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Aug 15, 2010 Quilting, Sewing
Last month, I managed to be very productive and finish two quilting projects. This month, I’m still committed to finishing my unfinished projects only it is going a bit slower than last month.
In March, I finished a quilting sampler pillow. Then I got the bright idea to make some accompanying pillows. Here’s the first pillow to be.
I finished this top in March shortly after finishing the winter sampler. I totally put off making the second pillow top. I had three out of four hexagon center complete. The thought of making the fourth sent me searching for a different project. Well since, I’m dedicated to finishing an UFO, I’m slugged through making the hexagons. Now I’m sewing them together. I’m so close to being finished. I might even finish tonight. Then I can move on to sewing. Yea!
The project is facing one small hiccup. I’m running out of the green in the borders. I made the first pillow without even stopping to figure out if I can enough fabric to make the second pillow. I highly doubt that I’ll find more of that fabric. I purchased the green fabric over six years ago. I do think I can find fabric the same color. At least the pillows will look like they belong together.
Recent Entries
Jul 29, 2010 Quilting, Summer Fun
After a hard weekend push, I finished hand sewing the binding. Yea!
The front:
The back:
Overall, I’m quite pleased with the quilt. At first, I wanted a darker gray solid, like Kona Charcoal. I couldn’t find any at a local store. So I went with my second choice, Kona Coal. I think my second choice turned out to be the best choice. As I mentioned, I quilted it with an all over loop design. For batting, I used a 100% polyester batting by Warm & Natural. I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it either. It’s a little stiff. I’m hoping if I wash it a few more times, the quilt will soften and, it will be a cuddly quilt. Either way, my cats think it’s completely acceptable as it is.
After binding the quilt, Ross and I played with sparklers and the camera. In the picture of Ross, I think I captured my sparkler in the corner. I think playing with a sparkler in one hand and a camera in the other isn’t the best combination.
Jul 29, 2010 A House is a Home, Quilting
(Note: I just realized that the post was never published. I decided to go ahead and publish it. So forgive me for presenting content out of order. RM)
OK. Some how I missed blogging the whole month of June. I thought about it, but some how my blog and I didn’t connected. Tonight, I’d like to make amends and summarize the last 4-5 weeks of my life.
Much of our time was spent in out garden. Despite neglect, our rose bushes looked beautiful. Ross shot this picture, which I love. He’s willing to take the time to set up the tripod and shoot until he gets what he wants. The rose bushes are no longer neglected. Ross has decided to care for them. It is amazing how good the look now. We’re hoping to get a second bloom.
One day in a work meeting we were talking about using games to teach, which lead me to think about my favorite video game from my youth. I loved playing A-Mazing on out TI-99. The video game inspired this maze quilt. When I get it quilted, I’ll post more information on the development process.
Then Father’s Day arrived. I had a hard time thinking of an appropriate Father’s Day gift for my dad. So to hold him over, I gave him some peanut clusters in these neat shirt boxes. I can’t find the link I used. If I do, I’ll post update.
After Father’s Day, I made a big change with my life. I started a new job. So far the change has been all positive. It was sad leaving my co-workers, but it feels really good to stretch my wings and prove to myself that I can do new things.
The veggie garden continues to grow. I think this picture is about a week old. It has grown a ton even from this picture. Green tomatoes are starting to form. Tonight I noticed baby cucumbers starting to form. I can’t wait to eat fresh food from our garden.
The holiday weekend gave me the opportunity to spend some time with some of my favorite people while we waited for fireworks. Laying in a park and reading a magazine is a perfect way to spend a Saturday evening.
I even snagged this picture of Ross washing our car. It looks all nice and spiffy. It’s ready for a road trip.
I didn’t make Ross work all weekend. We did attempt a bike ride on the Jordan Parkway. Unfortunately, about one mile into our ride, Ross’ back tire popped. While we had a patch kit, we didn’t have a spare tube as we put the spare tube on his front tire before we left. Ross has a bit of bad luck with tire tubes. Even though we didn’t get far, Ross does want to ride more. He’s even thinking about a new bike, which he really could use. I will definitely get a picture of our next bike ride.
To top off the weekend, I basted a quilt and started quilting it. I’m quilting an allover loop pattern. It is going quickly. I hope to be done by the end of the week.
Jul 23, 2010 Quilting
Lately, I’ve been in straight-quilt-line mood, which is easy and doesn’t require the same commitment as free-motion quilting. Well I decided it was time to get out of the rut and do a bit of free-motion quilting.
To keep things simple, I decided to do an all over loop pattern. It is a forgiving pattern that doesn’t require marking or too much pre-planning. The quilting process did take more time than quilting straight lines, but I’m so happy with the results that I can live with the time investment. Here’s a glimpse at a corner. I used gray thread to match the Kona Coal.
For the most part, I maintained my stitch length, and there aren’t too many jagged curved. My machine even cooperated. It really could use a tune-up. So I’m counting myself lucky. I was surprise at how much thread I used. When I bought the quilting supplies, I bought 500 yards of thread. 500 yards didn’t even finish half the quilt. I went back and bought three more spools. When I was done, I had a bit of thread left on the fifth spool. That’s over 1000 yards of thread for a quilt that measures 64″ x 64″.
