I Need a Name

I need a name for this quilt. This is the one I'm teaching at my next class at Bearpaws & Hollyhocks at the beginning of June, and I have to publish the pattern in the next week or two. Apparently my brain thinks it's on vacation too, because I just haven't thought of anything I like. Can you help? If I decide to use your suggestion (and you're the first to suggest it), I'll send you a free pattern just as soon as it comes off the press. I'll take suggestions through Thursday night and announce a winner on my Friday post.

Although the class is called Patriotic Patchwork, you needn't use "patriotic" or "patchwork" in the name--that was just something I came up with on the spur of the moment when I had to commit to teaching a class and had no idea what I wanted to teach.

Oh, and if you're anywhere around Sacramento on June 6th and want to spend the afternoon sewing, chatting, and eating (yes, I'll be feeding my students again), I'd love to see you in class!

THIS POST IS NOW CLOSED TO NEW COMMENTS AS THERE ARE JUST SO MANY GOOD NAME SUGGESTIONS, MY BRAIN MAY EXPLODE, AND IT WILL LOOK JUST LIKE THAT QUILT!

Lady of Leisure

Well, sort of. You see, I'm on vacation this week. And technically, today (Monday) was the first vacation day. So what did I do?

Remember the new refrigerator? It was delivered on Friday just as I was leaving for work. Hubby arranged the shelves.

Today I fixed them. It was driving me nuts!

It's so nice having a new refrigerator. Although it's a little smaller than our old one, I'm really liking it so far. Oh! I also wanted to show you that the freezer's stocked with all the essentials.

Speaking of food, since it's my vacation and almost Cinco de Mayo, Hubby and I went to our local Mexican restaurant for dinner--Felipe's. Hubby got a cheese enchillada and some kind of taco--can't remember if it was chicken or beef. Beef would be my guess, but there's so much cheese crammed in there, it's hard to tell.

And my dinner--beef flautas, rice, and beans. I don't usually get flautas, but it kind of sounded good. (Actually, the guacamole and sour cream sounded pretty good!) Hubby pointed out to our waitress that I was being all weird, taking photos of our food. Yep, family support--it's what every blogger needs!

And guess what arrived today from the Fat Quater Shop? A little red fat quarter bundle of joy! And why did I get the red fat quarter bundle?

Ah! Because it contained this! Remember this? This is the panel you all made me buy. I can't recall my justification for blaming you at the time, but I know it wasn't my fault--not at all! So, not only did you make me buy a panel, but I had to buy the fat quarter bundle in order to get it!

I also took a little time today to clean off this sewing case I found at Goodwill last week. It will hold all my embroidery stuff--just so long as Gran's supply list doesn't get any longer! Oh, and, of course, I have that fancy-schmancy binder to hold stuff too!

Here's the inside. The plastic tray was cracked a little, but I applied about 27 layers of scotch tape to it--I figure that will hold it for now. (Until Gran's supply list grows longer.)

And then here's what I spent much of the day working on--the hats and shoes quilt top. I think I'm liking it! Since it was a bit wider than it was long, I added that black floral panel at the bottom. I'm planning to add some applique there. Want to know what I'm going to add?

Here I have the letters cut out--I'm in the middle of prepping them for applique.

So that was pretty much my first day of vacation, except for the grocery shopping--no photos of that, but after I rearranged the refrigerator, I figured we needed a couple things. (Like more ice cream.)

The original plan for this vacation was that Hubby and I would drive down to Salinas to visit my mom while I was off. Remember my mom and her broken hip? Well, she's doing okay and is in a nursing home, where she'll stay for the next week or two and then be released back home. After talking with my brother about our planned trip, I found out that he'll be out of town the days we'd planned to visit and my sister-in-law will be working and getting her son ready for his prom. On top of that, Hubby's been suffering from nearly daily bouts of Meniere's disease, which makes him dizzy and nauseous. The bouts seem to be triggered by the changing weather and allergies. So, all in all, we've decided to postpone the visit for a couple weeks and drive down on a weekend. By then my mom will be back home, and the weather will have stabilized, so hopefully Hubby will be feeling better.

And you know what? That's fine with me--I have so many things to do around here, I wasn't really looking forward to spending so much time on the road, although it would have been nice to spend a little time with my family. Still, I'll have that to look forward to in a couple weeks.

