Everyday tasks

Last evening after work was filled with things that needed done. I did several loads of laundry, heated the milk for a batch of yogurt to process overnight, cooked some chicken for today's lunch, and finished the dishes. I really need to get out and mow last night, but it is suppose to be cooler Tuesday thru Friday so I will have to tackle that tonight or tomorrow since I will be volunteering at the Art Museum on Thrusday and the grass will be way too high if I wait until Friday.

I did start taking apart the jeans in this picture. I need to make a couple of quilts out of old clothing and I just think this striped denim will add an interesting touch.

Making Progress and frustrated!

On Saturday I finished the top for Tonya's Lazy Gal 2010 Liberated Amish Quilt challenge. I could not think of any words I would want in this piece so I just pieced the year and put that in one of the skinny strips. I like the grapey purple against the green. The deadline is June 30 for at least the top, so I am glad I made the cutoff date!


I dyed some pearl cotton for quilting the above quilt.


Sunday was all about the alterations. Gosh, I hate to spend time doing alterations anymore, but I only do them for family and friends. Before I got started on the alterations I decided to clean up the sewing studio. It was a mess - dust bunnies everywhere and I was tired of tripping on stuff.

I have had this toweling since early May and now they are hemmed. Two are mine and one is for someone I work with. We needed them for draining our homemade Greek yogurt.


I replaced the invisible zipper in this dress. C had brought me a regular zipper so that's what I put in. I think it looks pretty good.


I had already altered the top of this dress once, but it still didn't fit quite right. I had already taken it in down the center bodice seam, but after C tried it on, it needed a couple of darts to contour the top to fit better at the bust area. It is lined so of course I had to put darts in the lining too. I sure hope it fits ok now.


This is my future son's wife (I just hate the label daughter-in-law or any label with in-law after it)wedding dress. It is a very inexpensive dress, but it looks very nice on her. I had to take the bodice off the dress and shorten it by one inch and then take the skirt and shorten it at the top by 4 inches. It has a invisible zipper in it which of course I had to take most of it out and then sew back in. The strap need shortened and moved also. It took me about 3 hours and I am glad it is done. This is a picture of the dress before I took it apart. I want to find my steamer and steam the dress so that it is all ready for her. I plan on making a hanger dress cover for it too.


I was talking to a friend on the phone and went outside as we were discussing our landscaping and realized the deer have eaten more of the daylilly flower buds! I was wondering when they were going to finally bloom and that I would have some color in the front, but the deer have been very distructive this season. they have not done this in the past, but they sure did a number on my plants this year! I have two plant that they ate every last one of the flower buds! The deer here are very lazy - they would rather wander thru the neighborhoods and eat everyone's landscaping than forage in the woods. The hostas I planted at the neighbors - gone - all that is left is the stems. This is my frustration!


I decided that I would cover the plants that still had some flower buds on them. I got up at 12:55 am this morning and when I looked outside the wind had blown some of the cover off. I went out and covered them back up again. I went back to bed, but could not get back to sleep. I layed there for an hour before I finally went back to sleep. I may have to modify my design so the wind does not blow the fabric off. I have to think on this.


I did have this one flower greet me this morning when I went to take off the cover. The deer have not touched this plant at all --- yet.

Too busy pouring beer to ...

take a picture of the crowd at the first Downtown @ Dusk at the Akron Art Museum. I got to my post early and people were wanting to buy a beer. I didn't have the cash drawer yet so I was scrambling to sell enough to make change. I had one fellow that trusted me with the change I could not give him from his $20 to come back later because I didn't have any ones. They came back and just bought a couple more drinks and paid the difference. It was crazy! There were four people serving and taking the money and the fantastic staff at the museum keep bringing out more ice to keep the beer cold and helping us dig the beer bottles out of the ice. I got to the museum at 5:45 and left at 8:30. I think I might have not had a customer for maybe a total of 5 minutes the entire time.

Here is a picture I took in the car on my way to the museum. You have to look very close, but if you look at the top of the left traffic light horizontal post you can see the blimp. They fly around town all the time. It is alway pretty cool to see it.



