Another "To-Do" Marked "To-Done"

Of a sort, anyway.

My mom passed away in the spring of 2009. Every Christmas since then, I've intended to put together a photo book of all the photos I have of Mom's quilts and send one to each of my sibs (four in all) as a Christmas gift. And every Christmas it hasn't gotten done. This has been something hanging over me for several years now. I didn't list it as one of my "Quilted Monkeys on My Back" for 2014, but it was definitely there.

As I've been playing around with LifeTopix and setting up my projects for the year, I created one project labeled "Quilt Documentation." One of the tasks in that project was to, once and for all, get that photo book put together. Regardless of it now being mid-January, since I had Monday off as a comp day (to balance being out of town for work last weekend), I sat down to organize those photos of Mom's quilts, put them into a photo book, and send them out to my siblings as a belated Christmas gift.

After monkeying around with it for about an hour and a half, I came to the conclusion that it wouldn't work. Set aside that none of us has a complete collection of photos of Mom's quilts to work with; set aside that Mom herself was really bad at documenting her own quilts (so even those we do have photos of in her albums are often unlabeled so I'm guessing at dates based on color schemes and fabrics)....  The main problem is the quality of the photos is often so poor that if I put them in print in a book, they'd be pretty useless. It just doesn't make sense to spend money having a photo book printed when half the photos would be blurry, pixellated, or discolored.

I finally sent my sibs a link to an online photo album of the photos with an explanation, my apologies, and hopes that they'd enjoy the photos anyway. And I made myself check that task as "done," a quilted monkey off my back, even if it wasn't completed the way I'd have liked it to be.

To be honest, by the time I'd decided it was unlikely to work but still kept poking away at it anyway, I began to get the feeling Mom was standing behind me, tut-tutting and tapping her foot with impatience, saying, "Get over it already, and get back to your own quilting. I can't wait to see how your Rapid Fire Hunter's Star turns out! You know I'd have bought that ruler the minute I saw it, so finish it already, for both of us!"

Lesson learned. The other two tasks on that Quilt Documentation project list are to organize the photos of my own quilts in my digital files, which I've been poking away at regularly over the last couple of weeks, and to create photo books documenting my quilts now, so my kids will already have them in hand when that day comes. Not that I'll tell them that. They get creeped out when I talk about doing things in preparation for when I'm no longer with them. I'll just leave them on a shelf to be found....

Done. Check. Moving on...

What @KnittyAJ can talk me into...

I was caught in a weak moment, apparently.

Listener Kitty had sent me the link to a recent Missouri Star Quilt Company video on the Disappearing Pinwheel. I subscribe to their feed so I'm not sure how I missed this one, but miss it I did. Thanks, Kitty, for pointing it out...I think!

The video shows a twist on the concept of the Disappearing 9-Patch that involves a very simple process for making a pinwheel, and then making that pinwheel "disappear," enabling you to make two different blocks. I thought it was a cute idea so I posted it to Twitter.

And that's when all the trouble started.

Dang, that @KnittyAJ and her enthusiasm! Now, after a series of tweets extending over a couple of hours, several of us are joining in on a Disappearing Pinwheel Quilt-Along. Sort of, anyway. Some of us have Monday, January 20th, off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so we're (as we like to do) spending it sewing and tweeting and tweeting and sewing. So those of us who feel like playing along will be spending at least a portion of our day making a Disappearing Pinwheel. It seems like most of us are leaning towards block version #1, but if you'd like to join in, you can do either variation or any variation you come up with yourself.

For me, this fits in with one of my 2014 Quilty Resolutions to be conscientious about using my stash. This is a fantastic stash project. The project is geared towards layer cakes (packs of 10" squares). I don't have any layer cakes in my stash, but I do have a stack of 10" squares I've cut from scraps over the last couple of years so I'll start there. I may cut some additional squares from my stash as well--I've just got to do some math to figure out how many squares I'll need in the long run, and what kind of variety I've got in my current collection.

So yes, an unexpected new project is now getting shoe-horned into the mix. But I'm looking forward to it--and I'm still making good progress on my other goals so I'm good to go. Isn't that the fun of quilting, after all?

So, check out the videos below and see if maybe you'd like to play along. (If the videos don't appear in your feed, just go to YouTube and search for "Disappearing Pinwheel" and it'll turn up.) There isn't actually a time limit on this quilt-along. My personal deadline is that I'd like to have a top pieced within the next three weeks. Depending on how big a quilt I decide to make, I might send it out for quilting. Could be a donation quilt, could be another dorm/apartment quilt for an offspring, could be something for a guest room bed, or could be something I put on a shelf until I need a gift somewhere down the road....

By the way, @knittyAJ is another podcaster, if you're not familiar with her. You can find her over at The Quilting Pot. Go give her some love--even if I'm gnashing my teeth in her general direction for getting me involved in something new! :-)

http://missouriquiltco.com -- Jenny Doan shows us how to make the stunning Disappearing Pinwheel using Layer Cakes To get the materials needed to make this project, follow the links below. Floral Gatherings Collection (precuts and yardage) - featured in this tutorial http://www.missouriquiltco.com/shop/browse/2840 Bella Solids Natural Layer Cake http://www.missouriquiltco.com/shop/detail/2111/moda-fabrics/moda-fabrics/bella-solids-natural-layer-cake-for-moda-fabrics-sku-9900lc-12 Layer Cakes - Best Selection on the web!

http://missouriquiltco.com -- Jenny Doan shows us how to make another stunning variation of the Disappearing Pinwheel using layer cakes. To get the materials needed to make this project, follow the links below. Muslin Mates Layer Cake by Moda (featured in this video) - While quantities last http://www.missouriquiltco.com/shop/detail/15220/moda-fabrics/-/muslin-mates-layer-cake Layer Cakes - The Best Selection Both East and West of the Mississippi!