Well, it's time now for me to go lay around and do nothing--after all, I'm on vacation!

Hat Party--The Aftermath

I was so tired after class that I was asleep by 11:30 and didn't wake up Sunday until 9 a.m. Apparently that still wasn't enough sleep, though, because I took a nap Sunday afternoon for about two hours. I think I'm pretty well rested up now!

Spike took a nap with me.

She sure makes me laugh! Isn't she funny the way she gets under the quilt with her head sticking out? She's such a silly cat!

A couple people asked about the hat pincushions, so I thought I'd tell you how they're made. If you'd like to make some, you'll need a 3" diameter styrofoam ball, cardboard for the hat brim, fabric, ribbon, buttons, wool or fabric for leaves, and a glue gun.

Cut the styrofoam ball in half. Cut a 6" circle of fabric to cover the styrofoam ball. Wrap the fabric over the ball and using the glue gun, secure the fabric to the bottom (cut side) of the ball, being careful to only put glue on the fabric and let it cool just a bit before pressing it against the styrofoam--if the glue is too hot, it will simply melt the styrofoam.

Cut a 5" circle of cardboard. Cut an 8" circle of fabric. Lay the fabric "good" side down and place the cardboard in the center of the circle. Wrap the fabric over the cardboard and glue it to the cardboard, gathering and gluing as you go around the circle.

After covering the styrofoam ball and cardboard circle with fabric, glue the two sections together, centering the ball on the cardboard. Glue ribbon around the hat to cover the small gap between the two sections.

I used green wool for the leaves of the "flower" on the hat. I was given a similar pincushion sometime ago, and the person who made it used fabric folded like prairie points and gathered at the wider end to form a leaf. You could also use silk leaves.

For the flower, I made a yo-yo with a button in the center and glued it to the hat brim. Again, small silk flowers would also work, and I saw a Clover yo-yo maker at the quilt shop that makes "yo-yos" that look more like flowers.

I've been working on my hat and shoe quilt top today--I may have something to show you tomorrow, so come on back and see!

Hat Party Class

Today was the Hat Party class, and I think everyone had a good time! It was a dreary, rainy day in Sacramento, so what could be better than getting together with friends to sew?

Since I always like to make my classes as party-like as possible, today's class included a tea party.

Earl Gray and English Breakfast tea was served, as well as crustless sandwiches--tomato and avocado with cream cheese, cucumber with cream cheese and lemon pepper seasoning, egg salad with bacon crumbles, and pesto chicken salad with parmesan cheese and sliced almonds. Yum! We also had fresh strawberries, lemon cake, raspberry filled mini donuts, and almond cookies. One thing we didn't lack was food! Of course, with all the sewing going on, we needed to keep up our energy, right?!

Have you ever had clotted cream with jam on buns? Hubby and I had it at a B&B in West Vancouver several years ago and it's a wonderful treat! Well, I tried to make some for our tea, but it was a bust. First of all, I tried Alton Brown's clotted cream recipe, and 15 hours later I still had cream with very little clots. Of course, I didn't read the reviews ahead of time, but now that I have, I see that half the people loved it and half the people ended up with cream and few clots. Yep, I'm definitely in that second half! Then there were the buns. I have a little book of tea recipes and I followed the recipe to make the buns, but the dough was WAAAAAY dry. I had to add some additional milk to get it moist enough to where I could kneed it at all. Well, those didn't turn out too bad, but I don't think they were quite right. Needless to say, the clotted cream, jam, and buns failed to make a party appearance. Still, we hardly lacked for food! We even invited Bearpaws & Hollyhocks owner Lindy and her assistant, Carol, in for a little snack.

Our two new bloggers, Gran and Pam, were among my students. Victoria, Imelda, and Susie also made time in their busy weekends to come. One of the things I enjoy doing is having students bring show and tell--whether from a past class or just something they've made and want to share. Imelda brought her Spring! wallhanging from the last class and it turned out sooooo cute! My photography doesn't do it justice--I should have changed the camera setting to back lit but didn't. Imelda added a bow to her bunny and it was just darling.

Oh, and what's a party without party favors?

Here's what was in the bags--

Some paper and a pencil, so everyone could take notes, a seed packet, a ladybug eraser, a hat pincushion, and two shades of green wool (so my gals could get a start on making leaves for their hat quilts).

