Raise a Ruckus Mystery Quilt

Archie, the cat, has taken an interest in this project -- he sits amongst the in progress pieces...

And before we start -- some of the actual fabric measurements given in my intro post on the subject of this New Year Quilt was based on very loose calculations, in fact the amount called for the border fabric, could be somewhat exagerated, for the lap size quilt which I am doing the main instructions for, but should be fine for the double sized quilt.

Mainly this project is meant to come from your stash.  If you bought fabric for this project -- you may just be adding to your stash!

Again, I would like to offer a project to you my readers that can be done in just a few hours -- not a long drawn out process that takes months to complete.  This quilt is meant to be done in a couple of concentrated days and it is simple, but requires accuracy.  It is excellent practice for a beginning quilt maker, young or old -- I would say this is just the project for Gramma to teach grandchild!  For those of you experienced and familiar with quilting, this is an excellent, quick to make donation quilt for your favourite charity.

Cutting your fabric

I am planning to make the smaller size quilt top, which will measure about 48 inches x 63 inches but that does not include the outside border, which if you add a 5" border all around will give you 58 x 73 or thereabouts (notice I try not to be too exact case I could change my mind before the end -- I usually do!)  I will put into brackets the requirements for the larger size quilt which will nicely cover a twin or perhaps a double bed at 63 inches x 78 inches and with a border it becomes 73 x 88.

For myself, the smaller size allows me to quilt the layers using my own sewing machine, I can manoever the layers reasonably well, but larger than that it become a struggle and sometimes a large quilt top will simply sit in my linen cupboard awaiting the energy to complete the quilting of the layers.

So as I showed you in a previous post on the blog, the colours below are what I finally decided to go with

You can of course use multi scraps as long as you keep to the general description of light, medium, dark and bright fabrics.  In my case I have chosen to use two light fabrics, and two medium fabrics along with one bright (the red) and one dark.  So I have 6 different fabric, where kept to a minimum you can further simplify and use 4 fabrics.  In this case I would suggest that if you plan an outside border that it should be a Medium colour value.

Step One

So to begin, the least used fabric will be the Bright, so you will need to cut

20 - 3 1/2 inch squares {30 - 3 1/2 inch squares}, so cut 2 strips from the width of the fabric that are

 3 1/2 inch wide then cross cut to make the 30 squares needed { 3 strips 3 1/2 inch width of fabric - with left over that you can then cut down to 2" wide for the smaller squares}

Then

You need 48 - 2" squares, which will need two strips the width of the fabric cut at 2 inches then cross cut to make the squares. { 90 - 2 inch squares will require 4 strips cut 2 inches wide for the width of fabric, plus the left over from the previous 3 1/2 wide strips that you already cut down to 2 inches wide}

Step Two

Cut your Light fabric

You will need 31 pieces to measure 12 1/2 inches x 3 1/2 inches. {49 at 12 1/2 x 3 1/2}

From your lightest fabric or fabrics cut 11 strips width of fabric at 3 1/2 inch wide, then cross cut the strips to 12 1/2 inch long {16 strips}

Now in this case, if you are using a small print, or even a solid, you could sew the leftover parts of the strips into one long strip and use the sewn pieces in order to have less waste -- for example, since you can only get 3 - 12 1/2 strips from each width of fabric you will have about 5 inches left from each strip, so if you cut 9  strips from your fabric you could sew the leftover ends together and that should give you enough length for all the needed pieces.  That is if you are very frugal -- otherwise you don't need to fool around with those bits and save them for a future scrappy project!

Next, also from your Lightest fabric you need to cut

48 - 3 1/2  inch x 3 1/2 inch {80 - 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 inch squares}

This requires at least 4 strips of fabric cut 3 1/2 inch wide for the width of the fabric and you will again have some fabric left over, as you should get 12 cross cuts from the regular fabric length { 7 strips in order to cut 80 - 3 1/2 inch squares}

Step Three

The Darkest Fabric

For the darkest fabric you will need to cut the same number of squares as for the lightest...



48 - 3 1/2 inch x 3 1/2 inch {80 - 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 inch squares}

This requires at least 4 strips of fabric cut 3 1/2 inch wide for the width of the fabric and you will again have some fabric left over, as you should get 12 cross cuts from the regular fabric length { 7 strips in order to cut 80 - 3 1/2 inch squares}

Step Four

Medium Fabric

For your medium fabric you will be cutting 6 1/2 inch squares, so you need a total of

24 - 6 1/2 x 6 1/2 inch squares {40 - 6 1/2 x 6 1/2}

Your piles of fabrics should look somewhat like this

 if you are using 4 fabrics only you will have 5 different size cuts -- the bright will be cut in the two sizes - 3 1/2 inch squares, and 2 inch squares, the dark will be one size cut at 3 1/2 inch squares, the medium fabric will be all 6 1/2 inch square and the lightest will have two different size cuts,
 12 1/2 x 3 1/2 and 3 1/2 squares...

See you tomorrow for the sewing together -- then on Sunday you can put it all into layers and quilt it...  Maybe...

Happy New Year!

PS. for those interested, I will have the printed instructions for this quilt project available as a PDF  via email sometime next week... now if I can just figure out how to connect it to paypal for a small fee in exchange for all this sitting at a computer on New Years eve...

Year End - What's left over?

This happens every year...

I think it happens to many of us.

There are things we meant to do - check back to see what your New Year Resolutions were...

I meant to get a stack of UFO's completed...

Actually, I should say, I meant to get quite alot of stacks of UFO's completed...