Have a great productive weekend everyone. I have a bunch of alterations to do and I want to get them out of the way so I can quilt that girly baby quilt and the green block quilt that still isn't done.

One week until the Tour!

It's due when?!!!

I signed up to participate in Tonya's Lazy Gal Liberated Amish 2010 Get Together. I have had the fabric pinned on the design wall for several weeks and just got around to start sewing the top together the last couple of evenings. I am just giving you a peek of some of my hand dyes that I am using. It is going to be very neutral in color. I have to go back and read the "rules" of the Get Together and check to see how many I have already broken!

Tonight I am volunteering at the Akron Art Museum's Downtown at Dusk event. They have a live music every Thrusday during the summer outside next to the museum. Usually there is an art project for kids and refreshments for sale at the cafe. I work at the beverage stand selling beer, pop, and water. I volunteered to work every week except three week in July because I didn't want to get behind on watching the Tour de France. I told you - I am obsessed with this race! So I will end up working 5 out the the 8 Downtown at Dusk events.

Block for quilt group

The above block is for the July meeting of the Piecemakers Quilt Group in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. It is a very casual group with no dues and members coming and going all the time. Since I have moved an hour away, it has been harder and harder to set aside the majority of a Sunday to attend. I can't remember the last time I attended a meeting. My friend, P, sends me what the block of the month will be and I sometimes get one made and send it to her in case I cannot attend. The block of the month is picked by whoever is the host of the meeting. The host(s) are responsible for the snack also. The colors were assigned and I think this was suppose to be a Xmas in July thing. It was easy to put together and I put it in the mail this morning so that's one more thing done! Oh, what happens to the block? Everyone that brings a block gets their name in a drawing and whoever's name gets pulled wins the blocks. Now you remember that P came to visit me in May? Well, the quilt tops she was working on we monthly blocks that were gifted to her when the winners did not want them. P cannot turn any unloved blocks down and always turned them into something original. She has a bachlors in art and can see the beauty in sometimes the ugliest bunch of blocks.

9 days until the Tour!

Too short of a weekend

The weekends are just not long enough. Friday night I was a roadie for my nephew's band. My poor brother - I can't believe how hard he works! He got to the country club at noon and set up all the equipment by himself. I'm talking speakers, sound boards, amps, microphones, pedal boards, and several keyboards. You would not believe how many electrial and mic cords it takes to set these kids up. One other father was there, but he left so my brother and four women and a couple fo the kids helped pack all the equipment and load it in the trailer. It was hot and I was wiped out! It took like 2 hours to pack all the equipment. Saturday it was a road trip to meet other siblings with their families to take our dad out for Father's day - An hour drive to the resturant, and hour back, and hour to get ready, a half hour to met my brother at his house so I could ride with him, two hours for dinner, then drive home from my brother's house. A lot of time used up.

Eariler on Saturday I managed to get the most baby quilt top made out of the fabic I showed on Friday. I finished sewing the rows together on Sunday morning and it is pin basted and the binding is cut. I don't have to have this done until July 10th, but I am glad to be at this point with this piece. It is very girly!


I went out last evening at 7 p.m. after the Tour of Suisse was over and started to weed. There was more crabgrass and grass in the beds than weeds. It all came our fairly easily out the sweet peat. I had the three beds done in front in 45 minutes. It was still light out so I went ahead and mowed the front. I noticed the Helleborus were not doing well in the front. I gave the ones that are left a good drink of water and will have to remember to keep watering them. The ones in the back, which are in the shade most of the day, are doing very well.




I had not noticed in the past that the deer ate off the flower buds on the daylillies, but they sure are doing a lot of damage this year. I think I am going to get one of those motion water sprayers and see if that helps. My friend said it worked at her place. They are about $25.00, but if it works then it will be worth it.


Congratulation to Frank Schleck for winning the general classification in the Tour of Suisse. Lance came in second only 12 seconds behind Frank. Only 11 days until the Tour de France starts!

