Update on Piece and Plenty Applique

I managed to get some more done on my P&P. I keep asking myself why I am doing this, but I am doing it, slowly but surely.

This past weekend Kathy was using my Bernina for sewing and it was not acting well at all. It had been a while since I had used it. I pleaded insanity and the local Bernina dealer felt sorry for me, so he agreed to look at it. It needed to be oiled and the "board" inside the foot pedal had become corroded and needed to be replaced. And he was kind enough to do it today, so now the trusty Bernina is running like a rabbit again, and ready for applique. It makes a beautiful applique stitch and I can always give up on this hand jazz and do it by machine.

Weekend - Kathy's visit

Friday night I got this call from Kathy who now lives in Wichita,Kansas. We have been friends for about 9 years now, ever since we worked together in Houston,Texas. Anyway, she was taking her husband to the airport and if I had the time she would see me on Saturday morning after she let him off. She got to my house around 11, right after the dad and son had picked up the Scooby Doo costume (it really did look cute) and for the next 38 hours we talked, sewed, ate, slept, talked some more, sewed some more, slept some more, and ate too much. Also managed to get a few Starbucks in there and a visit to the lqs.

I showed her how to make an orange peel block, and got her started on a pineapple quilt.

I was sad to see her go when she left Sunday night at 10 to pick up her husband from the airport and head back to Wichita. These pictures were taken Sunday afternoon and neither one of us was in real good shape sleepwise.


This is Kathy


Cutting Table


This is me.

Aud's Christmas Present

Friday started off with a bang when Aud (my 91 year old mother) decided this was what she wanted for Christmas. After I got over my shock, I did order it for her. You only live once, as the saying goes. It will go well with a desk she has that is the same type of furniture. And it really looks nice. What is it you ask? Why, a file cabinet of course, lol.

The Week in Review

What a week! The last 7 days have been a little wild. I knew the moon was full, but not usually as long as a whole week. I have Hungarian werewolfs for ancestors, and they usually come visit me every month, but they sure overstayed their welcome this time.



This is what happened when I tried to make them leave. It's still not completely back to the aged hand look yet.

After I did this I got my flu shot and spent the next 24 hours moaning and groaning because my arm hurt so badly. I was trying to finish up a Scooby Doo (sp) Halloween costume for the son of a friend and had promised it to him by 6 PM on Friday. He is 5 and you can't disappoint little ones. Didn't get through with it until almost 10 Friday night, but that's another story for another day. I am supposed to get a picture of the results. I will post it then.

California Burning

I have been absolutely mesmerized for the last 24 hours by the devastation going on in California. My heart goes out to everyone that has had their life disrupted by these terrible fires. I am amazed at the fact that most of the people that appear to be in charge are not blaming anyone for the unfortunate circumstances they are in.

I am proud of all Californians for handling this disaster with dignity. My prayers are with you.

Pineapple Pizzazz

I was asked about the backing of this quilt, so here it is.

This quilt is called Pineapple Pizzazz. The pattern came out about 3 years ago in a quilting magazine. Last year the pattern was published in a book called Positively Pineapple by Lynda Milligan and Nancy Smith. I had some leftover hsts from the front and I just decided to "make a back quilt". So here it is. It took me almost a year to get this thing finished. There are about 1500 pieces in the front. Cindy has this also, but I don't think she ever really got into it and went on to other projects.

None of the hsts are paper pieced, since that is one of those things I do not like to do. And the little ones are only 1 1/2 inches square.

Full Moon

I think the moon is full because I am bouncing off the walls. Have accomplished nothing but errands, and ideas are cascading through my head.

In the process of doing my applique on Piece and Plenty I dropped the vase, and broke the bottom of it. When I glued it back on, it was a little crooked. I am really crushed, but am not going to buy a new one. It will just have to become an heirloom, break and all. Thank goodness I hadn't finished the flowers, I don't have to go pick some more, lol.

Calico Craze cont.

If Betty J of OKC sees this post, I can't reply to your blog because I can't see it. I guess it must be private. She asked me if I had taken pictures of the Minco Quilt Show, but it wasn't a quilt show, it was only a bee sew-in. I took a picture of a quilt one of the women made. It looks pretty interesting. It is made with 2 1/2" strips and makes a very nice pattern the way it is set. I think you can tell from these pictures.




I now have 3 of the Calico Craze blocks done. That is enough of that craziness for now.

I couldn't find the NE Patriots game on TV today, but I understand it was on there. All I can say is "Rats"! But the did win, so that is good.

Snow Globes and rambling

The Sooners won! By the skin of their teeth! But at this stage of the game, a win is a win.

