Show and tell

The quilt I just finished. We went out to the back yard. The light is much better. She liked the back so we photographed it first.



The details of the stripping and quilting on the back.



The front



The details of the stripping and quilting on the front



The sewn on bias french binding. I don't think you can see that the binding is overstuffed. If you over-stuff your binding it wears better. I added about a 1/2 inch of extra batting as I was pinning the edge of the binding. It looks nice.



This is the quilt I finished before using the Crazy Shortcut Quilts techniques. It was odd-ball blocks I found in Mother's stash, with strips and left-overs from cutting blocks. I set it together with muslin and some gray fabric I had from another quilt. The quilting is stitch in the ditch and outline quilting.



I finished my latest knitting endeavors, Sister Suzy is modeling. The hat is a pattern I found on Ravelry. It is by Marcie Nishioka and is called Button-Tab Hat. I did it in Lion Brand CupCake in Blueberry. The hat took less that one skein of yarn. I forgot the side shot and the detail of the 2 buttons from my button box that are white triangles. The pattern was easy, the directions were great and blue is the kiddo's favorite color.



The vest was a pattern I saw on Leonie Guld blog Raglan Guld. She calls it a Simple Knitted Wrap Vest Pattern She also has a great tutorial on how to make it. The vest is also listed in Ravelry. There are tons of ways to wear the neck line. This was today adventure. I made it with the Cupcake in Blueberry and Marshmallow. One ridge of Marshmallow and 2 ridges of Blueberry. It took 2 skeins of Marshmallow and 4 of Blueberry. I used US #7 needles.



I used a cable needle for a closure. I need to look for a scarf pin or maybe one of those hair do-hicks that is and oval with a stick that goes behind the hair, of course a brooch might be fun also. The vest didn't look all that bad left hanging open, it draped nicely, and being the no-fuss kid that she is, that might be the best option for her.



I have other goodies for show and tell but they will have to wait for another day.

Have a good day!
Judy

a quilt I've been working on

This is a quilt I have been working on. I saw the idea out on the web looking at quilting videos and ran across videos to make an inexpensive quilting table around my sewing machine. This led to Marguerita McManus' YouTube site and web site. I watched the videos, was intrigued, so I bought the book Crazy Shortcut Quilts. The quilt is 48" by 72" what I call afghan size.



This method of quilting is so much easier than trying to quilt the whole thing at once. You quilt each block separate, then set the blocks together with small binding strips. I think it is easier than some of the other quilt-as-you-go methods. I intend to use it with other quilts that I make in the future.



I used stitch-in-the-ditch for the quilting. I am not fond of stippling as I think it distracts from the piecing and can make the quilt too stiff. I think part of my feelings on this may come from a background in hand quilting. You want your quilting to coordinated with the piecing and to be a delightful surprise. At the very least it shouldn't distract from the piecing and a lot of stippling I have seen does just that.



I was so eager to do the quilting I forgot to plan the back as a result I have same colored backing blocks beside each other when I arranged the front side. When it dawned on me, I wasn't about to unpick all those blocks. So, it has become a design element. (wink,wink)



Do you see the ice cream cones? I found this material in Mother's stash. There wasn't much! I think it made great binding strips on the back.



I am almost done, I have two end borders to quilt and then bind. When I am finished I will post another picture with better lighting.

I added a light over my cutting board and a rack that I am going to put my craft books in, I think.



I found my desk lamp for my sewing table in a box of computer stuff of Hubby's. Now I can see to sew!



Gratuitous pictures of the cat, Critter.





Need to get back to sewing. Have a good day! Judy

changes to my woman cave

Some changes to my woman cave:)

New curtains! The boys' cowboy curtains were too dark and this is my room. So I spied some lace curtains. An improvement, but let in too much heat. They looked too white trailer-trash, which I am, but they were over the top.



I found some unbleached batiste eyelet, fancy that, in amongst the fabric. It was long enough for the width of the window but not wide enough. What to do? So I slept on.



Next morning I came into the room and out of the corner of my eye I saw a strip of applique that I had made for a quilt I didn't use. Ah Ha! It was long enough but not wide enough. I went to digging in the left-over quilt backings and found a piece of unbleached muslin in the right color, width and length. Whipped them together Sunday afternoon. I have been looking at them since Sunday and still like them.



Things I could have done different. Figured out how to have gotten the pink band of applique below the eyelet with the unbleached muslin for the hem. Or the band of applique smooth, without gathering on the curtain rod, and gathered the eyelet to the applique band. And no, I am not going to experiment, I'm lazy. Looks nice, the band at the top gives the eye a little jolt though.



I got six tubs stacked up cutting board on top. See that white cardboard box beside the tubs and next to the file cabinet? That is my Q-snap quilt frame taken apart and stored in its box. The one big tub with all the white has the quilts that need to go back into the frame and 3 tops in it, sigh. Now the center of my floor is open for more tubs to come upstairs!



