All's Well That Ends Well

The bad news is I never made it to the Edmonton Festival of Quilts today. Well... I suppose I should start by telling you that I drive a pickup truck, which will come as no surprise to those of you who have been reading my blog for sometime. And not just a little pickup truck. This is a full-sized, extended cab, standard box, 4x4 pickup truck with a V8 engine. Not only that, but it's not just a beat-up old farm truck. It's a 2011 Chevy Silverado in laser blue metallic, a gorgeous purply-blue colour. You know how some men feel about their cars? Or if you live in the west, about their pickup trucks? Well, that's pretty much how I feel about my pickup truck. I even like the way the engine sounds. The only drawback is that, being a rather large vehicle, it's not very easy to park (and it gets terrible gas mileage). And being as I'm rather particular about my truck not getting scatched or dented, I avoid parking in crowded areas.

I arrived at the site where the Festival of Quilts was being held. And the parking lots were full. And the streets were full. Cars parked on both sides of not very wide streets. I swear if I'd had the towing mirrors on the truck, it would have almost touched the vehicles parked on both sides of the street as I drove through. Not enough room for two vehicles to pass each other. And I drove on through looking for a place to park and finally came to a section of the street where I could park the truck, quite far from the site. But then I thought that, with all that traffic and so many vehicles parked on the street and not much room to get through, someone might hit my truck. And I decided to park at the nearest mall instead and walk to the quilt show, which was probably not much longer a walk than from where I could have parked on the street anyway. On the way to the mall, I got to wondering what I would do if I bought stuff - lots of stuff, heavy stuff - at the quilt show and had to lug it all the way back to the mall. And what about the crowds? As my best guy pal, Phil, who was with me said, we would have been shoulder to shoulder. There were an awful lot of cars for the size of that hall. I really don't do crowds. So, all things considered, I decided not to go to the Festival of Quilts. I'm disappointed, but feel I made the best decision for me under the circumstances.
Phil had never intended to go to the quilt show. He was just going to go to the mall. Instead, we both went to a thrift store, where I found the book Quilting Shortcuts by Maggie Malone. I might already have this book (still have some books in boxes in the garage) or maybe I borrowed it from the library, because it looks familiar. But it also looks good, and as Phil pointed out, it would cost me a lot more than the $8 the book cost to drive back to buy it. You can see the book in the lower right of the picture below.

We then went to Fabricland, where I bought the 4 pieces of fabric in the picture. On the upper right is a panel for a pink John Deere barbecue apron. I intend to make this up for my niece's birthday. I will probably back, batt and quilt it. In my opinion, the fabric's not thick enough for a decent apron otherwise. On the upper left is a pillow panel that I couldn't resist, being the cat lover that I am. The fabrics in the foreground don't show up very well. The one on the left is a poppy print and the one on the right is a rosebud print, both for future quilting projects. On top of the fabric in the middle is a package of clear fabric grabbers to put on the backs of my quilting rulers. I've had too many "slips" ending in uneven cuts, and sometimes useless strips of fabric.
I also hit a Staples to buy toner for my printer. It was almost out - kept taking it out and shaking it up to get a little more life out of it- and I need to be able to copy patterns for my Quick-Strip Paper Piecing Class.
The good news, at least quilting-wise, is what's in those 4 orange packets sitting on the fabric. After I had dropped Phil off and was on my way out of the city, I stopped at a big WalMart (at least bigger than the one in my small town) just off the highway to see what they had in quilting supplies. I was quite disappointed. I believe there was less fabric than in our WalMart and no quilting rulers, where our WalMart has a reasonable selection of different quilting rulers. It was kind of puzzling to me. Then I looked on their clearance shelf in the craft section and found 5-packs of Fiskars rotary cutting blades for only $10 each. That's only $2 per blade. Here in Canada, those 5-packs are normally over $20. Yippee! So I bought all four packs that were there.
Yes, disappointed that I didn't get to the Edmonton Festival of Quilts, but happy with my purchases, especially those blades. That should do me for awhile...
By the way, I'm constantly meeting new quilting friends on Google+ and getting new ideas from their blogs. Come and join the link party at 

