Coming Soon to a Computer Near You?

I noticed yesterday that Carol's back at her blog (and all's right with the world). And she started back with a post that touched on the need to cut back on fabric buying. Well, that kind of hit home with me, especially since I'd just written a blog about ordering some fabric on the internet and forgetting that I'd done it. And sitting in the Sweat Shop, looking around at my stash--or trying to find a home for anything new I bring in--makes me realize that for me too, it's time to sew more and buy less. Have you reached that place in your quilting life yet?

For some of us, it might be a financial decision. For some of us, it might be a space decision. For some of us, it might be a decision based on the knowledge that no matter how long we live, we're NEVER going to be able to use everything we like and buy. And for many of us, it's a combination of those three things.

I've been thinking for some months now that I'd like to host a quilt along. You might remember I mentioned that possibility some months ago when many of us had geared up for a quilt along and ended up not participating because it didn't feel like the project for us.

Since then, I've had the idea percolating a bit at the back of my mind, but there have been other things going on. So it's still just a bit of an idea, but it's starting to develop. Here's what I'm thinking about so far.

There won't be much direction about how much fabric you need ahead of time, and there are two very good reasons for that: (1) I want us all to use stash fabric and scraps, and (2) I don't know what the quilt will BE yet--and probably won't until it's done. I'm thinking of calling this quilt along something like Kim's Big Scrappy Quilt-Along Adventure. Catchy name, eh?! It will be kind of like a mystery quilt but different because I don't really like mystery quilts!

Most of the blocks will actually LOOK like something. What I mean is that I like star blocks, house blocks, tree blocks, etc. I'm visualizing something a bit like a row quilt. Or a medallion quilt with houses, trees, and "stuff" in the center and stars all around. Take a look at THIS quilt I made. It won't BE this quilt--nothing as elaborate and I seriously doubt that I'll make you do applique--but this is a bit of the feeling I'm thinking about--a quilt that's cohesive in subject matter even though it's made from scrappy fabrics.

I think the quilt will be the size of a large wall or throw quilt when we're done. I think the blocks will be of various sizes. I suspect we'll be making a few blocks each week. And I think you'll probably have a front row seat on the design process, since I'll be doing some of the designing as we go. Scary? Maybe. But if we end up with extra blocks that aren't used in the end, they can be used for another project--after all, the idea is to use scraps and stash, be creative, and have fun doing it.

I'm going to try to get my thoughts ironed out a bit more in the next couple weeks and then let you know what the plan is. Do you think this might be a project you'd be interested in participating in?

How Did I Miss THAT?

If you've read my blog for a bit, you probably know how freakish I am about grammar and punctuation. So how did I not know that March 4th was National Grammar Day? I had to look back in my blog to see what I was doing that could possibly have taken priority over a day dedicated to the celebration of good grammar--turns out that's when I was working crazy long hours and stayed half the night at work the night before with my boss trying to get a project out the door.

Maybe you wonder what got me started with the grammar thing today? Or maybe you already know?

Old Navy. Old Navy partnered with a number of well known colleges and universities around the country to market a line of football T-shirts. Unfortunately, the tees were printed with "Lets Go!!"--which is missing an apostrophe between the "t" and "s." Really, how does that happen? (Click HERE to see the tee.) And how will the Old Navy TV mannequins sell these things?

Do you know what else I missed? The Wet Seal T-shirt error. The T-shirt was printed with a fairly tacky slogan that said "If Your Single, So Am I." (Photo HERE.) "Your" should have been "you're," as in "you are." It's a contraction. Sheesh!

On a positive note, The Wild Child hopes to become an editor once she completes her education. It seems there's a real need for editors, just as long as marketers and advertisers wake up and realize it.

Next year, remind me about the March 4th "holiday," okay? I hate to miss these kinds of crazy, fun, wild celebrations!

Fabric Amnesia

Do you ever order something online and forget you've ordered it by the time it arrives? I don't do it often, but every now and then, it's like my body double went shopping and didn't tell me.

Late last night, someone brought in the mail, and there was a squishy Priority Mail envelope for me from a quilt shop. Really, I didn't even SEE the envelope until this morning as I was getting ready for work, and for the life of me, I couldn't remember what it could be, and I didn't have time to open it before leaving for the office.

You probably aren't quite as anxious to find out as I was, but even so, I'll show you what I found when I came home from work and opened the package:

See that dark fabric underneath? Even as I was pulling it out of the package, I couldn't remember why I'd bought it. Isn't that funny? Finally, when I looked at the charm packs and saw the Luna Notte pack, I remembered.

For last month's Le Petite "club," Miss Rosie's human rewarded each of us who made the George Schnibbles with a layer cake. Except in typically generous Carrie Nelson fashion, we each received TWO layer cakes and a little pattern. Here's a photo of my "haul"--

See the Luna Notte layer cake? Well, I finally remembered that I'd decided to purchase a "neutral" fabric to go with the layer cake and make something; and because the charm packs were on sale, I bought one of those too--and a couple more to keep it company on the long journey from the fabric shop to my mailbox. After all, we all need travel companions.

