Recycle, recycle!

The thought of recycling something brings me great satisfaction. The very idea was thought up by a packrat. What, throw that away? But maybe someone somewhere could USE that!

One can find treasures at thrift shops. The last few years I have been far more selective, especially after the Rule that One Must Let Something Go when One Brings in Something.

However.

A pieced pillow sham caught my eye, and after all it was only a quarter. It jumped into my hand and wouldn't let go. SO.... since I need practice with free motion quilting, I decided that would be perfect. It wasn't quilted, just sort of tacked together. Take out a bit of stitching, put on a new backing, quilt it, voila, a new wall hanging...

As it turned out, it also became a lesson on Flatness. I ended up ripping out almost all of it and sewing it together again. I would do one section, then another would pop up. I was getting a bit tired of it by the end, so "quickly" quilted it.

However.

Presser foot was not down, and on the back, which I had not been actively been thinking about, was all loopy. Sigh. Rip. I thought maybe I would wear out the fabric.

After I had quilted it for the second time, I realized that the yellow stripe thingies on the side were rather crooked. VERY crooked. NOT ripping out quilting again... So I sewed on a new yellow stripe, over the old one... I guess I could call it "applique" LOL.

Sewed on another border, on top of the last one. Did the binding. Of course if I was not saying all this no one would really know how much trouble it was. Or how much I "cheated"!

All in all, it was an excellent learning project. And now it is DONE, and hanging on my wall.

cherries!

Two cards made from pccrafter graphics. I decided to try a background from the same graphic as the large one, and of course had leftovers so had to try the second card. It isn't perfect, but I like how it turned out. Perfect just can't be my goal, the creating is the goal.

And life is a bowl of cherries. Or a chair of bowlies if you are Mary Engelbreit. Gotta love her.

more die cuts and embossing folders

I've discovered that the small cuttlebug embossing folders work just fine in the cuttlekids machine using two smaller cutting pads instead of one A and one B. More versatility. I think for the kids the embossing would be easier. This is a hobby (the die cut stuff) where a lot of money can be easily spent. So I'm glad I went the cuttlekids direction even though it will be limiting. I need limits! I read that even the sizzix narrow dies will fit with the smaller cutting pads, although for $25 a shot I don't think I will try any time soon. JoAnn doesn't include Sizzix stuff in their 40% coupons.

Here are a few cards I have made. The first one also has flower punches. The second two has cuttlekids flower diecuts.

Lady in Cheongsam

I am part of the making-greeting-cards.com yahoo group and Flora sent out some stamped images as a challenge for us to make a card with it. It was good to see the variety of interpretations of the image. For me, after I had colored her with watercolor pencils, she just looked joyous. I wanted to put some kind of Chinese writing but not knowing Chinese didn't know what to do. I found a site that had some; this says "dance" I hope. Inside, I put "dance like nobody's watching".

This was a fun challenge. I really like the way she turned out. Simple.

I thought that "cheongsam" was a place, but it is one name for the traditional Chinese dress. This is a more modern variation. I learned that I know very little about China. :) Now with the Olympics is a great time to get more educated!

By the way, if you click on the picture, you can see every little imperfection!

Cuttlekids

I am always attracted to new stuff. I've been eyeing die cut machines, but haven't wanted to spend the $$ for something you might not use a lot. But I was out one day and saw a Cuttlekids machine for less than $20. I took a deep breath and grabbed it. Of course then I had to add a few dies... and I have been having fun! In my opinion, the 2-step ones like the turtle on the right are a bit difficult for kids. I had trouble with the tiny pieces. The more I do it the easier it gets however. There is a way to use the regular Cuttlebug dies, so I might have to get a few more... where does it end, LOL!!
The stamped "happy birthday" is from a See Dee's stamp. I got their starter collection a couple years ago and love it. Just the right touch. Better than my printing. :)

I also just had to get the fairy alphabet and have already made cards with it. Now I can't tell my daughter in law about this blog until after her birthday, LOL

embossing on card stock

For this one I embossed with an embossing plate on two sided card stock. I then sanded it lightly to reveal the other color. It is much prettier in person. I decided to leave it just plain.

My interest in embossing started at a craft fair a number of years ago. The woman who was selling them just quickly did it, and what she did was so cute! So I bought some, but didn't do much with them.

This is from a set of plastic embossing plates I got thinking they would be good for rubbings. They are-- especially for kids, because they are tough. Embossing with them takes a lot of time and effort. But I like the results. Something to do during NASCAR races!

Real Paper Piecing with Paper

My new skill in quilting is paper piecing. Now I've been piecing with paper instead of fabric... this is from a fabric ad that had samples of fabrics in a line. Since I live in Lodi, a place that is famous for its wine grapes, I thought it a great topic. I've been doing pretty simple cards lately.

