It's been quite a few days since I've been in my sewing room.  I haven't touched my blocks to sew or to trim.

What have I been doing?

Watching the Olympics.  Like almost everyone else! lol

I have a big stack of half blocks ready to sew.
Still haven't gotten to them.
I pushed them aside to try out some alcohol inks...the girls will be using some..they will need to make their mom a birthday card

less than half of my half blocks

A friend posted this post on her blog...How many of us has seen the really deep folds in a quilt that won't come out..this addresses that ....it's REALLY good advice.
Find it here
http://annfahl.blogspot.ca/2012/02/how-to-fold-and-store-quilts.html

They're BACK
The grand daughters are back here today  and I have a few crafts for them to try.
I tried to find some crafts that would interest Thing One...seeing she is almost 13, she feels too old to enjoy some of the stuff we have done before.
For years we would tie dye T-shirts ...lol...the girls would never wear them.  The mister ended up with about 10-12 tie dyed T's.  So the other day I went out and bought a number of canvases..gawd...not cheap!  I got some new markers, ink..I have all sorts of paper and a couple of glass painting kits. I need some more white acrylic paint..I haven't seen any for a long time.
We are going to paint, collage and generally make ART! lol
I will set up a craft area in the laundry room for them.  This is not something I want them to do in my sewing room.  We are going to get messy.
And and course we will swim.  I hope...
And maybe do some shopping...that always gets Thing One off the couch!
I hope I can get some sewing done and some blogging....hopefully I won't forget pictures.  ....I know....I will give them both a camera and have them take pics of each other.
At any rate....wish me luck!..we have to keep the boredom monster at bay!

I have finally finished sewing all the blocks I need (if I have calculated correctly!) for my spider web quilt. I have been sewing all afternoon most days while the granddaughters are away or out to camp.
All are pressed and  I have most of them trimmed, only a dozen or so left to trim.
Now all I have to do it sew up the blocks.
First I will pin all the halves together..then clothesline them all...or as much as I can.  I will probably stop often to press the seams.
Apparently, if you sit all the time, it can shorten your life....I know it can make you fat! lol.  I have my iron and board across the room, so that I have to move some when I sew.
I haven't decided on whether or not to put borders on my quilt or even how many.  The mister doesn't like his quilt too far over the edge of the mattress..so, how many borders depends on how big this quilt ends up being.   I have been thinking about what to quilt.   Or at least what I can't do to quilt. Again...when the top is finished I will let it speak to me.  lol

Thing Two had her week at dance camp and now the two of them are off to golf camp.
Thing One has another two weeks of camp and Thing Two has one week left.  They will have had 4 weeks each of various camps this summer.  It gives me a break too!  LOL
Thing Two had her show at dance camp and she was terrific...she enjoys her dance.
Mommy called it a day early so that she could watch too.
Then we went home and Poppa was done his golf game and was home.  We were able to send all the girls home early and get a start on our week end.  We got ready to go out and the mister comes to me and says...."Look at my arm!  I have a rash, all of a sudden!"...
Ohh nooo....I asked "Were you in the rough?"  "I think you have poison ivy!"
We washed it immediately with dish washing liquid (cuts the oils) and I put some cortisone on it.  That reduced the itch.  Then I went to the pharmacy and talked to the pharmacist, bought what she recommended and within the day the bubbles were gone and by the end of the weekend the skin on his forearm was back to normal and you would never know he came into contact with poison ivy.
And me,  ....I worked on the spider web.  I have less than a dozen half blocks to do, then I can start sewing them together.
But that moutain of scraps...oh my! It seems to be growing...I need to kept sewing!

Oh ..I got some bad news from my son.
One of his cats (Anya) had a stroke.  She is over 15 years old and he  rescued her from the pound when she was a young cat.  So he has had her a long time.
The vet is trying physio therapy on her.  My son is very upset, his cats are like his kids ..(he is single, no kids).
This happened over a week ago, I just heard about it, so I don't know how she is doing ..
I had some pics of her and Hayley when Hayley was just a toddler, but they were lost in the computer crash.
She is a beautiful cat, soft grey, long fur, very placid temperament.
We do love our pets..we, my family has almost always had a cat...my son, has always had a cat, my daughter, has always had a Rottweiler (dog..big dog) and now she has a cat, too.
The mister says ...after this cat...no more pets...but I wonder?  Our MissT is about 9 years old now, and she seems to be in good health.  Our last cat, Tigger(a tortie) was 22 + years old when I put her down...so I hope we have quite a few more years with MissT.