I didn't.

I got a few done, but I went about creating more - stacks that is.

I have alot of odd bits, so I did cut dozens, hundreds, maybe even thousands of 2 1/2 inch squares and strips, just about as many 3 1/2 inch squares and strips and a mighty lot of 5 inch squares.  The raw material is there.  The first steps are done in alot of cases...

Now, I just have to not hide them in drawers, where I can easily forget about them and guess what? Start a new stack!

These stacks of blocks have been sitting in corners for months...

Today, I was going through what was done and what was still left to do.

The left-to-do pile is bigger than the got-it-done pile...

I am thinking that I will just keep pluggin' along, finishing some and making new piles.  I have decided that this coming year is not a year to make resolutions or set specific goals as to where I intend to be at the end of 2011.  My aim is to keep on, keeping on, and that's it...

Raise a Ruckus Mystery Quilt - two weeks

The last couple of weeks have been somewhat busy in my household and I feel that I have been negligent in updating Things here on my blog.  It never ceases to amaze me how quickly the days can roll past and how things you intend to do get pushed back to another day, then another day and sometimes even to another day. 

Little jobs around the house, though important sometimes get glossed over and you realize it has been a week since you thought about it.  I have one of those little water coolers in my kitchen -- we do drink alot of water so it is a useful tool, EXCEPT when we discovered that it may not be functioning as it should.  Well, at least a week ago, I realized that it never stopped it's cooling cycle.  I meant to get the instruction book out and read through -- but it actually to me FOUR days to get the booklet out! Then it took me another day before I read through and found no helpful hints to answer why it  just keeps running all the time.  Well, now my solution is to turn  the machine off every night -- the instructions don't give me any other solution.  We have only had this machine for a little bit over a year.  It is frustrating to purchase an appliance and have it turn into garbage in such a short time...  It sits in the back of my thoughts wondering what I should do about it...  No wonder there is so much stuff in our landfills!  No wonder people tend to put stuff on shelves and in basement corners -- you just hate to throw out something that really should still be working and you hope that sometime, someday a solution or a fix-it technique will appear from over the horizon and the item will again be useful...

Well, now, that idea took me off on a tangent, didn't it?  I had no intention to write about broken water coolers -- but then, of late I have been somewhat discombobulated... (now there's a word not often used anymore -- tho I heard my maternal grandmother use it often -- it means confused, or out-of-sorts!)

Now back to the Raise a Ruckus Mystery for the New Years Weekend... I have been wavering back and forth as to what my choice of colours for this quilt will be.  I thought turquoise and pink with that brown as my dark and the cream as my light and that almost fuchia pink as my bright.  Then I did promise, that the quilt I create will go to Quilts of Valour Canada , and even though there are women in the armed forces, these colours are very feminine, so pulling out colours and a variety of combinations, I finally decided that for my own quilt for this mystery, I am going to go with one colour in different shades -- a harmonious quilt, you might say...  I think a better choice that will appeal to a more wider range of people.

So my final choice of colour is a selection of BLUES  all from my stash (even though I went out and bought a couple of meters of green, thinking that would be good)!   I actually chose two lights in this case.  One will be the light to be used as the main light colour and the other as the contrast to that really dark. In the description of the colour choices for this quilt, it does mention ONE LIGHT, so I am using two, but combined they will act as the Main LIGHT...   My Bright turns out to not actually be so very bright, but is a strong standout from all those blues, so even though it is a dark, being Red it should "act" the same way that a Bright would in this particular quilt.  

I have been working on the Mathematics part of this quilt too, so that you may be able to choose whether you want to make a large single size quilt, which will measure somewhere around 75 x 90, or the lap/comforter size of about 60 x 75 -- now that is not a promise of two sizes as yet -- just a possibility...

Now, as to what has been keeping me busy when I should be thinking about fix-it chores and other mundane daily type things, here is a picture of my christmas preparations.   I don't often do much in the way of decorating for any holidays, but my Niece in Winnipeg has an infectious nature and a joyous attitude so some of her wonderful enthusiasum caught hold of me and I did make an effort to brighten a corner of my house...  That little tree did need a bit of TLC as it had not come out of the back cupboard in a few years and it was sorely lacking when it came to ornamentation...  And now, it looks like the cheery christmas tree it is meant to be, though small, so with a child's imagination, I can see it in a cosy cottage somewhere on the backlot of Santa's Workshop estate where a worker elf goes home to after his day is done and he/she is satisfied with a job well done...

Christmas in the Neighbourhood

I bought a camera a couple months back, a point and shoot as they are called, but this one has a 14x zoom and a few other features that makes it where I feel pretty good about most of my photos.  I am far from a pro when it comes to picture taking, but over the years I have picked up a few useful tips, I think...

Every year we go through our neighbourhood and say "Wouldn't it be nice to have all these colours and designs up all the time?"  Well, finally I am able to capture them.  Mind you I have taken at least a hundred night time photos in the last couple of weeks as my neighbours put up and turn on their christmas displays...

As I get older, I have discovered that I most appreciate the gift of these lights around town, more than most any other presents given to me!  There are so few things that I need any more so this wonderment of lights and colour and design is special to my eyes...

Some are purchased forms or those air filled statues, some are lights on the trees and shrubs, some are the talented owners own creations.  All are amazing and wonderful to see...

Little Things

This past week I have been keeping busy, though at the same time being quiet mostly and reminicing.

