Monday, February 25, 2013

That Guilty Little Stinker!

Well, I came home this evening to a little mess! Lately, Miss Ginger has been getting into my sewing stash again...just like she did when she was a pup. Almost always I have a little pile of thread, scissors, thimbles, the fabric I am working on, etc on the end table by my chair. When I got home tonight my thimbles had gone missing, my threads had gone missing and my sewing pile is totally rearranged! Recently I bought a donut bobbin ring filled with a variety of colored threads on bobbins. I had 3 bobbins on my table...and now I only have 2. My little "sweetie" decided she wanted to play and chewed up one of them. And my thimbles are gone again. At least I know where she hides them...way down in the corners of "her" chair in the living room! Yep, there they were, both of my favorite thimbles!

That little rascal! As you can see she is healing up quite nicely! :-)

Take care,

Missie

PS...I just found two more chewed up spools burried in the couch!!

 

Friday, February 22, 2013

Just Call Me The Silly Shoveler!

Thank goodness we only had 6.5" of snow last night. I have a weak back and I only shoveled two strips so my tires could get on pavement without packing the snow down to turn to ice. We had a new bed delivered today so I was sure to shovel a portion for them to get the bed out of the truck too. I am afraid of the snow blower so I am saving some fun for my hubs when he returns home tonight! I didn't want him to miss out! Tee Hee! I suppose you could call me the lazy shoveler...but I will blame it on my back!

I went on a road trip to do some shopping the other day. Found some wonderful fabrics and a few wools.

Can't wait to find the perfect quilt to use them in! I have been on a tiny print kick lately for a few mini quilts I am working on. The more fabrics the better when it comes to quilts!

I did a little experimenting with some garment wools I have had laying around for a while...like maybe these clothes have been waiting 4 years to become something! I read about dying wools with Kool Aid recently and decided to give it a try! It was super fun and super easy! Some did not all do well, so I will try again, but here are a few of my finished recycled wools that I am happy with. This first picture is from an off white skirt I used to wear in college. The colors turned out very very bright! I have no idea what I will do with these, but they sure are pretty! Maybe they would make cute Easter eggs around a cute little bunny...hmmm, ther's an idea!

This one below is from some tan pants my mom used to wear. It looks like a great tomato color, variegated nicely. This fabric is fraying, so I will most likely need to needleturn it when I use it in a quilt.

This one is a plaid blazer of my mother's. The original color is laying on the bottom right. I used blueberry and grape Kool Aid if I remember correctly. Next time I will take notes!

I did the Kool Aid dying in the morning, and then decided to try tea dying in the afternoon. I didn't have any plain tea bags so decided to use instant coffee. I cooked the fabrics a while on the stove, then layed the fabrics out on cookie sheets and baked them to dry. That gives the dark stains. I am very happy with most of these! Although, I will have to figure out how to get those deep wrinkles out! I am afraid to put sizing on the fabric for fear it will wash out those good stains! I will keep you posted on how that works!!! The base fabrics from left to right are 3 colors of tiny checks, 2 homespun plaids and a solid unbleached muslin. Yummy!

And last, I'll show off a quilt I made in the year 2000. I have not had it on my wall for a while. It's one of my favorites. It is double cross hatch quilted and has that good wrinkle that makes a quilt look old. It is a Lisa DeBee Schiller pattern called Le Fleur De Jardin. It was a BOM gift from my mother. I changed a few of the fabrics and you know I didn't follow the pattern! Haha! I set it a bit differently than the pattern called for...just a little change.

Here's a few pics of the quilting and inking details. The designer spoke at a guild as I was making the blocks. I took them to show her and she signed one of the blocks. She also added the inking twigs to the block, so when I finished all of the blocks, I had to add inking too! It was scarey as I thought I would make a mistake...but I went slow and after a few twigs, I was comfortable with the process. It adds quite a bit to the quilt!

 

 

Thanks for stopping by today! Stay warm and take care,

Missie

 

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Awww Shucks! And...Winners Chosen!

