Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Lost & Found.

My pep; it's just not there. I have been working, but not with nearly as much enthusiasm as I had before. Meh.



I finally decided to repair a quilt that was made for me in high school that had some damage. Thanks Luvela. It was very lovingly used and abused, but I have been afraid to hand quilt it because of the nagging perfectionist on my shoulder that rears its ugly head every so often. My original thought was to leave it as is and cover it with a new front and back and tying it for a quick remedy, but as I sat with it thinking on what to do, Kaiya asked if I was going to fix it for her. It's pink after all and everyone in this house knows if it's pink, it's hers. Period.


 
So after fretting and worrying a few days about how my stitches would look, especially a hundred years from now when the bitty's are counting my stitches; I just took the plunge and said screw it. I'm giving it a second life to be loved and used. Then and there I started my first journey into the land of hand stitching.



 
I'm hooked. I adore sitting with the kids with hoop and needle in hand, on the couch, at the doctor's office or while they run around on the playground rounding up imaginary criminals. I like the look of my stitches, even though they are far from perfect. I liked it so much that after Kaiya's quilt was restitched and had a new binding on it, I grabbed a quilt sandwich from my closet that has been waiting 6 months + to be quilted and plotted out a quilting stencil, jumping right in my stitches are becoming more uniform and a little bit tighter. I may actually be able to call myself a quilter and get up the nerve to enter something in the quilt show next year. We’ll see.




Take care,

Sunday, October 24, 2010

We got Booed.

So Cute. .  We found a bag o' treats at our back door yesterday and a paper that read:



 We've been coloring and preparing our bags of goodies to drop off at our unsuspecting friends' houses.   We taped our ghosts in our windows so the next phantom will skip our house and give it to another.  The kids had a lot of fun and they tried to guess who our phantom was.

Brian is very excited to deliver them as he will be able to use his "super spy" techniques he has been practicing such as stealth rolling, diving and invisibility.  The last one, you can imagine, has been hysterical to watch.  Great way to work as a family.     Check it out and get it started in your neighborhood.  Thanks phantom for including us in the fun.


Take care,

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

It's that kind of day


Today we are goofy and tired as we stayed up late watching Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief and trying to get the house ready for the contractors to come in and fix my closet ceiling which developed a big leak. Today is rainy and cold so we have buckets and towels up there to catch all the water until they fix it. NOT FUN. We are going to do some crafts and then later play puppy and most likely crash out at nap time, both of us. I'm still cutting my 2.5 squares for the quilt along and cleaned out a bunch of things, such as fabric notions and a sewing machine giving them away on freecycle. What are you doing today?

Take care,

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Today...

Finally feeling comfortable enough to come out and see us.

Halloween  is every day.


Migration time.


2.5 squares for the quilt- a- long on i'm a ginger monkey.  So many more to go.


Quilting this Scrap quilt. I'm liking the pieced back far better than the pinwheel front.
 It's taking forever.


Our beach find.  So far the view on the beach has been these strewn everywhere all different sizes. 

Today we are going on another sewing /playdate with our friends...enjoy your day, we sure will.



Take care,

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Sunday, October 10, 2010

Paintbox scrappy quilt.

 This quilt was started last March and finally finished.   It measures 49 x 52 inches.  This is a summer weight quilt lined with flannel. 






  I lined the back with primary colors from my scrap stash and used binding that I had made from the backing.  






The quilting was a spiral square within each square.







Fun, Family & Friends at the Faust Farm.

We were invited this past weekend  help our friends on their farm.  I always enjoy things like this and I want my children to know that there is a different life than they are used to, in fact, it is more like how  I grew up as a kid.   We went for the annual chicken harvest and helped out. 


While the adults were  busy with the chickens, the kids went exploring and ran around through the woods and all around the farm.  The rule of the house, especially because the weather was gorgeous, was " get your butt outside".   Brian brought his DS, but Madison soon had him runnin' after her to play.  Kaiya was under the mistaken impression that it was her job to kill the chickens and waited around for a bit for someone to show her how.  She too, happily chased after Madison once she accepted thet she indeed did NOT have to kill chickens.  


These little pigs were new to the farm, purchased and hauled in the day before so they were still abit skittish and very leary of the kids and there supa' fast movements.  It was hysterical to watch them push and shove each other to get to the front to see us and then if someone moved an arm, all hell would break loose and they would run and squeal climbing over and pushing through each other, just to settle down and do it all over again.

It was a long day, the kids left at about 6ish  and I was there till around 8: until the last package of chicken had been packed in the freezer.  Carol and Bill treated me to " shopping in the freezer" for all my hard work.  Farm raised beef, sweet sausage, chip steak,  chicken, ground beef, BACON and brown eggs.   I went home exhausted and dirty , desperately needing a shower and happy knowing that  I'd helped out their family while making new friends and memories with the  my kids.  It was a very good day.
 

Monday, October 4, 2010

I'm switching camps.

My good friend's facebook status this morning said "Hi everybody! Do y'all have your slickers and galoshes ready? '"


Ugh... It is rainy and nasty plus I'll need them for the rain and my tears. I finally have finished my Scrappy star quilt I started back in March of this year; one I was hoping to sell. I knew that there was the possibility that the colors may bleed, since it they did on my wedding star pillow for Chanel, and the "Hanna quilt” and researched what to do before washing. I had read that you can add a cup full of vinegar to your cold wash water or there is a product you can buy to set it, but it is extremely messy and time consuming. So I said a prayer and crossed my fingers hoping for the best and added the vinegar. It didn't work. Let's do some math...time on quilt, 120 hours + bleeding dyes in a 12 minute wash cycle = oh f*%k.


The water's gonna be deep today.


I saw some bleeding and instantly felt my heart sink. Brody being the greatest, ran down to the store and got some Oxiclean, thinking I could soak it and get the dye stains out. It soaked for a few hours. All, save one barely noticeable spot, came out. I immediately went and found the culprit in my stash cursing and muttering”I never want to see you again!" as I walked it to the trash. So as the title states, I’m switching camps.

To which camps am I referring? Well the pre-wash fabric vs. no prewashing fabric camps, silly. I had read the opinions of various quilters in blog land and firmly planted myself on the no prewashing fabric side of the fence. I'd spend the time making the quilt, bind it and eagerly wait for it to wash and dry to see the finished product, all the while hoping for the best. After these two rounds of waiting and hoping for the best knowing full well that my soon to be finished "paint box quilt," will likely bleed as well, well...my stomach hurts just thinking about it. I am planting myself firmly on the other side of the fence now and making a declaration today. I will ALWAYS prewash my scraps or fabrics, especially those that are of questionable origin, before going through this again!


Anyway after starting this 8 months ago, it's finished. It measure in at 47 1/2 inches by 32 inches. It was machine pieced, with machine and hand quilting with some decorative double whipped embroidery in the center of each star. I will be listing it on etsy for sale in the next couple days.
Editted to add: This is winter weight, 100% cotton batting.


 
Take care,

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Mirror mirror on the wall....

Speedy

Fruity


 Speedy (back), Fruity (middle) and Climber


The guys.
 I love these guys crazy as it seems. 



Take care,

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One down and one to go


This one is finally finished and ready to be washed.




This one is in the final stages of quilting.  Binding in the morning.







Take care,

Missing days past.

Original artwork by S.Pfahler.



Take care,

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