Some REALLY bad news
A long time member of guild passed away this week end of liver cancer.
Jo Ann was a talented artist  who painted, quilted and taught those and  other crafts.

Jo Ann`s quilt..A Tribute to Monet

I remember that I took a workshop with her many years ago...she said she wanted to find her artistic side if it killed her.....I thought at that time she was  talented and artistic.
She won an award for her quilt in our last quilt show in 2009.

She apparently wasn`t feeling well and went to her doctor a couple of weeks ago...all was not good..
May she rest in peace



Well, the girls enjoyed their weeks of camp.  Thing One had her weekly show and Thing Two did a load of crafts at her art camp  http://www..artglazedover.com/
Thing Two had sooo much fun ...couldn't stop talking about it when she got home.
They painted T-shirts..(I actually called them to tell them about freezer paper templates, Thing Two complained it was hard to keep the regular paper template in place).
They also moulded clay...they poured their own molds...painted a canvas...and painted many, many clay pieces that are waiting to be fired.
This is a summer camp that I would definitely recommend.
Thing One said they didn't teach anything at her dance camp.  Just the routine for the show. She is getting too old for "summer camp"...but she did enjoy herself.
Kept her active for one week anyway.
She is at home this week except for one day. Mom is letting her sleep in and veg at home...lol
Hmmm...you would think that I would get a lot of sewing done while they are gone ..right?
I am trying, I've been working on the spiderweb.
And I swear the pile of scraps is growing.

You might have noticed a new button on my blog.


new button

 It's this one


I like to read blogs about sewing, crafting and mostly quilting, but its hard to find them.
Some of the ones that I have been reading, the blogger has stopped or slowed down posting.  I can understand why that happens...real life gets in the way,  it's hard to keep up a blog...keeping the ideas and topics fresh...life gets in the way...projects to blog about...life gets in the way..Did I say that?..life gets in the way , you get too busy with what is going on in your own life and can't get to what you have to do let alone what you would like to do.
 Even if you search, it's a crap shoot on what you get and if you do find something ...remembering it if you haven't bookmarked it...HA! Good Luck finding it again.
I often troll blogs other bloggers have listed that they read.
I often link my blog to http://sewmanyways.blogspot.ca/ for her "Find a Friend Fridays".
And then I found this site.  http://quiltinggallery.com/

It has a very large list of blogs, almost 5400 blogs from all over the world.
So click on the link if you are looking for more to read...and enjoy
I gotta go deal with that HUGE mountain of scraps ..btw  ..it seems to be growing!

Another really hot week this week.  They said we will have records temps again yesterday...and it was 98* in the shade in my backyard  around 2:30 pm.
I have been staying in ( except to pick the girls up from their camp), hiding  playing in my sewing room.
I have a separate A/C unit in there and I can keep it pretty cool.  I use 2 large 20" box fans to blow the cool air into the rest of the upstairs.
 In order to have the bedrooms comfortable, I have to set the furnace A/C really cold...then the main and lower level are really cold.  So I find blowing air from the sewing room works well.
EXCEPT....one of the fans died..of course! because it's as hot as hades out there!
I tried replacing the plug...I could hear the motor just barely hum...but it wouldn't start.  Gee!   I don't know why....I've only had the fans 30 or so years and in the summer they run 24/7....should I take it apart and try oiling it??? I did once before.
The mister said .."See about a new one"...
I went out to my local Walmart and got a new fan.
Boy, are the new ones EVER quiet!
The mister said ..."See about another one!"
Now I can direct the airflow right down the hall...lol...I've had to turn the thermostat warmer, because I am cold now!
Today is much cooler, thank goodness, a temperate 72* out there .
Now all we need is rain....and lots of it!

Back to that huge pile of scraps!  I swear it's growing instead of diminishing!

I am not in a hurry to see this months electric bill!



Dirty Dozen Flag



A friend called today..."Can I come over and we'll sew?". I said "Sure!".