A few weeks back I saw this toque online at http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2010/11/how-to_knit_mike_nesmith_of_th.html  and I had seen it on another blog too, {edited in -- Polka Dot Cottage is what actually sent me off on this toque making spree]and caused me to become somewhat envious that I didn't have one and had never before made one! 

 My version is slightly different as the pompom on top is slightly bigger but looser.  I followed the online directions -- very simple -- using Red Heart Super Saver yarn, and still have most of the skein to use somewhere else. 

 Now, I have been crocheting for many years, and I was taught the basics of knitting even more years ago than I was taught how to crochet, but, I don't think I ever before completed a knitted project!  I do believe this is my first. 

This hat was part of the past weeks reminicing -- Mike Nesmith who was one of the 4 Monkees wore this type of toque in many of the episodes of the TV show and probably in just about every publicity photo.  Mostly though, the hat he wore was a odd sort of green -- I could not find a yarn in just the right green, so I opted for this dark blue.  Now Mike Nesmith was not MY favourite in the group -- that was Mickey Dolenz...  One thing that I always wondered though was how did he manage to have his hair curl in that particular way?

My other project during the week was creating these little ribbon ornaments, crocheted with an acrylic yarn then starched.  I managed to finish up almost a dozen and may make up a few more.  I will enclose them in the christmas cards that I send out this year for those I know put up a tree and hope they like them.

These little ornaments can be found at http://www.favecraftsblog.com/meet-and-make-an-ornament-from-phyllis-serbes/  these are so very quick and easy to create and take very small bits of yarn.   Not being a particularly speedy crochet-er these take only a maximum of 20 minutes each to make.  I found that I was doing them while sitting in the car when my husband was driving about town doing deliveries.  So I was keeping track of his next stop where it was and what was getting delivered and at the same time hooking the loops to make these ribbon type ornaments...

Now, today's project is to work on sorting and cutting into strips fabric from a box I have been filling up for a year or more -- and I mean a boxfull -- the box is about 24 inches by 24 inches by 24 inches and is absolutely full of scraps from all my quilting projects. 

Enjoy, all your Christmas preparations, they are often as much fun as the big day itself...

Sometimes I Have Nothing to Say

So as an explaination for my absence on this blog for the last few days, I will provide you, my reader with a Link.
 The Article is about my Uncle George and Aunt Irene.  I was recently in Winnipeg, as you may know if you have been reading my blog for awhile and visited with my Aunt and Uncle and other family members.  Though I am sad, I am also feeling very priviledged to have been able to "say" goodbye.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/news-of-death-kills-wife-110901369.html

I will write again about quilts and crafty things in a few days, I just need a bit of time to reflect and remember this couple who were a very important part of my life, for all of my life...

On the Way to Christmas Part 3

Just a few more Christmasy links...

How about a banner?  Heres one using paper and Christmas stamps...
Easy, inexpensive - if you have some stamps in a drawer somewhere - and sharing time  with the kids
http://chantalvincentart.blogspot.com/2010/11/easy-paper-christmas-bunting-tutorial.html

Do you BAKE?  My Mother and I tried to make a gingerbread house many years ago -- it was okay, but way back in the '60s there was not the kind of tutorial and hints and tips to make such a thing -- well, I don't remember that there was anything other than a picture and a recipe.  At Not Martha, she creates individual gingerbread houses for everyone to put on on their mug of hot chocolate!  Using her method and her very clearly written tips to create perfect shapes, how could you fail??
Take a look at http://www.notmartha.org/archives/2009/12/18/a-gingerbread-house-that-perches-on-the-rim-of-your-mug/

Are you on Facebook?  There is a Green Grocery Bag Challenge page -- the idea is to make and give grocery bags to either wrap your gifts in, or to just give the bags for repeated use when carrying your groceries or other items home.  The Challenge Page is at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Green-Grocery-Bag-Challenge/107692562629944 but if you are not on Facebook, here is a few links to tutorials to make grocery totes -- choose one or two to make for yourself, or to give as gifts that will help save our planet....  Yes, it is easier to buy those 99 cent ones from the grocery store, BUT did you know that some of those bags (made in China) actually have been tested and have LEAD in the compiled material used to make those bags?  read: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/15/nyregion/15bags.html

Grocery Bag tutorials:

  for a roll up shopping bag  http://needleandspatula.blogspot.com/2010/11/roll-up-shopping-bag-sewing-tutorial.html

  a you-tube video tutorial  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7nN36oIBqY
(only thing I wonder about this is Where is the IRON?)

    a reversable bag - use and double use!  http://ourgreenexperiments.blogspot.com/2010/11/reversible-reusable-tote-bags.html



    I even did a bag making tutorial a few years back when I was writing Miss Snips Notebook and put it on Flickr -- but there you need to log in and that is a nuisance - but just in case you want to look -- here it is (you probably have to log in to Flickr)  http://www.flickr.com/photos/86029575@N00/918291309/in/set-72157601043057359/  once you are at the tutorial you need to click on each photo for the written instructions, which includes measurements for cutting the fabric -- but you can make this type of bag in any size you desire -- I am actually making some christmasy ones using the method described in my tutorial,  that are quite tiny ( 7" wide x 7 " deep) to put in the Abbotsford Christmas Craft Fair this weekend at the Ag-Rec Building --- check out Ellen's Booth as my bags are only a small part of the wonderful Christmasy things that you will see at the craft fair next weekend! 



Here's wishing you a great start to the season and Happy Christmas!

On the way to Christmas Part 2

There is always something new to learn...

