Work in Progress - French General

An organized and somewhat planned out project!  Since I won that jelly roll and charm pack at my quilt guild retreat a few weeks back of French General from Moda the wheels and cogs have been turning and my fingers have been itching to get started.  

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have decided to go with making a quilt which will be lap size, because that is about what the available strips and squares will allow unless I go hunting up some extra yardage of this fabric design.  So it is Boxy Stars as the pattern I am using...

Now after getting a few of these blocks made up, I am not sure that the amount of fabric is quite enough for 12 blocks with sashing... I may have to settle for 9 blocks...   Which might leave enough to make a piano key outside border?   Do you plan out every step to a quilt?  Or do you "wing it"?  I find I am the kind of person to " wing it" and sometimes I certainly don't end up with what I imagined at the beginning.   I keep doing things that way though, so I must find it to work well enough for me.   I should be further along later in the week and can show you how it is coming together.

In the meantime and inbetween the Boxy Squares and knitting mittens --- which reminds me --- I had a dream about knitting these mittens --- I dreamt I was knitting these mittens, grey and fuzzy, for my brother who lives in  COLD COLD Winnipeg.  Now, in the dream I heard on the tv weather channel that the tempurature in Winnipeg would be +22 C (that is about +70 F)  so I thought, why am I knitting mittens for him?  He needs a palm tree in his back yard! --- Now do you have weird dreams like that?  Should I continue with the mittens?  Today, for real, the tempurature is supposed to be -5C (which is 26 F)...

So as I was saying, inbetween sewing and knitting, I made a fabric postcard, as part of a monthly exchange I am in; the theme for the month of February was Your favourite Love Song...  It was an easy choice for me...  My favourite love song...

Can you guess?

Wild Horses by the Rolling Stones  1971, but I also love Susan Boyle's version of the song done on her first album a couple of years ago...

Now, I think I will go work on the last few rows of those mittens and perhaps get them finished up, because I am thinking I would like to get back to learning to knit socks!

Gee, there are alot of "to do" things on my list of aspirations...

Pinterest for Crafty People

Today, I have something special!  I have a guest blogger to tell you about one the the BIG internet sensations!  Rebecca Vaughn is a 'social media' guru, so I will let her tell you all about Pinterest...

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Nearly everyone is on social media nowadays, with the most recent estimation being that there are over 483 million daily active users on Facebook, and over 100 million daily users on Twitter. But the latest – and according to many, the most fun social media tool taking the online world by storm right now is Pinterest.

Pinterest is a site that allows users to create “boards” where they can “pin” images to create visual collections to share. You can follow other users and you can follow specific boards they are sharing. You can also “like” other people’s pins, and even re-pin them to your own boards.

So where do these photos and images come from? They’re all linked from commercial websites, blogs, personal web albums, news sites, and all kinds of online sources. If there is an image on the page, it can usually be pinned. Add a “Pin It” button to your browser (it’s super easy to do from the Pinterest site under the “About” menu), and whenever you stumble on to something you love while you’re surfing the Internet, hit the “Pin It” button and you can immediately pin it to your Pinterest boards.


Once you sign up and start discovering all the gorgeous things people have to share, the beautiful photography, and the links to fantastic sites, you’ll find that suddenly an hour (or more) has gone by and you want to keep looking! (Trust me, just playing on Pinterest for this article had me losing track of time!)

So what’s so fun about Pinterest?

Find what you love. For crafty types, it’s the opportunity to discover and share beautiful finds. Love knitted crafts? There are thousands of pictures of beautiful and creative projects, all with links to the original site where you can discover how to make it or where you can buy it.

Connect with others who love the same. You’re not the only one who loves the gorgeous colours in the quilts and afghans you found on Pinterest. There are others who have liked and re-pinned, and you can comment and follow one another. What better way to find new friends with similar interests?

Find out where to get it. Love a product you found on Pinterest? Since the images are linked, you just click on the image and you’ll go straight to the original site where it was posted. You can get all the info you need and possibly even purchase the item there too.

