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| Love you too, Momma!!! |
Friday, July 28, 2017
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Wednesday Weather Report #10
So clearly, if I was on vacation last week and pre-posted to the blog, I had no idea what the weather would have been for last week's report. The weather was calling for orange (70s), hence last week's post said orange but that wasn't absolutely the case. I wish those weather peeps would get their act in gear...
The following week had a lot of orange, plus a couple outliers. Yesterday topping out at 60 was a big surprise...that's mountain weather, not WNY in late July weather.
I should be able to get caught up on appliqueing these to backgrounds on Friday.
That's probably all I'll do on the pieced hexies for a while since now I need to get back to working on something "new" for a pending trunk show this fall.
Uhhhh...Zorro....Love you, Monkey, but you're in the way....
Maybe you recognize this from the pieces I showed during the last HeLP?
This is probably about as tall as it will get (it's for thedoll cat bed), but I need a lot more width.
And last but not least, my quilting purchases from vacation...
I already owned the half-nekkid woodsman fabric but it has "vintage" colors that are hard to match so I've been searching for fabrics for a year, picking up FQs here and there while trying to decide on a design. This year I first found the camping phrase fabric on the right - that will become part of the backing. Then I found the red check which perfectly matches one of the woodmen's jackets. The check will be the binding and part of the backing plus it finally gave me a design nudge for the front. I'll play with EQ7 some and then I think it's time to cut into the fabric I've been collecting! Woohoo!!!
And now it's your turn - how has the weather been in your neck of the woods?
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| Week #9 78-65-83-68-77-60-81 |
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| Week #10 78-77-81-76-77-76-60 |
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| These are the yellow/orange "cogs" that I stitched while on vacation. I love how the different fabrics make the same pattern look so different. I've got one more in progress and that gives me a total of 26 or 27 yellow/orange rosettes. I think that's about half what I need for the final quilt. I've probably got another 10 rosettes kitted already! |
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| And here are all the blue rosettes. No idea how many of these I have completed... |
That's probably all I'll do on the pieced hexies for a while since now I need to get back to working on something "new" for a pending trunk show this fall.
Uhhhh...Zorro....Love you, Monkey, but you're in the way....
Maybe you recognize this from the pieces I showed during the last HeLP?
This is probably about as tall as it will get (it's for the
And last but not least, my quilting purchases from vacation...
I already owned the half-nekkid woodsman fabric but it has "vintage" colors that are hard to match so I've been searching for fabrics for a year, picking up FQs here and there while trying to decide on a design. This year I first found the camping phrase fabric on the right - that will become part of the backing. Then I found the red check which perfectly matches one of the woodmen's jackets. The check will be the binding and part of the backing plus it finally gave me a design nudge for the front. I'll play with EQ7 some and then I think it's time to cut into the fabric I've been collecting! Woohoo!!!
And now it's your turn - how has the weather been in your neck of the woods?
Monday, July 24, 2017
The numbers
Maybe you figured out that I was on vacation last week?! I did have the security system set.
No pictures today. I'll just give you the numbers :)
I spent 10 days in the Adirondack Mountains.
I drove 867 miles.
It rained 1 day, instead of the 8 or 9 that were predicted.
1 bear visited my campsite at 1:30 in the morning.
I went on 10 hikes, including 3 mountains (Pillsbury, Castle Rock, Snowy).
Snowy is the highest mountain in the southern ADK and taller than 2 of the "46 High Peaks"
I completed the Indian lake 4-3-2-1 Hiking Challenge.
I am only the 36th person to finish this challenge since it started 1 year ago!!!
Fitbit says I took 230,744 steps, climbed 500 floors and was active for 31 hours.
I hiked a total of 90 miles!!
On 2 days I hit my personal best of 40,000 steps and 15 miles!
I attended 1 bluegrass concert on the library lawn.
I visited 1 quilt store - we won't mention the dollar amount spent!
I bought 2 pair of silly socks.
I bought 2 Christmas gifts.
I had ice cream for lunch 3 times. (As someone I met said - "It's fun being an adult")
I stitched 15 hexie rosettes - 13 for my pieced hexie project and 2 for the temperature quilt.
I finished 13 books, while 3 more (iPhone, car and paper) are still in progress.
And I did all this on 1 very badly twisted ankle...
It was divine!!!!!
No pictures today. I'll just give you the numbers :)
I spent 10 days in the Adirondack Mountains.
