Road To CA - Day 1

Road to CA 2012 has officially started!

Attended the first day of my two day applique class by Sandra Leichner...she is also one of the judges for the show this year (this is the fourth judge that I have taken classes from!) Anyway..she's an interesting teacher and I really like needle-turn applique much better than the prep'ed edges like starch.She has oodles of tips and tricks..I really like her quilts. Her quilt 'Tea with Miss D' won one of the big awards at Houston..

We are doing her pattern 'Garden Bird' - here is my project after one day - we traced the pattern onto a vinyl overlay and learned how Sandra does inside corners and the points on leaves ..my branches are mostly done..and the leaves are just laid on the background fabric for now..hopefully will get to the bird tomorrow:

(Ekk..you can see I didn't pin them down yet as the placement is all off when you compare it to the next photo....)

And hopefully mine ends up looking at least SOMEWHAT like this when I am done!

Really funny. story...we were stitching away on our branches after getting some instruction on how to do the deep inside V's or tree crotches..one of the gals at my table is a speed demon with applique and got done before the rest of us. Sandra came by and was checking her stitching...Called everyone over to see her nicely done tree crotch, embarrassing the gal...everyone gave her a round of applause..to which she said "Oh great...Y'all stand around admiring my crotch and now y'all have given me the clap'...

Getting Ready for Road

Ekk!...I found three more UFOs while packing up the supplies for Road next week:

- tiny pre-cut Winding Ways kit from John Flynn
- t-shirt with fabric panel..this is truely old..my kids were really small when I bought the panel..but I still like it! I think it may go with the fabric for the shorts..hopefully a new outfit!
- another set of fabric set aside for a quilted sweatshirt..I may put these back into stash...cuz if I make the Laurel Burch one, I probably wouldn't need another quilted sweatshirt..

I am using the village of Oia on Santorini as inspiration for my Happy Village...if you know me, you know of my fascination with the island of Santorini (or Thera) and the possibility of it being the source of the Atlantis legend. Someday I hope to actually go to Greece...

I love the stacked house architecture..and the blue domed churches.

Serendipity

The other day, I was looking for a brown knit glove that I could turn into a chipmunk (an idea from Pinterest)...I collect chipmunks and squirrels..have since I was a child..and this cutie is just too fun not to do!

I have a bag of singleton gloves that my Mom gave me..Once upon a time, a properly dressed lady would wear gloves whenever she went out and every once in a while, a glove got lost..so over time my Mom built up a small stash of these really soft doeskin gloves - they were way too expensive to just toss, even just a singleton! She gave them to me so I could make dolly shoes.. The bag has other types of gloves as well..a tricot one and some winter gloves..even a leather mitten from when I was small..

I was sitting here thinking about what I could use to substitute for the band-aid I was using to keep my middle finger from getting turned into hamburger..when serendipity struck - I could use one of those doeskin gloves!..I cut the thumb off one (my Mom's hands are tiny.....mine are not!) and so far, I am loving my new thimble..it's lightweight, it doesn't make my finger sweat..it's almost like it is not there, but it keeps the straw needles from poking holes in my middle finger!!

I normally HATE wearing a thimble..most of them are too noticeable..hot and unbending, heavy...or they let the needle still poke me - I have one leather thimble that has a piece of metal at the tip that is supposed to let you push a needle thru a stiff patch..but the straw needle eyes just get caught in the edge and worse, they go thru and poke my finger.. for hand quilting, I have a paddle thimble but its not very useful for piecing or applique.

and oh yeah..I did find a brown knit glove in the bag to make Mr Chips! He is going to go to Retreat with me.

Heart's Garden Progress

It occurred to me that I haven't taken a picture of the Heart's Garden quilt in a long time..

This is the front minus the borders. It is a Quilt As You Go quilt so all of this is finished. The two longest seams gave me the most trouble in getting this together..the quilt is so heavy that it was hard to get it pinned correctly..I did the lower long seam 4 times before it was correct..but it looks good now! The borders are being worked on currently... and I have a poem from my Mom that will go on the label and some pictures of my Sis and I wearing clothes made of the fabrics that these scraps came from that will also go on the label.

