Introducing.....

Pearl.

We have been waiting for this little girl for a few weeks.  Her full name is Pearl Hefty Barker -- an excellent name for a dog.  She is a Border Collie from Likely, BC.   She has three smaller brothers and she doesn't seem to be missing them one little bit...

We have been thinking on and studying what sort of little buddy to add to our home for quite some time now.  I knew the right little girl would come along.

And she seems to be quick of mind...

By the end of her first day HOME she was pawing at the back door to be let out to do her 'business'...  The Breeder did say she has been paper trained, but we haven't even set down any paper for her.   The first day, may be just luck, do you think?

The name Pearl is a family name that has sort of dissappeared, so we thought we would bring it back in this little girl.

Pearl is what the word Margaret means in Greek, or so it says on a number of baby name lists -- My Mom's name was Margaret.

Pearl is the title of one of my favourite albums... Janis Joplin recorded a set of songs that were released just after her death in 1970/71 and it has always been part of my music collection.  And finally, Pearl was the name of one of my Grandmother's sisters -- they called her Pearly and though she has been 'gone' a long time the name is revived and we hope that our Pearl can live up to her "gem" of a name.

So there you go, Introducing Pearl

Glad to be HOME

Well, Las Vegas really is something...

But

While it was interesting, it is not a place for me...

Most of the time, it was like being a fish out of water.  I like quiet days and peaceful nights -- The ROAR never stops on "The Strip".

I get up out of my bed at home early every morning, even when I have nothing particular that has to be done, I very much love to hear the birds in the morning -- There are no birds twittering and tweeting at 4am on the Vegas Strip, but there are sultry women leaning on a gangsta's arm at a gaming table, or standing at a bar and swaying slightly and you wonder if a slight breeze may topple her over.  

Now don't get me wrong, there is alot of WONDER in the sights along the Vegas strip -- in particular I learned the reason for the high prices on designer goods -- my favourite part of the whole experience was walking in the shopping mall at Caesar's Palace. 

Purses, and shoes and jewellery, dresses and the art of it all!  MUHMMMMM... Beauty is there to behold, lovely to look at and lovely to hold.   With enough $$$$ in my pocket I could easily succomb to making these extravagant purchases, which to many others are not extravagant but just part of the necessities of life...

When you take the time to really look you can understand why a little bag like this Fendi, costs so much.  The design is just a touch neater, nicely proportioned and excudes SPECIAL... Then you look at the pattern, and the workmanship the stitching, that had to be done by hand, not by a machine and you come to understand why this deserves its price tag...

Tiffany and Co.  window...

the display design is even special!  Just set yourself along a forest trail and think of the peace and beauty that you experience on that quiet green trail.  Look for the Jewels in amongst the ferns in the rainforest.  Watch closely for the butterfly flitting just above the slugs sliming their way beneath the dead leaf litter on the forest floor.  Then.  Look up --- see the sparkle in a piece of rough bark on a tree rising to the sun shiny canopy?  Oh, hey, look there, a sparkly pearl dangling from a cedar branch...  Do you see that in this window display?  I did.  I had a real hard time pulling myself away.  The thought crossed my mind while looking at this.  Who wouldn't want to capture those diamonds and pearls, just out of reach?

Everything is BIG.

When you get outside and walk along the sidewalk between hotels, you experience the day life -- not quite so well disquised as the nighttime frenzied hopelessness that peeks out between the cracks.  The daytime streetlife, while filled with tourists shopping at places like the M&M store or at the Coke Store, also has the desperate street hawkers, trying to make a buck by selling something that you definately don't need.  I almost fell for a collection of stick on "gems" to decorate my finger nails -- ONLY $30!  And I long ago stopped putting coloured enamel on my finger nails...  Damn those sales people do have a knack...  Lucky me, though, not quite good enough -- or was it my Son, saying Come ON, Mom, we're waiting!  Lets Go!  Thanks to my Son, I am saved that 30 dollars...

There is so much to say about Las Vegas, and I am sure that those who live their barely notice the Trap of the Strip, they go about their daily lives just the the majority of people anywhere else, go get groceries once a week, take the kids to school or to the park, figure out if they can buy shoes now or wait til next month...  At least I hope thats the way it is!

That Touristy Part of Vegas is not for me.  I am so happy to be Home...

Bright Lights, Big City

Yes, Bright Lights and the big city...

I am going on an adventure!  A big adventure to me -- but it seems EVERYBODY else has already been.

I am a city girl, who thinks about living in the country. I dream about a babbling brook in the back yard with a winding pathway between really big cedar, pine and spruce.  I have dreams about walking the dog (I don't even have a dog) along these quiet out of the way trails, that I don't have to leave my yard to get to...  WAKE UP!  Since I don't have my own yard like that, I make do with local parks and trails and dream about a handsome border collie walking along with me...  Right now, it is usually my husband who walks with me and he even barks on occasion, but he is getting too old to chase squirrels or jump for a frisbee...  Maybe I should get a dog??  Well, thats off topic, now...

SO,  Now I have planned and paid for a BIG CITY holiday?  Why, is it because I am influenced by outside sources?  Probably!  My son being that main outside source -- he has been to this big city 5 times!  Okay so my first time to a really big American city.  Am I looking forward to it?  I love new things and this is going to be many new things, so YEPPERS, I am looking forward to it!  What to expect?  They tell me lots of walking -- I'm not so good at walking, but I will cover as much ground as I can without making myself so tired I can't sleep.  Did you ever get that tired?  I have done it a few times...

