Who Has Pissed Off Mother Nature

Just a quick Hello to all since I have been MIA this pass week. I just want to give my heart felt condolence to all of those out west/mid-west who are having some bad weather.  Just who has pissed off Mother Nature to give us such bad weather.

Just look at what is going on:

• Flooding Outlook for Illinois and Surrounding States
• More Snow From Denver to Minneapolis
• Biting Chill Surges Deep Into the Plains, Midwest
• Spring Warmup Brings Cicadas, Frogs and Worms
• Last Chance for Lyrid Meteors This Year: Where to See Them
• Colorado Avalanche: Deadliest in 50 Years
• Damaging Storms for Wichita, Oklahoma City Monday
• What Causes Sinkholes to Form?

Is Mother Nature trying to tell us something?

Sorry, Just Thinking

The Slow Quiler

(Felicia Few)

15 Broken Needles

 

As I posted last week, I was asked to vendor at my church Women’s Day event this coming Saturday.  I guess they asked me because I am always coming in on the Christmas Holiday selling what every I have made.  I have nothing to sell, so I am crashing on trying to make up some bags and things this week.

So since I had my embroidery machine service last month I pulled it out to make some bookmarks.  Well  5 hours later I have broken 15 to 16 needles and only have 3 bookmarks to show for it.

These are lace bookmarks, I am using one sheet of heavy water soluble stabilizer, needles I used are 75/11 embroidery; 80/12 topstitch; and 80/12 titanium.  All of them broke.  Along with the broken needles I was have thread breakage and the needle kept coming out.

 This is all I was able to finish before giving up on this idea.  They are lovely, but too much time wasted in making them, it takes 54 minutes to stitch them out.  With all the broken needles I estimate it took me at least 1 1/2 hours to stitch each one of them.

I plan to call the person who serviced my machine to see if it is the machine or me or maybe even the design. 

Do any of you embroider?  Have you every had this problem?  Any suggestions?

New name change “The Broken Needle Quilter”, how you like that.

The Slow Quilter

(Felicia)

Found It–The Mind Is Working Overtime

 

Right after posting about the ruler I could not find, I found it.  Since I decided to organize my sewing room that night, I set down in my chair, pull over a bag that I had patterns and books to see what was in it, and there was the ruler.  Since I found the ruler, you know the organizing/cleaning of the sewing room has been put back until I can’t find something else.

And you know what else happen, after finding the darn thing, I realized I did not have enough of the fabric from the blocks to do this fantastic boarder I wanted to do.  The Quilt God is just look down on me and laughing.  I do have enough of the fabric to do a regular boarder, so that is what I will do, but that will have to wait another week or two because of something that has come up.

My church is having a Women’s Day next Saturday and the Trustee called me to say they will be having vendors and wanted me to vend.  Well yah, o.k., but I have nothing to vend.  So I have called in some of my quilting friends to see if they had anything to sell and might have one person.  So if you do not hear from me, I am crashing on making purses and things this weekend and running in from work to work on stuff also.  Tom has Mother’s Day baskets and other baskets that I can setup and I will take orders for anything else I might have.

Are you wondering about what ruler I have been going on about?  Well, I will let you keep wondering about that ruler until I make something with it.

When I started this Tumbling Block, it was just a test piece, so it did not matter that I had the yardage, but just enough to make the block.  What I have learned from this experience is that the salvage information on the fabric is important.  I could look on the salvage find the maker and name of the fabric, put I did not have enough of it to find the red fabric, put I did find on-line the white/black fabric.  You have stuff in your stash that you might have had for years and cannot remember where you got it from.  I think I might have gotten the red from my girlfriends shop, put not sure.  I will start saving the salvages or cut a swatch and write down the information on the fabric just in case I need more.  At least I will try.

So until I blog again.  The ever busy Slow Quilter

(Felicia)

Tumbling Block Complete–Tool Review

 

We hit 80 this morning.  I was looking for something to wear to work.  OMG!!! I need to hit the stores and buy me some clothes, or dig around and find my summer wear.  Don’t want to change to fast since the weather is playing tricks on us.  In the west the temperature is like 11 degrees.

I rocked to some old school mix while butting my blocks together.  I was in the grove, dancing to the ironing board to the tunes on YouTube.  I have great computer speakers.

This the completed block, I only need to add the boarders and I have a idea and a tool I brought last year to try it (more on that).

I must say that this Q tool was the best thing I could have gotten to finish this block.  See the little square tips, they help you cut of the tips of the blocks and help you line up your pieces.  Without it, I was doing a lot of ripping to get the pieces aligned.

Now I had this tip cutters from Fons & Porter, put since they were not 60 degree I was off in cutting the tips off.  The Q tool was made for this.

There is nothing more satisfying then having the right tool to get the right results when you working on a quilt.  So if you have never done the new way for tumbling blocks I would suggest you try the Marci L. Baker’s way, Not Your Grandmother’s Tumbling Blocks and the ABC 3-D Tumbling Blocks.  The Clearview 60 degree ruler 8”, 10” and 12” rulers are a great thing to have for this also.

