New Wardrobe Addition

It's been about three weeks since my over indulgence in Christmas crocheting. You should really listen to your body when it gives you warnings. I didn't and now I'm paying for it. It is getting worse and worse. It really hurts. I can do very little without pain. I decided I probably ought to go to the doctor and see what he said.

I now have a new addition to my wardrobe. Thankfully it is only a half cast so I can take it off to shower.

Doctor says he can't see a break, even though I have the symptoms of a stress fracture. We are trying steroids and a splint cast for several days to see if the symptoms improve. I hope so. I feel like a wimp saying my wrist hurts.

Temple in the Snow

I love photography. I consider myself a novice, but I like to practice. On December 7th of 2013 we got record snowfall. In one day we got 6". My DH actually had to use a shovel on the sidewalks.

We live a couple of blocks from the St. George LDS Temple. I couldn't wait to get my camera out to see what I could get. Rare occurance in the desert.
I thought this one turned out really well.

Blue Jumper

In October of 2013 I knit this really cute jumper from one of my Etsy patterns. I really liked the Kimono style and the fact that it was sleeveless so you could use it as a jumper with a turtle neck or Peter Pan collar underneath.

Soy Yogurt Experiment

In the last couple of months I have realized that I have a milk allergy. It is killing me. I have a cough that drives me and everyone else crazy because it is so deep and loud, but I adore milk and yogurt.
I tried an experiment yesterday. I tried making yogurt from soy milk. I wasn't sure if it would work because the fats are different. It worked!! I'm so happy. Had banana coconut yogurt for breakfast. Yummmmmmy!

Yellow Dress Set

I made this the end of July 2013 for a baby shower. It was for one of the girls at work having a baby girl. I found a site on Etsy that has really inexpensive baby pattern foe knitting. LOVE IT. I could easily spend a fortune there. This was one of them. She is in England, and so the pattern are uploaded to Etsy. Then I just print them off. Works for me.
I know the picture of the Mary Janes looks like a different color, but the lighting was just different.

Pink Explosion Halfway

I have been diligently working on my pink quilt this week after work. Tonight I hit the halfway point. Hip hurray. I really would like to finish it for the fair. I am glad to see that my stitches are getting smaller and more uniform. They say practice makes perfect. Quilting a queen by yourself is a good way to practice that adage!

Some Like It Hot

I promised my youngest that I would take him shoe shopping before his field trip Thursday. His tennis shoes were dead.

I took him to the Walmart that had a quilt store across the street. I couldn't seem to help myself. I went in to look at fabric for my sisters quilt. I really didn't intend on buying anything, but I couldn't seem to help myself. I have three of the colors all ready. I bought everything else. I bought the wonder under at Walmart while I was there.

Now I just have to see if my other son can replace and draw the lizard while I work on the background. I'm going to put the penguin in the desert under a saguaro cactus and red mesas in the background and the sun shining down. On the bottom I'm going to put "some like it hot". I think it is going to be really cute.

Penguin Idea

Last night I was on Pinterest and saw a cute mini quilt that was a penguin holding a candy cane. I thought that it would be a cute on to do for my sister one day since she collects them. So I pinned it.

This morning all of a sudden I had this brain storm. I remember seeing a picture at one time of a penguin sitting on an ice cube. I decided that I needed to do one sitting in the middle of the desert as a mini appliquéd quilt.

I googled and found this darling penguin which is prefect, except for the fish. I thought it would be better to have a lizard under his wing.

 

Now all I have to do is have one of my kids redraw it, find the fabric, and figure out how to appliqué!

 

Poetry

Last night as I was looking for my novel I realized that I couldn't find my poetry books either. I started writing poetry in junior high. I decided about my sophomore year that I would keep a hard copy of everything that I had written. I bought two green plaid blank journals and would write all the final versions in there.

I haven't seen them since we moved four years ago. That makes me infinitely sad too. I did find a typed copy of some of the early ones. It is a small portion of the first book. It was a class assignment for college. At least I have that too. I started typing them up in a more modern format.

Since they are from the beginning some of them are really bad. I don't want to get rid of them though. I'm doing two books. The first one is everything good or bad. The second one is the ones tat are halfway decent. We shall see how many I end up with.

I can come up with more projects to keep me busy. Sometimes it is a real trial to have to go to work!