Battling Weeds

Today I am totally digressing from my usual topics of late - quilting and fabric - to meander out to the yard... 
The yard beside my garage is surrounded by hedge/shrubs and is the only private space on my property. Because my house is situated weirdly on my property, I do not have a back yard, so this space is it. When I bought my house in 2009, this space was tilled as a garden and I actually did try to garden in there. But that didn't last long. I don't have time or need for a large garden. And since this is my only private space, I would like to be able to turn it into lawn, so that if I want to sit out in an evening, I can do it here without being on display to the neighbourhood. But I have been battling weeds ever since I moved in. As a matter of fact, it seems when you own a house with a yard, battling weeds is an ongoing issue. I would really like to kill off the weeds in this area, till it up, and lay sod so that I can have a nice lawn. I really don't want to try grass seed, as I am sure the weeds will get the jump on the grass and I'll have a nice plot of weeds again. In desperation, I have sprayed it with Roundup. Dare I confess that? Roundup isn't cheap, and personally, I really don't find it that effective. Some, but not all, of the weeds would die, only to spring back up again, while the rest continued to flourish. It's a lot of work and money spraying a whole area with Roundup and all that work and money (not to mention toxins) really didn't accomplish what I wanted it to. And I really wanted a less toxic option. (Yes, I know - Roundup is supposedly only toxic to plants, but, as far as I am concerned, the jury is still out on that one). 
Several times I have seen posted on facebook a "recipe" for a "natural" weed killer, using vinegar, salt and dish soap. I never saved the recipe, however, and when I googled it, I found out that the salt and possibly even the vinegar are toxic to the soil. You can see some comments to this effect here:
http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=30539  and here:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/weeds/msg0415410828549.html 
Note that some claim this formula is more toxic than Roundup. Hmm... Toxic to whom? I could drink this vinegar/salt/dishsoap stuff and I may have a gut ache and be foaming at the mouth, but unless I have an anaphylactic allergy to one of the components, it's not going to kill me. Or my cats, in all likelihood. I wouldn't say the same thing about Roundup. Now, I am not disputing that the salt is not good for the soil. After all, the Dead Sea, with its high salt content, is not called dead for nothing. I have a harder time believing the same about vinegar, in small doses. After all, vinegar is just the liquid from rotten apples and there are enough of those around. The interesting thing is that a lot of the information about this mixture is inconsistent. On the one hand, we are told not to use it where we want to grow anything for the next 6 months to 2 years. On the other hand, it supposedly doesn't kill the roots of the weeds and the weeds will grow back. Does that even make sense? If the soil becomes so toxic that you can't grow anything there for at least 6 months, how do the weeds grow back?
I decided to give it a try. On the far side of my hedge, along the alleyway, grows a nice crop of weeds that the town authorities keep threatening me about. Personally, I think that anything on that side of the hedge is not my problem. It's the town's alley, not mine, so the weeds are theirs as well. Unfortunately, they don't see it that way. Since I have no intention of growing anything there, I will be very happy if nothing ever grows there again. Then both the town and I will be happy. So, I figured nothing ventured, nothing gained. And if it poisons my hedge as well, oh well... I eventually wanted to rip it out and put up a fence anyway. So I mixed up my "poisonous concoction," poured it into a spray bottle and "shot" all those weeds. I will have to report back on how it works.
Meanwhile, there's still the space inside the hedge... I found more ideas here:
http://tipnut.com/weed-killers/ 
I did try pouring boiling water on some weeds. I used a two litre kettle and I was lucky if I "boiled" 10 weeds - probably not even that. So that's not going to be a very effective method. A lot of power will go into boiling all that water. If I had an outdoor firepit and a huge cauldron, this method might be more worthwhile. Or if I didn't have so many weeds. 
Another suggestion that I found on a couple of sites was bleach. That's initially quite toxic, but it does apparently dissipate quite quickly. I'd want to do more research before I tried that. 
One other solution was something akin to a blowtorch. I can't imagine that would be very safe in Alberta's dry climate when we're under fire bans everywhere. It might be feasible if we get more rain. 
I think for my hedged in property, I will probably end up just having it rototilled, rake out as many roots as I can, and then lay sod. Hopefully, the sod will smother most of the weeds still left while it gets itself established. 
Any other suggestions? I've got lots more weeds to work on...