I drove 867 miles.
It rained 1 day, instead of the 8 or 9 that were predicted.
1 bear visited my campsite at 1:30 in the morning.
I went on 10 hikes, including 3 mountains (Pillsbury, Castle Rock, Snowy).
Snowy is the highest mountain in the southern ADK and taller than 2 of the "46 High Peaks"
I completed the Indian lake 4-3-2-1 Hiking Challenge.
I am only the 36th person to finish this challenge since it started 1 year ago!!!
Fitbit says I took 230,744 steps, climbed 500 floors and was active for 31 hours.
I hiked a total of 90 miles!!
On 2 days I hit my personal best of 40,000 steps and 15 miles!
I attended 1 bluegrass concert on the library lawn.
I visited 1 quilt store - we won't mention the dollar amount spent!
I bought 2 pair of silly socks.
I bought 2 Christmas gifts.
I had ice cream for lunch 3 times. (As someone I met said - "It's fun being an adult")
I stitched 15 hexie rosettes - 13 for my pieced hexie project and 2 for the temperature quilt.
I finished 13 books, while 3 more (iPhone, car and paper) are still in progress.
And I did all this on 1 very badly twisted ankle...
It was divine!!!!!
Friday, July 21, 2017
Feline Friday - 7/21/17
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.........................
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Wednesday Weather Report #9
Sorry - can't show you this week's rosette just yet. I promise I'll show it next week.
Just think more orange (70s) and rain. Boo.
The above photo was taken a week ago but I could have just as easily taken it any day in the last few weeks... Mother Nature is not playing nice this year. Think flooding, hail, lightening hitting trees.
Above are the first 8 weeks of this project. You maybe recall from my first post on this project that I was only going to have 5 rosettes across the top row with blank corners. Are you be surprised to know that I changed that plan. I don't have enough to share with you yet on Design B but I think it's pretty awesome.
#1 priority is to finish the owl quilt for the county fair in August and then I'll get back to my idea for the temperature quilt.
Also, you may have noticed that I started on the left for row #1 but #2 is starting on the right. I think the colors will flow more when subsequent rosettes are near each other. Then again, I'm floating in a fog of too much to do and overthinking it...
Just think more orange (70s) and rain. Boo.
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| Taken in front of the firehall. To the right is the new Town Hall. Across the street is the original Bank of Castile branch. |
Above are the first 8 weeks of this project. You maybe recall from my first post on this project that I was only going to have 5 rosettes across the top row with blank corners. Are you be surprised to know that I changed that plan. I don't have enough to share with you yet on Design B but I think it's pretty awesome.
#1 priority is to finish the owl quilt for the county fair in August and then I'll get back to my idea for the temperature quilt.
Also, you may have noticed that I started on the left for row #1 but #2 is starting on the right. I think the colors will flow more when subsequent rosettes are near each other. Then again, I'm floating in a fog of too much to do and overthinking it...
Monday, July 17, 2017
HeLP for Hexie-aholics - 7/17/17
Hello and welcome to our monthly Hexie Linky party!!!
For a change of pace, today I thought I would share the gifts I gave and received for our Hexie Club Brown Bag Challenge.
As you may recall, last December seven of us exchanged brown lunch bags with scraps of some of our favorite fabrics. They needed to be fav fabrics because the person who received your bag would be making a secret project to gift back to you at our Christmas in July party.
I received Linda's brown bag which included a number of blue and green fabrics plus a smaller white piece. I eventually came up with (ie, modified/stole from the evil website) an idea to use honeycomb shapes to make a blue/green panel for a vinyl mesh tote bag.
Of course, I had help from my Snoopervisor who has a very fluffy tail.
Eventually I completed the 2 honeycomb panels and then machine appliqued them to white fabric.
The panels were then added to the white mesh totebag. I modified a totebag pattern I've made many times to accommodate the size of the honeycombs which created some of it's own issues. "Next time" I make this pattern I'll put it together a little differently to make my life easier :)
Cheryl received my bag which had purples and B&W fabrics. What can I say? They were scraps on my cutting table and they spoke to me.
It was hard to get a great picture but basically she covered a stretched canvas with more of the purples and B&Ws surrounding the edge. I would love more of the cat fabric!
Now I just need to decide where to hang this little beauty!
And just to tease you with a little project I'm working on...
