if you ever get the chance. There is a coupon on their website and your admission fee covers 2 entries in a 1 week period.



Orca Bay & Selvages

Just some silly pictures of a little progress today...

I finally warmed up the iron and pressed the Orca Bay pairs. Tonight is guild meeting (we are dying fabrics!!!!) so I probably won't get back to these until tomorrow night.

I also pulled out some selvages to work on. My guild is having a bunch of mini lessons next month and this is one they asked for so I figured I better get some "steps" done for the tutorial. These are 7" strips that I started sewing into pairs putting any kind of fabric together, especially when you don't expect them together. Next I'll sew 2 pairs together and then just keep adding pairs or individual selvages until it's about 7" square. Then they will be trimmed to 6.5". Easy peasy.

I also want to make a doll quilt top with another selvage design I have saved at home before quild meeting just to share another use. We shall see how that goes...

Did you comment on the 2 linky parties from 8/17/12 yet? Please do as there are giveaways!

Design Wall Monday - 8/20/12

Our county fair ended on a good note Saturday with the second half of the tractor pull. I think overall the weather was good with the rain keeping the temps down...it just makes for a long week. Only 51 weeks until the next fair and only 6 more years until Mom says I am taking over as Superintendent of the Antiques Division. It's a long time away but it's not...

Yesterday was spent doing the chores I have ignored both inside and outside of the house. It was a good work day but I was whooped by 9:30 and didn't touch my machine so you guys get to see the next rose star that I am basting.

This project is just making me more and more gaga over stripes. The pile in the upper left are background sets and since there are so many you are safe in assuming I decided to make this bigger than the original project which only had 8 rose stars. How big I am not sure yet but I am enjoying it too much to quit yet as this is the 5th star so far.

I hope to have the last 2 camping posts this week or next.

Don't forget to check out both of the linky parties from last Friday: Feline Friday and our very first monthly Hexie Party. Both have prizes that I am still assembling. Parties are open until this Thursday at midnight but you can comment to win until the end of the month.  Good Luck!

Hexie Linky Party - 8/17/12

Today’s post is twofold – not only is it our first monthly hexie linky party but it’s also taken a very, very long time to get to today, post #500. My first post was 1/6/2007 and I managed to post a whole 14 times that year. After a long hiatus I started blogging again in September, 2009. Eventually I got myself into a weekday routine of sharing my quilts and life in WNY with my cats. And now you guys are stuck with me :)

I know a lot of you have followed my recent obsession with hexies and by that I mean anything English Paper Piecing. I always have at least one project with me at all times just in case I have idle hands and I have many more projects ruminating around in my brain at any given time. I have photos of tile floors to copy and photos of other people’s projects to inspire me. It really is an all consuming obsession these days. I don’t know how many paper shapes or sizes I have, I gave up trying to count because it’s cheaper easier that way. I am still working out an organization method for the pieces and would love any ideas…

I realized Wednesday, at the prodding of Denise, that I had been a little cruel this week. Do forgive me as it was not my intent. Denise asked when I would be sharing how my quilt did at the fair and the whole time I had been holding out for today’s linky party. I’m very happy to tell you that I received a blue ribbon!!! WootWoot!!

There will be at least 2 sets of giveaways for today but the prizes aren’t completely fleshed out yet. As I said in my Feline Friday post earlier, Sandy from Creekside has generously donated fabric for my giveaways today. I even have hexie related gifts that were generously donated by Paper Pieces. You knew that was one of my favorite places to shop, right?! Every quilter also needs tea and chocolate and I have no idea what else will pop up in my travels before the winners are chosen. I'll share more about the prizes and sponsors when the prizes are finalized. I do hope you’ll join me in the fun even tho I can’t share the prizes yet.

It’s easy to enter in today’s contests, just leave me one comment for each of the following items you have completed and I’ll pick winners on Friday, August 31.

1. Link up your hexie project to today’s hexie party
2. Leave a comment with an idea for naming our monthly linky party. Some of you did that before but please post the idea again so it’s all in one post. At least one prize will be going to the person who’s idea I like best. I have an idea for a logo but I am open to ideas for that too. I want this to be as much your party as mine...
3. Post on your blog about today’s giveaways.
4. Be a follower and or figure out how to prove you follow me on Google Reader

All right, ladies and gents – now it’s your turn to share a post on your current or favorite hexie project of any shape or size. I don’t care if it’s a UFO, a finished project, an antique, a dream project or something you are currently obsessing over, just share a link to the specific post and not your blog in general. The party will be open for one week and we will party every month on the 17th. It’s my birth date!

Feline Friday - 8/17/12

Today is a big day at sarah did it!

This is post #499, our weekly Feline Friday. However, since today is also the 17th, later today will also be our first monthly Hexie linky party!!! Yes - that means post #500 will also be today!!! And there are prizes!!!! Wootwoot.

Since it's a big hexie day here I thought I would share some photos of my hexie quality control officers. Some are repeats and some are new...

This is a typical pose for Midgie - she loves to rub her head on just about anything but she also loves to be on any quilt that's on the floor.

All three cats were close by when I was stitching sections together and pulling out papers.

Somehow Squeaks and Pepper both took turns holding down the hexie quilt while I was quilting. As I recall, Pepper stayed longer and didn't mind me swinging him around as I rearranged the quilt - I just never got his picture because I was having fun swinging him...

So there are my felines for the day - now it's your turn. Any feline related post is eligible but any link to your blog as a whole will be deleated. Let me know if you need help linking to just a post...I am working on a tutorial but not sure if it will be finished this weekend or not. The party is open until midnight next Thursday.

Remember I said there were prizes? Well FF has a prize today too!! When one of my LQS, Creekside Fabrics, in Arcade, NY, found out that I was hosting a giveaway for my 500th post, Sandy immediately offered me anything I wanted from the store for a giveaway! I was floored! Anyways, I havn't gotten the fabric from Sandy yet but I did request an adorable cat panel. As soon as I get the fabrics and make sure it's the same panel I already have...I'll post a picture and tell you more about Creekside.

But wait, I guess you want to know how to win??!! Well, let me count the ways! For every step that you complete, leave a seperate comment and I will use a random generator to pick a winner on August 31. Good Luck!

1. Leave me a comment about today's post
2. Link up to this week's Feline Friday Linky Party
3. Be a Follower and or figure out how to prove you follow me in Google Reader
4. Post on your own blog about today's give away