Brenda was working on a flag...her community is having their own "Olympic Games"  and one of the guys asked her to make a flag...he would design..and she could sew.

She brought over the almost completed flag...all she need to do was some embroidery on it.  She wanted (didn't really need) help.
She wanted to use gold thread.
Not a good idea...just looked pale..washed out ..on the test fabric.

I gave her some bright yellow embroidery thread and that worked out great.
We had a nice visit...sewing and chatting.
Brenda hasn't been doing a lot of sewing lately...been looking after her grand daughters a lot...then that means having to clean up after them...no time for sewing.  And I know exacting what she is going through....lol

I've got my sewjo back and started back on that big pile of scraps.  I am really trying to get rid of them....the spider web quilt is coming along nicely.  I am, maybe half finished the blocks.
I have all my patterns made, last night I used up all the white back ground I cut up.  Maybe today I will cut some more.
One thing about using up a box of scraps, is they are usually all wrinkled...I don't want to iron them, because I will constantly be ironing them.
And it is too hot to have the iron on...even if Thing Two wants to do it for me.
I am  doing the blocks a little differently now. 
Before I would work on one block at a time, press, then trim it.  Now I am sewing the first strip on either side of my background, then going on to the next block.  That way I can take out all the pins that hold my background to the pattern....and hopefully I won't use up all the larger strips first then end up having to cut some more.
I need to go sew...........

I put away the doll patterns...
I have 3 drawers of a 4 drawer legal size file cabinet full of patterns.  Some quilting, but mostly sewing patterns.
Well, a lot of space is really not the pattern, but how I store them.
I take my pattern out of the envelope and put it in a large white envelope.
  I write the name of the pattern maker ..eg..Simplicity and the number of the pattern, then file them in numerical order.  Just like they do in the stores....Then I take the original envelope, put that into a sheet protector and put that into a large 3 ring binder.  Those go into categories, such as pants, tops, dresses.
I had kid's patterns, men's, ladies' and crafting...and quilting patterns.
I decided to cull!  If I hadn't used it and I've had it a while ..I got rid of it.
I can see that I constantly buy the same type of pattern and it doesn't suit my body type. 
So now I have an empty drawer in the file cabinet.   Not for long!  hehehe...I moved around my stabilisers and organised them better.
I have boxes and sheets of freezer paper and tracing paper, pattern making paper.  All nicely organised in one drawer.
But....those scraps still sit on the floor, waiting for me....so off I go to sew.
I hope I don't find any more to clean or organise in there...lol

So, I stopped and cleaned up again, put the doll patterns away for a while until Thing Two asks for more doll clothes.
First thing I did was clean my machines...I had noticed that my auto thread cutter wasn't always cutting.  I wondered if it was the thread?...My thread is a poly/cotton blend..could the cutter not "like" the thread?  Or maybe...just maybe...my cutter is dirty/linty?
I took apart the bobbin area and cleaned it out.
Then I pressed the cutter button.....oh yes...there was lint there.  I had to carefully reach under the cutter with a tiny little attachment to my vacuum and suck out the lint.  So,  no pics of the gob of lint under there...sufficed to say there was enough! and a little piece of thread to boot.
Then I cleaned my other machine...I had cleaned the cutter just a little while ago, but I checked it anyway.
And sucked up a bobbin...hehe..Now I have to check the vac-can.
While I was at it, I noticed I needed to dust around and under my table.  When I lifted off the "sew steady" table, it stuck.  Well, a foot stuck to my cutting mat.
I have my machine on the table with a large cutting mat beside me and the front foot stuck to the mat.
Hmmmm, why?

I have little non-slip tabs on the bottom of the two front feet and one is all gummy and distorted.

I peeled off the tab and tried to remove the glue with some "Elmer's Sticky Out"   that I bought at the dollar store.

It didn't work...I've found that stuff doesn't work on anything at all!

So .....I went looking for the "GooGone"..I had to move bikes in the garage to get it, but find it I did, and it took off the glue off the bottom of the foot.  I didn't use it on my cutting mat.

Now I want to thoroughly wash OFF the GooGone.  I don't want anything on the plastic that could eat or mar it..the cutting mat or my foot for the acrylic table.  You never know how a solvent will react with the different plastics...it's usually NOT good.

