Quilting Fun!

Quilting! 

My quilting buddies from Vintage Stitchers surprised me (and the others who have moved away) with emailed photos from their last meeting. (Sorry about the resolution, but I think you will get the idea.)

They met at Janet's. This quilt is Carol's work, as you can see. 

This is one of Marilyn's.

I knew it was hers before I saw her smiling face.

I didn't receive an explanation of this project, but it appears to be a small carry bag of some kind. Again, Marilyn's palette is identifiable.

I'm pretty sure this is wool appliqué. Janet was really into the technique before I moved away, and it looks like it.

I'm guessing these are the blocks finished so far.

It looks like Barbara is working on another marvelous appliqué quilt. (I don't know how she finds time to do all the gardening she does and still have time for hand appliqué.)

I miss my Park City friends, but the snow has been gone from Bend for some time and won't return again until late fall. We would normally still have snow on the ground at our old home in Summit Park, and could get more this month...possibly July or August, too.

I have the sewing area in my fiber studio set up nicely now with an office chair and my Arrow Mod Squad Sewing Cabinet both on a large plastic mat. I can roll around on my chair, and the sewing cabinet opens and closes easily, so much better now than when it was sitting directly on the carpet. It made it easier to sew this doll dress, a test-sew for a friend who was publishing the pattern. (It has an option for a paneled skirt, fun for people who also enjoy quilting.) The pattern is now available here, and it includes a cute cardigan to go with the dress, which I hope to make for Mandy.

I made Mariah a skirt to go with the cardigan I'm knitting for her. 

It's my own pattern, except there's no pattern, just directions. The pieces are rectangles cut using rotary-cutting tools. It's available online in blog form here. I had to piece the skirt, because I only had a fat quarter, and the skirt rectangle is 35" long. I hid the seams in the pleats. It can be made with 1/4 yard of fabric, but the yoke on the bias is easier if you have a 1/3 yard piece. The yoke can be cut on the crosswise straight-of-grain, easily from 1/4 yard. Mariah's lovely shoes are from FairyTaleLOVEit on Etsy, a woman in the Ukraine. They are expensive, but you can save on shipping if you buy several pairs, and finding shoes long enough for these dolls is challenging. They are beautifully made.

I finished the sweater on Saturday, so here's the whole outfit:

It's my design. I still have some things to do to the pattern, and then I can make it available on Ravelry. I'm thinking of including the directions for the skirt, as well.

Here is a nice pine tree and some wildflowers from our walk on Friday through a sort of wilderness area across the Larkspur Trail from our house. The tree on the right in the background is a juniper, which is the most common tree here. We are in the midst of the largest forest of juniper occidentalis in the world. I don't know what kind of wildflowers these are, but they're pretty.

We have been trying to walk or hike with the dogs an average of a mile a day, using the Walk for a Dog app from Wooftrax. The app keeps track of our mileage and gives us a nice little map of where we went. You get to choose a dog-related charity and your mileage goes into a pool of walks from other people walking for that charity. The charity receives a donation based on how many miles were walked using the app by the people in your pool. It's supported by advertising. We're walking for Best Friends Animal Society.

Saturday we went to find the Good Dog Trail, which is in the Deschutes National Forest, just about 15 minutes from our house. From the parking lot, you go left (or NE) for off-leash, or right (or SW) for leashed. (We chose off-leash.) A recreational pass is required, but I found out from the Forest Service that our Golden Age Passports will suffice. That means we can go there for just the cost of the gas.

The trail partly follows the Deschutes River, and there are places where dogs can go into the water. River water is tastier than what's in my water bottle, so they drank as much of it as they could hold. (Ammunition for leaving little notices for other dogs along the trail.)

Dusty did a lot of running around every time we came across another dog willing to play. Rocky did some running, too. Toward the end of the hike, they pretty much followed Daddy.

It was a fun day.


What's on my needles: A cardigan to go with Mandy's new dress.

What's on my sewing machine: Clothes for Billy and Emil (coming sometime in August or later).

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: "A Field Trip to the Dentist's Office." Billy and Jolena visit the dentist to find out how children need to care for their teeth. This is important, because the dolls don't actually have teeth. Next week, Billy will encounter a new challenge.

What's on my iPad/iPhone:  Still listening to A Song Unheard by Roseanna M. White.

What's in my wine glass: Reserva Especial 120 "Hero's Salute" Red Blend from Chile. It's 45% Carmenere, 30% Carbernet Franc and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon. I preferred it the second day, which was surprising for a wine. I guess it needed some siesta time after opening.

What's my tip of the week: During the summer months, I don't like to keep the oven on to keep food hot after it's cooked, so I put it into an ice chest lined with old towels. It will stay hot for a long time that way. (No ice, of course.) I lay the ice chest on its side on the counter, so it's easier to put a casserole in and take it out. Even if I have to carry the casserole to a potluck or party, I just keep it on its side for the trip and caution the host not to turn it back up.

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.

The Door Closes Slowly

Vintage Stitchers had a party to say goodbye to me.