By the end of class everyone had made at least three hat blocks. Each of the gals used such different fabrics, the blocks were fun to see as they came together. Each time someone would finish a block, she'd hold it up so the rest of us could see and marvel at. And, of course, the great fun with these stack and slice patterns is sewing one block and revealing what the next combination of fabrics will look like.

The only drawback to the Hat Party? I'm really, really pooped tonight! Time to go to bed with a good book and get a restful night's sleep. I hope you're enjoying your weekend too!

Because The Weekend Has Arrived . . .

IMPORTANT HEALTH ADVICE FOR WOMEN

Do you have feelings of inadequacy?

Do you suffer from shyness?

Do you sometimes wish you were more assertive?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, ask your doctor or pharmacist about Margaritas. Margaritas are the safe, natural way to feel better and more confident about yourself and your actions.

Margaritas can help ease you out of your shyness and let you tell the world that you're ready and willing to do just about anything.

You will notice the benefits of Margaritas almost immediately and with a regimen of regular doses you can overcome any obstacles that prevent you from living the life you want to live. Shyness and awkwardness will be a thing of the past and you will discover many talents you never knew you had. Stop hiding and start living, with Margaritas.

Margaritas may not be right for everyone. Women who are pregnant or nursing should not use Margaritas.

However, women who wouldn't mind nursing or becoming pregnant are encouraged to try it.

Side effects may include:

- Dizziness, nausea, vomiting, incarceration

- Erotic lustfulness

- Loss of motor control

- Loss of clothing

- Loss of money

- Loss of virginity

- Loss of bladder control

- Attraction to ugly men

- Table dancing

- Headache

- Dehydration

- Dry mouth

- And a desire to sing Karaoke

WARNING: The consumption of Margaritas may make you think you are whispering when you are not.

WARNING: The consumption of Margaritas may cause you to tell your friends over and over again that you love them.

WARNING: The consumption of Margaritas may cause you to think you can sing.

WARNING: The consumption of Margaritas may make you think you can logically converse with members of the opposite sex without spitting.

*Margaritas are also available in generic form, known as tequila. Just as effective and costs only a fraction.

Happy Dos de Mayo--or something like that!

Objects of Desire

I think a few of you liked the shoe blocks I posted, so I thought I'd clarify. This is another stack and slice pattern from Sandy Gervais/Pieces From My Heart called If The Shoe Fits. This pattern is kind of neat because the blocks can be made from a layer cake. The fabric line I used, which pretty much goes along with the pattern, is called Objects of Desire. Yummy saturated colors in the line!

I found the layer cakes on sale HERE, but they don't seem to carry the pattern. Of course, if you click on over to the Fat Quarter Shop, you can find the layer cake, the pattern, and much more--that Kimberly has EVERYTHING--just like Barbie! There's a preprinted shoe panel if you like the shoes but don't want to fuss with cutting and sewing, and there's a large stripe that will make a great border.

And why am I'm making the shoes? Well, in the Hat Party class on Saturday, I'll use some of the fabric to demonstrate how to cut and sew the hat blocks. Ideally, I'd like to end up with 6 hat blocks and 12 shoe blocks and set them together in one quilt. Fun, huh?! I think so!

I'm deeply immersed in plans for the class on Saturday, and to that end, I visited a couple Goodwill stores today. I'll show you after the class what I was looking for--and found--but for now, I'll just show you a couple other things.

Goodwill can be counted on as a source for interesting books, and I'm really a book junkie! Oh, and I think you know that I'm a textile junkie too, right? So when I came across the linen and lace book, I was in heaven! And soap making? It's something I've always been interested in. I don't know if I'll ever actually DO it, but at least I have a book now!

I also found this fabric. It looks like a vintage textile to me, and the weave reminds me of linen, but I'm guessing it's more likely to be cotton, albeit a coarser weave. Do any of you have any insight as to what it is and when it may have been made? For $1 I just couldn't pass it up!

Finally, I wanted to welcome another friend to Blogland. Pam has been reading and commenting on blogs for a bit now, and she's finally decided to start a blog of her own. Pam's job takes her all over Northern California, so she gets to visit every quilt shop around--I'm envious! Still, I think one of her favorites is Bearpaws & Hollyhocks--that's where I first met her. I've added both Pam and Gran to the Friends section of my sidebar, so you can click on over to visit them any time!