New Fabric for a New Quilt

Look at this incredible fabric:

"Space" by Avlyn Inc.

 Isn't it gorgeous? It's exactly what I wanted for a background for a quilt for my daughter. I've collected some orange fabric (her favourite colour) and will combine it with purple to make the stars in the Dreamweaver Quilt from the Craftsy Quick Strip Paper Piecing Class that I've enrolled in. And this fabric will be the background for the stars. I can hardly wait to get started. I bought it at my local quilt shop and, as I said, it was just what I was looking for - a great "environment" to put stars in. 
By the way, here are the newest classes launching tomorrow on Craftsy:

Sandra Betzina - Sewing on the Bias (Sewing)

Janet Pray - Sew Better, Sew Faster: Garment Industry Secrets (Sewing)

Frieda Anderson - Machine Quilting the Home Sweet Home Quilt (Quilting)

Maggie Austin - Sugar Berries, Leaves, and Blossoms (Cake Decorating)  

I have to admit these classes sound tempting, especially the sewing ones. I think I've enrolled in enough quilting ones for now, but once I get this "quilting bug" under control, I wouldn't mind refreshing and updating my sewing skills as well. I have bought several vintage patterns that I'd like to use. But, I'll be frank: if I'm going to go to the work of sewing my own clothing, I want to wait until I'm down to the size I want to be.

You'll be seeing more of my Dreamweaver quilt in future posts. 

45-Degree Triangles: Strippy Spools

I am now up to date with both the 2012 Block of the Month and the 2013 Block of the Month. This month's block for the 2013 BOM is a variation of the Spinning Spools block, and we were to make a total of 8 blocks, though only 7 will be used in the quilt. The finished size will be 7 inches. I will have a hard time deciding which one to leave out. Here they are:

 These are done by cutting  2-1/2" strips across the width of the fabric. Then two strips are sewn together and this double strip is then cut into 45 degree triangles. I happen to have a 45 degree triangle ruler, so was mostly using that. However there are 45 degree markings on the standard 6.5x24" quilting ruler, so I thought I'd give that a try. The problem is the ruler also has 60 degree markings and I ended up with one triangle with a 45 degree angle on one side and a 60 degree angle on the other side: a scalene triangle instead of an isosceles triangle. So I had to cut an extra one and ended up cutting that one from the wrong direction, so that the fabric at the point of the triangle was reversed with what should have been at the base of the triangle. So I had to try once more and finally got it right, but I stuck with my 45 degree triangle ruler after that. Then my sewing machine started acting up and I figured it was high time I cleaned some lint out of it. However, I couldn't find my instruction book to figure out how to remove the bobbin shuttle. I had to google that and now have a copy saved on my computer. And I did get the bobbin shuttle out, cleaned out a pile of lint and now the machine is working fine. 
Each one of this month's blocks is made up of four 45 degree triangles, two of one kind and two of another. And they're made to look sort of like spools of thread - hence the name. 
Here's the colouring sheet again, with my latest blocks added in:

I just plopped the blocks in at random in the colouring sheet. I will probably rearrange them when I actually make up the quilt. I also found out that the colouring sheet is a little off scale, as the spools came out slightly rectangular when in actuality they are square.
Next month is the LeMoyne Star, using Y-seam construction. That's the large block on the upper right. I'm looking forward to it. That one should be pretty! The tumbling blocks block on the upper left comes in July, while the appliqued basket and flowers on the lower right takes two months, August and September.
Now that I'm finally up to date, maybe I can get to work on my trailer curtains.

 

What makes a lady?

"It does not require a frail, helpless, overdressed, simpering thing to make a lady."

