Claiming my blog with Bloglovin

I've seen a post about this on many blogs lately.  I investigated to see what it was all about.  On my right sidebar you can now find a button allowing you to follow my blog using this reader.  I still don't know what it means to "claim my blog".  I think the button works fine.  I followed the instructions on Bloglovin.  Nowhere did I find instructions telling me to write a post to "claim" my blog.  So it is still a mystery to me, but that's OK as long as the button works.

If you have any insight on this, or if clicking on the button doesn't work, please let me know in a comment.

Calling it "Good Enough"

Doing this was giving me all kinds of trouble until I decided to bite the bullet and release the elastic for 20" or so at the top and bottom.  When I wasn't fighting with elastic it went fairly quickly.  I took a good 10" out of the width of the sheets.  The pockets are still too deep, but I'm just going to tuck the extra under the mattresses when I make the beds.  I won't get to the top sheets before we leave, but I can work with the extra when it doesn't have elastic stretched around the edges!  And once I cut out all the extra material, sewing the elastic back in place on each end was a snap.

The length could be adjusted a bit also, but that doesn't have to happen before this camping trip.  The weather is going to be in the mid to high 80's, so two quilts apiece will probably be plenty.  We may find that we sleep on top of most of the bedding, as it isn't supposed to get very cold at night.  We won't be much above sea level this time, and that makes a big difference. 

I'm really looking forward to this time with the kids and grandkids!

No quilting time today

I've been procrastinating too long.  I MUST devote today to non-quilty things.  Currently I'm finishing the alterations on the camper sheets.

I can show you what I got  done yesterday while watching the tour.  Not a lot, but still progress.  Here are the applique blocks and quilts that are now prepped.  Except for the last one, which is pinned but not thread basted.  (I've tried using basting glue for this, but find I prefer thread.  I don't care for the stiff glue feeling - even when it is just little dots.  And it is easier to make slight adjustments while stitching by snipping threads instead of pulling away glue.)  The blocks were done earlier in the week but never photographed until now.

These are the first four applique blocks from "Afternoon Delight" by Sue Garmin, one of the three BOM programs that I've started in the last couple months.  I learned a good lesson with these.  When doing complicated shapes that have been created by folding and cutting (like making snowflakes) I need to stick to needle turn rather than my newer prep method.  It was a huge nuisance pressing under all the edges on the top block, and the bottom block was pure H***.  So the gold block, and all future such blocks, are prepped for basic needle turn applique.

The applique on "Where Liberty Dwells", designed by Jan Patek, will go very quickly.  The blank space at top and bottom are filled an embroidered quote:  "Where Liberty dwells there is my country".  Hand dyed floss for the stitching and a tiny wooden star for the eagle's eye are included in the kit.

"Jack at the Gate" was also designed by Jan Patek.  It looks a bit unfinished at the moment as I've not yet cut the pieces for the two Jack o'Lantern faces from black Ultrasuede.  It is also missing two borders so it looks like the stars are floating off the piece when they actually spill over onto the borders.  These pieces are just pinned into place.

The Tour de France is a time trial today, which I find much less interesting to watch.  I can postpone seeing it until tonight after the picnic.

Some quilting during the tour

I still have so much to do this week, but none of it can be done while I watch each day's Tour de France.  So I'm allowing myself to sit in the sewing room working while I watch.  Still completing applique prep.

Notice that very long list of Brazen HSY's on my left sidebar?  For several years all I've done is add to that list  Now you see something you've never seen before - 7 of  those have been started thanks to prepping applique for hot summer hand sewing.  I'm thrilled to be able to cross things off that list.  I chose to cross them off rather than eliminate them entirely as I don't feel like renumbering them all LOL!

Tonight I'll post pictures of what I accomplish today.

(FYI - a "HSY" is a project for which I have all the materials but I "haven't started yet".  A "Brazen HSY" is a HSY that is more than a year old.  Almost every HSY I have is Brazen!)