We will be staying at the big pyramid, THE LUXOR, but there are other things to see.  At one time a few years back I yearned to go to the Mandalay -- I was "into" watching PBR (Professional Bull Riding) and the season finals were at that hotel a few times -- well, I never quite got there, and now I never even see PBR on the sports channel, maybe it is still on, I just don't look for it...

There are SO MANY things, events and sights, shows and even tours out to the grand canyon, that it is almost overwhelming, so, because it is the first time, I am trying not to have expectations and have actually not planned or bought any extra event tickets.  I can go again, if I want, or need.  So I consider this to be an exploratory adventure, mostly to find out if it is worth my time and effort to go again.  

Perhaps because I dream about trees and rivers, trails and beaches, mountains and mossy wooded nooks, I may find that a drive along the Oregon coast would suit me better, or a weekend trip to ride the ferry at Boswell, BC will be as much fun as I can stand?  Sitting on a bench at Pentiction, BC or Parksville on Vancouver Island may be what I really prefer -- but hey, its always nice to know that for sure, so don't look for blog updates here, til next weekend when I am home again.

See you again, in a week!

PS. Did I say, this all happening in Las Vegas, Nevada...

Reading

Mostly I read blogs.

But I bought a real actual book yesterday.  I was just browsing through the bookstore at the mall -- actually I was at the mall to get in some walking indoors, cause it was raining outside.  I read a few lines from this book or from that book, then i picked up a book that I could not put back on the shelf.  It was so funny, to me anyway, that it caused tears to run -- how often do we get to laugh that hard?

So, I bought the book -- Sh*t My Dad Says, by Justin Halpern  this book comes from a series of comments by the author's father that he posted on Twitter.  So of course, I had to google the author and the Twitter bit...  check out http://shitmydadsays.tumblr.com/ to see a compilation of the tweets.  I continued reading this book during the afternoon, yesterday -- my husband was quite irritated, I was too happy, I guess -- he went upstairs to watch the Blue Jays play with the Rays, hitting and running after a ball in a big green field somewhere at the centre of the universe aka Toronto.  Oh, for those who object to swearing, there is too much of it in this book for you to read, so don't bother to check out the web link above, you'll just get mad at me for sending you there...

I also found a web page announcing a pilot for TV of this book (Sh*t My Dad Says) is being made with William Shatner as the Dad -- sure hope to see it come to fruition - hoping that it stands up to the quality writing of the book...

And on more reading.  A Canadian Blogger, from the big TO aka Toronto, writing about an experiment of being a '50's housewife.  Quite a challenge considering she is too young to have even be the daughter of a 50's housewife...  Just being old enough to be the granddaughter of one...  Facinating reading though from a younger persons perspective and the effort it takes to avoid some of the 'conveniences' of today.   My own experience was as the child of a 50's housewife so I do see a few things differently and the fact that I grew up 'countrified' made a huge difference in the food experience.  Where the city cook used cans and odd combinations, too much sugar and city conveniences, being on a farm, things were more plain -- sugar was not in abundance because it meant a trip to town to get it...  Check out Jen But Never Jenn at
http://www.jenbutneverjenn.com/2010/05/welcome-to-50s-housewife-experiment.html

I think I will go and do some sewing, it is supposed to get warm this afternoon so I can go and sit on my back yard deck and read some more Sh*t My Dad Says -- this book reminds me of my brother, though.

Tawashi

I BROWSE the internet -- EVERY MORNING!

There is an endless list of things to learn, discover and then do-it-yourself!

I discovered TAWASHI on Saturday Morning.  These are scrubbie/wash cloths, depending on what you use to make them.  Basically Tawashi is the Japanese term for dishcloth, so it encompasses all sorts of designs and it just happens that these little round ones caught my eye.  I found the idea on the Ravelry (you have to sign up and be a member) and there is one free pattern but I sort of adjusted my project.  You can also check out  tipnut.com (http://tipnut.com/ ) and do a search on the site for the word/project tawashi, which is the pattern that I used for these.

To use them as a scrubbie for the kitchen, a "rough" acrylic type yarn is suggested because it will softly scrub your dishes, also the acrylic or nylon yarns are more antibacterial.  These ones though that I made I used a no name "overstock" cotton, that I purchased at Wal-Mart for $12 for two of those huge balls, not those piddly little ones that cost $1.50 each.  

These ones that I have made, will be my new face/bath cloth -- they feel really nice on the skin and hold lots of soap for a good scrub down.  They are simple -- infact an excellent beginner project, and fast and satisfying. 

I have some yucky blue acrylic yarn, that I plan to use to make another couple and see how they work as the kitchen wipe up cloth. 

I have let my hubby use one to wipe the counters in the kitchen -- he says he likes it because he doesn't have to be folding and refolding a plain square 'rag' to do any wiping up and it fits his hand nicely.

 (I cook, he cleans)

Too bad I have discovered these so late, I think they might have been close to ideal for my Mom's arthritic hands, not too big and heavy, like the square ones we are all used to.  Well, if she had tried them out, she would have given me her honest opinion as she was never one to hold back on her opinion of things...

Well, must get on with my day...

Patriotic Salvage

Is anyone up for doing a Mystery Quilt?  I hope so, after you hear some of the details, it may just entice you to take part!