Discover how-tos and tutorials. From beautiful knitted projects to creative ideas for organizing your craft materials, Pinterest users are sharing the interesting things they know how to do – and you can save it to your boards to look at later or share with your friends and followers.

Create and share collections of your own. You can create boards for whatever you like. If you want to collect photos of ideas for redecorating your living room, you can put all those photos in one place. If you are planning a trip, you can pin photos from travel sites so your whole itinerary is right there on your Pinterest board. And of course if you are planning a new craft project, you can even share step-by-step photos from your blog and bring traffic to your site. There are tons of possibilities for nearly every kind of interest.

Currently, to join the site you have to get an invite, so request one from a friend or request one from Pinterest – but be warned, you’ll get in faster if you get an invite from a friend. Pinterest is experiencing so much growth that if you request an invite from them, you might be waiting a while!

So go ahead and look around Pinterest and start discovering all the creative, beautiful finds there. But be warned, you might be there for a while!

Rebecca Vaughan is one of The Social Chicks – three marketing and communications professionals who support individuals and organizations in “going social” – making connections through both social media and offline. (Look for workshops by The Social Chicks about Pinterest, coming soon to the Fraser Valley of British Columbia, Canada!)

Eclectic - Little Things

Now, while I have been unwell with that flu I have managed to do a few little things -- and the best part of little things is that evenually they add up to bigger and bigger things.

While I was at our guild retreat a couple of weekends back, I did some piecing of 2 1/2 inch squares -- and like I have said before when I complete a project, I often cut up the left over fabric into squares or strips to be used sometime later.  Well like the shoe box full of 3 1/2 inch squares, I have a shoebox full (and overflowing) of 2 1/2 inch squares!   I took those squares with me to the retreat weekend and put together most of these 30 blocks and pressed and squared up the edges this morning -- the block is called a Five Patch Chain and are a 10 inch square block.  These 30 blocks have barely made a dent in the shoebox!  These blocks will be listed in my etsy shop in the next day or so at a VERY good price...

The other day, I blogged about  a few links, one from the blog Crochet with Raymond about crochet flowers, so I have been busily making  few of the flowers (I haven't got to making the leaves because I have no green yarn!) so my progress in the 5 pointed flowers are looking alot like stars aren't they?

One of the "gifts" that I received as a participant at my guild's retreat was a personalized mug rug!  I totally forgot to mention it when I wrote about the retreat.   One of the organizing group for the retreat spent alot of time putting together these great little "rugs" and I use it every morning beside my keyboard!   Wouldn't a little "protector" like this make you feel DARN special?  So to the maker, THANK-YOU so much for this!

This week, I will be featuring a GUEST BLOGGER!  I have never had anyone as a guest on my blog, so I hope you enjoy what she has to say!  She is not a quilter, but is an EXPERT and a wonderful writer... Come back on Wednesday for her feature, please.

Now to get back to playing around with little things...

Not Quite... up to Par

I did say that I would post something for Saturday, particularly on the subject on Inventory...  Well, like the title there says, I really haven't got myself up to par yet and did not even go into the sewing room for any length of time in the past few days...

But I have found a few things that made me smile and got my "creative juices" going (although I haven't done much about it)...

Here is a blog that I visit regularly, Snowcatcher, that is mainly about making crochet stars and ornaments, but this time she has posted a 1923 video (direct from Paris!) about rollerblading?

Check this out, you can't help but smile and be amazed...

http://www.snowcatcher.net/2012/02/friday-funny_17.html

And if you are wanting to start on Christmas 2012 decorations, read back in her blog and start a few thread crochet tree ornaments...

Here is a bit of crochet, that I have been working on lately, from another blog that I read regularly -- Crochet With Raymond (raymond is a cat and they live in New Zealand...

