Cooking... Er...Make That Drying With Gas!

A brief pause for some home maintenance:

We replaced the belt on the dryer - Whoohoo! It only took about 45 minutes and a goodly chunk of that was trying to find enough chunks of wood to hold the dryer drum up so we could remove the front panel...The trickiest part was figuring out how the tensioner connected back to the bottom of the dryer - it fell off when the belt broke and the picture from the internet was not dreadfully detailed - thankfully it was not broken off! When I saw it was just laying there in the bottom, my heart kinda sank, thinking we would probably have to call the repairman after all... But...we have liftoff! Good thing too..the wind is whipping around today - way too windy to put clothes out to line dry - they would likely be found flying around in the next county if I tried!

Back to the o' grindstone...

Working on Overtime

Sorry to be mostly absent, but I am working on a massive project at work which is requiring oodles of overtime...I will probably not be posting much or even quilting much for the next couple of months until I get the coding for this project out of the way...

Update on the raccoons...my friend went to the rescue location last Sunday to get our two cages of raccoons only to find out that one of the yearlings gave birth to 4 babies the night before and a bunch of the remaining raccoons had mange...so they cancelled the release entirely as they did not want to disturb the new mamma plus they did not have the medication for the shot to cure the mange on hand. The next date for release is May 13th...I have no idea what possessed them to pick Mother's Day(!) for the release date, but both my friend and I cancelled...hopefully they have enough people that cancel and will reschedule for some other date...otherwise, we shall just have to try for next year's release.

But Wait..There May Be Hope For The Raccoons Yet..

The raccoon rescue organizer is looking for another spot for us...so the Second Annual Great Raccoon Release may still be on for tomorrow...will update tomorrow.

There are not enough releasers so we may end up with SIX of the fat and sassy critters...hopefully in two cages or its gonna be a bit of a stretch for two middle aged ladies getting the cage out of the back of the car...hopefully the new spot will have a place we can drive up to for releasing.

The Demise of the Second Annual Great Raccoon Release

Tomorrow was supposed to be the Second Annual Great Raccoon Release...but its been called off for our location...

The new dryer belt did not get here until today and DH is working today, so I tried out the new line that I strung up between the two swing sets... unfortunately, the swing sets are not really heavy enough for laundry so I had to improvise and find some concrete blocks to weight the seats down enough to keep the lines from pulling the swing sets over.... was putting out the third load of the day an hour ago - it's very hot here today - 95 and very low humidity... stuff was not taking very long to dry - I pinned the sheets up first and by the time I had the towels on the line, the sheets were bone dry (that's faster than the dryer!)... I happened to glance over towards the neighbors and AGGGGHHH... there were billows of smoke rising up and then I heard the sirens and the helicopters...the riverbed, 2 miles from me, is on fire!

I had a load of recycling to take down to the recycle center by the grocery store - I had already loaded the bags in the car - so I went to checked out where the fire is burning (after getting the important papers box and the the cat carrier and putting them by the front door, just in case, yanno) and...dagnabit..it's just where we wanted to release the coons...

sigh..

By the way..the pin bag worked out great...

And for anyone that is interested in having a wooden drying rack - you still can get them...here is one place and WalMart is supposed to have a chrome one (that would be good for drying hand-dyes as it wouldn't stain the bars).

Laundry Update

I am pretty sure it's just the belt on the dryer...I popped the top open per the instructions I found by Googling and sure enough, the belt is just hanging...Sears wants 18 bucks for the replacement...found one on eBay for 3! So..just have to wait for it to be delivered...and find a time when both of us will be home to try the repair. If it doesn't work, then I guess we get a new set...but boy, howdy..we looked at the prices and our eyes about popped right out of our heads!

Meanwhile, til the repair is effected, I hauled out my old wooden drying rack (In my panic last weekend, I did not remember I had it!) and we purchased a clothesline that we can string between the two bench swing sets on the patio for sunny days (which it hasn't been for the last few days - we actually got some rain!!!)...and a couple packages of clothes pins...I remembered my Granny used clothes pins and she had a cute little pin bag...so I made me one out of a fat quarter that I would never ever use in a quilt - I won it and its just NOT my style for quilting - old fashioned looking turquoise, red and pink umbrellas...but it made a cute pin bag (and I shall not care if it self destructs...though with my luck the thing will be around for the next 20 years).

