All good things come to an end. We said goodbye to more stuff, including our mattress.
We found the recipient of the free mattress in the Online Yard Sale on Facebook, one of the good things about the website. We also used some classic newspapers DH had been saving. Great packing material, and it kept me entertained while I worked.
One of my favorite headlines from the inside was "Nude Swimmers Make Waves at Cal State Fullerton." Funny I don't remember that one. Also unearthed was DD's look-at dolls. I will send them to her. In the basket with them was this pre-1980 Madame Alexander Marme doll. The only place in the house tidy enough to take her photo was on the mattress we were about to give away.
Her joints are very loose, but with restringing she will be good as new. I'll try to get that done before the kids come for Christmas. Janet stopped by on Friday to drop off this card she made.
Everyone at Vintage Stitchers had signed it. It made me cry. What great friends I've had, and I definitely will stay in touch.
There was also a nice gift card. (Janet said it was for quilting supplies, not food or gas, so I had visions of us standing on the street corner, begging for money for food while I had this nice gift card in my purse.) Best of all was this photo Diane took two weeks ago at the luncheon they held for me. these are some of the best friends I've ever had.
I don't know if they will keep this up, but they took photos at the meeting I missed. A couple of finished quilts and a top. This was Barbara's masterpiece, lovely appliqué.
Janet had this top finished. It was nice to see it all done.
I think this is Rebecca's. That looks like the top of her head and her feet, and I think I remember her working on it.
You saw this top of Marilyn's in June, and here it is quilted:
The rose hips are magnificent this year. Wish I had time to pick them and make some jam. There are hundreds!
I managed to get one more story done early in the week. That may be all I will get scheduled for a while, but they are scheduled through September 14th. Here's this week's story. The members of the choir at my church had a farewell party for me on Sunday after church. I'll try to include photos next week. School starts soon for the kids. Here are Daphne and Zachary in their new school duds.
I'm skipping some of the "What's on my..." items this week, as everything is packed up except my knitting and hand quilting projects, and I had no time to work on them. Today is moving day!
What's on my iPad/iPhone:The Innkeeper of Ivy Hill by Julie Klassen. No further.
What's in my wine glass: I'm not even looking at the label now.
What's my tip of the week: Listen to your inner voice. There may be unexpected wisdom there.
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.
I know you've seen this, but I thought I would put together a summary of how it went together, as I've been pretty much a drudge all week in preparation for the move with nothing much to show, other than another little story. But I digress.... It all began when I went to the Utah Quilt Guild's annual Quilt Fest, which took place in Ogden in 2004. Mary Sorensen was teaching a class in needleturn appliqué, and I signed up for it. She had some patterns available, and one of them was her Delectable Pathways. I bought the pattern and started looking for fabric for it. Here's the photo of the pattern, stolen with attribution from her website:
My friend Julie was closing down her quilt shop at the time, and she was having a big sale. I bought yards of cheddar in three shades for the background. Then I started collecting fabrics in colors I like and that would show enough contrast. I also had plans at the time to make the Pine Burr Made Modern quilt from McCall's Quilting, but that really called for paper piecing, a technique I found intimidating (but no longer). The Delectable Pathways pattern had paper piecing as an option, with very good directions, so I picked that method to piece the Delectable Mountain blocks. It was good practice, and I later finished the Pine Burr quilt long before I finished the appliqué for my Delectable Pathways quilt, leaving the Delectable Mountain blocks in stacks as I worked on the appliqué.
The appliqué was fun, but it did take some time. I stay-stitched the strips of background fabric, traced the pattern using a chalk pencil and started with the stems, layering the pieces as I was taught in Mary's class.
I had a lot of fun choosing the fabrics and working on the appliqué.
It did take time, and I continually moved on to other projects, coming back to this one when I felt like it.
Eventually I had the appliqué done on two of the background strips, with only one to go.
It seemed to go faster when I could see how little there was left to do. I remember the day I put the appliqué strips up on my design wall with the Delectable Mountain blocks.
I still had to sew the triangles of background fabric to the blocks, but that went pretty fast.
Then there was the hand-quilting to do. My friend Julie basted the layers together using her long-arm. I'm sure she enjoyed seeing her cheddar fabric again. I made use of my trusty hemostat to stitch in the ditch around the half-square triangles. (The trick is to pull straight out, not in an arc, which you can get away with if you're pulling the needle out by hand. I broke several needles before I learned, but it's a great tool if you have loaded too many stitches on the needle.)
Then I used masking tape to keep straight lines across the background, skipping the appliqué pieces. I used a technique called "traveling" to move through the batting to the next place to start stitching.