Fiskars Fingertip Rotary Cutter photos

In episode 141 "In Which I Get Started on 2014," which I just posted yesterday (Sunday), I reviewed several things--most of which really don't need any pictures to explain them.

However, if you've not seen this one, my description on the podcast may not have been sufficient. Here are the photos to accompany my review of the Fiskars Fingertip Rotary Cutter.

The Fiskars Fingertip Rotary Cutter

It has a removable cover on the 18mm blade.

It fits very nicely on your finger--even more comfortable than holding a pencil.

Here's a close-up of the grip--it really is like holding a pencil. (Sorry for the blurriness. Hard to hold a rotary cutter in one hand and a phone in the other and get a decent picture!)

And here's a close-up of me actually cutting with it. Yes, that turned into a real piece on a project I'm working on. Although the piece later got removed again but that had nothing to do with the rotary cutter....

I really do like this little gadget--I can easily see myself using it often in the future.

Snowstorm January 2014

We got a lot, but a manageable amount, of snow--the plows have been able to keep up with it well, although it's still pretty slick driving. This is one of those days that I'm extra glad to be a tele-commuter (to use an old-school term).

We're also fortunate enough not to be getting quite the horribly frigid temps of other areas, although it's single-digits. I ventured outdoors just long enough to take a few pictures in the yard, because there's nothing I like more than seeing pine trees covered in snow.

Spencer (Princess Doggie)--who normally gives up on the outdoors two minutes into her walk on cold days--took off into the woods and was rollicking about in snowdrifts like nobody's business. I think she figured if she just kept moving fast enough she was good to go--and there were those dang, nasty squirrels to protect me from, after all. Sam (Doofus), on the other hand, who normally loves burying his face in snowdrifts...

I took them both back inside as quickly as I could and spent a couple of minutes getting ice chunks out from between his toes. Poor guy--the downside of all that pretty Golden fur is it's an ice-magnet.

They both immediately flaked out in front of the fireplace. I don't think they'll be asking to go outside again any time soon. And, since it's supposed to just keep getting colder as the day wears on, I think we're all just going to hunker down.

Good day for sewing, and perhaps some baking.

Vacation Accomplishments and Ready for 2014

(Caution: Long post ahead!) I talked about this on my podcast, but here are the pictures.

Recall my blog post on spending Friday at my church sewing "Little Dresses"?

I didn't get any made that day, but I'd gotten some pieces cut out and brought them home to finish. And had to re-do it three times because I couldn't figure out how they were supposed to go together. I'd gotten a less-than-five-minute tutorial in the midst of chaos that Friday; now a few days later I was trying to recall what had seemed like a simple process at the time, but I just couldn't get it to make sense in my head. After ripping seams out for the second time (yay for my Havel's seam ripper!), I walked away in frustration and did something else for awhile. Then it came to me: Was it possible I was missing a piece?

After thinking it through, I decided to make a fourth piece from scrap in my stash. Sure enough, once I made that piece and sewed everything together in a way that seemed to make sense, I had a completed dress that, while not elegantly sewed by any means, is at least wearable and from a distance on a galloping horse, kind of cute.

I stuffed some scrap fabric in the pocket so you could see that feature better. Basic pockets I've done before, so no seam-ripping required there. The fabric is a Hawaiian "bark cloth" that I got in Hawaii a few years back. It makes a nice sun dress as it's a little lighter weight than traditional quilting cotton, but it frays like nobody's business. Ripping out those seams got harder and harder every time!

I was thrilled to hand that off following our Christmas Eve service at church to the woman in charge of the project. Done and done!

I then moved on to things I feel much more confident in, LOL.

I completed Scrapitude Step 1, Step 2, and Step 3. Caught up! Well, okay, still need to trim some dog-ears and square up some units, but I'm considering it done. I'll trim here and there as I'm working on other things.

To set myself up for making serious progress on my 2014 Quilty Resolutions, I bought muslin for and made a boatload of quilt sandwiches for practicing my machine quilting. I think I now have 16 or so, all somewhere around 12-16" square. That should supply me for some time to come, anyway. (No pics since they're just boring white squares!)

Also towards my resolutions, I prepped several new pages so I can finish my Stitch Bible for the Carol Ann Waugh Craftsy class "Stupendous Stitching." I got about halfway through my Stitch Bible last January/February and ran out of pages; that became a stopper. I think I've now got enough pages to finish up the Stitch Bible so that's a priority for the rest of my vacation. (Also no pics yet--I'll wait 'till there's stitching on there.)

I finished the center of the Hunter's Star quilt I'm making using the Deb Tucker Rapid Fire Hunter's Star (petite) ruler I won from AJ at the Quilting Pot podcast.

Ain't it pretty? Points all met perfectly! The fabric is leftover from my grand-niece's baby quilt. I decided on my border fabric yesterday so now that I'm caught up on Scrapitude, this project is back on deck!

