
Friday, September 30, 2011
I May Not Finish Quilts; But I Make Damn Good Blocks!

Thursday, September 1, 2011
Somewhere in This Post, is a Winner
The bad news is that I am sick. I am sick with a cold that Connor brought home from school, along with a few red marks from his teacher. I guess that I should be like a ''normal'' mom and be disappointed in him for being verbal in school and for his lack in self-control during class (and that is definitely the message that I perfectly portrayed to Connor); however, I am really just ecstatic that he is not the mousy, shy boy that I thought him to be. I am sure that this bad boy image that he has acquired from his first week of kindergarten isn't a downward spiral into tattoos, body piercings, and bad taste in music. It is kind of funny to see other moms think otherwise though. ''Oh, NO! Johnny got a red mark! Now he is NEVER going to get into Yale!'' lol. Yep. You're probably right. But I think it has less to do with Johnny talking during class, and more with the bottle of glue that he chugged during recess. Really, Connor goes to school with a lot of normal, happy, good, smart kids...with a few overly privileged ones thrown in, just to make it interesting.
The good news is that I had the foresight to package up the winner's fat quarters last week into an envelope, all ready to mail. So no yucky germs being mailed to anyone! I am calling this foresight, but we all know that this was pure luck. Being a mother, you can plan a schedule better than the Presidents secretary, but that all means nothing with a baby, 5-year-old, and husband always changing things on you. You might as well wake up every morning planning for train wrecks, alien invasions, and house fires. Then if those things don't happen (yeah, right), you have got yourself a special day!
I am hoping that this is the way that the gal who writes the blog My Life in Quilts starts out her days, because these 6 free fat quarters thrown in will probably make the invading aliens seem like a minor detour. Congratulations!...And a heartfelt 'Thank You' to you all who entered the drawing. I enjoy doing these things, so I think a new one will be in the plans for October 1st as well. I will keep you posted.
The good news is that I had the foresight to package up the winner's fat quarters last week into an envelope, all ready to mail. So no yucky germs being mailed to anyone! I am calling this foresight, but we all know that this was pure luck. Being a mother, you can plan a schedule better than the Presidents secretary, but that all means nothing with a baby, 5-year-old, and husband always changing things on you. You might as well wake up every morning planning for train wrecks, alien invasions, and house fires. Then if those things don't happen (yeah, right), you have got yourself a special day!
I am hoping that this is the way that the gal who writes the blog My Life in Quilts starts out her days, because these 6 free fat quarters thrown in will probably make the invading aliens seem like a minor detour. Congratulations!...And a heartfelt 'Thank You' to you all who entered the drawing. I enjoy doing these things, so I think a new one will be in the plans for October 1st as well. I will keep you posted.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Back in Session
Connor started kindergarten this week. He is loving it and doing great, with just a few minor hiccups here and there. His mother, on the other hand, is trying to adjust to waking up at 6:30 in the morning, with temper tantrums and pouting. I have been going to bed at midnight or earlier (can you believe it?). It is not so bad, because now the kids go to bed at 8pm instead of 9pm. I just really wish that I could adjust as well as they have. The secret is coffee, and lots of it. Then after the kids are taken care of, I will usually have a cup myself.
My sister called yesterday to see if I would be interested in making some wall hangings or banners for her church in Oriska, N.D., that recently burned. They are now in the process of rebuilding. I am not Lutheran (those heathens...) :), but I am Methodist, and ''Method''ists make the best quilters, so how could I not. Plus, Oriska's church has been long overdue for a Larry-the-cable-guy lent banner, or an Elvis Easter one. What? At least people will notice them for once. Too bad they're not Catholic; I would make a Madonna Madonna.
I finished another basket for a gal in Australia that didn't get one from her swap buddy. She doesn't have a blog. She doesn't have Flikr. The only thing that I know about her is that she likes blue, and her address. Most people would be frightened by such mystery and vagueness; not me. To me it is a ticket to bend rules, and to do what I want to do. The most difficult swap partner that you can have likes ''Lego's, penguins, and yellow, but not gold yellow...and can't stand Amy Butler.'' Huh? What do you make for those kind of people? That's right! A gold/yellow Amy Butler bag! Anyway, back to this gal in Australia. If you are out there, sweetie; if you ever bump into my blog in the land of Internet and see this, I want you to know how much I loved making your bag for you. Your bag is on it's way. This is what it looks like:
lol. I need a coffee.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Free Fabric for Someone...