I'm very proud of my frugal use of these fabrics. It's so much more frugal than how I started the project. Could I, should I, be a little more vague on details to entice you? Bwahahahaha!! I'll show you in a few weeks when it actually looks like something.
Ok - now it's our favorite time to share projects. We are looking forward to seeing your project no matter if it's new or old or even just a project in the design stage. Any paper shape counts.
For a change of pace, today I thought I would share the gifts I gave and received for our Hexie Club Brown Bag Challenge.
As you may recall, last December seven of us exchanged brown lunch bags with scraps of some of our favorite fabrics. They needed to be fav fabrics because the person who received your bag would be making a secret project to gift back to you at our Christmas in July party.
I received Linda's brown bag which included a number of blue and green fabrics plus a smaller white piece. I eventually came up with (ie, modified/stole from the evil website) an idea to use honeycomb shapes to make a blue/green panel for a vinyl mesh tote bag.
Of course, I had help from my Snoopervisor who has a very fluffy tail.
Eventually I completed the 2 honeycomb panels and then machine appliqued them to white fabric.
The panels were then added to the white mesh totebag. I modified a totebag pattern I've made many times to accommodate the size of the honeycombs which created some of it's own issues. "Next time" I make this pattern I'll put it together a little differently to make my life easier :)
Cheryl received my bag which had purples and B&W fabrics. What can I say? They were scraps on my cutting table and they spoke to me.
It was hard to get a great picture but basically she covered a stretched canvas with more of the purples and B&Ws surrounding the edge. I would love more of the cat fabric!
Now I just need to decide where to hang this little beauty!
And just to tease you with a little project I'm working on...
I'm very proud of my frugal use of these fabrics. It's so much more frugal than how I started the project. Could I, should I, be a little more vague on details to entice you? Bwahahahaha!! I'll show you in a few weeks when it actually looks like something.
Ok - now it's our favorite time to share projects. We are looking forward to seeing your project no matter if it's new or old or even just a project in the design stage. Any paper shape counts.
Friday, July 14, 2017
Feline Friday - 7/14/17
Security System Engaged!!
Momma, now you can enjoy your walk!!
Oh wait - was that a squirrel?
Momma, now you can enjoy your walk!!
Oh wait - was that a squirrel?
Wednesday, July 12, 2017
Wednesday Weather Report #8
I finally got a photo of my new silly socks.
What can I say? I'm easily entertained!!
The weather in the past week was moderate, book-ended by not-so-moderate. I don't know about you but as soon as you put an 8 at the beginning of the temperature, I just start melting.
In fact, I just love fighting the lawn mower when it's hot and muggy and the sweat is dripping down my neck. If you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell you at a great price!
And now for the fun part - today is the first Wednesday Weather Report Linky Party!!!
We're looking forward to seeing the weather in your neck of the woods...
What can I say? I'm easily entertained!!
The weather in the past week was moderate, book-ended by not-so-moderate. I don't know about you but as soon as you put an 8 at the beginning of the temperature, I just start melting.
In fact, I just love fighting the lawn mower when it's hot and muggy and the sweat is dripping down my neck. If you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell you at a great price!
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| 79-81-75-71-75-78-80F |
And now for the fun part - today is the first Wednesday Weather Report Linky Party!!!
We're looking forward to seeing the weather in your neck of the woods...
Tuesday, July 11, 2017
The Bibliophile Files - 7/11/17
Greetings and welcome to another rousing edition of The Bibliophile Files...my monthly reading list.Goodreads says I am currently half way through my reading challenge for the year (45/90 books)!!!!!
Vacation is coming up and since it's just me and the mountains (with a lot of proposed rain), there is a LOT of reading to be done along with my hexies! I've picked some books from my favorite series to bring with me and I've got way too many books loaded on my iPhone - I'll have lots to chose from.
FINISHED
The Dead House
Boy - This is a "play". It's only 1 CD long and I thought the ending left a lot hanging out in the open. I prefer definitive endings...
In our Backyard
Feed - this is a YA book about our future lives tied to technology. The fact that I can see this happening is kinda scary.
Scarpetta
The Red Umbrella - an excellent book about 2 young kids brought to the USA during Pedro Pan flights from Cuba. If only the book included more about their life once they reunited with their family...
My Sister's Grave - Huh, another new series by accident, except this time I actually started with the first book.