For the last couple of days I've been spending most of my time on this: After my husband surprised me by deciding to move his computer to another room (thereby also removing his computer desk), I moved the furniture around in my sewing studio/home office. And then moved some of it again. And a third time. And vacuumed a whole bunch. I think I'm now at an arrangement I really like; I'm going to live with it for a few weeks and then probably build myself that solid-surface cutting table like Tanesha's--boy, have I wanted something like that for a l-o-n-g time!

And then there were all those other extraneous cleaning and organizing things: the spice cupboard, the pantry (yikes!), my Dropbox folders, my photo files on my external hard drive (still in progress), and learning a new calendarizing/organizing mobile app that I believe is the app of my dreams, but with a big learning curve.

Apparently my sunlight lamp is really working--it's unusual for me to have this much energy at this time of year!

One more day off tomorrow, and then it's back to work. I hope everything I've put in place will make it easier to continue to make progress on my goals.

My word for the year in 2013 was "play." I really do feel like I achieved that. In 2014, I'm going to do my best to live out the word "balance." Everything I tackled this week was with both of those words in mind--what I could do that would be fun, and what I could get done that would help me maintain better balance in the coming year.

Have you done yourself any favors towards the future? If not, what's one thing you could do in the next couple of days that might make life a little easier for yourself in the months to come?

Craftsy Class Completion Update

One of my 2014 Quilty Resolutions was to get more organized and intentional about going through the Craftsy classes I own. To that end, I'm going to post a quick monthly update as to which class I'm working on or have completed that month.

First, here's how I define "completed":

1. I have finished watching all the lessons in the course, AND

2. I have...

• completed the class project, OR
• completed one project in the class (if there are multiple projects--I may not be interested in all of them), OR
• practiced or made note of one or more techniques in the class for use in my own projects later. (I may learn things simply by watching, but am not interested in doing class projects; and, some classes don't necessarily have projects per se but only teach techniques in the first place.)

Other terms I use:

• "In progress" means I've actually taken some actions based on the class and intend to go back and practice more intentionally or do project.
• "Viewed, not done" means I've watched most or all the lessons but haven't taken action steps yet; still plan to.

So, this first blog entry related to my Craftsy classes will list all of the classes I have purchased or registered for (freebies) since my very first day on Craftsy. (I can hear your gasp from here. Just stop, LOL. ) I'll then have notes about where they stand.

Completed Quilt Classes

• Art Quilting 101 with Wendy Butler Berns (no class project; still go back for reference on occasion)
• Chain of Stars Mystery Quilt with Kimberly Einmo (finished class project)
• Color Play for Quilters with Joen Wolfrom (watched all, but did not do class projects)
• Craftsy Block of the Month 2013 with Laura Nownes (watched much of it; decided I wasn't interested in doing the blocks now)
• Creative Quilt Backs with Elizabeth Hartman (for reference only, no class projects)
• Hand-Stitched Collage Quilts with Laura Wasilowski (finished 1 of 3 class projects, posted on blog; watched all lessons--that was enough for me to learn techniques to use on my own projects in the future. Great class!)
• Magical Jelly Roll Quilts with Kimberly Einmo (I'm considering this one completed even though I've not yet made one of the quilts in the class, but did use her class as inspiration for other quilts I made in the interim. Will likely go back and make one or two in the future--I like the designs.)
• Pattern Free Quilt-making with Joe Cunningham (Didn't do any class projects, not sure I will--not entirely to my taste, but good to have for future reference if I decide to play around with it later.)
• Piece, Patch, Quilt: Basic Quiltmaking Skills with Gail Kessler (Always game for new tips even though this is for beginners; watched all the lessons, won't be doing projects.)
• QuiltCon Lecture Series 2013 (watched all those of interest)
• Scrap Quilting with Pepper Cory (watched all of the lessons; didn't do any class projects but will use for reference later as there were a couple I have in the back of my mind as possible donation quilts in the future.)
• Stitch & Slash with Carol Ann Waugh (completed class project and backing!)
• The Art of Cloth Dyeing with Jane Dunnewold (this is the class that sent me down that whole hand-dyeing bunny trail.)

Completed Spinning Classes

• Know Your Wool with Deborah Robson (Used for reference before going to fiber festival last spring)

In Progress or Not-Yet-Started Quilt Classes

• Art Quilt Backgrounds: Beyond Log Cabin with Judith Trager *Not started
• Beyond Basic Machine Quilting with Ann Petersen *Not started
• Designing Modern Quilts with Weeks Ringle *Viewed, not done
• Fabric Patterning with Wax Resist with Malka Dubrawsky *Not started (Took awhile to collect materials, but have most of them now)
• Finishing School: Edges and Bindings with Mimi Dietrich *Viewed, not done
• Free Motion Fillers Vol 1 with Leah Day *Not started
• Free Motion Fillers Vol 2 with Leah Day *Not started (I just bought these two about a week ago when they were 50% off knowing I wouldn't be getting to them immediately)
• Free Motion Quilting a Sampler with Leah Day *Viewed, not done (not making the sampler; watched a few lessons to pick up tips for basting, etc., need to go through quilting designs one by one.)
• Machine Quilting with Wendy Butler Berns *In Progress--see below.
• Machine Quilting Negative Space with Angela Walters *Not started
• Machine Quilting the Home Sweet Home Quilt with Frieda Anderson *Not started (just bought this one on sale a few days ago to have for when I'm ready)
• Painted Pictorial Quilts with Annette Kennedy *Not started
• Pictorial Quilting Techniques with Wendy Butler Berns *Viewed, not done
• Pictures to Pixel Quilts with Carol Sheridan *Not started
• Shoot It! A Product Photography Primer with Carol Sheridan *Not started
• Strip Your Stash with Nancy Smith *Viewed, not done
• Stupendous Stitching with Carol Ann Waugh *In Progress (see below)
• Thread Art with Lola Jenkins *In Progress (see below)

