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Blog Contest at post #68

gratuitous quilt picture


There are a lot of bloggers who have a contest when they get to their 100th post. I'm impatient and I'm not going to wait that long, although it could be fun to see how long it takes me to get to 100 posts. This one here is post number 62. When I post #68 I'll have a contest and the winner will get one of my totes, either a purse or a small (12x12x3) tote bag, their choice of fabric.

We had a great guild meeting last night. A few folks from the local doll guild showed up to help a member demonstrate those lovely bra purses that are cropping up to help raise money for breast cancer awareness. Apparently at the event last year they raised enough funding to help three women get special prostheses after mastectomy's. For more information, go here.

So now the planning begins for our annual trip to Lancaster for the Quilters Heritage Celebration. I'm a little bummed as I'm not going. It's the first time since I joined the guild that I'm not going. For those of you who I will miss seeing, there's always next year. I do have a good reason though. I'm heading north and east to visit with family and it will be right around the same time of the anniversary of my dad's passing. A good time to go.

So now, I have another quilt to get finished by April. I've been playing around with a quilt for my gramma who will be 92 this year. I had the grand idea of photos but I think I'm heading in a different direction because I want to give this to her so she can enjoy it now rather than never. So off my butt and get going girl.

Happy quilting!
Teri

Lent and Making Room

Everyday sewing items



I'm sitting here in what could be considered my jammies pondering life's meaning, where I've been, how I got here and where I'm headed. Better yet, where I think I'm headed.

Although this might seem like a bit of navel gazing this time actually has a purpose and a focus. Lent. Lent begins in just 4 days. As Catholics we make a small sacrifice (or a big one) to make more room for God. I'm trying to do that. What will I sacrifice now to make room for God, for Faith and better living overall?

I've considered giving up coffee. Mmmn, not such a good idea. Not solely because I like it and am most likely addicted to the caffeine but the negative effects on those around me just aren't good. I've also considered giving up chocolate (sweets). I really don't eat a lot of sweets so it's really not much of a sacrifice for me. And quite frankly, how does giving up chocolate get me closer to God in my relationship with Him? I've seriously considered giving up bread and pasta. This would be a huge sacrifice for me. I love bread, whole grain, high fiber yummy bread. OH, give me a loaf of bread and a tub of Smart Balance or some low-fat cheddar cheese and this is one happy girl, I could live on bread. I have bread at least once a day. Every time I see bread I could pray for the strength to get through Lent, for my family, my friends, and so much more. This would indeed bring me closer to God because it would only be by His grace and in His Mercy that I would be able to give up bread. This is seriously in the running.

I could give up morning tv and spend some time quietly reading and journaling. This wouldn't be so much of a sacrifice as it would be a commitment to spending time with God in the quiet. This is what I'm missing. The quiet alone time with God. I used to go on a prayer day once a month with my co-workers. I looked forward to this time alone, the quiet, the conversations the beauty that came from these conversations and the renewed focus of purpose & ministry. DH, a friend and I have talked for nearly a year about doing this and this is as good a time as any.

So now I'm off to work on writing, work on preparing for Lent and renewing my own focus.

Teri

This photo is fabric for DarlaNY's storm at sea block that I've been working on.

Friday afternoon musings

My gramma. A lovely lady with very straight white hair. She'll be 92 in July and I hope to one day be her age and with her health. My dmil said gramma looks just like Mrs. Clause to her and quite frankly I have to agree. Her youngest son is my dad (who died April 1st, 2007) and I get part of my love of writing from her, the journaling part, she's always kept a journal. I get the quirky oddball writing from dad, aka the rotten poet.




If you ever need a cover for your printer or photo copier let me know. This took less than 3 hours (including quilting time) to make. This has 5 panels and is made in a similar fashion to my tote bag line.


I love pansies, they're one of my all time favorite flowers. I've had photos of this particular pansy flower before, however I thought a reminder that spring is on it's way is good. Now I just have to find the information on taking care of the mums we purchased in September right before we replanted our entire garden. I figure after spending all that time digging up the garden just to plan the mums we might as well do our best to keep them going.

