Month: January 2019

My One Monthly Goal for January…Tada

All done, quilted and even hung up in the kitchen Nook.

So, My one monthly goal was to quilt and bind my jars.  Since my jars were pretty wonky I chose a bit of a different layout.  My daughter asked my they were not neatly spaced on the shelf.  uhhh  “This is our house, how does everything else look?”  Daughter:  “Oh ya…right.  actually neater than our pantry”.  So, it looks like it belongs in our house. It looks great hanging in the kitchen.

This “Ancient Alien” is now complete.

 

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Treasure your Family

 

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A Cute Table Runner…..

So, I made this table runner, however, I can not receive full credit.  Nanette – doitrightquilter.com sent me a box of miscellaneous items and fabric.  These adorable little blocks were in the box.  I hung them up on my design wall until I figured out what I was going to do with them.  They were just to cute to ignore.

So I arranged them until I had them the way I wanted and sewed them up.  I did a small watermark_2019-01-19-15-25-06meander for my quilting.  Oddly making sure I kept the meandering small and similar in size, was not an easy task.  I kept having to check myself to make sure I was not getting bigger as I went along.  I used a light variegated thread and I did not quilt any of the prints (except background fabrics).  I wanted to give the blocks a bit of a 3-D look.  It worked for the most part.

I really enjoyed making this.  I am currently working with some other blocks that Nanette sent me.  It is sort of like a quilt puzzle.  I  take what I have and see where it fits together.  Thank you Nanette!.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Treasure your Family

That is all she wrote (or did) for the HQA

Yep, three flowers is all I got completed for the Hand Quilt Along.  I guess it is better than nothing.  I also did some binding….so I guess my fingers are a bit sore.  I try to wear a thimble which is sometimes successful, but other times I find them annoying.

Here in central Ohio we have had Snowmageddon this past weekend.  Everyone was freaking out.  No parking at the grocery store (I heard) so I opted to go grocery shopping at midnight on the eve of Snowmageddon.  All I can say is, ridiculous.  Nothing on the shelves and I still stood in line for 20 minutes.  While we did get more snow than I am used to seeing here in central Ohio, compared to what I grew up with, it is nothing.  Please visit all the wonderful ladies participating in the Hand Quilt ALong and see their progress.

Kathy, Margaret, Kerry, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Connie, Susan,  Nanette,  Edith, Sharon, Karrin, and Gretchen

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Treasure your Family

Spray Basting with very little space

I have heard many people say that basting, especially spray basting takes a lot of space.  I may have a solution.  I managed to spray baste my star wars quilt in a small amount of space that would equal a kitchen counter.

WARNING….You will see my very messy sewing space.

So, my quilting friend Lynn, taught me this trick.

You buy Pipe wrap (for insulating your water pipes).  It is cheap,  about three dollars for 4 pieces that are about 4 ft each.  I bought a total of 8.  Then you buy 2- 8ft. PVC pieces and have them cut in half (The nie people at lowe’s or Home Depot will do this for you if you don’t have anyone at home or can’t transport 8ft long PVC pipe).  They are about three dollars each.  I use the PVC pipe to put two pieces of the pipe insulation together and add stability.

1.) Cover your surface-especially if you are using your counters.  I buy vinyl tablecloths watermark_2019-01-15-13-33-49watermark_2019-01-15-19-51-30(especially after a holiday they are super cheap).

2.) take 2 pieces of pipe wrap and place a piece of the PVC between them.

3.) Evenly pin your backing to the pipe insulation.  Use as many pins as you feel you need.  Roll up your backing, keeping it smooth.

4.)  Then, do the same with your batting.  Smooth out as you go.

5.) Next, we begin spraying the batting to the backing.  LIne them up and spray a couple watermark_2019-01-15-19-52-08.jpgof inches clear across the top to get it started.  Lay the batting on the backing and smooth out.  Continue to apply baste spray a few inches at a time.  Roll the completed backing and batting onto the pipe insulation until you have it all spray basted.  As you roll the basted backing and batting on to the insulation tube, you can ensure there are no wrinkles.  If you find some, unroll and re-smooth.

6.)  Next we are ready to baste the top to the batting and backing.  Take your roll with the backing and batting and unroll a bit.  Line up the roll that contains your top.  Spray a few inches across the batting watermark_2019-01-15-20-47-09and position your top.  Continue to spray baste and roll onto the pipe insulation as you go.  Make sure to smooth as you go.  Keep spraying and rolling until you have it complete.

7.) You should now have your quilt basted and rolled up nice and neat on the pipe insulation.  It will stay all nice and neat until you are ready to quilt.

You could prepare multiple quilts and store them on the pipe insulation for very little watermark_2019-01-16-15-41-14money.  They will stay rolled up an unwrinkled until you are ready to quilt them.

I hope that someone finds this beneficial.  It was very helpful to keep things nice neet and flat until I was ready to quilt.  It also stopped me from having to “clean up my area”(pool table) in order to spray baste.  I only needed the width of my quilt and about a foot of the length in order to complete the spray baste.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Treasure your Family

 

 

 

 

An Ancient Alien—UFO

This is an ancient Alien.  Can you tell I am a Science nerd?  Yes, I have watched that show.  My daughter and I even have nick names for some of the people.  If you have ever watched it, you will know who Crazy Hair is.

I started this quilt about 20 years ago.  It was oddly a paper pieced project.  I obviously had no idea what I was doing.  I am not sure how a paper pieced project could have blocks so wonky.  I don’t think there are any 2 the same size.  I actually think I participated in a fabric swap for food fabric.  I still have a ton left, but I think it’s time to see if I can make a wall hanging that does not look too awful.  If it comes out, I have a spot in my kitchen across from my pantry for it.

This will be my One monthly Goal.  My plan is to complete it entirely.  We will see.  It may be to wonky to put together.  I also seemed to use a lot of starch back then.  weird.

If any of you need some pieces (maybe 5×7″) food fabric let me know.  I have a stack.  I was going to use them on the back, but just went with black.

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SISTER STORY

So, I have been having such a difficult time with the loss of my sweet sister Kellie.  It had affected me far more than I expected.  I know loss all to well, but this one is so very different for me.  Anyways….. I was coming home from the grocery store today…alone (very unusual) and thinking.  I had not dreamed about Kellie since she died. It bothers me a lot.  So, I talked to her and told her of my concerns.  I just wanted a dream, a sign, something.

I came home and put the groceries away.  I went to the family room and turned on the TV.  As I was sitting on the couch flipping through the channels, I noticed an odd flickering out of the corner of my eye.  I ignored it, thinking I was crazy.  It kept happening.  I turned and looked and one of a string of recessed lights was slowly going on and off.  It stopped, I looked away.  It started happening again.  I turned and looked at it and said “Is that you Kel?”  It blinked on and off quickly and then did not happen again.  I am not sure what I believe or if I am half way to crazy town.  Odd coincidence.  In the photo, Kellie is on the left and I am on the right.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Treasure your Family