Sideways, Just A Little Bit...

Well..I WAS doing laundry yesterday, as advertised - but when I went out to the garage to take the dry stuff out and put the last load into the dryer before heading to bed, I opened up the dryer door and ACKKKK...the contents were still SOAKING WET!!!...apparently the belt snapped (we have yet to actually look inside the machine, but we have pictures from the Internet on HOW to look) and the symptoms match a broken belt...

So...what do one DO with two large tubs of soaking wet laundry? DH bundled the stuff into the car and set out to see if there were any open laundromats...nothing doing...every one that we knew about, and a few from the phone book, were dark and locked up...so we thought about stringing up some rope in the kitchen...that didn't work either...so at 1 am, we gave up trying to figure it out and stuffed the laundry tubs back out in the cold garage and DH said he would take the clothes to the laundromat at 6 am...This did not leave much time for sleeping!

We haven't figured out if we want to try to fix the poor thing (a new belt is pretty cheap) or just get a new laundry pair...it's not like this pair are spring chickens - we bought them about a week after moving into this house 27 years ago and they have most definitely earned their keep...only one other time did we have to have a repair when the dryer thermostat broke. It would be nice to have a new set, but we are not sure we want to spend alot. We have to go shopping to see what the options are out there...any suggestions?

Only One More Round!

Almost done with the Seven Sisters! Last row will be the same white with gold dots as the center.

Then it just needs a bit of quilting and maybe a few beads...

It was a good day for hand stitching - it was cold and grey out (no rain, just clouds, though we need it desperately)...so I made a nice pot of tomato beef soup and stitched away in my rocking chair between loads of laundry.

25 Questions Meme

Haven't done a meme in a long time. Have seen this one on a couple of blogs...

1. If you could build a house anywhere, where would it be?
Someplace green.
2. What's your favorite article of clothing?
My Fair Isles sweater. It's getting a bit raggy since I wear it all the time...I need to find another one.
3. Favorite physical feature of the opposite sex?
Eyes.
4. What's the last CD that you bought?
DH buys the CDs...the last one I remember buying was several Christmases ago - one of the Mannheim Steamroller albums.
5. Where's your favorite place to be?
Someplace green.
6. Where is your least favorite place to be?
Sitting in a car in rush hour traffic.
7. What's your favorite place to be massaged?
Anywhere works for me.
8. Strong in mind or strong in body?
Mind.
9. What time do you wake up in the morning?
Whenever the #(*&%# alarm clock rings or 6-8 hours after I went to sleep, which ever comes first.
10. What is your favorite kitchen appliance?
Microwave.
11. What makes you really angry?
Hypocrisy. Massively invasive "Political Correctness".
12. If you could play any instrument, what would it be?
Harp.
13. Favorite color?
Green... (you see a theme going here??)
14. Which do you prefer...sports car or SUV?
Neither. I'm a compact car gal.
15. Do you believe in an afterlife?
Yes.
16. Favorite children's book?
Have too many favorites! I read all the time as a child. Still do.
17. What is your favorite season?
Spring when it's green or Fall when the leaves turn colors.
18. Your least favorite household chore?
It's hard to pick just one...they all are least favorites - but if I have to pick just one...cleaning out the litter boxes.
19. If you could have one super power, what would it be?
The ability to make everyone get along.
20. If you have a tattoo, what is it?
I have a temporary tat that says "Born to Quilt" that I have not had the guts to put on my skin yet. Can't see me voluntarily getting a tattoo.
21. Can you juggle?
Only one ball. Any more and I get confused. I can juggle lots of tasks at work at once though.
22. The one person from your past that you wish you could go back and talk to?
My grandmother.
23. What's your favorite day?
Depends on what I am doing that day!
24. What's in the trunk of your car?
Junk...lots 'o junk...
25. Which do you prefer, sushi or hamburger?
Neither...give me a good piece of Prime Rib any day...

Wednesday WIP

It's starting to look round.... finally!

Have to mark and cut out the 80 little triangles for the border next...I am thinking I will probably do them in batches so I can get started.

It's still (mostly) fitting on the scanner bed, but the next pass will not fit.