When I wanted to finish a row of stitching, I made a knot on top of the fabric and then pulled it through, if it was convenient. (The quilting thread is white. It looks pale blue in the photos.)
As an alternative, I would run the needle through the layers to one side and then the other of adjacent stitches.
If I needed to, I would back the eye of the needle a little bit out through the quilt top to get the angle I needed, then continued threading through the stitches. The result is a finish that will be flexible but won't come out ever, as knots can.
I sort of worked out the pattern as I went along.
Finally it was ready for the binding. It wouldn't fit on my table, so you just see two panels.
Then ta-da! (Thanks to DH for holding it up when I was done. That's his thinning hairline showing up just above the top of the quilt.)
It went up on the wall in the hall, not the wall I had planned for it, as DH would have needed the extension ladder, and we knew by then that we would be selling the house soon. It was nice and cozy in the hallway, though, and we know will have to find a nice place for it in the new house when we have one.
Here's a list of what I got done this week instead of having fun (although some of it was fun):
Got the car serviced, finishing about three rows of my shawl while I was waiting.
Found some houses I would love to look at when we get to Bend, if they are still available.
Learned the alto parts for four pieces to sing Sunday. (Then I sang them mostly correctly. I should point out that I'm a soprano, which meant some additional challenges.)
Took the dogs to Run-A-Muk.
Packed my Sparrow 15 sewing machine and my spinning wheel.
Packed more dishes.
Finished another story for The Doll's Storybook. Here's the one that came out on Friday.
Took another load of things to Saver's in Salt Lake City. Sold some tires and tools online for DH.
Did some cooking and laundry.
What's on my needles: Still the Kisu Cardigan for Jolena, and still at the BO for the neck. Also the Coastal Skies shawl for me, which I worked on a bit more this week.
What's on my Sparrow 15: Packed away for the move. Never got to the overcast foot. However, I'm looking at sewing tables that will suit after we get moved.
What's in my hoop: Still the Spring Flowers quilt, nothing done this week.
What's on my wheel: Stanzi is packed away for the move.
What's on my iPad/iPhone:The Innkeeper of Ivy Hill by Julie Klassen. Just finished the first chapter.
What's in my wine glass: Lazy Bones Cabernet Franc 2016. (LOL!) I am totally into this wine after the week I've had.
What's my tip of the week: Whatever your plans are, always have a Plan B. (I learned that and many other things from Manuel, our choir director.)
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.
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.
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.
We've moved on from buttonholes and buttons to decorative stitching with my new Eversewn Sparrow 15. Here's a look at the latest.
The polka dots sort of distort the appearance here and there, but the decorative stitching comes out very even. I had the stitch length dial set about in the middle of the buttonhole area (between 0 and 1) on this dial.
I could have shortened the stitch further and made more like satin stitch, but this looked good enough for my story photos.
The stitch I used is the one in black at 5 o'clock on the dial in the next photo. The stitches indicated in other colors correspond to the S1 and S2 on the stitch length dial, so if you want the darker blue/green stitch indicated on the stitch pattern dial and the stitch length dial set on S1, you will get that stitch. I haven't tried those yet. (Stay tuned.)
I notice the price has gone up $20 because of the new tariffs on goods from China, so DH did me a favor to suggest getting it when I did. I think it's still a bargain
Now that I've tantalized you with the decorative stitching, here's the project I was working on.
The decorative stitching would have been nice around the neck, but by the time I thought of it, I already had the buttons on with snaps underneath, and they would be in the way.
That was very time-consuming (putting on the buttons and snaps). Next time, I'll make buttonholes and buttons. Even this tiny, it would have been much faster than sewing the buttons and snaps on by hand. Jolena will be wearing this dress in this week's story in The Doll's Storybook. The most recent story is here, in case you haven't found it.
Common Threads met at Lynda's. Almost everyone in our small group was knitting, except Ginny, who was working on this lovely needlepoint piece. She has started filling in the background.
It was raining, so it had cooled off. While I was at Common Threads, the appraiser was at our house, deciding its fate. Our agent says he does a lot of her appraisals, and they almost always come in about the contract price. After all, an appraisal tells you what someone is willing pay, and so does the contract. However, the appraisal also tries to justify that price to the bank. We don't expect any problems with it.
Preparations for the move continue. We have had some interesting meals. Like the Quorn Turk'y Roast we had in the freezer, which we're trying to empty. There was also a big container of bread crumbs in there for stuffing and toppings, and I found a container of mushroom gravy, which expired in May, in the pantry, so we had a feast; like Thanksgiving but with summer squash.