Novels

Somehow at work we started talking about novels. Cheryl mentioned that she had written one. It is a fantasy about Mozart. I told her I wanted to read it. I told her I had written one in high school. She said she wanted to tread mine.

Came home tonight and looked for my novel. It was hand written in a couple of three ring binders. I looked for several hours and couldn't find it. I finally found a typed copy of the first draft though. The draft in the binders was the second draft and a lot more fleshed out. I can't believe it is missing. Not so much that it is amazing, but that it is part of my history. I spent most of my senior year writing it.

Began to read the first draft and couldn't believe how bad it was. Part of it is that I was 16 when I wrote it and had no life experience. It is hard to believe that my friends all loved it at the time. I had really loyal friends at the time. I couldn't read it without beginning to edit it at the same time.

My DH offered to type it for me. I may take him up on it.

Wonky Star Quilt Done

I finished my wonky star quilt tonight. I am so proud of it. It is totally done by hand. Even the bias and backing. I have to say that I think I'm a bit addicted now. Can't wait to start my hexagon quilt.

 

Hexagon Fabric

I'm almost done with my wonky star quilt. This is my next project. I'm doing mine in shades of yellow and green. I can't wait. I have printed a hexagon template off the computer to cut the hexagons from.

 

Wonky Star Instructions

Tonight I Googled the instructions for making the wonky star block for my mini quilt. I was really nervous that it was going to be hard. Thankfully it is a lot easier than I thought. I got all my squares and triangles cut out tonight. I made a small kit to keep in my purse.

 

Scrap Quilt?

I had originally planned to make this first mini quilt a scrap quilt. I knew I would have to buy some white though. I got all my scraps out and had enough for three stars but couldn't find a good combination for a fourth.

So today I found myself going to the quilt stores. I started out at Clover Patch since they are a little less expensive. I found the darker green, but couldn't find a light. Off to Scrap Apple. I finally found one that would match. I also bought my white. Came home and washed them in preparation for cutting.

New World of Mini Quilts

A friend and I were talking about quilts the other day. She mentioned mini quilts and skinnies. I hadn't thought much about either. Those phrases have been tumbling around in my brain since then. I decided to get onto Pinterest and see if I could find anything.

Oh my! I just found a whole new world of quilting possibilities. My paternal grandmother was a quilter. I have read the "Littlt House on the Prarie" books and many others with quilting in them. I have always wanted to hand piece a quilt. Just never thought it would be doable project. Once I saw some of these minis I realized that it was.

This quilt caught my eye. I don't have the brights like this, but I have a lot of batik scraps that would work. If I'm doing it by hand I can keep it in my purse for a lunch or Doctor office project.

 

Quilt Timeline Update

I completely finished the second row tonight. The quilt is officially a third done. I estimate at this rate I will have it done by t he first week of July. That would be so great.

 

I would like to enter it into the county fair in August. I'm not sure if I'm brave enough though. Now that I'm quilting it I'm seeing a lot of things that I need to improve on in the future. I have several seams that are not matched perfectly. They are off quit a bit. I also found a small tuck in one of the blocks. I don't now why I didn't see them before. Next time I will have to pay a lot more attention. I just keep telling myself that this is a learning experience. There has to be some sort of learning curve! I'm glad it is mine. I'm not sure I would be comfortable giving it away.

First Roll

Tonight I was able to do the first roll on my quilt. That seems like such a minor little detail, but it means a lot to me. First quilt milestones. The blocks in this quilt are 12". I can only reach half a block at a time. Since I have 6 rows I guess that kind of doubles it. That's okay. A little at a time.

On The Docket Patterns

This afternoon I started thinking about some really cute quilt patterns that I had seen in Salt Lake last year. They were by Hearthsewn, and called On The Docket. They were for month themed mini quilts. They had been out of my price range at the time for the set of four. I had fallen in love with them though. I decided to Google them and see what Price I could find them for.

Eureka!! I found them on clearance for $6.49 a piece. I could afford that. As I read the description I discovered that they are foundation piecing. That will teach me a new technique. I am so excited to put them in my line of to do projects.

 

Lighting

The night lighting above my quilt stinks. I have two small spot lights. It is very fellow and makes the white on the quilt glare some. I went to Lowes Thursday night and bought some of the new daylight bulbs. They were great.