I need a good name for this piece so it fits in with my circle theme...so far one is eluding me...

More Seven Sisters Progress

Thank you all for your lovely comments.

Got a little further along - the center has one more pass around it..then comes the harder part of doing the ring.

I was playing around with some beads earlier and this may just end up with some beadwork before its done...

This still fits on the scanner bed.

Seven Sisters Progress

Worked on my Seven Sisters block for a while today- got the center with the seven stars completed...its supposed to be finished for my 12x12x4 for this month, but its looking rather dim that its gonna get finished by the 12th...


First I completed all the stars, then sewed the white pieces around the center star, then was able to sew the rest of the stars and white pieces in one fell swoop around the center...only took two needles worth of thread too, since this is pretty small (The picture is a scan - it still fits on the scanner bed).

I still have the rest of the center to complete (it has to have white pieces around all the edges) and the diamond border which has oodles of tiny pieces...and which will turn it into a circle.


I am enjoying it though.

April Foolishness

When I was growing up, my parents often invented elaborate April Fools Day jokes to play on each other...the best one, in my opinion, was one my Mom sprang on my Dad in 1965...Here's the way it went down, to my best recollection:

Back in those days, men would go to the barbershop every week to have a trim..my Dad's night to go was Thursday night...April First just happened to fall on Thursday that year...so...Mom and Sis and I headed out towards downtown and waited in the parking lot across the street from the barbershop.

We watched Dad arrive and head into the barbershop, with his little Renault car parked RIGHT IN FRONT of the barbershop...Mom executed step one of the joke by walking across the street, getting into the car, starting it up and driving it around the corner into the parking lot on the side of the barbershop - unnoticed by Dad and the barber. She then came back to the other car and there we sat waiting for Dad to be done with his trim.

A few minutes later, Dad comes out....The look on his face was priceless...he looked a the spot the car was 'supposed' to be and then up the street, down the street a couple of times...he ran in and got the barber and there ensued a series of wild gesticulations on the part of the two gentlemen...

Mom decided it was time to complete part two of the joke...she started driving towards the barbershop...Dad said he exclaimed to the barber 'Oh thank goodness, there's my wife, she can drive me to the police station (which was only a block or two up the street, mind you - this was a rather small town) so I can report my car being stolen."

He came up to the car and was explaining the situation to Mom and it was not until he happened to glance into the back seat where my Sis and I were desperately trying not to bust up laughing, that he realized what day it was and that he had been HAD! He swore he was going to tie a string to the steering wheel after that...

Wednesday WIP

I actually have some quilty stuff to show this week! I started working on my tiny hand pieced Seven Sisters which I HOPE I will get done with in time for the next Quilt Studio reveal. The circle will finish out to 12 inches so these are really small pieces. And all of it is from my scrap bag!

I started working on these at the car repair shop last Saturday - I had to do my bi-annual 'smog certificate' and I knew the car was going to need some work so I got there when they opened at 8am, hoping that they would be able to fix whatever needed fixing, and get the results to the state so I could get my car re-registered, all in one day. The car did indeed have to get a bunch of stuff done - they had to change the check-engine light bulb which meant they had had to take the dash apart and then there was some fancy-smancy part that only comes in an assembly costing 180 bucks(!) that needed to be replaced...but..it got done and whilst I was waiting, I ensconced myself in the waiting room with my Seven Sisters stuff...I only had the scraps picked out and put into baggies...so I marked and trimmed and stitched and got lots of comments (interestingly, mostly from the guys, though there were a few ladies that brought vehicles in to be serviced). The service guys were cute about coming into the waiting room to keep me informed of the progress (the rest of them had to go up to the counter to talk with them) so I did not have to get up and mess up my sewing setup..And by 1pm they were done, I had 5 stars completed and I was headed over to the AAA to get my car tag. I just need two more stars, the joining diamonds and the circle of diamonds around the outside border.

On Sunday, I took a class with my friends (most of them are quilters, one is a rabid knitter and only tolerates quilting because the rest of us are quilters!) on 'Color Theory For The Fiber Artist'. This was a very interesting class on why some colors make quilts look blah and why some make them pop. Part of the class was the teacher giving the groups assignments on what colors or color schemes to find and we went out into the store and pulled bolts of fabric that matched the assignment using our handy dandy 3-in-1 Color Tools ....wow, that was exhausting! Sometimes we just had to 'make do' because that color wasn't IN the store (at least that we could find!). I came away with a new appreciation of color.