Now I am watching the LSU game against Auburn. I want Auburn to win this one! Yuk! LSU just went ahead!

Here is another one of my snow globes. It also plays that national hit called "Boomer Sooner". If you ever hear it you don't forget it, that's for sure!

Snow globes are just plain fun. I am pretty sure I am getting at least one more for Christmas, and maybe two. Aud (my mother) has been watching the door pretty closely for the last couple of weeks and that usually means she is expecting a package, and this is the time of the year that the Christmas catalogues come out.

Enjoyed my Minco outing today. Didn't get a lot done, but it was good to see everyone. The members of this small bee are very nice and friendly. The youngest member of the group is a sophomore in high school. She does nice work.

Now Auburn is ahead!

I don't go to bed until 2 or 3 in the morning, so getting up before noon is not easy. This is one of those wonderful things you get to do when you retire. However, when I have to get up early, it is not fun. My husband used to say he didn't start breathing until he had his first cup of coffee. Well, I can certainly empathize with that. I never did start breathing today until I stopped at Starbucks on the way home from Minco this afternoon. With 3 hours of sleep, I had to leave for home around 2:30 and when I got home I just collapsed. Now I am a zombie and it is only 11.

I am crushed! LSU won on the last play of the game. Yuk!

Snow Globes

I am so excited! I have a new snow globe. I collect certain ones and usually only get them at Christmas. But this year, my mother bought me one for Halloween. It is a skull and crossbones. The eyes look like green crystals, and the snow is green sparkley and it has skull and crossbones floating around in it.

The older one is also a music box. Can't remember what tune it plays however. And the "snow' is black bats. Really, really fun.

This is the new one

This is my other Halloween one

Here is a picture of them without the snow blowing around

New Fabric

Like a lot of other quilters, I try very hard not to buy a lot of fabric because I have so much I will probably never finish all of the quilts I have fabric for. But, hope springs eternal, and I always assume I will find time to make them all, so it won't hurt me to buy one more collection to make a quilt from.

I love to shop at Fat Quarter Shop because I can get the whole fq bundle, and scrap quilts are my thing. Plus, Kimberly ships really fast, and I can get the fabric in, decide what I am going to do with it, and then buy the fabric for the borders, backing and binding while she still has it. I haven't fully convinced her to buy every collection I want (don't understand why shes says no, lol) so I have to resort to other places once in a while.

My other favorite online store is The Cotton Club, which carries fabric that Fat Quarter Shop doesn't. Cotton Club carries Fossil Ferns, Aurifil thread, and "different" fabrics you don't find very many places. One of these is Serenity. I have the Serenity II collection, a few pieces of the first one, don't know how I missed the third one, but number 4 is in now and I have to have it. The new size to buy seems to be 9 x 11 pieces, and they have IV in this size bundle. Now we just need someone to come out with some patterns for these. Pattern makers, are you listening? If you like neutrals, you might want to check it out. Just gorgeous fabric.

I got my Grey's Anatomy and Ugly Betty fix for the week, so I think I might get some sewing done tomorrow if I am lucky. Of course Aud (my mother) is making "we need to go grocery shopping" noises, which is another chore I detest, so I may not get much done at all. Here is that eternal hope springing up again, lol.

I am going to a sew-in on Saturday with a small quilt guild I belong to that meets in Minco, about 45 minutes from here. We are suppose to bring a dish and spend the day sewing and eating. I am taking a quilt I have cut out and intend to try to get all of the blocks put together. Also am going to take a Road to Oklahoma I started making a year ago in red, white, and blue and try to get some more of those blocks sewn together. It is one of those almost big enough to go on the wall to see what I want to do. I am making 100 10" blocks for it and want to put setting triangles on the side. This requires me seeing it on the wall.


I don't remember what this fabric is, I just picked up some fqs one day at the lqs and saw this pattern and decided I wanted to make it. It took me several months to find the right batiks for the setting fabrics and I have a wonderful piece of batik I found for the back. This pattern is from Humble Bee Quiltworks and it says it is good for beginners. I can handle those!

The stuff on "stuff'"

First of all, thank you'll very much for the compliments on my blog. One of these days I will get it to suit me. I love looking at all of yours too. They give me lots of inspiration.

To answers the questions on "stuff". I have approximately 7 (that I will admit to, lol) projects going right now. I have no room to put them away "gracefully" at the moment. I have them scattered everywhere and I am not efficient when things are like that. I keep them in plastic boxes until I get to the point I have to put them on my design wall. That is when I get in trouble. I have 3 at that stage at the moment, and two on portable design walls behind the door to my sewing room.