Now my machines are all clean and ready to go again, I am ready to start back at those quilts.
And I gotta' remember to use 'spellcheck'!...lol

I HAVE to remember that I need to leave early today to pick up Thing One..Her dance camp puts on a show every Friday for the parents.  I must remember it!!!!
My memory is crap lately..
Anyway..I must leave early ...believe it or not there usually is quite a few people at these weekly productions.

One year, Thing One was spotted by the owner of a theatrical group, and was invited to join them in "Seussical the Musical"...which she did until they were through at Christmas time.



that's her, standing next to the Grinch



This was a mostly adult production company, there was only 4 kids asked to participate and she really enjoyed being in it. 

Next week, Thing Two is off to dance camp.  Thing One has the week off.

Veggin' in the family room will be her top priority!

The girls are off to camp again today and I have been making doll clothes for Thing Two every day.  I went out to Fabric Land and bought a couple of patterns.  I've made her (doll) a coat, with matching scarf, a poncho (I used my felting machine on that one!).  A pair of jeans (I used a pair of mom's old jeans for the fabric) , 3 dresses and a couple of T-shirts (I had a piece of ribbing that was too small for much of anything) .
I also made her a doll blanket..(easy as pie!) and she wants a pillow and mattress for her doll.
This little coat is made from scraps from a jacket I made for me ...many moons ago.  The fringe took me longer to snip than I took to sew the whole thing...

I cut across the fabric width for a matching scarf...fringed it ...These two were a big hit!  The colour looks blue, but it's purple.                       

I made this poncho for her today..this one is a different colour and has a fringe

This is the second poncho I made for her.  It's a different colour and this one has a fringe.

Then I made some "summer clothes"  ...shorts, a top and a dress.  Made from scraps of fabric from a nightie I made years ago for Thing One.

 

I recycled an old silk blouse I had in my sewing room..( was going to made a silk quilt, but I never really got around to collecting much in the way of fabric for it.)
I took these pics and forgot about the rest of the stuff..so unless Thing Two brings back her new doll clothes, I don't have pics of most of it...I should really ask her to bring them over so I can have a record of what I've made.

NOW......I have to clean up again!  I have ricrac pulled, different scraps of fleece..fabric..elastics...and vacumn!

I am sitting here in my chair with my laptop as I do most Sunday mornings. I have the patio door open and the morning air is cool(ish) and quiet (except for the cardinal singing his little heart out).  There is a nice breeze blowing, the humidity has not yet crept up and although it is 82 degrees out there in the shade, it feels quite pleasant.  It's nice to enjoy some fresh air.  It's been exceptionly hot , then coolish, then blisteringly hot, now coolish...I won't say cool, because it only feels cool compared to the heat.

I usually surf through blogs on Sundays, some that I let slide and others that I come across as I surf.

I was reading some previous posts from Angie at http://blog.ajpadilla.com/  called

"I am CAT and I will sleep where I want"

Having a cat myself,  I know how quirky and independant they are.  And having found my cat in some weird sleeping spots, I thought some of the pics were cute. I've seen some of them before, but thought that I would share.

If this doesn't make you want to take a cat nap...I don't know what would.

Here is something you might recognise...

Do you know what it is?

It's supposed to tenderize meat...

You can buy a less tender cut, bounce all over it with this thing and it is supposed to "tenderize"  it for you.

I remember years ago, when I would buy a whole side of beef, the butcher would run some cuts through a tenderizer (it was electric) for me.  Back then I had the whole family eating here every night.  I would make Salisbury steak with those cuts.  Now it's just the mister and I most times.  Sonny boy was a really good eater.  Daughter dear had a thing  (I should say HAS a thing)  with textures..and didn't always eat as heartily as the rest of us.

Sooo...

I am a sucker for gadgets..

I personally think it doesn't work.  I tried it on a fairly good steak ...not the best and I didn't see a difference except it was now dry...

I really don't like the fact it is so hard to clean...yuck!  Don't need to get sick! And look at those lethal looking knives...don't want to cut yourself with that!

It's still in my bottom drawer...I should really get rid of it.