I have been buying fabric lately that really needs to be in my stash. I have always loved anything ''funky'', or ''ugly'', or just plain ''Seriously?''. I have liked them for a long while. In fact, I think that it is funny that the fabrics that I am attracted to are called ''Modern'' because they are really either a reproduction of 1940's prints, 50's prints, or most recently, inspired by 60's and 70's prints. It is like I waited 30 years for my favorite prints to become cotton instead of double knit. And now that this kind of fabric is more readily available, I can even score some at lower prices. Last week, I bought some fabric that was discounted. The catch was that you had to buy a yard minimum. I only wanted a half yard cut of these prints, but when I found them available at 1/2 yard, they were more expensive than the full yard. So, I bought the full yards, cut a set of fat quarters for a friend, and decided that I will give a set of fat quarters away to one of you fine people in blogland. I know it is not much, but it is free; and if this goes well, I will do FUNNER things again and more often. You will get the 5 fat quarters shown above with an extra bonus fat quarter. I will choose a winner from the comments of this post on September 1st. The only things that I ask of you is that you leave a comment, and tell your friends on your blog about it. (and Thank You!)
Friday, August 5, 2011
Lord, Bless This Poor Child.
here is a better picture of the front:
This is a better picture of the collar, again with applique lace medallions:
Who Wants a Pretty Scarf?

Dorien at Just Do is having a give-away on her blog of this spectacular scarf. She is amazing at everything! Making bags, pillows, wallets, even bike skirts. Yes. Bike skirts. You really must go to her blog to see just what I am talking about...I stalk her Flikr pictures on a regular basis. I hope you will too.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Take That, You Dirty Vintage Fabric.
Today I am hand-washing some of my vintage fabric. I have 2 loads to do.
When it comes to vintage fabric, I prefer to buy it unwashed. (but hey, I am NEVER going to turn down vintage fabric in any form!) If the scraps are too small for washing, I just use them as is, being especially careful with the reds, blues, blacks and any other ''risky'' fabric.
Many times, vintage fabric is found in attics, basements, garages, storage units, and other dusty, yucky areas. Since I am allergic to dust, I have to clean them the best that I can, without causing any harm to them in the process. Please, fellow quilters, follow a few tips from a gal that has done this for years, again, and again.
- Don't wash vintage fabric in your kitchen sink (I don't) unless that is your only alternative. If you do wash in your kitchen sink (please don't) be sure to disinfect it very well afterwards. Unless you know exactly where these beautiful fabrics came from, you don't know what kind of things have happened to them in storage (think cute tiny animals with long tails). So, yeah, being a former farm gal, I definitely wash my vintage fabrics. I like to wash mine in a cheap plastic Rubbermaid bin in the bath tub.
- If your fabrics are delicate, and you are concerned about washing them, you may want to reconsider even using them in a quilt, which does require a certain amount of strength to hold up, even if you are using them as applique pieces. Remember, many vintage fabrics are just a few decades away from being antique. Weed out the ones that might not make it in the ''survival of the fittest'' selection process.
- Fill your wash tub with warm water (I like to use hot when I can). Separate your fabrics into like color piles (no reds in with the whites) to reduce the risk of bleeding fabrics. Add detergent. I recommend Vintage Textile Soak, or even Oxy powder. An acquaintance of mine, Kathleen McCrady, uses Oxy. Kathleen has over 75 years of experience quilting, has had numerous quilts on the cover of Quilters Newsletter, enough show ribbons to make another quilt out of them, and is a former quilt appraiser, and quilt historian. I figure if a lady of that caliber used Oxy, it is good enough for little ol' seam ripper like myself. I have also used Arm and Hammer Free liquid detergent, which has no dyes or perfumes, on extra dirty fabrics with stunning success. (after doing extensive research on liquid detergents) Now, just let the detergent mix with the water well, before adding the fabric.
- Carefully add your fabric to the wash tub and mix it up with your hands. Don't agitate the fabrics too much, just a few minutes of plunges should do it. Let that soak for about 15 minutes. Plunge away for a few minutes, soak for 15 minutes. Dump the water out of your wash tub, being careful not to lose any scraps of fabric (this is why I love having the Rubbermaid bin in the bath tub.) squeeze as much of that (DIRTY!) water out of the fabric as you can. Do not wring.
fill the wash tub with fresh, clean, cool water. Add the fabric. Plunge it for a few minutes to rinse out that detergent and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. Plunge again, and drain the water. You may have to rinse twice to get all of the detergent out.
- Squeeze (don't wring) the water out of your fabric. Let the pieces dry flat if you can. I have used my dryer on low heat setting on rare occasions.
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