Zip It!

I've been a little sidetracked lately. Remember I'm supposed to be quilting a quilt? And then after that, I have the Ghastlies quilt to quilt? Well, I've been taking a little break.

On one of the little shop hops I did with my stitching group, I bought two Atkinson Design patterns for little zippered bags that are oh so cute! When I realized I had several things coming up this week that I needed little gifts for--a couple birthdays, my stitchery group get together, and a "just because" gift--I thought the zippered bags would be perfect. After all, I think most of us could use another zippered bag to keep our stuff in, whether it's coupons, cosmetics, or stitching supplies, right?

Want to see what I made? Other than the last cherry zip, these are all around 8" long by around 4" tall.

I'll have to tell you a little more about the Saturday spent with my stitching friends this month, but that can wait until tomorrow. What couldn't wait, though, was showing you these little pincusions made by two of our members--we each received these.

No matter whether we're on the giving end or the receiving end, gifts between friends are the best, aren't they?

Mayo or Miracle Whip?

Barb, Judy, and I were sitting in the kitchen at work the other day, in the aftermath of a belated Fourth of July barbecue, reminicing about how we used to have to walk ten miles to school and back each day, barefoot in the snow, uphill in both directions, . . . well, you know how you get to talking with your contemporaries about the old days, right?

Before long, the discussion turned to food. And we learned that two of us had been raised with Miracle Whip and one of us had mayonnaise. And all of us, by the time we hit our teens, stumbled upon whichever one we had not had growing up, and thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. And speaking of sliced bread, two of us hardly EVER had soft commercial white bread, so a loaf of Wonder Bread was a real treat. With bologna. And Miracle Whip . . . or mayonnaise.

Barb and her husband Richard, before he passed away last year, took a lot of road trips, visiting family on vacations and seeing the country. She remembered that sometimes they'd just CRAVE bologna on soft white bread with mayo--or Miracle Whip, I can't recall which. So they'd stop at a little grocery store along the way and buy what they needed in order to slap together several sandwiches before they pulled back onto the road.

With that conversation in mind, last night I added a poll to my sidebar--you may or may not have noticed. The question is: mayonnaise or Miracle Whip? I'm just curious. And maybe thinking about it will get you thinking about some of the good childhood memories. Like walking ten miles uphill to school in the snow each day.

I gotta think the stuff our kids remember of their childhoods can't be nearly as good as ours, don't you think? Maybe the next time we get together, I'll have to ask them. What do you remember fondly of your growing years?

The Information Two Lane Roadway

The internet is a wonderful thing where we can share all kinds of information. Sometimes people ask me questions, and I'd really LIKE to help, but their comments come through as "no reply" so I can't answer them directly. Or I'll decide to write a public response, but a couple days will go by and I'll have really exciting stuff to write about, like shaving my legs, and then I'll forget about answering questions. So I just want to say I'm sorry if I'm not always very helpful.

Sometimes I'm asked questions and I don't really know the answer, but I'll give the person my opinion anyway. That's what I thought I'd do tonight.

Ruby asked about pinning quilts and how to get a quilt back nice and tight so it doesn't wrinkle when quilting. Truthfully, I struggle with the same problem.

It seems like back in the good old days, when I'd haul my quilting stuff down to the quilt shop and use their tables to pin, my quilt backs ended up being stretched out nicer than they seem to be now, when I pin my quilts at home. Why? I'm still using tables, still clamping down the layers, still doing just about everything the same. My only guess is that I might be using fewer clamps since my tables are thicker, they're harder to clamp, and I only have eight clamps.

The quilt I'm working on now? Here's a photo showing the back looking like it's in danger of me quilting folds into it:

Of course, in looking at it, you might say there aren't enough pins--and that's true. I've found that no matter now many pins I put into a quilt, by the time I get to the outer borders, I need to un-pin, smooth out and adjust the layers again, and re-pin. So I just use a few pins in the outside border--less to remove that way.

When I finish the center part all around--which is pretty much where I'm at in the section shown above--I'll smooth and re-pin the remaining areas, pinning more heavily.

Please, if any of you have tips to share about successful pinning, leave a comment because my normal wealth of information is suffering a bout of poverty on this subject.

I've started a new e-mail folder called "questions" where I can better keep track of the stuff you might want to talk about--whether I actually have an answer or just want to make something up. That way, when I run out of stories about the dumb things people do and I've already told you all about ME, I can check the folder and pick a topic YOU want to discuss. Because you know it's all about YOU, right? Okay, you're right--it's not. But I'm still happy you stopped by to visit.

