I figured it out...

 ®  ®  ®  ®  ®  ®  ®  ®  ®  ®  ®  ®

Last month - how do I say this? - I did a post - is that right? - on some gorgeous rayon thread I got from Nancy's Notions.  At the time, I didn't know how to add the little "registered" symbol after Madiera ® - but I finally figured it out - as you can see above.  Yay me!!

Now I have to go back and put it where it belongs.........THEN I can sew.

Talk to you later.

Feeling better today...

(11/16/10 - Imported from old blog - Quilt Bum - no relation to Marianne Fons - and re-edited.)

Hi guys -

I have been fighting a cold/flu thing for a while.  I'm feeling much better today.  It took long enough!  I didn't get much done in the last week - but I did manage to do some sewing - between naps, of course.

First - I got the placemats all together into a top - turned out to be about 41" x 45".  Not bad.  I only used 7 of them - so the extra one will probably be - drum roll, please - a placemat!!  I'm going to practice my free motion quilting on it - like I was going to do in the first place!

 

Anyway - I may use this as the back for my other little table topper - make it kinda reversible - haven't decided yet.  But for now, it's going on top of my "unquilted tops" pile - 'cuz I'm getting a little tired of working with blue and yellow.  I get bored easily.  And besides - Halloween is coming and I want to work on something "Halloweeny" right now.

So I dug out a charm pack to play with - Pungkin Peers by Julie Dobson Miner - Studio E Fabrics - really cute.  And my book - Rotary Cutting Revolution by Anita Grossman Solomon.  I wanted to try her "No Waste Windmill Block".  She makes them with 8" blocks but I figured I could resize it for 5" charms - so here goes.

Here we have the first pile all nice and cut -

And the second stack ready to go -

Oops....

Oh, well - guess they're going to be a bit short.  Not the first time I screwed up the cutting - so I figured it was time for another nap.  (Naps - funny how I hated them when I was a little kid - now they are one of my favorite things.)

Later - I put them up on my design wall - 4 x 4 -

Not bad - how about 6 x 3 ? -

Yeah, I like that better - more like a table runner or placemat - depending on how big it turns out.  I love how quilts decide how big they want to be.  This one already decided it wanted to be smaller - or I wouldn't have screwed up the cutting - don't you think?

Anyway - I put the extra (short) pieces up to fill the holes - and got this -

I'm really liking how it looks.  Now I'll sew it together and see how big it wants to be.  Then I'll decide on borders - or not.  Stay tuned.

Bitchy Pill + Voice Mail = Mini Bitch Rant

I'm not feeling well today.  I have been fighting a cold/flu thing and the meds I'm taking make me bitchy.  (Yeah, I know - I don't really need a pill to make me bitchy!)  So I decided to take a nap and when I heard the phone ring - I let it go to "voice mail".

I still don't understand why they call it "voice mail".  I get "e-mail" - you're mailing information electronically - that makes sense.  "Voice mail" just doesn't make sense to me.  It's not like you're mailing your voice or anything.  And at my house, if I don't answer the phone - I have a machine that answers it for me - I call it my "answering machine".  (I told you that I took a bitchy pill - or two!)

Anyway - this is the message I got while I was taking my nap -

This message is for (my full name).  We have received an approval for your follow-up.  Please call us at 555-ABCD.  555-ABCD.  Thanks.  Bye-bye.

OK.
(my full name) - Must be official - no one calls me by my full name unless it's official.
We - Who is "We"?  Who are you?
received an approval - Must be medical.
follow-up - Which one?  I wish I had only one doctor.
us - Who is "us"?  I repeat - Who are you?
555-ABCD - Oh, goody - I get to check the numbers of all of my doctors to see who you are.
Bye-bye - What are you - three?

I know with all the HIPAA rules they can't say they are a doctor's office calling - just in case the wrong person gets the message.  (Too bad they don't guard your financial information as closely as they do your medical.)  But I really want to call them back and leave this message -


This message is for you.  I got your message.  Please call me at 555-EFGH.  555-EFGH.  Thanks.  Bye-bye.

TEN - TEN - TEN

(11/16/10 - Imported from old blog - Quilt Bum - no relation to Marianne Fons - and re-edited.)



I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE TODAY'S DATE!!! - 10/10/10 - TEN - TEN - TEN
It's going to be a VERY, VERY special day - it just has to be with that date - don't you think?

I wonder what Monk is doing today!