Now about the boarder.  I was so hyped up last night with the music and completing the the block, I set back and just looked at it on the design wall and thought to myself, “self why not try out that other ruler you have to make a nice board”.  Well, I went to get the ruler and it was not were I thought is was.  I even looked for it in other places, not there.  At this point I wanted to scream to the Quilt God and ask “WHY ME”.  I refuse to let this sit in the UFO Box. No. Not Going to Happen. 

I’ve been looking at this particular ruler for months, and now that I want to use it, I cannot find it.  It is here somewhere, and I will find it.  Maybe not tonight, but by the weekend.  It is time for me to clean up my sewing area anyway.  I have been cutting on the dinning room table because my cutting table is full of books fabric and other stuff.  I need to put my fabric in order.  The most hated word in my vocabulary is ORGANIZE.

So until I find that ruler, I have to get back to you on my border.

The Unorganized Quilter

The Slow Quilter (Felicia)

Pay It Forward–Catching Up-BOM

It seems that D.C. in finally coming into its Spring weather.  I think we might have even hit the 80s today it just felt wonderful.  Now I can hopefully come out of that heavy gray coat and winter wear to some light weight clothing and color.  Time to come out of the clucky shoes and let the little piggy's get some air.  Before I can do that, I have to hit the nail salon get them scrubbed and polish for their coming out day.

So, now let me catch you up on a few things.  Back in March I posted about a Pay It Forward, in which Gene Black-Alabama Artist ask for 3 participants to join him in Paying It Forward.  I was one of the participants and he sent me this lovely mug rug.

 For my part I posted about it and I have three bloggers that I am Paying It Forward to and they are: Josie (Alcea Rosea 31); Katie (Karma Willow Designs); and Cindy (who I am hoping she will contact me with her address).  I will be working on their pay it forward gift this month and hoping to get it to them by May (Is Mother’s Day in May?)

I Got Mail:  Yes, just because I have not been blogging often, I am still reading blogs to see what I can get into to keep me busy.  Sew Mama Sew has a Modern BOM series which is designed by Alyssa Lichner from Pile o’ Fabric and runs for six months.

This is the fabric I got in the mail today, I just love the colors of lime green and gray.  I can't wait to get start on the block but will be doing some catching up on it.

Alyssa is also doing a Skill Builder FMQ BOM which you will be doing a quilt as you go blocks while learning to FMQ.  I have not start that yet, but I am keeping up with this BOM and hope to start it too.

As most of you know I have also start doing my first ever Tumbling Block that I started last week.

I got lazy during the weekend, and got tired of ripping them apart because of the stupid little end pieces (ears) that need to be cut off.  So I order the tool.  Yes, people I am a tool freak, and if you need it buy it, so I did. 

That little yellow tool called Corner Cut 60 (Two tools in one) sew a perfect scant 1/4” and trim 60 degree ears for faster seams. (Not my words).  So I will be using this little tool tonight and see if I can finish my Tumbling Block.  The other two items, the Cutting Edge and the Sewing Edge was a package deal and I might give them a try too.

Now this seems like a lot on my plate, but I will work through it along with other stuff I have in my head.  I might have to take another sick week from work, who knows.  I will keep you posted on my progress.

Happy Sewing

The Slow Quilter

UFO Finish–New Beginnings

Hi You All.  Have you missed me?  After working on Blog Hop projects for the last 3 months, I had to get my creative mind together to see what I would work on next.  I started off this New Year with trying to complete project that were on the shelf (UFOs, Flimsies, and working with books and tools I have brought and never used.

So I finally got off my lazy but and grabbed the first thing I could get my hands on, my first every T-shirt project.   

I cut these T-shirts out last year sometime for my Aunt who saved her T-shirts from her travels.  She love the colors of blues and greens and I found this fabric for all places Wal-mart.  As you can see, Ms. Jay had to have a closer look at it to give it her paw of approval.  I only need to decide on a backing and off it will go to the quilter.  I hoping for may in the next two weeks.

Since I have been home with a cold (my excuse for not going to work), I wanted to try doing a Tumbling Block quilt.  I have always loved the look of this block and had brought a book by Marci L. Baker “Not Your Grandmother’s Tumbling Blocks.  Well as every thing else that I buy, it has been sitting around for the last 2 or three years, I keep looking at it but never could get my color pallet together for it.  I am definitely color challenged.  Then last year I brought another book of hers call the ABC 3-D, that also had 3-D Tumbling blocks.  I lent this book out to one of my girlfriends, she never got around doing anything with it, I got it back and decided to try my hand at it.

Well, with all things there is always a tool you need to do the project right.  I realized that I had to buy a new ruler, the Clearview Triangle ruler, and not just one, either the 8”, 10” or 12”, so I brought the 8” and 12” to be on the safe side and it arrived yesterday.  Not wanting to buy more fabric, I started look through my stash for some I  would not have to think about to hard and found by LDM.

Now as you can see I am coming along quite well, the only mistake, (an this is only my opinion) the red should have been on the other size, but what the hell, it works.  I am hoping for a finish by the end of the week, since I have to get over this cold and go back to work tomorrow.

I have 3 people for the Pay It Forward, your can read about it here and I will be telling you more about it tomorrow.

So Until Then

The Slow Quilter (Felicia)