What to DO with braids...

Rian asked "What does one do with the braid? "

The one I am currently doing will probably end up long enough for a bracelet - since it is my learning piece, it really does not have to have a purpose, but I will find some way to use it. The round braids could make bracelets, necklaces, badge holders, shoelaces, key chain fobs, scissor fobs, napkin rings...the flat ones could be bookmarks, curtain ties, headbands, guitar straps - anything you would use a ribbon for could be replaced with a flat braid...You could braid around a core and make jump-ropes, or plant hangers...

I am sure there are hundreds of ways to use braids...of course I probably will find some way to incorporate braids into my crazy quilting...I am thinking of trying one with embroidery floss to get a really thin braid...

The Ultimate Gift

DH and I went to see 'The Ultimate Gift' movie over the weekend. It was wonderful - we both thought it was very inspiring and beautifully done! DH said as we walked out "That's one we HAVE to have on DVD when it comes out."

Synopsis:
"When his wealthy grandfather dies, trust fund baby Jason Stevens anticipates a big inheritance. Instead, his grandfather has devised a crash course on life with twelve tasks – or “gifts” – designed to challenge Jason in improbable ways, sending him on a journey of self-discovery and forcing him to determine what is most important in life: money or happiness."

The cast includes Abigail Breslin - the young lady nominated for an Academy Award for 'Little Miss Sunshine' - terrific! Other cast members are James Garner, Bill Combs, Brian Dennehy, Lee Merriweather, Ali Hillis and Drew Fuller...all excellent choices for the parts.

But...if you go, take a box of tissues - one just won't do! It's at least a 5 hanky tear-jerker.
(o jeeze..I just went and looked at the movie trailer again and I have to find another hanky...)

Wednesday WIP - Kumihimo

Went to a craft fair last weekend with my quilting/crafting buddies and we were all drawn to this one booth where they were showing 'Kumihimo' - the art of Japanese thread braiding. The picture below is a disk made of three layers of fun foam with 32 slits cut in the edges and a hole in the center. By moving the threads from top to bottom in a specific order, you get a spiral braid out the center of the disk.

At the bottom of the braid, a fishing weight is hung to keep the tension right as the threads are coming thru the hole. I think the setup looks like a jellyfish!

By varying the order of which thread gets moved, you can produce a bunch of patterns.

Want to try it? There are some instructions here that are reasonable - she is showing using only eight strings where the one I have in the picture has sixteen. I want to try with eight and see if its a more bendable braid - the one with sixteen is quite stiff!

Also, if you want a longer braid, you have to plan ahead and wrap the excess length of ribbons/threads on bobbins (the embroidery thread kind) or tama (which look like spools).

There was also a hexagon shaped loom that uses only 5 threads but creates a cool looking shoelace! One of my friends got that one and I will see if I can borrow it sometime to try a pair of shoelaces.

The lady also had some really BIG looms made of wood called marudai that she was using to braid beaded strands into necklaces...same kind of philosophy on the hand movements but no handy notches to put the strands into, so you have to be really concentrated when you are working with that loom!

Also, you can make flat braids - the one I am showing is a round braid (kongo gumi) but here are some cool looking flat braids - I want to try that too but its a little different in how you set up the loom.

Wednesday WIP

Well..Wednesday is almost over, but I did want to post a bit about what I have been 'doing'- its not particularly QUILT related...but golly, is it ever FUN!!! Presenting.... my new grandbaby - Lily!She is ever so much fun to cuddle! She arrived in the wee hours of Sunday morning, weighing in at 8.15 lbs and is 21 inches long.
DS has learned to change diapers, swaddle baby and give a spit-bath. Miss Lily is amazingly calm except for diaper changes and bath time...Kid has an impressive set of lungs when disturbed!


I am scheduled to go to a craft show this weekend...I am looking for a couple of things - a wooden seam roller and I want to check out the lighted knitting needles and crochet hooks - those sound like a gas to have.