And, as always, thanks for stopping in to visit--it's a pleasure to "see" you!

* * * * *

P.S.: Now see what you made me do? Yep, if Hubby asks, it's all your fault. After all, I was looking for sources of the Sandy Gervais fabric for YOU when I stumbled across this--I really NEED this panel. ARGH! I think I'm channeling Vicky, poking buttons in the middle of the night!

Mid-Week Update

Hey, did you know the new Quilt Sampler magazine is out? Woo-hooooo! I haven't had a chance to read it in any great depth yet, but a browse through the magazine makes me want to do a little quilt shop traveling!

And hey, did you know that Gran has taken the plunge into blogging? Chances are that if you have a blog, Gran has probably stopped by and commented at one time or another, so you may already know her. Click HERE to go over and visit Ms. Knot-y Embroidery Lady herself and welcome her to the Land of Blog! (And if you're good at putting two and two together, you're right--Gran writes very long class supply lists!)

Speaking of embroidery, I ran across this book in a fabric and craft store the other night and felt it needed to come home with me. Since I love Mary Engelbreit, I think her designs would be fabulous to embroider!

Remember a week or so ago, I decided the Back Home Again fabric in that cute little suitcase wasn't exciting me as much as it had in the beginning of the class, and I decided to start over with the Ellery line of fabric I had in my stash? I thought I'd share a photo with you of the blocks I've made so far. There are two more main blocks and half-sized versions of each, so only four more blocks to make before I can start thinking about setting these beauties! I'm VERY happy with these colors and prints, and making each block is awfully fun!

It's a funny thing--I really love the finished Back Home Again quilt in the original fabrics, but working with the smaller pieces for each block--well, I just didn't like it. How weird is that? I don't think I've had that happen to me before--have you?

Time now for bath and bed. I haven't been feeling great today, and I think it's probably a combination of allergies and not enough sleep, so I'm going to try harder on the sleep part tonight.

Before I go, though, just a couple follow up things--YES, I DO have a new refrigerator arriving Friday! All is well in that regard, as I received email confirmation from Sears this morning.

Also, if you're signed up for the Hat Party class on Saturday, there's a post following this one that you might want to read. And if you're in or around the Sacramento area, are interested in the class, and haven't signed up yet--there are still a couple spots left.

I'm glad you could stop by for a visit!

To My Hat Party Students--

Yes, here it is--an extra blog post! I wanted to post a few things for the students of my Hat Party class coming up this Saturday at Bearpaws & Hollyhocks. Everyone is welcome to read it, but it may be boring if you're not attending, and I apologize for that. Today's "regular" post is below and tomorrow's "regular" post will come later.

About the class, though. First of all, the class goes from noon to 6 p.m., so we'll have plenty of time to sew, play, and chat. I WILL be bringing food--we'll be having a little tea party, and I'll probably break out the goodies a couple hours into class after everyone is settled into their work and I can get things set up. So make your lunch and dinner plans that day accordingly.

The fabric requirements I provided the shop may have been a bit sketchy for some of you if you were unable to purchase the pattern, because I said "see pattern." If you weren't able to buy the pattern when you signed up for the class, please know the pattern is back in stock at Bearpaws and available for purchase. In the meantime, though, here's what you'll need.

To make the full-sized quilt, which is pretty large, you'll be making 24 hat blocks. For each block, you'll need a fat quarter. In order to get good contrast between the hat pieces, select 8 light fat quarters (in my quilt, that was the white/off white prints), 8 medium fat quarters (again, in my quilt, that was the yellow prints), and 8 dark fat quarters (the blue prints in my quilt). The fabrics in each color range should blend well together because you'll be using a piece of each of your eight fat quarters to form the backgrounds of the hats.

To make a smaller quilt--and I'd recommend either 12 blocks or 15 blocks--you'll need as many fat quarters as blocks. Again, you'll likely want to select three main colors in a light, medium, and dark range. In other words, for a 12-block quilt, you might want 4 yellow fat quarters, 4 light blue fat quarters, and 4 red fat quarters (this is a sample suggestion for colors here--just as long as there's definition between the colors and an equal number of lights, mediums, and darks, you should be fine).