It's been hot...really hot.  Too hot to be outside, even in the pool..it was 99* in the SHADE! before noon!  I had all the blinds closed, any drapes I had were closed...And the A/C ran and ran..
So we stayed in where it is cool.
Thing One watched TV all day, played with her ipod...was impossible to motivate.  While Thing Two came up to my sewing room and wanted to iron fabric. ...I said "No!"... "Oh" she giggled  "It's too hot..Right?"..lol!
She brought her doll,(Journey Girl) and all the clothes she had for her and the other doll (Michael's), plus what I had sewn for her.  I wanted to see how much too big the clothes were.  The Journey Doll (Toys R US) is a much slimmer doll.
And it really wasn't that bad.  I could easily take a bigger seam and that would suffice.
I had her leave the doll over night while I made a couple of outfits for her.
I am so forgetful....Thing Two had all her dollclothes  that I made for her here...I gave her a small suitcase for them all..and I forgot to take pictures of her fancy dresses that I made...
Anyway....
So, while I sewed, Thing Two played with all the fancy stitches on my other machine.  She played and played then wanted to do more.  I had a "cheater panel" of a heart pillow.  She sewed on that for a couple of hours, trying out all the embroidery stitches..then I sewed the 2 halves together, we stuffed it and sewed up the opening...and she gave it to a friend.

She certainly had fun! she didn't want to stop to go home.  I have a couple of Christmas stocking panels that she can sew next.   She really loves my new machine...the touch screen was easy for her to use.  The fact that my sewing desk is so low makes it easy for her to reach the pedal, it makes the whole experience more fun.
I think this will be a good way to use up some of the panels that I have accumulated and put away over the years.
She says next week she would like to make another quilt.  She has camp this week.
We can try an offset log cabin.  It wouldn't matter if is not square or even..I can square up the blocks for her.. or she can work on more panels...  We'll see..
In the meantime, I am still struggling through all these scraps...OMG!  there are soooo many of them!

Well, the grand kids are finished school now and have both been promoted to the next grade.  Thing Two has had a sore throat, so not feeling quite herself.
I've been in contact with some of her friend's parents, maybe they would like to come and swim and maybe we can sew, too. 
So we had a friend over the other day, dollies were brought, and swimsuits...pancakes for lunch...play all day long..the young girls can play downstairs, or if the mister needs quiet, then they can go upstairs to one of the bedrooms to play...there should be no boredom!
And one of her friends is having a birthday party today, so she is excited about that
Next week Thing Two has an ART Camp.  Sounds like fun...Maybe I can go too?
Thing One has dance camp...I think she is excited...I really don't know...I just have to pick them up afterwards and keep them entertained until mom is ready to pick them up after work.
Thing One  doesn't want to do much with me anymore...give her an ipod and that's all she wants. Well, maybe some chocolate.   Keeps her occupied all day long.
I have some things planned for us to do this summer, I wonder if she (Thing One) will want to do anything.
Haha....I know she will gladly  go shopping !!
Gramma's wallet  seems bottomless!
I wonder how much time I will have to sew?..or blog?

When I worked cleaning up and folding my fabrics, I found I had far too many scraps.
I have been using up quite a bit for the " farmer's wife", but I find it's stymieing me.... I am blocked by all these scraps.  When I work on a block, I spend too much time looking for scraps big enough...or just pawing through them all.

I have collected these scraps over years, a friend gave me a box of scraps, and I got some from my mom.

When I got the box of scraps I made 6 cuddle quilts (tops) for outreach...and I still had a box full.  But now, it's a drawer and a box full!

....so I decided that they must go.....

BUT I CAN'T THROW IT OUT!  I am just too frugal or maybe just cheap.

I have to stop and make something easy, that would use up the scraps....get rid of them for good!

I thought I would do a spider web.  I made a little one for Thing Two's dolly.
I will make a full size one, well I mean queen size...

the pile half way through the project

So I started...
First I got out the tracing paper and cut the pages 9" square.
Then I measured 2.5 " from the 45 degree angle on both sides, marked it and found the centre on the bottum, drew 2 lines, stacked up the triangles and sewed without thread on the lines to make a pattern..

cut some white fabric for the background, and started sewing

one quarter of a block, untrimmed

and pressing and trimming 

1/4 trimmed

And I kept sewing and trimming and sewing....this what I have so far

half done!