Arr-rou?

Remember that noise Scooby Doo would make when he was surprised, puzzled, and just couldn't figure something out? I think that's pretty much what I said when the Casey Anthony verdict was announced the other day.

It kind of reminded me of the O.J. verdict--and it seemed like the people I talked to experienced the same kind of shocked disbelief. I've heard the media speculate that juries now hold the prosecution to a higher standard as far as forensic evidence goes, and that might account for the acquittal. Still, Scott Peterson was convicted on less evidence.

I just read that officials have prepared a secret exit for Casey Anthony so she can leave after the sentencing hearing and bypass the media and the public. But where will she go? She can't go home.

Really, I didn't pay much attention to the trial because I didn't believe there could possibly be any outcome other than a finding of guilty, so I'm not completely familiar with the details. Still, I can't help but wonder what the jury thinks happened to that little girl. I'm just puzzled by the whole thing. What are your thoughts?

Dirty Little Secret

In response to my blog the other night, Anonymous Melinda asked whether I've shown you my purse. I'm sure I must have because I show and tell just about everything creative I do unless it's a surprise for someone and I don't manage to take any photos before I give whatever it is away.

My purse tends to be a hold all for everything I need to carry around. And it's kind of a mess right now. Thank goodness there are pockets lining the inside of it--otherwise, I'm sure I'd never be able to find anything! Just to take this photo, I had to pull out two Tupperware containers and a Schnibbles pattern. (And yes, as a matter of fact, that IS a 2010 day planner shoved in there. Nostalgia.)

Originally, I purchased the Desk Deli tote pattern to make a tote for Girl Boss 1 for Christmas. I modified the pattern a little bit and made myself a tote to use as a purse--the one above. People seem to love the "cat fabrics" I used and the black and white colors, but most of all, the trim I added gets a lot of compliments. Here's a close up:

I've been using this purse for a couple years now. It really needs to be washed, but I also noticed a couple worn spots on the bottom corners. Maybe I'll wash it and make some kind of decorative patches--I'll probably wash it and then decide if it's worth the effort. More likely, I'll just make a new one. Make a fresh start. Because I have purse issues I've never told you about before.

That's a photo of my old purse, sitting in a corner of my bedroom on the floor near my shoes I kick off at night. Still filled with junk. Yes, that's a golf ball you see. And a partially filled bottle of water. And some allergy tablets. And whatever else fills the inside--that apparently I've not needed for the last year or so.

I like to think of it as my bedroom-based emergency survival kit. After all, isn't that REALLY what our purses are? Survival kits?

Sometimes I really wish I had a personal assistant to do all the stuff I never seem to get around to doing.

Better Late Than Never

So did I find time to "play" on the 4th of July? I guess the answer to that question depends on the definition of "play," and even I'm not sure at this point. What I ended up spending a good chunk of the day doing is decorating for summer. Yep, red, white, and blue. Normally I would have decorated the house for summer around the end of May but it sure seemed like more work than I wanted to do at that time, so I put it off, and kept putting it off until today.

I hung last year's cherries quilt in the hallway. Remember this one? I like it hanging there--it brightens up the hallway considerably.

Besides the decorating, I cooked our holiday meal. BBQ spare ribs, potato salad, baked beans, corn on the cob, and garlic bread. Yum! (I think we're going to have to load up on the green veggies the rest of the week because they sure were lacking in tonight's dinner.)

Oh, and I can't forget the lemon meringue pie--although the flash from the camera made the meringue look like it's radioactive!

Whenever I needed a little rest during the day, I did a little quilting. And a little reading. And now? Now I think it's time to go cut that pie! I bet I worked off the calories already. Thanks for visiting!

Just Peachy!

Sunday was filled with domestic activity. I sure am glad we have an "extra" day off this weekend, because it's gone by waaaay too fast with not enough play time so far!

Our cool spring has turned into a raging hot summer with temperatures up above 100 degrees. I set my alarm this morning to wake up reasonably early so I could run errands and get back home before it got too hot--the weather forecast called for temperatures nearing 90 degrees by 11 a.m. I was lucky enough to find a parking spot in the shade at Trader Joe's. Have you tried Trader Joe's vanilla ice cream? Oh YUM! But keeping the car as cool as possible gives me a much better chance of getting it home before it's melted!

What could be more summery than homemade peach jam? Trader Joe's also has small boxes of peaches, and whatever gets a little too soft for eating makes perfect jam. And that's what I did today once I got the groceries home and put away.

This jam was made with the peaches I bought a week or so ago; I bought another box today and much of this one may well be destined for a pie, I suspect.