Here is the back, again, minus the borders, which will be the light blue. I am planning on putting the label in the bottom blue diamond. I thought by making the quilt two sided that I would use up a lot of the fabric.I think the scraps must be multiplying the the container as this quilt has used up the merest smidgen of the available fabrics..Some are mostly gone..like the green for the front sashing and most of the dark blue for the back sashing..but there is still TONS of fabric left! LOL..

Here are the top and the bottom borders, pinned. The bottom border is almost all the way appliqued.

Here's the pieces left for the side borders..I think I need to make a few more! I ended up using double of the leaves since they look cute in pairs..

The UFO Tub...

...contains the following projects:

three 2010 New Year's Day Mystery quilts from the About.com forum (it should have been just one, but DH didn't like all the scrapy-ness going on and convinced me to split it into three smaller chunks - they will be cute baby quilts)
Cape Blanco Lighthouse - class project from Road to CA
Columbia Gorge - another class project from Road to CA
Hummingbird - yet another class project from Road to CA
Sunflowers and Tea (this one is hanging up on my closet door..but its still unfinished) - another class project from Road to CA
Laurel Burch blocks from Chris's stash that are going to be put onto a sweatshirt
material for a pair of shorts for me
material for a purse with several patterns
Giant Dahlia wall hanging
Alex Anderson Sawtooth Star kit
Beyond the Reef kit (small wall hanging)
Spinning Stars
Mini Sunflower Whole Cloth (pillow size)
Paper pieced star
Cheater panel pillow top for practicing hand quilting
Two potholder panels (they were pocket panels but I decided I didn't want the pockets on an apron that I made)
HSTs from making my sister's quilt which should get made into a baby quilt
Quilter's Run blocks from 2009
New York Beauty Cat pillow
Materials for DH's Movie quilt
Gingerbread girl apron
Valentine pillow kit

currently being worked on quilts that are not in the tub:
Heart's Garden
Wee Hexie Basket
Prairie Flower 

not in the tub but needs to be finished:
Beaded Kaleidoscope - need to figure out a hanger for it

Oh My Stars!!!  This tub is too full..LOL
Will have to do a recap at the end of the year to see what made it out of the tub.

Christmas Gifts 2011

Here is the annual roundup of gifts I made for Christmas 2011:

 I made a bunch of shopping bags for my DD and DXDIL: (they fold up into the little pouch)

And some taggie blocks for my new grand nieces:  (made on the treadle) Quilt Inspector Dustie on duty!

And an Angry Bird for my DD's friend: (who evidently loves the game)

I made some tissue packs, swiffer covers and crisscross coasters as well (but alas, no pictures)

Heart's Garden Update

I have finished prepping all of the small hearts and cutting out all of the leaves for the borders of my Heart's Garden quilt. Now..on to building the borders and appliqueing them.

 

Goals for 2012

These are some things I want to reach for this year:

Publish more posts on what I am doing.
Not a daily post, but a few more than I have averaged in the last few years.
2010 was a bad year health-wise...in 2011, I focused mostly on recovering, but I am getting stronger and stronger.

Lose around 5 more pounds.
It gets harder to lose the closer you are to target..
I am up-ing my exercise level.. Have added wind sprints to my daily 30 minute walk.
I would like to actually be able to do a 5K run some day.
Using the treadle counts as mild exercise!

Finish my Hearts Garden quilt.
Borders, binding and label..just need to do them.

Get my tub of UFOs whittled down.
I am shocked at how many projects are in PIGZ status...(Project In Gallon Zippy)
I have to get at least a FEW of them done!! (in another post, I will try to list them out)

Learn to do lace embroidery on my treadle.
Step one..master the Octi-Hoops I got for Christmas.

Happy New Year!

The neighborhood was a-hopping and a-popping last night..we could hear parties on our street and a couple of the neighboring streets (we live in a area of 1/2 acre properties..those were SOME parties!!!). At about 5 minutes to midnight, we got our coats on and stood out in the front yard..we could HEAR the countdown from a couple of the parties..at least 3 or 4 nearby neighbors shot off aerial fireworks..lovely..

