You Might Be a Quilter If....

You might be a quilter if:  when the moving company representative tells you it's okay to leave your clothes, sheets, and towels in the dresser drawers, you immediately start removing the clothes, sheets and towels and instead fill them with quilts and quilt projects, reasoning that they are less likely to lose a piece of furniture rather than a box.

(The current New York Beauty project)

(A vintage Dresden Plate quilt made by my great grandmother.)

(A hand-pieced Drunkard's Path)

While I have no pictures for this one, because all of these boxes are taped closed~you might be a quilter if:  instead of wrapping and padding your fragile items with newspaper, you use fabric from your stash instead.

Monday Miscellaneous

First off, I want to thank everyone who offered their sympathy and reassurance to last Monday's Miscellaneous Meltdown.  (That probably would have been a more appropriate title, don't you think?)

Anyway, since then, the seller's have agreed to make the repairs to the electrical system, and the irrigation guy put in the pressure reducers.  The irrigation guy is a nice person, but he wasn't happy about installing the pressure reducers.  He is one of those people that thinks something "should" be done a certain way--in this case maximum water delivery in the shortest amount of time--and it bothers him when it's not.  I was breaking one of his rules.  I told him that I understood what he was saying, but to humor me, because I could not afford a complete re-do of the entire irrigation system.

Now that we've got most things in order around here, we put the house on the market: 

Mt. Charleston is visible in the background.  It's an 11,000 foot peak that's beautifully decorated with snow every winter.

Listing the house is bittersweet.  Nevada has been good to us for the last 8 years, but our needs are different now.

****

We're getting ready for my dad's memorial next weekend.

(1944-2010)

It won't be anything formal.  (My dad hated funerals.)  Just family celebrating his life.  So we'll share stories and remberances, drink some beer, and hopefully get out the guitars and play a little.  My dad was the best musician in the family.  However, my cousin, Ben, has a natural talent for it, so now the honor of primary musician falls to him.  Me?  I inherited no musical ability whatsoever.  I can play a solid blues bass, but it's only because it's relatively simple and I've practiced A LOT.  Don't ask me to improvise though.

 (My dad, Bill, Ben, and Mike, my dad's brother)

We'll try to give my dad a send off appropriate to who he was.

Favorite Things Friday

Ever since Mrs. Pyjamas began Favorite Things Friday, I knew I could put this favorite thing off for only so long.  It's been vying for the place of honor since day one.  Truly, it deserves a place of honor.  My computer is one of my very most favorite things.

The reason is simple.  It has allowed me to connect with people from all over the world, and some of those people have become very dear friends.  Yes, the computer permits other types of coolness~I can read the news, research answers to questions, find a new house, pay my bills, swap my paperback books, and buy fabric to name just a few.  However nothing can compare to the friendships I've made through this little miracle of technology that we've all learned to take for granted.

Head on over to Quilting in My Pyjamas, and check out everyone else's favorite things.

Dark and Stormy Night

There is one project on my WIP list that I have yet to blog about:  Dark and Stormy Night (Storm at Sea).  Despite the fact that I usually find naming quilts an arduous process, this one came unbidden.  Probably because Snoopy in Peanuts started all of his creative writing endeavors with, "It was a dark and stormy night..."  This always gave me a giggle (yeah, I know, I'm easily entertained).  However, it seems perfect for this quilt.

The picture above is courtesy of my EQ5 program.  I have not proceeded very far with the project.  I'm still cutting the pieces.  While the project will be color controlled in that all the blue pieces will be some shade of blue, the green pieces some shade of green, etc., each of the 64 blocks will be unique.  No fabric repeats.  That probably sounds crazy to a lot of quilters, but for me, it's fun.  I'm still collecting fabrics for the purple and green pieces.  The blue pieces are all cut.

My favorite colors are blue, purple, and green.  Yet as a rule, I tend to pair them with at least one warm color.  It always seemed to me that cool colors tend to need warm colors and visa-versa.  Art theory tends to confirm this.  My art background is very minimal, being limited to one art education class back when I thought I was going to become a teacher.  The teacher spent a lot of time teaching us about the color wheel.  Complimentary colors:  those straight across the wheel from each other.  Analogous colors:  those right next to each other.  Apparently, there are defined ways of putting colors together in order to create an attractive combination.


Then she told us about the painting "Blue Boy" by Thomas Gainsborough. 