I can hardly believe I totally forgot about ordering that fabric! After all, it's not like I could forgot what Carrie Nelson sent us. One of these days, I'd like to do something nice for her, but I'm not sure what. If I ever find Aladin's lamp, I'll send that genie off to visit her. Or if she ever needs a kidney, I'm the gal to ask.

By the way, her new book, Another Bite of Schnibbles, will be out soon. It's definitely on my Amazon wish list.

It's Official!

I hadn't told you before, but when my boss decided to take a leave of absence to spend three months with her new husband in China, I decided that maybe it was time to have carpal tunnel release surgery on my left wrist--I had the right one done last June.

My left wrist wasn't as bad as the right, but the surgeon wanted to do it last August. I told him I'd rather try a cortisone shot and wait and see. After being off work for six months, I was kind of anxious to get back, for all sorts of reasons.

In the meantime, the cortisone shot didn't seem to do much, and my left hand goes numb whenever I drive or talk on the phone--not horrible, but life would be better if both hands worked right.

So, anyway, I talked with the people I answer to in my office, saw the surgeon last month, and got the workers' comp approval for surgery; today I scheduled it. September 20th. Check in at 6:30 a.m. No caffeine before. I think that's the worst!

I'll probably take a little blog break when I have surgery--but I'll remind you a couple days before. Four weeks away and I have a lot of quilting and craafting to get done. I'd better get busy!

Pip Berry Garlands and Other Temptations

I've been thinking about autumn off and on. Have you? I thought that when I finally got done dressing up the house for summer, I just might not want to change things again until Christmas, but here it is, just a few months later, and my thoughts have turned to Halloween and fall decorating. It doesn't seem to matter that the temperatures are in the 90s. Just like the swallows coming home to Capistrano each year, every year I start mentally preparing for fall sometime in mid- to late-August.

When I went to my friend Imelda's home a couple months ago, I greatly admired a patriotic garland she had in her dining room, and after I got home, I went on line searching for something for my own home. Eventually, I stumbled upon 1804 Primitives on eBay and found they had lighted pip berry garlands--with several color variations on the pip berries--with rusty stars. Perfect! I decided to order one with cream colored pip berries which seemed to be perfect with most holidays and seasonal decorations. Here's a photo of the one I ordered:

It's not a close up, but you can click over to the seller's store from the link above to see these better--and all the other cool and crafty things they carry. (I also added silicone stars to the lights on mine--they don't come with them.)

So, anyway, when I started thinking about fall and Halloween decorating, I had to admit that the white pip berries just weren't whispering "autumn" to me. So yesterday I visited 1804 Primitives again ordered another one--I'm pretty sure it was the "harvest mix" color. Although now that I look back at the website, I have to wonder why I didn't order the 4 foot pumpkin pip berry garland? Also, not instead of. Well, maybe it's because I DID order several other things besides the garland, and one has to draw the line somewhere, right? Sheesh! I swear I have no self control.

Soon the Ghastlies will be quilted, my package from 1804 Primitives will arrive, and it will be time to get the Halloween and fall boxes out of the garage. I've also been thinking about a new papier mache craft I'd like to try this year.

So how about you? Have you been thinking about autumn yet?

A Ghastlie End

--to the quilt instructions, anyway! When we left off, I had given directions up through making all the blocks and putting them together, right? So the next step is to add an inner border all around--I picked a medium tone (grayish) bramble print. This inner border is cut at 2" and finishes at 1-1/2". You can see a bit of that inner border in this photo:

Next, the corner blocks will need to be made. For these, I believe you've set aside four fussy cut squares. I think you might have even bordered them with the black fabric, but if you haven't done it yet, go ahead and do that now, just like you did with the center blocks.

After that, you'll need to add background to bring the corner blocks up to the right size, also just like you did for the blocks in the center. For my background fabric, I used the same fabric I used for the inner border.

The outer border could be problematic if you use the border print. I bought 2 yards and was able to get six rows of the print out of it. I found that the repeat was a little less than every 12". If your shop didn't cut carefully, you might not have enough to make your border as I did, but there are ways to get around that. I'll talk about solutions in a minute, but for now, let's just assume you can cut six rows, width of fabric ("WOF"). For two of those rows, cut them at the center fold and piece one onto each end of the whole WOF strip, so each border is 1-1/2 strips long--I hope that makes sense!

Measure the quilt top and your strips and trim the border strips to the same length. Sew the side borders on and press.

To the top and bottom borders, add a corner block to each end. Press those seams in the opposite direction from the side border seam so the seams will intersect nicely. Finish sewing on the last two borders. Done!

Now, some possible solutions if you aren't able to cut six rows of border fabric. First, there's the "buy more fabric" option.

Second, consider not adding a top border if you plan to use the quilt on a bed--if your pillows would cover it anyway, why worry? I've done this a couple times just to try to keep a king size quilt a manageable size!

Third, add fussy cut blocks to the centers of each border row--or larger star blocks.

