Let Me Introduce You . . .

to the newest member of the Kim's Little Adventures family--Cherry Delight!

Oh, you've already met? You've been watching her for quite awhile now? Ah, but it's not the same, is it? Because tonight she's all dressed up and ready to go out! Woo-hoo!

Seriously, though, getting a pattern all packaged up and ready for sale feels not so much like giving birth but more like watching your daughter go off on a first date. After all, I've made four of these already, so it's not exactly new to me, but still . . . getting it to this point is a big step!

I've packaged a bunch up for the quilt shop, to be delivered tomorrow, and listed a batch on Etsy. I have a few more to "assemble" still, but plenty are ready, including one for the winner of our giveaway!

Bet you're wondering who won the pattern, right? Well, I'm happy to say it's DebiJeanM of Debi Stitches. Debi, please email me your mailing address, and I'll get a copy of the Cherry Delight pattern in the mail to you right away!

Thank you all again for helping me decide which version of the quilt to use for the pattern cover. I liked the idea of having a smaller inset photo of the wool version, but these are little patterns--too little for two photos, unfortunately.

One of the quilting gals I work with--Jacquie--suggested maybe an Asian print would work nicely for the outer border of the wool version, and I think she may be onto something there. When I deliver the patterns to the quilt shop tomorrow, I'll check out their Asian prints and see if anything "speaks" to me.

I also wanted to mention a couple things I'll have coming up in the next couple of weeks. I'll be having another little giveaway--not a pattern but a little something I found at the thrift store--so check back every so often. I also need to write up the pattern for the Patriotic Patchwork quilt--or at least that's what I'm calling it for now, for lack of a better name. But I need a better name for the pattern, so I'll be asking you to help me come up with something, and I'll reward whoever comes up with the name I use. I obviously haven't thought it all through yet, but that's the general plan.

And hey! The weekend's here! I hope you have a wonderful one!

Thank You All!

I really appreciate your input on the pattern cover. I knew I was leaning toward the cotton, but I've made FOUR of these now, so I wasn't sure my own judgment was correct. Of course, the overwhelming majority of you said you liked the cotton best, so that's what I'm going with. I think this weekend I'll re-work the wool version, because I'd really like to offer some wool kits on Etsy--the wool applique goes REALLY fast--so fast, that one of these can be made in just a few hours. Of course, the cotton applique is pretty quick too, but realistically, preparing the cotton pieces takes another couple hours. What I need to do is use some brighter green for the leaves and use background and border fabrics that are a little more lively. I'll have to see what I can find.

During my "photo shoot" for the pattern cover, I couldn't resist taking this photo.

Of course, it's not the one I'll use for the cover, but I'm just so tickled that our snowball bush is in bloom this year! Last year Hubby trimmed it back at the wrong time of the year and we never got any blooms. (Sometimes it amazes me that I haven't killed him yet.) Don't the wallhanging and the snowball blooms just shout out SPRING!?

Oh, and speaking of Spring!--Kelly Ann commented this morning and mentioned she had her version of the Spring! quilt hanging in the front window of her quilt shop. Click HERE to check it out! Those pinks remind me of cotton candy--yum!

I came home from work today to find that Hubby had apparently been busy out in the yard, working on sprucing up some of his yard art pieces. I was a little startled to see this one.

I'm thinking bondage of some sort with that tape across her mouth and one eye. I kind of had to wonder what weird fantasies he was living out here. Am I the only one with a mind that works that way? Then, of course, I had to wonder whether the gal in the tub was meant to be ME!!! (But then I realized I have more leg and arm pit hair. Ewwww!)

Tomorrow Hubby and I will be in full pattern production mode. Well, actually, I'll be at work and HUBBY will be in full pattern production mode. He'll be picking up photos for the covers of the cherry patterns and getting the pattern instructions copied. Tomorrow night we'll get the patterns put together, and Saturday morning I'll deliver patterns and the cotton version of the wallhanging to Bearpaws & Hollyhocks. At some point, I'll list the pattern on Etsy. And, of course, tomorrow night I'll draw a winner for the cherry pattern giveaway, so make sure you come back to see whose name was drawn! Good luck and thanks for coming by!

Okay, So Tell Me This . . .