In Progress or Not-Yet-Started Spinning Classes

• Spindling from Fluff to Stuff with Drucilla Pettibone *In Progress (have worked through quite a bit of this but haven't finished a full spindle yet, so not considering this class completed.)

In Progress or Not-yet-started Cooking Classes

• A Modern Take on the Mother Sauces with James Peterson *Not started
• Artisan Bread Making with Peter Reinhard *Viewed, not done
• Homestyle Pan Sauces with Martha Holmberg *In Progress (have made a couple of the sauces, am debating others based on our usual eating habits)
• Perfect Pizza at Home with Peter Reinhart *Not started
• Secrets of Slow Cooking: Mastering the Braise with Molly Stevens *Not started, but will soon--it's winter, after all!

Plan for January, 2014:

• Finish Machine Quilting with Wendy Butler Berns. The main stopper here was that I ran out of prepared quilt sandwiches for practicing and never took the time to make more. During this vacation week I'm working on getting more ready--right now I've got a bunch of muslin pairs cut, but I need to piece some batting scraps together and then baste the sandwiches. I've also added to my task list "15 minutes practice machine quilting a day" and am doing my best to stick to that. I watch a lesson from her class, sketch her suggested designs out in a sketchbook, and then practice that design on a quilt sandwich. I may actually get this class done by the time I go back to work on January 2.
• Finish Stupendous Stitching with Carol Ann Waugh. The stopper here was similar to above--I used up all the Stitch Bible pages I'd had prepared and needed to prepare more before I could make more progress. Creating more pages was one of my #BDSI tasks, so now I'm ready to finally make progress on this class. I should be able to have this class done by the end of January.
• Make progress on, if not complete, Artisan Bread Making with Peter Reinhart. I'm not sure I'll make all the breads in the class but I want to get familiar with his technique and try at least a couple of his recipes.

I'll post at the end of January what progress I've made on my classes. Doing this should help me stay accountable and organized! I'll also be giving reviews of the classes in my podcast episodes so stay posted.

#BDSI--Boxing Day Sew-In Giveaway and Linky Party!

December 26th, Boxing Day, is a day to continue holiday festivities in whatever way you choose! For me, I choose a Jammie Day and some sewing. (Although I heard rumor my son is inviting a couple of friends over for our annual Settlers of Catan tournament, so I may have to change out of the jammies at some point.)

And, as I get ready for the new year, I'm doing a little housecleaning--namely, sorting through fabric and choosing some that, lovely as it is, and as much as I loved it and had ideas in my head for it when I bought it, has languished on my shelves for some time.

I'm offering it up to some lucky winners who will be sure to give it loving, far more productive homes!

I'm going with the stripey theme this time.

Four lucky winners will win two yards of fabric each! In one case, that's two yards of a single stripe. In the other three cases, I've found two coordinating fabrics that add up to two yards (or thereabouts).

First, the Un-Fun Disclaimers:

• I've got two dogs, so although the fabric is clean, I can't guarantee there's no doggie hair on them anywhere. Sorry, anyone with allergies!
• I don't usually prewash. If you're a prewasher, you're going to want to toss these in the laundry when you get them.

And now, for...

The Boxing Day Sew-In Giveaway

Four winners: winners will receive one of the following (my choice).

Prize #1: 1 1/2 yds stripe, 1/2 yd brown

Prize #2: 1 yard stripe, 1 yard check

Prize #3: 2 yards stripe

Prize 4: 1 yard weave design, 1 yard green

To enter, just leave a comment on this blog post telling me of a favorite holiday tradition--of any holiday you choose! Then be sure to indicate in the Rafflecopter widget that you've left your blog comment. You'll see on Rafflecopter you have another couple of options of ways to earn extra chances.

This giveaway is open until Friday, December 27th, at midnight my time (Eastern).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And now...Check out these other bloggers and podcasters offering their own giveaways for #BDSI!

(Click on the InLinkz logo below to view all links in the party, or to add your own! Linky open until 12/27 at midnight.)

A Holiday Greeting Card to Y'All...

It's been a year of fun and creativity! Thanks, everyone!

A video holiday card for my listeners. With thanks to Sandi of Quilt Cabana Corner for co-hosting the Project Hope Online Quilt Show and allowing me to play along in the postcard swap, to Tanesha of Crafty Garden Mom for co-hosting the Banned Book Week Challenge, and to Charlotte for #Scrapitude!

#Scrapitude Step 1--Finally!

With my "found time" yesterday and a couple of hours this afternoon, I finally have Scrapitude Step 1 done--woot!

(If you're not seeing the image below in the emailed-blog version, use this link to see it in Flickr. Not that it's really all that exciting at this stage...)

