Knackered

My good intentions to show you the other method of applique I use have come to naught tonight. I spent the day with my stitchery friends, driving up to Apple Hill and tromping around a few of the apple ranches, looking at baked goods, treats in jars, apples, vegetables, craft booths, and various and sundry other delights. We stopped at a quilt shop on the way up and another on the way back. After eight or nine hours spent on this excursion, we were all dragging a bit. But we were all pretty pleased with ourselves and each other too. [If you click on "Apple Hill" above, it will take you to a post I wrote a few years back about Apple Hill with photos, so you can see where we were.]

After getting back to Sacramento, I went to visit Soccer Son and his Lovely Wife to be Someday. They're deep into moving to a new place, with household goods in both houses and nowhere to really call "home" for the moment. While Soccer Son took another load to the new place, his LWTBS and I went to a local sandwich shop to pick up something for dinner, which we took back to the new place to eat. I suspect the pair of them were among the few people in Sacramento who were more tired than I was at that point.

Just one more stop after that--at the grocery store--and I was finally home, but much too tired to do more than stare at my belly button after mustering up the last vestiges of energy to unload, unpack, and put away all of my day's purchases.

Applique can wait. It will be there tomorrow. And tomorrow I'll show you the other method I use. In the meantime, I'm heading to bed. Thankfully, it's Sunday and I can sleep in.

Applique

You know how sometimes days don't turn out quite the way you thought they would? I had one of those kinds of days today. I thought I'd spend the whole day appliqueing except for a little bit of time cleaning the refrigerator and doing the grocery shopping. Ha!

First of all, when I say cleaning the fridge, I mean CLEANING the fridge--taking everything out, checking sell-by dates, washing jars down, washing the refrigerator shelves and parts, and then putting it all back again.

Recently, low back pain has made it hard for me to stand for more than about 15 minutes at a stretch, so during the course of cleaning the fridge, I took a couple breaks. All in all, by the time I was done and everything was back together again, it was early afternoon.

Then there was the grocery shopping to be done and the crazy crowds of people at the grocery store today. Once that was done, of course, it all had to be put away.

THEN my sister-in-law stopped by for a little visit. And suddenly it was time to go out to dinner, and I still hadn't set foot in the Sweat Shop! ARGH!

But I did finally get into the Sweat Shop after dinner, and I can show you a little applique, as promised.

I use two different methods of applique, but for both, I use freezer paper. [It can usually be found at the grocery store with the plastic wrap, foil, and waxed paper. By the way, don't confuse it with waxed paper--it is different.]

Freezer paper has a paper side and a shiny side that's similar to waxed paper. The shiny side can be ironed onto fabric and it will temporarily stick. That's what makes it idea for applique.

First, I place a piece of freezer paper over the applique pattern and trace. If I have a hard time seeing the lines I need to trace, I can place the drawing and the freezer paper on a light box, and that will help me see the pattern better so I can trace it. A window with the sun light coming through will do the same thing.

After I trace my pattern, I cut the freezer paper on the drawn line. [The main thing to remember about tracing a pattern is that the appliqued image will face in the opposite direction from what's drawn. In other words, if I trace a bunny hopping toward the right of the page, when it's finally appliqued onto fabric, the bunny will be hopping toward the left of the page. Sometimes, I simply decide my pieces will go in the opposite direction from the original, but sometimes I decide to stay true to the original design. Although it's harder to write on the shiny side of the freezer paper, it's possible to do so in order for the applique to face the right way. You can also trace one pattern on regular paper, flip it over, and trace it onto the paper side of the freezer paper.]

The next step is to iron the freezer paper pattern onto the "wrong" side of the fabric. Trim around the pattern, leaving about 1/8" to 1/4" of fabric around the outside. [I'm demonstrating on a circle, but if you have shapes with "V" or inside curves, at this point, clip the seams where necessary.]

Using a basting stitch, fold the fabric around to the freezer paper side and baste.

Here you can see what the top of the basted piece looks like.

Press the appliqued piece so the edges are crisp. [Although this photo shows me pressing it on top of the background fabric, it's not necessary to do so--they don't stick together.]

Next, position the piece on the background and pin in place. [I like using long, thin pins, although "applique pins" are very short. It's really a matter of personal preference--try a few things and see what you like best.]

To start, make a knot in a single strand of thread. Use thread that matches in color the applique piece, not the background piece.