I'm so excited!! May 1st several friends and I are heading to Glens Falls, NY for the Ricky Tims Super Seminar with Alex Anderson & Libby Lehman. Quilt learning overload is on the horizon! A couple of folks who've taken the seminar have raved about it and the fact that they begin things promptly. I looked at the schedule yesterday as I chatted with a friend (we were looking for restaurants in the area) and 7:30 AM is the first class on Friday & Saturday. Okay, just give me coffee and I should be fine! I don't think there will be a late night to be had. Since I'm the driver I need to make sure I sleep well Friday night.

That Sunday is the Northern Star Quilt Show in Somers. I've got to get off my butt and finish my NYBeauty, I'd like to enter it into the show.

Happy Quilting!
Teri

PS I'm working on a book, publishing my tote bag patterns and would like to include questions & answers, so if you have a quilt related question that I can answer and include in the book please post a comment here on the blog! I look forward to hearing from you.

Flat Alice is Coming! Flat Alice is Coming!

I can't begin to share with you how excited I am that Flat Alice is coming! Why would I possibly be excited that she's coming? What are we going to do together? All in good time, all in good time.

JB and I have been friends for a long time. We're what my friend Dawn Marie would call old friends, you know the kind that takes a long time to grow. We met back in the 80's at her church and our friendship really blossomed when she began her year of volunteer service in 1990. (I see a friendship celebration some time in 2010! Any excuse for a party works for me!) Oh and JB when you read this let's start thinking of some ideas for this celebration.

We were both married the same year about 4 weeks apart. She has 4 kids I have two cats. While my cats are no where near being the same as her children and certainly do not take the same time, I still have 2 cats.

JB called yesterday to ask if I'd help with her daughters homework. She made a brown craft paper cut out of her daughter and she's sending her to me for a 5 week visit. I need to take photos & keep a journal of our time together.

Some of the places we'll go include the coffee shop where I have coffee and write my book and some of the stories I've shared on this blog and have quilt show meetings with my co-chair (who does not have a blog) while I wait for my dmil while she's at therapy.

Then there are the two quilt guild meetings. And Stew Leonards oh I have to take Flat Alice to Stew Leonards. JB's husband is a dairy farmer so it just makes sense that I take Flat Alice to see where milk ends up after it leaves the farm. I don't know if the usual critters are there right now, if so, a photo with the critters will be in order.

I want to "teach" Flat Alice how to piece and quilt while she's here. Oh goodness now I have to get my sewing room tidied. (Any excuse to tidy that room is a good excuse) I have a "bed" for her - the design wall, I'm going to figure out how to keep her there without pinning her like a quilt block.

Lots of things to do while Flat Alice is here. And since I have several projects I'm working on right now so her help will be greatly welcomed!

Happy Quilting!
Teri

A 2nd grade adventure or How I learned how to bake bread

Second grade. The teacher, can't remember. The school, new to me. The kids, waaaaaaay, new to me. Library time, my favorite time of the week, we got to get books! One Friday afternoon as I perused the titles available I picked up a book titled "How to Bake a Loaf of Bread" (I checked the NYPL and sadly, it's not available). The book follows a kid baking a loaf of bread with his mom from measuring all the ingredients to taking the loaf out of the oven at just the right moment to enjoy. I read the book and thought to myself, I can do this.

Saturday morning dawns bright and early. (Never was one for sleeping in often, bugger!) Mum goes next door for coffee and a chat and I begin my adventure in Bread Baking!

I found the biggest bowl we had (the one mum actually used for rising bread dough) and the measuring cups (those are so necessary) and all the ingredients. Flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and warm water. I had the book right next to me so I would know what step came next. The water was just right as the yeast and sugar just bubbled away happily. Then the first bit of flour, stir, stir, stir with the big wooden spoon. I mixed in the flour and kneaded the dough (how I properly kneaded dough with my short arms is beyond me).