I'll probably do another Scrapitude linky sometime next week to let everyone check in on their progress. So you may want to put that on your to-do list for #BDSI!

Found time...ice storm 12-22-13

Yesterday we had this...referred to on one website as "freezing fog," which sounds like something evil out of a video game.

Mind you, normally we can see houses. And trees. And the hill across the road covered in pines....

This morning, we have this:

At least we can see the houses again. And at least most of the trees, although the dark green pine is now coated in a half-inch of ice. I almost hate to refer to this as an "ice storm" because we've lived through some real doozies around here that this barely measures up to. But still n' all, it's ice. And it's a storm. So there is that. We're fortunate compared to many other areas of the country--I'm thinking of y'all!

Ice storms do create a dangerous beauty. Here are some close-ups around the yard. As it's a very soft gray light outside, I had to get creative with the photo-editing...and then just started having fun. No ice was added in the creating of these images. :-)

As for the "found time" in the title, due to the ice we're not heading out to church this morning, so I'm about to spend some quality time in my sewing room. We'll be doing some holiday stuff through the day--I believe my daughter may be doing some cookie baking, and we'll be decorating the tree tonight, so it'll be a nice, cozy, relaxed day at home.

As long as we don't lose power...

Announcing the Boxing Day Sew-In! Woo!

For me, the day after Christmas has always been a Jammie Day. When I was growing up, that was a day set aside for being lazy and reading all the great new books I'd been given, and playing games with my sibs. Occasionally we'd get bundled up and go sledding down the hill on our property--a hill that emptied right into a pond at the bottom so you had to learn exactly when to roll of the sled lest mayhem ensue.

Once I had kids of my own, the day after Christmas was set aside for reading stories to the kids, helping them assemble new toys and get stickers in all the right places, and maybe going for a visit out to Nana and Papa's house to go sledding on the hill with the pond.

Now we no longer have Nana and Papa's house in the family, and I no longer have little kidlings in the house. My son has an apartment of his own and, working retail, will likely be working all day anyway. My college-aged daughter will be curled up in her "nest" on our family room couch, reading or hanging out online. We'll still likely play games, but sledding takes a lot more work to get somewhere with a good hill and, frankly, I notice the bumps and bruises a whole lot more now in middle-age. Plus, given that it's currently raining outside, I don't hold out a lot of hope for decent sledding snow anyway.

So now my favorite way to spend the day after Christmas--known as Boxing Day in some parts of the world, is to sew, or read quilting books or magazines, or watch Craftsy classes. Or a combo package thereof.

I--as always--invite you to join me!

Drum roll please... It's time for the

Boxing Day Sew-In!

Logo courtesy Pam of Hip to Be a Square podcast

Join in on the fun on Thursday, December 26th.

I'll be doing some giveaways that day--you don't have to be home and sewing in order to get in on the fun, as I'll be doing all of mine off my blog. I'll also add a linky for any other podcasters or bloggers who want to offer a giveaway that day too--list your giveaway on my blog and please list mine on yours so people will find all their opportunities to win regardless of who's door they walk in through!

My linky will go live at 9:00 p.m. on December 25th to give everyone the opportunity to join up regardless of your time zone. Each podcaster/blogger will have their own deadlines so be sure to pay attention.

We'll also be having all sorts of fun on Twitter--hijinks will most definitely ensue. So if you're on Twitter, I'm @sandyquiltz. You'll be able to find all sorts of other bloggers and podcasters in my follow/follower list and follow them as well. If you're not on Twitter, you may want to think about it!

So, be ready for the 26th! Now I need to get off the computer and organize what I want to get done that day...

2014 Quilty Resolutions Giveaway--Submit your responses!

First, you'll need to listen to episode 138 In Which We Make 2014 Quilty Resolutions to understand what this year's theme is!

Once you've listened, use this link to submit your responses and be entered in the giveaway. Deadline is January 31st, 2014. I'll update this blog post later when I have pictures of what's being given away... :-)

First day of vacation"Little Dresses"

Today was the first day of my prolonged holiday break--I don't go back to work until January 2nd. You can bet I have a whole lotta sewin' plans going on. I'll be happy if I even get a third done of what's in my head for the week.

I started off today by joining with some folks from church for a sew day of "Little Dresses for Africa," although I think, given the make-up of our congregation, we're planning on sending ours to Myanmar (Burma). But don't quote me on that--I was just there to sew, I'm not actually responsible for anything, a fact which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I warned the woman coordinating it: I'm a quilter, not a garment sewer. Don't expect much. 8th Grade Home-Ec trauma, doncha know. But the pattern was quite simple, and I have done a pocket or two in my life, so once someone explained the process to me, I was good to go.

Here's the irony--I went to sew but never actually did much sewing. There weren't enough machines to go around and it became apparent another young woman really wanted to learn how to sew. So I let her use my machine and she was in the very capable hands of another woman who is a talented garment sewer. I spent the day cutting fabric into dress pieces.

I mean, people--I was actually cutting fabric with scissors. I haven't used scissors to cut fabric in years! Where was my rotary cutter? Where were my rulers? Where was my cutting mat? I was going old school, baby. (We didn't even have "real" patterns--we were using posterboard templates made from tracing around sample dresses. Way old school.)