From under the background piece, bring the needle up at the edge of the appliqued piece, catching just a couple threads at the edge. Go straight back down with the needle through the background fabric, positioning the tip just under the appliqued piece. Pull the stitch tight enough so the thread is buried in the fabric but not so tight that it puckers.

Continue all around, taking stitches that are about 1/8" long. Remove the pins as you go and watch to make sure the thread isn't caught on the pins.

Knot the thread on the bottom of the background. Remove the basting thread.

To remove the freezer paper, you can either cut a slit in the background fabric under the applique (you can feel the paper with your scissors and should be able to cut without cutting through the paper and the applique), or you can trim away all of the background fabric under the applique piece, leaving 1/4" seam allowance as I've shown here.

The freezer paper should pull out fairly easily.

Press with a hot iron and make sure there are no puckers or bubbles.

You can continue to add applique layers in the same manner, but be careful that when you cut the back to remove the freezer paper, you do not cut through any of the hand stitching.

This method of freezer paper applique is really one of the easiest methods for a beginner to pick up. I've continued to use it because I can also design my own patterns directly onto the freezer paper.

If tomorrow goes as I've planned, I'll show you another method I've recently learned that also uses freezer paper.

Happier

Thanks for your comments about my being out of sorts. I know I can't beat myself up for not feeling like doing much after I've come home from work--after all, it's my first week back, and then there's the end of daylight savings time which makes it FEEL like it's later than it is. But it's so much more FUN to sew than it is to melt into the couch every night, watching TV that seems to have become much more graphically icky lately. (I think I usually don't notice because I'm sewing and just listening instead of watching!)

In any event, I decided I'd go about things differently tonight and just go into the Sweat Shop after dinner no matter what I felt like--and it worked. Of course, tomorrow (Friday) is a holiday from work, so that makes it a little easier to play and worry less about the time and getting to bed.

Saturday I'll be getting together with my stitchery friends, and you may recall we had all decided we wanted to work on the Garden Club Quilt this year. That thought was my reminder that to keep on track with making this as a block of the month, it was time to start working on the second section of the quilt. That section consists of two appliqued blocks joined by a little bit of strip piecing. I finished the first appliqued block tonight--

It's the one to the left with the elongated tree, birdhouse, and bird. To the right is last month's section. (The new section will eventually be added to the bottom of the first section.)

Here's a look at the cover of the book that shows the quilt:

Tomorrow I'll work on the rest of this part and try to remember to take some photos so I can show you the applique methods I like to use. See you then!

My Lucky Day!

I don't know what's gotten into me lately. Maybe I'm just kind of suffering the blahs. Since I went back to work this week, I haven't felt like doing any sewing/quilting "stuff" when I get home at night, and it's not that I don't have any energy--it just doesn't seem very interesting. Of course, I've had a couple things going on, like last night's cleaning party.

I've got to tell you, though, that the service that came in last night did a really good job in most areas. My tub/shower combination hasn't looked so sparkling clean since I spent the better part of two days on it a year or two ago, getting all the hard water stains out and polishing up the whole thing--and these cleaning people managed to get it looking that way in a relatively short time.

A couple of you mentioned that I should talk to the owner. Actually, one of the crew WAS one of the owners--the owners are a husband and wife, both in their mid- to late-20s, who started off the business by doing restorations and expanded into cleaning as well. "My" crew consisted of two guys and one gal--all in their 20s--and I kind of think the two guys did the better job. The gal worked mostly on the kitchen. When I got home, she had just finished cleaning the oven, which was wonderfully clean. The only thing is that it's a self-cleaning oven, so it was probably a wasted effort that could have been better spent in mopping the floor. Oh, well, live and learn, right?

I did want to get everyone's feedback about the fact that both cleaning services I've had didn't do the floors because I thought maybe it was just me--maybe doing the floors was something I needed to specifically ask them to do. And although it's something I always do when I clean, I don't think I've ever talked with friends about what exactly THEY do when they clean their houses. So I'm glad you've let me know it's not my own expectations that are out of line.

I really had the impression that this crew would have been happy to do whatever I asked them to do, but it just didn't occur to me that mopping floors was a special service. If I have them back again, I'll be sure to make a list of what I want done--and maybe I'll include a list of tasks that DON'T need to be done, like the oven. This is all new to me, and I suspect it's a bit of a learning process, like most things.