Having been a quilter for many many years, I have admired the designs and creativity of the various paper crafts -- and there is an amazing variety of things you can do with paper!  My Son works at a middlin' size printer that does everything from government pamphlets to children's and other illustrated books.  He is able to occassionally bring to me bright or textured or  unusual types of paper that are 'cut-offs' from various runs, and now a friend is the proud possessor of a Cricut machine...  Those two things combined is encouraging me to explore blogs where paper is the main element of design.

As you might see, I have collected a variety of cardstock and paper and am thinking that perhaps, I might try to make a few christmas cards, or at least some greetings in the next little while...

http://inspiredbystamps.blogspot.com/2010/10/christmas-candle-critter-sketch.html

The above link is an illustration, with some instruction of a type of challenge to create a specific design -- now as I gather, the idea is sort of like a quilt challenge except with making a card -- a certain format or placement design is created and those who take part use the "map" and their own creativity to fit a theme.  This one a christmas candle.

For the beginner paper crafter, here is a very simple card that lends itself to mass production, or at least for the 20 or so cards you need to get sent by Dec 7...
Just cardstock, some folding and a couple of Christmas stamps and stamp pads
http://paperblossoms.blogspot.com/2010/11/cas-christmas.html

Here is another idea that looks like what you would make for that special someone!  http://rejoicingeverymoment.blogspot.com/2010/11/cocoas-mittens.html

And here is paper crafting combined with gift giving!  And HUMOR!  I really like this idea - a special little gift for visitors or those who you just want to give a christmas cheer-up to...
http://craftingwithdarsie.blogspot.com/2010/11/holiday-sunday-reindeer-poop.html

More Christmas projects, ideas and tidbits coming yet!....

On the Way to Christmas...

I don’t generally post lists of things, but I thought that since we are getting close to Christmas some gift ideas might be in order.

Some of these have been posted earlier in the year on other blogs whose whole purpose is to give you ideas and things to read, and some of them are sites that I return to on a regular basis either to remind myself of a project that I have already done at some time in the past or a new idea that seems to be just right as a gift for a friend or relative.

Check out these and hopefully one or two will be useful and help fill in your Christmas giving gift list.

http://www.oneshetwoshe.com/2010/09/lunch-money-cuff-tutorial-she-christie.html  I really like this one for a quick and easy stocking stuffer for those in between kids “tweens” that are finished with toys, but not quite ready for the full adult version of a product.

Décor? This could be a fun project to share with a grandchild to learn about crochet - or if you are a beginner crocheter, try out this for a way to perfect your expertise and to recycle some older tree baubles and to decorate for Christmas -- three purposed project!
http://meetmeatmikes.blogspot.com/2010/11/pips-crocheted-christmas-baubles-as.html

This is an especially nice Chef’s Apron Pattern, you just use measurements to make the patter or simply go direct to sewing this design. Free and easy and can work for yourself while making Christmas Dinner or perhaps make one for the BBQ season and your own BBQ chef?

http://www.spoolsewing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/apronpattern1.pdf

Here is a ’blog that every Monday features a crochet snowflake pattern. I especially love the one recently posted here http://snowcatcher.blogspot.com/2010/11/starflake-monday.html   if you look on the side bar and click on Snow Flake Patterns it will bring you to all the blog posts of the many different designs this writer has made and given instruction for.

Also on the sidebar is Snow Flakes for Kids to colour -- print these out to keep the younger crowd busy…

Here's a tip from Naptime Quilter of Calgary -- she shows how to create your own little tool for cleaning the lint from the bobbin area of your sewing machine.  Get and Keep your sewing machine running smooth for all that christmas sewing -- go to http://naptimequilter.blogspot.com/2010/04/friday-favourite-lint-tool.html

Want or need some hints on making chicken stock (do turkey stock the same way)?  Check Small Notebooks instructions and you should be successfull everytime and have a lovely stock for future soups... http://smallnotebook.org/2010/11/12/chicken-stock-recipe/

Well, this is a good start, but no one wants to spend too much time wandering about the internet, so I will leave you with these 6 links, and will post more in the coming weeks -- all links that will in someway be useful as we approach Christmas...

French Press Cozy

Yesterday I was reading about making cold pressed coffee and that the ideal tool for it is the French Press.  Well, I have been making my coffee using the French Press for a long time now.  The main reason I use the French Press is because it is small - 8 cups it said on the package when I bought it, but I thought that was a missprint (you know how things made in China sometimes have odd words?).

 Well it turns out that it means 8 - 4 ounce cups.  Who ever drinks a cup of coffee that is a 4 ounce size?  Espresso, I guess, but I drink regular coffee in regular Canadian size mugs, that is more like 10 oz.  Anyway, I get three good mug fulls from my coffee press.  I just put in two really heaping tablespoonfuls of coffee and pour in the boiling water -- it sits for about 3 minutes and I pour the coffee into my cup.  That leaves 2 cups or Canadian Mugfuls still in the pot, a second morning cup, maybe and a cup late in the afternoon ---  If I don't use all the coffee in the pot (by warming in the microwave) then I put the coffee in a mug, cover with with "press and seal" wrap and put it in the fridge and still have pretty good coffee for the next day's breakfast.   Now if I used one of those automatic makers with the heating plate that soon turns coffee into bitter black tar, I would be throwing out alot of coffee everyday!
This morning, I thought I would make a simple little cozy wrap for my French Press to extend the warmth of the coffee in the pot to my second cup...
I think it worked out well, using some thicker batting and some left over scraps - mind you by the time I got the cozy made, the coffee was already cold, so I will have to wait til tomorrow to see if it will keep the coffee warmer, just a bit longer. 
And here is the link about cold pressed coffee making, using a French Press http://www.lisaclarke.net/2010/08/24/cold-press-coffee-or-how-i-reclaimed-some-precious-counter-space/

Now the next thing, I think is to go make some oatmeal cookies...