For the smaller quilts, rather than have a mix of fabrics in each background, I'll suggest you use a unified (all the same fabric) background as I have here in these shoe blocks:

The pattern does not include sashing between the blocks; I've added that in mine. You can chose to make yours either way. I've also added a border to my quilt--again, the choice is up to you. I used felted wool to make the leaves in my quilt; if you want to do the same, Bearpaws may have green wool available but not out on the shop floor--ask Lindy or one of other gals if they have any put away. I also made yo-yos for the flowers in the hat brims, and I used a Large Clover Yo-Yo maker for those; the shop carries the yo-yo makers, but I'm not sure whether or not they have that size. Still, other good alternatives would be yo-yos in a heart shape or larger yo-yos--ask me in class where the yo-yo makers are kept and I'll be happy to help you decide if there's something in stock that you'd like to use. You'll also want to raid your button jar or box, but if you're short on great buttons, you might want to check Lindy's stash of vintage buttons.

Besides fabric and regular sewing supplies, please bring freezer paper, a rotary cutter with a nice, sharp blade, a large-ish ruler (I like to have a 15" square in addition to my 6" x 12" ruler--I'll try to remember to bring my 15" square in case anyone wants to borrow it), and a small cutting mat. There ARE cutting mats on the back tables you can use, but a small mat makes a nice surface for piling and carrying your hat pieces. As an alternative, you might want to bring a piece of sturdy cardboard or a pizza box. I will also have freezer paper available if you don't already have some in your stash.

The good news is that the new refrigerator will be delivered Friday, so I'll be shopping, cooking, and baking Friday night--no need to worry that I'm going to give you food poisoning along with whatever I feed you on Saturday! I'm looking forward to the class--see you at noon on Saturday!

Rage Against the Machine

So I might have bought a refrigerator. Only time will tell.

Do you ever wonder how we managed without computers? Do you ever wonder why things are so much HARDER with computers sometimes?

Hubby and I planned to go to Sears after work to look at refrigerators, but having gotten some input from a few of you and having looked at more pictures and reviews, I decided I really didn't want to take the time to go to Sears and look at refrigerators when I could simply order one on the computer during my lunch hour. So I called Hubby and we talked over our options--I had narrowed it down to four models I liked. Because of our limited space, we eliminated two of the four. Because we like bells and whistles sometimes, we eliminated the not-quite-as-fancy model. That left one obvious choice. Wanna see it?

It's a Kenmore. 21.8 cubic foot side-by-side with neat stuff like lights and water and ice and--you know--neat stuff. (Dianne--see that turkey in the freezer?!) And it actually looks quite a LOT like the one we've had for many years, which means I can get a midnight snack without turning on any lights! So I ordered it. Maybe.

I checked the box on the computer screen and into my shopping cart went a 21.8 cubic foot refrigerator. (It's magic the way that's possible in the virtual world!) Then I checked the box saying we wanted the 5-year extended protection--a large expense, but from past experience, worth every penny. Then I checked the box saying we wanted it installed. Then I checked the box saying we wanted the old one hauled away, shot, and buried. Then I got to a box that asked me about my preferred customer number and the rewards program. And that's where the trouble began.

I DO have a Sears MasterCard with reward points, but an actual preferred customer NUMBER? Hummm. So I tried to log onto my account, but I had password issues. Many password issues. I never seem to be able to remember those details. So I called the customer service number and they also wanted my password. Luckily they were a little less picky--I was able to give them a ballpark guess on what I thought my password might be--or at least a variation thereof. And I told them all I really needed was my preferred customer number anyway--nothing that would breach national security. So they put me on hold for awhile, only to come back and say I didn't have a number, but maybe I should try my account number or the number on the back of my card.

Now, the only reason I was going to this trouble with the whole preferred customer thing was because when I clicked on the "what is this" link, it said there might be other discounts available, and I'm ALL ABOUT other discounts. Still, nothing I tried in that little box worked, even when I chanted "open sesame" while typing various numbers. So I gave up and proceeded on.

On the next screen, I realized that somehow I was buying TWO 5-year protection plans and TWO installations. Now what do I do? Well, luckily I noticed that some steps ahead, there was an order confirmation screen. So, okay, having a great deal of experience with online ordering, I figured I'd just edit my order when I got that far. So I continued on, inputting all kinds of information until I finally reached that screen. And I found that although I could edit just about everything at that point, the only thing that couldn't be edited was my actual order. ARGH!

