Monthly Archives: January 2016

2016
01/31

Category:
Life
Sewing

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A birthday party! and a bag

 

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We had a terrific “open house” birthday party yesterday for DH.  I think there were about 20 of us and he was given a number of cards which are now in his special place to  be read periodically.  He loves his kids and his cards.  So it was a great time.  We had a token cake because most of us enjoy pie more.

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I worked on the bag again for a bit today.   In fact, it is now completed!.   These are the front and back blocks that I chose to put on it – just keeping it simple, but I do love that owl.   The bag finished at 18 wide by 15 high by 7″ deep.   Here it is completed and very roomy with two large pockets on one side  and 3 on the other side.   They are about 9″ deep.  So now a 2005 project  is finished.   Yeah!!!!

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If you would like this pattern – I am done with it.   Just let me know your name and address and the first request gets it.

2016
01/29

Category:
Life
quilts

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2005 Kit

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Does purchasing this in 2005 mean that it’s vintage?    It’s a fairly small project and time to get it out of the sewing room.   I can only assume that the blocks that were supposed to be on the pockets became part of a quilt, so I will have to come up with a couple blocks for the pockets.  I did get everything cut out and the front pieces and the back pieces sewed together.

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Then I put batting on the back and drew some lines 2″ apart and sewed on them for the quilting.    So now I need to make blocks, put them on, and start the inside pockets

For the first half of this year, I’ll have fewer hours for handcrafts since I am taking treatments for 2 months to hopefully avoid knee surgery and then in April will have the cataract surgery.  That will be gardening time, and I am so hoping to be able have a garden.    Please be patient, even so. I will try to get some fun and informative things done to tell you about.

IMPORTANT:   For those of you who are over 65, check with your insurance to see if you can get a Silver Sneakers card.  If you can, many gyms will honor them and you can use the gym at no cost.   If you want training or classes, they are less expensive as well.

2016
01/28

Category:
Knitting
Life

COMMENTS:
3 Comments »

Sock new start

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I took this cuff out and started again.   It is a heavier wool and I needed to go up a size on the needles.  So I have just started the actual sock.   With the larger needles, they should get done faster, right?

Life seems to have its challenges.   Today, I had a 2 hour visit with the cataract surgeon and his crew.   They had several measurements that needed to be taken with fancy machinery.    I tentatively  made plans to have one eye done in March and one in April.   But after reading all their materials, I may just have both done in April so they can be done a week apart instead of a month apart.   I would love to hear from any of you that have had this done.   The word surgery is bad enough.  And very honestly, I’ve had enough of doctors, even though I am thankful they can make my life better.

2016
01/27

Category:
Life

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Hawk knee socks

 

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Some things do not get done in a timely manner, but eventually they do get done.   So it was with these socks.  They are not as easy to do as they look, since they must be stretched some while sewing.   These socks are to be worn with boots and since we are in “Seahawk” land, what else would do but they needed little hawks.   I embroidered out the hawks and then appliqued them to the socks.

2016
01/26

Category:
Life

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2 Comments »

Rain and a celebration

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Today, I chose to go to a new doctor who works with trigenics with the thought of possibly getting back on my feet a big faster and to get rid of some knee pain.   The knee has been x-rayed and shows no signs of arthritis, but I twisted it last September and it is still swollen.  Today, he took more x-rays and did some manipulation.   Tomorrow, I go back after we see the effects of today’s work.   Unfortunately it is an hour away in good traffic time.    So today’s trip took the whole day.

Since DH went with me, we decided to celebrate our 53rd anniversary by going to lunch at this new-to-us restaurant in Bellevue.   We found good food and good prices.

2016
01/25

Category:
spinning

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2 Comments »

Sunshine and spinning

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The sun was shinning today!   It has rained so much lately that this was a real treat.   I spent several hours enjoying the sun on my back and spinning.  I had several pieces of roving in different colors that were between 12 and 18″, so played with them.

2016
01/24

Category:
quilts
Tutorial

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Owl tutorial

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I thought you might enjoy learning from what I did with the owls.   I used a GO die.   First I ironed onto each of the pieces Steam a seam.   But you could starch heavily or use another product that is sticky on both sides.    I cut three of the owl pieces,  three white eyes, and three black eyes at the same time.  I knew that I wanted 12 owls, so that was what I cut out.   The instructions that come with the owl die is for a pillow and they put the owl on a 6 x 6.5 piece of fabric.  So that’s what I did.  However, I feel the owl looks squeezed into too small a space, so I would probably try an 8″ square.