The first one burned out in half an hour and the second about 15 minutes later I was really upset. They are supposed to last for several years. I took them back today and then bought some at Walmart. I bought 75 watt. Came home and put them in. They did the same thing. I can only think that the wattage is too high. I don't know what has been in there but they have lasted forever. I can't find the wattage on them. I guess the daylight ones are out of the question though

Thimble Pads

Having a thimble when you quilt is a must, especially if you don't want sore holey fingers. I tried the tradional silver metal thimble. This one is a medium and it didn't come close to fitting my finger. It was also very bulky.

Next I tried a new one that is more like a side thimble. It was just too bulky. I couldn't turn it to the place I needed it even though it fit better.

In desperation I called my favorite quilt store and explained my problem and asked if they had any I could try on to see if they would work. She said that she used a product called thimble pads. They are small leather circles that have a sticky side to them. You place them on your finger where you need them. They are reusable. A package of 12 was just over $6. Since I have a queen quilt to work on it was worth it.

Came home and tried them. Took a few minutes to get used to it and adjust the spot, but I am in love. They are perfect for me. I went through the stick on the first one rather quickly. Evidently the sticky is not immune to the effects of menopause. Unfortunately I have most of my hot flashes at night. I did google these, And found that I can buy adhesive replacements for a nominal price so I can keep using them. Thank goodness for progress!

 

Quilting Bee

Today was the quilting bee. I had 5 ladies come. It was a lot of fun. Not quite the turnout I was hoping for, but it worked out. 6 was the most we could comfortably fit around the quilt.

I'm not sure what I anticipated that we would get done. Two of them were brand new quilters. And I haven't quilted in about 40 years. Regardless, we had a lot of fun.

The perks of having a teen driver is that you can send them on errands. Nathan went and picked up the ice and sandwich tray. I ended up with way too much food. Better too much than too little. The guys won't mind helping me eat it.

 

Quilt On

Chris and CJ helped me put my three layers together to get it ready. Started out on the table and it just wasn't big enough. Finally Chris asked me why I wasn't doing it on the floor. I told him I couldn't get down there. He said they would do it. We started over and it worked much better. I really like that spray basting. It worked really well. I'm going to buy some more to use for the placemats.

After we got it all sandwiched together, Nathan came in from work. He helped me put it on the frame. I was supposed to baste it, but it was easier to pin with the long quilters pins. That is what I did.

All set and ready for the quilting bee Saturday.

 

Quilt Frame Up

Not owning any quilt frames I borrowed some from my best friend Carol. She had inherited them from her sister Martha who bought it from Sears in the 60's. the boxes were in great shape and had never been opened. Brand new frames. When I opened the box last night there were no instructions. These are not the regular church plank frames I am used to. I didn't think that I could figure it out on my own.

This morning I Googled the company and called their customer service line. They faxed the instructions to me at work. Fantastic.

Nathan helped me put it together. Even with the instructions it was a bit of a challenge. I like how it is so compact. It will save a lot of room. I decided that the light downstairs was horrible. There is no way we could see down there. We are going to have to put up with it in the living room. It is parked in front of the fireplace and bookcases as you can see. We had to use the extender bars since it is so wide.

In the instructions you are to thumb tack some ducking to the bars and then baste your quilt to the ducking. I put in 10 tacks and my thumb was killing me, another 5 and I was done. Remembered one of my friends at work said she had a tool for setting and removing tacks. I asked her if I could use it. There is no way I can do the rest of these bars. There is another 45 or more tacks left to put in. I will have to invest in one of these.

 

It's Really Done

It's finally really done. I got both borders on. I have to admit I love it even more with the borders. They really set the sashing off. With the new borders it is just shy of being a queen size. Like I've said before, a little out of control.

I'm starting to feel a bit of pressure to get everything ready for the quilting bee. Time goes too fast, and even faster when you work full time.

 

Color Border

I got my color border on tonight. I have to say I really like the way it sets all of the blocks off. Can't wait to get the white on. Number one it will be done, and number two I want to quilt and get it together. Ill get the rest on tomorrow.