Ready to go

I like to take applique with me when we go camping.  Hand quilting works too, though sometimes it is hard to keep the project being quilted from touching the ground.  When focused on one spot of the quilt a corner can slip down without my noticing it - not a good thing.  So I want to take lots of prepped applique projects with me when we head into the "wilderness".

In case anyone is interested, I took a picture of my worktable.  I did needleturn applique for years and was happy with the process.  Then shortly before my quilting hiatus I was introduced to a different method, which I've been using ever since.  The prep takes a bit longer, but the stitching goes twice as fast, and is easier to do in poor light than needleturn.  I know many of you use this method with starch, but I prefer using water.  It works just as well, is less expensive and less messy, and I don't have to worry about bugs being attracted to the starch in my fabrics.  This set up works well, except for the few times I've been so focused on the television or an audio book that I dip the paintbrush into my coffee instead of the water cup!

Here are pictures of the three quilt preparations I've finished so far.

"Donder and Blitzen" designed by Jan Patek

The antlers on the reindeer are VERY skinny pieces, so I didn't try to press them under while prepping.  I will do regular needleturn when I do them.  Currently they have fairly wide seam allowances so I have something to hang onto when stitching.  The pattern shows each part of each antler as a separate piece - I cut each as one piece to make the stitching much easier.

"Frosty and Friends" designed by Jan Patek

"Summer in a Basket" designed by Jan Patek

This last one still needs to have the pieces basted to the background as well as the applique flower and berry pieces on the other three corners.  I really love the applique center on this quilt!

The four corner designs are perfect accents in that then enhance the look of the quilt but are simple enough not to distract from the center applique.

I will finish the basting on this quilt this morning while watching the Tour.  Then that will be it for quilt for a few days.  I'll spend the rest of today altering the camper sheets, and will spend tomorrow deep cleaning the kitchen, making a shopping list and restocking the larder.  The Tour de France riders have a rest day tomorrow, so I don't need to focus on "fibre" that day.  When the race resumes on Tuesday I'll focus on getting the three sundresses made.

Tour de Fibre - days 7 and 8

I'm not sure why I didn't post yesterday - I certainly had plenty of time to do so.  In the morning we took our trailer to the dealer to have a few little things taken care of before our next camping trip, which is coming up very quickly.  This one will be lots of fun, as it is with all our kids and grandkids.  It is also just over 90 minutes away, so doesn't involve a lot of driving for a change.

With the cooler temperatures I was able to have the irons turned on all day.  I continued my applique prep - this time turning under the edges of  pieces for two different quilts and getting all the pieces basted into place.  I took some pictures but can't post them at the moment, so I'll do that later this evening.  I'm feeling very virtuous getting this done, and will have plenty of handwork ready for the next heat wave, which looks like it will be fairly soon (unfortunately!) None of these quilts will take that long to finish after they are prepared, so I am all set for lots more finishes in 2013.

Today we are celebrating our daughter Rebecca's 39th birthday.  I can't possibly have a child that is 39!!!!  Where have the years gone?  Her birthday was actually June 24th, but this was the first day everyone could get together.  Turns out it won't be everyone, however, as our DIL Chelsea will be staying home with our middle granddaughter Lily, who has had a virus all week.  I sure hope everyone is healthy by camping time!  I know Rebecca will choose to go to Vancouver Pizza for dinner, so at least I don't have too cook.  That is a good thing!

After today I need to focus on sewing other than quilting.  The king-size sheets I bought for the tent trailer are too big, as the mattresses are somewhat smaller than king size, but too big for queen size sheets.  Fred brought one of the mattresses into the house, which is currently laying in the middle of the living room floor.  I have two sets of sheets to alter so they fit well before the next camping trip.  I also have three sun dresses to make for our granddaughters - I need to get those done before the summer is over LOL!  I will shoot to have them done this next week so they can wear them during the camping trip.