I was thrilled to donate two lengths of fabric I'd bought while in Hawaii a few years back--modern versions of traditional bark cloth. I had a project for them in my head at the time, but the project didn't come off and at this point, was unlikely ever to. On the other hand, the fabric would make great sundresses, so I was very happy to see them used for this. We cut up one of the two pieces (4 yards worth) while I was there. The other piece (also 4 yards) went back in the bin to get used next time.

I believe, if I were using the same rubric as Pam (for the Sunday Stash report), that would make it a total of 16 yards out of my stash because it counts double when it's donated, right? :-)

Although someone counted about 14 dresses sewn, I didn't sew any of them and ended up bringing one of the ones I'd cut out home to finish. But I'm okay with that. I was glad someone learned how to sew, and everyone seemed to have a good time.

Here's a gallery of pictures from the day. My sewing machine makes an appearance in one of them, as well as my Hawaiian fabric with the template on it ready for me to cut. If the gallery doesn't forward for you, just click on the picture--it should work. (If you're getting this by email, you might have to go to the website to see the gallery. Sorry!)

When I get the dress done, I'll post a picture. Right now it's a pile of fabric cut into odd shapes.

2013 Quilty Resolutions Review

Did you participate in my 2013 Quilty Resolutions Challenge? If so, report in on how you did! Here's a link to the spreadsheet to remind y'all of what you said you wanted to do. Fair warning--the first handful don't have names on them, so hopefully you'll be able to identify yourselves! I think I took out any email addresses but there's a lot of copy to wade through on that spreadsheet so give me a quick heads-up if you see something you shouldn't. :-)

Remember, leave a comment to let me know what you accomplished and what you didn't!

I'll be announcing the 2014 Quilty Resolutions Challenge in my next episode--maybe even recording tonight, but more likely tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I'll leave you with something wonderful. We had the opportunity to have the Burmese Fellowship from our church visit our home tonight and sing us some Christmas carols. I'm truly in the Christmas spirit now.

Another postcard...

One of our friends at church was sworn in as a U.S. citizen this week. I had a little bit of a plan in my head of a small quilted wallhanging I would make him to celebrate the occasion, and on Friday, while on the Shirley DeMott Memorial Annual Shop-Hop* with a friend, I picked up some appropriately patriotic-themed fabrics.

When my husband and I were out for dinner that night, I mentioned and briefly described what I thought I might make for our friend. My husband said, "Why don't you make another postcard? I like your postcards."

Well, okay then. As I like to give positive reinforcement for any positive reinforcement my husband gives me for my rather expensive creative endeavors, a postcard it is, tee hee. "Plus," I thought, "a postcard is smaller and may go a little quicker than what I'd planned anyway."

Yeah, well, that never quite works out, does it? I decided to do a design that was quite time-consuming. (Yep, all those red and white stripes are separate little strips of fabric.) Still n' all, it was done in a couple of hours. And of course, I didn't end up using any of the fabrics I'd bought on Friday and just dove into my stash instead.

Sadly, on the very, very last swipe with the iron to make sure all was happily fused down, my iron decided to spit. I hate my iron. And one of the fabrics bled. I hate that fabric.

Here's some irony for you--with all the work I've been doing with my hand-dyes and nothing ever bleeding, this was a commercial fabric. Go figure. My fault--usually when I'm fusing I use a different iron that's never had water in it. But I recently handed that iron over to my son, and didn't bother to take the time to empty the water out of my regular iron before starting to fuse. I hate that water.

I took this picture after I'd gone after the bleed with a dab of Synthrapol, followed by a second attempt with a dampened color catcher. So believe it or not, it does actually look a little better than it did. I'm going to wait to see how it dries, then probably do the ol' paint touch-up. Surely I've got white fabric paint somewhere. I really hate to see all that time--cutting narrow little strips, satin-stitching the hey out of everything--go to waste. But I also hate giving something to someone that's clearly in error. And I don't have time for a Plan B, other than buying him a card at Hallmark. Last I checked, they didn't sell "Happy Citizenship!" cards.

Now, that being said--here's the good news: I've got this whole postcard thing down! I like doing little mini art-quilts. They're fun! (This one is 5x7", btw, rather than the 4x6" I've been doing, as I'm not mailing it so I decided I could go a little larger.)

LATER ADDENDUM:

A little white Tsukeniko ink, judiciously applied. One would never know there was a problem.

*Mom and I used to often go on a shop-hop in an Amish area about an hour away on a Friday in December. I'd take a vacation day, and we'd visit three or four shops, then have lunch at an Amish restaurant that had the best dang corn chowder. After Mom passed away, various of my friends have been happy to keep up the tradition with me, and so the Shirley DeMott Memorial Annual Shop-Hop was born. Sadly, the Amish restaurant closed a couple of years ago, but I think this time around we may finally have found a good little pub to replace it. Not Amish, and no corn chowder, but great burgers!

My mail was particularly beautiful last week

So, if you listened to either Daisy's most recent podcast episode or this one of mine, you know that I won Daisy's Twitter giveaway on Black Friday of a completed quilt top from her stash. I received it in the mail this week...

I'd put my name in for it because I loved the colors and hey, it's a quilt from Daisy! Who wouldn't want one?

It was only later that I began to think...hey, that design looks familiar.

