I'm not a fan of corn mazes

Ten years ago, I didn't think twice about packing up three preschoolers and a toddler for a trip to the zoo. So what if I didn't have another adult to help keep them all corralled? We still had fun.  Like I said when I wrote about Anna's book, I'm not quite as sparkly as I used to be.

But I try. 

Yesterday was Quinn's birthday and I'd planned on taking the kids to the pumpkin patch. Then I looked at the weather report. The temperature has dropped a lot over the past week. It's started to rain. Honestly, it was only Teenage Daughter who convinced me it was worth the gamble to drive up there in hopes that it wouldn't be so wet and cold and miserable we turned right around and headed for home. 

She was right. The skies were blue and it warmed up so much we took the jackets back to the car. (The fact that my kids had coats on should convince you how awful the weather was when we started out.)

I am not a fan of corn mazes. The last time I took the boys through one, I wound up carrying both of the little guys. This time, the challenge was keeping up and urging them both to head in the same direction. I don't even try to find our way out, I just follow them. It works better that way.

The dark maze was better. I just put my hand on one shoulder and kept hold of the other hand and hoped for the best. Mostly, they kept me from walking into walls. We went back in three separate times and never did find the exit.

Then there was the Realm of Darkness. I'm so proud of myself for not screaming when I looked back to make sure I had all of the boys with me and saw the tall scarecrow silently walking along with us. This costumeis a lot more effective when you're trying to keep three boys together in the dark!

We stayed until they closed and the boys had an absolute blast going down slides and dragging me through mazes. Teenage Daughter was off on her own with a friend, and whenever we caught up with them, they looked like they were having just as much fun.

Sometimes it's worth making the effort to sparkle, even when it's pouring rain and you'd rather sleep in.

Weekly Stash Report

I'm not counting the fabric I bought for my latest giveaway in or out, since it's not going to be mine.  If you want a chance to win a copy of Ebony Love's new book, The Big Little Book of Fabric Die Cutting Tips, and the die cut pieces to make my two color lap quilt, leave a message on the giveaway post before November 3.

I did order The Pajama Quilter Rethreaded DVD after seeing Jo's freemotion bugs. How cute are those?!  I've been wanting it ever since I first head about those bugs, and she's offering a special deal right now.

And I found Sizzix dies that I hadn't seen before...and had coupons...

Fabric Used this Week: 0 yards
Fabric Used year to Date: 55 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards  
Added Year to Date: 446 yards
Net Added for 2012: 391   yards

Yarn Used this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Used year to Date: 940 yards
Yarn Added this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Added Year to Date: 3900 yards
Net Added for 2012: 2960 yards

To see more weekly stash reports, click over to Patchwork Times.

Giveaway - Ebony Love's Big Little Book of Fabric Die Cutting Tips

If I haven't been talking about my AccuQuilt Go! as much lately, that's only because I've gotten so used to having it around. I still use my cutter all the time, I just don't think about it as much. Unless I'm coveting a new die. Or trying a new experiment -- like the drunkard's path turtles I made last week. When I'm just pulling it out to cut some quick triangles, it's not much different than pulling out my rotary cutter and rulers.

It's become just another favorite piece of my quilting equipment. I'd willingly change sewing machines or brands of rotary cutters, but I wouldn't voluntarily give up my die cutters.

When I decided to buy my cutter I thought it would help me work my way through my scraps and make the baby quilts more quickly. It hasn't worked out quite that way. I'm not making more quilts, I'm making more complicated quilts. More triangles, more curves....more fun new challenges. That pieced border on  Extra Scrappy Pinwheels would never have happened without my 2 1/2" triangle die!

There's a ton  of  information out there about die cutters. Quilters seem to either love 'em or hate 'em, and the ones who love them have very definite ideas about which cutter and dies you should buy.

Ebony Love is the expert when it comes to die cutters for quilters.  If it can be done with a die cutter, Ebony has tried it. (Along with some things that supposedly can't be done!) She's made dozens of videos showing how to assemble the different shapes. She's provided information on the various discussion lists devoted to quilting with die cutters.

And now she's put all it together into a book, The Big Little Book of Fabric Die Cutting Tips, which is due out in November. 

Ebony gives you the information you'll need to decide which die cutter is right for you, including start up costs for each machine.  How to use and care for the cutters and dies. Which dies you can use which which machines, and how to make that happen. 