Summit - another excellent book in one of my favorite styles (does the style have a name?) where a current story is wound in and around a similar "historical" story about summiting Mt Everest.
IN PROGRESS
iPhone: Hidden Figures - this is rare for me, but I liked the movie much more. I was awed by the movie, I felt that every girl/woman should see it to hear about what these women did for NASA and womankind. The book is nowhere near as compelling, it's got a lot of interesting detail but I think watching the movie first ruined the book for me since the movie condensed and reordered some of the details to make it more succinct.
home: Redemption Road
car: The Body in the Wardrobe - this is another new to me series but since it's book #23 of 24 I'm having a hard time believing the series has gone on so long with all these random dead bodies while the series is named after the person who feels like a lesser character.
And now it's your turn!! What books have you read in the last month? Anything counts - novel, magazine, quilt pattern or cereal box!
Monday, July 10, 2017
Ruler quilting
Jo commented last week that she hoped I would post some closeups of my ruler quilting project. I hope these prove interesting...
I'm working on cross hatching in these odd little background pieces (1 hexagon + 3 third-hexagons). And I'll add that I am more than half done already. Woohoo!
In order to make sure the center of my curved ruler is lined up properly for each pass, I'm using the bone folder from my old rubberstamping days, to temporarily create a crease to follow. Because I'll next be stitching "around" the blue third-hexie there on the right, I'm drawing a line between the 2 red dots.
Hopefully, you can see that the center line etched on the ruler lines up with the creased line in the background fabric. I'm stitching 4 passes "around" each third-hexie and each pass is about .5" from the last, thanks to the quarter inch wide ruler foot and the quarter inch etchings on the ruler.
Something to be very conscious of when FMQing is to puddle your quilt around your needle/work space. If your quilt is puddled then you are only moving the portion of the quilt within the very center of the puddle instead of trying to move a very large section of the quilt. I can definitely feel the drag when I am trying to move too large a section of the quilt or even the edge of the quilt.
The other important part of FMQing is to have snoopervision =^..^=
Linking to Design Wall Monday and Monday Making.
I'm working on cross hatching in these odd little background pieces (1 hexagon + 3 third-hexagons). And I'll add that I am more than half done already. Woohoo!
In order to make sure the center of my curved ruler is lined up properly for each pass, I'm using the bone folder from my old rubberstamping days, to temporarily create a crease to follow. Because I'll next be stitching "around" the blue third-hexie there on the right, I'm drawing a line between the 2 red dots.
Hopefully, you can see that the center line etched on the ruler lines up with the creased line in the background fabric. I'm stitching 4 passes "around" each third-hexie and each pass is about .5" from the last, thanks to the quarter inch wide ruler foot and the quarter inch etchings on the ruler.
Something to be very conscious of when FMQing is to puddle your quilt around your needle/work space. If your quilt is puddled then you are only moving the portion of the quilt within the very center of the puddle instead of trying to move a very large section of the quilt. I can definitely feel the drag when I am trying to move too large a section of the quilt or even the edge of the quilt.
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| Can you see my puddle? |
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| The flat area in the red circle is my puddle. |
The other important part of FMQing is to have snoopervision =^..^=
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| Zorro - it's not polite to stick your tongue out at the viewers! |
Linking to Design Wall Monday and Monday Making.
Friday, July 07, 2017
Feline Friday - 7/7/17
I LOVES me some shoes!!!!
I kill each and every one on a daily basis and they smell so guuuuuuuuud!
Mom!!!!!
You've got to be kidding me...
This is my official stink eye cuz you're gonna get it in your sleep tonight!
PS - Happy Birthday GrandPoppa!!
I kill each and every one on a daily basis and they smell so guuuuuuuuud!
Mom!!!!!
You've got to be kidding me...
This is my official stink eye cuz you're gonna get it in your sleep tonight!
PS - Happy Birthday GrandPoppa!!
Wednesday, July 05, 2017
Wednesday Weather #7 & ruler quilting
Another busy holiday weekend at Casa Grande!!
Saturday I went to the Angelica NY Lavender Fest & Farm Market - Despite the rain it was a fun event and I came home with some veg, a purple gayfeather, a few gifts and a pile of what I call silly socks. I didn't think to take a picture but imagine purple socks with sprigs of lavender, bright blue Nefertiti, bright yellow with Klimt's The Kiss, moose on snowy mountains and skunks on green grass. I told you they were silly but who wants to wear boring grey socks with bright colored summer tshirts??!!