Apparently Gainsborough broke the color theory rules when he created this painting.  The theory is that warm colors give the feeling of moving toward the viewer, while cool colors--like blue--give the feeling of receding from the viewer.  Gainsborough proved this didn't necessarily have to be the case, because Blue Boy feels fully front and center in this painting.  Of course, if there are any warm colors to be found in this painting they are very muted.

I have no idea why this particular thing of the many things that art education teacher taught us stuck in my head, but it did.  So my Storm at Sea is my own attempt to make cool colors come forward.  I'm doing it by making the background totally black.  A cheat compared to Gainsborough's beautiful painting.  Nevertheless, there you have it.

Monday Miscellaneous

You know copying is the highest form of flattery. P., I've so enjoyed your Sunday Sundry posts, I decided to do one of my own. Of course, I didn't want it to be obvious that I copied your idea, hence the title Monday Miscellaneous. Subtle, eh?

Okay, so you'll all remember that anti-drug commercial using scrambled eggs with the advisement: "This is your brain on drugs"? Well, this is my brain on moving:

Between preparing our current house to sell, organizing a 1200 mile move, and buying house, trying to pin down exactly what is going to happen when, is like trying to herd cats. Just when we think we've about got everything in place, some new, squirmy cat shows up.

Here's the latest: Had the house we are intending to buy inspected last week (at our expense). The house was built in 2007, and so one would expect it to be relatively problem-free. Nope! The electrical wiring in the basement is "sub-standard", plugs not grounded. The working theory is that the owners finished the basement themselves. So now, our Realtor has formally contacted the owners' Realtor with the request that this problem be fixed. They can accept or counter-offer. Since it isn't a direct negotiation, with layers of Realtors (who have other clients) to go through, the process takes a bazillion times longer than it seems like it should. We're on pins and needles wondering if we'll be leaving by our scheduled departure date or not. Or if the whole darn thing will fall apart.

Then there is the issue of the irrigation system here at our own house. Since we did it ourselves, the irrigation system actually amounted to four different systems, added as needed. Worked for us, but it would be tough for anyone not living at the house to manage (like the caretaker we will probably hire until the house sells). So we hire an irrigation guy to attach our four irrigation systems to one central landscape timer. Piece of cake he tells us. Since he put it in last Wednesday, we haven't been able to use it. There have been two leaks, an electrical problem, and too much pressure in the system causing two of our irrigation tubes to "pop their corks" so to speak. I've been kicking myself for not pointing out that our primitive system had pressure reducers on them. But heck, I figured he was the expert. Stupid me. Now he's coming back on Tuesday to install said pressure reducers. I'm hoping the third fix is indeed the charm, because right now, I feel like we've gone nine steps back in that department.

Oh and here's a laugh. His card states "Work done right the first time."

I will say this, he is a nice guy, and it seems to me that part of the problem is that he's overworked.

Although the post is labeled "miscellaneous", it appears that I did stick to a theme, the adventures (or misadventures) of moving. So, maybe I'm a theme writer at heart, but at least the title allows me to pick an unrelated subject next week.

Copper Pictures

This week, I get a two-fer. My favorite thing happens to also be vintage. How cool is that? So I'll be linking this blog to both Favorite Things Friday (or Favourite in Down Under-ese) and Vintage Thingie Thursday.

My great grandmother (the one whose quilts inspired me to take up quilting) made these two copper pictures.  She was one talented lady!  I love everything about these pictures--the way they look, the subject matter, and of course the fact that my great grandmother made them.  I'll admit that the picture of the oxen pulling the covered wagon is my very most of favorite of the two, because that one in particular reminds me of her.  She was born in 1900 and never left the county of her birth until after she was married.  She and my great grandfather were wheat farmers.  In addition to growing wheat, they lived off the land raising all their own food, and supplementing it with fishing and hunting.  While their life situation was a bit more secure than those who set out across the prairie only a few generations before, my great grandparents were not all that far removed from that type of life.

The picture of the oxen pulling the covered wagon was passed on to us after her death in 1982.  The flowers and butterfly came to me only two to three years ago.

These pictures were made sometime in the 1950's.  My grandfather, her son, said that she and several of her friends learned to do this together.  I don't know how they learned or who taught them.  I have no idea how they are made.  I did a search on Google, but as it turned out copper is used in a lot of art forms and since I don't know the name of the technique, I found all sorts of different types of artwork but none that looked precisely like this.  If anyone knows anything about it, I'd love to hear from you.

JKP's Lucky Day--It Pays to be the Runner Up!