There has been a lot of talk about having black eye peas on New Year's Day..said to bring luck and good fortune if eaten on the first day of the new year. So...I checked my cupboard and low and behold, I actually have a small bag of dried peas. I decided to make a pot of them..when I told my DH what I was making for lunch..the conversation went something like this:

DH: "EWWW..I HATE black eye peas...make 'em for you, but don't give any to me!"
Me: "You haven't had black eye peas the way I am going to make them..so how would you know if you like them or not?" (of course..I hadn't had them the way I was going to fix them either, but that was besides the point!)

DH: "Ok, I'll taste them..but just give me one bite.."
(this conversation is sounding suspiciously like talking to my DGD..she says she hates everything new..but it takes a bit more cajoling to get her to try something new.)

An hour elapsed ..

I boiled the peas...after they boiled for around 20 minutes or so, I added lentils, chopped celery, a minced shallot, 4 small tomatoes, a veggie bullion cube, fresh pepper, a pinch or two of rosemary and about a 1/2 teaspoon of cumin and let that simmer for 30 minutes or so..then added about 6 pieces of crisp bacon, crumbled...gave DH his spoonful of peas...

...and can you guess what happened then?

He liked them..and asked for a second helping!

Reminds me of the episode with the spinach back when we were first married (I went to wash my hands, came back and he had eaten not only his bite of spinach but half of my serving as well!)

Occupying My Sewing Room

Well...I, err, didn't  get much SEWING done in my occupation of my sewing room..but I did create a glorious mess by pulling ALL of my stash out of the closet..it was several feet deep on my cutting table and my ironing board..Its gone down a bit since I folded a tray of fat quarters..but still have oodles to decide what to do with...I am in need of a different way to storing my PIGZ (Projects In Gallon Zippys)..At least 15 of them...sigh..

I did get the fabric squares for the taggie blocks picked out..and I cut several taggies..then went looking for more ribbons and that's kinda what started the avalanche...that and looking for some yardage to make some other gifts (can't say WHAT I am making as the recipient MIGHT  read this blog!)

Shall be occupying my sewing room again next weekend..Hafta get the gifts done...which means the mess has to go back into the closet..so I can use the cutting table and the ironing board!

Occupy Your Sewing Room

 

Heh..now this is an Occupy Movement I can relate to..the other ones, not so much.. Our list of demands is short: Leave me alone. I'm sewing!

Head over to Barbara's blog (by clicking on the picture) for the details on her giveaway...

I will be making some taggie blocks for my nieces' babies (two beautiful baby girls! they were born in September - 5 days apart). I am planning on using the treadle.

And maybe some other stuff...we'll see...

Folded and Spindled

Today I joined in the fun with Planet Patchwork's Wonderful One Day Mystery - Merry Mayhem Presents Case #13: Fold and Spindle

I used some fabric that I had pulled for a table runner back in 2003..and had never gotten around to making the table runner (it was in PIGZ status ALL that time!)...and I sewed on Aurora..

After part 3

After part 4

After part 5

After part 6

TA DAH! Done...first project finished using Aurora! I really liked using the treadle for this project. I didn't annoy her too much (trying to sew backwards..she breaks the thread when you do that!) I got a lot of exercising done!

Did this with a small group of ladies on the Forum. It was fun seeing them come together!

Opps...I did it again!

well..I was looking at Craigslist..and saw a picture of this cute little lonely sewing machine and I just HAD to go look at her...and she followed me home...

Meet Borealis...Aurora's Little Sister...


She is 3/4 the size of Aurora...a Singer 99...She has a few flaws...the slide plate is missing, the hood to the light is missing, the key to the case is missing (but you can open it with a small screwdriver), the knee lever is missing.. and the case needs a good restore...Oh...and no accessories..

I intend on getting rid of the motor and turning her into a hand crank...hopefully I can separate out the light fixture from the motor..

But..overall, she needs less restoring than Aurora did..I think she has been locked up in her case for almost ever! She needs to come out and play!

Haven't checked her serial number to find out when she was made..Will get to play with her more on Thursday afternoon or Friday..

Driving Miss Aurora...