After making jam, I quilted a little bit and then I cleaned house, cooked dinner, and quilted some more. And then cleaned house some more--I wanted to do a pretty thorough job of getting the dust out of all the nooks and crannies.

Now the chores are done, a cool bath awaits, and I'm dreaming of homemade peach jam on biscuits for our 4th of July breakfast. I hope you have a wonderful holiday planned!

How Ghastlie!

I finished the quilt top. Woo-hoo! And yes, folks, it's a big one. Not quite big enough for my king size bed, but it will certainly fit my daughter's double--or even a queen, I think.

I ordered some fabric online today that I want to use for the backing, so hopefully I'll be getting the Ghastlies pinned for quilting by the end of the week. I'll try to get a better photo once I have it all laid out on the tables. In the meantime, I've begun quilting this one:

I've decided to outline the red pinwheels and then I'll go back and meander in the cream colored sections.

I was a little distracted today by this book:

I finished it by early afternoon, which meant I could finally get something done! I highly recommend it. I'm not sure whether the book ended a little too quickly because I honestly feel a bit more time should have been devoted to telling us what happened after the central events or whether I just didn't want it to end. But the ending DID feel a little bit rushed. Still, an excellent story. What books have you enjoyed during the past month or two?

Feeling a Little Crafty

What do you have planned for the holiday weekend? Most of my plans involve quality time in the Sweat Shop interspersed with occasional bouts of barbecuing. [Did I tell you Hubby bought himself a new BBQ for Father's Day? Infrared technology--apparently it's the next big thing although I feel like everything we've cooked on it so far has been just slightly underdone. Continued experimentation is obviously in order!]

Besides the couple of quilt projects I'm working on, I have an urge to do a little crafting, although I'm not sure what I want to do. I stopped at JoAnn's and Michael's on the way home from work and gathered up a few supplies.

I've been intrigued by Valen's recent project HERE, and I was hoping to find the supplies at JoAnn's, but I didn't have any luck. However, I DID find what I needed HERE and placed an order--if you're interested, browse some of their many categories--they have some cool stuff and yes, I bought a few "extra toys" just in case. (Just don't ask me, "In case of WHAT?," because I haven't even a remote clue what disaster could strike that would require me to have little amber jars, labels, charms, etc.)

And at JoAnn's I was tempted by the metal clasp purse frames, so I bought four--two each in two sizes. Why? Who can possibly question the creative soul when inspiration strikes? (How does that sound? Think Hubby will buy it?) Have you made clutch purses using these kinds of frames yet? (If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can see them sitting on the magazines on the lower left side.) If so, what was your experience? Did you enjoy it?

Finally, one of these days--and maybe it WILL be this weekend--I need to make myself a new purse. The one I made about a year and a half ago--that I still get compliments on all the time--is starting to show its age, sadly enough.

I know I can't get ALL this stuff done this weekend, and somewhere in there, I need to clean house too, but I'm sure going to TRY to enjoy myself. And first up? I'm heading to bed with those three magazines to see what additional inspiration I can find. I hope you have a fun weekend ahead too!

Blogger Wasn't My Friend

Maybe you missed me yesterday? If so, you can blame it on Blogger.

Did you get a chance to read my Hubby's birthday post yet? When we concluded the celebrating, I was sleepy and didn't feel much like writing a post. But I did. I wrote it, I revised it, I revised it again a time or two and added more. Finally, satisfied and ready to wash the guacamole away in a Calgon bubble bath, I clicked the "publish post" button. And got an error message. And couldn't get back into my blog.

A bit of internet research later, and I learned that bloggers worldwide were getting the same error messages. I shut down, soaked the guacamole off, and went to bed. Dejected, deflated, depressed, and de-blogged, knowing that a couple of you might miss me come morning. Bummer.

I forgot to tell you something about the birthday festivities. While we were waiting for everyone to gather, Soccer Son's Lovely Wife to be Someday told me about a site that has many, many open letters on a bunch of subjects. Some are funny, some are mad, some are sad, but whatever they are, they make for some interesting reading. So next time Blogger decides to be difficult and you have nothing to read (or even before that if you'd like), read McSweeney's "Open Letters to People or Entities Who Are Unlikely to Respond."

This morning I tried to recreate the birthday post--because I found Blogger had only saved two paragraphs of a very early draft. If you haven't read it yet, it's there below. It's not as good as it was last night, but the moment has passed. The party's over.

But, of course, the next one's just about to begin--The Fourth of July holiday is almost here and the three day weekend is in sight. Woo-hoo!