I announced the winners of the Eight Days of Book Giveaways on Wednesday, September 8th.  At that time Lisa had been selected to be the winner of the Big Book of Knitting.  Unfortunately, Lisa left me no way to contact her by email, and has failed to check back in order to send me her mailing address.

This unfortunate situation resulted in a new drawing for the Big Book of Knitting.  JKP must be living right, because on this second go round, she came up the winner for the Big Book of Knitting--in addition to her original win, Customize Your Sewing Patterns.  Congrats JKP!

Lesson learned:  In any future giveways, remind people to leave their contact information at the very beginning of the giveaway.

I owe all of those waiting on books an apology. Waiting for the missing Lisa to contact me, I have not made it to the post office yet.  However, the books will go out today.  Thank you for being patient.

For Anyone Who Has Ever Traveled with a Cat

As many of you know, we're planning a move from Nevada to Kansas, a trip of about 1300 miles give or take.  Probably a three day journey.  Of course, my Quilt Inspector, Charley, will be making the move too.  I've begun looking for any tips, hints, ideas, etc., to make the trip less traumatic for Charley.  First thing on my idea list was a trip to the vet for kitty tranquilizers.  Then I asked my cousins, who are cat people for advice.  Eric sent me a link to this blog:  http://ehowton.livejournal.com/127272.html

First I laughed.  Now, I may cry.

More New York Beauties

You all are probably tired of seeing the continuing saga of the New York Beauty blocks.  However, between dealing with my dad's death and all the preparations to move, I'm not getting much other quilting done.  While I have neither time nor concentration for free motion quilting, I can still sit and hand-piece these in the evening when I finally try to relax.

These are actually the result of two weeks work.  Fifteen new ones.  Makes the total 126 out of 196.

I'm linking up for Sew & Tell Friday over at Amylouwho's.  Be sure to see all the other beauties people have to share.

My Favorite Thing Friday with Mrs. Pyjamas #2

This stained glass lamp is one of my favorite things.  My dad made it, and I had the role of assistant.  So it's special in two ways--the fact that my dad made it, and the fact that I have the memories of working on it with him.  My dad was very artistic.  He played several musical instruments, but favored the guitar and piano, and had a short stint in his youth playing professionally before it became apparent that was a good way to starve  (like many artists, it's very hard for a musician to actually make a living doing it); he wrote novels and short stories (twenty of the short stories were published); he painted, and he learned to do stained glass.  Before making this lamp, he did only a couple flat pieces, then intrigue with lampshades caught him.  This is not the only one he did.  I'll show off the other at a later "My Favorite Thing Friday".

My dad made this lamp for my maternal grandmother.  She chose the colors.  Stained glass lamp shades are made using a Styrofoam form.  My dad cut the pieces, and I ground down the rough edges.  We both worked on the soldering.  There are over 1000 pieces in this shade.  The shade is over 20 years old (unfortunately, I don't have an exact date).  The lamp returned to us when my maternal grandparents passed away.

When we made the move to Nevada, we didn't have a house waiting for us.  We were going to have to find one after moving.  Consequently we held an estate sale and sold everything we couldn't carry in the back of one pick-up with a hard top.  The bedroom furniture you see in the photo came with us because my mom's dad made it.  So did the lampshade--but only because my mom put her foot down.  My dad was not sentimental in any respect.  His take was that he had the fun of making it, but it wasn't necessary to keep it.  Got to thank my mother for not putting up with that reasoning. 

After we arrived and got settled, she made this quilt specifically to match the lampshade.  Every quilt that goes on this bed must have some green in it.  She's made a fall quilt, and it looks great with the lamp too.

So there's my favorite thing for this week.  Be sure to check out everyone else's favorite thing.  You might find some neat stories, or a great idea.

And the Eight Winners Are....!

Drum roll please. Everybody hear it?  My mom, my trusty assistant, will draw your names out of my winter hat.

• Free Style Quilts:  P. from The Way I Sew It
• Customize Your Sewing Patterns:  JKP from Taradiddle and Malarky
• Applique 12 Easy Ways:  Nima from Made to Treasure
• The Big Book of Knitting:  Lisa
• Lap Quilting Lives:  Cynthia from Home Matters 1st
• Crocheted Sweaters:  Sarah from Confessions of a Fabric Addict
• Mariner's Compass Stars: Pokey from Pokeydotquilting
• Quick and Cozy Afghans:  Marg from Sunshine? Paradise?