Patriotic Salvage is what it is going to be called -- This year, July 1, the Canada Day celebration is on Thursday, and July 4th , Independence Day, is on Sunday so if you are going to stay home and enjoy your own back yard how about taking on a 4 day Mystery Project?   This will be a small quilt, with some fairly small pieces, but we will be using an interesting piecing technique that will keep your pieces accurate and inline.

Supplies that you will want to have on hand:
Fabric - cottons work best - as described in the next paragraph
about 1 meter/yard of light weight, non woven, fusible interfacing -- must be fusible!
Rotary Cutter, Cutting Mat, Acrylic Rulers of various sizes, but AT LEAST a 6 x 24 inch, works for everything, scissors, thread, sewing machine and all that goes with it.

As the name of this Mystery Project suggests, it will be somewhat Patriotic and the idea is to work from your stash.  If you are Canadian, you will want to check through your stash for REDS and Whites -- reds from pink to dark red, and Americans, I would suggest using light blues and dark reds or light reds and pinks with dark blues.  Of course if you do not want to follow those colour choices, you will be looking for lights and darks -- that is very light and medium to dark of any colour, so this is basically a two colour quilt -- or you could just use two colours, but using salvage fabrics from your stash will be part of the whole idea -- oh, and you will not need more than about 1 metre (a little over a yard) of light and  about the same of dark fabric choices...

The project will not take up more than a couple hours each of the days of the long weekend, starting on Thursday and ending with finishing details and suggestions of purposing this little quilt on Sunday, and that way, if you need you can use the Monday for final touch-up and finishing...  The Project will be appropriate for Beginner to more experienced sewer and you may just add to your repertoire of quilting knowlege.

Hows about that?
I sure would appreciate it if you leave a little comment on this post to let me know if you are interested and plan to work along on that weekend.  Thanks!

PS - there will be no charge for the pattern or tips that go along with this project but if you do not work along with the project, it may not be on this blog after about July 8...

Still on the Crochet Kick.

Just a quick update of the progress of the Quick? scarf.

This is the first 4 rows, or you could call them rounds, cause this doesn't go back and forth, it goes around, with the foundation chain being the very centre.  The foundation chain is 253 chains, the first 3 being the first dc, then dc to the end, in the last chain, dc three times, now without turning over make a dc on the other side of the previous chain, continue to dc in each chain til you get to the three chains that form the first dc, in the base of this dc, make 2 dc then slip stitch to the top of the first dc. 

 Next round change colour (white in this case) chain 4, this makes half of the "V" stitch, dc in top of previous round dc, skip 1 stitch, *dc ch1 dc in next dc* of the next round for 250 stitches now as you go around the curve you will make a "v" stitch in every dc of the previous round, then continue the "V" stitch for the 250 stitches around, again to form the curve, form the "V" stitch in every dc, join to first chain 4, in the 3rd chain with a slip stitch.  the fourth round is worked the same as the previous round, except at the ends, you will form 1 extra "v" stitch between the 3rd and 4th "v" stitch of the previous row...

TO BE CONTINUED...

Oh and as an afterthought, I decided I would mention Plan 52 -- it is not abandoned and is progressing along, not as quickly as hoped but it is going in the right direction -- I am considering a name change to Plan 38....

My Camera -- Out of Commission...

Good thing I have two!  The older camera has given up the ghost.  It is a Sony well made. I suspect the whole aspect of being digital and all the bits that go with being digital, makes for a shorter life span.   I guess it just doesn't have the capability to go on for an almost unlimited number of years.  I mean, I still have an Olympus Trip 35 purchased roundabout 1978.  When I am feeling old fashioned I can load it with 35 mm film and point and shoot and it works...  The sony digital is about 5 or maybe 6 years old, I am told that is a good life expectancy for that camera... Progress?

Long Thin Scarf

I am still working on the idea of long thin crochet scarfs.  The first one from the pattern link I gave in the previous post is an excellent example of quick and easy -- to create quick and easy is not so easy as one might think.   I took a hint from some of my Mile-A-Minute booklets that I have, but did not want to copy straight out of it.  I want to create something from my own brain.  I am sort of stuck though, I have five rows and am now stuck for a border or an edging. 

I went to the second hand store this morning to see if I could find some inspiration there and picked up three older knit and crochet magazines....  There is a border used on a sweater pattern in one magazine that I think might be just the right finishing touch on the current scarf.   I will get working on it later today.

Crochet Stitches Dilemna

Another place that I have looked for inspiration is an old instruction book that I have had forever; Mon Tricot Knitting and Crotchet Dictionary a french publication but printed in english.

 I have had this book for probably 30 years and until recently never thought too much about the descriptions of stitches!  Probably because I don' t refer back to much anymore.  It is the european system.  I always thought that the American compared to European was fairly simple, dc in american being tc in european.  I went to do the stitches according to the description in Mon Tricot, I found that a American/Canadian double crochet was not a triple crochet in European as I had previously thought (or is french crochet different than english?), it is actually a half triple crochet!  A triple in Euro, is another loop yet! 

Then, of course something simple like YO is not what it is called in the Mon Tricot book that I have, it is WRH meaning wrap round hook...  The book also has no single crochet stitch it is called a double...  I have concluded that this book is very difficult to use if I read the instructions.  If I look at the picture of a pattern I can fairly easily figure out the American/Canadian version of what it describes...

And still on the subject of differences -- using the diagram system for following a crochet pattern, which seems to becoming more and more popular, the stitch symbols used are also different. 

