Holiday Festivities

Thanks for coming back to visit me. I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving. Ours was great. My mother called last week and told me her plans. We were having our gathering on Friday at her house. The sun was shining at that time and I had lots of energy, so I offered my house. This way, she could deal with the cooking, and I could deal with the cleaning.

It was a good plan, except I had to go grocery shopping, and when I came back, the sun had already gone down. The next few days were cloudy and gloomy, so the energy I had when I made my offer was gone. Although I did some cleaning, I had to force myself to do it. Luckily, Wednesday and Thursday were sunnier, so I was able to do the cleaning, and this way, I didn't have to spend all week cleaning. Yes, that means the sewing supplies had to be removed so the living room could be a living room again. I did have to keep all the bedroom doors closed though!

Thursday I went shopping at CVS. I don't generally go there, but they had a whole page of things that were free - you get extra bucks, which is irritating that you are forced to buy something from the store. When I got home, I realized I hadn't gotten extra bucks for one of the items, so I went back for that. I also managed to buy some gifts to use up some of those extra bucks.

Friday morning, we decided to risk Black Friday shopping again. Woke up at 4:15 to go to the store before it opened. This time, we went to a smaller chain (Staples), and at a smaller shopping center. I didn't have any big purchase in mind this year. There were some smaller things I have been wanting the last few years, and they all happened to be at terrific prices and all at one store, so I decided to go ahead and splurge. We were able to sit in the car in the warmth, and then someone drove up and decided he wanted to wait outside. So then we all had to get in line. It was a small line, but there was a minimum of 6 of each item in the store, and if everyone in line wanted the same item, we could lose out. The manager said we could fill out a paper to say what doorbusters we were there to get, and we could get tickets for those items, which were ours once we got a ticket. No pushing, no shoving. It went amazingly smooth. Compared to our trip last year, it was a completely different experience.

Everything was so smooth, I even went back to the store after breakfast to exchange the printer. I had been looking at the printer speed, but when I looked at the ad again, I realized that the printer I didn't buy had a flatbed, which would be wonderful for scanning photos, so I did the exchange on Black Friday.

I picked up a telescope from the drugstore for my niece's birthday, and all the kids really were excited about it. My nephew put it together in a few minutes without reading the instructions. My neighborhood in the city is well lit, so they really couldn't see anything, but my niece will be able the stars from her house really well.

Now I am going to give my credit card a chance to rest.

Next, a Bird

After finishing a big quilt, I have been wavering about what to do next. There are lots of things that need finishing - my SITP is still sitting our waiting for the setting triangles to be cut. The Dear Jane can be picked up at any time. There are several other projects that have not been completed. There was that orange crazy quilt I talked about the other day for which I have already conducted auditions.

I was doing my daily blog tour, and visited Nellie's Needles again. She tempted me yet again with more of the lovely birds. She even has a tutorial and explicit directions. I already have printed out the pattern. I decided to just do it. They are just so cute!

I made the body, and it came time to attach the legs. I have wire. I know I have wire. But wire is thin and small, and can hide easily amongst other craft supplies. I searched for it, and found all sorts of other projects that need finishing, or starting. My UFO list that is on my spreadsheet doesn't really cover all the thoughts that have flitted through my head and through the store.

I couldn't find the wire, and decided to go to Walmart to see if they had any. See smart, avoiding craft stores! They had this floral wire for less than a dollar, so no big loss. Especially if I make more stuff with the wire. And I also got a blouse for $1. It doesn't fit me, but it is a lovely fabric, and is lined, and has a bonus zipper I didn't notice when I bought it.

I put the wire in, and finished up the bird. Look, she can stand now. I need to add the beak still. It was fun to make - I may have to make a few more. The wire had 30 pieces to a package.

Snow!

We had snow flurries yesterday. The forecasters have been talking about snow for a while here, but by the time I woke up and looked out the window there was no snow. Today was my first sighting, therefore it is my first snow of the season.

Every time I walked by the front window, and see this wall of white in my peripheral vision, I would be amazed. Wow! Is there that much snow? Nope. The owners of the house next door - the renters have moved out - have contractors working on the foundation, and I let them borrow my driveway. The wall of white I see is this big truck sitting in my driveway. You would think the noise would be a giveaway.

The good news is that they tore down part of my wood fence that was deteriorating, put back the chain link fence that was between the two property lines (they weren't planning to), tore down the honeysuckle bushes that the tenants didn't feel the need to trim, and the sidewalk alongside the house which provided quick getaway. Yep there were two fences alongside the line. The former tenants of both houses had neighborly disputes, so one neighbor installed a privacy fence right after the other neighbor installed the chain link fence. Ever heard of psycho-geography? How the place sometimes holds memories of past events and somehow the new people carry on with it. I have seen evidence of it, but hope that when I do get new neighbors, we can break that cycle.

In quilting news, I have simply been cleaning up. I cut the purple scraps for the rail fence leaders and enders project, and am working on general cleanup. Can't let the dust bunnies grow big enough to form an army.

Purple Parfait is Finished!