I've finished the wool version AND the cotton version of the little cherry wallhanging and I'm not sure which one I want to photograph for the pattern cover. Originally my idea was that these "Little Adventure" patterns would be primarily designed for wool although cotton could also be used, but I'm kind of leaning toward liking the cotton version of this one better. So could you please give me some input?

Wool?

Or cotton?

I'm planning to have the pattern ready by Saturday, which means I'll need to get photographs Thursday evening or Friday morning. Please comment to let me know which version would appeal to you most as a pattern cover and I'll enter you in a drawing for a free copy of the pattern. I'll draw a winner on Friday night. Thanks for your help!

Miscellaneous Stuff

I'm up late tonight because I've been working on the wool version of my new cherries "Little Adventure" pattern, and I'm afraid I haven't really thought of anything to chat about in particular, so I figured I'd just mention a few somewhat unrelated things that haven't seemed to fit in recent posts.

Bonnie of Institches wrote to me the other day to let me know she'd finished making her Spring! quilt from my pattern. I'm always tremendously tickled to see "my" quilts made by fellow quilters! She did a really lovely version of different colored tulips using what looks like hand dyed/marbled fabrics, and her bunny looks truly life-like. The fabrics I was using to demonstrate the steps in the class I taught are very similar, and seeing Bonnie's quilt makes me really want to get my pieces back out and finish it up, but I don't have any time right now. If you click HERE you can see Bonnie's quilt--and while you're over there, click on her sidebar post title "Animals--Real and Not" to see the cutest bunny she made--and finally clothed. Bonnie's obviously a very talented lady!

Last week, there was a change at work and my Girl Boss was reassigned to another secretary. In turn, I was given Girl Boss 2, so I still have two "work kids," but the stress and work load is less than it was. Seriously, it's SO much better now! Boy Boss and Girl Boss 2 are both hard workers and maybe I'm being too optimistic too early, but so far I've stayed busy but not frantically stressed out and on the verge of panic as I had been for what seemed like waaaaaay too long. Now if I could just get rid of these darn allergies, I'm sure I'd be blissfully happy!

When Hubby lost his job in February, we had to make some financial adjustments and arrangements and postpone the landscaping we had planned for our front yard, but our plans are starting to come together, so we may be able to get back on track and get that yard done soon. Hubby and Soccer Son are still working on turning Soccer Son's former bedroom into an office for us, but things are progressing there too.

Oh, and remember my jury duty? There was a story about it in the newspaper the next day, so I was able to learn a little bit more about the case and the crime. Turned out the defendant had already been convicted and was sentenced to something like 46 years in prison but the conviction was overturned on appeal because of failure to properly instruct the jury. So this was to be his second trial. On that second day of jury selection, he entered a plea to a slightly lesser charge, which means he'll serve something like 42 years in prison but will be eligible for parole in 38 years. Doesn't seem like much of a difference to me--either way, this kid's going to be older than me by the time he gets out. It's sad all around--sad for the 18-year-old kid who was shot and killed--who, by the way, wasn't involved in any gangs and appears to have been an innocent bystander--but also sad for the kid who's now serving at least 38 years in prison for a really stupid thing he did when he was 16 years old. Such a waste.

Well, that's all the news that comes to mind tonight, but then again, it's late and I'm sure my mind isn't working as well as it could be! I'm glad you found time to stop in and visit with me!

A Tutorial for You!

As promised, I've posted the No-Melt Mylar applique tutorial below. I didn't even set foot into the Sweat Shop tonight, so I thought I should at least do ONE thing productive!

Thank you all for the get-well wishes for my mom. My brother called tonight to say she'd had surgery and it went well. The ball of the hip was damaged but the cup was fine. The doctors seem to think they'll be able to get her up and start her walking a bit tomorrow. Isn't medicine amazing? I DO hope she'll be motivated to get better--so many people at her age (around 80) just don't have the energy or willpower, and only time will tell with her.

That "cold" I had last week? I've decided it WAS allergies, and those same allergies are still bothering me quite a bit--Hubby's been suffering too. Spring is a beautiful time of the year, but I sure wish we didn't have to suffer because of all the new growth. Then again, at least we have something nice to look at while we're suffering!

Thanks for stopping in to visit, and I hope you'll try out the no-melt mylar method below--it really is simple!

