Variety!

I have been inattentive to my blog.

Time has gotten away as commitments have dominated my life. This past week I had three medical appointments, work began on changing our screened-in lanai to an enclosed space, and I attended my regular activities. 

With limited bursts of time for working on one thing, I found myself project-hopping.

A lot!

I started knitting another Cupcake Skirt Doll on the 24-peg round loom. 

I did a little diamond painting. (No, I haven't yet begun trying to correct the Ocean sunrise painting. See last blog post.)

Made small progress on hand-piecing Inner City.

I crocheted more 4½" medallions, and need 15 more to begin assembling my Crochet Lacy Motif Top. 

In fits and starts I completed sewing a jumper like those being made by some of the young girls in our local 4-H Club. I'll be wearing mine to the November club meeting. 

This is McCall's 7831 in a size 12. Before sewing, I hand-embroidered a pocket design using a pattern from my digital copy of Aneela Hoey's book Stitch and Sew.

At the September 4-H Club meeting, two women came from the Junk Journaling Club to teach the kids how to make a book. After making the book, the kids were to use it to take notes and write about their experience sewing their garments.

Anyway, as I assisted the kids making their books, I was fascinated by the project.

"Squirrel!"

This week, after a medical appointment, I stopped at Michaels to buy 12" X 12" cardstock with which to make my own book. Unable to find a two-sided print design, I opted for a single color. 

It was fun to be creative! Once I'd folded and made the book cover, I used a scalloped-edge rotary cutting blade to cut fabric scraps to arrange and glue to the front and back covers. I like that the cover interior has two pockets.

At left: The interior "signature" (pages) is an assortment of what I could come up with here at home - a combination of construction paper, different sizes of graph paper, transparency paper, and printer paper for a total of 10 pages that I trimmed and folded to sew into the book. 

At right: Pages are hand-sewn with pearl cotton along the ¼"-wide spine.

Instructions to make a 12" X 12" Quick Journal are in this YouTube video. I'm already using my book to record my morning devotions, and plan to make another book soon.

As fun as these are to create, I am reminded of why I've never allowed myself to try scrapbooking or card-making. I'd be hooked!

Lastely, I completed the Filmstrip Quilt. In an upcoming blog post, I will share a complete tutorial of how I made it.

As of today, I have yet to begin making eight Posh Penelope blocks for October.  

My to-do list is definitely full of variety. Linda

End of September: Yardage Tracking, Books Read, and a Quilt Finish

After August's abysmal fabric output (.69 yards - sheesh), I am patting myself on the back for a more productive September. 

Incoming fabric totaling ¾ yard is for a modified version of a Clarissa Clutch that I'm pattern testing for a friend. The bright print will be the bag exterior; the tone-on-tone white print (it has Christian crosses on it) will be the interior. This picture is of my shop purchase including interfacing and machine needles. 

More than 10 yards used - out of my cupboards! - is a satisfying total. I'm counting it as good!

Those 10 yards included making the 65" X 70" Filmstrip Quilt top. (See previous blog post.)

I also finished this charity quilt. Between the scrappy pieced quilt top, and the pieced backing, making this 49" X 61" quilt used 4.2 yards of fabric. 

I quilted it with an all-over swirl hook design (see the design here, on Esther's I Patch and Quilt website), and used a diagonal black and white stripe for binding.

After making it with Big Cypress Quilter during an along, I learned the pattern is free on the Moda website. It's a jelly roll design called A Garden for Harper. My version looks much different because I didn't use a jelly roll, and I didn't arrange blocks as shown in the pattern.

This will be a nice donation to Children's Home Society of Florida. 

I also pieced eight more Posh Penelope blocks, using 2½ more yards of fabric. Whew, but these are tedious to make! Lots of steps for each block, so I've learned that assembly, factory-style, is the best way to tackle them.

At the rate of eight blocks a month (I need 16 more blocks) I should get this finished before year's end. 

Book Recommendations

I listened to 10 audiobooks in September. 

These are the scores I gave each, with 5.0 being the highest. 

• 4.5 - All We Thought We Knew, Michelle Shocklee
• 4.3 - I See You've Called in Dead, John Kenney
• 4.3 - If I Were You, Lynn Austin
• 4.2 - She Didn't See It Coming, Shari Lapena
• 4.1 - Hidden Nature, Nora Roberts
• 4.0 - The Girl I Was, Jeneva Rose
• 4.0 - The Lawyer and the Laundress, Christine Hill Suntz
• 4.0 - The Inn at Hart's Haven, Patricia Davids
• 4.0 - You Belong Here, Megan Miranda
• 3.4 - Martin Misunderstood, Karin Slaughter

All We Thought We Knew is a story that jumps between the mother's history in 1942, during WWII in Tennessee, working at a military base/illegal aliens camp, and 1969 when her daughter, Maggie, has returned to the family horse farm because her mother is dying. It's a good story with US military actions running through it.