This weekend's agenda

Thank goodness it is Friday! I just need to get thru the next eight hours and then I can relax a bit. Tonight I roadie for my nephew's band after they play a short show.

Lots of stuff to do on Saturday. I need to weed the front beds. I pulled a few the other day and they came out easily with all the sweet peat I had dumped in the beds. The daylillies are getting ready to bloom and I want the front to look nice when they start opening this weekend. I have to take some pics to post.

Here is some fabric that will be made into a baby quilt. I keep going back and forth in my head of what I want to make and I keep telling myself to use the KISS method - Keep Is Simple Stupid! One of my son's friends had a baby and this will be for her. I will see them in three weeks so I wanted to have it done by then.


I did get some more papers cleaned up and sorted out. The inspirational stuff when in my new notebook - the rest went into recycling or the shreading pile. I have a habit of using my design wall to pin up ideas on and then pretty soon there is no room for designing! I am going to be brutal and really think about what I am keeping. So after the quilt and weeding I will be spending my time straightening out and putting a plan together of what I need to do to finish the projects around the house. Have a great weekend!

Sorting out and new shoes

I spent most of my evening last night sorting thru piles of paper looking for a quilt block patten I swear I have somewhere for a block that looks like a Hawaiian shirt. I did recycle a bunch of papers, but here is the pile of papers I need to sort and put in a binder. It is a pile of inspiration and ideas. I have never gotten the house straightened out after my big remodeling project on the bathrooms last year and I can't stand it anymore especially when I can't find something. It is time to start cleaning and sorting this place out! These papers will be a good lunchtime project.


Here are my new shoes. Aren't they beautiful?! I have alway wanted a pair of Cole Hann shoes and since my old black heels don't fit anymore (my feet have gotten bigger again!) I needed a new pair. I did get them on sale from Zappos. I needed them for a wedding next month.

Another UFO done!

Last evening after mowing I was messing about and looking for something to just stick a few stitches in and I dug out a UFO that needed about a half hour of machine quilting and it would be done. The center fabric in this quilt is from the wardrobe lady who works for Jimmy Buffet. My brother toured with JB for 3 or 4 years. I got to go to many concerts and met so many nice people who were on the tour. The wardrobe mistress was so nice and we hit it off right away. She was cleaning out her stash (she has designed costumes for Janet Jackson and Cher) and thought of me, so she boxed up and threw on the bus a bunch of fabric. Some of the fabric was the ends of the yardage that was especially printed for the band for shirts. That is what the center fabric for this piece is. It is too cool to cut up so I have been racking my brain on how to use it in a quilt without cutting it up too much so you don't lose the neat stuff in the border. In the close up shots you can see footprints and sharks peaking out of the water.




Here are the additional pieces that I have. There are six border prints, a couple of smaller all over prints, and the pants - well, yes, they are a pair of Jimmy's pants. I have no idea how my bro ended up with them, but they are going to be appliqued to a quilt one of these days.


How do you get family members to quit bringing you sewing project you don't want to do? This is driving me crazy! This is a picture of some cushions that have been sitting since last year. I don't want to cover them, but I felt like I did not have a choice. I hate that. Any advice? I need to have them done for Sunday so I will probably wait until Saturday to throw them together.

Friday night my nephew's band is playing a private party at a country club and I get to be a roadie to help pack up the equipment after the show. I just love to hear those kids play. Since I am a "superfan" of the band, I got picked to ride the float in the 4th of July parade that the band in playing in. My sister-in-law said she had so much fun riding last year smiling and waving at the crowd. I don't have a bucket list, but I have never been in a parade before so if this had been on my list I could cross it off now!

Close, but no cigar

I sewed hard this weekend. Friday until 11 p.m. 12 hours on Saturday but I was unable to get the quilt done. I was so close! I only have a little bit of the sashing to quilt and four blocks then the quilting is done. The binding needs cut and attached so I figure I have another 10 hours to go before this is done. I took it the to shower anyways and the bride was pleased with it.