Ellen G. White

My mother was an awesome woman, who was every inch a lady - her pastor described her as "regal." Yet, she was not afraid to get her hands dirty and knew how to swing a hammer and wield a saw. I remember helping her move furniture. Undeterred by narrow doorways, she sometimes would move whole rooms full of furniture from one room to another. One time, we took a sofa out the back door, around the side of the house and in the front door in order to get it where she wanted it. Not much defeated my mother. And I'm glad she set that example for her daughters. By precept and example, we were definitely not raised to be "frail, helpless, overdressed, simpering things," as mentioned in the above quote. And for that I am truly thankful. 
The only male relative I have nearby is my niece's husband. And he works in the oilfield, so is not home that often. I don't like to take him away from my niece and her sons during the brief intervals when he is home, unless I really need his help. Generally, I get by on my own, and, as a divorced home-owner, that often necessitates me doing things that weren't formerly in my comfort zone. While I have never been the frail, helpless type, there was a time when power tools made me nervous. I now own several and use them with confidence - at least most of the time. :-) Curtain rods, window shades, pictures, towel bars all need to be hung. More than that: I have installed a programmable thermostat, cleaned out the p-trap under my bathroom sink, put a deadbolt in my side door, replaced the door knob on my garage door, hung a hanging pot rack and numerous other jobs that wouldn't get done otherwise if I didn't do them. I even attempted to cover my deck with vinyl deck covering - until I discovered that the salesman had given me incorrect instructions and sold me improper equipment to do the job. I was NOT impressed. To date, that has been my only negative experience in a building supply/hardware store since becoming a homeowner. And I did get my money back. Plus a $50 gift card which I never used because I had no desire to return to that store. Covering the deck is still a project on my "to do" list. I've just postponed it for awhile and have since discovered that other stores sell the same vinyl deck covering stuff.
Sometimes my independence has created "interesting" experiences and adventures. The first time I used my newly purchased snowblower, I didn't realize it was in high gear and, since I was starting on my sloped driveway, it nearly ran off with me. There are so many different controls on it, that it took me quite a while before I figured out how to reduce the speed to a manageable pace. Then there was replacing the toilet seat in the basement bathroom. I assume that was the original toilet seat, and unlike most of the newer toilet seats that have plastic nuts on the bolts attaching the seat to the toilet, this one had both the nuts and bolts in metal. With decades of rust holding them together. Even spraying them with WD-40 and giving it time to "soak in" didn't help. I used every tool I could think of, and got some useless advice and was finally told that I might have to cut them off with a hacksaw. Was that my friends at Home Hardware of my ex-husband that told me that? Either way, that's what I finally had to do. And it was no mean feat. The heads of the bolts were embedded in the plastic top and I had to try to break the plastic loose in order to get the hacksaw in under the head to saw it free from the bolt. That job took a lot of elbow grease and/or blood, sweat and tears, but I did finally manage to get the old seat off. After that, getting the new seat on was a piece of cake. I actually took some pictures.

Finally got the old toilet seat off!

 You can see my various tools on the floor, with the old toilet seat in the background and the new one on the left.

The new toilet seat

 

Celebrating my accomplishment

I really should have videotaped it and posted it to youtube. There are several videos of how to replace a toilet seat - so what? that was the easy part - but none that show you how to get the old seat off when the nuts are rusted on. 

I have to admit that it's a good feeling to overcome obstacles and accomplish a task. I actually do enjoy doing my minor home repairs and maintenance. Some jobs, however, do require too much brute strength or expertise for me to do myself. That's when I will pay a professional to do it.

Meanwhile, I really don't consider it "unladylike" to do my own "fixit" jobs. 

And one more thing: you can drive a pickup truck and still be pretty and feminine.