Even after reading every bit of information I could find online about my own cutters, I still learned new tricks while Ebony's book.  If you already own a die cutter, or you're thinking about investing in one, you should definitely do some research. It's a big investment and you want to pick the system that will work best for you, not the brand someone else firmly believes you have to have. 

I'll be giving away a copy of The Big Little Book of Fabric Die Cutting Tips to one of my followers, along with the pre-cut fabric to make the two color lap quilt from my first video.  To enter, just be a follower of my blog and leave a comment on this post before 11:59pm November 2, 2012. I'll choose a winner and mail the book and fabric when I receive the copies. 

Note -- the wonderful sherbert orange sheet is all used up, so the winner will be receiving a pretty teal and brown swirl that I picked up at the quilt shop yesterday. 

the neatest hair dryer I've ever owned

 

A couple of weeks ago, I followed a link from one of the vintage parties and found a picture of the neatest vintage hair dryer over at A Sentimental Life. Go take a look -- the photograph of a woman wearing this thing while cooking is even more fun than the one from the instruction manual. Is this why new hair dryers come with so many absurd warnings? 

But it gets neater. Ann pulled out her childhood hairdryer and took some pictures of it for the same post. And that round case got me thinking of the old hair dryer that I saw out in the barn a while back. Turns out I've got one of my very own!  (I do have the case, too, but it looks like it's been sitting in a barn for the past six years.) 

The boys are convinced that it's a little pink leaf blower.

It was my father's mother's and must have been in the stuff I brought home after the estate sale was over. I only figured that much out because her name is on the case.

This post is linked to Time Travel Thursday, Treasure Hunt Thursday,  and Vintage Thingie Thursday.

mindless knitting at its best

I'm still knitting away on my witch's hat.

It's a project I've been meaning to cast on for a long time...it's seasonal -- not to mention the right season...the yarn was dirt cheap...

The only possible thing not to love about this project is that the yarn is so black and I'm knitting at such a tight gauge that  I can only begin to make out the stitches when I stand directly under a bright light. If I drop one, I'm in trouble. But so far that hasn't happened.

This is the ultimate in mindless television knitting. Until I hit the brim, there's only one increase at the beginning of each row. Other than that, I can knit without looking down.

The book is 77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz. As much as I love haunted house books, this one is a disappointment. It keeps jumping between different characters whose only connection is that they live in the same apartment building where something bad it suddenly happening. I don't know if I'll keep slogging through this one or go back to Julia Child's letters.

Mindy's Needlepoint Factory

When the kids and I were down in Eugene a couple of weeks ago, we stopped at Mindy's Needlepoint Factory. I hadn't been there in years, but after our visit to Acorns and Threads, I was in the mood to drool over more needlework. 

The store has moved since our last visit -- it's still in the 5th Street Public Market, but it's upstairs now. We almost didn't find it, because I was thrown off by the clothing in the doorway.  

She's added clothing and fantastic felted purses and a whole lot of other merchandise, but the store is still a treasure trove for needle workers, with gorgeous threads and painted canvases everywhere you turn. I don't think there's a bit of empty space anywhere within those walls.

Mindy's was the first shop I ventured into when I only had a preschooler and a baby. The baby must've been asleep and Alex was doing her best to be good. She wasn't touching. She wasn't talking loudly. But those squares in the carpet just begged to be hopped on, and I hadn't told her not to hop... the rules kept piling up as our brief visit went on. When I paid for my purchases, the owner of the shop gave her a piece of sparkly ribbon for being such a good girl.

They're still as nice as ever.

I was tempted by the Halloween patterns, especially Miss Mary Mack. But I've got enough Halloween cross stitching planned to last me a long time.

I will be back, though. Mindy's is one of my favorite needlework shops.

more turtles!

I'm making progress. The turtle has three new friends, and I've sorted out enough green fabric to make all sixteen of the turtles that I'll need for my planned quilt. The blocks finish at 14" and go together fast.

I'm not used to working with pieces this big, but I'm looking forward to experimenting with different quilting designs on each turtle. 

Instructions for the turtle block are here. To see more design walls, head over to Patchwork Times. And to see more October NewFOs, check out Cat Patches.

bells and whistles

We've been looking at cars lately. SUVs, actually, since we need something with room for the six of us and all of our stuff and we don't want another minivan. Not because it's a minivan, but because our Honda Odyssey doesn't have the clearance to get out of parking lots around here without scraping.