The Calico Craze is one of those that I have to cut out one block at a time. The last two I have cut out have about 57 pieces each..for a 12 inch square. To figure out what I am doing I put them on 18 x 18 pieces (more or less)of acrylic to lay them out. These cannot be stacked as the pieces won't stay together. And, anyone that has ever worked on a Lori Smith pattern knows what I mean when I say you have to keep them together or you get lost as to where you are. I think you have to be a masochist to do one, lol.

Go to Lowe's or Home Depot, either one or whatever chain is in your area, and go back in the lumber dept and find the acrylic. The salespeople will cut a piece into several sizes for you, (at no charge) and usually you can find a large enough scrap that you can get pretty cheap. I bring them home and take a fine piece of sandpaper to the edges and get the rough off. I leave the brown paper on them because I don't like glare shining through. But they look better with the brown paper off, lol.

I don't dare take the blocks apart to put them away because I would never figure out how they go. And that is how I make myself do two of these buggers at one time, and that is why I haven't started cutting out Ellery. Also have Loft 1800 and Fresh Air waiting for me and clamboring to get out of their boxes. These are the three hollering the loudest. And I have one on my cutting table that is cut out and I was sewing on it, (it is also on a piece of acrylic) and decided to stop that to do the Calico Craze.

As for Seneca Falls. It did turn out nicely. This started out as a BOM from an online store. I will not mention which one. But after 3 months I was so unhappy with what they were sending in the way of material, I bought a fat quarter bundle of the plaids and cottons and did my own thing, more or less following the picture of the BOM. I did add the extra blue border in the middle because I thought it needed a break. I gave it to my youngest daughter and her husband because he had asked me to make them a king sized quilt. That is the only one I will every make that large, I guarantee. I made this during the time Katrina was taking place. I was on medical leave from work and all I did was watch tv and sew. I believe if you ask Cindy she can tell you more about it, as she has this one too.

Now I need to get off of here and help Miss Cindy get her pictures on her blog.

"Stuff"

I want to thank Cindy for getting me started with blogging. It is a pleasure to spend some time sharing other people's lifes and thoughts through their blogs. Reminds me of the times when neighbors got together on their front porchs or at each other's houses and had real conversations, lol. Guess I am showing my age, (68) and tonight I am feeling it. Every bone in my body has been visited by Mr. Arthritis today. I will attribute it to the weather. We are having autumn storms. Love Oklahoma weather, you never know what the next hour will bring, lol.

I am tired of applique, so I tried to get some more of the Calico Craze blocks cut out. Nothing suited me colorwise in what I was doing, so I quit that. Have 2 books to read which have been highly recommended. One is called The Glass Castle and the other one is The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency. Don't want to read, so I turned on High Stakes Poker, and I have seen this episode, so I guess I will have to give up and play bridge on the computer. This is called whining, if you had any doubt, .

I used to play Duplicate Bridge when I lived in Texas, and sometimes I really miss it. I don't have a memory anymore so I don't play now, but I really loved it.

And I really want to cut into the Ellery fabric I bought not too long ago. I think that is really what is wrong, I feel I need to work on the Calico Craze blocks, but I really, really want to cut this out. I am going to make a drunkard's path out of it, and I am ready to do it. It is calling my name. Okay, I am through whining for now. Thanks for listening!

Purses

There are several things that I really do not like to do. One of them is shop. Shopping for fabric is not considered shopping, that is considered need. Anyway, I took my mother shopping today. Her favorite place to shop is Dilliard's, so we made a day of it and went to lunch at the mall and then went shopping. I had grilled chicken on risotto with tomatoes and artichoke hearts, bread, salad, and raspberry tea. It was delicious!!!

We went to Dilliard's and an hour later Aud (my mother) had bought what she wanted and I was ready to leave. However, nothing would do but I buy a new purse. You know how mothers are when they get something in their mind, and when your mother is 91 years old, you don't mess with her very much. So here I was, already doing something I didn't want to do, and having to shop for something that is really hard for me. I have a perfectly good purse and have had it about 6 months and know about where everything is in it. And once I put my life in a purse, I don't take it out. I am not one to change purses. That is truly a waste of time as far as I am concerned.

A purse to me is like an extension of myself. First of all, I have to like the way it feels under my arm, and it has to be fairly light, and it has to have some pockets or partitions so I can lose things in it. It took me thirty minutes to find one that I really liked. It is a B Makowsky if that means anything to anyone, sure doesn't mean anything to me. However, it is a dark teal colored leather and has a great feel to it. And, it came in its own pouch! Wow!