I am half done the blocks!  and the box/drawer of scraps?  doesn't look like I made a dent in it, but I am sure I have...
Who knows....I might even run out !

More pics to follow as I complete and quilt it.

BUT...I haven't been in my sewing room  for  5 days now.  My sister has been here again for a visit.  It was supposed to be only a day or two, but ended up being 5 days...a bit of a surprise!
...

MissT, the huntress, is back at it again.
She is well-fed, so I know she is hunting for sport.   She catches her prey, then plays with it until it either expires or gets away from her.
Again the other day, she staked out the garden by the fence.

There is at lest ONE chipmunk left, and I think it is one that recognises us.  It sits on top of the neighbour's shed and will watch us working or sitting around the table on our patio.
If I notice it and put seed in the feeders, it will come and gather the seeds.  I won't say eat, because it fills up his/her cheeks with the seed then takes off.
The other day I put a few cherries out and it ate them.
If we are sitting at the table it will check out under the table and at our feet.  I have put seeds down to see how close it would come.  It is very curious.
Well, the other day I looked at MissT and she has a chipmunk in her mouth...again!
I made her crouch,and I softly ( I didn't step on it THIS time) took it from her.  It seemed to be fine...I I put in on the woodpile next door.  With in an hour it was back on top of the shed..."chipping" away at the cat ....who was still on the alert for it.
Then yesterday I saw a baby rabbit in the back yard....it scooted off to the neighbours (yes! they seem to have a lot of animals over there!...they have a big vegetable garden)...
Hours later, I am in my sewing room and I hear this squealing!
I looked out and MissT has the baby rabbit.
  I went out to rescue it and there was a lot of loose fur blowing around.  The fence is metal and it looked like the rabbit was getting skinned on the bottom of the fence.  It is sharp!

I freed the bunny, but I don't know if it will survive.
AND..
 I haven't seen it since!
We had a rabbit trying to build a nest in our front garden, and I kept filling  in the hole it dug. 
I knew the cat would kill the babies without a doubt!
Gonna hav'ta bell that cat!

I have finally gone back to sewing in my sewing room.  I have the fabric all folded nicely and it looks so pretty....

I have an awful lot of fabric on the top shelf now....where did it all come from?
Did I really have all that shoved into those cubbies?
Well, I must have!
'cause it's there!
One thing  I did notice,... I had a piece of fabric the was badly faded....was it mine or did it come from my mother?.....hmmm  I don't know...but what I do know is that I get the morning sun in that room...what to do ...what to do...????  That sun can ruin the fabric.
Some of this fabric I have had for a looooong time.
Some fat quarters I bought ...gulp! 30 years ago!!?...could it be?????
Yup!  The mister was in an old timer's hockey league and we went to Florida for a tournament.
A friend and I went to a very popular store that isn't there anymore (spent a few days there) and I bought some....okay..okay ..I admit it...A LOT ...of fat quarter packs  (4 pieces, each a fat 1/4 for only a couple of bucks, but then it was 30 years ago)  and I haven't used it all ...
YET!
But I will!

Any way.............................

The area where I have my fabric was a closet, but I took the doors off because I have a large filing cabinet in the corner and couldn't close the doors.  They were  "cheapy"  sliding doors any way..fake wood panelling...ugh! I threw them away!  Now what?.......

I thought I would get a tension fit rod and put up a curtain.
  So I went to Walmart and bought a tension rod for the bathtub....
I needed a longer one...some hooks ...and I had a new curtain that I hadn't used yet ...
Put them up in the space where the old door hung and it's great.
 Keeps the light off my fabrics.

I open the curtain when I go in my sewing room just so that I can see my fabrics, then pull it closed when I leave.
 I am never in my sewing room early in the day.....sorry....I like to stay up late and so I sleep late.....wait a minute....I don't LIKE to stay up late.  I just don't sleep, so I stay up late.  And when the mister in on the road (seems like he always is)...I don't sleep well at all.  So I sew late, then sleep late.  I have always been a night time sewest... always!
Besides ..I just live in the wrong time zone..lol

I have always said that I live in the wrong time zone,  I need to live in B.C.!