And for a parting shot, here’s the whole back. I’ll reveal the front when I’m done hand sewing the binding. I need to go find a good movie.
Jul 23, 2010 A House is a Home
Our garden has made it to week nine. Since we don’t know what we’re doing, I’m fairly happy. So far, the radishes are the only real loss. I didn’t thin them out soon enough. In a couple of weeks, I’ll plant a second batch. Hopefully, I’ll do better the second time.
Today, we reined back the tomatoes. They out grew their cages. Now they lived in a tomato prison which is formed with stakes and twine.
We even have our first red cherry tomatoes.
In a week, we could easily be picking tomatoes on a daily basis, at least cherry tomatoes. The other plants are coming along, but by no means are they as prolific as the cherry tomato plant. I’m glad we only planted one. It also makes we wonder why they are so expensive in the store. Each plant produces a lot of tomatoes.
Also in this box, the leeks are ready for us to start to eat. We have one cucumber that is almost ready and lots of itty bitty cucumbers. The eggplant even has one small eggplant. Next year, I’m planting more than one eggplant. I have too much hope riding on this one.
Over in the second box, it is all about climbing stuff.
The beans are growing tall, but have yet to produce beans. I’m not sure what the hold up is. The butternut squash is taking off. I can even find two small squashes starting to form. On the back side the banana squash it taking over the yard.
When I bought the plant, I had no idea it would get so big. I was looking for a second winter squash plant. All I could find in the nursery was the banana squash. It looked small and innocent in the container. Yesterday, I looked up banana squash on the Internet. Apparently, it is a huge plant that produced huge squash ranging between 10-20 lbs. This is what one looks like:
And it is still growing. I’ve also found several other buds that are forming into squash. By the time December rolls around, we’ll be tired of banana squash. Next year, I’m planting something less prolific.
And it the very back of the yard, we have the potato patch.
As near as we can tell, the plants are doing well. They are growing. They should start to flower soon. We didn’t get these into the ground until the beginning of June. So they are a bit behind the curve.
My next garden update will be about eating all the tasty produce.
Jul 20, 2010 Travel Tales
Last week, Ross and I took a quick trip to Denver. He spent his mornings and some afternoons at a conference for law librarians, yes more excitement than one should ever have, and I spent my days seeing the sights of Denver. While I want to recap the experience, I want to avoid a long boring post with pictures that only I’ll enjoy. So here’s a look at the highlights.
Art
Museum of Contemporary Art Denver
Wow! This place impressed me. I’m not even sure why. The exhibit wasn’t huge. Nor were there big names attached to the pieces. The exhibit, Energy Effects, did show how everyday objects and science were pieces of art. The functional artist in me loved that.
Denver Botanic Garden
I love gardens. I love gardens that have full-time gardeners to groom them into perfection. The Denver Botanic Garden didn’t disappoint. On top of a being a well cared for garden, the garden is hosting a Henry Moore exhibit. Henry Moore is right. Sculptures do belong in the garden. I wonder what kind of art, I can add to my yard? I do wished that I had purchased the Henry Moore book that was on sale.
Denver Art Museum
When I made my to-do list for Denver, I thought the Denver Art Museum would be the highlight of my trip. The current exhibit is King Tut. I mean how can King Tut be disappointing? Well it was. While I admit I was tired, the exhibit just didn’t do it for me. It was crowded and a couple people brought small children. This just isn’t the right art experience for small children. To top it off, the face mask and the mummy didn’t made the trip from Egypt.
Entertainment
Fancy Tiger
Believe it or not, I went to only one quilt store. I want something unique. Fancy Tiger fit the bill. It’s downtown, and they stock modern fabric and lots of beautiful yarn. If it wasn’t 100 outside, I would have bought sock yarn. Instead, I bought some Denise Schmidt fabric that just happened to be on sale. If all goes well, it will turn into a Christmas present.
Tattered Cover
Ross and I spent our most enjoyable evening at a pizzeria and Tattered Cover, an independent bookstore. The store sells new books and used books. And if books weren’t enough, the ambience is relaxing. I’m not sure what they put in the air to make it fun to wander and read book covers, but whatever it is it works. We walked out with one new book and two used books.
Confluence Park
When we made our travel plans, I pretty much insisted that we drive. I wanted to take my bike and explore Denver’s bike paths. I didn’t leave disappointed. On my first adventure, I rode to Confluence Park, the intersection point of Cherry Creek and the South Platte River. Wow! Imagine cyclists, joggers, kayakers, children all enjoying the great outdoors within the city limits. You can’t ignore REI right in the middle of all this. The clean rivers and well groomed paths made me jealous. I wish we had the same environment in Salt Lake City. The Jordan Parkway in Salt Lake is definitely a work in progress that could use a lot more TLC.
I think that pretty much sums up the trip. If you didn’t get enough pictures, jump on over to my Denver 2010 flickr set. Oh one last thing, my opinion of southern Wyoming did not change. Once again, I was reminded why I like living in a city.