I See You’ve Called in Dead is a humorous read alongside nuggets of thoughtful truths about our attitudes toward death. The premise is that an obit writer composes his own outlandish obituary on his employer’s syndicated news site, and inadvertently publishes it. So begins his experience being dead in a company that can’t fire him until the company technology makes him “undead,” and his own introspection into death by attending the funerals of strangers.

Just as soon as I swear off books on the topic of WW II, I find another one I really like. If I Were You is about Audrey, born into England’s aristocracy, and Eve whose mother is Audrey’s mother’s personal maid - upper class versus working class. The girls are the same age, and each admires what the other has - money, and confident courage. They become unlikely friends, enlisting to become wartime ambulance drivers. Years later, Audrey learns Eve has gone to the US, and lied to Audrey’s in-laws, claiming she (Eve) is their daughter-in-law. Eve steals Audrey’s identity. I found myself sympathetic to both women. I also appreciated the author’s inclusion of several character’s conversations about faith and Jesus. Not one swear word in this book.! 👍🏼 Also, a minor character in the story is Linda. I think this is the first book I’ve ever listened to that uses my name. 

She Didn’t See It Coming is a good mystery thriller. I had no clue who the killer was, and I fell for letting the author lead me to the wrong person. I can’t get my head around how an author can come up with all the misleading information, facts, and convoluted character storylines that make for a good murder mystery. 

About a couple other titles…

I’ll just say that the Lawyer and the Laundress was a pleasant, but predictable story.

Same for The Inn at Hart’s Haven about a pregnant young woman who runs away and hides in an Amish community. Childhood memories of visiting her Amish grandparents makes her determined to stay and become one of them. 

Karin Slaughter’s book is a short story, a little more than a two hour listen. All I can say is, disappointing, for an author of her stature. (She wrote all the “Will Trent” books.) I think this was supposed to be satire, but it didn’t work for me. 

I hope a couple of these books will appeal to you. Linda

Well That Was Fun!

My Scanfil Thread blog giveaway closed Sunday, and I'm happy to share that I have a winner.

Though only 34 people commented, according to Blogger 4918 people viewed the blog post!

I'd guess that many blog-readers were from countries outside the US and Canada, so they didn't comment. 

To pick the winner, I cut up identical sizes of scrap paper, wrote everyone's names - include the "name" of one Anonymous commenter...

...folded them in half, and put them all in a basket.

Hubs drew the first name. Believe it or not, it was "Anonymous." I'm so sorry, whoever you are!

He drew a second name, and my local friend, Donna @donnapquilts is the winner. She selected the three-pack called Stormy Greys. 

It was nice of Scanfil to let me host this giveaway, and introduce many of you to a new thread to try. 

While the giveaway was open, I worked on my Filmstrip Quilt. I cut another 31 yard fabric reel - 1½"-wide strips sewn end to end. 

I continued to piece with Scanfil thread, starching and pressing open each seam as I went.

I finished the Filmstrip Quilt top Sunday afternoon. Do you like it?

It finished at 65" X 70", and used 106 yards of 1½" wide fabric.

Not being a mathematician, I worked out that the 5" difference in the dimensions means that the 5½"-long strip I started with.... that however long that first piece is becomes the difference between the quilt's width and height. Don't I feel smart?!

It was fun to host this giveaway, and fun to work on such a scrap-busting quilt. My September fabric-tracking outgoing total is going to be very satisfying! This quilt top used approximately 3⅞ yards! Linda

I've Been Sewing!

After August's sewing lull, and our eight day trip, I have plunged back into regular activities with a vengeance! 

One of the first things I did was make another scrappy 1½"-wide fabric reel to add to my Filmstrip Quilt. This reel is 40 yards, and used-up about a 1½ yards of scraps.   

As I've been working on this, I know that the larger it gets, the longer it takes to add a new strip along a side. 

Making progress with care, I've been pinning each strip to a side. Then cut the strip at the corner.

After piecing, I step to my ironing table to press open each seam alternately using Niagara Spray Starch and a water-mister. My process is making a positive effect as thus far the 43" X 48" quilt top is completely flat. 

I also pieced the last blocks to complete this quilt top we're making among Big Cypress Quilters.

The design is by my Big Cypress friend, Debbie. She suggested using jelly rolls to make it. But since I've never bought a jelly roll, and didn't want to add to my fabric stash, I pieced each block from individually cut scraps. 

My quilt top is 49" X 61", so I pieced a scrappy 54" X 65" back. I'm ready to sandwich them and get the quilting done... hopefully by next Tuesday, as that's when everyone will be sharing their creations. 

I plan to donate mine to Children's Home Society of Florida when we host our annual baby shower for them in November.

I also finished another Cupcake Skirt Doll using Denise's YouTube video. They're friends!

I've found a home for Pink Skirt Girl (a friend's granddaughter), and I will donate Purple Skirt Girl. But before giving away Purple Skirt Girl, I first have to remove the buttons on her "shoes" - no embellishments permitted for where she's going. I'll replace buttons with some satin-stitching, using yarn. 