This is a tutorial for 5 petal flower and leaves and how to make them into a brooch -- I have found this to be an easy and relaxing project and speaking of Christmas AGAIN -- this is still only February isn't it?  Well, I have in mind these little brooches, slightly adjusted with my own "take on it" as Christmas wrap decorations...

Check out these little flowers -- especially if you have bits of yarn scraps laying about...

http://crochethealingandraymond.wordpress.com/2011/01/05/pointy-petal-flower/

Here's another little flower; this time made with fabric, glue and beads or buttons. So if there is not yarn in your crafty inventory, this flower is what you can make with some of those lovely scraps from your last quilt, or from your last 10 quilts for that matter.

Go to http://www.womansday.com/home/craft-ideas/diy-style-fabric-flower-charm-85151?click=main_sr  for a bit of charming inspiration!

Have a great Inspirational Sunday!

Cough, Cough, Snort, Echtttt...

I am on the recovery side of a nasty flu, the annual flu shot did not help me this year...

Even though I have not written for a week, the little wheels and cogs in my brain have been turning and spinning and creating projects that I am itching to get started on...

I also am thinking of working on a series -- and if you know me by now, you will possibly have guessed that I will not promise a beginning or an end or even a contents list!   Suffice to say, instead of a few features about ORGANIZING, which seems to be the big topic to start this year, I am planning to talk about INVENTORY....

So once I stop coughing and snorting and making weird wheezy sounds, I have some work to get on with here on the BLOG...

See you on Saturday....

I know Archie is waiting patiently beside my Janome for the rhythmic click of the needle to lull him into a curled up furry ball beside the machine or ontop of a stack of fabric...(he is not allowed in the sewing room unless I am there too).  It is the sunniest room in the house and you know how cats love a sunbeam in winter!

After Retreat

This past weekend I spent at Rosemary Heights Retreat Centre in Surrey, BC (south of #10 Hwy at 152nd St). This is the third time I have attended our guild retreat and for me, the BEST one yet!!

As you can see, Walter is doing a last inspection of my sewing box, before I pack it up to go to the retreat!

The Retreat Centre has become quite familar to me, but without our guild's fantastic organizing committee, nothing would run quite so smoothly and seem like an effortless process. (Tho we do know it takes months of planning ahead of time!)

 When we start to arrive on Friday afternoon, it is not long before everyone is set up at their (preassigned) sewing stations and everyone gets busy with the projects they brought along to work on.  Lynne W.  had a tablerunner project to teach which included some TRICKY piecing and extra techniques -- I don't know how i forgot to take photos of it!  HMMMM....

Now, when you get to take part in a Quilting Retreat, it is not ALL about quilting and sewing.  FOOD is, as always on our minds and this year Rosemary Heights kitchen chefs and staff served up some excellent meals!  Saturday's lunch was especially fine.  It was a build it yourself salad with all sorts of goodies piled ontop of fine fresh romaine! MMMMM.... MMMMM... MMMM.... Good!

Surrounding Rosemary Heights meeting rooms, kitchens and accommodations (which also by the way are individual rooms -- small but very comfy beds) is the natural setting of wooded and open lawn and meadow areas.  When I arrived there were about 6 deer just off the lawn area, but of course moved out of range of the camera, by the time I got it out of my bag!

 The above photo was taken looking north west toward Vancouver and if you are eagle eyed you will see the busy street leading to the busy city centre...

Now, not only do we spend our hours working on projects that we brought but we are very priviledged to have the support of the quilt shops from Chilliwack to Vancouver to offer up discount coupons for a SHOP HOP on our way to the retreat centre but also to donate door prizes for some extra excitement during the 3 day weekend at Retreat.  I was so very lucky to receive a drawn door prize donated by the QUILTED STITCH in Ft Langley.