Me and my truck

 

 

So Much for My Quilting Hiatus

Quilting is addictive - I can't give it up. Actually I had already prepared some "hexies" for a quilt block and I didn't want them getting lost in the shuffle, while I worked on the window treatments for my trailer. So I figured I'd better finish that block. And another, and another, and...
All of the blocks for this post are from  Craftsy's 2012 Block of the Month.
For the April blocks, it was English paper piecing, something I never thought I'd do. Not only is it tedious, but it involves a fair amount of hand sewing. Years ago, when I bought my first sewing machine, one of the requirements was that it must have a blind hem stitch, so that I would never have to hem by hand again. I do not hand sew any more than I absolutely have to. When I crocheted a cardigan for my grandson for Easter this year, rather than sew it in separate pieces, I crocheted the front and back all in one piece. And the sleeves I crocheted as a long tube, instead of a flat piece that I would later have to sew together. I didn't sew any more seams in that cardigan than necessary. So, the idea of doing English paper piecing was really not appealing to me. However, I was determined to do every block in both of the BOM quilts I'm doing, even if that meant hand sewing and tedious paper piecing. So, here are my April blocks:

I have to admit that I'm still quite happy with my fabric choices. I love the way the black background just makes the bright colours "pop." While I don't particularly care for some of the individual fabrics within the fabric bundles - browns have never ranked high with me, and I would have been happier with more purples and at least one true orange - generally I've been very satisfied. 

In order to make all of these hexagons, I would have had to trace and cut out a template (one for each size) and then trace the template onto paper/cardstock in order to have one paper hexagon for every fabric one. As I said, English paper piecing can be quite tedious. So I skipped that step and purchased precut paper hexagons online here: Paper Pieces. The prices are reasonable, my order was shipped quickly and I got good customer service. And it sure beat cutting out all of those hexagons myself. I still had to cut out the fabric hexies, but I used my rotary cutter for that. 

The block on the left is the Hexie Stripe Block and the one on the right is the Sunny with a Chance of Hex block. I used all but two fabrics from one fat quarter bundle in the first one and every fabric from another fat quarter bundle for the second one. All of the hexies had to be basted by hand and sewn together by hand, and I actually hand-appliqued the hexie stripe on the first block. And I survived. :-) So, hand sewing really isn't deadly after all. But I doubt I'll be in a hurry to use hexagons in a future quilt. However, I am glad I did it and am pleased with the results. 

Here are May's blocks:

This month's topic was Wonky Log Cabin Blocks. On the left is the Modern Log Cabin and on the right is the Wonky 5-sided Log Cabin, though mine looks more like a spiral than a 5-sided figure. I have to be honest: I really didn't like either of these blocks in the course materials. The Modern Log Cabin is kind of boring to me. And the Wonky one is a little too disorganized, chaotic - I'm not sure what word I'm looking for. I just know I didn't really like it. Certainly, I feel that my use of colour improved both blocks immensely. I hope that doesn't sound too arrogant, but let's face it - there is a reason why I picked those fabrics. It's because they appeal to me and everyone has different tastes. You might think my blocks are horrid and you're entitled to think that. My niece was over and I was showing her some different blocks and quilts online, and some that appealed to her did not appeal to me, and vice versa. It's not a cookie cutter world. And that would be extremely boring if it was. 

But back to the blocks, I have to 'fess up that I didn't do the Modern Log Cabin exactly as I was supposed to. I hadn't watched the video yet and only briefly glanced over the instructions. The centre square was supposed to be outlined in a round of background fabric, then a round of print, then another background and a final round of print. I did the opposite. In the video, the instructor used all one print for each print round and I used 4 different ones. But I'm still happy with my block. 

Another confession: I had originally planned on using only fabric from the three fat quarter bundles that I bought for this project. However, I was trying to follow a rainbow sequence in the Wonky block and really didn't have enough oranges and yellows, so I borrowed from my stash. You may recognize the one yellow along the left edge - it's the centre fabric from the offset log cabin blocks from the 2013 BOM. There are also a couple of orange pieces, one above and one to the right of the aforementioned yellow strip, which are from fabric I have purchased for a quilt for my daughter. And both of the fussy-cut centres are from my stash. 

I think I prefer the hexie blocks over the log cabin ones, but I doubt I will use any of these blocks again. However, you never know...