Fourth, treat the border fabric as you did with the fussy cut block centers and fussy cut each section and alternate those pieces with plain fabric.

I wish I could say I'm done with the Ghastlies when it comes to my own quilt, but I'm still plugging along. Sometimes it feels like I'll NEVER finish, but I'm getting close--I just have two and a half borders left to quilt and then, of course, there's the binding.

But, I think before I get done, I'm going to need more of that green thread. Isn't that always the way it goes? Still, I'm pleased with the way it's turning out. Happy quilting!

The Voice

Okay, so we talked about reality TV the other day and most of you who commented said you didn't watch it. And I think maybe a couple people mentioned reality TV shows like American Idol and similar "competition" type programs. In fact, it seems to me maybe someone said American Idol was based on looks more than singing talent. Or maybe I heard that criticism somewhere else. And yeah, I can see that.

Anyway, today I learned that one of my co-workers, Chris Fields, received an invitation to try out for The Voice. It you click HERE, you'll see I mentioned him about a year ago when he sang with the Q-Balls at one of my firm's annual events. Talented guy.

From what Chris said, I think he feels The Voice is based more on talent than looks, particularly since the judges can't even see the contestants to begin. I haven't watched it--so far. But I've seen the commercials and it looks like an interesting show.

The Wild Child tried out for Idol. From her description, the try outs were so brief that I think many talented people don't get much of a chance, particularly if they don't make an instant visual impression.

Unlike Idol, Voice views applicants' You Tube videos and invites some of the best based on their videos--which seems like a more reasonable way to find people with talent, doesn't it?

I'm excited for Chris. I have no idea how the selection process goes from here and what his chances are, but I think this will be a pretty cool experience, don't you? Did you watch the first season? I'll let you know how Chris does and whether he makes it though the first round of auditions.

For What It's Worth . . .

I have another little quilting/sewing tip--or maybe two--tonight. First, in the block below, see how the seems aren't pressed very flat? Particularly that one seam? It's not THAT big a deal to have the occasional seam going the wrong way or not laying completely flat, but you should be aware that if your seams are pressed flat to one side or another, the seam line will be straighter. Of course, we all mis-press a seam or get one caught in another seam going the wrong way occasionally, but when it happens more often than not, chances are the look of the front of the quilt will suffer too. Paying attention to details really does make a difference in the quality of the finished quilt.

What I really wanted to talk about here, though, is tension. See the wavy line of the bobbin thread in some seams? I think you can especially see the loops in the seam on the right side of the photo where a blue square meets a blue and gold half square triangle, right? I've had that same thing happen with my Bernina, and no matter how I adjust the tension, it still isn't right. I probably should take it in to be cleaned and checked out, but I've been procrastinating.

Berninas, however, are pretty well known for that type of tension problem, and there's a simple solution that I've never heard from any "official" source, but it's been passed on to me by other Bernina owners. If you have a Bernina and have had wonky tension--and if you don't already know about this--maybe this will help.

All you have to do is run the bobbin thread through that little hole in the doo-hickey, like this:

Here's another look from a different angle.

After running the thread through the hole, just pop the bobbin into the case and sew as you normally would.

I don't know if there are similar tricks for other machine brands, do you? If so, please share in the comments.

Public Scrutiny

I was watching TV briefly tonight between arriving home and dinner time, and there was a story on one of those gossipy entertainment news programs about the suicide of the husband of one of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. I thought it was interesting that the host interviewed various "regular folks" about whether reality TV had perhaps gone too far.

In all the Real Housewives shows combined, there were something like 39 couples, and something like 13 couples had split up after being on the show (I didn't write down the figures, so I'm just going by memory). Of course, studies show that about 50 percent of marriages result in divorce so maybe the Real Housewives stats aren't that high, but then again, those splits occurred in a fairly short period of time.

Historically people--most people--have always been nosy and gossippy. Back in the day, we watched and talked about our neighbors; now we have reality TV and . . . blogs!

I've been left comments in which I've been taken to task for blogging on subjects that should stay private. Yep, I'm pretty open about my life for the most part, but sometimes I keep things private--but, of course, you don't know that. For instance, I try to be conscious of what friends and relatives would want me to talk about and what they would not want me to talk about. I like to tell you funny stories about the people in my life, but if the stories might embarrass those people, I don't.

The difference, maybe, between reality TV and blogging is that bloggers get to edit themselves. I'd hate to have someone follow me around filming everything I do and then let them decide what to show and what not to show. Offered a chance to be in a reality TV show ("Real Quilters of Sacramento" sounds pretty catchy, doesn't it?), I'm pretty sure I'd turn it down. I can't imagine that constant attention--I'd snap, I think!

Do people on reality TV shows simply get what they bargain for, or do you think reality TV has gone too far? Most of the "regular folks" they interviewed on TV said they didn't think reality shows had gone too far, but then again, they were edited. What do you think?

On the Mend

I stayed home from work today and I'm feeling better this evening, but there's really not too much to talk about since I just slept about as long as I could stand, and then read and quilted some. Back to the real world tomorrow. Thanks for the well wishes!