Brain in Gear Does Help

I'm working on putting the white borders on my blue background quilt blocks so I can finally get to Leah Day's machine quilting class. Here I am bobbing up and down like a yo-yo when it dawned on me why was I chain piecing these blocks. Now, you would have thought I might have got this after the first block. Not me, it took me 3 blocks all four sides before my brain engaged. Chain piece the sides, and then do the same to the tops once you trim and press. I really should have taken a nap and maybe this head of mine would have been more functional.

We did accomplish hanging the curtains in the living room today. They look really nice in the window and the color actually works better than I hoped. The hard part was rearranging the cat's window seat temporarily. I have to spend some time researching what will work to keep our old man from putting his claws into them. He has this knack for marking everything. I would have him declawed except at nineteen it is to risky.

At the old house, he was always in and out so he had plenty to sharpen his nails on and never bothered the curtains or the furniture. It is has only been since we moved to New Jersey and I will not let him be an outside cat. It is just to dangerous here with all the traffic. Where we lived in Maine, there was the two neighbors up the road and the mail man except hunting season than we had a few more cars. During that time, I kept my cats inside because some hunters just shoot and look later.

In the Jersey house, the old man has done a number to my office chair and the box spring that I didn't have a bed ruffle on. Once I saw he made it a target, I remedied that and he hasn't touched the bed ruffle. Now, you would think he would use the two scratching posts that are his since our cats are declawed. If  my ex had not been so ornery the old man would have been too.

Does anyone ever use the sprays they advertise? If so which one works better?

I don't know about anyone else but this heat is really getting tiresome. I am so over it. It was ninety eight degrees here at one o'clock. I really miss having the windows open and hearing the birds sing. I am sure they are glad I have kept their birdbath and drinking dishes filled with fresh water several times a day so they have fluids too.

Tumbling Blocks and other fun things.

I did the July Block of the Month for 2013, it was a tumbling block pattern. My first time doing this block and I was surprised how easily it went. Laura Nownes did an excellent job explaining each step. I am so pleased with each class and how many new techniques I have learned.

http://www.craftsy.com/lecture/july-60-degree-triangles-and-diamonds-tumbling-blocks/1807.html?t=1432?_ct=fhevybu-sbqiimeha-lytue-sedjydku&_ctp=183

 

I was really happy with most of the alignments of the blocks. I had one I just could not get but you know what for the first time tackling this block. I am happy that the majority fit like they are supposed to fit. I enjoyed this block so much I am going to do a whole quilt with this particular block.

I can just see this block in so many different color options.

 

We joined some friends for dinner this evening. I am not a big steak fan but I will have to admit the rib-eye was prepared to perfection. The steak was accompanied with baked potato and grilled summer squash. It was a very enjoyable evening, good food, good company!

 

The USS Arlington posted the pictures of my son, Chris getting his cover. In the Navy, it is a honor that another Chief place your new cap on your head. The Navy is funny in some respects because they still follow so many traditions whereas the rest of the world has no idea what traditions mean or why they have value.

 

He's a career Navy man which means he will be there 25 years. At this point, he has been in 17 years. It is hard to imagine that at 43 he can retire and move on to the next part of his life. You can't really see him but the young man in the blue shirt is my 9 year old grandson, also Chris.

 

This precious little girl is my granddaughter Olyvia. She just turned 7 months old. That little dress she is wearing I made for her. I had forgotten how much fun it is to make little girl dresses. It has been awhile since my other granddaughters are 17 years old and 14 years old. I sewed for them before they went to school. After, that our schedules were always so chaotic that sewing fell to the wayside.