FMQA Status Update - I finally basted my FMQA practice quilt yesterday.
I can't tape the back to the floor anymore because even if I can get myself down there - I sure as hell can't get myself back up!!  So no crawling around on the floor for me these days.  Instead, I decided to tape the backing to the top of my kitchen island (38" x 76").  I didn't have the blue painter's tape - all I had was the purple kind - so when I flipped it over - it was all wrinkled and looked like CRAP!!!  UGH!!!

So what to do??  Redo it??  Go to the store to buy some blue tape??  What??

I took a break - put the practice quilt on my cutting table and paid the bills.  When I paperclipped the bills together - to give to my husband to mail - I had a flash of brilliance.  At least I think it was brilliant!!  I could paperclip the backing to my cutting mat!!  So I did!!  The paperclips held the backing right where I wanted it - and the extra fabric just folded under the mat.  Brilliant!!

I did the top section first - I didn't have to paperclip the batt or the top - just the backing to keep it smooth and to keep it from shifting.  I layered and smoothed the batting and the top - and pinned them all together. 

Then I removed the paper clips and clipped the bottom section.

I made sure that the top part was paper clipped in a section that had already been pinned.  (You can't really see the paper clips in the photo - but trust me - they are there.)

And I just let the extra on the top - the part that was already pinned - hang over the edge of the mat and cutting table.

Then I paperclipped the bottom section of the backing.  (Yeah, I came up short on the green backing fabric and had to add a strip of white to make it longer.  I'm pretending that I did it on purpose.)

When it was all pinned and the paperclips were removed - it looked much better..........

And I did the practice pads too - while I was at it.............

Next step - Wiggles!!  What a great name - sounds like fun!!

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew..................

Moving right along...

(11/16/10 - Imported from old blog - Quilt Bum - no relation to Marianne Fons - and re-edited.)

Got my FMQA (Free Motion Quilt Along) practice top done.  All sewn and pressed.  Here's a picture of the strips cut and ready to sew.  UGLY??  Yeah, we can do ugly!!

Then I set up my FMQS (Free Motion Quilting Station).  Complete with my "Supreme Slider"(TM) - all taped down and ready to go.

Until I realized I had the damn thing going the wrong way.................so I fixed it.

And the placemats went up onto my design wall - this way?.........

or this way?............

What if I put them up this way?............

and then fill the holes with my favorite fabric??

Yeah - I kinda like that!!  Think I'll keep it up on the wall for a couple of days (or weeks).  See if I still like it.  Who needs placemats anyway when you can have another unquilted quilt top?

Just trying to get organized...

(11/16/10 - Imported from old blog - Quilt Bum - no relation to Marianne Fons - and re-edited.)

When I started this blog I thought I would try to post something every couple of days.  Well, that obviously didn't happen.  It's been a while now and I feel like I should apologize or explain or something - so I'll try to show you (and remind myself) what I have been up to lately.

Basically, I have been just trying to get myself organized.  I figure that the more organized I am the less time I will spend trying to find stuff and the more time I can spend sewing - and there is never enough time to sew!!

BUT - have you ever noticed that before you can do one thing - you always have to do something else first?  Yeah, me too.  So the motto for the past couple of weeks has been -

"But before I can do that I have to..."



#1 - I wanted to work on the quilts I'm making for my grandchildren (3+2) - five matching quilts (or kinda matching - not exactly the same) - all twin size - (I know, I'm nuts) -
"But before I can do that I have to..."  finish cutting the fabric.

So I did that - see -

There are 200 "segments" in each of the two tall piles.  The shorter black piles are 200 "accent" strips separated into sets of 10 each.  Each quilt has twenty blocks - with six "segments" per block.  So we're talking 600 pieces - all cut and ready to sew.

The pattern I'm using is "Big & Bold" - A Fat Quarter Pattern by Cozy Quilt Designs (TM) - from Connecting Threads. The fabric is the "After Hours Collection" - also from Connecting Threads.

#2 - I wanted to finish quilting three baby quilts that have been "resting" on my dining room table for months now.

"But before I can do that I have to..."  get better at free motion quilting.