Now, will I be able to leave quilting long enough to get those curtains done?

Handy as Well as Craftsy

Today was my "X day," which is what we call a scheduled day off, because it's marked on the schedule with an "X." (Our collective agreement stipulates that a full-time nurse can only work 19 shifts in a 4-week period. That means I get a three day weekend every four weeks). I've been puttering around at home and haven't accomplished nearly as much as I would like, but I did get some things done that I've been putting off for awhile. Here's a picture of my sewing/craft room, to show you what I've gotten done: 

No, that is not a finished quilt. That is my design wall, AKA a cheap flannel-backed vinyl tablecloth with the flannel side facing out. (If you look closely, you can actually see the design on the tablecloth). That way I can stick quilt blocks on there, or even fabric swatches, and see what they look like together, and how I want to arrange them. It's a bit of a problem, however, when I'm working on more than one quilt. As you can see, I've got blocks from both the 2012 and 2013 BOM quilts and I'm not halfway through either one yet. I only have so much wall space, and I hated to hide them away while taking my quilting hiatus. I might put another "design wall" in behind the door. And maybe I'll replace the tablecloth if I can get a flannelette sheet for a reasonable price. It's not a good time of year to find flannelette sheets, but I might just check out some thrift stores.

Next to my "design wall" is something that, in all likelihood, you won't recognize as pegboard because you've probably never seen pegboard that colour before. I bought a can of fluorescent green spray paint at WalMart and painted it myself. As you can see, the spray paint didn't go on very evenly, but that's okay. It makes it look like a Batik fabric. :-) And I installed the pegboard myself as well. I got some directions from my local Alta-Wide/Tim-Br Mart, where I purchased the supplies. Actually I should say some of the supplies. Because I didn't want a full 4'x8' sheet of pegboard, they trimmed a piece the size I wanted from some scrap they had, as well as the lumber I needed for the strapping and gave it to me free of charge. Wow! That's what I call good customer service. I really appreciate it, as well, when someone in this type of store is willing to take the time to explain to me what I need to do to get the job done. My local Home Hardware is good about this also. But I still have to be able to do it. And I did, as you can see, using a level, a measuring tape, a power drill and a screw driver. I was looking for some way to store my quilting rulers and other stuff without them getting damaged. The main 6x24" ruler won't fit just anywhere easily. And I wanted it all to be readily accessible. Now it is, and I can see what I've got at a glance.

This was one of yesterday's projects: 

I had bought these containers at WalMart and yesterday I sorted fabric. One container has the fabric for the 2012 BOM, one has fabric for the 2013 BOM, one is various cat fabric, including a very nice panel that will become the centre of a quilt. Then there is various orange fabric destined to become a quilt for my daughter, John Deere fabric for my grandson, miscellaneous purple fabric for a Christmas tree skirt (I have a tree that I decorate all in purple that I need an appropriate tree skirt for). And finally, there is a container of odds and ends that I have yet to determine their destiny. Now I have to find shelf/closet space for all of these containers...
Today, the mail brought both my parcels. One was the book, The Quilter's Album of Blocks and Borders, which I found to be exciting and inspiring. You can find it here: The Quilter's Album of Blocks and Borders: More than 750 Geometric Designs Illustrated and Categorized for Easy Identification and Drafting The other was my Quilters Design Mirrors and Lazy Angle ruler. The ruler is already hanging on my pegboard, but I haven't figured out how to safely store the mirrors. Probably on the bookshelf. The mirrors can be found here:
Quilter's Design Mirrors: For Star, Kaleidoscope & Repeating-Design Quilts Get the Big Picture-Preview the Whole Design with this Larger Format Mirror
And the ruler can be found here: Creative Grids: Lazy Angle Ruler
I still need to put my tools away and maybe run to WalMart for some hooks. I want to hang my frying pans on the kitchen wall. I tried some swag hooks, but the ones I got won't fit the handle of my cast iron frying pans, so I'll have to explore another option.
Until next time,
Laura