Lily's Pad

As promised, here are some pictures of what I have been working on. A bit of backstory first: Any day now, my very first DGD will arrive. DDIL is looking rather 'ripe' and about to pop! DS and DDIL have named the baby 'Lily' (which I think is pretty darn cool as it's the translation of my first name - Susan being the English variant of the Hebrew name Shoshannah, which means Lily.) Anyway...while I was laying in bed one morning a few weeks ago, ruminating about the impending event, it struck me that a baby named Lily really aught to have a lilypad quilt...and I knew just the right fabric to make it out of - MINKEE! This was during Road to California and I knew one of the vendors had some bright green Minkee as I had seen it during my cruising thru the vendor mall areas. Unfortunately the day I decided to GET the Minkee was the day the winds were so horrible that the fire marshall closed the vendor tent..and guess where the vendor was that had the Minkee - in the tent...sigh..so no Minkee for me that day.


Fast forward two weeks to the Arizona Retreat. While on our shop hop, I saw some Minkee but not the bright green that I wanted. I DID however find THE MOST PERFECT backing fabric at one of the stores - green frogs on lilypads and I snapped that up. A piece of bright pink fleece was one of the fabrics on the sale table...that went home with me too. Once I got home, I had to hunt for the bright green Minkee...a lot of places had the mint green which is too light..but finally the bright green was located and purchased!


So...here is Lily's Pad:

Front is green Minkee. The lily is made of fleece. Its bound with spring green satin blanket binding. Quilted with varigated green thread.

And the back with the cute frogs on the lilypads:


And of course...Grammie must make other things for Baby too:

The pink stuffed toy is known as a 'Friend' (my DS was the one to name them when he was about 4). I whipped up a set of Bitty Booties using the pattern from HELLOMyNameIsHeather , a couple of white flannel bibs on which I used my 'fancy feather stitching' built into my machine for the very first time, and a stack of burpers made with flannel and fleece... I also got her a 'Boppy' pillow - which is a really cool invention - it's a horseshoe-shaped pillow that goes around Mamma's waist and helps support Baby while feeding, helps sit Baby up and can be used for 'tummy time' on a play mat...just a perfect use for the lilypad quilt!

So...I have been slaving over a hot sewing machine!

The baby shower was today (which is why I can post this now that DDIL has received the items!) We played a couple of games - the first had us totally grossed out - DDIL's sister had gotten 9 different candy bars and squished them into baby diapers and I think heated them a bit to melt the chocolate...and we had to guess which ones were which by LOOKING at them...eeewwwwwwwie...I did not do too well on this as I don't eat many candy bars and haven't for 20 years (most candy bars have corn syrup in them and being allergic to corn syrup puts the kibosh on eating them...). The other game was to guesstimate how big around DDIL's tummy is by cutting a piece of yarn the size that would fit around her. Mine was way off..DS was closer, but her Mom was right on!

It was quite amazing to see the amount of teeny clothes and other stuff this baby has now accumulated! She will not lack for binkys - I think she got at least 10 - one of which has a thermometer in it! I hope she will be able to even wear all the cute little outfits!

Lily's Pad was a big hit! The only thing Baby did not get was a tiny sweater...(I feel another project coming on)

Lent? It's a Piece o' Cake...

Literally...This year I am giving up eating orange cake. The cafeteria at work makes the most delish orange cake with orange frosting. I KNOW I should not be eating it at all, but it is almost irresistible. So..I shall drool, but not indulge...

I asked my DH what he was giving up for Lent...he said 'Boiled frog legs'...I said 'You've never even tasted frog legs much less eaten boiled frog legs!'...He said 'That's why it will be easy to give them up for Lent'...Gotta love that logic!

Not Your Mama's AJAX

I have been busy quilting...and will have some eye candy to show after Saturday. Don't want to post pics right now just in case recipient of said eye candy decides to look at the blog!

The other thing I have been doing is having a blast at work. I have mentioned it a couple of times, but for anyone that hasn't read all the history posts, my day job is web application design/programming. For the last couple of days I have been learning a new-to-me tool: AJAX (and no...it isn't a powder in a can!)...and once I 'got' what the sample was doing, it's turning out to be really fun and useful. I do a demo tomorrow morning and I think my customer is going to have her sox knocked off!