No-Melt Mylar Applique Method Tutorial

No-Melt Mylar Template material is a great tool for making simple applique shapes, such as circles for berries, petals, and fruit as well as simple leaf shapes. The method I'll show you here uses spray starch--the heat from the iron would melt most plastics, but no-melt mylar will hold up to two or three uses before the plastic begins to warp a bit.

Two brands of no-melt mylar are Dritz and Wrights, and the plastic is sold in sheets. JoAnn's and many other quilting and craft stores carry at least one brand, usually in the quilting notions section of the store.

The first step is to trace the applique shape onto the plastic. Since the plastic is opaque, the shape can usually be easily seen through the material for tracing. The difficulty is finding a pen, pencil, or other method that will work on the plastic. I often use a fine line permanent marker, although the ink requires a certain amount of "setting" time to dry and will wipe off with use. Here in the photo below, I've drawn simple petal shapes on the mylar.

Next, cut the mylar shapes and trace them onto the "wrong" side of the fabric. Many of the shapes that work well with mylar have no "right" or "wrong" side, but be aware that you may need to determine which way to flip the mylar template with any directional pieces.

Once the shape of the template is traced, trim the fabric approximately 1/4" outside the drawn line. Using a simple gathering/basting stitch, run a single thread as close to the cut edge as possible without risking fabric fraying--usually a little more than 1/8" outside the drawn line.

Make sure to leave "tails" for tying at the beginning and at the end.

Place the template in the center of the fabric and gather the stitches by pulling on both "tails." Keeping the thread as tightly gathered as possible, knot the ends.

The "right" side of the prepared piece should be smooth of wrinkles and gathers.

Once all of the pieces are prepared to this point, get out the spray starch and a towel or piece of fabric to protect your ironing surface from starch build up. Set the iron on the cotton setting. Spray applique pieces front and back, spraying rather heavily; let starch soak into the fabric. Press with hot iron front and back until they are fairly dry to touch.

Set the pieces aside and allow to completely dry.

Sorry this photo is a bit fuzzy, but once the starched fabric is completely dry, snip the gathering thread and pop out the template plastic. The fabric should maintain its shape fairly well.

The same method can be used for leaves or other oblong shapes with gentle curves. I find that beginning my gathering stitch at the flatter "top" part of the leaf yields the best results.

Applique pieces prepared in this manner can be sewn in a number of ways. One of the applications is as I've used them here--pinning the shapes in place and sewing them onto a background while quilting all layers at the same time.

One final tip--save your plastic template pieces to reuse in other projects and designs. Happy appliqueing!

Cherries and More

Did you have a wonderful Easter? I hope you did! We had a nice afternoon at Hubby's parents' house, eating and visiting with relatives. Unfortunately, the day ended on an unhappy note--my brother called this evening to let us know my mom had fallen this morning and broke her hip. She's in the hospital and we're waiting to find out whether she'll need surgery. Luckily, my sister-in-law is a nurse assigned to the same unit my mom's in, so she'll be able to keep an eye on things. We should know more in the next few days; a trip down to central California may well be in our future.

Moving on to happier subjects, I wanted to share a few things I've been working on. Remember the cherries wallhanging I showed you a few days ago? Well, I refined the pattern a little and went into Bearpaws and Hollyhocks the other night--the night I thought I was going to class except it WASN'T my class!--and I talked to Lindy to get her advice on changing a couple of the fabrics. Here's the result:

I'm much happier with this version. (Ignore the fuzzy design wall behind it--not the best of settings to show it off, but it was convenient!) Of course, I want to make it using wool, but this one will be a shop sample for Bearpaws since they plan to carry this pattern--once I get it written up! (That was one of the reasons I wanted to use some of the fabrics they carry.)

And, since I'm mad about cherries and have quite a lot of cherry fabrics, I decided to make this for myself:

I have a few more details to add to this tote, but I thought it was at least at a point where I could share a photo with you.

Finally--just because I think it turned out pretty cool!--I wanted to show you the cupcakes I made Saturday night. I was finally able to get a chance to use the plate stand I made at our Easter luncheon--woo-hoo! Looks good enough to eat, yes?! Sure was an ordeal getting it across town in the car without losing cupcakes though. Yes, you already know I'm a self-confessed idiot! Next time I'll package the cupcakes or whatever other food I'm serving and assemble the "tower" once I've gotten everything to its destination.