Raise a Ruckus Mystery Quilt

Yes! another Mystery Quilt project coming up!  This will be a larger quilt top, meant as a small bed or lap throw, it will measure around the 50 x 70 inches and can be done with scraps or in a limited palette.
This project is especially for those who plan to celebrate New Years at home.  The first installment will be New Years Eve, December 31, 2010, there is a fair amount of cutting so this is the day to cut your fabrics along with some "strata" type piecing.  Plan to spend a few hours at this! Then on New Years Day, January 1, 2011 piecing will continue and if you have no plans for a big dinner or other visiting you should be able to spend 3 or 4 hours in your sewing room.  Finally, Sunday, January 2, 2011, you can relax a bit and piece the sections together and perhaps add a wide border, depending on if you like borders or want to slightly increase the size -- the plan is that a border will be added and it will be fairly wide.

I am of an age where New Year's Parties do not hold much interest and kissing people at midnight is definately not my style!  So this project is for the person who wants a couple of quiet days at home to do something that is not part of the crowd! So this Raise a Ruckus will be a quiet and industrious type of Ruckus!  The Fireworks will be part of the quilt that you create!

You will need to pay close attention to the light, medium and dark hues of fabric but along with that you will need to incorporate a BRIGHT -- I would suggest a Yellow, but a bright green, red or blue will also work but it does need to definately be BRIGHT and to be almost a solid or a very small print that will look like a very bright solid.  You don't need much -- about 1/2 meter -- or for you American readers about a 1/2 yard.

As to technique and ability.  This is a traditional design with a bit of a twist.  Almost all very straightforward piecing of squares, but if you have not done foundation or paper piecing this is where you can start.  There is one element of foundation piecing - fairly simple but to be accurate, this is the best way to add an otherwise "fiddly" detail.  Not hard, though!

Now because this is a bit larger project, you will need more fabric, so here are the estimates of what you need:

Border Fabric: optional a medium hue that perhaps refects or co-ordinates with the fabrics in the body of the quilt -- about 2.125 (thats 2 and an eighth) meter ***a hint about the border*** if you like you might consider choosing your border fabric FIRST, then while studying your border fabric, choose your other fabrics from the print that is within your border fabric -- the light, the dark, the medium and the bright elements within the border multiprint.
Background fabric -- either light or dark -- about 2.75 meters
Strong Contrast to Background --in other words, if your background is cream, the strong contrast should be a Navy Blue, Deep Forest Green, Burgundy, etc -- about  1.25 meters
Medium Print -- you will need a total of about 1.25 meters -- you should consider using two different medium prints, both in the same colour family, if you are working in blues, choose two different medium blues, that are very close in value, or perhaps you could go with a true blue along with a aqua, or a rose, with a coral. If you plan to work with scraps, carefully study your scraps, lay them all out together (maybe use a red viewer) or take a photo then look at them, make sure they are all in that similar medium tint or hue even if they are all different colours.  These should not break up the view as you look at them together, if one piece is either too light or too dark you should be able to see it pop out of all the others...

Finally you will need to consider your batting and backing -- you will need about 5 meters for your backing -- but again, you can use some large scraps pieced to make a backing.  You can purchase a twin, or double size quilt batt of your choice.

I hope that you will follow along with this project -- I am planning to create this quilt to donate to a project that my quilt guild is a part of -- Quilts of Valour -- so I thought today would be a good day to make the announcement of the Mystery Weekend.  Quilts of Valour in Canada can be found here .
If you are American there is also a Quilts of Valor page, to be found here .

You have almost 7 weeks to prepare -- and I will remind you about this again in the next few weeks...

Treasures from Goodwill

I discovered the problem with loading my pictures onto this blog.  I bought a new camera, and the resolution is too high!  Each photo now needs to have the resolution reduced in order to upload it in a reasonable amount of time...

Now, onto the store of Treasure found at the thrift store.  If I could whistle I would have been singing like a bird when I found these, they made my heart flutter!

One of the wonderful treasures that I found in the Goodwill Store was a box of wooden spools, in a variety of hues.  I have not come across this type of thread before.  It is called Buttonhole Twist - 15 yard spools.  As you may notice the spools are short and stubby and the "stamped" end says Beldings Artsyl  Made in Canada, Buttonhole Twist.  It is a fairly thick thread - I do believe it is 100% cotton but it doesn't say that on the spools or on the box of 45 spools.  Perhaps it is exactly what it says, thread to use to reinforce the making of buttonholes by hand.

Ya, Think?

A very pretty find, that I am more inclined to look at on a shelf than to actually use.

Anyway,the other find that I wanted to show you was a child's Sewing Cards Kit!  This one actually has a year and copyright mark --- 1974!  Thirty-six years ago a little girl named Ramona received this box of sewing cards.  I wonder how old she was then?  One card was close to complete and a second card was started.  The third card was not used at all.  I wonder if Ramona grew bored of this project, or perhaps she had already done and undone them a few times -- the yarn in the box was somewhat frayed.