The American/Canadian symbol for a single crochet is a short up right stroke with a cross piece half way,  and as I said there is no sc in the euro system, or maybe it is a dc, which is symbolized as a single upright stroke.

So then the Am/Can double crochet has the same symbol as the Euro treble crochet, but as I said, a double crochet doesn't actually translate to be a treble, but a half treble, for which the symbol resembles a capital "T"-- then there is the double treble in euro but what do you think that might be in Am/Can??  Well at least the chain stitch is the same in both systems of crochet - a oval on its side...

Does any of this make any sense, to you? Me Neither!  I guess my gramma taught me the stitches and didn't really name them for me, so when I finally figured out what stitches were called I was following the Am/
Can language and not the Euro language of crochet.   It really makes the translations difficult as I said earlier, but for some strange reason after more than thirty years (maybe closer to 50 years?) of this old Mon Tricot Stitch Dictionary being in my possession, I am not ready to give it up, just yet.  It has some interesting pattern stitches that I have yet to tackle...

Give me a few more days to figure out a finishing round to my own long scarf...

Project Process - Processed Project

I have taken up another little challenge, you may notice a "button" near the bottom of this page on the left side, it is the Project Process Challenge.  Not really a challenge per se, but a pledge to show how a project progresses from idea to completion.  I will try to post some of the things that I do and how ideas percolate, get started and the road to completion.

But, not today.

The middle day of a long weekend.  I started and finished this scarf today. 

I saw this scarf on another blog yesterday -- and I am sorry I cannot point you to that blog, but I can point you to the instructions for this super quick crochet scarf. 

I often like to test out things with 'less' expensive yarns to see how well I like it -- I do like to crochet, but oddly, often I do not really like what I make for myself -- other than afghans, so a test with a acrylic yarn (worsted weight) - (the "super saver" size ball is more than enough) produced the above result.   This pretty, One Skein Crochet Scarf will probably be passed along or donated to my local Christmas bureau and I think, I may just make one for myself, now.  It is so long that it wraps around me little neck twice.  And still has rather long dangly loose ends. 

If this pattern interests you too, go to http://www.patonsyarns.com/data/pattern/pdf/instruction_1858.en_US.pdf

It is quick to crochet, especially on the middle day of a long weekend -- if you stay at home.  Well, we did go explore the Flea Market this Morning and the Veggie Market where we got the weekly supply of plant goodness...  And still, I got this whole scarf completed.  Yes, I think I will make another...

A thought that I did have while working on this scarf was that I thought perhaps, those Mile-A-Minute Afghan Patterns would also work well to create a quick scarf similar to this one today.  I am going to have to look up some of those to see how they might work as quick scarfs and maybe keeping it to one skein...

We'll get back to that idea in a day or two...

Spring Fever

I was mostly raised on a small hobby farm.  I think, because of that my nostalgia impels me to grow things come spring and summer.  The last few years my little town house yard has not been able to support life in any great abundance.  For two of those summers the complex I live in has been undergoing major exterior renovations and even the plants that I had, ended up trampled and destroyed by worker men...

Late last summer we decided to build a new deck, refurbish the old and create a step down system in our sloped yard.  Now we have no grass or exposed earth, so everything that I want to grow is done in containers except for the small back corners where a wild fern has sprung up and I planted some given-to-me Hostas.   Now, I am able to start to learn about Container Gardening, what works and what doesn't.

My yard now is not only 'earthless' but in past years has been very overshadowed by surrounding cedars that were long ago planted, they are in the 50+ years, I'm sure.   Recently though the owner of the cedars has had them trimmed up on his side so we also took the opportunity to trim back some branches on our side.  Now our yard is opened up and it can be considered partly sunny.  A few spots in the yard may even support sun loving plants.

So this is the beginning of my little garden.  I went so far as to create a name and a sign for my space.  I happened to have a piece of wood so painted it and then -- I don't know where this idea came from -- placed 4 left over blocks from a previous quilt onto the wood, wrote the garden name (THE PATCHWORK DOG GARDEN AND SANCTUARY) and with a sponge brush and a small can of Varathane paint, covered the whole piece with about 5 layers of Clear Gloss Varathane.

I certainly adds that quilt lovers element to my space!

A week early of the established and recommended planting date here in Canada (May 24, or Victoria Day Weekend) I have set out the seedlings that I started in doors -- BASIL and THYME, and planted some purchased starters.  Mostly Herbs will fill my container garden, SAGE, ROSEMARY, LAVENDER, and even CATNIP.   Now with the opened sky, I decided to try tomato and being sometimes a bit odd, I saw a do it yourself project to grow tomatoes upside down.

Here is the beginning of the upside down tomato plant.  This is a small grape type tomato.  The do-it-yourself project that I read about used a two litre pop bottle but said that it did not produce very many tomatos possibly due to being root bound, so I decided to try it in a 4 litre milk jug.   Lots of time to go, to see what happens with this tomato plant...  I will try to keep you posted as to this WIP!

The Big Bang Theory

Another post with no pictures...

Did you ever have an idea pop into your head that you thought must be so funny that everytime you thought of it all through the day, you would smile or giggle to yourself?

Well, I had one of those the other day and had to send my son, who is somewhat of a science nut and definately into astromomy and other such things, an email to tell him about it -- fully expecting to get the usual Ha Ha Mom, response.  