I let the dough rest while I cleaned out the bowl and oiled the bowl, placed the dough inside and just like mum, put the lid on to let the dough rise. Now this is just the perfect sunshiny day where a kid wants to go play outside. So I did, rising dough and all.

When the rising time ended I went back inside. By this time mum came home from the neighbors and wasn't too thrilled with the mess I'd left in the kitchen. (The book didn't cover the steps of cleaning up the kitchen, we were just baking a loaf of bread!) So now mum and I were working together, I kneaded the dough again and placed it on the baking sheet to rise while we tidied up the kitchen. Mum wanted to put the bread in loaf pans but I insisted it had to be on the baking sheet because that's how it is in the book!

The bread went in the oven, baked the right amount of time and voila! hot, crusty bread, baked by a kid in second grade, pretty much on her own. I've loved baking bread ever since.

This big adventure led to bigger adventures in baking - cookies, cakes, pies, rolls, cake decorating. I have more cooking and baking books than I do quilting books. Of course I'm married to a guy who isn't much into baked goods, which I suppose is a good thing.

Happy Sunday!

Learning something new every day

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I've heard that since I was wee little and I tell you what, it's true. A good breakfast will get me through the day like no other thing I know. . . even coffee. (Okay, that's not exactly true, coffee goes a long way toward Teri being a happy quilter.)

So this morning I decided that Sweet Potato Pancakes were on the menu. Get out the mix and look at the directions. I noticed something this morning. (had enough coffee I guess) I'd made the silly things wrong for months. Can you believe this? Breakfast comes far too early in the day for me, that's for sure. Anyway, I'm looking at the back of the package and it hits me, I've been putting too much water and not enough mix. Somehow in my morning fog I'd been using 1/2 cup water and 1/3 cup mix when the directions call for 1/2 cup mix and 1/3 cup water. Now I know why these things are so good! Whooppeee.

I've spent the better part of the last half hour watching these learning videos for Creative Suite 3. Oh man! these explanations are great. Then, I clicked on something to view the next video and realized that in each category there are multiple videos for learning the Suite. So in a few minutes I'm going back to watch some more.

I did promise pictures of some recently completed work I have one fun one that will set the tone and allow me to be happy sharing my work while I get the rest of the pictures so here goes:






I like Jimmy Buffets music and his restaurant...I like this photo better than the first one I took of this coaster, wanna see it?
Probably not, but I learned something from this too.

Sometimes white on white is a good background and sometime it's just not. Here it's just not. The fabric from the tote bag I made just makes the colors in the coaster seem much more vibrant and exciting, where with the white on white it's just blah.
So here's the tote bag the fabric for the inside is just as fun as the fabric for the outside of the tote.

Next on the list finish the knitters totes and do some work on the NYBeauty - one of the curves is off just a bit and it's creating a bit of waviness and I know I can fix it.

Happy Quilting!
Teri

Attaching binding to a tote

or quilt for that matter.

As I started the Title for this post I'm singing "Putting on the Ritz!" That's what I always feel like I'm doing when I'm binding a tote bag or quilt. Just that little extra bit of flair that just completes the piece. Sometimes the binding fades into the background, because that's what it's supposed to do. Sometimes the binding can be as much of a show piece as the rest of the quilt. Either way binding is so important!

When I'm binding a tote bag I pin, pin, pin and then pin some more. I need to make sure that all of the pieces are lined up well enough that when I stitch them together there is as little shift as possible.

I have a Bernina 1080. Do I ever love that little machine. Berni's feisty and will work right along even when she doesn't feel well (unlike her owner, but that's a story for another day!) .

I work from the back of the quilt or the sides of the tote. I like the folded edge to be on the front of the quilt. To me, it looks so neat.





Here I'm rounding one of the corners on the messenger bag I'm working on. You can see I've shaped the binding to match the arc of the curve and I'm holding the binding up so I can see where I'm working





I'm getting closer to ending the binding here. A quilt has three layers. I'm stitching 2 to 4 layers of quilts here. Thank goodness Bernina's have amazing motors!