 

 

 

Back on Track

I really struggled grasping y seams with the June block on Block of the Month 2013. I haven't done a Lemoyne star before so I was excited to begin. Then it came to doing it, not so much.
We joined two strips at 2 1/2 wide together. That was easy enough. Then it came to cutting the forty five degree angles and the troubles began. I am new to doing angles most of my work is with squares and half squares until recently where I have learned some new techniques. That is why I did take classes on Craftsy to help me learn new blocks and get some great tips along the way.
I messed up the first cuts because I did put the 45 degree line in the right place before I cut. I watched that part of the video and went back to it again. Then it came to the assembling, I found marking the lines on the cloth so I knew where to stop was really important in making the block work. I also noticed that my 1/4 inch mark did not match my 1/4 foot on my machine. I didn't know that. I double checked my marking on the cloth and then the machine. I found the foot was definitely wider than it was supposed to be. So that might explain why on several other blocks I had trouble.
Well I did finally get it but not before taking it apart five times in different places. I made two new sections because of the bias. I have this bin I am filling for a crazy quilt so in there they went.

This was the block after all the frustration.

This is what my halfway point looks like on the 2013 Craftsy Block of the Month The colors are working out very well on the beige.

 

While I was on a roll I started adding the 2 1/2 inch strips to my 2012 Craftsy Block of the Month quilt so I can begin the machine quilting class with Leah Day. I went back and forth on whether I would do it with black or white. I finally tossed a quarter and white one. Once I had the white I really found the color enhanced my blocks the way I wanted the sashing to do. I am posting several of the blocks so you can see what I mean. I think white makes the blocks pop.

 

I really like the way the white sets this block.

                                               The white here connects the block.

Here it also connects the block.

This block without the white border I really did not like but with the white it works.

Unfortunately this block I still don't like the colors but I do not have enough blue to do another one.

This block is more visual with the white. It was mundane before.

It's funny Amy Gibson of http://www.stitcherydickorydock.com

used the Kona white in her quilt for class and that is the color my borders are making the blocks stand out the way I want.

 

We had these crazy thunder storms on Thursday that made the power flicker during its tirade. Friday morning Purryl kept pacing downstairs on the lower patio area so I went to see what was bothering her. One of my hanging planters had come down in the crazy wind and rain. Unfortunately the hanging planter was filled with impatiens, petunias and vinca. Underneath where it hung were two clay pots with green beans in them. They did not survive the crash. The pots were shattered and the bean plants have several broken branches. I transplanted but not sure if they will survive. The impatiens, petunias and vinca faired much better I replanted them in their plant dish. The hanger though was not salvageable. They just don't make rugged hangers like they used to. Everything seems to be made in China. :(

 

I'm reading this fascinating book called Moonwalking with Einstein. by Joshua Foer. I am enjoying it more than I expected. Originally, I bought it with the intent to improve my memory. Like a lot of self help books you read because you need too but this also quite informative as well as entertaining. 

 

 

Tunisian Crocheting and Quilting

Tunisian crocheting initially was so frustrating, I seriously considered tossing the hook out the window. I did that once with knitting needles and never looked back. This time I decided to sleep on it, maybe it would better the next day. Yes, indeed it was much easier and I am about four inches from completion on my first Honeycomb scarf.
Usually I do all of my craft stuff with Craftsy.com but I thought I would give Anny's a try with the Tunisian crocheting. That was a mistake, I was very disappointed with the instructor. She was very boring, not the least bit engaging to listen to while you are getting the instructions and demonstration. Well, I stuck it out learned the techniques but am glad that I have finished. I never felt that way with any of the Craftsy instructors. Price wise they are comparable but that is the only positive I can say.

I cut my 2 1/2 inch strips out to add to my sampler blocks as Leah day advised for doing the blocks one at a time. Tomorrow's goal is to get all the strips sewn and basted so I can move on to the more fun stuff like machine quilting. I am really looking forward to learning how this is done. I have a quilt top waiting to be machine quilted as well as the blocks. Plus I have the Block of the Month 2013 sampler hallway done and it will need machine quilting when it is complete. I have all the material for my rock quilt so I  may even start my cutting that one out. Yes, I did say rocks. the material is different rock pictures

I have some beautiful pictures of different rocks along the ocean in my living room so I really want my quilt to compliment the pictures. What's missing in this picture is the Kona Gray material that I got to add more color to the grouping.

 

Today, is a very special day our son Christopher Hovey was promoted to Senior Chief in the United States Navy. He has worked very hard and definitely earned this promotion. We are so proud of him.

Congratulations, son!