So what I sent him was this question.  If there was nothing before The Big Bang , how big could the Bang have been?  It may have been so small that it couldn't even have been heard if there was anyone or anything to hear it, so it may not even have been a big bang.   This question seems so far out and so rediculous that I did giggle about it all day.

So my brilliant (well he thinks he is anyway) says, yeah, Mom that is quite likely, anything to start is always smaller than what comes after, cause everything expands or grows at it progresses...  Do you think the Big Bang was smaller than when your irritating neighbour starts up the lawn mower on Sunday Morning?  Mind you this all depends on whether you are privy to the idea of a Big Bang theory or if you go for the idea of everything being created by a specific entity...

And no, I don't ALWAYS write about quilting or crochet...

Quick organizing idea.

no pictures this time...

anyway, the other day I was making a fabric cover for a journal type book and somewhere in the back of my head I was thinking about what I call my Password Book...  The two ideas sort of melded.

I have a old notebook that I write down the username, web address and password to a multitude of websites.  I know they (who are they anyway?) say that you should memorize your password and not give it out to anyone.  BUT GEE, there are more websites that I visit that need some sort of password, so I have to write them down -- AND because I did have a computer crash a number of years back, I now also write down not just the web name but its "http://" address too.  It is amazing how hard it is to rebuild a Favourites list or the RSS Feeds list from memory.   So everytime I log on to a new site I put it into my little notebook.  Handy, but still has problems the main problem being finding where I wrote down which site...  So thats where the bright idea popped in.  REDO all those website addresses and passwords into a regular address book -- the kind with the A, B, C's with tabs on the sides.   I have now discovered I have more web sites that I visit than I have actual friends.... hmmmm...  Sure makes it easy to check the password for any particular site -- by the way, there are a couple of my websites that are not written down -- the bank, is the most important, it is easy to remember that password because it is different than any of the others.

Another tip to do with keeping your web pages and passwords relatively easy to get back into is that I only use about 4 different ones that I use over and over and over,  but never on financially sensitive sites -- I don't think anyone looking to steal from me will care that I have a password for Lion Brand Yarn, or for the Ravelry site....   And the last computering tip...  You know those sites that insist that you have a question and secret answer?  Well, I have the same secret answer no matter what the question is-- so, What High School did you attend?  twofoursix  or how about What is your Mothers Maiden Name? twofoursix  and maybe they might ask What is the name of your Pet?  twofoursix...   (by the way, twofoursix is not my actual answer for anything it is just an example in this case)

Hope these were a couple of useful ideas -- mind you if you have money sensitive sites or sites that can give away personal information, I would advise a more secure system, but for the web sites that really just want to know how often you visit using the same answer for everything should be fine... 

Next up -- part of the Challenge to Finish

I haven't been very attentive to the ongoing Challenge to Finish, but finally I have some progress to report on one of those old WIP's that has been around just a bit too long.  I have 80 some squares made up -- these were an exchange of blocks with a local group of friends, 5 of us exchanged completed blocks.  I think I am the only one who has not finished (this was about 2 or maybe 3 years ago we traded blocks!)  Well, I have pulled out the blocks and decided it is time to put them together -- though a bit differently than my friends.  I have decided to make 2 quilts from those blocks, so I sorted through and the first quilt is using all the red, brown, purple, yellow blocks and the second will be using all the greens, blue, and yellows...

So I can say I have finished up the red brown top...

Now just to get it layered and quilted...

Who's Quilt is That??

Do you make a label for each quilt that you finish?


And What do you put on the label? And how do you make the label?
Well, on the third question, I can offer a couple of suggestions to really SPIFF up the label.
Most Labels that I see are square and hand sewn on the back of the quilt. A few years back my friend Doris, who doesn't particularly like to hand sew -- but she does anyway... Came up with the idea of the triangle Quilt Label. The triangle Quilt Label means you only have to hand sew along one edge.
This is how we do it.Depending on how big of a label you need, cut a square between 6 inches to about 8 inches square. Fold over the square to make a triangle with a already "hemmed edge"

Next, SPIFF it UP. I (and Doris too, who does this part mostly freehand -- she is a good draw-er) like to include a motif of some sort on the label to grab your eye. Most of my motif's come from old iron on embroidery designs that I have collected over the years. The little design then is coloured -- thats my short cut anyway -- or you could actually embroider it!

I use coloured pencils, or sometimes regular wax crayons, or just as often pigma pens -- all need to be heat set with your iron.

So now you have a really nice label, I just write on it a date, and who made it or who it is for. This particular label is for the quilt that I finished up this morning and will be donated to my guild's charitable quilts program. I don't usually put my name on it, but the person in charge of the donated quilts has a numbering system so she can keep track of who made what quilt. Often the recipient of a quilt will write a thank-you letter to the guild and then it will be passed along to the quilt maker...

So, I made a little quilt, well, a nice lap size type of quilt -- 3 1/2 inch squares made into four-patch blocks and then the four patch blocks alternated with 6 1/2 squares. 

(and made an error in placement of the blocks, which I didn't notice until I started quilting down the middle of the light smaller squares!  Oh! Darn! )

Quick, Simple, Uses Up lots of SCRAPS....

Now, squint your eyes a bit - the next picture shows the backing and the label, I just described how to make -- the back is awfully bright!

Whew!  Can you believe that for a backing?!  Aw, Well it is flannelette and is warm and cosy.  And there you see how the label is attached to the quilt. 