The quilt story: This quilt was started in a class I took in September of 2003. I was still nervous about colors, and I had my sister help me. She asked me what I wanted, and I decided that since the pattern was Peach Parfait, I wanted Purple Parfait. I'm still not sure what parfait means or looks like, but I was thinking of something soft and frou-frou. I had already purchased lots of purple fabric - I made a lot of purple quilts that year, probably after this one - and we picked out the ones that fit the bill. We added some darker tones to make sure there was enough contrast. I had to find a suitable background fabric. I was not able to find any at Joanne's, so I bought it from the LQS. The only quilt shop fabric was probably the lowest quality fabric. It tended to bubble up when ironed. The cutting was not fun. Each of the fabrics go into each part of the quilt. Yes, I did layer them together to make the cutting quicker, but I did not enjoy it. I felt like a rebel going to a class at the quilt shop with non quilt shop fabric, but I was happy with the color and fabric choices. We used the Easy Angle 2 and it did make the sewing much nicer. No need to draw lines! There were lots of leftover HSTs. Apparently it worked very well. Look at all those sharp points! I'm sure I must have had to redo some seams to achieve those nice points, and it must have been very easy or very hard, but I don't remember that part. Putting the quilt together was hard, only because it was hard to get a good balance of lights and darks. The directions didn't say this, but it is best to make your fabrics an even stair-step in values. My darks didn't stair-step very well. And they seemed out of balance no matter where I placed the blocks. The quilt instructor had the same problem. Preparing the quilt for quilting was a little bit difficult, as you know. I clipped a corner. The quilting was fun and easy, even with thread breakages, and shortages. I think quilting free motion really makes a quilt. All those bumps and wrinkles give it life. I just hope nobody tries to psychoanalyze me by the scribbles I made on the quilt. I did a simple meander in the body. The outer border has what was supposed to be an S shape, but I like the result, even though it isn't an S. After binding, I decided the inner border also needs quilting, so I put on some scallops to mirror the design of the fabric. Photographing the quilt is difficult. This quilt doesn't really match anything in my house, and it is bigger than most of my open floor spaces. Picture it draped on a white wicker chair, in an enclosed porch, with lacy curtains blowing in the wind, which show some pretty green plants and flowers. It's a big lap quilt, big enough to tuck under my feet, and my chin at the same time, and all around me, and it is big enough to cuddle in. And it comes in pretty princess colors, so I can feel frou-frou while I watch tv.

Temptation

I am thoroughly enjoying handsewing the binding down of my Purple Parfait quilt. And as I do, my thoughts are wandering about what I am going to make next. The plan is to finish up another one of my UFOs. I did promise Finn two finished quilts, and I have several quilts that simply need quilting. I enjoy quilting, and I want to have all my quilts finished, so there is no reason to not follow through with the plan, right?

As I wander through my blogs, I find a quilt from time to time that strikes my fancy, and I note that I may want to make that someday. Sometimes it is a simple design, that makes me think I can finish it off quickly. Sometimes it is more elaborate and just appeals to me. Today it is this bright orange crazy quilt made by Daniela in Romania. We won't mention that the quilt I am working on was started years ago, and I have a long list of projects I already have started, kitted up, and the recent fabric purchase which will be counted as stash unless I designate it for a project right away. This one - the orange crazy quilt - is definitely being added to the list.

Is My Slip Showing?

Has this happened to you? The top has shrunk during quilting, so when the sandwich is trimmed, it now leaves exposed edges. I tried to pin it really well, especially at the corners, but apparently it wasn't enough.

I've already fixed it, and am working on the binding now. But I was wondering what you do to avoid this sort of thing, and what you do to fix it.

Edited to add: I don't think I was clear when I wrote this post. This is the front of the quilt. I trimmed it by lining up my ruler on a border.

Intervention

I am sure that if you lived closer to me, you would have read that last post about needing new thread, and realized how dangerous a shopping expedition could be. You would have called me and told me that you would get the thread for me. But you don't and you didn't.

This meant that I went alone, armed with my 10% coupon. It started out innocently enough. I bought the gray thread my mother needed. There were three shades of light purple I bought a while back. The lighter purple was used up earlier. I used the darker one for the quilt. I could have used the medium color for the quilt, but decided to treat the quilt right for a change, and get the correct shade from the store. It looks like they have changed the numbers and/or discontinued that particular shade. Since I had my bobbin with me, I tried to find the right shade the best I could.

Then I wandered over to the fabric area. You know, since I was in the area and all. I bought lots of yellows. I don't have a lot of yellow in my stash, not that I want to have a stash, but I saw a pretty yellow and blue quilt. And I might have bought a few other colors as well. I haven't bought a lot of fabric this year, and I made up for it in that one trip. I even bought weird fabric for a crazy quilt I may make someday.

Then I went home, put the thread in the machine, and quilted away. And wouldn't you know, I got the wrong shade of purple. It is the light shade. My medium would have been darker, and matched better. Oh well. The machine was already threaded. The quilt is now finished. I need to bind it and I will be finished.