Sometime in the next couple days, I'm going to post another applique tutorial--this one will be about using no-melt mylar for simple applique shapes. It's the method I used for the cherries wallhanging and tote, and I took a few photos as I went--so watch for the tutorial if you think it's something you might be interested in. As for me, now that I've had to look at those cupcakes again, I think it's time for dessert!

HAPPY EASTER!

Have a hoppy day!

For Your Amusement

Friday night and that means the weekend's here. I'm ready to be amused. How about you? Yes?

Okay, first up: Jace. Jace is good Friday night amusement. Actually, he's pretty good amusement most of the time. But a week or so ago, I was reading his Sawdust and Cowpies blog post about Match.com profiles--click over there and read it when you're done here--and what really cracked me up was the link to a site selling man girdles. Where have I been all my life that I didn't really know about man girdles?

What do you think, ladies? The compression tanksuit for your consideration.

Or my favorite--the Tri Top Chest Binder. What?

Am I the only one who think this one doesn't cover quite enough? Or maybe it's made for beer-drinkers--makes sense that it would need to be a little less restrictive over the belly, right?

Yes, they do have girdles for hernia support at that site, which I can certainly understand, but some of the others? How about a padded rear brief?

I watched a man crossing the street this morning while I was stopped at a red light, and I noticed he had a girly rear end, all large, round and stuck up high--it looked kind of odd and out of place. Seriously, I don't sit and watch men's rear ends all day, but this one really stood out--pun intended! Now I'm wondering if he was wearing one of these?!

If you want to browse more man girdles, click HERE. Maybe you'll find just the right something for that special someone in your life!

* * * * *

I also thought I'd share this with you--it was sent to me by my friend Julia.

68 AND PREGNANT ~

A woman went to the emergency room, where she was seen by a young new doctor. After about 3 minutes in the examination room, the doctor told her she was pregnant. She burst out of the room and ran down the corridor screaming.

An older doctor stopped her and asked what the problem was; after listening to her story, he calmed her down and sat her in another room. Then, the doctor marched down the hallway to the first doctor's room.

"What the heck's wrong with you?" he demanded. "This woman is 68 years old, she has two grown children and several grandchildren and you told her she was pregnant???!!!"

The new doctor continued to write on his clipboard and without looking up said:.........."Does she still have the hiccups?

* * * * *

And finally since it IS Easter weekend, I thought I'd leave you with this thoughtful advice:

Chocolate is a health food. Chocolate is derived from cacao beans. Bean = vegetable. Sugar is derived either from sugar beets or sugar cane, and both are vegetables. And, of course, the milk/cream in chocolate is dairy. So eat more chocolate to meet the dietary requirements for daily vegetable and dairy intake. This is especially recommended for women since we need more of the calcium found in dairy products.

There! Now don't you feel a WHOLE lot less guilty?!

Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This . . .

I have a cold. I think. Allergies have been bad, but I'm thinking this is feeling like more than allergies.

My boy boss has a cold. He thought he started coming down with it at the end of last week. Then again, I spent two days of quality time cooped up with 100 prospective jurors, so who knows what bug I may have picked up there.

Because I had a quilt class tonight and wouldn't be home for dinner, I picked up lunch at Panda Express--plenty of leftovers for dinner before class. But you know what? I ate my fortune, I think. All I know for sure is that I opened the wrapper of the fortune cookie and without paying any attention whatsoever because I was reading a book, I broke it in half and popped half of it in my mouth. And chewed a lot. When I looked down at the remaining half, I remembered I hadn't pulled the fortune out. And there was no fortune to be found. So either I got a cookie without a fortune or I ate it. Seriously, I think I ate it. I can only imagine what it may have said. Probably something like Surrender Dorothy. Or Give Up and Go Home Kim. But no. I couldn't do that. I had loaded up my sewing machine and all my sewing stuff in my car this morning, and I didn't want to miss class.

So after work, I headed to the quilt shop. Guess what? It was the wrong class. This particular class is offered two evenings a month, and I had put the wrong one in my calendar. So I gave up and went home.

Life is funny. I think I'll take some Nyquil and go to bed. Let's just hope my pillow won't go the way of my fortune. I'm such an idiot sometimes!