 You simply match it to one one your corners -- on this quilt which corner doesn't matter, but on a directional quilt, you might want to think about which corner you want the label on. 

Align the label with the edge of the quilt and pin into place, after you have sewn the front side of your binding on the quilt. 

While you either hand or machine stitch your binding around the back, sew the binding onto the label but also make sure that you catch the backing underneath.  Once you have finished sewing your binding on, just go back to the label and tack down either with a hand stitch or a machine along that angle edge.  There.

You Are Done.

Remember, do the drawing and writing and heat setting on the label BEFORE you attach it to the quilt, because if you use a poly batting the heat will flatten the batting...  If you forget to heat set, it will not affect a cotton or wool batting like it will a poly...

Vanity Plates

These friendly announcements of a lifestyle makes me almost want to go and proclaim my connection to quilts and quilting, even though our procedure for putting this on BC plates is definately a high cost for vanity.



VCQ Plates 2010

***  PS.  I did pick up this little video from another blog,  but not everybody reads every blog, and hey, maybe someone in my town will be adventurous enough to announce that they too are quilters...
Do you have an idea for a 7 letter/number combination that proclaims your particular area of interest?

Too Much of a Good Thing

I am one lucky, lucky girl...

Late Monday afternoon a huge -- I mean HUGE box arrived for me.  It came from my aunt who lives in Manitoba.  I am not even going to question how much it must have cost for her to send this huge box  to me.   I am sure glad she did, though.  Now the whole box is not full of lace, some really interesting lengths of it, but sort of dawnting or since I am not sure how to spell that -- lets just call it overwhelming!  I am not one for frilly things or girly girl things so the lace was quite the dilemna.  But, being the creative and enquiring mind that I am, I just progressed an idea that I have been playing around with using the selvedges from fabrics and instead of selvedges I translated it into laces...

So, I sewed a selection of laces onto some of the fabric that also happened to be in the box - some solid colour poly cottons.  In fact the laces are easier to sew onto the fabric than the selvedges because the lace is wider and doesn't take quite so many -- the work goes faster.

And the next step was to make something with the newly created fabric.

Easy Peasy as Jamie Oliver is known to say.  I covered a dollar store address book and doesn't it look like just the prettiest address book you can want??  A perfect place to keep all your best girlfriends names and cell phone numbers and of course email addresses...

This one, though I am mailing off to-day to my aunt in winnipeg as a bit of a thank you for her thoughtfulness when it comes to clearing out her 'stash'...

Sewing and Craft Fair

A Sewing and Craft Fair is not the place for someone like me, who is overly frugal...  But then again, maybe it is.

I went to this "fair" that has been coming to my town for a few years now -- admittedly the entrance price is high, at least to me, it seems high, til you think about it.  The admittance charge is $10 for two days and since it is fairly close to where I live, this year I took advantage of attending both days. 

Day One, Saturday, I did a bit of wandering in mid afternoon before I went to a one hour seminar that I signed up for called Serger 911.  I have attended these little demo's or talks or even sometimes they teach a hands on techniqe and to be honest these classes usually leave me wanting.  This class, Serger 911 though was very excellent. Now, even though I have been sewing for 30+ years, I bought my first serger just this year and have barely touched it -- fear?  well a bit, cause I had wanted to sew a rolled edge and changed the tension, then not having written down the 'starting' settings, I could not find my way back to those nice even stitches.  And really, What the Hell is Differential Feed??   Well, I am happy to report within a few minutes Kathy Ruddy had pretty much clearly explained what I came to the class for -- everything else was a bonus.   There was alot packed into that little seminar and even though I wrote things down, MADLY, I tell you, MADLY, I know I didn't get everything.   Now, since I am still a very basic serger user, the info that I got is an excellent start for me.  Kathy had a booth in the Vendors Mall and so today, I went back to purchase some of the "guides" she had created to help us serger learners.  Now I can sit and fiddle and try to be patient and learn about my new machine.   If you are interested check out Unique Patterns-Live Guides Inc. she is based in Mukilteo, WA

Day Two - I also saw (you'd think I was a completely new sewer) a embroidery machine, that has like ten spools of yarn all going at the same time.  I stood and talked to the lady demoing the machine -- it was facinating, but I knew that it was not a machine for me, though I did enjoy her talk and now I know how they put those cool logos and mottos and such on baseball caps!

So many great shops and products, far too many for me to absorb -- I did go to the show specifically to find some thread that my Janome particularly likes, for piecing and even for quilting.  Aurafil threads.  And I found it and bought 3 - 5000 meter spools.  Two of White and one a Dark Grey, those three should last me close to a year!

It was a fun show, got to meet up with a few other quilting buddies from my area and got to catch up of their doings.  This years 'show' included a Scrapbookers section and it is amazing what that ART has grown into!  Years ago I had a beginning interest but with teenagers and work and other things in my life, I did not add that to my crafty stuff, now I sort of wish I had, it is facinating to see the embellishments and the artistry that goes into creating a photo album.   I just looked.

The few things that I bought totalled less than $40, but I am very happy with them...

Oh and one shop, Sew Sisters Quilt Shop came all the way from Toronto, ON, (I am a fan on theirs on Facebook)  I bought the panel you see in the photo above, it is about a half meter and has 8 different dolls with their changeable clothing.  I am not sure what I will be doing with it, making a quilt? or maybe just keep it in my collection -- I have always been partial to paper dolls...

