Crappy Day

So I decided I needed to do something to make it better. I had cake for dinner, which really didn't help, though I thought it would at the time, then decided to go outside and take some pictures. I live in a great place, and I sometimes forget how great it is.

These are from the yard, at most about 100 feet from the house. We're fortunate enough to have 16 acres in the mountains of Colorado. Pikes Peak is about 13 miles south of us. The aspens are changing, but no snow yet. We've seen it on the Peak, though.

Enjoy

It's been a long time since I climbed a tree, but this picture reminds of those days.

I didn't even know we had berries. No wonder we have lots of critters who visit.

The sun was shining through the trees and lighted just to tops of a few of them. I leaned against the tree to take this.

Look at the colors! I didn't "stage" this. Just laying there on the ground.

What a great yellow! Thank you autumn.

From a tree we cut down in 2001. There was a fire raging less than 5 miles away, so we cut down about 10-12 trees that were too close to the house. Now look at it.

A piebald tree. Can't decide if it's still summer, or really autumn. 

Jelly Roll Race Top-modified

Here is the Jelly Roll Race top. I modified it a bit. The idea of putting spacers between the colors came from a blog I read. I think it was from   Wanda at Exuberant Color but I can't remember for sure. I like the idea of sewing the strips end to end instead of on the diagonal, and I like the idea of the spacers. The one that sticks in my brain (that I haven't been able to find again) has fabric with a circular pattern on it--black and white. I really liked it, and decided I would do something like that. I ended up with plain black, because I was shopping at Walmart on my way to babysitting and they didn't have a black and white print I liked.

When I was done, it was much too square for my liking, about 61 x 64, so I decided I would chop some off the short side (5 inches on each side) and sew them to the leftover quilt. I like the way it turned out and now it's closer to 50 x 70, which feels better for a lap quilt. I don't think I'm going to put borders on it, just fleece for the batting and backing and quilt it simply.

A quick happy quilt top. It took me significantly longer than the 35 minutes I saw was the fastest time on the video I first watched, but not terribly long. I have a box of strips, and I think that's what I'm going to do for the next one. I don't know if I'll user spacers or not, but just measure up about 1,600 inches of strips and get going.

I did some sewing-Design Wall Monday

 I took some time to sew this weekend, so got the binding done on two quilts. Here is one of them. This is a QOV and I sent it out to be quilted. It is fluffier than I like, but it's done. Now I need to make the label and pillowcase, and it will be ready to be presented.

The flag fabric is what I used for the Stack n Whack octagons in this QOV. I like the way the whole thing turned out. It was beautifully quilted and I even like the backing. I found it on sale at a local quilt shop, and I think it goes well, kind of restful.

I need to make the label and the pillowcase for this one as well, I think I'll be able to get them done today

 

I was "babysitting" (is that what you call it when you stay with other people's kids who are 17 and 12?) and brought stuff along to keep me busy. They took care of themselves, so not much for me to do. I stopped and bought a couple of strip packs from Walmart on the way there, and am making a jelly roll race quilt. I'll post pictures when I get it closer to done. Here is what I have right now.

I also got the ironing surface done. I've had this cotton curtain panel from Walmart for a while. I made a quilt bag from it abotago, and decided it was a nice bright look (and I had it) so covered the board with thin cotton batting, then the striped cotton. I haven't used it yet. It's not attached to the machines underneath, and I'm not sure about the height. I think it will work, if not, I'll figure out how to make it taller.

Check out Judy's Blog to see more design walls.

Clean Up Time

 I'm in need of another cleaning spree and reorganization in the sewing room. My husband is not here for the moment, and I decided now is the time to take everything out and try again. It's not a huge room...just about 10x12, so I have to choose wisely when I set things up. I moved everything around a couple of months ago, and it's just not working. I'm ending up with piles everywhere (not so unusual) but the no place to put lots of stuff.

I'm hoping it will work this time, and I won't end up with stuff EVERYWHERE.

Here I go!

Design Wall-September 5

I have the tree trunk and the non-knot part of the branches and roots done. Not sewn down  yet, though. I used freezer paper, then glued and pressed the edges under.

I did a little test piece, and the paper was hard to get out, so I took the paper out and it's waiting to be top-stitched down. I was going to use invisible thread and a hem-stitch, but now I am going to top-stitch the knots down, so decided I should do the same for the trunk. The space below the branches (next to the trunk) will be blue and the root space will be brown.
(the color in the root picture is closer to reality)

I also made these vessels a while ago. I used invisible polyester thread this time instead of cotton thread and I like the look.  I blogged about them here but realized I didn't put them up for design wall, and the picture above isn't very exciting so I wanted something more colorful.

Enjoy other people's design wall...check out Judy's blog.

Design Wall Monday-August 22

This is the quilt I made for Joe

I actually have a design table at the moment. Our Pastor is retiring in December, and I want to make him a quilt for the 10 1/2 years he's served with us. He enjoyed the Trinity Knot quilt I made for Joe so I decided to make him a quilt based on something Celtic knotish (is that a word?).

Here is what I have so far. I made up a drawing, enlarged it with a free poster making program, traced ti onto parchment paper, bought some fabrics and now I have to buy some misty fuse. I'm going to make the knots in the tree and the border from bias tape, I think I'm going to use misty fuse (though I've never used it before) to do the rest of the quilt.

I'm going to make the backing white or very light so that parishioners can sign it. That way, he's got the memories on the back and can look at them when he wants. Also, I can quilt it before it's signed and have it ready for him when he retires.

If you want to see what others are doing, check out Judy's blog.

"Greek" yogurt

 I like yogurt well enough. I go through phases where I like it more than others, and recently I have tasted Greek yogurt and really liked how thick and creamy it is. Because I am cheap frugal I didn't want to spend the money for it, so I looked online to see if there was a way I could make it myself...easily.

I've made yogurt from milk and a starter before. It's not difficult, but I was hoping for something really easy...and I found it.

After draining-the container it came in

Before draining

Take the yogurt you like. It can be plain, non-fat, low-fat, flavored, whatever. This process does nothing but remove some of the liquid. Get a strainer of appropriate size. Line it with about 4 layers of cheesecloth. Put the yogurt in it. Wait some amount of time.. from this site:

* Yogurt strained 4 to 6 hours results in sour cream type texture.

* Yogurt strained 8-12 hours results in GREEK YOGURT!

* Yogurt strained 24 hours results in Yogurt Cheese aka Cream Cheese.

You can see the volume is reduced quite a bit, so I guess it's possible that it's no less expensive, but still I like it.