There was so much "stuff" attached to it I felt like it was made for one of those tatooed bikers that wear chains. All of the "stuff" came off thank goodness. I will be able to lose my whole life in there. Of course, one shoulder will be lower than the other when I put all of my stuff in it. The important thing here is I have a new purse and my mother is happy.

I had to share a picture of it. It is really pretty. Now I need to say goodbye to my old purse and get comfortable with this one.

Calico Craze Sampler

As if I didn't have enough quilting projects going on, my BFF Cindy insisted we do the Lori Smith pattern called Patchwork Sampler out of Calico Craze. We bought the fq bundle of this one about 2 years ago I think and have never started it. So, our grand scheme was to work this as a BOM starting October 1st of this year. Well my first block is done. Only 62 more to go. Let's see, at one a month, hmmmm, it will take a while. Cindy, our time table on this one is changing, we can't let it hang around for 5 years now, can we. I am posting this to inspire my quilty BFF to get busy. I want to see pictures to prove she is doing this one also.

There are no lights to speak of in this collection, so it is a little challenging, but, after all, we all thrive on challenge, right? This one is really not "perfect" after I finished it, but I decided it would be good enough for government work.

And by the way, I have another block of this cut out to work on. I will try to do better.

Piece and Plenty cont.

Had to take a break on my applique. My hands needed a rest. Here is an up-to-date picture of my progress. It seems to be going a little faster, but I am not a hand applique goddess, that's for sure. I have decided I can always have some dropped flowers or leaves if this doesn't turn out straight.

Sunday - October 14, 2007

This has been a great weekend for Sooner fans, (that's me) and NE Patriot fans (that's me too). Both teams won, and life is good. Managed to get some deep housecleaning done. That means I have cleaned up a part of my study or office, whatever the latest buzzword is. I sometimes think it is just a clearing house for stuff coming in or going out of the house.

Now I can reward myself with a little appique work while I watch the news. I will try to post the latest applique achievement tomorrow sometime. We are having storms right now and I am hoping we don't lose our lights.

Piece and Plenty cont.

I finished appliquing the handle. And the stems are the next pieces to go on, so I have basted them down.

This is a close up of the basted stems.

Handle and stems finished
Basket liner basted down, not trimmed.

Addition to Blog

I have managed to get Flickr going and loaded pictures of some of my quilts into it. That was an experience. I do have a problem with getting the other photos I have in my posts to enlarge when you click on them. Any ideas as to what the problem is? The first photos I loaded do enlarge when clicked on, but I did that with another template, and I am not sure if that is why. Any and all suggestions appreciated.

I guess I best close this down. It is now 4:30 in the morning and I haven't gone to bed yet. So much for Friday, lol!

Aud's 91st Birthday

Today, now yesterday, was my mother's birthday. She is now 91 years old and going strong. My oldest daughter took Aud and myself to a local restaurant called Abuelo's for dinner. We had a wonderful meal and a couple of drinks and dessert. They don't sing happy birthday to you there but we had dessert on the house. I had guacomole enchiladas with a cream sauce containing shrimp, mushrooms, red peppers, and other delights. It was really, really good.

Of course I forgot to take my camera with me so I have no picture of this occasion. However, several months ago my oldest grandchild, Jackson, called and asked Aud (short for Audrey, by the way) and myself to come stay with him while his parents were out of town and his younger brother was away at camp.

Jackson is 17 years old, and has stayed by himself before, but I think he just wanted the company and someone to cook some meals, and most of all, someone to play monopoly with. The kid loves to play monopoly and no one will ever play with him. We had a great time by the way. Hanging out with a teenager like Jackson is fun. We ate, watched movies, went swimming, and played monopoly for 3 days. Both Aud and I were ready to come home so we could get some sleep by then. We were going to get Jackson's right ear pierced but when we called to get permission from his parents, they said no way. They are in their 40's and don't have a sense of humor, lol. I told him when he turned 18 I would get his ear pierced for a birthday present.

I did take pictures then, so here is a picture of Jackson and Aud playing monopoly. I won, by the way. She is aging well, right? We should all be so lucky!

Piece and Plenty BOM Update

The bewitching hour has arrived. It is 1 on the morning, and I am tired of applique. I did make some progress on the first month's block and filler block.

I finished the paper piecing of the filler baskets and it turned out well. I have them on my design wall, which has lots of strings on it.

Then it was on to the applique part. I don't do much applique because I have arthritis, but it keeps my hands busy when I watch the "shows" that appeal to me on the wide, wide world of televsion waste. But that's another story.

I am trying out a technique that I saw several weeks ago at a quilt bee meeting. I had a lady named Connie explain it to me and it seems to be the most simple of the many ways you can applique. I am going to post pictures as I go, so if anyone is interested, they can see how it develops. And I can critique my work, too.