The other shops that helped out with coupons, gift certificates and prizes were:
A Great Notion's Quiltworks 103 - 19289 Langley Bypass, Surrey BC

A Great Notion's Quiltworks  32526 Dahlstrom Ave, Abbotsford, BC

A Quilted Stitch 110 - 23343 Mavis Ave  Ft Langley, BC

Castle Sewing Centre 18543 Fraser Hwy  Surrey, BC

Hamels Fabrics and Quilting  5843 Lickman Rd  Chilliwack, BC

Laura's Fashion Fabrics  1552 Johnston Rd.  White Rock, BC

My Little Quilt Shop in the Woods  26935 199A Ave Maple Ridge, BC

Toews Sewing 2518A Clearbrook RD  Abbotsford, BC

Tom's Sewing 109 -8318 120th Street Surrey BC (but they had a fire on Feb 2, so check on line for info about the store)

Wineberry Fabrics 202 - 6355 152 St Surrey BC

And Carola's Quilt Shop at 7 - 1161 Sunshine Coast Hwy Gibsons, BC who came to our retreat and set up a booth on Saturday morning for a few hours so that some of us could do a bit of shopping within walking distance of our sewing station!

It was a fantastic weekend with lots of laughing and learning!  If you get a chance to be part of such an event -- I would say, Don't pass it by. 

Now, What can I do with my prize of a Jelly Roll and matching Charm Pack?  I am thinking perhaps a Block Pattern called Boxy Stars  check it out here http://quiltville.com/boxystars.shtml  What do you think?  I'll try to get some progress in the next few days with some pictures of my version of these blocks.... Come back and visit!

Or, sign up on the email notifications and the blog will automatically be sent to the email you submit -- you can cancel anytime, tho I hope you don't...

Useful Quilt Related Links

I am off to Quilt Retreat this weekend at a beautiful facility in the wilds of Surrey, BC!

I signed up and paid for the retreat that is organized by my guild (Abbotsford Quilters' Guild) way back in October 2011 and one of the things I of course didn't even consider at the time was that Retreat Weekend for me was Super Bowl weekend for many others.  Now how could I be so LUCKY to not have to be exposed to those well-padded, football throwing warriors?   There could be no better weekend to be on a retreat weekend, unless of course it was Stanley Cup weekend!  Maybe I can get my Guild to arrange two weekends a year?? 

A weekend of NO sports and All Sewing!

In the meantime, if you just are not able to get to a sewing, quilting or other type of retreat this weekend, I shall leave you with a couple of links where you can drop in and think about and maybe learn more about Quilting!

Here is a great one, that I actually discovered thro StumbleUpon (remember I said I would Introduce you to some computer stuff that would increase your quilting explorations)  StumbleUpon is one of those 'sources".

Anyway go and check out this blog post by Melody Johnson, a well known quilt artist.  This particular blog post was done in 2005 but as you read you will know why she repeated it on her blog.   A very enlightening and informative "lecture" on using fusing techniques for your quilting.   Go to  http://fibermania.blogspot.com/2012/01/fusing-101.html  then check out some of the other entries on her blog, if you can't read it now, bookmark her blog so that you can keep up with her facinating projects!

And, GEE! we are always looking for quilt patterns, right?  Well, here is a web site that is FULL of free ones!  When you click on the link it takes you to a page where as you scroll down you will see various quilts or projects that might interest you.  You then click where it says "Get this Free Pattern" and you will be taken to a page with a large picture of the project and on the left hand side are further links to the written instructions and cutting details or templates...  If you can't find a new project here, well, I guess you just gotta go out and buy a new quilting book for $40 bucks (not that theres anything wrong with a good book)   So head on over to http://www.freequiltpatterns.info/  and see what you can find.

Now, hopefully those two sites will keep you busy for a few days! 

