A Week in Pictures (#1)

NOTE: This is a day late due to the fact that I could not access my photobucket account at our new house. I finally figured how to work around the problem using Firefox. I will soon figure out and fix the problem in Chrome. At least, that is my hope!

I am going to start trying to take a picture a day. I will share those pictures on Sundays. Since the first day of the week is Sundays, the pictures will go from Sunday to Saturday from the previous week. The only exception will be this post as I started over a little over a week ago on Thursday, September 20th.

Some of you have already seen these pictures on facebook. There is a group that challenges people to take a picture a day. Honestly, I have been having fun. Some pictures are just simple snapshots and others are attempts at taking “great” pictures. In all cases, it will be a learning experience for me. At least, I hope to learn from each and every picture I take. At the very least, it helps me relax.

These posts will be written and scheduled well ahead of Sunday. I will only have to add Saturday’s picture to the post some time on Saturdays. At least, that is my plan as I do not want to be taking the time to write and/or blog on the weekends. Weekends, for me, are for my family and the Lord.

Jumping Spider (9/20/2012)

Gracie, my huntress, discovered this critter in our house and yes, it is missing a leg. I believe she is responsible. After I took pictures, I gathered up my courage and rescued the scary thing by taking it to the great outdoors on a business envelope. The thing scared me a couple of times by waving its front legs in the air.

Just a Beautiful Weed (9/21/2012)

Shot at dusk. I waited too long to take pictures; but, it turned out alright. This flower is about 1/2" wide.

Frenemies (9/22/2012)

{Bigger picture here.}

Gracie has taken to lying in my sewing chair and gazing out the window. Well, a neighbor cat decided to stop by on this day. When I discovered them, Gracie was attacking the window with her lone front paw and the next door neighbor's cat would then "attack" back. After a bit, they both laid down and relaxed. I guess they decided to be frenemies.

Millipede (9/23/2012)

(Bigger picture here.}

This critter was a tiny visitor at our new house. It is the first one I ever saw in my life

“This is MY man and don’t YOU forget it” 9/24/2012

Chessie, our 15 year old Maine Coon cat.

The State of Things 9/25/2012

Boxes tossed into a bedroom waiting to be flatten and taken to “the dump” – a recycling dumpster.

Lemons at the Rental House 9/26/2012

{Bigger Picture here.}

I went into the backyard in the morning and much to my surprise, I discovered lemons growing -- first time in four years of living at this rental.

Last Gasp 9/27/12

Packing up the Pantry and Laundry Room.

Dismantled Bed Ready to Sleep One Last Time at the Rental 9/28/12

This is probably the best made bed in ages. Ha! And, oh my goodness, it is very low. The cats, especially elderly Chessie, loves it as they don't have to jump so high.

Broken{hearted} 9/29/2012

The movers broke my sewing machine and cutting table.

Wordy Wednesday

My Brother has a new home!

Tuesday's State of Affairs

Remember this?

Well, The project is now completed! I cut it all up and sewed the edges up to prevent fraying. It is now on this:

We put these leaders on last Saturday (4/7/12). I could not have done this without Dan's help. I am thankful that he is so supportive. I am planning to continue with this project this weekend and for this first time, I am finally feeling a tad excited about this. I am also very nervous and scared! But, I just have to dive in and get over the fear.

On another note, Chessie completely destroyed two toys that I got specifically for Gracie. That reminds me, I need to purchase some more of those toys as Gracie really likes them. Anyway, I had some leftover fabric from the above project. So, I decided to make a kick stick for Chessie last Saturday (4/7/12).

I still have plenty of fabric leftover to make probably two more of these in the future should this one get destroyed.

Chessie was feeling very aggressive last Sunday and went after Gracie. Gracie was fighting back by yowling and hissing as she was cornered. It was not a pleasant sound. Dan went after Chessie and gently diverted her away from Gracie. I picked up Chessie, took her into another area and sat down on the floor with the kick stick to try to help alleviate the aggression she was feeling. Boy howdy, she ripped into the toy! Even Dan was surprised. Fortunately, it held up really well. And, she was a much nicer cat afterwards. I think the catnip helped get her drunk and calmer. Ha!

Dan suggested that the next kick toy be made out of a thicker material such as canvas. The material I am currently using is a home decorator fabric that I purchased on clearance. It is slightly tougher than 100% cotton fabric; but, not as strong as canvas.

