Saturday, May 31, 2014

Viking Tote Bag


This is the June Husqvarna Viking Project (and June is . . . tomorrow!)  It's a huge tote, big enough to take your quilt plus another thing or two to class.  The embroidery is done over Puffy Foam.  Just so happened that my friend Carrye gave me some Puffy Foam that she decided she'd never use, like last week.  It had cute little cat teeth marks on the edges, too.  Thanks, Carrye.

I'd never embroidered on Puffy Foam but it wasn't hard.  Just lay the foam over the hooped fabric and embroider over it with a special design.  For a design like these tiny leaves, it's a good idea to turn off the jump stitch while the foam is tacked down. 

This was an unusual week for me . . . I worked at the store five days, plus one to come next week.  And tonight I went to a beautiful wedding.  Good times.   

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Tee Shirt Quilt


The tee shirt has been gifted, so I can post a picture.  This is actually a progress picture, there were sashings on all sides on the finished quilt.  The basic layout was from this blogsite, and there are also lots of instructions too, if you're thinking of making one.  Just scroll down.  Lots of inset seams with this particular layout, beware.
   
 
Each block is quilted differently, here's the Wildcat block.
 

My favorite part: the young woman's dog chewed part of her uniform skirt, and I was able to incorporate the chewed portion on the back.

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Bow Tie Pillow With Dots


On this holiday weekend, I wanted to make something for my house and decided on this bow tie pillow made with dotted fabric.  Pretty simple, and I'm feeling pretty accomplished.

I'd really like to get the kit to make this dotted quilt and the pillow was a sort of trial to see if I liked the basic idea.  I still love the little quilt, so maybe I'll be placing my order . . .

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Gardening


Thanks to Sarah and Winnie for the Mother's Day gift certificate to Fort Thomas Florist.  It was perfect for a wagon load of plants to get my garden going.  That's evening primrose in the front, one of my favorites.

Yesterday I expanded my front yard bed with cardboard, topsoil, and mulch.  It won't be ready to plant until next year, but I can put some planters on top for this season.  There is one more little space that I want to work on this fall.  Bottom line is that I'll have more garden than grass.  Part of my front yard has a pretty good slope that I wanted to get away from mowing.  I'm pretty excited about the colorful chard that I got for my raised bed.  I doubt that I'll actually eat it (maybe?) but I've long admired the way it looks.

I got a couple of groundcover roses for the way-back in the back yard.  Hopefully, they'll be happy there along with the ornamental grasses.  I want to expand that bed too.

Peonies are almost ready to bloom.  They were the one nice contribution from the previous owner.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Baby Quilt with Circular Quilting


My co-worker is having a baby boy in ten days, more or less, so of course I wanted to give her a baby quilt.  She can make absolutely anything, but she never does the dense quilting that I love, so that's what I used. 


This is the back of her quilt, and I love it as much as the front because the quilting really shows. It was my first try at circular quilting, which I so enjoyed.  It takes quite a while to do this much quilting, so I'll be using it for special things.

Fabric is by Riley Blake.

Friday, May 16, 2014

Dress Like an Animal


When I went to pick up Aaron for his baseball game on Wednesday, I found Nora with some whiskers, a rabbit ears headband, and a bunny tail in her back belt loop.  Turns out that it was Dress Like an Animal day at school.  Aaron was at his other school that day, so he had worn his baseball jersey.

It started to pour when I got to their neighborhood, so there were no baseball/softball games that night.  Nora has a tournament tonight, but it's already been raining this morning.

With all the rain this week, the pollen count has gone way down, which is an excellent thing.  The oak pollen continues to drop in my driveway, though.  It's a mess, and it clogged up my drain again yesterday.

I've started a baby quilt for my co-worker, whose baby should be here in a couple of weeks.  One more row to piece.

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Pretty Pedals Pillow


It's pretty hard to tell, but this is a round pillow.  Eight pedals.  It's the Viking May project, made with the circular attachment and a little embroidery.  Very cute.

Who would have thought that round pillow forms are hard to find.  It's easy enough to make your own, though.  The piping on the pedals is done with the piping foot in combination with that circuar attachment.  If you try it, use a tear-away stabilizer on the back. 

Thursday, May 8, 2014

New Walking Shoes


I decided when I got my last pair of athletic shoes that I would wear them for walking and working out only.  And keep track of the miles.  Only thing is, I loved them so much that I wore them everywhere and quickly lost track. 

The last straw in the looks department was when my lawn mower wouldn't start and I decided to try it just one more time.  I thought if I had my good shoes on, the mower would just have to start.  And that's what happened, and I mowed the grass in them.

But that aside, I was starting to get leg cramps again and my feet started slipping in the shoes, just a little, and those are my indicators.  I wanted a different color this time, but the small store where I got them didn't have pink and I'm not a fan of the yellow so I have turquoise again.  Those are the prettiest anyway.  I'm pretty sure they have the pink in the big box store of sporting goods, but I like to support the smaller guys. 

Now, if I can just use them as a walking shoe, only.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Star Wars at Great American Ball Park


Last night was game 2 of the Star Wars Weekend at the ball park.  It was also Kentucky Derby day, and we saw the race on the big screen.  I had been a little nostalgic at the thought of missing the race, but I didn't miss it at all.


It's hard to say what the kid favorite was, but I think it was R2D2, falling over on his face on the big screen, when there was a Reds strike-out.  And there were ten of them.  The crowd was hoping for an eleventh, which would have meant free pizza from LaRosa's, but that didn't happen.  There were only three hits all night for the Brewers.  Two were home runs, but still, it was a great performance by Johnny Cueto.


We got there early to score Star Wars tee shirts, which gave us plenty of time to eat dinner snacks and watch the batting practices.

Thanks to Steph and Mike for the tickets on the 3rd base side.  I think it was my first time ever to not ride the elevator or walk the ramps to the high-up seats.

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Zoo Babies and Blooms


Yesterday was Aaron's every-other-Friday off school and we met his mom for an afternoon at the Cincinnati Zoo. Her work is probably half a mile from the zoo.


The first thing Aaron always wants to do is get a zoo map.


Aaron loved his "only child" time with his mom.  His kindergarten year is drawing to a close, and next year his every-other-Friday-off-school will be no more.

 
At the gift shop.


It was a cool day and the crowd was light.  There were still plenty of spring blooms, a perfect afternoon for a zoo visit.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Riley Blake Charm Quilt


The improv baby quilt I showed you last time took quite a bit of time to complete, so I decided to piece together a Riley Blake charm pack for this one.  Just as nice, just different.

I thought I was behind on baby quilts, but when I put my last one on Pinterest (I'm keeping a 2014 record of my sewing projects) I realized that I had already made two this year.  And in April I turned in a baby quilt I had in my stash.  So, I'm not behind at all.

My current sewing project is another one of those can't-show-yet projects.  I can show you in a month, but I can tell you that I'm making eleven individual somethings.  So far, I have seven finished.  Very different than what I usually make.