Ah, I'm rambling. You're probably wondering why it's my lucky day, right? Tonight was our Thimbleberries Club meeting at the quilt shop, and afterward, I was browsing and found a kit for a quilt by The Quilt Company called Rosebud Lane--half price. The kit includes everything but backing, binding, and a missing yard of black fabric--simple enough to pull from my stash, I'm sure. After thinking about it for a few minutes, I realized I'd be silly to pass it up--I really love The Quilt Company's patterns and these fabrics are yummy, aren't they?!

The more I think about it, the luckier I feel to have come across this excellent buy!

What I started off saying about not knowing what's gotten into me lately--I think I've been a bit cranky and out of sorts too. And restless. I think I need to settle into a project I'm interested in and then I'll be fine again. Maybe I'll feel more focused after work on Thursday. And another thing: this year, my office is closed on Veteran's Day, which is Friday, so my first week back to work is a short one. Pretty lucky, eh?!

Yep, I think I just need to remember how lucky I really am and stop thinking about the stuff that doesn't go quite my way. Have a happy Thursday!

The Best Laid Plans . . . .

What Was Supposed to Happen Today:

1. A cleaning crew would thoroughly clean my house under Hubby's somewhat loose supervision, while I was at work but according to some written suggestions I'd left for them about what I would like done;

2. Hubby would join me for a nice dinner at a local pasta restaurant after I got off work and before he went to a photography class;

3. Hubby would then attend a class to learn more about using his camera while I went home and had a peaceful evening, alone at home, just me and my spotlessly clean home.

What Did Happen Today:

1. The Wild Child called me at work, mad because she felt something I'd written for the cleaners about her room was insulting to her--not at all what I intended. I felt bad.

2. Hubby called to tell me the cleaners weren't coming until 4 p.m., which meant we'd need to cancel dinner together . . .

3. . . . and I'd need to arrange to get off work early so I could get home before Hubby had to leave for his class.

4. Then the cleaners called to say they wouldn't arrive until around 5 p.m. Or did I prefer to choke on dust until Sunday, when they could come earlier? (No thanks. Tonight works.)

5. Instead of quietly enjoying my peaceful, clean house, I sat in the living room, eating cold, leftover chow mein and trying to stay out of the way of the cleaning crew.

6. Then, when they left, instead of quietly enjoying my peaceful, clean house, I spent time taking care of some cleaning tasks they didn't do and putting things back where they belonged.

Really, this was just the second time I've had someone clean my house, but both times they didn't mop the kitchen floor. Is that normal? I mean, is damp mopping a linoleum floor something most people don't do when they clean house? I always have and never thought twice about it until now.

I guess I'm kind of cranky tonight. I think maybe some vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce would make me feel better. I sure hope no one's eaten it all.

Oh, and Hubby? He thinks the sponge light shade is kind of neat. Figures, eh?

Souvenir

Hubby came home from Florida late Friday night, and it's nice to have him back home again. I think he was happy to be here too. He's not usually the type of person to think of bringing souvenirs home--if he thinks of anything along those lines, it's usually just postcards--but this time, he did.

I don't know about you, but I tend to cringe internally just a bit when someone says something like, "I wanted to get you something that I knew you wouldn't buy for yourself." Because seriously? There's not much I'd like that I wouldn't get for myself. I'm generally pretty self-indulgent. But that's exactly what Hubby told me as he was pulling a plastic bag out of his carry on luggage. And that wasn't the only clue he gave me. He also told me he had to get the mystery item wet before he boarded the plane so it would fold up into his carry on.

What did he bring back for me? Can you guess?

Hubby brought me a very large sponge that--as he told me--could be used in a vase or to hold dried or artificial flowers. It could also be put into a bowl of water and sprinkled with seeds and the plants could root in the sponge. Kind of like a chia pet but larger and more organic.

I've mentioned to you before that we live in a small house. As Hubby soon figured out, there really wasn't any place to store this chia pet sponge when it wasn't in use, so after peering into a couple closets and scratching his head for a few minutes, he came to the same decision I usually arrive at: It will need to be put in the garage for now.

So up until now, I was okay with the sponge (but more appreciative of the fact that he thought of me at all, really). I'm sure I'll find a need use for it at some point. But I came home from work today to find the sponge was no longer in the garage; somehow it had ended up back in the house, on the desk next to my computer. Hummmm.

Normally, I'd just go ahead and let a sleeping sponge lie, but I have--or at least I THINK I have--house cleaners coming tomorrow to clean my house, so I'm pretty busy tonight trying to tidy everything unnecessary away so they can adequately dust and vacuum. A sponge is not something I want to leave out--at least not the kind of sponge you can't use to clean a house with!

