Friday Fill-In # 184

After a few weeks off, it's time for Friday Fill-Ins. Answers are in bold.

1. Layers of fabric, batting, and stabilizer. I'm working on a new quilted project on the embroidery machine. Pretty mindless, just what I needed right now. And, it's's half done already.

2. Our cable company's called Insight. I get letters or postcards from them about once a week and someone came to my door last week. I wish they'd just leave me alone and stop wasting all that paper.

3. I'll be willing to bet that we have some rain today. Or maybe I'm just hoping. We did get rain last night, maybe some wind since one of the plants on my porch blew over. I heard nothing, was surprised to see wet sidewalks.

4. I don't have one, so nothing scares the dog. There is no dog food in my grocery cart and no squeak toys on my floor. And none in my future.

5. I'm fond of summer gardens, with something new to look at every day. Checking out the size of the tomatoes, looking at the squash plants poking out, admiring the flowers. Next winter I'm going to start plants inside - it's been several years since I've done that and I used to enjoy choosing just the right tomatoes and flowers.

6. Lately it seem like I've been complaining too much! Time to cut that out and be grateful instead.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to leaving work knowing I'll have three days off, tomorrow my plans include an early morning trip to Findlay Market, and Sunday I want to finish my embroidery project and do some early morning writing.

Happy Friday, everyone.

The Last Bit

The last bit - Jack is doing his fly fishing on Helen's quilt. And the borders are quilted and bound. It's finished. (When I took the picture, the quilt was in the sun, it doesn't really look like there's sunlight.) Probably fly fisherman have a straight line coming off the pole, but I wanted a little artistic license.

The one remaining thing to do is to take some really good pictures for myself.

This Time and This Place

My hope is that by the end of October there will be two big pumpkins for Nora and Aaron. A bucket full of water every day, Miracle Grow, and Big Max seeds. Years ago, like maybe 20, I planted Big Max seeds and ended up with a huge pumpkin, so let's hope. And if the pumpkins aren't spectacular, the foliage should still fill in the first-year garden bed.

Bright Wasn't Right

I love brights, but they weren't right for Helen's quilt. I'm happy with this sashing fabric, will be happier yet with pretty quilting on it. Thanks, Steph, for your help. And yes, Nora has another pair of socks.

And I have a resolution: this is the last dyeing I'll do without measuring precisely and keeping a journal with swatches. I usually have a good idea of what I want and know how to get there, like a little surprise, and am content with one-time results. But the time has come to be able to replicate. I use just a few dye colors and mix from there. I think a loose-leaf binder with sheet protectors would be good, or index cards with swatches on the back.

Just finished a work project - Martha Pullen headband. I'm looking forward to using the scraps from the white wing needle background fabric, the thought of that kept me going. I recently got a clear piping foot and liked using it for this project.

Last night Steph, Mike, Nora, Aaron, and I went to Fort Thomas for their fireworks, or "the boom in the sky" as the kids call it. Those are my hands over Aaron's ears - he thought that helped with the noise.

Happy Fourth, everyone.

A Bird Does Not Sing

A bird does not sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song to sing.

Husqvarna Viking Embroidery Club. Hand-dyed fabrics, embroidery, and quilting.

I didn't enjoy this project until the free-motion quilting at the end, then I slipped into the groove so easily. And I like the finished result. Part of the problem, I think, was that I worked on it in bits and pieces and it seemed to take a very long time.

I orginally dyed the fabric for Helen's quilt - didn't work there but perfect here.

My Grandgirl's Socks

On a stop in Berea last September, I spotted some hand-dyed little girl's socks, very pretty, and wanted to make some for Nora. By the time I had purchased a package of socks, it was cool weather, not good for dyeing. When it warmed up this year, I put several pairs of socks in my dyeing batches, but they weren't quite right. The first pairs were nice but too solid, the next pairs had too much white and looked too tie-dyed. Finally, I've got it right. My plans are to put a pair in the various colors of dye that I'm using for other things. That girl will have LOTS of socks.


The socks above came from a batch for the borders of Helen's quilt. Once again, the first batches didn't look quite right (although just right for something else.) I think I can be happy with this, but I'm not sure whether the borders are too wide. And maybe the blue is too blue.

I'm just not sure. There may be more blue socks.

Fabric Beads

Bright fabric, Wonder Under, fat barbecue skewers, iron (note the pretty new iron)

Iron the Wonder Under on the back of a piece of fabric, approx 6" x 12" and mark long triangles on the release paper. Cut the triangles apart and peel off the paper.

Starting at the wide end, wind a triangle on a skewer, wrong side up, touching with the iron frequently. When you're finished, slide off the bead.

The end. The holes in the beads are large enough to thread a cord through.

Other projects for the kids' workshop I'll be doing in a couple of weeks: felt organizer, hair scrunchy, pouch, and tote bag. I hope the kids enjoy the projects.

For you non-kids, the tote bag is McCalls 6130 and it's a fast sew. I added a water bottle pocket on the side, to replace the pocket in the front, which is sewn upside down (flap at the bottom) as a cute fashion statement. I didn't want that for the kids because everyone would think they accidentally sewed it upside down - not good for a class.