Quilt Mentors

Called my quilting teacher tonight to ask her if she would help me put it on the frames. I didn't think that I could do it myself. She asked me if I had put any borders on. I told her that I hadn't planned on it and she told me that I might want to reconsider since it would make it look more finished. I didn't think that it did. She also asked if I was going to quilt or tie it. I said that I was going to hand quilt it. Somehow we got on the subject of whether to quilt the sashing. I wasn't going to do that either. She suggested that I might want to go over to Gloria's and look at her quilt. She said that she had one with sashing that she was doing right now.

I hung up feeling a little disgruntled. I did call and arrange to go and see Gloria's quilt tonight. I have to admit tat I was wrong. I do need a couple more borders. I didn't even think of the fact that when I put the binding on the quilt it will take most of the outside stitching with it. It would not look right. Gloria suggested using all of the fabrics that I used in the top in some way. She also talked me into quilting the sashing. She told mt that I didn't have to, but that I would like it a lot better if I did.

Darn, back to the sewing machine for me. I won't need any more fabric for thr color border, but I will need more white for the final one.

Top Finished

I finished my quilt top tonight. I am so excited to be done. It hasn't turned out like the one I got the inspiration from in the least. It has taken on a life of its own. Here it is.

 

Sashes and Cornerstones

Tonight I started adding the sashes and cornerstones to my quilt top. I only got half of it done tonight. I love how this has changed the whole look of the quilt. I didn't realize it would make such a difference.

 

Cracker Barrel Earrings

I found the perfect type 2 earrings at work tonight. I bought two different ones. The first ones ate 2/1. They are just a tiny bit blingy.

The inner and outer rings in the second pair are a brushed silver. The inner ring was gold. I bought them anyway since they were teardrop shape.

Came home and used my silver nail polish over the gold ring. It turned out great. They look almost glittery, but I think it works well.

 

Dixie Quilt Show

This weekend was the So Utah quilt show, Gems of the Desert. I went with my quilting friend Roni. I have to say even though there were many beautiful quilts, and quilts that amazed me, I wasn't as happy with the overall show. I'm not quite sure why. They had about 100 quilts. Here are some of my favorites.

This quilt was best of show. Quilts with these sharp point wedges have been really popular the last couple of years.

I really like these two. They are very simple in color, but the pattern repeat makes them striking.

I thought this was a unique way to make a sampler quilt. I wouldn't have thought of this.

This one I just loved the color and construction.

Here is a close up of one of the pinwheels on the side of the one above. These half squares were about 1/2" big. Crazy to make something that intricate.

These two were great examples of different scrap quilts. I really liked both of them.

 

This one I loved for the colors and shapes.

This one I just liked for the design and all the Pansy's.

 

I'm Done With Blocks

Tonight I was deserted by my family. DH went to bed VERY early and my boys were at a friends house watching movies. It was kind of nice. I didn't have to feel guilty for sewing all night. I got the last two blocks done. 30 12" blocks. Here are the last two.

I couldn't wait to see how they all looked together. I went upstairs and laid them out on my guest bed. The idea that I had originally was to lay out all 15 patterns and then just repeat the same pattern for the second set. That is how I laid it out. I think it might need some tweaking. Sorry for the lousy picture. I had the camera above my head trying to get as much in as I could.

I love how it looks, but this quilt actually took on a life of its own. It isn't like I originally pictured at all. I ended up using the black a lot more than I taught I would for one thing. Next is the sashes and cornerstones. I think that will just set all the blocks off. I got to counting them in my head. 42 cornerstones and 71 sashes. The cornerstones are a solid medium pink. I couldn't find a dark solid. The sashes will be white.

 

Four More

Tonight I did four blocks.

I can't believe it. I only have two blocks left and I'm done!

 

Baby Bunting Plus One

I went to the copy center at work today and asked if the could copy my small DYT color card. It's not exact on all the colors, but I think it is close enough. I will be a lot more careful in the future.

Came home tonight and did the two blocks I had cut out and one more. I did the matching pattern foe the first block with only two colors and I did Baby Bunting.

 

Crown of Thorns Blocks Done

After a week I finally got back to my quilt. I got two blocks done tonight and two more cut out for tomorrow. Tonight I did the Crown of Thorns block.

I also got all my fabric out and decided which parings I'm doing for the final blocks. I'm starting to see the light at. He end of the tunnel.