Saturday night was a grad party and then an after party with my coworkers. OMG - you should have tried the home made cinnamon peach moonshine. It was smoooooooth!
A late night rescue call meant a late start to the day Tuesday. I skipped my walk (not a smart move, esp cuz I also skipped today's walk for another rescue call last night) but I did have company while I screwed around online on my iPhone.
Before yesterday was out, there would be a total of 4 rescue calls and a massive power outage during one of those calls. I had left my Bernina on during the call and rushed home as fast as I could to unplug it before the power came on. I was too chicken to plug it in again last night for fear of damage or the power going out again.
Luckily I had made some progress on the ruler quilting but this is how it stands for more attention tonight. I'm still not perfect with the ruler (ie stitch length while FMQing curves) but I'm having fun and it looks fantastic.
I love my large table with 2 drawers I can pull out to support large quilts as needed while it's also "puddled" around the needle allowing for easier movement, instead of dragging the whole quilt around. I puddle whether using rulers or not.
And last but not least, it's time for last week's weather report. 'Consistent' was pretty much the word of the week (70-77-75-76-78-75-75F) and we are looking at a lot more of the same in the next week.
BTW - would anyone be interested in a weather linky party each Wednesday?
Happy Hump Day!!!
Linking to Midweek Makers and Let's Bee Social.
Saturday I went to the Angelica NY Lavender Fest & Farm Market - Despite the rain it was a fun event and I came home with some veg, a purple gayfeather, a few gifts and a pile of what I call silly socks. I didn't think to take a picture but imagine purple socks with sprigs of lavender, bright blue Nefertiti, bright yellow with Klimt's The Kiss, moose on snowy mountains and skunks on green grass. I told you they were silly but who wants to wear boring grey socks with bright colored summer tshirts??!!
Saturday night was a grad party and then an after party with my coworkers. OMG - you should have tried the home made cinnamon peach moonshine. It was smoooooooth!
 |
| LOVE my new green walls! |
A late night rescue call meant a late start to the day Tuesday. I skipped my walk (not a smart move, esp cuz I also skipped today's walk for another rescue call last night) but I did have company while I screwed around online on my iPhone.
Before yesterday was out, there would be a total of 4 rescue calls and a massive power outage during one of those calls. I had left my Bernina on during the call and rushed home as fast as I could to unplug it before the power came on. I was too chicken to plug it in again last night for fear of damage or the power going out again.
Luckily I had made some progress on the ruler quilting but this is how it stands for more attention tonight. I'm still not perfect with the ruler (ie stitch length while FMQing curves) but I'm having fun and it looks fantastic.
I love my large table with 2 drawers I can pull out to support large quilts as needed while it's also "puddled" around the needle allowing for easier movement, instead of dragging the whole quilt around. I puddle whether using rulers or not.
And last but not least, it's time for last week's weather report. 'Consistent' was pretty much the word of the week (70-77-75-76-78-75-75F) and we are looking at a lot more of the same in the next week.
BTW - would anyone be interested in a weather linky party each Wednesday?
Happy Hump Day!!!
Linking to Midweek Makers and Let's Bee Social.
Monday, July 03, 2017
Design Wall Monday - 7/3/17
Last week I ordered a curved ruler, planning to do some crosshatch quilting on my owl quilt.
In preparation, I watched and re-watched some videos on using this particular ruler and some others.
Eventually, I just had to jump in and do it...
After using this ruler over the weekend, I've decided that it was a fantastic purchase!
You might be able to see the pegs on the top which make it a little easier to hold on to.
There is also a strip of velcro on the bottom of the ruler. The velcro grips the fabric nicely and also helps to remove the cat hair, which is probably more Blue's than Z's :(
Oh, alright, I'll admit it, it's a little painful wrangling the large quilt thru the arm of my Bernina but with my nice, large sewing table to support the quilt as a whole, it's all good in the end.
I don't have family BBQ plans tomorrow so I plan to get my chores done tonight so I can play at my sewing machine all day tomorrow!!!
Wishing all my American friends a Happy Fourth of July!!!!
Bibliofile Files, normally scheduled for the first Tuesday (tomorrow) will get bumped to next week (7/11/17). Hmm...how many more books can I get finished in a week??!!
Linking to Design Wall Monday and Monday Making.