Well, I sewed my blue wool down with the wrong color today! I sewed under one light ( which wasn't so bright) most of the afternoon and tonight when I got under my good light, I can see the difference! Sooo, it won't take too long to pick it out and do it right. I will guess about 15 minutes at the most. Not too bad and woth it to me to get the color right! :-). I'm not sure you can tell the difference in this picture, but it,s a big difference in person! As you can tell, I'm not quite done...my carpel tunnel is acting up. SURELY I will finish tomorrow!! :-)
I chose a winner from the post after the Valentine Party the other night...the reason the plate was empty was that Miss Ginger ate the delicious fancy raspberry filled brownies! We put the secret pal gifts on the coffee table in my living room by the door as the girls come in. That way it stays a secret who's got who for a secret pal. During the evening the hostess passes out the gifts. It was a puzzle why the plate was empty until we saw crumbs and a hole in the Saran Wrap! Lucky Ginger, Poor Janet got an empty plate!! I felt so guilty! Next time we will know to put them on a higher table!!
The winner of the drawing was Debbie of Woolen Sails, but since only two who were correct with their guesses, I'm giving Shirley of Stitcherydo a goodie too! Debbie gets a few fat quarters, (unless she'd rather have an epattern of her choice from my site)... and Shirley will get one of my  epatterns of her choce by email!
Thanks for all the fun guesses!
Stay warm, good luck digging out safely if you got the big snowfall, take care, and come back soon!
Missie

Friday, February 8, 2013

What Stitch Color Do You Prefer??

Good Day! I am finally working on my Little Woolie again and swear I will finish it today!!! Haha! So why am I blogging right now! I want to know what color of wool stitching you like to use when you appliqué wool, that's why! :-)

As I have worked on the Little Woolie quilt, I chose to use thread that matched the fabric. The further I get into the project, I wish I had chosen a contrasting thread. The pincushion has contrasting variegated Valdani thread that shows in some spots and blends in some spots where red falls on red.

When I made In the Orange Grove I matched every color! It was lots of work, but it was fun to stitch, so I didn't mind! I think for my next Little Woolie I will try to contrast the thread color with the wool color. Which way do you prefer to stitch your wool? Matching or contrasting color??

The coordinating pin cushions shown HERE went to some new friends the other day. I had Julie of Me and My Stitches and Carolyn of Lee Prairie Designs over this week and we had a fun day of chatting, eating and shopping! It was the best day! If you'd like the pattern for this little pincushion above, please let me know and I'd be happy to send you the PDF for it. Be sure you have reply allowed in your profile so I can reach you!

Last, but not least, don't forget to check the last post for a chance to win a few fat quarters! I'll close that drawing on Sunday afternoon...

Take care,

Missie

 

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Rather Bee Valentine's Party!

I've mentioned one of my small groups before, the Rather Bees. We had our Valentine's Party tonight and had a great time!! We started off with some delish munches...you can see them in the background...

Had some show and tell and visiting...

 

 

And played a fun RLC game with $5 gift cards...(the dice are being thrown on that tray with a towel to cut the noise). So that everyone got to keep a gift card, we changed the rules to TRADE instead of give away as the dice tell us. It worked great and was lots of fun!!

Then we exchanged Secret Pal gifts! We leave the gifts by the door on a coffee table as we enter the house so the recipients don't see who brought the gifts inside, thus keeping it a secret who the secret pals are until the reveal at the Christmas party. Everyone who is participating in Secret Pals this year received a gift at this special evening...all but Janet that is! Here she is discovering that her gift is an empty plate with a bow on it! What you say? Yes, her plate was empty! If you can guess WHY her plate is empty I will draw a name from those who are correct and send the winner a few fat quarters in honor of Valentine's Day!

I love having the Bees over for a visit and some stitching time. My hubs is out of town for the next three weeks and having friends over really helps make the weeks fly by till he's home for the weekends. Ginger hasn't had much company here since her leg was broken and she really enjoyed visiting with all the dog lover's in the group! They were all impressed how well she was walking around...looking for dropped goodies on the floor, she was walking around lots finding all the yummy crumbs!! She even snatched someone's chocolate candy when they looked away! She brought her toy in and layed in the center of the floor during the game, thinking she was a part of the party! Looks like she's about back to normal now!