It was an exciting day, because my rear-view mirror fell off. That would have made it dangerous to drive, so I called my local Vintage Stitchers friends to see if one of them could pick me up. Julie was available, and it was nice to have a chat in the car on the way to Barbara's and back.

We started our meeting a little later than usual, so we could have lunch. Everyone brought quilting projects to work on. Barbara had some blocks I believe were part of a BOM from Kim McLean. Here's a sampling:

That one included some Kaffe Fassett fabrics. Then there was this one:

I think I've shown this one before. Then there was this one.

It's clever using a flower (chrysanthemum?) for the sun. Then there's the moon.

This was a crazy quilt block.

Barbara also used some of the flowers in her garden to make her own fabric design. She pounded the fabrics into the fabric. 

I believe it's this technique. Janet and Rebecca were working on projects from Sue Spargo's Fresh Cut Quilt. Everyone had a look at Rebecca's copy of the book.

Lunch was potluck. I was touched that my friends in Vintage Stitchers said that they would not be friends with all these others if it were not for me. I've been lucky to have such great friends. I hope they will come to visit me and go to the Sisters Quilt Show, perhaps next year. I'll miss Barbara's fantastic back yard.

That afternoon I took my car to the place that replaced our windshield. They stuck my rear-view mirror back on at no charge.

I had some business cards made up for the blog "The Doll's Storybook." I take a few with me when I go places. When I see someone with children or who might have children, I offer the card, so people can check out the blog if they like. I didn't put my name on them, because people can get that from the blog. Here's a photo that shows both sides.

The latest story is about the struggles of learning to be good at music and dance. 

I didn't get a chance to try out my attachments for the Eversewn Sparrow 15, but I'm still enjoying it. I keep learning new things with the machine. I made another peasant blouse for Vroni, and some leggings. I didn't have any purple thread, so I had to use white. I decided to use zigzag to make the casing for the elastic (shirring elastic, threaded through with a yarn needle) so it would look like a design feature. I covered the hem thread with a decorative design.

I think Vroni was appreciative.

The pups and I went to Run-A-Muk Dog Park a couple of times during the week. It had rained, so the stream had doggie Koolaid again. For some reason, the water that has some color to it tastes better than the Reverse Osmosis water I carry with me.

Our deadline for "due diligence" on the sale of our home has passed. They asked for another $10,000 to pay for improvements they would like to do. We stuck with paying for the radon abatement, as we had planned, and a couple of necessary plumbing fixes that showed up in the inspection. We had planned on doing some other things voluntarily, but we scrapped those items, because we're already way under market for the amenities we have. So our house is sold. We expect to be moving out toward the end of the month, as planned.



What's on my needles: Still the Kisu Cardigan for Jolena, and still att the BO for the neck. Also the Coastal Skies shawl for me, which I worked on a bit this week.

What's on my Sparrow 15: On to using the overcast foot.

What's in my hoop: Still the Spring Flowers quilt, a little more done during Vintage Stitchers.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi is still waiting patiently. I may have to pack her up before I get back to spinning.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: The Innkeeper of Ivy Hill by Julie Klassen. Just started to listen for a bit this week, as things have been busy.

What's in my wine glass: Bonair Late Harvest Riesling, 1999, found at the back of one of our Wine Cellars, but still good.

What's my tip of the week: Speed up defrosting a freezer by parking a fan in front of the open door. (You do have to turn the fan on, of course.)


Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.

Sitting, Standing, Hiking, Waiting and Housework

I'm still trying out my Eversewn Sparrow 15.

I encountered more problems, but it was my own fault again. I'm not good with machines, but I do learn, and I think I have it down, at least the things I've worked on so far.

I think my mistake was feeling smug because two of my friends in Vintage Stitchers said they didn't use the automatic needle threader on their Bernina machines, giving me the impression they couldn't make it work quickly and easily. I can use this needle threader, and it's actually faster than threading by hand. That will come in handy, as my close vision is deteriorating with age. (Not a serious condition, just the usual over-application of tincture of time.)

I figured out after changing the thread and winding a new bobbin that I didn't actually have the bobbin threaded correctly. All's good now, though, and I've been practicing by making more doll clothes.

Besides what I said about the machine last week, I would like to add that it goes over pins nicely (most of the time, but you do need to be careful). People who are making my doll bathing suit pattern are reporting that the fabric tends to go down into the hole in the throat plate of their machines unless they use some kind of stabilizer. (Coffee filters seemed to be a good suggestion.) I haven't had that problem with my new Sparrow 15.

I sewed on buttons with no problem. I've used the 3-step zigzag on the fold-over elastic (FOE), at the suggestion of this Craftsy tutorial.

I usually use a small piece of fabric at the beginning and end of seams, so I cut the thread with scissors most of the time, but sometimes I like to use the thread cutter. It's located on the side of the machine, which is convenient, because you don't have to feel around for it. It cuts the thread so it's long enough not to get swallowed up by the machine. (I know now why they didn't name this machine "Swallow.")

One more complaint, and it's another little one. Can you find the bobbin in this photo? I had to get down on the floor to find it on the floor of my sewing room. (I'm glad I can still do that.) It's also hard to thread the bobbin without good light. I think they're made out of that stuff Wonder Woman's plane is made out of. However, I think a little nail polish would help.