As for my poor amigurumi teddy, I'm still working through my crocheting issues with him. Though I received excellent guidance from my friend Winnie - how to properly make a magic ring, and place a marker to count stitches - when we were both at Boomer Loomers last Saturday, the problem that remains is my own - tension. 

These are supposed to be teddy's matching legs. Deformity? Darn. I'll be crocheting another leg and hope it's at least similar to one or the other!

Keep on keepin' on. Linda

New Project - Filmstrip Quilt

At our May Central Florida MQG quilt retreat, I saw my friend Cindy working on a charming scrap quilt. I haven't forgotten it. She recently posted a picture of it on her Instagram feed @cbubblesandsews, telling me she got the idea to make it after seeing it on the guest bed at her friend Janice's house.

Don't we love how quilters inspire each another? 

Here's Cindy's picture. From her own scraps, she pieced a 1½" wide jelly roll, then pieced strips. Cindy shared that the trick to its visual success is making sure each print doesn't change at the corner, rather the print wraps around the corner. This layout helps lose the log cabin look - exactly what I like about it! 

So, I selected one of my canvas scrap bins full of brights, cut 1½" wide strips, and pieced them end to end using a 2.0 stitch length to ensure the piecing doesn't pull apart. 

I'm piecing with my new favorite thread - Scanfil. It's fine but strong - a 50-weight, two-ply organic thread that I like a lot. 

I pressed open seams, and rolled it up. I have 35" yards here which comes to about 1.4 yards of fabric. 

I started with a 5½"-long piece, and began piecing prints in a clockwise direction. As I go, I'm using Magic Quilting and Crafting Fabric Fresh to stabilize the fabric because I think this sort of piecing could go wonky pretty quickly. 

I press open seams as I go.

It didn't take long to make this approximately 10" X 16" rectangle. It will be fun to keep going! 

As I've been thinking about this design, and what to call it - it doesn't have a name that I can find - I'm thinking this a Filmstrip Quilt. Google tells me that old movies were once formatted in 35mm-wide strips (1.377"). These strips are 38.1mm. Close enough, wouldn't you agree?

If you've known me for even a short amount of time, you know I like to make big, useable-sized quilts, so I'll be going for a while on this one. I'll be sure to track how far this jelly roll reel (Get it? Like a film reel?) of 35 yards of fabric goes.

Central Florida MQG QuiltCon Community Outreach Challenge

I was free to start the new project because I finished quilting my portion of the quilt being made by Central Florida MQG for the QuiltCon Community Outreach Challenge.

Our members really stepped up, in a timely manner, to work on their assigned parts. The top is 64" X 80". I pieced a backing, got it sandwiched, and quilted the center sections, leaving the four outside borders for another domestic machine quilter-friend, Karen, who has it now. I even added some big stitch hand quilting around each of the two flamingos. 

Since I quilted lots of starts and stops and had thread tails all over the place, I had some fun with thread-burying.

I took the quilt to last Saturday's Central Florida MQG Sew-In, along with a package of Sench needles (The Needle Lady) - my favorite side-threading needles for easily picking up thread tails to slide between the top and backing.

I invited everyone to knot and bury threads! I tracked our time, and it took an hour for four of us (changing places to include different people) to complete the task.

So, I saved myself four hours of thread-burying, and helped others learn how to do it! What's that old proverb... 

Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. 

😀 Linda

I Should Be Sewing

Lately I haven't felt much like sewing, and the guilt is weighing heavily. I have so many projects on my to-do list, which is tacked to my fabric cabinet and stares at me every day.

I've made myself work on Big Cypress Quilters quilt-along blocks. It's a design meant to be made with a jelly roll or two, but since I've never owned a jelly roll (and don't want to start now), I thought to cut all the pieces individually, from scraps. Thus far, these are the 11 blocks, 12" X 12" (finished) I've piece. I have 9 more cut and ready to piece. 

I've also half-heartedly begun working on my Central Florida MQG "Pick a Decade" Challenge. I started strong with the single "atomic-looking" block, and have futzed on a few occasions with machine appliquéing other 1950s shapes. Inspiration for this project is sorely lacking.

Instead I've continued to round loom knit, making two preemie caps, and another Comfort Doll. 

I've also continued to diamond paint, though I hit a big stop last Friday. When I went to Diamond Painting Club. I was stunned to realize I'd diamond painted the sun, and it was completely PINK! Friends verified I had chosen and used the correct drill colors, according to the key. 

A side-by-side examination of the advertised painting, and my efforts thus far, reveal the difference. The mistakes are on the canvas, and I'm missing all the drill colors of the sun.

As you can see, I'm nearly half-way finished with it!

Why did this happen to me?! It the very first diamond painting kit I ordered! I'm feeling sick about the 20 hours of painting (at least) I may have wasted. Assuredly, I'm not happy about this, and am in communication with the company. I expect a fix or a refund.

Perhaps this is a good reason for me to stick with sewing! Linda