Take Care,

Missie

 

Monday, February 4, 2013

Super Bowl Sunday

My day started sort of slow and relaxing. Middle daughter came home from school with a friend and we had a nice time visiting. Made some yummy food for breakfast. I tried a new recipe for hash browns. Of course I changed the recipe, just like I do when I quilt! These potatoes were more like oven fries. First I baked the potatoes and let them cool. Then I sliced them into wedges, rubbed a bit of olive oil on them and coated them with a mixture of bread crumbs ( the recipe called for flour), seasoning salt, garlic powder, onion powder and pepper. Then they baked for 30 minutes at about 350*. Yummo!

Then about noon, I decided to run to the grocery store for a few items. Oh My Goodness, it was busier than Christmas Eve! No Joke! There were lots of parties going on around here yesterday! My quick little trip to the store turned into about two hours! When I got home I quick called a friend to run to the local store to participate in the Super Bowl Sale before they closed. I found some good basics. The tea stained color will make a good background, the tan print will make a great backing and the grey will be the backing for a winter wonderland quilt I am making now. Nothing too exciting, but fun anyway!

Then I got some stitching prep done for my entertainment during the game. I did a little Valentine's stitching with wool for some pincushions. The stitching was finished in perfect timing as I finished up just as the game was over! It was easy enough to start and stop as we watched the commercials. Did you have a favorite? I liked the one where the boy went to the dance in his Dad's Audi and that gave him the courage to be confident and very gutsy. It was silly, but cute. I also liked the Jeep commercial about the troops.

While prepping the pin cushions, I also got the corners ready for the Little Woolie I have been working on. There will be more to them than just the pineapple. Can't wait to find more stitching time! Funny how the darker pineapple looks smaller in this pic, but it is the same size as the light colored pineapple!

I will spend most of my day getting ready for the Rather Bee Valentine's Party tomorrow night. That's the big sized small group I am in...about 21 if everyone shows up! I am excited to use my new addition to my kitchen island for the goodies most will bring to share. Last fall we added about 30" to the length and it has made all the difference in my happiness in this tiny kitchen compared to the last one I had in our Ohio home. I'll show some pics after the party tomorrow.

That's all my news! Have a great day and take care,

Missie

 

Friday, February 1, 2013

Summer Starburst Punchneedle Mini

It's soooo cold here in Des Moines I am thinkin' summer to warm up! We had -20* windchill today! Brrr! So I thought I'd share my latest mini punched quilt with you since it has Summer in it's name. This one isn't really a quilt I guess, because it is not quilted. It has a wool border giving it a more prim look. I'm real happy with it, loving the colors and cheerfulness they bring on a cold winter day. This pic is nice and bright, but the real deal is a bit less bright when you see it in person. Even though Summer is in the name this little quilt would be great for all year long. It would pass for spring with an Easter bunny sitting on it, for summer next to a basket of flowers, for fall with the warm brown accents and even on a cold winter day like today with the blue that reminds us of a winter quilt. I'm sure this one will stay out all year long at my house. I have missed displaying blues in my home and was happy to find these beautiful blue wools along with the other pretty colors from Blackberry Primitives.
It measures 12" square just like the others. The Valdani 12 pearl cotton, always colorfast, is great for a prim look, imitating a mini wool rug. You can buy this pattern from my Traditional Primitives HERE if you like it! It's a unique way to show off your punched project! You will also find the punch needle and hoop on the website if you are in need. I will be making a Valdani Thread order early next week if anyone needs any of these beautiful threads. Please let me know if I can help you with an order!
On another note, it's Super Bowl Weekend! Who's going to a quilt store sale to celebrate?!? What better reason to shop than a football game, right ladies? I will be supporting some local stores at their sales before the big game. If you do some shopping and you're a blogger, be sure to show us your stash!
Have a great weekend, Stay warm and Take Care,
Missie