Here you get a much better idea of how many layers of fabric & batting I'm working through.
In a couple of days I'll show the next step of folding over the binding, pinning it in place, working with either the zipper foot or the walking foot.

Happy Quilting!
Teri

As an aside, I can't sing for beans, but once a song starts running through my head it can be days, and I do mean days before I stop thinking about it. The other day I was chatting with a friend and she made some comment that got the song "I'm not Dead yet" from Monty Python's SpamALot running through my head. And it's the only line from the silly song that I can remember. I'm not dead yet! oh for Pete's sake, now I've gone & done it!

More Bias binding directions

Dawn Marie reminded me that I have been neglectful in getting the rest of the bias binding directions complete.

I press the seam open (which I didn't mention on the previous blog post). I do this for two reasons: 1) bulk is not a quilters friend and 2) the fabric will lay flat on the mat when I'm drawing lines and cutting later.


I use three things when marking the lines on the back of the fabric

a) the grid on my cutting mat
b) a sharpie (yes, you read that correctly)
c) a 6 x 24" gridded ruler






I make my bias binding either 1 7/8" or 2". Yeah, it's just about the same thing but sometimes that extra 1/8th inch makes all the difference in the binding laying flat.





Using the ruler as both a measuring tool and a straight edge, I draw lines every two inches. This particular binding will be used for a messenger bag and a baby quilt so two inches works great for me. I'm not quite sure if you can see, but the little dots on the half inch line are on the seam line here. This is one of the ways I know that I'm keeping the binding and my lines straight.

The other check I have is the 45 degree mark on my ruler. I check this frequently for straight lines and to make sure I'm not twisting or stretching the fabric. Once I finish drawing all the lines up and down I draw one line on the diagonal.


Once I have the entire piece marked I pin. Keeping the drawn diagonal line closest to me I take one of the 45 degree points near me. I hold the second line that I've drawn and bring that up to the first line on the same side so that the there is about 2 inches off to the side. I pin every 2 inches. I use the line that I drew on the diagonal to make sure that I'm pinning at 1/4 inch and that the lines are meeting up correctly so when I cut the long, long, long strip of binding it's straight. There's nothing worse than wonky binding. Well, there are worse things, even in the amazing world of quilting. When you want to get a quilt or something out the door and the binding is just a wee bit off...pictures of walls and heads meeting is just not quite a pretty site.

Next the machine and I meet for the second time in the process. Stitch slowly and carefully, on the drawn line (diagonal line) . Check between pins to make sure the fabric hasn't shifted underneath...Every once in a while the fabric and the presser foot will look like this:



this is fine, this is good. Just keep moving slowly and you'll get there. This seam is one long curve and if you do it right when the tube is folded in half later the seam will look like this:






Now for the cutting. This takes patience and care. There will be one spot that sticks out:

Take the good fabric scissors and start cutting on the line that goes around
and around
and around
and around
and around
and around
and around again.

And you'll end up with a pile that
looks something like this, except it's a lot longer. When you get to the end (or perhaps at the beginning depending on how you pinned) there will be a stretch of binding that isn't as wide as the rest. People who applique love this kind of thing, put it in a box, when the box gets full....or find an old Mason Jar and put the scraps in there, for something pretty in your sewing space.



Happy Quilting!

Teri

I'm so excited! Can you tell? In April I get to bake and decorate a cake. I'm about beside myself happy with the prospect. I really enjoy decorating cakes. It's nearly as much fun as quilting. Baking and decorating cakes was just as much of a passion for me as quilting is now. Finding just the right recipe, figuring out the perfect colors, watching the design develop as I worked.

About 12 years ago I found a book called Great Cakes by Carole Walters that just changed my baking life! Her recipes are simple and Carole explains the process so well. Like the King Arthur Flour Cookbook she explains what's happening and why this temperature or that fat or chocolate should be used in this particular recipe. The first cake I made from the book just threw me for a loop! The batter was thick and rich and I was freaking out. I'd used cake mixes to make cakes all my life and just though all cake batter should be a runny sloppy mess.