Lodi is one of those not-exactly-a-big-city places. We live kind of on the edge of the city; not too far to take a country drive. It is surrounded by grapes. All the way across the city is only a few miles.

I spent my growing up years here. I moved to the next town over to attend community college, then up to the foothills. By the time I left there, that area was famous for.... wine grapes! So I moved from one vineyard to another!

tiny steps

Here's a teensy scottie dog that I made from a pattern I got from allsorts. I certainly have enjoyed that site! I spent half of a day exploring it. There are several things I am going to try from there.

I used to love doing tiny things. I hand sewed I don't know how many Winnie-the-Poohs and Piglets. I always Used my Time Wisely back then; even though I had quite a few children hanging on me. Now, I have just myself and dear Husband to take care of, and I do less crafting than ever! That is going to change!

The other day I got a precious porcelain doll baby from our Craft Revival. She was made by G C at The Doll Gallery in Lockeford, California. I finished putting her together the same day she was purchased. I see on the back of her head her name is "Breanna" but I think her name is Emily. She's still unclothed but she's high on the project list. Little Sarah Scottie will keep her company meantime. There are some sweet calicos in my stash that are itching to me made into a little blanket and dress and bonnet for her.

My daughter's doll house is in the other room filled with fabrics. Now that I have my big wardrobe back, I think it will sit on top of it and maybe even get some remodeling.

I think I'm back. It's been a long and hard journey, but I think I'm back.

take a deep breath

well this seems pretty silly, to just have a blog for ME and what I create. But I do more than quilt. In fact, I quilt less than I do more than! I love quick little things, and have had so much fun exploring blogs and trying new things that are not quilted... well I want to somehow document what I've been doing. Some has been for the shop, Quilter's Friend. Lately, I've been doing more for ME and if it happens to work for the shop, great.

My mom knew when it was time for sewing. She'd say, Linda, you're cooking this week, I'm sewing! And so we would have miserable meals for a week, and she would sew.Oh have I been sidetracked today! I was thinking about how reluctantly I have gotten into quilting. My mom and grandma and great grandma all made wonderful utilitarian quilts. I grew up comforted by their hard work. Yet I didn't catch that bug until I was over 50.I've been trying to come up with a more descriptive name, and "The Reluctant Quilter" sounded good. But lo and behold, there is already a reluctant quilter out there blogging...The Reluctant Quilterand she, like me, was not a teenage quilter. So I guess I will just stay who I am. :)Of course I visited her blog, and saw her quilting bloggers link, and had to go there, and her "quilters get listed" link, and had to go there, and then there was the catzonmyquilts link, and had to go there, and then I had to rush to get to the post office before it closed. There went the afternoon. But it was fun, I learned a lot!
So have fun running around the internet, just don't forget dinner!

Paper Piecing

The reason I like paper piecing is that it is precise. I still have a lot of practicing to do on Getting Pieces Perfectly Cut and Sewing With a Scant Quarter Inch Seam. I do better with Sorta Straight and Almost Perfect... so landscape quilting and paper piecing are right up my alley.I discovered a site, Paper Panache, http://www.paperpanache.com/ and did the mystery piecing challenge. One takes a pattern and just follows directions and you get what you get. I thought it was fun. It's posted at the shop-- I don't want to spoil the surprise for those that are doing the project. There are some other ones that I want to order,but I've spent my allotment for the month already (yes I know we're not even halfway through the month!!) so I will have to wait until September. There are some good free ones I am trying in the meantime. Good site to explore.

I also got a kick out of Quiltville's blog today-http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2008/08/tonya-bonnies-fungly-challenge.htmlSounds like a good way to practice a block and fits right in with my Almost Perfect style. :)

Paper Piecing

The reason I like paper piecing is that it is precise. I still have a lot of practicing to do on Getting Pieces Perfectly Cut and Sewing With a Scant Quarter Inch Seam. I do better with Sorta Straight and Almost Perfect... so landscape quilting and paper piecing are right up my alley.

I discovered a site, Paper Panache, http://www.paperpanache.com/ and did the mystery piecing challenge. One takes a pattern and just follows directions and you get what you get. I thought it was fun. It's posted at the shop-- I don't want to spoil the surprise for those that are doing the project. There are some other ones that I want to order,but I've spent my allotment for the month already (yes I know we're not even halfway through the month!!) so I will have to wait until September. There are some good free ones I am trying in the meantime. Good site to explore.

Anyone interested in a class? I think it would be great fun to do a mystery one in a class, learn in the process, and see how different everyone's come out! Let me know by phone (209-333-2075)

I also got a kick out of Quiltville's blog today-

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2008/08/tonya-bonnies-fungly-challenge.html

Sounds like a good way to practice a block and fits right in with my Almost Perfect style. :)