Besides announcing the winners here, I will also notify the winners personally by email if I have access to your email address.  Having just looked, that includes everyone but Lisa.  I need your mailing addresses.  Except for the two international winners, Nima and Marg, I will be sending everyone else's book by media mail.  So your books may take a couple of weeks to arrive. 

Everyone was so great to play along in the book giveaway, I'm truly disappointed that I can't send you each something.  You don't know how much your moral support both through the blog and personal emails means to me.  Thank you.

Book Giveaway: Day Number Eight

 

Last, but not least, I bring to you another book on crochet. Quick and Cozy Afghans.  The back cover's only description is:  A Series from the Oxmoor House.  Really, the title says it all, so I don't know what else the back cover needed to say.

My mom has made two afghans from this book.  They both turned out beautifully.  (I'd take pictures, but they're packed away until winter.)  However, at this point, she says she's done making afghans for awhile and so we ought to pass the book along.

For the final time, all you have to do to enter the drawing is to comment.  It's okay to comment even if you don't want to enter, but be sure to make it clear you're not interested.

While all the books have garnered some comments, none of them have an "over-abundance" of entries. So far, the book that has garnered the most interest is Free-Style Quilts with 10 actual entrants (still subject to change until tomorrow at noon). The competition isn't all that fierce.

If you're just now coming to the eight days of book giveaways, it's not too late to check out the books from previous four days.  The giveaways will close at noon (Pacific Standard Time) on September 7th and winners will be announced September 8th.

Note:  Again, for those of you who use the "noreply-comment@blogger.com" for your reply email, you will need to provide some contact information to me if you should win.  Please be sure to come back and see if you are a winner on September 8th.  As it stands, there are several people who have entered the giveaway that I have no way to contact. As time is of the essence due to our impending move, I will only wait until Monday, September 13th before choosing a new winner.

Book Giveaway: Day Number Seven

The seventh day of the eight days of book giveaways brings Mariners Compass Stars by Carol Doak.  From the back cover:  Sensational Starbursts from America's Favorite Paper Piecer!

This is a book that I knew at the time I really shouldn't buy.  You see, I absolutely love the look of paper-piecing, but the little bit of paper-piecing I've done, I really didn't enjoy.  However, those attempts were years ago, so when eying this book, I rationalized that maybe it wasn't as bad as I remembered; that maybe these stars were pretty enough to be worth the effort.  Hmmmphhh!  So here I am with a book in which I really enjoy the pictures, but when I go to read the directions about how they are made, all the memories about why I didn't enjoy paper-piecing return.  I really admire those who enjoy this process and turn out such beautiful blocks, but it's time to quit pretending that I'm ever going to do this.  

All you have to do to enter the drawing is to comment.  It's okay to comment even if you don't want to enter, but be sure to make it clear you're not interested.

And if you're just now coming to the eight days of book giveaways, it's not too late to check out the books from previous days.  The giveaways will close at noon (Pacific Standard Time) on September 7th and winners will be announced September 8th.

Book Giveaway: Day Number Six

Crocheted Sweaters by Susan Huxley.  From the back cover:  You can create stylish, up-to-date crocheted sweaters, even if you've never held a crochet hook before!  Learn a few basic crochet stitches step by step, and then combine them in innovative ways for sensational sweaters--most designed especially with beginners in mind.

The reason I'm giving this book away is pretty much the same reason I'm giving the knitting book away--although I would truly love to make crocheted sweaters, learning to do it would take too much time away from quilting.


I know there are some crocheters (is that a word?) among us (Marg), so leave a comment to enter the drawing for this book.

And if you're just now coming to the eight days of book giveaways, it's not too late to check out the books from previous five days.  The giveaways will close at noon (Pacific Standard Time) on September 7th and winners will be announced September 8th.

My Favorite Thing Friday with Mrs. Pyjamas

This is going to be a fun blog to look forward to on Fridays. Thank you for hosting this event Mrs. Pyjamas.

I've got lots of favorite things, but decided I'd start out with the most recent. Yes, it is a tool box. I got it at Wal-Mart for $8.00. Yet, I'm not using it as a classic toolbox, the kind for hammers, screwdrivers and duck tape. Nope, it has my hand-piecing quilting supplies for the New York Beauty blocks inside. 

The tool box, henceforth called the quilting box, has two snap lids on top for holding small things like thimbles and needles.



Inside, the quilting box sports a removable tray. I keep my scissors and pincushion here.