About this time, I realized my lunch hour was over. And because the store saves everything in a customer's shopping cart for 30 days, I had to go back to the first screen and manually take everything out of the cart.

An hour or so later, after I calmed down a bit, I went back online and did the whole order thing over again. Since I knew what I was doing this time and had long given up on any kind of preferred customer recognition, it only took me five minutes to order the refrigerator. Yes, I got a screen that said I'd ordered the refrigerator and I'd get an email right away with my purchase information on it. Silly me! I believed them and didn't bother writing down the order confirmation number at that point.

Six hours later, and I still hadn't gotten an email. So I emailed Sears' customer service department, asking whether they'd received my order. Now I'm waiting. Waiting to hear something from Sears. Waiting for a new refrigerator. And something tells me it would have been far faster and easier to just go into the store and buy the darn thing! Or, better yet, just give Hubby a printout of the refrigerator I wanted and send HIM to Sears. That's pretty much what I've done in the past, and it works pretty well.

Sometimes low-tech works best, and that's a good lesson to learn. If this refrigerator thing doesn't work out, there's always the low-tech option of a styrofoam cooler and ice.

Husbands and Other Stuff

One of my blog friends, Synthia, sent this to me--it cracks me up. With Hubby not working, I have to wonder how long it will take before he becomes one of these guys! He's actually kept pretty busy so far. Today he spent a good part of the day hanging around the Sears appliance department.

Let me ask you this: Do you have a refrigerator you love or hate? Ours has been having issues for awhile now. Years, really, but the issues have become more critical in the last couple weeks, and we feel it's time to replace it before it quits altogether. Here's our quandry, though. The one we have now is a side-by-side with an ice and water dispenser in the door. The side-by-side is a bit of a problem because there's a wall on one side that prevents the freezer door from opening fully. We love the convenience of the ice and water dispenser, so we were thinking ideally we'd like something with an ice and water dispenser in the door but with the freezer either on the top or bottom. Unfortunately, there seem to be few models out there that meet this criteria and the one or two I found had really poor reviews. Then we thought we'd forego the dispenser, but the popular thing these days seems to be a bottom freezer, and Hubby--because of his muscular dystrophy--has a hard time bending and straightening up. So it looks like we're looking at another side-by-side. Do you have an opinion on any particular brand, one way or another? And, by the way, we're looking at a mid-price range.

Remember Dianne won the giveaway of the Quilter's Kitchen book the other day and I said I'd have to figure out where I'd put it for safekeeping? Well, I was only half joking. I knew the book was here last week but I hadn't seen it for several days. Over the weekend I kept an eye open for the book and sporadically checked here and there, but no luck. By this morning, I was becoming a little more concerned, so I spent a good 20 minutes looking in every place I could think of--still no book. I was half way resigned to just packaging up my copy of the book and sending it on to Dianne; I knew that eventually the other copy would turn up. I'd given up the search and was taking a bath when it occurred to me to wonder whether Hubby had done something with it. Sure nuf! I found it in the garage on one of his tables along with a couple westerns I'd bought him and a cookie cookbook. I guess he's really taking his weekday cooking duties seriously! Dianne, if you're reading this, I'll get the book in the mail tomorrow. (And if you're NOT reading this? I'll probably STILL get the book in the mail tomorrow! 'Cause I'm responsible that way!)

Hubby's getting out of cooking most of this week, so he won't be needing the cookbook anyway. Tonight was the embroidery class, tomorrow night will likely be spent at Sears and any other appliance store that seems promising, and Wednesday night is another quilt class. By the way, I WAS the cool kid tonight with my snazzy new binder cover! A few of the ladies read my blog, so they knew what was coming. And I'm afraid I gave our teacher a hard time about the long, long list of things we were required to bring, but she's actually a good friend and took the razzing well, although she DID give us a bit of homework to complete before the next class in May. Just as long as there are no tests, I'll be happy! Oh, and treats. Yep, as long as she keeps bringing us treats, I'll be happy!

Well, it's WAAAAY past my bedtime, so I'll say goodnight. Thanks for stopping in to visit!