One more thing that I have to pass along to those of you with smart phones or things like ipad or itouch.   And again, i discovered this by following a "tweet"...   On your phone go to where you can search and download new apps.  Search for Robert Kaufman and you should come up with Robert Kaufman fabrics.  It is a FREE download and this is a Fantastic! (with fireworks fantastic) app.  It is a quilting calculator.  It will calculate how much fabric you need for a particular size backing, it will calculate how many of a particular size piece you can cut in say 1 yard/meter of fabric.  Need 1000  2 1/2 inch squares, it will tell you that it will take 4. (I can't remember the fraction) yards of fabric!  Have to make binding for a quilt that measures 52 inches by 70 inches?  punch in the numbers and it will tell you how long to make the binding!  Cool huh?  Rush right to your phone and look for and download the app.  You will thank me and especially you will thank Robert Kaufman fabrics for such a GREAT FREE APP...

Enjoy your weekend!  I am off to sew and sew and sew and sew and then talk and talk and talk and talk at the quilt retreat!

Your Privacy

Lately I have been thinking about writing information on my blog about some computer/internet things that some of my readers might have some use for.  I don't want to bore you with alot of technical details, but when you use email, internet, and online social media, there are things that everyone should be aware of, and make the best use of....

Even though you prefer to quilt or crochet or do other sorts of crafting, I am sure that you use your computer and its connections to the world wide web. Many of you have cell phones of various types that can keep you online even when you are away from your home computer.   The world is changing, and it is changing FAST!  You can't really ignore some of this stuff...

As of March 1, 2012, GOOGLE, the big search engine and the entity that manages things like gmail, yahoo, you tube, maps and many other applications is changing it's privacy policy.   I was made aware of one of these changes because I was watching the CTV newscast from Winnipeg, Manitoba (even tho i live on the west coast, I have a cable option of what is called time shift channels, so I can watch tv from Newfoundland, Ontario, Manitoba, and Alberta along with my own local channels). 

One thing that I learned is that if you have a gmail account, and it happens to be open, and at the same time (in a seperate screen) you do a search on google -- by some magic, that we mere mortals do not have the time or inclination to understand for the most part - Google can LINK your search request to your personal gmail account.  Now basically what this means is if I do a search on GOOGLE and type in say OHIO STAR -- which is a type of quilt block -- GOOGLE will LINK that request to commercial enterprises (who pay for ad space) to your email.   That means that a company that say is OHIO STAR Car Repair will send a advertising email to your personal email account (or any thing that relates to commercial enterprises that use OHIO STAR as a "tag").   Now remember, it can only do this if your email account is open at the same time as you are doing other things on the internet...  Don't Panic!   The main thing to remember is that YOU have options.   First you should go to http://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/  where you can learn more than you want to know about these new policies...

It is not my job to bore you -- well, just this little bit, but I hope that you can say I am giving you some needed information, even tho it has nothing to do with quilting or crochet or going for rides in the country, or funny little black and white cats with their matching dog.  (had to put a photo in there to lighten up a serious subject)

Check out that privacy policy page, and once you get to the page, read  the section "Information we collect and how we use it".   Then there is on the right hand side of the page a little section that says "Privacy Resources"  click on the "Privacy Tools" and that will explain how you can OPT OUT of some of the automatic (underhanded big brother links) LINKS that you may have connected to your emails that you never thought could happen...

It is up to you to check out these things now that you are aware.  If there are things you don't understand about it, read it again, ask a friend to help you, ask your kids if they know what to do -- kids know so much more about the electronic world, don't they? 

So please, if you can't do it now, write yourself a note and set aside an hour or so to read about these new policies, take the time to understand them and do the things necessary for your own peace of mind to adjust your own privacy settings.  If you do nothing, you will soon be wondering WHAT?? or WHY??? or WHO's This???

Now, back to our regularly scheduled quilting, crochet, and crafty stuff!!  Tomorrow....

PS  I try to use language that we all understand but I just realized I used a word "tag" that may mean something different to many of you...  A 'Tag" in computerese is "is a non-hierarchical keyword or term assigned to a piece of information (such as an internet bookmark, digital image, or computer file). This helps describe an item and allows it to be found again by browsing or searching. Tags are generally chosen informally and personally by the item's creator or by its viewer, depending on the system.