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Showing posts from April, 2013

Learning to De-Bone a Shirt

I had seen a couple of old quilts that I just went goo-goo over. Of course they were Blue and White. Faded and mostly stripes and plaids. I had been looking for fabric to meet those specs and it's not easy to find. There is a line called Farmhouse Blues that is gorgeous. But I have a couple of quilts in mind and I realize that with the price of fabric and not really finding what I have in mind, I have to come up with another plan. Then I thought shirts. I have been visiting Bonnie Hunter's blog for awhile now and she is always speaking of using shirts, so I thought why not.  I started looking in Thrift Stores when I came across one and had time to look. Until yesterday I had found only 15 I liked  Then while in Tulsa I thought I would find a new Thrift Store. I scored, found 10 new shirts for 28 dollars. That's 2.80 a shirt. And one shirt can give around a yard (give or take) of usable fabric. I had seen the video that Bonnie has on her blog on h

It's Done

The second Get-R-Dones that I had my list for this month is finished. I made the border a little wider because I plan on it making it scalloped. I thought the row of houses turned out so cute.  So now I'm on to #3 on my list. I had made this  quilt top  awhile back and have the steps and pattern  here   on  the tutorial page up at the top.  So what I'm working on is making it larger.

Where Have I Been

Barbara Brackman has a New Blog. She started it 3 weeks ago. I can't believe its been that long since I last read her blog.  What have I been doing ? http://historicallymodernquilts.blogspot.com/ I am so excited over this new blog and just had to share with one's who don't know like me. One of the posts she wrote about was just up my alley, Prairie School design resembling Frank Lloyd Wright's work. Oh my did my heart start beating fast. That is one thing you do not see much in quilting is patterns that is designs influence by the Arts and Crafts movement of over a decade ago. If you look hard enough you can find some but to have Barbara bring it to the forefront just gets me excited. But one thing that didn't click in my mind until now is why I find myself drawn to some of the modern quilts, (I consider myself a traditionalist) but maybe I drawn to them  because of  the simplicity that resembles the Craftsman style. Even though she will have a

Yarn Along 4-24

What I am knitting on now is one of those projects that I found when organizing my yarn .  I found this sock that was almost completed. It was Lydia's Sock pattern that was in the book A Good Yarn by Debbie Macomber.  So I'll finish this one and then make it's mate. I'm using a size 2 needle and being so small, it always seem to me to take so much longer to finish. I did finish the baby hat I was working on last week plus another one too. Using up just a very minuscule amount of my stash. I had been able to listen to a book this past week that I did not write about last week. It was  Her Fearful Symmetry by  Audrey Niffenegger and Narrated by Bianca Amato. I had enjoyed this book and the narrator was very good, sometimes that makes a book even better. It was a different type of subject matter than I normally read but it was not too much that would make me not to continue with. I am not one that usually reads about the supe

Featherweight Fanatics

I have been meaning to post about the Featherweight group at the Quilt Shop I'm at the most, Sager Creek in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. Not sure but some time before the end of last year they offered their shop to a group of ladies who own or will own a Featherweight to get together and sew. Today we had 6 show up. They support each other in sharing knowledge  techniques, new ideas and projects.  One new idea was from Simone who bought this case at Walmart in the tool section. It's a case for tools but it's a great bag for your featherweight Stanley Fat Max Perfect for her new machine and space for accessories  We try to have a group project and/or something of our own to work on.  Today Liz showed us how to make these little needle pillows for our Featherweight. It is always a good idea to have your needle and presser foot down when not in use or transporting. So these little pillow just help secure the needle.  Very easy to make and it

Feeding and Attracting Hummingbirds

I have been making my own Hummingbird food for years and it is very easy. About a week and a half ago I noticed my first Hummingbird so I made some food and cleaned my feeders. The recipe is 4 Cups water to 1 Cup white cane sugar. You can boil your water first and add the sugar or you can add the sugar to the water without boiling first. I find it just as easy to boil and add. For me it dissolve faster but if you do not have the time to wait for it to cool down go with straight from the tap. At the website I'm referring to gives a great deal of helpful instructions on feeding from a feeder. This great website has wonderful information and I have given some of what they provide but I would suggest you go there to really get more than what little I shared from them. http://www.hummingbirds.net/index.html   Map showing when to start your feeders. This is info from  http://www.hummingbirds.net/attract.html There is more about not using  pesticides and inse

What's Up 4-22

What I have up on my design wall is one of my Get-R-Done's. Once I get this row stitched all I need to do to finish the top is sew the rows together and add a border. And then on the other part of my wall is another one of my Get-R-Done's,  Some Kind of Wonderful. I started this one last year in March and with birth of my Grandsons it has been neglected. As soon as I finish sewing the sashing strips I will have these two rows completed. Three more rows to go. Can you can tell,  I love to applique

Like Heaven

You could not of asked for a more beautiful day. Have you ever felt like you hope that this is what heaven might be like. Or things are so perfect that you're afraid something will happen to end it. The Man of the Place worked on the water gaps sense the water is down and my job in helping was cooking for his Dad and brother who came to help. You couldn't of asked for a better day to have to work outside. I walked down to the creek to see all that had happened. It's amazing what the force or water can do. At this spot the water had been as high as my shoulder, you can see the debris in the tree. And in other spots it had been over 8 feet. But it is so different now, places we would cross are now so wide and deep you can't now. And the amount of gravel and sand that has washed up just changes the flow of the creek. So this evening I am going to continue quilting on my daughters quilt and I am loving doing a big stitch. It is goi