I also need to clean out both the refrigerator and freezer.  And do a bunch of meal planning and grocery shopping.  I've been putting both off for WAY to long, as handwork is so much more pleasant.

We need to head out to the party now.  I'll post pictures tonight.

Wishing everyone in the US a wonderful Independence Day

Tour de Fibre - Day 5 - Correcting a possible misconception

If I sounded cranky and tired in my post yesterday it was caused by the heat - not by the idea of setting quilting goals.  Today was quite a bit cooler, with a high of 84.  Tomorrow we are supposed to be back to the high 70's, with no rain in sight.  Perfect weather in my humble opinion.  Those of us who live west of the mountains in the great Pacific Northwest are just not used to high temperatures, especially as they almost always come with high humidity.

I have never had any trouble setting quilting goals.  I usually always know what I want to work on for the month.  If I change my mind mid-month, that's OK.  I never allow myself to be a slave to the goals I've set.  However, the beginning of this month was different.  I looked at what I've been doing in previous months, what is out in my sewing room currently being worked on, and the many things I could start.  I loved every single thing I was looking at, and just didn't feel like making any decisions.  (I can never made decisions when I'm too hot.)

I didn't know what my goal was going to be when I started my post, I just typed "on faith", figuring I'd come up with something.  And I did - a perfect goal for this lazy summer month that is likely to be hotter than normal.  The goal appeared as I typed, and I love it.  So we will all be in suspense over what quilty things I'll be doing - me included!

(And now you know the rest of the story . . . .)

Today I prepped two more small applique quilts and have just started a third.  I've decided I need to prepare a great deal of applique to hold in reserve for days when it is too hot to turn on the iron.  I can alternate between hand quilting and hand applique, as I use different muscles for each process.  This will be much better for my hands.  These two are also small quilts from the time I subscribed to Jan Patek's small quilt club.  Once prepped this simple applique goes very quickly, and big stitch quilting is very appropriate for finishing them.  Some of them need to have the quilt top sewn together before doing any applique, so I'll spend Friday this week doing that.

My goal at the moment is to have many "applique kits" ready for me to start at a moment's notice.  A perfect result that fits right into my July goal LOL!

Goals

I accomplished a lot quilt-wise in June.  I am very happy with all I got done.  Nevertheless, I didn't accomplish 5 of my 9 goals, and only half accomplished another.  Obviously I grossly overestimated what I could get done this month.

When I think about setting July goals I just feel tired.  For once I have no idea what I want to work on.  I think it is probably the heat making me feel like this, as it really isn't like me at all.  Today is to be another hot one, and then temperatures are supposed to start dropping back to normal.  I'm looking forward to that.  So I'm setting one broad goal for the month and calling it good.

"By the end of July I will see progress made on many new and ongoing fiber projects."

How's that for vague?  Just what I feel I need this month.  I know I will be sewing, quilting, knitting and possibly spinning.  I just don't know what yet.  And that is good enough for me.

Tour de Fibre - Day 3

Another hot, muggy day.  I finished quilting the center and one short border of the Jo Morton four-patch.  By then my hands were hurting, telling me it was time to stop quilting and give them a rest.  I marked the other short border, then set it aside for later, not wanting to do the math required to fit the stencil to the long sides.

I spent some time catching up on blog reading the rest of the morning, but I still have a LONG way to go to get caught up.

I  brought the plastic bag containing many small Jan Patek quilt kits down from upstairs, and started tracing applique pieces.  When I finished each packet I cut out the freezer paper templates then turned on the iron just long enough to press the templates to their respective fabrics.  When finished I turned off the iron and cut out each piece.  The pieces were carefully folded inside the pattern pages, the fabric scraps behind, and everything tucked back into the kit envelope.  I completed two, and have the paper templates for a third kit ready to iron onto the fabrics tomorrow.

Here are pictures of the two that are ready to go, and the third that is almost ready.  The first picture doesn't show the entire quilt, just the center.

I realize it is now July, and I've not yet done a "goals" post.  I'll do that tomorrow.