SO -

#3 - I wanted to finish sewing two sets of placemats that were to match a table topper I made a couple of months ago (and haven't quilted yet).  The topper pattern is "Moving Violations" - from the book "Rule-Breaking Quilts" by Kathryn Schmidt - (c) 2010 - AQS - 

by the way, my kitchen is blue and yellow -

I figured I could use the placemats to practice my free motion quilting.  And I could get my 1/4" back in line.  Somehow it got messed up on my last little practice table topper (Cottage Wall Hanging Kit - Connecting Threads) -

but it doesn't look too bad on this placemat -

It's supposed to measure 3" from the left edge of the dark blue to the right edge of the white with blue.  Looks damn close to me!!  Close enough for me anyway.  I am one of those who used to obsess about "perfect" but who now subscribe to the theory that "If you can't see it from a galloping horse ten feet away - it's just fine" - unless of course, if you want to enter some quilt show or competition where it will be judged - then it must be better than perfect!!

The pattern is "Take Four" by Something Sew Fine / Cary Flanagan.  Think Ricky Tims "Harmonic Convergence" meets Karla Alexander "Stack the Deck".  I can't show you the "in progress" photos because I don't want to violate any copyright laws and all that.  (I do take pictures as I go along, though - I like to see the progress - then I add them to my scrapbook.)

So here is set #1 -

And set #2 -

And a close-up of the yellow and white with blue  -

And a close-up of the dark blue - it looks black in the other photos - but it really is a navy blue with little blue flowers - really pretty -

And my favorite - the focus fabric - I really want to do a Kaleidoscope quilt with this print someday -  it has some beautiful colors - and so much movement - I just love it!!

.

But then again, I may use all eight placemats to make a quilt top.  Haven't decided yet.  I'll see how they look on my design wall.  Or I may try to work something up on my new EQ7 program -

"But before I can do that I have to..." learn the new features of the upgrade.  Hopefully they won't get in the way of what I used to be able to do - just the simple stuff.  Learning the ins and outs of EQ7 is on my "to do list" - along with about a gazillion other things!!

#4 - I got caught up in "The Bitchy Stitcher" blog - love that blog!!

#5 - I discovered Leah Day's blog - "365 Days of Free Motion Quilting Filler Designs" - that led me to surfing to find the best price on her "sewing table".  Walmart - Sears - AllBrands - Nancy's Notions - Sewing Machine Outlet - etc. etc. - until I hit Jo-Ann's.  Jo-Ann's had a sale and offered a free table with orders of certain other cabinets.  COOL!!  Only thing was - I didn't find this offer until Sept 29 - and the sale ended Sept. 30 - tomorrow!!  I hate that "buy now or else" thing!!  But who can pass up "free"??  So I thought about it -

"But before I can do that I have to..." figure out where the hell I'm going to put TWO new pieces of furniture in my already crowded sewing room.  Bottom line - I decided to pass on the sale.  I have no room unless I want to ditch my sewing desk - and  I've have that desk since high school - it's not going anywhere!!  And my Lily 555 is set up perfectly for piecing and applique. 

#6 -  I found (Yay!) - then lost (Oh, CRAP!) - then found again (Finally!!) - another blog - "A Few Scraps" - with more free motion quilting stuff.  That took a while.  I bookmarked the damn thing - but forgot the name - so didn't know which bookmark was the one I wanted - and had to check them all to find the right one.  Now that I have found it again - I'm going to try to catch up with the "Quilt Along".

"But before I can do that I have to..."  set up one of my other sewing machines for free motion quilting.

"But before I can do that I have to..."  find a space for it.  The dining room table was elected to become the new home for my Free Motion Quilting Workstation.   (My serger is already there and I think it's lonely.)


"But before I can do that I have to..."  make room on the dining room table.  (Oh, no!)


"But before I can do that I have to..." figure out what I'm going to do with the "Orca Quilt" that is resting comfortably on top of it right now.  My friend is working on it and it's fusible applique so I really want to keep it flat - hence the dining room table.  I decided to hang it on the back of the door in my "Fabric Room".   (More on that some other day - suffice it to say I have taken over one of the back bedrooms to store my fabric stash - "I am a quilter - and I have the stash to prove it!!)  Anyway - here's the "Orca Quilt" in its new home -

And my newly semi-cleared off dining room table - all ready to set up. 

#7 - I want to make my practice quilt and practice pads for the "Free Motion Quilt Along" -

"But before I can do that I have to..." choose some "ugly" fabrics.  These should work -

#8 - I want to work this blogging thing into my schedule -

"But before I can do that I have to..."  figure out a way to do it more often.

"But before I can do that I have to..." figure how to make the damn things shorter.
(Yeah, right!!)


Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew.........................