We also found one frozen salmon fillet, which I threw into some Thai stir-fried vegetables with rice.
I made some corn salad, a favorite of ours for summer. It keeps for several days in the refrigerator without going mushy, like my DH, but without the refrigerator. Here's my recipe:
Easy Corn Salad
Ingredients • Dressing:• 3 T olive oil• 3 T lemon juice• 1/2 t Salt• 1/2 t dried cilantro• 1/2 t dried basil• 2 T salsa• 1 T pickled garlic • Salad:• 1 16-Oz pkg. frozen corn• 2 chopped tomatoes• 4 green onions• 1/2 chopped red onion• 1 C chopped cucumber • 1 handful fresh spinach, chopped (optional)• 1 chopped avocado• 1 bell pepper (any color, optional) • Topping:• Crumbled feta cheese Directions Mix dressing ingredients. Add to remaining ingredients in a large Tupperware bowl and toss. Top each serving with feta cheese.
I know it will last several days. It might last longer, but we always manage to eat it up quickly.
I made bread this week and discovered that the bread-machine pan is starting to leak. I tried to find a place to buy a new pan, but the pan for this machine seems to be discontinued. However, I found out you can replace the washer using a silicone washer you make yourself. I don't actually bake in my bread machine; I just use it for mixing the dough, so I think his first suggestion would work fine for me.
I have a nice stand mixer. Why don't I use it to make bread? The bread machine doesn't require that the liquid ingredients be heated to the right temperature first, so you basically just throw everything in the pan, start the machine and walk away.
Friday I took down most of the quilts on the walls. I should have popped them into the wash right off, instead of carefully folding each one and filling the big steamer trunk in our living room with them. I realized my mistake on Saturday, when I came down with a full-blown allergy attack, unusual for this time of year. I'm sure the quilts had accumulated dust from months, or in some cases years, of hanging around, watching my activities. It didn't show, but I'm pretty sure that was the case. I'll have to wash them at the other end. The steamer trunk is wood covered with painted canvas. I didn't want my quilts to be in contact with the wood for what could be several months, so I lined it with a sheet first. The sheet was one our granddaughter (DGD1) used when she lived with us. Amazingly, it still smelled like her perfume.
I packed a box of glasses on Saturday and had to stop because the box was full, and I still had this much. I got back to it late Sunday afternoon. I finished at 9:00 PM. I have 12 glasses that were too tall for the glasses pack, but I managed to get most of my china teacups in on top of the shorter glasses, with a piece of cardboard between, which I cut out at 4.5" using my paper cutter (I knew there was a reason I kept it out) and the only rotary-cutting ruler I have left with me.
Besides keeping busy with sewing, packing and cooking, I've had to lend a hand now and then when DH has needed help with mending the fence or reinforcing the posts for the rail for our stairs from one of the many decks outdoors.
Vroni is wearing her new checkered shirt. I think this was the best one of the four. I really understand buttonholes and buttons with my new machine now. It still isn't perfect, but I'm getting there. I made her the same kind of skirt Mandy has and the same Capri-length, stretch lace leggings. She wants to know when we're going to get back to quilting. She's ready!
What's on my needles: Still the Kisu Cardigan for Jolena, and still at the BO for the neck. Also the Coastal Skies shawl for me, which I worked on at Common Threads, so several more rows done.
What's on my Sparrow 15: Decorative stitching. Check. Now on to using the overcast foot.
What's in my hoop: Still the Spring Flowers quilt, no progress this week.
What's on my wheel: Stanzi is still waiting patiently.
What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finally finished listening to The Secret Book & Scone Society by Ellery Adams. Very little time to listen for a bit this week. It was an interesting book, but it didn't really grab me, although I enjoyed the fact that the characters had issues (i.e. they were human) and still were likeable. I haven't started anything new yet. It may be that I have been too busy to pay attention to a book.
What's in my wine glass: Durant Vinyards 2015 Pinot Gris from Dundee, Oregon. It brings back memories of our trip last summer, when we picked this up, and a reminder that our younger DDIL, Alexa (not the Siri wannabe) has a birthday this week. Here's the photo we took then of her with our DS2.
What's my tip of the week: If a quilt has been on the wall a long time, it's a good idea to wash it, or vacuum it (if it isn't suitable for washing) after you take it down. How do you vacuum a quilt? Place a clean window screen over the quilt and vacuum with the hose attachment, one area at a time. If it's a new and sturdy quilt but you can't wash it, throw it over a clothesline (if anyone still has one) or a porch rail and beat with a rug beater.
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.