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We put the owls in the color order we wanted them, then proceeded to make the pupils, wings, leaves (we used the wing pattern for leaves)   different so no two were alike sitting side by side or up and down.  Narrow double fold bias tape remnants were used for branches.  I numbered the owls on the back of the owl so I could sew like colors at the same time.IMG_3894

Next I put tear away stabilizer on the back side as I sewed the white eyes and then the black eyes using a zigzag with 2.5 width and 1.0 length on the machine.  You can change this.  I am making this for a small child who will undoubtedly drag this around and I want the applique secure.  This is a great place to use those partial bobbins because they won’t be seen. (This is not a display piece and with matching thread on the front, you won’t notice the eyes aren’t exactly a perfect circle – this is a child’s fun quilt)

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You can see at the top of this owl, I’m a bit on the inside of the applique.   It is better if you are totally on the applique piece than that you might be half on and half on, because this quilt will see the washing machine frequently.IMG_3896

The tear away is now there for the rest of the sewing and you won’t have puckering.   From here on, I put on a thread color and did all pieces with that color, then changed color and repeated until all the pieces were secure.   When finished,  I took off as much of the tear away as I reasonably could and saved any of the tear away large enough to back a leaf, because there will be a lot of leaves on the brown tree trunk.  I could have put different borders around each owl to make the block larger and omitted the tree, but chose instead to use width of fabric in tree color for the length of this small quilt.  The width will be about 36 which make it a perfect size for a little one.

If I were doing a pillow, wall hanging, or something that wouldn’t see the wash that much, I would probably take my machine numbers to 1.5 -2 width and maybe a .3 zigzag.   You might want to play with that.

 If you don’t have a GO and aren’t getting one soon, this quilt is simple enough you could make cardboard patterns and still have the fun of making it.

I’m hoping you will enjoy making a few owls for yourself or a special little  one.

 

2016
01/22

Category:
Life
quilts

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Speeding time

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I did go to the gym this morning,  then came home and sewed on the owl  eyes  until DH came home from his workout.    I first sewed the white  parts and then the little black circles.  Unfortunately, that was the end  for today.  This was one of those days that I would have loved to have more time and energy.

This afternoon, I had a doctor appointment to have an ingrown nail attended to.    I  left early enough to shop two stores before the appointed time.

The doctor wasn’t sure that what she did was sufficient.    We will know in 2-3 months. (UGH)  She suggested rest for the next 24 hours.  Has anyone else noticed the doctors are more often female and very young?  This one finished medical school three years ago.

2016
01/21

Category:
food
Garden
Knitting
Life

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Time to pay the piper

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It’s so easy to look back and see what the better path would have been.   So today, I paid for yesterday by sitting.   It just shouldn’t take so long to get back to par after a surgery.  Above are 3 sweet potatoes that I am hoping will send out runners I can plant.   If I wait until the seed houses have them in April, it will be too late to plant them in this area (Seattle).   So they are sitting on little toothpick legs and I am hoping for the bestIMG_3876Another wash cloth designed by Janet Nogle.  We were given about 9 rows a day and I was behind.   Janet finished the pattern yesterday.   However, sitting today gave me opportunity to catch up.IMG_3878I started these socks on #4 needles, but they are tight.  I need to buy some #5 needles and redo them.IMG_3869IMG_3850These are photos of this week’s groceries $32.89 and 34.95.    Plus we got a gallon of honey from the co-op for 50.50 which made 118.34 for this week.  We also ate out last week  $23. which I didn’t record and again this week $24.   So for this month groceries have been 305.24 and eating out has been $73.00.  And it’s going to get a lot worse since I’m needing lots of food for an open house for DH’s birthday next week end.

 

 

 

 

 

2016
01/20

Category:
quilts
Sewing
Shopping

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What a fun day!

 

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Mary and I had such fun today!.   First we went looking for a rug for the family room and an immersion blender.    I needed something because my VitaMix was taking too long to come back from the company.  (Of course it arrive this evening).

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Since we didn’t find a rug at that store, we moved on to Costco and found this indoor/outdoor rug which should take some abuse if needed.  It really warms the room a lot.  DH and son really like it.

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Then we came back here to the studio and just played with these darling owls, giving them some personality.  They are stuck to the fabric and now, I need to get them permanently stitched down.   I will also scatter leaves over the brown so it looks like they are in a tree.  It was so nice to just enjoy putting them together.

 

 

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