You know that point where you have to like what you have because you already have it? Now we're at the point where we can decide what we're not living with anymore. Mostly that's the non-existent ground clearance. There's also been a lot of talk about bells and whistles and what we want and don't want.

Mostly I don't care. I don't like huge blind spots and I don't want something with a 6" lift on it. Other than that, I'll go with whatever Hubby falls in love with. Or decides will suit our purposes.

My Janome threw a bit of a tantrum while I was freemotion quilting on Friday, skipping stitches and snagging the darning foot under those stitches and breaking threads... Now I'm daydreaming about my next sewing machine. I have to put up with this one because she's what I own, but I'm determined to outlive her and move on to something I like better. Something that isn't computerized and that doesn't have so many bells and whistles I never use.

Can you freemotion quilt with one of the old mechanical machines?

Weekly Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week: 1 1/2 yards
Fabric Used year to Date: 55 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 446 yards
Net Added for 2012: 391 yards

Yarn Used this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Used year to Date: 940 yards
Yarn Added this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Added Year to Date: 3900 yards
Net Added for 2012: 2960 yards

To see more weekly stash reports, click over to Patchwork Times.

Drunkard's Path Turtles

I've been wanting to try a turtle block since I saw an antique turtle quilt on someone's blog a few months ago. I couldn't find that quilt again, but I did find a similar quilt at Monkeybox and one on Quiltville's Quips and Snips. (If you don't want to see the turtles, go read what she had to say about "quilt shop quality" fabrics.)  

The turtles are just so cute! They're also a variation on the Drunkard's Path block, which I love. They've got curved piecing...and I've got dies to cut them with!  Not to mention all of the green fabrics I pulled together while I was working on Quinn's green quilt. 

I hauled my dies and fabric down from the sewing room weeks ago, but I didn't get around to experimenting until Friday afternoon. They're not any harder to piece than regular Drunkard's Path blocks.

 Each turtle takes two curved Dresden Plate blades and two convex and concave Drunkard's Path pieces out each of print and background fabric. (I used the AccuQuilt 7" Drunkard's Path die and Dresden Plate die, but you could substitute whatever similarly sized templates or pattern you already have.) 

Place the two Dresden Plate blades right size together and sew all the way around the outside edge. Don't leave an opening to turn it, you'll create that when you cut the shape in half. Trim excess seam allowance from the pointed end and notch the curved end, then turn your head and tail right sides out and press.

Lay the head and tail pieces on the right sides of the convex background pieces and baste them in place before assembling the four Drunkard's Path units.

Press and assemble into a cute little turtle!

I plan on sewing this guy fifteen friends, which will  make a 56" square throw. 

I chose sleep over quilting

I'd hoped to have this little quilt ready to post early this morning, but I chose sleep over quilting. I've got to do that sometimes, right? 

This little top turned up when I was up in the sewing room finding the top that became last week's finish.  I can't remember exactly why it got put aside instead of quilted -- I think my original idea was to add more strips to the top and bottom.  And I didn't like the way some of the colors landed. (Someone please remind me that I'm never happy with these little Jelly Roll quilt experiments!) 

I like it better now that it's finished, but the quilting doesn't show at all on these dark fabrics. I chose a neutral brown because it was within reach and I thought it would blend with the colors instead of standing out like my usual off-white would. It definitely blended - maybe a little too well.  That gives me something to think about before I finish my tumblers. Do I want to go with off white so I can see what I'm doing? Or do I want to let the quilting hide?   

This post is linked to Finish it Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts and Can I get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict. 

vintage craft magazines

Great Grandma Walters subscribed to Pack o Fun for years. She made everything -- apple head dolls that gave me nightmares, my sock monkey, the Red Riding Hood doll that I was afraid to sleep with because the wolf had fangs and shark eyes... Really, not everything she made scared me, just the things I've kept and blogged about!

She also made glittery swans from sequined covered bars of soap. She made baskets from safety pins and those three sided beads that nest together. She crocheted afghans and intricate little doll dresses. I had a little crocheted purse that converted into a bassinet that was made from a yellow detergent bottle. 

At some point, she passed the magazines on to my mother and they sat in a big stack in the utility room cupboards. I loved going through them over and over, although I'm not sure if I ever actually made anything. 

I was too little to do more than look and plan. The projects I wanted to make always called for things I didn't have, or couldn't do. Like cutting and bending wire coat hangers or ironing waxed paper. (Why I never asked for help, which I'm sure I would have gotten, I don't know.)