Tuesday's State of Affairs

And, it is not pretty. I am just keeping it real here. It is also extremely gloomy here this morning. So, the lighting is terrible.
Here is my sewing machine and cutting table. What a mess! I am working on several projects at the moment. You will find out what the stripe fabric is for someday soon.

I struggled with the machine itself this weekend. I got so frustrated that I stomped right out of the house and took a short walk to pick up the mail. Dan took a look and come to find out, it is the spool of thread giving me grief. I never dreamed it was the thread. I thought the machine itself was messing up.
Do you notice how much thread is left on that spool? I cannot even wind up bobbins with this particular spool. What a waste! Well, it is not a waste considering I can use the rest to hand sew bindings onto quilts.
Here is the troublesome spool compared to a full spool of thread. As a side note, these threads are getting harder and harder to find. I am going to switch to another brand. I am thinking of trying Aurifil threads with this machine. I have heard some good things about this brand. So, I am crossing my fingers Aurifil will work out beautifully when I do try them out with the machine.

By the way, I have not been back in the room since this fiasco (until now). I am planning to get back to sewing this afternoon. Pray for me! Pray that I do not get anymore grief from the machine and/or threads. Ha!
Here is my ironing board. I have a "work triangle" set up in the small space and it works very well. As you can see, this area is a mess too. I mean, do see the floor? And, why did the ironing board turn into a "hot spot"? Ugh, Ugh, Ugh! Anyway, as you can see, the top to the Maxine Mug flying geese mug rug is finished.
This is a closeup shot of backing for the Maxine flying geese mug rug. It is still a work in progress. I think I'm going to be real please with this silly little thing when it is finished.

Oops! Im Caught!

Im Out Ov Her!
Chessie was a bad girl. She snuck in, pawed an opening between the design wall and doors to closet and then hid behind the fabric. It was Gracie that "tattled" on her by acting like a Pointer (dog). I was surprised. Chessie is usually either sleeping underneath a chair or boldly laying on a small cot sized sleeper sofa. I would have never realized Chessie was in the room if it had not been for Gracie. By the way, I used a flash with the last two pictures. I grabbed the flash before attempting to take pictures of her because I know she does not like the camera.

Piece,

Tuesday's State of Affairs

Please excuse this poor quality picture along with the ones below.
I had to use the flash as both yesterday and today are very dark days.
I finished one of the flannel bed runners for the cats. It felt so good to get back into the sewing room. There is something about being in there that brings me peace no matter how chaotic it can get in there due to the mess I may make while being creative.

I decided to play around with some of the programmed embroidery stitches in my machine. In the five plus years I have had this machine, I have always used straight stitches. Yes, that is a shock. I have the capability of using fancy embroidery stitching; but, I never used them!

Let me tell you, I discovered that it is slow using pre-programmed embroidery stitching! Slow... slow... So... darn... slow... That is not a good thing for a girl that is known for impatience. Ha!

And, using pre-programmed embroidery stitching is so darn touchy! You have to keep the pedal at a constant speed; otherwise, you will end up with uneven stitching. I do more or less keep the machine at a constant speed; but, I often have to take breaks or develop cramps in my leg. You really can't take breaks and you really can't shift the pressure on the pedal while using pre-programmed embroidery stitches.

I did not really care what the end result will look like nor was I focused on being perfect. After all, this was for the silly cats! They do not care about the details. Ha!

I am keeping it real here on this blog. Don't judge me. I see all those beautiful sewing and quilting blogs and it makes me feel intimidated. I realize that behind the scenes they are human and I am sure they have chaos and make mistakes too. But, they rarely reveal them. It is all so beautiful and perfect. I want to keep it real here for a variety of reasons. One of the reasons is I would like to look back and see progress in my endeavors.

This is my first attempt. I picked out a pre-programmed embroidery stitch that looked interesting. This is when I discovered the process is slow. You have to have a lot of time to kill to use pre-programmed embroidery stitching on large projects. Anyway, the stitching to the right is the same stitch on the left except shorter. I had pressed the pedal harder which caused the stitching to get closer together. This was a major learning experience for me. I did not like the look at all. I also didn't like that a mere change in pressure of the pedal caused the stitching to change. It is really noticeable with embroidery stitches; but, not so much on straight stitching. I now understand why people have embroidery machines that do all the work for you including keeping the machine going at a constant speed.
I got bored (not to mention impatient) and decided to try out different embroidery stitches. It is a mess where I switched patterns. Ha!