Here's  picture of a quilt I made for my son a few years back. Somehow I never got a picture of the finished product but trust me, it did get finished and it's currently on his bed in his apartment. (Or in a rumpled heap on the floor but I choose not to think about that.)

It's a design from one of the Strip Club books, using 2 1/2" strips. (Please note--there are a few books in the series and I have a couple of them, so I grabbed a link to one but can't guarantee it's the book this design is in.) I'd always loved the design and had periodically thought over the years, "Maybe I should make myself another one...." Well, boy howdy. Now I don't have to! Wheee!

I plan to send this out to a longarmer, and I think it'll go on our guest room bed. Unless my daughter lays claim to it next time she's home, which she is wont to do.

I also received this in the mail this week:

This is a lovely little keychain change purse from Jackie of Sew Excited Quilts.

It's so cute! And yes, it's on my keychain, although it doesn't have any change in it at the moment.

Perhaps next time I go on a shop hop or visit vendors at a show, I should put as many bills as I'm planning to spend in this, and leave the credit cards at home! (Of course, it also looks like it might be the right size to hold said credit cards...hmmmm....)

And the third thing I received has a little bit of a story behind it.

Several times over the last couple of years I've had the privilege of visiting one of our denominational mission sites, a residential campus about 90 mins outside of Phoenix for adults with developmental disabilities, named Rainbow Acres. It's an amazing place--I could go on for several blog posts. (If you're in the Phoenix area, I highly recommend you go visit and even volunteer there--you won't regret it!) The adults, referred to as "ranchers," have a variety of jobs they can choose from. One of the things that Rainbow Acres has become well known for is it's weaving. Several of the adults are gifted weavers and love doing it. A couple of the times I visited, the man who is their head weaver quickly took to his loom to show me how to do it, his enthusiasm for the task bouncing out of every word he said. When people purchase the weavings (or paintings, or other items created by ranchers), half the proceeds go back to the rancher him or herself. I'd purchased paintings on an earlier trip, but had admired some shawls they were making. Since I'd just bought the paintings I didn't feel I could also afford the shawl.

However, when I was there in July and we were visiting the weaving room once again, I saw a pile of skeins of yarn they had just received. As we fiber people are known to do, I made a beeline for the pile and dove my hands right into it. Oohing and aahing, I couldn't stop petting the stuff. It was a gorgeous shade of gray with variegated purples and blues, and tremendously soft. The staffperson doing inventory told me that had just arrived and they were deciding what to do with it. She then raised an eyebrow and said, "We do work on commission, you know." Sold. I asked for a shawl done with that yarn, and just received it this week (in perfect time for our ever-dropping temperatures!)

Front

This type of shawl has a name that start with a P--not Pashmina--but I'm blanking. It's joined in the back but open in the front. It'll be perfect for my home office which is right above the garage and ever-so-much-nippier than the rest of the house.

In fact, I'm wearing it right now. Toasty.

Back

Ah, to be surrounded by so much beauty. I can barely stand it!

Postcard Swap Reveal

Whoopee! Let me start with a big thanks to Sandi of Quilt Cabana Corner for hosting a postcard swap this year. Those of us who participated had a great time--and pictures have been flying this week as people started receiving their postcards in the mail. My partner and I have both received our postcards so now we can do the Big Reveal! (Cue theme music...)

Here's the postcard I received from Beth:

I love the way she did the snowflakes, and the different fabrics in the tree. And did you notice that trunk is thread-sketched? Very cool stuff! Love it, Beth!

And here's the postcard I sent to Beth:

The square motif is from an old Laurel Burch Christmas fabric. The background fabrics and fused binding are all my own hand-dyed fabrics.

I talked about how I did this in my most recent (as of this writing) podcast episode, Episode 136 In Which We Make Fabric Postcards. For what it's worth, anyway. My technique definitely needs some polishing, but I have fun with it, and that's the main point!

These postcards really do become a permanent part of my Christmas decoration collection. Proof: Sandi's postcard from last year and Beth's postcard from this year have pride of place on my mantel!

#BFSI Report--Baby Quilts Finally Done and Delivered!

The two baby quilts are finally both done and delivered--woot!

Baby Quilt #1 started out as a Jacob's Ladder quilt.

As per episode 133 "In Which I Have a Story of Heartbreak and a Rotary Cutter", it had some issues. (You can't see the issues in this picture. So let's all imagine it was beautiful and now has a happy home being a quilt somewhere.)

Baby Quilt #1 became Baby Quilt Remix. And although (as per episode 134 "In Which It's Just Snakebit") it also had some issues, a little judicious hand-stitching dealt with the problem and it was duly mailed off a couple of days before Thanksgiving.

It's a Disappearing 9-Patch, arranged randomly, made from the scraps of Baby Quilt #1, with a few more added in since I didn't have quite enough of all of BQ1 fabrics left. (If you want to know about the colors, etc., you'll need to listen to the episode--don't want to take up space on that here again.)

I did a very light quilting in the ditch along the block lines and inner/outer border.

Hopefully it will provide many days of warmth and comfort to my little step-great-nephew. Or great-step-nephew. Or great-nephew-step, which is a dance craze soon to cross the nation. (Let's just call him my new little GSN and move on.)