Grandma's magazines are long gone. I picked these up at an estate sale a while back. 

Doesn't everyone want a hairspray cover? And a bookshelf made from an empty oatmeal carton?

Someone in the family made these plastic fluff animals. I'm sure I remember seeing them in real life.

There are listings on etsy with lots of pictures from the magazines. We definitely had this one -- I remember the donuts on the lit candle, and trying to find a walnut so I could make one of the little boats. 

This post is linked to Time Travel Thursday, Treasure Hunt Thursday,  and Vintage Thingie Thursday.

Halloween knitting

This witch's hat, a free pattern from Maggie's Rags, has been on my to-knit list since before Ravelry.  Over the years, I went through several different yarn choices, without ever casting any of it on, then I found several skeins of black Lopi at an estate sale for fifty cents each. That was going to be my witch's hat, when I finally got around to knitting it. 

Why knit myself a witch's hat? Because I can, and because I've got the right yarn. It'll keep my fingers busy while I'm watching TV late at night. This looks like fantastic mindless knitting, since there's just one increase at the beginning of each round. 

I'm still re-reading Nancy Drew books. I'm not sure if I read these two as a child or not. That hot pink cover with the robot isn't something I remember, but the story is familar, either because I have read it or because there were always swindlers in those books. I'm not sure about the Invisible Intruder either. The cover is familiar, but that might just be because it used to be on the end papers. That's the whole reason I'm reading this one -- I had to find out which book had a stingray on the front!

Judy S recommended Confessions of a Teen Sleuth: A Parody. I think this book has everyone in it! And now I want to go look up some Cherry Ames books at the library. I never read any of those....

watching monster movies with the kids

It's October and the horror movies are on TV -- which makes us happy at our house. We all like monster movies. But with all of those tempting choices comes the delicate balancing act of figuring out who is allowed to watch what.

Asking other parents or going by my own memory isn't the best way to decide. There's a huge difference between just watching a movie for fun and watching it to decide whether or not it's appropriate for a seven year old. Especially if it's been several years. And the movie ratings are, in my opinion, worse than useless. Is everything PG or PG-13 these days?

But I think I've got this figured out!

I check the ratings on Netflix.  I don't always agree with their suggested ages, but it gives me a place to start. If you follow the movie's link, it'll tell you what they found objectionable about that particular movie.

Of course that only works if you've got a Netflix subscription. The information comes from Common Sense Media. The IMDB also has a Parents Guide section in their movie listings.

I tend to disagree with the suggestions of both sites,  especially when it comes to consumerism -- is it really going to scar my kids for life if a character gets coffee from Starbucks? -- but they do give me something to base my decisions on. What's really helped to decipher their system is to read their ratings for movies that I've recently watched. Sometimes they miss things that I find objectionable. Sometimes they object to things that I wouldn't have thought twice about. 

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family 

I finally remembered to pick up a new darning needle. The one I've been using since I started the little witch hats for the NICU, has a wicked point on it. I'm fairly sure it isn't a darning needle at all, but it was the only one I could find in the sewing room that had an eye big enough for worsted weight yarn. So it's what I've been using. 

That thing terrifies me!  Just the thought of stepping on it is scary. I make sure to keep it either in my hand or in my needle book, but things around here get moved.  Now that I've got one without a sharp point, the wicked one is going back out to the sewing room. Just in case I ever figure out its real purpose and need it. 

While I was looking for the darning needles, these self-threading needles caught my eye. I know I bought some of these when I was back in the midst of my cross stitching obsession, but I couldn't remember if I'd used them much or not. My thread keeps slipping out of the needle while I'm working on Hocuspocusville, especially when I'm trying to use those last couple of inches to get to the end of a line, so I decided to give them a shot.

The slot at the end of the needle shreds the embroidery floss. And then one strand breaks and gets caught on the back of the piece and tangles and I have to struggle not to say bad words in front of my kids. I'll give them a try when I bind my next quilt -- maybe -- but I've given up on them for embroidery.

I'm linking up to Try it on Tuesday at Jo's Country Junction. Leafs Me Happy continues -- Tuesday's bloggers are Till We Quilt Again, Sheila's Quilt World, Ferris Thoughts, Home Designs by Amanda, Quilt n Queen, polka dot classic, Moonbeams in a Jar, stitch stitch stitch, Sew Me Something Good, quiltingbydawn, My Collection of Things, and Jessica.