I already knew there was no room in the closets, but I eventually came up with the perfect alternative location on Hubby's nightstand. Do you think he'll notice anything unusual?

Wrap Up

Did you remember to turn your clocks back? I was so tired Saturday night that I fell asleep before I changed the one next to my bed, but I wasn't fooled this morning. Hubby, however, changed the two kitchen clocks and somehow one ended up being an hour off and the other ended up being "a.m." when it should have been "p.m."--or vice versa. No matter, though, since we didn't need to be anywhere on time. There are still a couple clocks that need to be "fixed," but they're not in easy reach, so they'll need to wait.

I DO need to get up on time Monday morning, since it's my first day back to work post carpal tunnel release. I feel I've gotten myself as well organized here at home as I'm likely to be. There are still a couple things I'd have liked to have done while I was off, but I'll get to them eventually.

I spent a good part of my quilting day finishing up some little gifts for my stitchery friends. They're a surprise, though, so I can't show you now. We'll be getting together next Saturday, and I'm very happy to have everything ready so far ahead of time for once. At least I know if going back to work is harder than I anticipate, there's no pressure to come home and get things done this first week.

Stephani left a comment asking about the clamps I use to secure quilts to the tables for pinning. Hubby bought those for me at Home Depot. My tables are a little too thick for large binder clips, so I had to find an alternative, and these work pretty well, although I wish they were a little larger as they'd be a bit easier to squeeze open far enough.

I had an emailed question from someone about the measurements in my Eye of the Beast pattern, and I realized I'd made an error in the printed pattern. If you have one of the patterns, please note that the size for cutting the rectangles should be 2-1/2" x 4-1/2" rather than 2-1/2" x 5". The pieced blocks are trimmed down and the excess would be cut off at that point anyway, but it's frustrating when the pieces don't seem to fit together correctly, so please make a note on your pattern.

I also wanted to mention that I never heard from one of my winners of the Ghastlies blog hop, so I'm sending the prize--an Eye of the Beast pattern and two charm packs--to the person whose name was drawn and sent to Madame Samm. That person was Heather, who said:

"Love your ghastlie quilt and the spooky orbs ... chills!

"Hallowe'en fright story ... We had one tv channel where I grew up on a farm in Saskatchewan and every year at Hallowe'en the movie "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" would be on. My older brothers were allowed to stay up and watch it but I always had to go to bed. Bah Humbug. Finally the year came when I was permitted to watch it with everyone else. Eyes wide, curled up on the couch close to my Mom, I suddenly screamed and almost attached myself to the ceiling. My Dad had chosen the scariest moment to wing his cigarette package across the room at me! (yes, those were the days of smoking acceptance which are no longer) I'll never forget how terrified I was. I had bad dreams many times after that night.

"I guess that's why I was NEVER allowed to stay up and watch "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte" but I do remember classmates telling me about the head rolling down the stairs! Eeeeek!!!!"

Since Heather didn't win Madame Samm's drawing, I was happy to be able to pick her as the "runner up" for mine. Now I just have to make sure I correct her pattern before I send it off!

I hope you have a good Monday! Thanks for stopping in to visit.

It's Beginning to Look a LITTLE Like Christmas . . .

I had a couple things I wanted to get done this weekend. The most important task was getting a king sized Christmas quilt ready for quilting. I had ordered the wide backing fabric via the internet earlier in the week, and it arrived on Friday, so I had no more excuses. Saturday was the day.

I had forgotten how much I liked this quilt top. Over the past couple years, I've found I really enjoy the brighter, cheerful colors for the winter months--this quilt will definitely brighten up our bedroom on dark and dreary days.

This quilt top caught my eye too--it was in my basket of unfinished tops. I thought I might as well prepare this one for quilting while I was at it.

I don't remember how I got sidetracked today exactly, but I began sorting out some of my Christmas fabric and thinking about what I'd like to do this year, and for the life of me, I cannot find the couple yards of red grunge fabric from the basicgrey Jovial line that I purchased earlier in the year. I've looked high and low, and although I DO have a lot of fabric for it to hide in, I'm fairly well organized and I could not find it anywhere. I placed another order to replace the missing fabric, but it's got to be here somewhere. As far as I know, Sacramento's not a hotbed of fabric rustlers, and we haven't had any break ins. Odd. I'll let you know if it turns up somewhere.

The second goal for this weekend was to clean out the clothes and shoes in my closet and pack up what I no longer wanted for donation and pack away the off season clothing. Our weather has finally cooled down, so it was becoming a very necessary task since I'd had both warm weather and cool weather clothes fighting for the limited closet space. When it came to bagging, I had a little help.