Her basic yellow cake and Devils Food became two of my absolute favorites. I'm not sure which one I'll need however I might choose both and offer a choice, since some folks are allergic to chocolate and some just prefer vanilla. The Devils Food Cake recipe is great for making whoopie pies and devil dogs! Oh man, do they remind me of Maine.

The neat thing is that this cake is for a woman in our guild who is turning 90. Every month she makes and presents a quilt to the guild for one of our charities. She's just amazing and I'm honored to make this cake for her. If I can find the photos I'll scan them in and show off some of my cake decorating later today or tomorrow.

Happy Quilting!
Teri

Baby Crackers - DONE

Baby Crackers has been delivered. Now I can show you a photo of the whole thing. I really love this quilt, it's so sweet! The quilting on the white squares is similar to what Alex Anderson did in her book. I took a spool of thread and made an overlapping five petal flower and quilted that in white.




For the border I designed my own flower and used a pink variegated thread and then for the vine leaves I used a green variegated thread. The border fabric has all the colors from the "crackers" blocks in it.

This would be a great baby shower signature quilt. Each one of the white rectangles could have a persons signature or brief note.

Teri

of cleaning hazards and inspiration

So, yesterday I go to my dmils apartment to clean. A once a week or so ritual for the last five years or so. This day begins like so many others, clean the bathroom, vacuum the carpet, a bit of dusting and so it goes.

I needed a new sponge. Dmil keeps these in the kitchen. I go under the sink to find the new sponges and I notice somethings off. It's off, but I can't quite put my finger on it and then it hits me. Memories of blue goo (the cat shampoo episode) but this is worse, if you can at all imagine.

The drain under the sink has been dripping water for a period of time. How long? I haven't a clue. Kinda feel a bit dumb because I'm the cleaning lady and I hadn't noticed this before. I really don't get under the sink unless I have to, I should have noticed.

Change gears, go from whatever I was thinking I was going to do to cleaning out underneath the sink. Get the bucket. Whoops gotta empty said bucket first. Pull all of the cleaning stuff and whatnot out from the sink , now where do I put it? (Dmil's apartment is small! Did I mention this before?) Find someplace to put said stuff.

Get the bucket under there to catch the drips. Now to get the pans out. Look at the time, drat! I've got to be in the shower in just a little bit because dmil has an appointment at 1:30 with the doctor, and I need to get a decent parking spot. Slide the pans toward the cabinet door and, UGH! slosh, water drips. . . look at clock again. Need to stop that clock watching it's making me crazy.

Pans are too wide to slide out, now what do I do. Oh the bucket! I try my best to get the water in the bucket, more sloshing, more clock watching, I'm on a time limit here! I get the pans out and into the back yard. Thankfully we have some place to put them. They will be going into the trash for Monday as they're not in good enough shape for recycle.

Dump the pan water into the toilet, flush, flush. Bleach, I need the bleach to sanitize the cabinet and bucket and floor. I forgot to mention that in my haste to get the pans out the back door, I dripped some on my socks (threw them right in the garbage). I get the cabinet cleaned out, the floor washed, the bucket clean and just as I'm finishing up dmil comes home. Usually I'm cleaning the house by the time she gets back. Still have to shower. Can't go out looking like this. Yuck!

I get showered and tidied up just in time to head out the door. Whew. I washed my dirty clothes when I got home. I just realized I had the same shirt on yesterday as I had on the day I had to clean up the blue goo from under my cabinet! Thankfully I didn't hit my head, scrape my arm or any other physical damage. I did want to bang my head against the wall, but it's cinder block and that would hurt with a capital H.

Earlier in the week dh and I went to have dinner with friends of ours. Great dinner.



Before we arrived at their home we had a couple of errands to run. We picked up two packages of sharpie markers. These are some of the best markers ever.


I have a few pictures of how fun and inspiring they are. Last night I took them out of their package and put them in this jam jar I've had for years. Took them over to the couch, straightened out the quilts and snapped away!



Happy Quilting!
Teri