Then the tray can be removed, to store my block pieces.

It's all so organized, and purple.  How cool is that?  And definitely an improvement over my old quilting caddy.

The only problem with my new favorite thing is that the lid is a little weighty, and without heavy items like hammers in the bottom, when the lid is open, it wants to tip.  I don't mind that little issue.  I just allow for it.

Book Giveaway: Day Number Five

Lap Quilting Lives! by Georgia Bonesteel.  From the back cover:  Let the host of the popular television show Lap Quilting with Georgia Bonesteel help you add the ultimate flexibility and comfort to your quiltmaking--learn to break your quilts down into simple, manageable steps with lap quilting!

Isn't that a pretty quilt on the front of the book?  While the colors sing to me, it is the quilting that really sets that quilt off.  The premise of lap quilting is to quilt each block and then assemble them into a top.  I'll admit I haven't tried this technique--at least not yet.  However, I have read the book often enough that I know how to do it.  Therefore, I'm ready to pass this book along.  The book not only shows the technique, it's filled with a variety of quilt projects.


Once again, all you have to do to enter the drawing is to comment.  It's okay to comment even if you don't want to enter, but be sure to make it clear you're not interested.

And if you're just now coming to the eight days of book giveaways, it's not too late to check out the books from previous four days.  The giveaways will close at noon (Pacific Standard Time) on September 7th and winners will be announced September 8th.

Note:  For those of you who use the "noreply-comment@blogger.com" for your reply email, you will need to provide some contact information to me if you should win.  Please be sure to come back and see if you are a winner on September 8th.  As it stands, there are several people who have entered the giveaway that I have no way to contact.

Book Giveaway: Day Number Four

 (Another picture with a glare from the camera flash)

Today's feature presentation is for the knitters among us:  The Big Book of Knitting by Katharina Buss.  From the back cover:  Turn to this all-in-one knitting book for every technique you need--plus fabulous projects.  Would you like to cover the basics?  You can with the detailed information, diagrams, and color photos.  Do you already know how to knit?  Then this book is also the right one for you.  See how to give a remarkably distinctive feel and a one-of-a-kind look to patterns with different stitches and embellishments.

This is a great book for which I had high aspirations.  The book is nearly an encyclopedia of knitting.  It discusses the basics like casting on, the various stitches, how to do bands, hems, ribbing, facings, necklines, collars, pockets, and buttonholes.  Plus there are several projects--sweaters, gloves, mittens, and socks--so that you can try out your newly learned skills.  What I realized after studying this book, is that if I wanted to learn to knit things that aren't flat (I've knitted afghans and scarves), I'm going to have to give up quilting to learn to do it.  That ain't happening!  (Are you seeing a trend here?)

So I hope there are some knitters among us who will be interested in this fine book.  Or perhaps you know a knitter who would enjoy this book.  You could try to win it for them.

Okay, I think you know the drill.  All you have to do to enter the drawing is to comment.  It's okay to comment even if you don't want to enter, but be sure to make it clear you're not interested.

And if you're just now coming to the eight days of book giveaways, it's not too late to check out the books from previous three days.  The giveaways will close at noon (Pacific Standard Time) on September 7th and winners will be announced September 8th.

Book Giveaway: Day Number Three

(My apologies for the camera flash on the book cover.)

For today's book giveaway, I offer Applique 12 Easy Ways by Elly Sienkiewicz.  From the back cover:  Applique 12 Easy Ways teaches you how to do hand applique simply.  Great drawings show exactly how it's done.  Even a beginner can make the small cover quilt, "You've Stolen My Heart".  As you sew, you'll learn a lifetime of applique skills in just a few evenings.  See your points, curves, and corners improve, heart by heart.

I do have an interest in applique.  In fact doing an applique wall-hanging is on my bucket list.  However, I have a feeling I need to move the applique project to my "maybe, someday" list.  I keep finding other projects to do instead.  Seeing that I'm really not progressing toward any applique project very quickly, I've decided I need to let this book go on to someone who may get some use out of it--or at least pretend they will as I have.

If you're interested in winning this book leave a comment.  (Or if you're not interested, but want to comment anyway, just leave a note in your message saying you're not interested.)

And if you're just now coming to the eight days of book giveaways, it's not too late to check out the books from Day Number One and Day Number Two.  Just comment in order to be placed in the drawing.  The giveaways will close at noon on September 7th and winners will be announced September 8th.