I have wanted one of these kits now, for a very long time.  I have kept my eyes open and remember to look at every thrift shop that I visit.   I was so surprised to see this in the Goodwill Store in Winnipeg -- I was not thinking about sewing cards and did not quite believe what I was seeing.  It was under a stack of clothing patterns.  If you go to thrift shops you know how common clothing patterns are -- so common that many thrift shops, use the pattern printed tissue papers to wrap china and glassware, instead of selling the paper as patterns.

I don't know what to do with this box of sewing cards now that I have them!  Thats the craziest part.  How to use this ultimate treasure?  Where do I put it?  Do I leave the cards undone?  Do I take my adult self to the place where I can actually play with them by threading the big needle and 'sewing' a card or two?

So far, I am happy to just look .

Where Have You Been?

I'm Back! And happily so, but I sure had a great time visiting with family in my old home town!

I have grown accustomed to the climate here on the west coast of Canada, where the snow rarely shows itself except maybe at Christmas time.  I arrived in Winnipeg on a night that was very reminiscent of Vancouver, dark and rainy!

Visiting the old home town included some drives around the countryside.  I went to a school north of Winnipeg at a community named St. Andrews.  I was part of the first classes that attended this school the year it was built, now when was that?  Hmmmm, some time about 196?, Yes, that's it, exactly!

A bit of a grey day, but well, to me alot of my school days were grey...

And St. Andrew's Anglican Church on the Red - one of the oldest churches in Western Canada... it is across from the school - it can be a melancoly day's step into history, to read the gravestones dating back 150 years or more.  The one that said "Baby, aged 2, drowned in the Red River 18--" was one that set me to thinking...

Then further north, we drove to the general area known as Winnipeg Beach - my SIL's family has had a cottage there that has been in the family for more than 60 years -- long before it was popular to have a cottage at the Beach...
I could not pass up this photo of the Art Centre and the painted quilt block on the building.  What more lovely sight does a quilter want to see???

Now on another day we went to an number of 2nd hand stores -- thrift shopping is the family sport! Our Mother taught us very well, not everything needs to come from the big department stores or as they are called today the "big box stores" .  The Goodwill Store on Princess Ave. in old Downtown Winnipeg is housed in one of those pre 1900 built heritage buildings.  The stone quarried north east of the city at Garson or Tyndal Manitoba.  This store has been at this location for as long as I remember -- when I went it, the floors squeeked as they always had, the designated areas for goods were unchanged.  It was a step back in time - I expected at any moment for my Mother to call me to check on where I was!!  I could almost see her dark curly hair just by looking over the racks of clothes, it was heartwarming and yet quite eerie to be in the store again...

Tomorrow, I have to tell you about some of the treasures I found -- I spent only 1.60 plus sales tax (that is a whole 'nother area of contention -- how many times does one have to pay tax on the same thing?)

I would have continued the story of the treasures found, but for some odd reason, I cannot get any other pictures to load onto this blog...  So a bit of suspense...  It is worth the wait!

Posting from Winnipeg

Well no pictures today, cause I am not at home... but look back to the blog post on Saturday.  See the snow surrounding the house?  Well, there's no snow... Yet.  But it is windy, and there are lots of Halloween decorations out on lawns and even Halloween house lights!   Just in case y'all were wondering.

Packing?

I am going to the Old Home Town for a visit...

I know there is not quite this pile of snow but, gee, snow is the most common theme in a city like Winnipeg, and thats how I seem to remember everything there...

Perhaps this is more appropriate to the season...  Yes, that's me in the blue hair, which is actually a mop head attachement for an industrial size mop -- my husband worked at the time for a company that supplied all sorts of cleaning stuff and the mop head was borrowed for halloween night, I think 1980.  We did have fun!

And there's the old neighbourhood and the kids waiting for the school bus.  We lived in a brand new development and every 3rd or 4th house a repeat, in colour and floor plan.  My brother called it Baby City cause everyone on the street seemed to have a child under age two!  It was a great place to grow your kids.  A playground around the corner, and a dead end street, so the traffic was mainly just those who lived there -- but now the street has been put through and is a main access to a large residential section.

Lots of other things to see, but mostly people to visit.  The place itself is not so important anymore, my home is here, but the people still in Winnipeg and surrounding areas are mostly the people I really, really like and don't get to see so often!

So I am gone now for a bit over a week, til November 3 or 4...  See you back here again, then.

Sometimes...

I wanted to stay in bed this morning.  I had put a different quilt on my bed yesterday and it smelled like the blankets and sheets that my Mom would bring in from the clothes line when I was a child. I was warm and very comfortable.  The back of the quilt was a nice cotton flannel and was tucked under my chin and up around my ears on the pillow.  There was no place that the cold air from outside the wrapped-around-me quilt could get in.  There was a cat, Archie, laying curled up with his nose under his tail (as cats often do) and another cat, Fossie, laying behind the back of my knees and purring quite loudly.

Who would ever want to move from that very special and cozy place!

But.

There was no maintaining the feeling of comfort.  My husband was in the kitchen, coughing just often enough to cause a spike of irritation in me, everytime he did it.  The dog, ever at his side was pushing her food dishes around the kitchen floor, because my hubby was busy munching his toast and peanut butter and reading the paper, totally ignoring the noisy hunger pangs of Pearl. 

Outside our door, the workers who are doing the reno landscaping and some groundsloping and water proofing brought in their excavators and the motors started up and the front buckets started scraping and banging and dumping and moving...

No sleeping in, not even just enjoying the cozy moment of warmth and peace.  The peace was broken, and the warmth was becoming too warm and sweaty...