Oh, by the way, one of the things about going to these type of shows, I most like going alone... I know it seems that most of us go in pairs or trios, but the way I shop, I just greatly dislike following someone else around to the things that they like.  So going alone, at least for me, is the most satisfying...

PS.  I re read my blog and I realized that DAY ONE was actually Friday and Day TWO was Saturday -- I blame it on being a non- working person -- one day is just about the same as the next except I get to do what I want, when I want... I am thinking that, maybe it is time to find something to do to earn a few bucks...  It's just a thought though -- really "I'd rather be poor than work!"  Yes, I would make a great bum, hobo, lay-about, or whatever other interesting words there are for someone like me.... hahaha

I Do Like Free Stuff!

When I used to write the Miss Snips Notebook column for the Canadian Quilter Magazine, I also wrote a column called Check this Out! for a few years.  I aquired quite a list of interesting and most useful web pages that I wrote about in that column.  I came across a list of free patterns while searching through some of my computer files that I had luckily saved onto a USB thingy when I realized my old computer was developing little glitches.  Anyway, I thought I would pass along those links along with a few more recent ones that fit the "category".  I checked everyone this morning to make sure they were still functional and useful so, check them yourself with confidence that you are not going to end up with error pages...

Enjoy.

Free Quilt And Craft Patterns on the Internet.


You will be amazed at the number of free patterns that you can find by surfing around the different fabric manufacturing sites…

Someday You might not even have to buy a magazine or book to find the next quilt you want to make.

So here is a list of Fabric Company sites that have dozens of free patterns -- should keep you busy all summer!

http://www.andoverfabrics.com/QuiltDesigns/QuiltDesigns.asp

http://www.avlyn.com/collections/project/

http://www.blankquilting.com/freepatterns.aspx

http://www.clover-usa.com/Make+It/Project+Sheets/
Patterns for knitting and crochet, also some tote bags and other little projects

http://www.henryglassfabrics.com/
Click on Project Library at the top of the page for quilts and check out New Patterns also at the top of the page for NEW stuff for free…

http://hollyholderman.typepad.com/teatimefloral/
Click on the patterns along the side to get the instructions for the various quilts.

http://www.lazygirldesigns.com/community/freepattern.php
This company is well known for excellent variety of patterns -- the Sew Sweet Satchel was taught as a class by Therese Schwab a few years back and I have made it dozens of times now for my friends and relatives…

http://www.eeschenck.com/default.asp?SuperStore=348&s=348
Not only quilts but Christmas stocking patterns, too.

http://www.mccallsquilting.com/Block_Reference.html
A very long list of traditional blocks -- don’t have to worry about copyright here…

http://www.unitednotions.com/un_main.nsf/free_patterns!OpenPage
Lots of great patterns here, quilts, baby stuff, toys, and totes, click on the categories at the top of the page…

http://www.quiltinaday.com/eleanorandcompany/freepattern/
We all know Quilt in a Day, here are a whole stack of blocks and quilts -- all are in PDF format so you need to have acrobat reader on your computer -- if you don’t know what it is, just click on the pattern and your computer will tell you if you do or do not have it, if not, it is free to download onto your computer, just follow the prompts as they come up on your machine…

http://www.quiltingtreasures.com/quilting/projects.php %20literally    
literally dozens of patterns, just keep scrolling down…

http://www.redroosterfabrics.com/quilt/
some really nice ones here (Bread and Butter is on my to do list) from the intro page go to Current Patterns which will take you to the (obviously) current patterns. You can go also to the Retired Patterns, which simply means that the fabrics used in these are no longer available, but the pattern is, so you have to be creative and substitute your own colour combinations… and who doesn’t do that anyway?

http://www.rjrfabrics.com/patterns/patterns_search.cfm
Wonderful, Wonderful free patterns here, even organized into interesting sections, Cosmopolitan, Fat Quarters and Charms, Designers, and Collections -- click on each to discover exactly what they are…

http://www.southseaimports.com/projects.aspx
All the patterns are in PDF format, click on the link where it says “click here to download PDF” it does say, login at the top of the page, but I did not need to when I clicked on a few of the patterns…

http://www.ttfabrics.com/patterns/index.shtml
Some really nice patterns here, but read the small print as they are only free for a year and then become copyright the designers, so if you see something you are likely to make download it now, or make note of the designers name so that you can find it sometime in the future.

http://www.northcott.net/?sid=3&layout=2col&content=patterns some really nice patterns on this site, though not all are free and they all are pretty much under copyright so remember to contact the designer for permissions to display or sell…

http://www.michaelmillerfabrics.com/MMF/DownLoad.cfm?Gid=1160 This is a great fabric company with a lot of designs and quilt patterns for free. Like a couple of others on this list, they download in the PDF format…

http://www.benartex.com/page/quilt-projects-85.htm
Not so many free projects, in fact I only found one, these are changed monthly, so you need to check back regularly -- it is a relatively new site so is still growing.

http://www.hoffmanfabrics.com/content/content-folder.asp?FolderID=7
 again, Lots and Lots of designs especially created for this companys product lines, click on the title to download the pattern instructions, and again, all in PDF format.

P.S.  Let me know if you have any difficulty with these links so I can correct them.

Odd Bits

My Wall of Fabric -- it is actually a bedroom closet, now the sewing room...