Some of the blue tumblers look a bit brighter here than they do on my design wall. In real life, the fabrics are all dark and rich and wonderful. 

To see more design walls, head over to Patchwork Times. Leafs Me Happy is heading into its second week. Monday's blogers are Feathered Nest Studio, Grandmama's Stories, From This to That, Little Mama Hen, Quilt Monster in My Closet, In Stitches and Seams, Buzzing and Bumbling, Nunu's Quilt World, Quilts and Dogs, & Briarside Lane.    

Quiltathon - Final Report

It's the last day of Judy's Quiltathon, and I've managed to get a lot done this weekend. 

Dr. Frankenstein's Monster has all of his parts together and is done except for the embroidery and quilting. I've decided to leave off the pieced strip at the bottom and the border. I'll have him finished by Halloween or hang him up the way he is now -- either option works.  Getting a quilt done before Halloween - I think this may be a first for me! 

Except for the pattern and some fusible web, everything in the quilt came from my stash. I love making something from almost nothing.

Now I've pulled out my tumblers.  I'm farther along on this project than I remembered being...maybe I've got another finish in my near future.

the monster has a head

Frankenstein's monster has a head. Now he needs a mouth and a nose and a scar. And I need to figure out how I'm going to quilt him. 

Weekly Stash Report


Fabric Used this Week: 3/4  yards
Fabric Used year to Date: 53 1/2 yards
Added this Week: 6  yards  
Added Year to Date: 446 yards
Net Added for 2012: 392.5   yards

Yarn Used this Week: 110 yards
Yarn Used year to Date: 940 yards
Yarn Added this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Added Year to Date: 3900 yards
Net Added for 2012: 2960 yards


To see more weekly stash reports, click over to Patchwork Times.

the monster's clothes

Today is Day 3 of Judy's Quiltathon and it has been such a nice day. We had baked oatmeal for breakfast and snacked our way through lunch, and now there's white chicken chili simmering on the stove for dinner. The sun is shining, everyone is happily puttering around the house....I wish most days could be like this one!

Yesterday, I was working on the blocks that go around the outside edge of my quilt, trying to avoid the monster in the middle. I didn't know what I was going to do about his clothes. Small scale florals were fine for the sky and the pumpkins and the rest of it -- but for the monster's shirt and pants?

I didn't think so either!

I finally wound up choosing a dark green and black print that looks like a mottled solid from a few feet away, and scavenged a bit of black Mirage from Hocuspocusville for his pants. I've still got his shoes to figure out -- I think they're going to be some of the solid black Kona I bought for Scrap Vomit.

Two more stars, a pumpkin, a lightning bolt, the shoes...and the monster's head. I might be avoiding that part, too. It's got a lot of little appliqued pieces.

75 Ways to Have More Fun at Home

Anna Luther of My Life and Kids sent me a copy of her new ebook, 75 Ways to Have More Fun at Home, and I'm impressed.

Anna seems a whole lot sparklier than I am. (She's also a decade younger, and only has three kids... Think that's got anything to do with it?) Her theory is that if you're fun and excited and happy, your kids will be too. Easy, huh? Anna's put together a book that shows you how to actually pull that off.

The ideas in Anna's book are realistic. Most of them could be pulled off on short notice with things you've already got around the house. I've been a stay at home mom for more than  fifteen years now and seen lots and lots of lists of things to do with kids. Anna has come up with ideas that I've never seen before. Most of them are things I could actually imagine doing.

That impresses me! And once I'd read Anna's ideas, I started thinking of my own. Our Halloween Ghost Hunt was inspired by one of her suggestions.

But I will absolutely not be showing my boys Anna's favorite party trick. There are more than enough gross sound effects around here already.

You can view sample pages and order a copy of 75 Ways to Have Fun at Home directly from My Life and Kids, or purchase a the Kindle version from Amazon.

Dr. Frankeinstein's Monster

Today is the second day of Judy's October 12 Quiltathon.  I can't quilt all day -- that's tomorrow, hopefully -- but I'm doing what I can and embracing October by starting a new Halloween quilt.

Yesterday I talked about making fabric choices based on what's easiest to grab. And that's more or less what I'm doing with this project, too. I started with the new scrap bags from Grandma, sorting through and pulling out anything I thought might work. There didn't seem to be enough, so I moved out to the sewing room and did a quick sort-and-grab there. It still might not be everything I need for the entire quilt, but I've got a good start. Once I figure out what holes I have to fill, I'll do more digging through my stash.