I got out some pre-cut patches of fabric today and sat down at Aurora...

On the seam on the third patch, I managed to get a piece of thread caught around the oscillating hook...eppp..Aurora came to a dead stop...OH NO...now what?  I ended up taking the needle plate and the slide off to see better - could see both ends of the thread but tugging on either end got nowhere...dribbled a little Liquid Wrench on the thread and that worked its magic and I was able to get the needle to move just a wee bit..allowing the thread to be pulled out..WHEW!!! Back to sewing!

Here are the first 4-patch blocks I made..

The fabric for the 4 patches being exhausted (I got 7 of those 4 patch blocks out of the stack of squares), I used some other pre-cut patches that I bought at a thrift store..fabric quality is not really high (I suspect most of these patches were 'salvaged' materials like old shirts or skirts)..and started making HSTs...

Don't quite know what I am making yet, though..

I am getting the hang of starting the treadle going forward (sometimes without using the hand wheel!), but small patches are a bit of a bother, since you have to stop so soon after you 'get going'.  I am loving it though...very cool to be using my feet to generate the power...

A perfect Labor Day activity...

The Saga of the Tooth

Back in February, I had a tooth that went bad..it had been crowned over a root canal, but decay set in under the crown and it was time to remove the poor thing...Options were either a bridge with two new crowns on the adjoining teeth..or an implant...

I asked around and the consensus was the bridge is a PITA to keep clean..and that I might be happier with the implant..

I opted for the implant...and went to the periodontist associated with my dental office..from the information given, I knew there was some risk of numbness especially if the nerve canal was breached..and that the numbness typically can last from 3 - 6 months or more..

The periodontist pulled the bad tooth and  placed the stem/screw piece of the implant...and I went home..the lidocane wore off..but my jaw stayed numb..Periodontist looked at the x-ray and said the stem is not into the nerve canal so he had no idea why my jaw was still numb...but to be on the safe side, he took the implant stem back out... and filled the hole with bone material..and said to give that a few more months and we can try again..my jaw meanwhile still was numb, but the numbness was getting less and less..

So..in July, I had the implant stem put back in..a shorter, stubbier, plumper version... and thankfully, the numbness in my jaw did not get any worse..it was however, a good bit more painful than the first stem placement. I discovered that cutting Percoset's in half and taking half every 4 hours was way better than taking a whole Percoset every 8 hours..

Its six weeks later..and my jaw still is a wee, wee bit numb..but I can see there is light at the end of the tunnel..

I get the abutment put on in October and the measurements for the new crown in November..and by Christmas I will have a full set of choppers again!

And hopefully, full feeling back! Oh that will be nice...

Put Another Candle on My Birthday Cake...

Had a late lunch with my parents and my DD on Sunday. Went out for dinner last night on my birthday to Claim Jumpers..the waiter brought me a Red Velvet cupcake with a candle...very tasty!

A couple of my presents (other than Aurora!):
A Braided Money Tree, a very old book signed by my Great Grandfather ( 1878!!),

 A lovely rose pin and a treadle charm necklace.

Also got a new shirt in turquoise and brown and a set of towels and matching bathmats..the bathroom is looking pretty spiffy!

A very good birthday!

Aurora, Restored

And...here she is - restored!

(click thru on any of the pictures to get to the Photobucket album with more details)
The front plate:


The bobbin winder area:


The bed and throat area:


The back of the head: (still needs a wee bit more of the Tar and Bug remover and some more rubbing!)


All cleaned up!


Now..to actually SEW something!

Aurora Restoration

I've rubbed the treadle cabinet with Howard's RestorAFinish..and it looks pretty good overall..the black rings are still somewhat visible - I have heard I need to treat them with 1/2 bleach 1/2 water..but just haven't done that yet..

DH and I re-assembled the cabinet and re-installed Aurora..

I have oiled and lubed everything that I can find that moves in Aurora..she still squeaks a bit though..may have to disassemble the feed dogs area as that's where the squeak comes from..

I replaced the winder ring on the bobbin winder - the old one looked kind of warped and chipped off like old chewing gum!! I had no idea rubber could 'rot' like that..