HO HUM, time to start the day -- with reluctance.

off topic

just for a bit of change, here are recent photos of the lovely Pearl.

She went for her first ever visit to the Groomers...

It tired her out - she was quiet the whole afternoon for a change.

Perhaps she was not happy with her Halloween scarf -- later she managed to get it off and within minutes it was shredded into what looked like a bird's nest!

Socky Things or How to keep your tootsies warm in Winter

A few years back, I found a free pattern online to make socks with polar fleece or most any not too stretchy fabic.  Previously I would crochet myself a few socks.  Not socks that you would wear in your shoes, but really rather thick and warm socks cause my feet just get so very cold at night.  I wanted socks that I could wear that had no elastic cause my feet tend to swell (the doc calls it edema) and elastic in socks would make it worse.

Anyway, my socky things are a yearly ritual, I make for myself a couple or three pairs of these cozy warm polar fleece socks.  I try my best to find the brightest and cutest and oddest polar fleece prints.  Mostly I hunt all summer and fall at Value Village for yardage, where it is WAY WAY cheaper than at the fabic store.  This year, lovely bright red with teddy bears -- last year it was purple with yellow elephants.

One of the things though is that  I have started making these 'socky things' as gifts and it has come to pass that I get requests for repeats!  So, it turns out that I make some for myself and then another half dozen or so pairs for others!  I surely don't mind making extras and am happy to know that my dear aunties have warm toes, on those cold Winnipeg winter nights!

 I sometimes will wear my own 'socky things' when I wear my Crocs, as the weather starts to get cooler. Some people have noticed my really odd socks when I have worn them in public, so I have given a few friends the link to the free pattern online.

 I don't know if anyone else is making these as regularly as I am, but these are also great for seniors or wheelchair bound persons.  Bright colours or more somber fabric choices even, make pretty good gifts for a diabetic, because of course there is no elastic to cause problems with circulation.

So if you might like to try out really cozy and comfy socks (that can be used as slippers --just put a safety tread on the bottom) here is the link i have been using now for close onto 10 years!
http://www.cedesign.com/familyphotos/sewing/holidays/fleecebooties.pdf   the pattern is easy, with very well written instruction, even explaining the "grainline" of polar fleece and how to tell the right side from the wrong side.  The pattern has sizing from a baby size two up to a men's size twelve!  It does help if you have a colour printer as the patterns are sort of printed overtop each other using different colour lines so that you can distinquish one from another. 

Make sure to make one pair to try them out first -- I need to slightly adjust the pattern because as my mother used to say, I have legs and ankles like tree trunks, so the ankle on my personal adjustment is slightly wider than the actual pattern as printed.

I use the pattern so often now, that I have made semi-permanent templates (using cereal box cardboard) of the sizes I regularly make.

Now is that a picture of newly made 'socky things' or a picture of Pearl the dog?  Oh well, they both look pretty good, don't you think?  Warm Feet Wishes, to Everyone!

Peace to Joy Mystery Table Runner Part 2 (and Reveal)

Now to finish up this little table runner top...
If you didn't notice, check back to part one, because there is a major correction -- I apologize if this caused more work than necessary and especially am sorry if you use precious fabric!

Just summarize: you now have  12 half square triangles made, 10 short piano key sections and 8 5" squares.

Step 3:  Now with your 12 half square triangles you will make 3 "Broken Dishes Blocks" (see the photo).  I have randomly placed the fabrics, without worrying if light or dark or medium happens to be too close or opposite, so your placement is as you so choose.   Below is the block you will create.  The block should then measure 8 1/2 " x 8 1/2" square, trim up to make it accurate.

Set these aside for a few moments

Step 4  Now you need to cut the necessary sashing strips in order to finish placing the components that are already sewn. 

I have cut my sashing from regular width fabric.

The sashing strips are cut 2" wide so that when sewn they will be 1 1/2".
You will need about 230" in total, which works out to 5 1/2 strips but might as well make it 6 strips that are 2" wide and 42 inches long (at least)

Now from the 6 strips you will need to sew together 3 lengths so that you will be able to cut 2 strips that are 48 1/2 " long (or just a tad more as a just in case)

from the remaining sashing fabric you will need to cut 6 - 8 1/2 inch lengths, and 12 - 4 1/2 inch pieces.

Step 5:  Now we can put together the main sections.  First we sew 2 strips using, the piano key sections with sashing strips and the plain blocks

** a little pause here ** before you continue to sew, you need to take those 8 - 5" charm squares and recut them so that they are 4 1/2" square.  Thats a 1/2 inch off top and 1/2 inch off one side.  Be Accurate.

Now.  You will sew 2 long strips.  Start with the plain square and sew a 4 1/2" length of sashing strip to it, then to the sashing piece sew a piano key component, followed by a sashing and a plain square.  Take a look at the photo below and make sure you put your pieces in the same order - you start and end with a plain square.  The strip should measure 48 1/2 inches long.  Did I say to make 2 like this?  Okay, Make 2. That should leave you with 4 piano key sections and the 8 1/2 inch pieces of sashing and the two long strips of sashing along with the broken dishes blocks.

*excuse my photography - it is gloomy and rainy outside and the indoor light does not do this justice*

Step 6:  This last section will be the centre strip of the table runner.  So beginning with a piano keys component sew a 8 1/2 inch sashing piece to the long side, next you will sew a broken dishes block to the sashing and another sashing to the other side of the broken dishes block.  Continue in this manner ending with a piano keys component.  These will measure 48 1/2 inches long.