The first thing you do is draw an outline of the pattern on the back of the background fabric you are going to use. A light box of some sort is necessary to do this right. You need to make some registration marks when you trace this pattern so it will be centered. I used a Micron .5 pen to draw with.

Next, determine the order in which you need to applique each piece. Remember you are working from the inside out. So, in this case, the handle is the piece closest to the background. Lay the handle fabric on the front side of the background fabric, covering the pattern you have drawn. Be sure the right side is "up" when you do this. Take your handle fabric and, following the lines of the handle, stitch around the handle portion of the pattern with a regular stitch.

Do this on the back side of the background. This will, in effect, baste your fabric down, and give you a line to fold your fabric on when you start to applique.
This is what you will have when you trim the excess fabric away on the top side of your fabric. You still have to trim as you go but this trim is to reduce the bulk of fabric you are working with.

SHere is a closeup before you start to applique. See how the stitching provides you with a line to follow? As you stitch the edges down, you will snip the thread about an inch or an inch and a half at a time, trim the fabric to about an eighth or so, turn it and stitch. An orange stick or a toothpick is a good tool to help with the turning under.


This pictures show the inside of the basket stitched down and the outside started. Notice I have used some very small applique pins to help hold down a section at a time.

That is as far as I have gotten today.

Catching up on reading

One of the things I missed when I was working was quality time to read. Usually I just skimmed a “hysterical romance” every 6 months or so. Since I have retired I have been getting some reading done. I love to stay up until 2 or so in the morning and that is a good time to read, when it is quiet.

First I read some trilogies by Fern Michaels, but I soon found myself bored with them and needing a break from fake tragedy, so to speak.

I was at Borders one day and The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini were bundled together and on sale. I read the inside covers and was intrigued, and rightly so. If you have not read either of them and love a good story line I highly recommend them. They are so well written, probably among the best I have ever read. The story never falters in either of them. The subject matter is delicate in both books and they are set in Afghanistan when the Russians were “running” the country. A lot of food for thought and I found myself with a greater appreciation for what the Afghanis have gone through for many years. A great read!

After that, I found the JD Robb books that Nora Roberts writes. There are 27 of them and I decided to read them from the first one. These are set in 2059 and involve a woman lieutenant and the characters surrounding her in her life. They are basically murder mysteries with a twist. There are humorous moments, gory ones, and sad ones. A little over the top in spots, but very entertaining. A new one comes out next month and I have it reserved at the local library. Another great read.

And, if all else fails, there is always the Janet Evanovitch series with Stephanie Plum, bail bondswoman. If you want a good laugh, these are so funny you won’t be able to put them down. The characters surrounding her are “typical New Jersey citizens“, and the stories take place in the “burb”. There are currently 13 available, but you want to start out with one called “One for the Money”. And another great read.

Now I am on the trail of another great series to read. Anyone have any suggestions?

Mitering borders

I found this link. It is really good for those of us who want to make mitered corners on our quilt borders.

http://www.quiltuniversity.com/mitering_borders.htm

Formatting this thing is the pits

I can't get the formatting on the first posting to work to suit me and I am not going to redo it. But you get the idea. I will try to fix it again another day.

October 7, 2007

Hello, my name is Perry and I live in Oklahoma City, OK. I am beginning this blog because one of my BFFs decided I needed to.

My first post has to do with the lovely art of paper piecing, which I am not good at and always make lots of mistakes. This same BFF needs some help, so I am going to try to show her how to do it with pictures, and maybe it will be of help to someone else.

I have started a Mystery BOM through http://www.fatquartershop.com/, one of my favorite internet quilting stores. It is going to be a beautiful BOM and if you are interested, you can still sign up I believe.

So, here goes:

Cutting instructions: I cut the strips out because it is easier to handle and I end up using less fabric.

#1 - 4 1/2 inch strip - it will take two of these to get all five basket backgrounds
- 2604-12
#2,3,4 1" strip for each basket 2609-22
#5 scraps from #1 OR 6 & 7
#6,7 5" strip - 1st background 2604-12
#8 6 1/2" strip basket for 2603-12
#9,10 4" strip for second background - 2609-12

And press as you do each piece and trim the back to 1/4 inch seam allowance. Don't do what I did, lol One of my favorite tricks when I am paper piecing.













First Piece - I recommend you sew around the edges of this to hold it
















Adding the first piece of the handle
















All three pieces of the handle added
















Background on top of handle added
















#6 and 7 added and Pressed
















Bottom background added....remember, this is a different fabric
















#9 and 10 added, trimmed and sewn around edges of block so it doesn't move for now.
















Finished!