Sunday, February 24, 2013

It's All About Me!


You must constantly ask yourself these questions: Who am I around? What are they doing to me? What have they got me reading? What have they got me saying? Where do they have me going? What do they have me thinking? And most important, what do they have me becoming? Then ask yourself the big question: Is that okay? Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change. 
Jim Rohn





It is my turn at last to share with you on the fun blog hop.  Thanks go to Madame of Samm Sew We Quilt for her great leadership and Marlene of Stitchin by the Lake who is the cheerleader for this fun blog hop.  Without the great design from Amy Bradley we would not be having this fun!  Her work is so delightful!

If you are new to my blog I hope you will take a few minutes to look around and get to know me.  You can find out a little more about me in the side bar.  More of my story is in my interview here at the Quilting Gallery.  There are a few FREE patterns I have designed that are available in the previous blog hop posts that are featured in the side bar too. 

Without further delay here is my quilt.  I think it turned out cute.  I even managed to match most of the stripes in the border.  No perfectionist tendencies here at all.  LOL


I decided to pillowcase it and skip the binding 


I really wasn't going too much for a self portrait


Seed beads on the pincushion

Gold metallic thread frames the glasses


I'm having a giveaway for a pack of THANGLES.  If you would like a chance to win leave a comment about your favorite method for making triangles.

A second chance to win is available to my followers, old or new that leave another comment about how they follow me.

I will soon be hitting the 100 posts milestone and I'm planning another giveaway then.  I also have a really NICE giveaway planned for a little later in the year of an EQ7 program.  It will only be for my followers.  So you can see it could be to your advantage to join me in my quilting adventures this year.

Drawing winner will be announced March 1.

Be sure to visit the other blogs featured today.  Here's the list:

Quilting Lines that's me!




























Tuesday, February 19, 2013

It's All About Me! Starts Today

This hop is going to be so much FUN!!!

My day will be Monday, the 25th.  I need to get busy!  After looking at today's entries I need to put my thinking cap on and see if I can change what I'm doing a little.  Mmmmmm...........







Tuesday, February 19



Wednesday, February 20



Thursday, February 21



Friday, February 22



Monday, February 25




Tuesday, February 26



Wednesday, February 27



Thursday, February 28

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Happy Valentine's Day

Must, bid the Morn awake!
Sad Winter now declines,
Each bird doth choose a mate;
This day's Saint Valentine's.
For that good bishop's sake
Get up and let us see
What beauty it shall be
That Fortune us assigns.
 

Michael Drayton



I thought I would share a Valentine with you today.  This is a heart from a rag style quilt that I made about 12 years ago.  I've never washed it so it isn't frayed.








I hope you get to spend time with the one(s) you love today!  I'm off to have dinner with my dear husband.  Tell me how you celebrated the day or what goodies you got.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Planning Stage

If you employed study, thinking, and planning time daily, you could develop and use the power that can change the course of your destiny. 
W. Clement Stone


I have not been very productive this week so I decided that it was because I was in the planning phase.  I did manage to do a little shopping and bought a new tool.  Now I have  a 60 degree triangle or maybe even two already but I decided that this smaller one might come in handy.  I don't mind having duplicate tools anyway.  My other two are larger which can make cutting small pieces a little clumsy at times.  I'll make some comparisons and let you know.


60 degree ruler


Why are triangles on my mind?  Have you seen the Dancing Stars Pattern and Quilt Along ?  
For some reason this pattern intrigues me.  Now I'm not a huge fan of paper piecing.  I can do it and I even like to use it for something like my Dr. Whoot pattern.  There are some things that are easier to do with paper piecing.  Odd angles and pictorial blocks for instances.   However, if I can piece something and not have to rip out the paper afterwards I'm happier.

All the pieces in the Dancing Stars Pattern can be cut with this tool.  I laid it on the pattern to see.  It will work and I will check my other tools out too to see how they would do.  I'll let you know which ones will work.





I don't know when I will start this.  I haven't made any decisions about fabrics or colors yet.
I have made a few choices for the next blog hop that I am going to participate in.


Stripes and more stripes


My day will be February 25.