My rolling drawers beside the sewing machine(my precious) full of thread and buttons. Two drawers of sewing machine thread, one drawer of hand quilt thread (me thinks a life-time supply), and the bottom drawer full of buttons, elastic and other closures(another life-time supply).



The drawer unit under the light switch. Top drawer is pencils and office supplies. Second drawer is needles, pins and empty plastic boxes.( Mother collected them.) Third drawer is quilting supplies. Forth is quilt bindings, bias tape and laces. Fifth drawer is zippers, yes, a life time supply of zippers. Bottom drawer is embroidery supplies with an additional shoe box of embroidery floss which will also out live me cause I don't embroidery like Mother did. In between the drawer unit and the dresser is some of my stash of cardboard for making bolts for fabric storage. Some day I will have all the fabric neatly stored, so I know what I have. It will make finding fabric a lot easier.



A drawer full of fabric wrapped on cards and waiting for me to use up! I still have a few drawers I can fill with fabric. I have one more tub of fabric from Mother's. Then to start on my fabric!

I hear the dishes calling my name. Yuck! When I'm rich and famous I'm going to have a maid. Rrrriiiight! Judy

my name is judy

My name is Judy and I am a start-aholic.

I think it is inherited! As I have moved into my sewing room ... oh wait, they are called quilt studios now ... or whatever they are call these days. I discovered 2 tubs and a card-board box of unfinished quilt tops of Mother's. I, not to be out done, have 2 quilts I need to put back in the quilt frame and finish. I have 3 quilt tops that are done and ready to quilt, 2 quilt top, no, make that 3 quilt tops I am working on, and 1, 2, 3, 4 knitting projects and 1 counted cross stitch project. If I finished what is started I could move a lot of stuff out of here.

I have my six tub stack for my cutting table. I had a moment of inspiration and decided not to use the dinning table extensions. I decided they were too heavy and would be too big for my tubs. So I found a piece of sheet rock 26" by 48". I trimmed off one corner so it would fit in the space, used duct tape (the handy-man's friend) to wrap the edges. Voila! I have a cutting table that my 36"x 24" cutting mat fits on.

Changed the curtains out to some lace ones, I like the light but not the heat that is being let in, so while I was moving fabric around I found a piece of eyelet. I am going to hem the sides and put a rod pocket on it. I think it will brighten the room and still hold some of the heat out.

Well the chickens, ducks, and dogs need fed and I am it today. I guess I need to get that done so they will still love me. Judy

something wild

I saw something wild while out looking for a new place for my Mother-in-law to live. This:



I saw a banana plant in the front flowerbeds of two homes in Augusta, Ks! I did a double take! I wonder where they got them? Are they are dwarfs? Were they in pots? Were they in the ground? Do they over winter them in the house? Do they get bananas?
Guess I could of had Hubby stop, but we were on a mission.

*The photo comes from: backyardbananas.com.au

Judy

life

Hubby's father passed away early Monday morning (July 26). We spent last week running around making funeral arrangements. Hubby learned the power of lists when under duress. He would randomly think of something and I would remind him to add it to the list. In the end, it all got done and we didn't forget anything.

One thing that amazed me was some of the family started to obsess about the flowers, colors and types, I keep repeating just trust the florist to do a great job, because it really depends on what is available. Hubby and I went in with a picture of a casket spray we liked. Talked with the florist, told her this is kind of what we want and for her to go for it. We ended up with a one-of-a-kind spray that reflected my father-in-law's personality and it was beautiful. Trust the florist!

When they were discussing what to do with the flowers after the service I forgot to suggest giving them to the local nursing home for the patients to enjoy. I didn't remember it until we were back at the trailer unwinding. We did that after my mother passed away. Man, I can't believe I forgot that! What a waste of such beautiful flowers, because nobody took them.

We kicked around whether or not to stay in a motel or just come home and sleep in our own bed after the Thursday night visitation then get up early Friday and drive the hour back for the graveside services. We had a moment of inspiration and decided to take the travel trailer. We stayed in a local RV park, had our own beds, peace and quiet, and a full kitchen. The rest of the family stayed in the local high-end motel and had to put up with noisy ice machines, slamming doors, loud talking in the halls and A/C that didn't work. We stayed an extra night and came home Saturday morning.

Spent today puttering in my sewing room and cooking. I got one tub of fabric on bolts (cards) and put away in a dresser drawer. Only have ten bazillion more tubs to go! I saw these fabric organizers in the Clotilde catalog. I thought they were a great idea but unfortunately I have way too much fabric to afford them. I also, want to get my fabric stash down to one maybe two tubs. So I think it would be kind of a waste to buy enough for ten bazillion tubs of fabric. Gave it a some thought, had flash of brilliance and cut up some cardboard boxes into sizes that fit my storage system (file cabinet, dressers, and totes). Yes, I know the cardboard is not acid free but nether is the file cabinet or dressers or totes. My thinking is if I can get the fabric sewn up and out of here in the next year or two it won't make any difference. I'm not into heirloom quilts. I want my quilts to be used.

My stomach is growling! Think I'm going to raid the frig.