What I've Learned This Week

That Valdani thread is super linty.

That Grey Goose Pear on the rocks makes you think you're really creative.

That the audible alarm on the BSR irritates the crap out of me.

That if you pretend it will be judged on total stitches it's a lot more fun.

 

 That it's not whether you win or lose, it's what you learned from playing the game.

And finally, that one bottle of Grey Goose Pear is just enough for a 40" square project.

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I finished the 'Orange Blossom' challenge quilt tonight--except for the binding/sleeve and label ... I'm going to have to pull an all-nighter tomorrow, as turn in is noon Saturday and I've got 2 to bind, and 5 to label and sleeve.Yikes! (If you don't have any plans tomorrow night.....)

And now that it's basically done, how do I feel about it? Let's just say that 'Slow to Bloom's' redeeming quality is it's back, where you can see the 800 or so yards of thread used to quilt it.

It's Been a 'Challenge'-ing Day

From this (10:00 a.m.):

To this (4:00 p.m.);

And finally to this (11:00 p.m.):

I've made a start on the Guild challenge quilt. It's one of those 'make it up as you go along quilts'.  And since it can't be more than 160" all around, it's likely going to be 'reversible' (ha ha).  Lots of rotary cutting, lot of stitching, and way more math in my head than I care to think about.

I've been procrastinating on this project for so long that today I finally gave myself a good shaking and told myself to do something fun that I could learn from. Foundation piecing was one of the things on my bucket list, and I've always loved piano keys, and wanted to do something with nine patches, so why not jumble it all together. And somewhere we'll throw in a little applique too...and we'll go crazy and make it fusible applique too (Who are you, and what have you done with Susan?) 

Oh, I'm still here...as can be evidenced by the photo above. These are apples/berries for one of my Baltimore Album blocks. There were so many of them in this one block that I decided to go with something I saw in one of Elly Sienkiewicz's books and use ultrasuede instead of making freaky little gathered around template circles that would take days to do. And, so that I didn't regret this decision, I stitched them all to a scrap of my background fabric and gave it a good bath, with dishwashing liquid, no less, to be sure that the ultrasuede wouldn't bleed.

Once I was assured that they wouldn't I stitched them all to the real block using a little running stitch around the edge in silk thread the same color as the ultrasuede.

I have had my doubts about this block being sort of out of scale to the rest of them, so I thought I'd plant the thing in a huge basket to make it look more like the rest of the blocks. Not sure I'm enamored with that idea either, but I'll leave it there and see what Mimi and my monthly class thinks of the idea. It's easily removed. One of my problems is that I wanted to make two blocks of vases to offset this tree and the squirrel in the tree block, and sticking this tree in a basket kind of confuses the layout. (In other words, the basket is probably coming off, and it's likely the whole tree won't make the final cut in the end).

If you're a Facebook friend, you know about Tucker...the long coat chihuahua puppy that joined our family two weeks ago. Everyone is thrilled with the new addition...well, not everyone....Paco tried to push him through the second floor railings (oh darn....Mom anticipated that and installed netting...curses! foiled again!). 

He likes to hang out in the studio. Here he is picking out some fabric for a lounge pillow as Paco patiently waits for me to catch him chewing on the corners of the stack he pulls out and scold him  (Paco loves it when Tucker gets in trouble).

Mostly Tuck spends his time sleeping in Paco's bed, while I 'm working on the computer or sewing. They look so peaceful and sweet when they sleep, don't they?

Don't let that fool you. Tucker is now 3 lbs 5 oz of Trouble with a capital 'T'. He just learned how to go down the stairs, though he still can't jump off the bed or the couch. We went to the pet store yesterday and bought a second set of teething bones because Paco was jealous and would take them from Tucker...now Tucker takes them from Paco and then whines and cries when Paco takes one back. The little terror chases Paco around the house, and poor Paco gets yelled at constantly for growling at the puppy.  I've begun calling Paco 'Mr. Grumblypants'.

I looked at the hubs yesterday evening, as the ruckus went on around us and remarked that it's like we're raising a couple of 2 year olds now, to which he commented 'well, if that's the case, then it's not going to get any better as they get older, is it?'

A Trip To the Laundromat

The hubs was tired of his new quilt covering him with thread, so he suggested we make a trip to the laundromat this morning to wash it. (For those of you unfamiliar with rag quilts, it is suggested that you wash it the very first time in a commercial washing machine, unless you have a machine with a lint trap you can clean...or you're married to the Maytag Repairman).

Now, I can't remember the last time I was in a laundromat. An apartment laundry room...maybe 30 or so years ago, an actual laundromat....probably 1975 in the Virgin Islands (and then it was only to drop off my laundry to be washed, dried, and folded while I was at work...it must have been ridiculously cheap because we didn't make much money). I digress....

We have two laundromats in our immediate area. One has been there for quite a few years, and one just opened about 6 months ago. The only reason I know of this is because they happen to be in shopping centers I go to...the newest one is next to Hancock Fabrics. Of course that one was the laundromat of choice. While the hubs babysat the quilt, I could browse the fabric store. Perfect. Well, not so perfect as Hancock doesn't open until Noon on Sunday. (Seriously?)

We arrived just after 10 a.m. and the place was rockin' like Karaoke Night at the Holiday Inn bar on a Saturday night. (Don't people go to church anymore?). The walls were mirrored, the machines new and stainless steel, and above them, every 6 or so feet, were wall-mounted 70" flat screen TVs tuned to various soccer games. Salsa music competed with the noise from the spinning front-load machines, and the vending machines dispensed Coconut Water in cans, plantain chips, and candy bars with names we couldn't pronounce.

We had grabbed a handful of quarters from the ashtray in my car on our way in. Totally unnecessary.  You had to feed paper money into the wall where it turned it into a plastic debit card that could be swiped by the washers and dryers. The card cost a dollar. The washer cost $4.99. That's right....$4.99. One load of clothes washed for $4.99. Or in my case, one flannel throw quilt washed for....$4.99.  I have no idea how much it costs to dry anything, as I didn't plan on sticking around to find out, as once our load was done I hustled it back into the plastic bag I carried it over in and we left without venturing to the dryer side of the place.

Tossed it in the dryer at home, and wah-la:

It's frayed. In fact, it frayed so darn good that I had to spend 2 episodes of Chopped this afternoon mending the seams that opened because I clipped the fringe too close to the seam lines (this was my first rag quilt...lesson learned). While I'd like to say that this is my last rag quilt, I've got the flannel to make one more just like it, so we're going to hang on to that reloadable laundromat card for a while.

Now it's time to move on to one of the challenges for the Guild quilt show.  The name of the challenge is 'Orange Blossoms'. Quilt or wall hanging measuring no more than 160" around it's perimeter or a wearable. Must contain the 3 print fabrics shown below in a recognizable amount:

I stared at this for a bit this afternoon. Came up and looked at it again after dinner, and it's been laid out in front of me
for the past hour. It's not speaking to me yet. Orange Blossoms isn't coming from this (and anyway, orange blossoms are white). I don't know where to go with a wall hanging, and what would I do with a 40" square quilt? I was thinking apron. Now I'm thinking tote bag....or not.

What I do know is that it's taking time away from the Baltimore Album blocks, which is not good. Tomorrow we'll look at it some more and toss in some white and see if that makes us view this challenge any differently.

What do you see?