I ordered this Dr. Frankenstein's Monster Door Banner pattern from Country Threads back when I ordered the first pattern for Jo's Quilt Square Quilt Along.  (No I didn't keep up with that, so I kept my deal with myself didn't order the next two patterns.)  I'd seen this quilt, or one very much like it, in an old issue of Quilt Sampler and loved the idea of it.

Before I can make any more progress on the applique blocks, I need to get my hands on some more fusible web. I've got  fabrics picked for the bat and the cat -- and then it's time to make some hard choices and decide what I'm using for Frankenstein and his background.

To check out everyone else's Quiltathon progress, hop over to Patchwork Times. And don't  forget -- the Leafs Me Happy blog hop continues today. Friday's bloggers are Insanity Defense, Michelle May and the Bunnies (take a look at those applique squirrels!), Sparrow in Flight, Quilted Delights, Quilting With a Marmalade Cat, Traveling Quilter, A Stitch in Time (neat falling leaves!), Cherry Blossoms (pretty candy corn flower!), Tea Time Creations, Moosestash Quilting, & Stitchin by the Lake.

choosing fabrics

The top for this little baby quilt has been sitting in my sewing room since I started it back in March. I'd completely forgotten it existed until I went up there this afternoon looking for another quilt top that's been sitting since January. The backing fabric sitting on the table was better suited for this top, so it's the one that got quilted today.

Do you make decisions like that? More often than not, especially when it comes to the baby quilts, I make fabric choices based on what's easiest to grab and what will probably work. (The backing is white flannel with blue stars, just in case you were curious.)

I tried something different for this quilt. Instead of free motion quilting it and using my regular binding technique, I "birthed" it and quilted straight lines around the rings with my walking foot. It  came out fine, but I think I like my usual methods better.

Finish it up Friday is starting up again tomorrow at Crazy Mom Quilts. And Judy at Patchwork Times is having a quiltathon October 4-7.

the smell of old books

I carry around a mental map of where all of the used bookstores of my childhood were. There was the one in Keizer where I got my copy of The Ghost of Blackwood Hall, the one that we only discovered when it was going out of business, the one by the consignment clothing shop where I bought a horror novel about alligators in the sewer that scared me half to death...  Those stores are all long gone. 

The bookstore that my mom shopped in when she was pregnant with me, then I worked in after school and met my husband at is still there, but I never go there. Since the original owner died, it hasn't been the same place. 

These days, I get most of my books from the library or buy them new.  There aren't nearly as many used bookstores as there used to be, and the ones that are still around are mostly a hybrid of new and used. The books are newer and in near-perfect condition. I really thought the days of taking in a sack of old books and trading them in for a smaller sack of new-to-you books were gone.

Then I walked into Browser's Bookstore in Albany. I swear, the smell of the place makes me giddy. It smells just like the store I met my husband in. It's also got the same feel...little rooms that ramble on forever....and an owner who knows where everything is. And you can take in a big bag of books and trade them in for ones you haven't already read. Or old Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden books you want to read again. 

Where do you buy your books? Do you miss the used bookstores too? 

The Leafs Me Happy blog hop continues -- Thursday's bloggers are Debby Kratovil Quilts,Patchouli Moon Studio, Freemotion by the River, Quilt Doodle Doodles, Apple Avenue Quilts, Jane's Quilting, Spoilt Dog Quilts, Ramblings of a Quilter, Deborah, & Gracie Oliver Arts      

Mini-Mosaic Quilts by Paula Doyle

The nice folks at C&T Publishing sent me a review copy of Mini-Mosaic Quilts by Paula Doyle. Little tiny quilts with little tiny pieces? That's right up my alley!

Paula Doyle's book shows how to use a fusible grid to precision piece itty-bitty blocks. If I'm reading the pattern right, some of those squares finish at 1/2"! She's also figured out how to incorporate microscopic half square triangles without actually cutting any triangles.

Most of the projects are small. There are bags, table runners, pillows, and one larger sampler quilt that uses thirty different blocks.  (Connecting Threads has pictures of most of the projects on their listing for the book.)

yarn along - new warshrags

A couple of weeks ago, I decided that I needed some new warshrags. And then I immediately got busy with other projects, because that's the way I do things. Sooner or later I come back to what I meant to do in the first place...or I don't. It's not like it actually matters to anyone, including me, whether or not I follow through on an urge to knit new dishcloths.