I cannot get the clutch knob to come loose..not that its a big deal though, it just means the needle still goes up and down when I wind a bobbin. One of these days I will probably  get DH to take the head out of the case and up-end it so that Liquid Wrench can soak down into the knob..one of the guys on the TreadleOn list suggested whacking it with a rubber hammer..eeekk!!!

The decals are glowing brighter at least on the front of the machine (the back of the pillar is still quite dark - it will take more oil and rubbing!!) I just used sewing machine oil and most of the grime has rubbed off...

I put the belt on (fun...NOT) and then learned there is a simpler belt made of a rubber tube that has a metal join.that you don't have to pound a nail thru.so I ordered one of those..it has arrived (and came with a cute little treadle sewing machine charm!) but I haven't tried it out yet..

I ordered a quilt foot from a lady on the TreadleOn list..

I learned how to operate the treadle... It's a 4 step learning process...first you get your feet coordinated by treadling without the belt - you can 'throw the belt off' by using the belt shifter (it's how you get the head back down into the case), then with the belt in place and the presser foot lever up and no thread...then with a piece of paper and the presser foot down (still no thread)...then finally..once you can run the treadle for a goodly time, you add the thread and a couple of pieces of scrap material!

I successfully wound a bobbin, threaded the machine correctly, and SEWED!! This machine makes gorgeous stitches...

What a gas to have a machine that is so well made that 90 years later, it's still cranking and can be fixed by little ole me!

Here is Aurora - almost restored...(with all my tools still out), in front of the workroom window:



Don't know if you can tell she is on top of two pieces of plywood so the legs don't sink into the carpet..its very hard (nigh well unto impossible) to move the treadle when its up against carpet!

She still needs all of the chrome polished..but my polish dried up so I need to get a new can...

Meet Aurora...

My Mom called me up a couple of weekends ago and said she and my Dad wanted to get me either a Featherweight or a Treadle for my birthday later this month...so I should start looking..I popped onto Craigslist and found a couple of candidates..I really liked one of the treadles that was not too far away...

Went to look at her..and she followed me home!!

She is a 1921 Red-Eye Model 66...in pretty good condition - the decals are not worn at all and the cabinet has no breaks or bad scratches (the lady that owned her last I think did not sew even a single stitch on her..just used the cabinet as a plant stand - how sad) I need to do some scrubbing on the cabinet and use the Howard's RestorAFinish..and the head needs to be de-gunked..and she needs a new belt (the guy that sold it to me said the belt had been broken as long as he remembered his Mom having the machine)..

We broke her down into 3 pieces to get her home..the treadle legs and the head (in a box with an old blanket for padding) fit into the trunk, and the cabinet fit into the back seat..



Happy Birthday to MEEEEEEEE!!!!

Road To California 2011 - Day Three

O. M. G....if you ever get a chance to take a class from David Taylor..DO IT!!! He is one of the best quilt teachers I have ever had...he is totally funny.. has figured out how to make award winning, very expensive quilts...and he is not afraid of sharing his techniques..

In the morning, we learned how he makes his patterns, prepared a tracing of the pattern we chose to do (either his penguin or hummingbird - I chose the hummingbird...) and made a freezer paper tracing of the pattern..cut those apart and ironed to the fabric (provided in the kit, thank goodness!) Then we learned how he 'buries' the points so that he does not need to make sharp points (except if they are on the outside edge like the point of the hummingbird's beak..)..and learned how he does the starching

During lunch..he was demo'ing the HandiQuilter Sweet 16...its the sit-down table model that HandiQuilter makes..I sat and watched him quilt for around half an hour!

After lunch, he broke us up into small groups and we gathered around his table to learn how he does applique..its a pretty neat technique..very close to how Ami Simms does her applique..only his pieces are prepared vs Ami's where the pattern is drawn on both pieces. He explained how he does the quilting using Sulky's Blendables threads..and how he changes colors...and buries the knots as he goes..and how he does binding..with a layer of polyester twill tape that keeps the edge from ever stretching!

I don't really have anything to 'show' for today as I only got 3 pieces of a 50 piece pattern sewed down!! So I will leave you with the teacher's version of the pattern: