Just a Speck Left To Do

Oh, it was a VERY busy Saturday around here! The day started with a trip to the farmers' market. And that reminds me--I wanted to take a photo of some beans I bought and see if any of you know what they are and how to cook them. I'll try to remember to get a photo tomorrow. I didn't really catch the name of the beans, but one of the customers told me she hadn't seen them outside the Philippines for a long time. She said she likes to use them in stews because they need some extra cooking. The bean pods looked a bit like edamame but they're streaked with reddish color. I'll have to get a photo. I just couldn't resist bringing home something new to try.

After that, it was off to the mother of the bride's house to see the space and look at the decorations they've gathered so far, and now I have a much better idea of what's planned. Then I hit the vintage/antique street fair, where I found a five-candle shabby chic candleholder that might work well as part of the centerpiece for the bride and groom table.

Since I didn't get to the fair until close to noon, I think things were pretty well picked over. At the fair, I ran into my friend Imelda and her brother, and I caught sight of another quilting acquaintance, but didn't catch up to her--probably just as well since my time was limited. Still, I don't think I missed seeing anything and I sure could have bought more than I did, but I think I've spent plenty lately, so I'm trying to be a bit more careful.

I took a couple photos of the street fair for you. I wonder if that woman in the green top thinks I'm taking a photo of her? I really didn't even realize anyone was noticing until later--I just pointed and shot in the general direction of some booths!

On the way home, I stopped at the grocery store for a few things and then I cleaned house for a couple hours--I still have to do the kitchen tomorrow, but the rest is done--yay!

After we had dinner, I knew I SHOULD work on either the swap blocks or something connected to the wedding, but I just couldn't resist getting a little further along on Speck.

I still have the sashing between the rows to sew and then the borders, but it's close to done!

Tomorrow promises to be just as busy as today, so I'd better say goodnight. See you later!

Early to Bed, Early to Rise . . .

makes a woman healthy, wealthy, and wise? Well, wouldn't that be nice, if it was true? As I'm writing this, it's Friday night at around 9:30 p.m., and I haven't done a thing since I got home from work. Probably because I just have too much to do and don't know where to start. Sooooooooo . . . I figured maybe going to bed was the best option.

Besides, I have the newest Martha Stewart Halloween magazine to look through. Have you seen it yet? I was kind of excited but then it seemed a bit--and this is just from a very quick flip through, so I could be totally wrong--but it seemed a bit like it's the same Martha Stewart Halloween magazine that was published last year. And the year before. In fact, I've looked at the cover twice to make sure it really DOES say 2012, and it does. So I'll take it to bed with me and either fall asleep reading it or find something in it that's kind of new and exciting.

And I think going to bed early might be a good idea because I kinda feel like I'm cranky tonight.

I haven't mentioned it the last week or two--at least I don't think I have--but I'm still getting up early on Saturday mornings and going to the farmers' market. And getting up early is totally unlike me, but it's kind of nice to get out there in the morning and find yummy stuff. Then, of course, I refuse to get up early on Sundays, so those people who know me well and are initially shocked to hear that I'd voluntarily get up early on a weekend are reassured my body hasn't been taken over by space aliens or body snatchers or whatever.

Another thing I haven't really mentioned to you is that next Saturday, Soccer Son is getting married to his Lovely-Wife-to-be-Someday (gotta pick a new name for her!). So after the market, I'm going out to her mom's house, where the wedding will be held, to check out the space and see what's still needed to decorate it and get it ready. THEN, after THAT, there's the Mes Amies Vintage Antique Fair in Roseville (click HERE if you're local and want to check it out). It wasn't in my original plans because I didn't know about it, but someone told me and now I have to go for at least an hour or so.

What else? Well, I have to go to the "regular" grocery store, clean the house, and finish the winter/red cardinal applique blocks for the swap group--our swap is Tuesday evening. And for the wedding, I need to prepare fabric squares for the guests to sign--cut the squares and add the freezer paper backing.

While I'm thinking about it, I'm probably going to be a little busy this coming week with the wedding and all, so blogging may be spotty at best. Especially if I just decide to go to bed and sleep every time I think about how much I have to do.

But I won't. For the next week or so, I won't indulge in any but the most necessary and urgent need for sleep, but tonight, I've got an appointment with my bed to review my dreams. Nighty-night!

Not My Favorite . . .

I've been devoting a little time here and there to Miss Rosie's Little Bites pattern, Speck. Speck is this month's Schnibbles group's pattern--really cute and there are two options for making the blocks, either with "X"s or "O"s. Nope, it's not Speck that's "not my favorite." And, it's neither Miss Rosie nor Ms. Carrie Nelson who are not my favorites either--'cause they are! Who DOESN'T love them?

Nope, what's not my favorite, when it comes to quilting, are these little corner thingies. I've heard them called connector corners. You don't want to hear what I call them.

Over the years, my cutting and stitching skills have become more and more accurate, but no matter how often I make these corner doo-hickies, they never come out perfect; those corners, once they're pressed back, are always a little wonky. And I don't like to leave all three layers; nope, I'm a trimmer. I like to get rid of that extra bulk. And doing that means I'm eliminating the constant, dependable block edges to line up with.

The first two blocks I pieced ended up being just a bit off. You know how sometimes they just won't lay flat no matter how much pressing and steaming you apply . . . until you get so frustrated you find yourself simply BEATING them with the iron and shouting, "Die, die, die"? No? Doesn't sound like something you'd do? No, me neither. Who'd DO that?! Sheesh!

By the time I got to the third block, I decided it would probably be worth the extra time to square up the pieces so the corners were a bit nicer and everything fit together well. And that DID work a little better.

Now I'm about half way done with my blocks, but I may need to take a little break from this project and go back to the appliqued winter blocks I'm making to swap with my guild group--the swap is supposed to take place Tuesday evening. That will also give me time to get a new iron. I don't know why, but for some reason the bottom plate seems to have come a bit loose from the body of the iron, so it's probably time to replace it.

Is there a type of piecing that's not your favorite?

Found It!

This morning I looked for the crow and Jack O'Lantern stitchery I remembered I had somewhere, and I found it in my bag of embroidery projects, half finished. Well, it's just such a darn cute design, I had to finish it.

If you missed yesterday's post and want to access this free embroidery pattern by Bird Brain designs, scroll down and click on the link--it's the second Bird Brain link.

Last night, I forgot to take a photo to share of the 240 dark red and cream half square triangles I ended up with from my flying geese--I turned the geese in at Thimbleberries Club tonight.

This sure looks like a good head start on a Christmas project, doesn't it?

If It Doesn't Move (Fast Enough), Add Embroidery

Off and on over the past couple of days, I've been embroidering pumpkins on a dish towel, and I finished it tonight. I bought the towel with the idea of adding the embroidery, but somehow I felt a little silly and I'm not sure why. Maybe because these waffle-weave towels seem too utilitarian for embroidery, but I loved the orange, so I went for it.

And maybe it seems a little like overkill since this is the second Autumn towel I've made in the last couple weeks--the other was one I did while on vacation with a pumpkin, star, and crow in wool--remember that one? [Editor's Note: I was actually ON vacation with Sandy, Irene, and Imelda, none of whom resemble a pumpkin, a star, or a crow, which I should have said was the design on the towel. Sheesh!]

This latest towel project was inspired by a free pattern from Bird Brain Designs--they have a bunch of them, as well as all of their wonderful not-quite-free stuff. To find the design I sort of used (their design is Jack O'Lanterns, but I left the faces off and moved leaves and vines--you can see the page I printed to the left of the towel in the photo above), click HERE. And while you're there, check out THIS design--I know I at least started it at some point a year or two ago, but I can't recall if I finished it or what I was embroidering it on; maybe just some muslin or (how original!) a dish towel. I'll have to look for that--I'd forgotten how darling it is!

I also wanted to show you--drum roll, please!--I finished the 120 flying geese blocks!

I have to turn them in at Thimbleberries Club tomorrow night.

I'm not sure why it is, but this always seems to be a productive time of the year for me when it comes to sewing and crafty stuff. Maybe because the long, hot days of summer are shortening a little and I know fall and the cooler temperatures it will bring is just around the corner. Maybe it's because I love fall and Halloween and I'm enthusiastic about jumping into the season. Whatever it is though, I'm on a roll. How about you?

Tools of the Trade

From all of your responses to my question about your favorite tool, I'd say all of us quilters would be lost without our rotary cutters, cutting mats, and rulers of one size or another. I don't think anyone specifically mentioned their sewing machine that I can recall, but that's probably just because it's too darn obvious! I know just about all of us couldn't do without it.

My favorite ruler is one that's 6" x 12", although I bet I'd also love one that's 6-1/2"--maybe even better since so many things are cut to that width. I have several larger rulers, but they're so big that they get in my way; there's always room somewhere close by for 6" x 12".

A couple of you mentioned the cutting mats that turn, so you don't have to reposition your fabric when you're cutting. I've seen a couple of different brands--do any of you have a recommendation? I think I'd like to get one at some point, so any input would be helpful.