I don't think this is the pattern I meant to knit.  But after making these two I've got the entire pattern committed to memory and I'm not learning a different one, at least not for this batch. It's a little less lacy, but it's close enough. (I think this one is the one I used last time.) 

I love these round dishcloths. They're pretty and squishy and make it look like I know what I'm doing with a pair of knitting needles.
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This week I'm reading As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto, which jumped into my hands from the "grab and go" shelf at the library. I have no interest at all in French food or cooking, but the life of Julia Child fascinates me. I could curl up for an entire afternoon and happily read these two women's letters about knives and whisks and frozen orange juice. It's a totally different world -- maybe because I'm such a hopeless cook myself.

I love this picture of Julia in her kitchen in France. It's so different from what we think of as a nice kitchen -- and think of everything she accomplished in it!

Check out On the Needles over at Patchwork Times.

The Leafs me Happy blog hop continues -- Wednseday's bloggers are Plum and June, The Recipe Bunny, Vroomans Quilts, It's Sew Kiki, Pigtales and Quilts, Quilting Fiesta, Grammie Q's, Nancy, Just Let Me Quilt, Selina Quilts, & The Learning Curve Quilts and Such      

the air is wild with leaves...

The leaves here haven't started changing yet -- the ones shown here have been slowly decaying on the hood of my husband's old truck since last Fall. 

For my Leafs Me Happy block, I wanted to combine piecing and embroidery. Coming up with the text was the hard part - everything I thought up myself was just too lame.. Then I stumbled across this absolutely perfect quote by Humbert Wolfe:

Listen! 
The wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves,
We have had out summer evenings, now for October Eves! 

The fabric choices were easy. I raided some background fabric from Hocuspocusville, which should be fine since I bought plenty of extra for the pieced center. The fabric for the leaves came from another kitted up project. I doubt I'll miss an inch or two when I finally get started on that one.

Piecing the leaves, which finish at 3", was the easy part. I used my die cutter to cut the 1" finished half square triangles. I'd love that cutter even if all it did was triangles -- those pre-cut dog ears make things so much less fiddly! The 1 1/2" squares, I cut with my rotary cutter.

Once I had my leaves together, I needed to start my embroidery. For days, I tried to figure out how to scatter the leaves around the words. Nothing seemed quite right until I decided to just run them down left hand side.

My handwriting is legible but unattractive, not something I wanted to display on my quilt block. I did some searching online and found all kinds of resources for creating printable worksheets (maybe I can use those with the kids later), but nothing that would make my text pretty enough to embroider over.

Then it finally dawned on me. Microsoft Works came installed on the computer...it might have some fonts I could use... Freestyle Script turned out to be just what I was looking for. I figured out how large my embroidery could be, then printed out the words in the largest font available and traced it onto my background fabric.

Then there was the math and cutting the embroidery so my 10 1/2" block didn't come out too large or too small. My strip of leaves finished at 3" wide, leaving 7" for the embroidery...I measured the words, I figured out how much blank fabric to leave at top and bottom so it would be centered, held my breath until the block was assembled...and I got it right!

Don't forget to visit today's other participants --

Mrs. Pickles Garden, Gingersnaps Quilts, Petite Design Co, A Passion for Applique, Annie Oak Designs, Cherry's Prairie Primitives, krislovesfabric,  Scrapbook-ChickADoodle  You can find the entire schedule in the sidebar at Cherry Blossoms Quilting Studio.

Look, it's an actual design wall!

I've been complaining forever that I don't have a suitable place to set up a real design wall. The walls in the sewing room slant. The walls in the rest of the house have doors and windows and furniture. There just isn't a flat surface that's big enough. Unless I put it in the boys' room....not a good idea....

But look what I've suddenly got!

It's actually just a flannel sheet hanging across the three doorways at the end of the kitchen. I can't leave it up for longer than an evening or afternoon, but it gives me a big flat surface to  use when I want to take pictures. I was using thumbtacks to hang the same sheet over the big windows in the living room, but that meant clearing out the kids and waiting for a time of day when sunlight wouldn't give my quilt tops that stained glass look. This is much better! 

The blocks on the wall are for my Hobo Quilt. I need to get to work on this one again. It's been almost a year since I packed the blocks away.  

I did not paint my kitchen ceiling that color. I'm not even sure what that color is supposed to be. You can blame me for the pale green walls. To see more design walls, head over to Patchwork Times.