And so I moved on to Baby Quilt #2 for my newly born great-niece. This one started out in my head as a completely different quilt. However, after all the grief of Baby Quilt #1, I seriously scaled down my plans and reminded myself with some vehemence, "It's a baby quilt! It's going to have all sorts of bodily fluids on it within a short period of time! Make it quick, simple, and highly washable!"

Thus, another Disappearing 9-Patch, named "Admit One." I chose to do this one in red, white, and black, which is good for babies as those are reputedly some of the first colors a baby can see. I can't swear to that. My babies couldn't tell me these things at that age.

I quilted straight lines diagonally across the quilt, varying the widths between lines. I don't know that I'd do this again on a baby quilt. 1) It's amazingly hard to quilt in a straight line diagonally across the quilt, and 2) it made for a slightly stiffer quilt. I didn't think I was doing enough quilting to really change the drape of the quilt, but it's definitely not quite as soft as the first baby quilt. I'm not sweating it--it just would've been easier to stick with ditch quilting, so I'll do that next time.

(You might want to pause here for a moment and compare the two quilts. Both Disappearing 9-Patches, looking completely different with different fabrics and a different layout. This design is just too much fun to play with!)

Oh, the "Admit One" thing? Here's the backing fabric. Mom is in theater, so it just had to be done. As my BFF/BQF Kate said when I found this fabric, "And now you can name the quilt, 'Admit One to the Family!'" Perfect! Hadn't even thought of that!

Here's the one who got admitted to the family. Looks like she likes her new quilt.

It may not be Friday, but... Parmesan Crisps and Dipping Sauce

I haven't done a Food Friday in a long time, but was inspired today, despite it being Sunday. If you're a purist and want to read a Food Friday post on a Friday, I'll forgive you if you don't comment for a few days.

We're having our last big family hoo-hah of the Thanksgiving season today at my husband's aunt's house, and I was asked to bring an appetizer. After having cooked (and cleaned up after) Thanksgiving dinner this past week, I was in the mood for something very easy with limited dishes involved. After hearing them referenced on the most recent episode of The Splendid Table, I decided I wanted to try my hand at making Parmesan crisps. I did a little Internet research and ended up combining notes from a few recipes, then putting my own spin on it anyway. So here, for what it's worth, is my (usual kinda-sorta) recipe.

By the way, I used a really good Parmesan for this--none of the inexpensive pre-grated stuff that comes in a tall green jar (that shall remain nameless). That would likely work fine, but I've recently become a Parmesan snob and buy chunks of the good stuff at the grocery store and grate it myself. It's more expensive, but the flavor is so fantastic that a little goes a long way. And since this recipe is all about the Parmesan, I'd recommend ponying up for the good stuff. 

Sandy's Italian Parmesan Crisps

Ingredients: 

• A great Parmesan, shredded. (I used a Parmiagiano Reggiano available in my local grocery store). I ended up with about 4 cups, but it all depends on how many crisps you want to make.
• 1 tbsp flour
• Onion powder, garlic powder, dried Italian seasoning, dried basil leaves (to taste)
• Salt to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375. Make sure rack is in center of oven. Prepare a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper. 

2. Mix the ingredients together well. The flour will tend to want to head for the bottom of the bowl so I used my hands and kept tossing everything until I felt the cheese was well-coated with the seasonings. 

3. Drop cheese mixture in about tablespoon amounts onto parchment paper, spacing it about 3-4" apart. Spread out the cheese mounds until they're relatively flat but still tightly enough together that the cheese will melt into one piece. The more the cheese is mounded, the chewier the result is; a good crispy texture requires a fairly flat, rounded shape. Also, holes among the cheese will remain holes and make finished product more breakable--parmesan doesn't spread too much when it melts. So keep the cheese close together. My first two batches were a little trial-and-error to figure out what worked best

4. Bake for about 4-7 minutes, depending on your oven. They'll bubble first, but don't take them out while bubbling. They need to get a little past that point. You want them nicely browned but not burned. 

5. After removing from the oven, let the pan sit for about 5 minutes so they finish setting before sliding them off the parchment with a very thin-edged metal spatula. Move them onto a cooling rack covered with a piece of paper towel to finish cooling and setting. They're extremely delicate, so handle with care!

I believe my yield was something like 3 dozen crisps, but I wasn't really counting. Your yield will depend on how big you make your crisps. I'm carrying them to the party in a tupperware container with a lot of paper towel between each layer mostly to try to keep them from pulverizing themselves on the drive.

I also made a sauce to go with them. I needed something very lightweight so it wouldn't break the crisp when dipped, so I made a sort of marinara thing:

Sort-of Marinara Sauce for Crisps:

In food processor, blend 1 can (28 oz) of diced tomatoes and 1 tbsp tomato paste with onion powder, garlic powder, and italian seasonings. (I used an Italian seasoning blend plus extra dried basil since I'm a fan. We're past season for fresh herbs here, but if I did this in the summer fresh herbs would definitely be the thing. I'd have used a real onion instead of onion powder if I'd had one in the house: This was sort of a make-do recipe.) Add salt to taste, and a pinch of sugar. Process until mostly smooth but with some nice texture to it.

The sauce is just thick enough to cling to the parmesan crisp but not break it. And yes, you could use leftover sauce next time you have pasta. :-)

I confess to having "taste-tested" several. Quality control and all that. I'm taking some risk posting this before actually taking the crisps to the party and finding out what everyone else thinks, but I'm fairly confident!