Okay, I know you're wondering, so . . . I picked a winner of the Twister tool--the winner is Jo, who said, "I use my 6.5 " square ruler more than any other tool. I love that little thing! Love your quilt...thank you." Jo, congratulations! Email me your mailing address (click on my profile and then click on email) and I'll get it in the mail to you. Thanks to the rest of you for playing along. If you have a chance and you're still interested, DO pick up one of these Twister tools--they're a lot of fun!

Weekend Work

What did I do this weekend? Well, I worked on applique for a set of blocks to be swapped with a group from my guild--we'll swap in about a week and a half. I'll show those to you when I get them done; I had seven mostly done, but I still have two more to stitch and then I have a few last things to add to all nine blocks, time allowing. Just embellishments really.

Then I pulled a thrift store frame out of my car trunk--I bought it last week during a lunch hour expedition--and cleaned and painted it, and then I mounted Witch Wilma in the frame. I think it turned out cute!

I'm starting to get anxious to decorate for fall and Halloween, but I think I'll wait until next weekend to get started.

You know how I just mentioned I still had two of the to-be-swapped blocks to applique? Well, my finger got really sore, so I thought I should give it a rest for a couple days and do a little piecing instead. My Thimbleberries Club was given a year-long challenge: Bring 15 flying geese blocks each month to "bank," and at the end of 8 months, we'll each have 120 geese. And if we made all 120 geese, the quilt shop would give us the setting and border fabrics, I think. I'd decided I had plenty to do each month without having this additional challenge, and I wasn't all that interested, even if it DID mean free fabric. So here it is, nearly the end of the challenge with the last "deposit" due on Wednesday night, and I suddenly decided I SHOULD participate after all.

I thought I'd make my geese red and white--which would be nice for Christmas, Valentine's Day, and the 4th of July. So I pulled out some Thimbleberries fabric and started cutting. 120 geese--no sweat!

Speaking of tools, I know there's a handy ruler called Fit to Be Geese, and there's also the no-waste method of making flying geese, but for whatever reason, I still like the old school way, sewing squares on the diagonal on top of rectangles. The only problem is that there's a lot of wasted fabric cut off.

I almost always try to rescue those corners by sewing an extra seam and making them into half square triangles. Here's a small pile so far. Someday, probably when my finger is too sore from applique to go on, I'll square up these little guys and make something cute out of them. Now that I think of it, maybe that's one of the reasons why I like to make geese the old school way.

What didn't I do this weekend? Well, I just remembered I'd planned to do a little house cleaning and never quite got around to it. Probably just as well since my finger hurts, don't you think?

A Little Twisted

By now, you've probably seen the Lil' Twister tool and possibly a book or two, right? Have you made one of these quilts yet though? I purchased the regular sized Twister tool a year or two ago along with a book and then I also bought the mini Twister, but I still hadn't made anything.

Then, on vacation, we started seeing different projects using the tool at some of the quilt shops we visited and I started thinking it would be fun to whip up a quick Halloween quilt. So I bought another Twister and a charm pack of Happy H"owl"-o-ween fabric (by Deb Strain).

I never did get around to it while we were away, but once I got home last weekend, that's what I did.

If you've never see how these are made, here's the basics: For the regular size tool, sew charm squares together. I used six squares across and six rows down. Keep the colors distinct; don't put any blocks with the same colors next to one another or the pinwheels won't really show up. Add a contrasting 3" border. (You can repeat the same fabric or color that you use in the border, but keep it inside so it doesn't touch the border.)

The tool has cross lines on it--you'll need to line those up with the seams where four blocks come together. (Or two blocks and then extending into the border as I've shown here.) Make sure to keep the tool tilted in the same direction each time.

With your rotary cutter, carefully cut around the Twister tool and move the squares onto a design wall, keeping them in the same order as they were originally sewn together.

Sew the new squares together, and a pinwheel pattern is formed. The books will tell you how to end up with different designs depending on color placement, sashing, borders, etc. Pretty fun!

To mine, I added a small center border and then a larger outside border. I think this will add some great "background" color as a Halloween tabletopper.

I can't imagine the brain that came up with this idea--it hurts mine to even try to think about how it works, although I can SEE that it does. Magic, I think!

So now I have two regular sized Twister tools. Since I only need one, I thought one of you might want to take one off my hands. Just leave me a comment telling me what's your favorite quilt-making tool and why and I'll enter you in the drawing. I'll pick a winner Monday night to be announced on Tuesday's blog post. Good luck!

I Told You So!

I thought I'd tell you a little story that I'm sure many, many of you can relate to. A few months back, I noticed the faucet on our kitchen sink seemed to be leaking, so I told Hubby he needed to replace it. (Yeah, we do the traditional role stuff around here, which means that for the most part, he's supposed to fix things and I'm supposed to complain about them.) At first he couldn't see that it was leaking because it was just a little trickle out of the base of the faucet that ran down into the sink. Then, once he acknowledged the leak, he wanted to wait until Soccer Son could help him replace the faucet. (After all, why hire someone when you can do it yourself, right? And since Hubby's the son of a man who raised six kids on a plumber's salary, fixing a leaking faucet himself is probably a point of pride.)