It's raining again.  I'm beginning to feel sunshine deprived.   Since New Year's we have had only a handful of sunny days.  I know we need the rain because we have been in a drought pattern for a few years now but it even rained on the days the weather man said it would be sunny this week.  When it wasn't raining it was still cloudy.  Got any cheese to go with my whine?  LOL


The circle isn't filled in all the way yet.

This is the bunch that started blooming back in January


I'll leave you with these shots of sunny daffodils.  Their blooming season has been extended this year because it keeps going from warm to cold to warm to cold ...  As you can see there are still quite a few that haven't bloomed yet.

Cheers!  Here's to a more productive week for you and ME!

I'm linking up with Sew Many Ways and Monday Link Up and Patchwork Times and Freemotion by the River 



Saturday, February 2, 2013

ORTs

Some, for renown, on scraps of learning dote, and think they grow immortal as they quote. 

Edward Young


A Tale of Three Orts



Sounds like something from the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings doesn't it?  Have you heard of ORTs?  They are really handy to have around.

Do you remember when I shared this picture a couple of weeks ago?  I said it was a project involving some hand sewing.


Frames and Plastic Rims

Long ago but not very far away, I came across a post on one of the blogs I was following about ORTs.  Check out Melinda's tutorial here.  They looked very interesting and I decided to make some.  It only took me a few years to get around to it.  I had put the supplies together but never got in the right mood to do the required hand work.  Everything happens for a purpose right?  Enter a bad knee and the lack of easy access to my studio.  I decided that the time had come to work on them but being me, I wanted to try to make them a little differently.

Many years ago I purchased the 3 frames above from a clearance basket.  They are the red and green ovals and the tan circles.  They are plastic and were intended for framing small cross stitch projects.  The 2 green circles are the rims from the lid and top edge of a small food container (think yogurt cup).  The frames were like embroidery hoops with a inner and outer ring.  The inner ring had 2 little inverted Vs that were to be used for hanging.  I broke those off easily.

I suppose I should back up and define Ort for you.  It is an old Middle English or Middle Low  German word meaning a scrap or remainder of food from a meal.  I've also seen it as an anagram for Odd Remaining Threads or Odd Random Things.

I took a few notes from Melinda's Tutorial HERE then proceeded to make mine.  I started with the round one to make sure things would turn out then proceeded with the oval ones.


Inside View

Bottom

Closed Ort


It worked pretty good so then I went on with the ovals.  They were bigger so it took a little more stitching.  Don't look too close the stitching isn't too even but it really doesn't matter.


Inner and Outer Bottoms 


I used plastic instead of cardboard.
Fabric on left is glued down.
Right one has batting and is gathered by hand.





Close up of  stitching at the rim



Inside bottom is padded with batting and stitched down


Closed by Twisting

To get this one to close I had to turn the rim at 90 degrees
from the base.  I think it looks interesting that way.

Inside view

Bottom Stitched On

Hoop Inside and Edges Stitched Together

Two Rows of Basting for Gathering
This could be done by hand.


Rim Stitched in place

Bottom View Closed


Closed with a Twist


Inside View


Two Oval Orts


Ort Trio 


Inside View


Now I have 3 nice little Orts to take with me and keep my work space neat and tidy.  The hardest part will be deciding which one of these cuties should I use?

 Most people use the small 3" or 4" embroidery hoops for them but I've been told the plastic container rims work fine too.  They are easy to come by but take a little cutting out.  I used the flat lid of a Cool Whip container for some of my bases.  I'm not a fan of cardboard.  If I do anymore I might add a little bit of weight to the base with either plastic doll filler pellets or a large metal washer or two.

I cut my fabric 12" in height for the little round Ort like in Melinda's instructions.  For the ovals I was guessing and used 14".  I should have used about an inch more on the larger hoop because it would not spin down and close until I moved the hoop at a 90 degree angle.  I'm sure there is some formula in physics that would give the proper ratio of height to width but I don't know what it is.  So if you plan to make some that are not round be prepared to experiment a little to get it right.

Do you think you will make one?  Which one do you like best?  Did you guess what they were from my previous post?  Have you seen them before?  Let me know what you think. 
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