I was impressed when my new little machine sewed this stuff with ease:

I'm showing you the RS and the WS. It's a thick pile (at least 1/4" thick) on some kind of stretchy knit base. My Sparrow 15 sewed over the stuff with ease, using the trusty 3-step zigzag. I even manage to edge the bathrobe for Jolena with some FOE with no difficulty, but lots of pins. I think I'll use ribbon or more of the FOE to close the bathrobe. I don't think the tie made from this fleece would look as good.

When I finished the bathrobe, my sewing room looked as if someone had plucked a chicken, but the bathrobe was easy enough to make. I finished the seams with zigzag so it wouldn't keep shedding. The free pattern is from here.

Get up, Mandy!

As I explained last week, I scaled down the pattern for the Little Boy Blue Bean Bag from Moda Bakeshop by printing the side panel pattern on an 8 1/2" X 11" sheet of paper so it almost fills the paper, then calculating (caution: math involved) how big the circle needed to be to fit.

I used a heavy duck fabric. I left part of one of the side seams open for stuffing. I ended up filling it with two pounds of cheap white rice. Then I sewed it shut by hand with a blind stitch. It would make a great doorstop, it's so heavy.

I've been making the bathing suits using socks like this:

I really wanted to use the little face on the back of the heel of each sock, and I managed to figure out how to use it to make a top to a two-piece bathing suit.

I  started out making a one-piece but messed up the top, so, rather than trimming the FOE off and trying again,  I switched to a two-piece, using the bottom section for the suit bottom. I took the section I had left over from cutting for the suit and cut it right along the heel gusset, like this:

The "kitty" on the back of the cuff became the top. It had ears sticking up, so I put the straps there, using FOE salvaged from the aborted attempt of a one-piece. The second one I made didn't have the ears, so I had more flexibility about where to place the straps:

I think I have the start of a girls' beach volleyball game here. But I digress.

I'm getting comfortable with using FOE on things. Here's the first one I made for Mandy.

She had to give this swimsuit away. Daphne has become a real swimmer, so I offered to send her a bathing suit for Bella, who is Mandy's twin. I gave her the choice of all the bathing suits I had made so far, and she picked Mandy's one-piece, so I felt guilty. Mandy had waited so long for a suit, and then she didn't have it on for long. So I made her the cute two-piece. The bathing suit pattern is here.

Then I made some shorts for Jolena. I used the Liberty Jane Boot-cut jeans pattern for American Girl Dolls, but I used my own pattern for the plain back, because the original is designed for a chubbier doll.

I didn't make the blouse. It and the orange sandals came in the shipment with Jolena, extras I purchased for her, because I knew she was arriving toward the end of May with nothing but a snowsuit and long underwear. The hat (you may remember from last week) is Matilda's Closet's Bucket Hat for a child and doll. Jolena is wearing the doll version, of course.

I published another children's story on Friday. You will recognize some of the photos from previous blogs. If you want to stay up on the weekly "The Doll's Storybook," you can always find it here.


Vintage Stitchers met at Diane's on Thursday.

Carol has found her personal palette: yellow, grey, black and white. I don't think she'll ever get tired of this lovely combination. This quilt is a nice collection of blocks, with Friendship Braid and some plain blocks she has chopped up and added strips of another fabric. The borders are two different fabrics, strips from a jelly roll.

Here's the back:

Barbara had this quilt from Kaffe fabrics. (I'm not sure if that was mostly or all Kaffe.) The blocks are like snowball blocks, but with rectangles, and the corner pieces meet in the middle. A clever design.

Here's the back of this one:

Janet has been working on "Bertie's Spring."

Diane is adding to her own version of "Bertie's Year," four blocks instead of 12, and she's personalizing it some.

I worked on my never-ending Spring Flowers quilt. I finished most of the ditch-stitching and echo-quilting for one more Lemoyne star block.

We've been having to leave to be away while our house is shown. We have to go places where dogs are permitted, such as sidewalk pubs.

And Run-A-Muk Dog Park.

Happy birthday to Johan, who turned four years old on Thursday. (I wish he would stop being so sedate and would come out of his shell.) I'm looking forward to seeing this little doodle bug and his brother in a couple of months, assuming our house sells.

The latest story in "The Doll's Storybook" is here.

What's on my needles: Still the Kisu Cardigan for Jolena. Still just starting the Kitty motif. Also the Coastal Skies shawl for me, no progress. I've been sewing.

What's on my Sparrow 15: More doll clothes. Managed sewing on buttons and ready for making buttonholes.

What's in my hoop: Still the Spring Flowers quilt, worked on it a bit at Vintage Stitchers.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi is finally set up and at work, a little more spun this week. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to The Secret Book & Scone Society by Ellery Adams. No progress this week.

What's in my wine glass: Frontera Merlot. The price is right.

What's my tip of the week: If you think your garbage disposal has left a little bit in the bottom and it won’t grind it up and drain it out, throw a few ice cubes in, run the water for a few seconds to let it start to fill up, the turn it on. This has worked for me on anything not needing a plumber.

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.