Time passed and Soccer Son never found time to help replace the faucet and the trickle continued unabated. (Hubby's disabled with muscular dystrophy and doing the job himself is beyond him, yet he never wants my help.) One day about a month ago, Hubby called me at work to ask if I'd noticed water on the kitchen floor before I left for work. No, I hadn't, but shortly after I left, it appears we had a major leak because when Hubby came out to the kitchen, there was water everywhere.

Of course THEN he had to fix the faucet, right?

Nope. Because by this time, he started thinking that if we were going to get a new faucet, maybe we needed to replace the kitchen sink too. And all of that would take some shopping around and comparing prices. In the meantime, a bit of tightening and a bucket under the sink to catch the drips would do just fine.

When I came home from vacation with my friends, I had a new kitchen sink, but the new faucet wasn't working quite right. Hubby had a handyman lined up to come in a few days later to do some repairs, and figuring out what was wrong with the faucet was one of the things on the list.

One evening, when I came home from work, Hubby rather proudly showed me the new faucet was fixed and was working just fine now. Hurray! However, my nose detected an odd and unpleasant odor, so I opened the cupboard and looked under the sink. Here's what I saw:

"Honey, why is there a hole in the bottom of our cabinet?," I asked. Hubby explained that when the handyman got down under the sink, his hand just went though the bottom of the cabinet--it was quite obviously rotted out from all the moisture over the last several months of waiting to fix the faucet.

Tomorrow the handyman's coming back to fix the floor of the cabinet.

In every marriage there comes a time when a husband or wife is just dying to tell the other spouse, "I told you so." Actually, I think it's more accurate to say that time comes along about as often as city buses. But then you think better of it and don't say anything. You just blog about it. By the way, don't tell Hubby I told you, okay?

I Love Getting the Mail . . .

well, sometimes. Maybe not so much when the mailbox is filled with bills or junk mail, but I love it when I can go to the mailbox with the expectation of finding PACKAGES. Packages filled with goodies just for me! Look what came today:

If you're not participating in Sinta and Sherri's Schnibbles club, you might not know that the amazing Carrie Nelson has now designed quilts that are SMALLER than Schnibbles and are called Little Bites. These new patterns use the mini-charm packs with the squares of fabric that measure 2-1/2" (I think they're calling these little guys "candy"); as with the Schnibbles, these patterns use two mini-charm packs. So the other day, when Sinta and Sherri announced this month's pattern will be Speck, I went in search and ended up ordering direct from Miss Rosie all of the Little Bites patterns she just published. And since I know that it's a little tricky to find Miss Rosie's shop sometimes, if you want to take a peek at her patterns, just click HERE. One of the cool things is that you can order PDF versions of her patterns that she then delivers via the mysterious internet communication waves, so you can have instant gratification if you're impatient and there won't be any postage costs either. Of course, you also won't enjoy going to the mailbox quite as much as I do!

When I bought the patterns, I knew I was going to have to find some "candy" to go with them, so I checked around and found The Hometown Quilter. Of course, other websites had "candy" too, but I settled on The Hometown Quilter because she also had some of my favorite older regular sized charm packs--two of Minick and Simpson's Halloween lines and an RJR Halloween line, and I thought (1) I need more Minick and Simpson because I think I'm a Minick and Simpson horder and (2) if I wanted to cut the RJR charm pack into 2-1/2" squares, I could do that easily and it would be a less expensive way of getting the same amount of fabric as two of the mini charm packs, leaving me more money to buy more Minick and Simpson, right?

From the fabric shopping I've done this year, I've only come across one or two Halloween lines that appeal to me very much, so I appreciated finding a couple of "old" favorites. If I give you the link to click to visit The Hometown Quilter, will you promise to leave some Minick and Simpson Halloween fabric for me? Because I suspect I'll need to order a little bit more. (She also has the two new Halloween fabrics I like--Monster Bash and Happy H"owl"-o-ween. I'll show you what I did last weekend with a charm pack of Happy H"owl"-o-ween in the next day or two.) Okay, just click HERE and you'll pop out in the charm packs. When you're done there, there are other rooms--just click the one you want in the sidebar on the left.

It was excellent getting both the patterns and the fabric in the mailbox on the same day, but I've ordered some other things lately, and they haven't arrived yet, so if you'll excuse me, I need to go stand by the mailbox and wait for the next delivery. "See" you tomorrow!