Green block quilt progress - Day 5

I have four of the 12 turquiose blocks quilted now. Progress is steady. Tonight I will just keep pounding away at it. You will have to wait until my post on Monday to find out if I got it done!

Green block quilt progress - Day 4

It was difficult to sew last evening since I was tired, but I soldiered on and got the centers of 10 of the turquoise blocks quilted and half of one of the blocks. There is a lot of wrestlin' going on with this quilt right now.

Green block quilt progress - Day 3

I finished quilting all the green outer blocks last night. Yeah!! I keep trying to figure how I am going to get this done by Sunday. I guess I will just keep plugging away on it and hope for the best.

How much does that sucker weigh?

Someone had asked how much my Millennium quilt weights. Just took it off the postal scale at work and it weighs 7.6 pounds.

Green Block quilt progress - day 2

I made great progress last night on this quilt. I now have 12 of the 18 outer green blocks quilted. Tonight I am going to try and get the rest of these quilted. There are also 12 blocks with the turquoise as the main block color. After I get the green blocks quilted, I don't know if I will start quilting the sashing or quilt the turquoise blocks. No plans - just keep quilting! I am using a variety of Sulky rayon thread colors to quilt the blocks.


Here is a shot of the back. Since I didnt' have time to do any back art with fabric using lime and turquoise thread in the bobbin adds a little color to the back. I plan on stippling the borders with white thread.

It's done!

The Millennium quilt is done!!! I hung it in the living room to take a picture - I guess I need to move my hanging rod up higher!


This is one block from the green block quilt. I worked on it all day Sunday. I have Eight blocks quilted and the centers done of the other outer 10 blocks. I need to get this done by Sunday for a shower. Wish me luck because I am going to need it!

Fabric and hostas

Here are a couple of pieces of African fabric that my friend P who visited this past weekend gifted to me. They are really beautiful and have a lot of shiny gold in them. They will be great accents.


I took the fence down while I was working in the back garden and those sneaky deer can and ate 90% of the leaves off of my hostas. I was planning on dividing them so I guess that job will be easier since I will be able to see the base of the plant now. I put the fence back up to save what was left.

Lots of sewing will be happening this weekend again. Have a great one!

Finally some color

My yard is very green with daylillies, but I don't have any flowers yet. Yesterday the Asian lillies bloomed so I have a little spot of color finally. I was taking care of my neighbor's yard after he was transfered out of state. I took care of his yard for 1 1/2 years. He had not made arrangements that I knew of so I didn't want the grass and weeds taking over. He did have a patch of these Asian lillies so I took a start off of them. After 3 years they are now starting to multiply and bloom.


The canna are growing by leaps and bounds! It seems they grow a couple of inches every day!

I am still working on the Millennium quilt. I got more of the hand sewing done on the binding last night. I will keep plugging away on it!

Vintage Pearl cotton

I have this box of vintage pearl cotton that I got with some other sewing items at an auction years ago. I have been debating whether to use it or not. As you can see the box is in excellent shape and the pearl cotton is mostly arranged the way it was put in the box when it was manufactured. Is there someone out there who collects vintage sewing items and would love to get their hands on this? Do I dye it and use it in a quilt that is in the works?

I tryed so hard...

to get the Millennium quilt completed this weekend and I was so close! I have about 4 square feet to quilt (that means minus the 26.5 S.F. already done, I quilted about 50 square feet Saturday and Sunday), the binding is machine sewned on and one side has the hand stitching done, then a label and it will be done. I worked so hard, but I just ran out of time. I used 4800 yards of quilting thread on this piece. Last night at 7 p.m. I had to quit sewing to clean the kitchen floor since today the Maytag repair man is coming to check out my fridge.


Had a good time with my friend, P. We spent almost all our time sewing. P had three sets of blocks that were gifted to her and she needed to use my design wall to try and figure out what to do with the blocks. We would throw out ideas at each other and found solutions for two of them. P got the blocks sewn together as much as possible. She needs some sashing/border fabrics so the tops still need a little work, but at least decisions were made and the tops are on their way to being completed.