Sleeping bag.

Now that I've gotten my "chores" done, I can spend a little time on Sunday "playing." I hope you have a little play time this weekend too--especially if you're in an area that's gaining an extra hour this weekend as Daylight Savings Time goes into hibernation for the winter.

Paris Flea Market

That road trip I mentioned in yesterday's post? Today we went to the Paris Flea Market. Long road trip, eh?! No, not too long--just an hour and a half drive to Livermore where a group of women opens a large warehouse space to the public four days a month--it's called the Paris Flea Market. The shop is fully stocked with a bunch of antique, vintage, and hand crafted consignment goods, all with a shabby chic flair. (The have a sister store in Walnut Creek called A Room With a Past--same deal where they open four days out of the month.)

Sandy and Gran and I hit the road around 9:30 a.m. and arrived in Livermore just before 11. We knew we were at the right place because the street was lined with parked cars.

The "shop" isn't very wide--about the width of one room and a wide hallway--but it goes back and back, with several room as well as an upstairs "loft" area where they keep the vintage clothing. Here are some sample photos of some of the "stuff" they had:

The check out line snaked down the hallway, but that was okay with those of us who had to wait because the hall was lined with shelves and cabinets where all sorts of little treasures were displayed. Ah, we're finally getting close to checking out!

Once we gathered again, we headed off to the downtown area of Livermore for lunch and a stop at In Between Stitches quilt shop--but I've shown you photos before, so I didn't take any this time. And, on the way home? Well, we just couldn't pass by the Ghirardelli Chocolate factory without stopping in to see what kind of chocolate bargains were on offer. The challenge of the day was finding enough room in my trunk for all our purchases--and this photo was taken BEFORE Sandy and Gran had hauled their chocolate bargains out to the car!

What did I buy today? Well, I found some odds and ends, like vintage postcards and cards from an old board game. I also bought some blueberry jalapeno jam, bath salts, and a packet of vintage white buttons. But I wanted to show you this purse:

I've been planning to make a purse for myself for quite some time, and I've been playing around with different design elements in my mind. One of the things I wanted to do was to make some wool flowers, so when I saw wool flower pins today, I thought they'd be the perfect purchase--both for the flower pins themselves as well as for the purpose of having a sample so I could make more on my own. I noticed, though, that the purse WITH one of the wool flowers already attached was only $2 more--what a deal! I think I'll probably keep this purse "as is" and make additional flowers for the purse I plan to make. The one I make will be a larger size, so this smaller one will be nice to have for those occasions when I don't need to carry as much with me.

All in all, it was a very successful road trip! Viva Paree!

Hobby Lobby!

It's HERE! Okay, I know this news doesn't excite many of you who have been shopping at Hobby Lobby for YEARS, but we didn't have any in Northern California, and I'd never been to one before. Up until now, I was imagining something like Michael's or JoAnn's, but now I know you'd have to also throw in something like Home Goods before you'd have Hobby Lobby.

If you're in or around the Sacramento area and don't know Hobby Lobby's here, check it out! It's on Douglas Boulevard in Roseville in the building that previously housed Mervyn's. I had no idea it was here until I drove past it today on the way to meet the Wild Child for lunch. Needless to say, I stopped on my way back and spent a good part of the afternoon there.

The variety of Christmas stuff amazed me! I'm really not quite ready to start thinking about what I might need this year to change or supplement what I have, but at least I know, now, where I'm likely to find it--whatever "it" is. And while I claim not to know what I might need, despite that I managed to find a pair of deer that needed to come home and live on my mantle.

I spent the rest of the day and evening packing away Halloween decorations and readjusting the fall things that remain until Thanksgiving. I have a cleaning service coming in next week--another deal I purchased through Groupon or Living Social--and I wanted to get as much of the "extra" stuff put away as I could so they can do a thorough job cleaning.

I also wanted to show you my fused glass projects I picked up yesterday.

I'm pretty pleased with the way they turned out! It's a little hard to tell in this photo, but the square tree piece is a bowl that's about 2" deep.

I had too many chores to do today to find time for more bunny making, but I hope to get back to it soon. A couple of you asked about my method of applique, and I'll try to get some photos to show you when I do the next block.

Aren't you glad the weekend's nearly here? I have a little road trip planned for Friday with a couple friends, so I'd better go to bed and get a good night's sleep. See you tomorrow.