I did not really care for the pattern on the left. But, I did like the one on the right. It was simple and yet fancy. But again, it was so darn slow. slow.. slow.... And, the mere change in the pressure on the pedal caused the stitching itself to change – a major dislike for the perfectionist within me.
I tried X's and then I found the stitching pattern you see on the right. I really loved that pattern. It is simple and yet fancy. It was not as slow going as the others I tried. A mere change in pressure on the pedal didn't make the stitching change noticeable. By this time, I got tired of trying out different embroidery stitching patterns. So, I just finished up the project with the stitching pattern I liked.

Next up is the Layer Cake Quilt -- finishing up the backing. I may start another "tiny" project too. I have not decided yet. I really should make the other flannel bed runner. Maybe I will. Maybe I won't. Ha!

Tuesday's State of Affairs

Note: This is formerly known as Fabric / Quilty / Crafty / DIY Tuesday. I've changed it to "Tuesday's State of Affairs" until I can come up with a better generic title. Any suggestions?
First of all, I just have to give a shout out to I have a Notion store. I bought a very small item from this store for the first time not long ago. I received the item along with a refund on shipping! Needless to say, I was immensely impressed. Most businesses would have just kept the change. But, not Kelly! By the way, Kelly has a wonderful blog that I follow which often gives demonstrations and tutorials including items in the quilting world.

Now, let us move on to the state of affairs in my fabric, quilting, and sewing world. One item I have on my Finished Year List is to "finish organizing my fabrics onto “bolts” – 2 or 3 a day should get me there eventually". Well, I have been consistently organizing my fabrics onto 'bolts' every day. I have been doing at least six most days. This is what I have done so far:
Fat Quarters and Quarter yardages. Note: the ones with the key tags are quarter yardages.
Half Yardages and One Yardages (or more). Note: the Half Yardages are on your left and the other is on the right.

So far, I've been organizing the fabrics by blenders and novelties. The categories may expand as I get more fabrics onto 'bolts'.

So, what have I been doing sewing-wise? Sad to say, the Layer Cake Quilt (backing) has not been touched since before Thanksgiving. I need to get back to it. In the meantime, I have been sidetracked. I am currently working on making something for my cats.
I discovered that BOTH of my cats love flannels. They were caught several times sleeping together on two flannel shirts that were tossed on the bed. Now, you have to know my cats. They are not at all fond of one another. But, I guess flannel brings them together. Ha!

Anyway,I bought these flannels at a bargain and I am currently turning them into bed runners. The one that is ready to sew is actually an orange color with the same print as the brown. We'll see how these turn out as I am just winging it - using idea(s) and pattern(s) that are in my mind. Ha!

Crafty Tuesday

I have not done much sewing of late since I have been focusing on being a housewife and dealing with headaches/migraines. I am planning to do more sewing this week. In the meantime, here is a picture of a pillowcase I made for my Mother, which was completed on February 25, 2011.



It coordinates with her Maxine Quilt. I took my time using different instructions from the one I made for myself. I liked the first instructions better - the finish/seams is so much cleaner.

I also sewed on the quilt label onto Mother's Maxine quilt while I was with her several weeks ago.


Note: This picture was taken with my phone. So, the quality is not all that great.

The hand sewing is not the greatest work as I have not done much of it in my life. But, I can now say the quilt is officially completed - one more project marked off the list of things to do. It feels so good to have a project all finished up nicely.

My New Pillowcase

In the beginning, I had Garfield. RIP.

I was galvanized to sew up a pillowcase from a kit that I purchased on our road trip home from Missouri. Confession: I sleep with two pillows. I MUST have the second pillow AND its "special" pillowcase.

I think I have Dyslexia when in comes to written instructions. I'm a visual learner – a "show me how to do it" type of person. It did not help me at all that one of the diagrams in the instructions is incorrect.

The whole thing was giving me a headache because I just didn't understand how it could work. I gave up, played around online, and then went to take a shower. While in the shower, I pondered upon the problem. I suddenly was able to visualize how it is supposed to be done.

I am constantly amazed how my mind works sometimes. Ha!

Due to the incorrect diagram, what could have taken me an hour or two to whip up actually took me about five or six hours total. In the end, I was pretty pleased with the results AND with myself.



Isn't it cute?

I plan to make more in the future with my own fabric selections now that I know how to make them.