 

Yes, I am one very proud Momma!

Yay, Craftsy Block of the Month 2012 Sampler blocks

My blocks are finally completed after what feels like an eternity but really isn't. It would have been easier if I had bought fabric specifically following the yardage supply list for the project. Not me. I wanted to use up all the pieces of cloth I had in my scrap bin. Grant, I did pick a hefty selection of colors to work with. That part went really well, it was the background material that gave me the most grief when it came to yardage. I had this slate color blue that I really liked but I only had four yards. I thought it would work if I was careful with my cuts and use the scrap pieces I had that matched whenever possible to reduce the amount cut from the big piece.

I was down to the last two blocks and I had exactly a half yard left. That sounded fine until I began cutting the pieces into smaller pieces to fit my paper piece sections. I messed up two times, so I wasted two pieces that I didn't have to spare. That's when you know you need to walk away for a bit and then come back to it. If I start making mistakes I continue so a coffee break was in order.

Friendship Circle Block and Circle of Geese were the paper pieced blocks. Both looked easy enough to do but for some reason my brain just couldn't wrap around the directions. So I watched the video several times and then went back to the machine. I kept putting the wrong sides together but once I did several sections I got it. I don't about you but taking paper pieced projects apart and not ripping the paper is easier said then done. Yes, I am  a beginner quilter.

 

 

So now we have all 20 blocks done and luckily we have 1/8 of a yard left of the slate blue background. Our sashing, and borders are going to be white. I am thinking about framing each box with a black narrow border and then putting the white but right now we are at the process of watching the video on how to do one block at a time machine quilting.

Yes, I enrolled in another Craftsy class with Leah Day. I am looking forward to learning so many techniques about machine quilting since I am totally clueless. All I know how to do is stitch in the ditch.

 

These are how I am going to lay them out when I assemble this together.

Thank you so much Amy Gibson at

http://www.stitcherydickorydock.com/

I really enjoyed the BOM 2012. I hope you are considering another class.

In the World of Science, and Quilting Cross Paths

In the science world of news was a fascinating article about quilting that will be done in a very unique place. Karen Nyberg will be attempting her quilting project at the NASA Space. This will be very interesting to see how she accomplishes this work of art in zero gravity.

http://science.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/14/18254269-first-quilter-in-space-nasa-astronaut-plans-to-turn-orbital-rags-to-stitches?lite&cm_mmc=facebook-_-kristl-_-5/15/13%20quilt%20in%20space%20article-_-facebook%20post

Thank you www.fabric.com for sharing this article with us. We hope we will see follow glimpses of her work.

Yesterday, did not go as planned when it came to our quilting projects. However, today is a new beginning and we will be tackling our projects without further ado once we have breakfast. Yes, our morning routine consists of coffee and reading the news of the day, checking in on facebook and what our family is up too. We usually grab a second cup of coffee, have an English muffin or a bagel and fresh fruit. Today, was awesome because we picked 12 strawberries from our plants, rinsed them off and had them with our English muffin with butter and cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on top. Perfect beginning to our day.

Today, we decided to read several blogs one was Craftsy and the other was Amy Gibson's
http://www.stitcherydickorydock.com/pretties/ . We enjoyed seeing what she's been up to with all those hexies she had and was surprised to see them on clutches. They are very pretty indeed but Mom is a sack/large bag person. She likes having everything she wants or needs in her bag. If she goes out with our dad she has the perfect black coach bag that's all she will ever need.

The other part of her pretties as she calls them were the mug rugs. There was a really cool bicycle one perfect for the summer, not your typical flowerily type. A guy or girl would be comfortable having it on their desk or table. We have some really nice patterns I got from the Patchsmith, we've included her link as well. She has some amazing rug mat patterns for sale. Or if you are really good at creating paper pieced projects we are sure you can create yourself. Us, we are still  rookies so we need the patterns.
http://thepatchsmith.blogspot.co.uk/

Anyway, this day is slipping away already and we have quilting projects begging us to do. Plus if we am going to have any of those awesome rugs on my table we need to get motivated.

Enjoy your day,

Purryl and Momma