Step 6 a:  Next you will sew the long sashing strips to each side of the broken dishes section.  See the photo below.



AND FINALLY ---

You will sew the two smaller strips , one on each side to the centre broken dishes strip and you will be finished your table runner...

I have managed to quilt my top, but not quite finished adding and sewing the binding on.  So here is the almost completed Peace To Joy Mystery Table Runner. . .



Did you work along without peeking?  Like I said yesterday, I do understand if you wait to see the end.  If I may be so bold as to suggest, that this is a pretty good project for using up those charm packs that you bought on a whim!

Well, now I am working on creating a pot roast for dinner today ---My Son doesn't much care for turkey and he has to work tomorrow,  so we indulge him and forgo the turkey for beef roast as our Thanksgiving Dinner.

May you all enjoy your Meal with family and friends around you in person or thought.

Peace to Joy Mystery Table Runner Part 1

**uh oh - check for a correction in step 2, it should be 6 squares of light and 6 of dark**

Finally!  I am back - I missed me, so I won't even ask if you did -- Gee this has been a miserable cold -- which really has not ended yet!  Something that I do wonder about, not to do with colds but to do with relationships...  Why is it, when I have a cold (perhaps you too?) does my husband insist on snuggling, or gathering up my carelessly dropped and used kleenex?  How many times did I tell him to keep back?  How many times did I tell him to not touch the tissues?  How many times did I tell him to not finish up the bit of 7-up in my glass?   And when he starts to cough now and then, why does he say no, if I ask if he has caught the cold???

This little Thanksgiving Mystery is done in only two parts.  If it was me, I would wait til tomorrow to find out if I want to actually make this project -- but that sort of spoils things -- I'm not very good at Christmas either!!  I just don't see any point in torturing myself...  Anyway...

Before we start sometimes it helps to know what some of the end will be – even though it is a mystery, in this case, this mystery, as with some mysteries we are told what happened at the beginning so that the mystery them becomes How or Why.

The end of this mystery turns out to be a table runner that will measure about 18” wide and 48” long – a nice size for a dining table or perhaps as a dresser “scarf”.

So we start with a selection of 5” squares. One Charm pack will do nicely as most charm packs, I think are 42 squares. If you are cutting your own 5” squares from stash fabrics, you actually  need 40 squares.

You will also need a sashing fabric that either contrasts or co-ordinates with one or more of your charm pack fabrics – in my case I chose a fabric that I also used in some of the 5” charms, the lightest fabric.

Step 1. From your stack of 5” squares or charm pack, make two piles, one light fabrics and one dark fabrics. Some of the squares may be on the edge of light or dark or even exactly in between and since this is a mystery, I will leave the decision of what goes in which pile completely up to you, the maker.

Step 1 A. Now choose 8 squares from your stack – any 8, light or dark or medium is fine – perhaps this is a good use for the medium value fabrics that you are unsure of if they belong in the light or dark pile? Well, thats what I did with those, not really darks and not really lights...

Set these 8 squares aside, til later.

Step 2: Now choose 12  6 light/medium charms and 12  6 dark/medium charms. Randomly match one light, to one dark, lay two fabrics together and draw a line across diagonally exactly from one corner to the opposite corner using a pencil then sew 1/4” from that line on each side fo the line. Cut them into two following your original drawn line, Press the newly created half-square triangle open with the seam pressed toward the dark fabric.

You will now have 20  12 sewn, half-square triangles. Take the time to measure and trim square these so that they are 4 ½ “ square. This will help to ensure that your points all come together nicely so  that all your seams will line up.

Step 3: Now choose 10 more light squares and 10 dark ones.

Cut all the squares in half horizontally, so that you have 10 light rectangles that measure 2 1/2” x 5” and do the same with the dark squares. Now match light to dark and sew light to dark to make 20 sections that when sewn will measure 4 ½ x 5”

With these 20 pieces, again randomly match them and sew them so that you  then have 10 short strips, each section sort of looking like “piano keys” and 4 pieces sewn together that will measure 8 ½ “ x 5”. Then trim up each set so that they measure 8 ½ “ long x 4 ½ “ wide.  (that means to take about 1/2 inch off one long side or a 1/4 inch off both long sides, measure carefully)

And that is it for today.

I Hab a Code...

My eyes are not up to staring at a computer screen, nor does my nose stop dripping onto the keyboard; my ribs are sore from coughing.

I don't feel like making stuff or doing stuff -- I will be back SOON!  I suspect that I picked the cold up on my adventure to the big city (Vancouver) to see Harry Connick Jr. in concert about a week ago...  A really fine concert but way too many people -- it was a full house and I am sure someone just had to sniffle and snort their way through the concert and I was lucky enough to catch one of the millions of little bacteria they passed around to the concert goers...

More crochet wrapped Rocks

This took a bit of extra time to create, because I had not before done dimensional flower motifs in such a small thread and hook.  I am aquiring nice round rocks faster than I can make lacy crochet for them...

and a bit closer, these flower motifs are quite easy once you get the hang of keeping the tension tight -- it took a few tries to get the flowers to look proper considering my tension was way too loose.  I had to take it quite slow, and I am not showing the purple flower one I made first, it is pretty bad, so I didn't add the looped chains to wrap it around the rock...

I am still looking for a yellow varigated crochet thread to wrap around a rock -- I am almost obsessed with yellow varigated thread -- the first place I check out in every 2nd hand shop is the craft corner, looking for the elusive yellow varigated thread!  Soon, I know I will find it soon.