When I bring new or even thrifted fabric into the STASH, I usually wash it and then tear off the selveges from both sides.  I used to leave the selveges on, but now I have a use for them (saw a skirt made of sewn together selvedges on a web page)

The stack of torn off selvedges has grown, sometimes if I have no immediate use for the long strips, I will roll them into a ball -- but the problem with a ball is that then you have to unroll it to sew them together and you don't necessarily want all the same selvedge together, and long strips with no writing on it I usually elminate and that part of the selvedge is saved to tie young plants to a stake in the garden, or other things where you need soft but strong string -- even use it as a tie for gift wrap...

So, all those strips of selvedge gets sewn together with scraps of quilt batting (warm and natural seems to work the best for me) as the backing.  Then, in this case, just as we used to do with school books that we covered with brown paper to protect them, I have made fabric covers for empty, lined or unlined small journals.  You can get the journals at the Dollar Store or as I often do, get them at the thrift shops for even less than at the dollar store.

Not only are the selvedges useful for this kind of scrappy art, but all those odd bits that are left when you are cutting squares and triangles or rectangles and trapazoids from your larger pieces of yardage.  There always seems to be a couple of inches or even less than an inch when you trim... Bits that probably should go into the bin, recycle or garbage...  But no, when I get a stack of little bits I often will iron them on to light, non-woven fusible interfacing -- leaving the raw edges exposed -- sometimes the random bits just work out to be the perfect journal cover, and sometimes I will make a small cosmetic bag or tote or whatever strikes my fancy -- the more small scrappy bits, the more fun it is to try to fit them together to make larger fabric pieces and the more interesting.

Now, I must add that these little exercises in saving tiny bits is not an everyday thing (but the savings of the bits is). I have a couple of baskets under my cutting table that collects all those bits for a someday session of sorting. When I want to sew but have nothing particular in mind except that I just want to sew I can play around with those bits.  The sewn together selvedges may sit on a shelf for months until the inclination to actually use it up strikes my fancy,  or to get out the "fused" together tiny squares, triangles and rectangles and create something just a bit off beat...  Now, to find a way to make use of these PRODUCTS -- perhaps a online outlet to sell them?  Well, I will think on it...

A Week Away. . .

Really, I wasn't too far -- definately not to far to get to my computer fairly easily -- more like, I was pretty busy...

So, since I was so busy, I should explain my week long absence from blogland, or should I?

Cats and Hats and Unicorns

One of the things that took up my time was polishing my Brass Unicorn...  Mostly I don't get attached to THINGS.  Mostly Things are just THINGS and when they have no useful function, they don't stay in my house for long.  But my Brass Unicorn was a wanted THING long before I had him.  Large Brass ornaments were a "wanted" type of thing, way back in the early 1980s...  I used to go to a department store (Eatons that no longer exists) and wish to be an owner of a large brass floor ornament.  They cost way too much!  Then about 10 years ago or so -- I found mine...  Yes, FOUND it, not bought it, though I do believe it was meant to go to a local Salvation Army store...  Early in the day, in the days when I actually went to work, I was on my way to work and glanced out my driver side window and a bright reflection caught my eye -- no traffic, so I stopped and being the garbage picker that I am, there in the ditch lay my brass unicorn...  Mine, all mine!

I guess someone was taking a pile of things to the second hand store and perhaps got lazy...  There was a bag of clothing and a box of other little do dads -- all those I picked up too and did take them over to the Salvation Army drop box, but I kept the brass unicorn!  So this past week I spent a good couple of hours, shining him up with a newly purchased bottle of brass cleaner and now he happily gleams while standing in front of the stack of cd's cabinate...

  This definately was a week of shopping.  Just for the exercise, mind you, my hubby and I decided to go over to the local flea market and bought a few things that just happened to be there just waiting for us, cause we needed them...

My hubby has been trying to keep things in a falling apart wallet for a few months now, and mentioning now and then that he needs a new wallet.   Well, at one of the first tables in the flea market the vendor had dozens and dozens of wallets, leather ones, all for $10 or $15 each.  Hubby found just the right one for him and paid the man his $10...

Next we wandered along the aisles and when my husband gets behind I know he has stopped to look at stacks of cds...  There were ALOT of cds at this weeks flea market.  I even picked up one.  I am somewhat partial to blues and folk music, and there staring at me on one rack was a Robert Johnson cd -- I had never actually heard Robert Johnson but often heard of him -- take a chance and spent $5 -- so I carried home some new to me music -- my hubby also found a Eric Clapton that he at one time had on cassette tape, and a Huey Lewis that he had been hunting for for quite some time...  We thought we found all the treasures we needed...

For the longest time, the cat - ARCHIE has been needing a new post to scratch on -- he and his companion Fossie have been tearing apart the carpet (it is old) on the basement stairs... Now a new post made by a local fellow that makes and sells these stands at a much more reasonable price than the pet supply chain stores -- and not made in China or somewhere else...  $40 bucks and my ARCHIE is totally happy as you can see...

So those couple of things don't take a whole day or even everyday of the week, but truly there were things to keep me busy...

I did some sewing...

 I went to Bellingham, WA to pick up a few things -- particularly fabric and batting...

I had the usual Dr.  appointments, that always take longer than they should...

I absolutely had to go for a walk in the rain, at the park...

I bought topsoil and soil for my dozen or so containers for flowers and herbs on my back deck...

And I nagged my husband to sort out stuff in the basement attic... (most people call it the basement rafters)

So, yep, I was busy...