Blah blogging

Is it just me or does it seem like the usual bloggers have been laying low lately? I know several are having babies, but it seems like there has been a sort of quiet on the blogging front. I do still have plenty of blogs to read.

Does anybody know anything about Karrie Lyne from Freckled Whimsy? I really enjoyed her blog and tutorials.

Super fun evening and end to a LONG week

I have a tendency to sign up for a lot of stuff and some times all those things come due at the same time. I believe in keeping my commitments so I burn the candle at both ends to get everything done. This week was one of those weeks. Daylight Savings did NOT help. Work got busy all of a sudden and I had ministries at church I had serve. Six dozen cookies and two mangled mini quilts later, I am here to say I survived!

Last night I spoke at the Des Moines Modern Quilt Guild. This is such a wonderful group of creative, talented and all round wonderful ladies. The title of my presentation was "Traditional Design in Modern Quilting". It was part educational, part show and tell. More than anything, I enjoyed just sharing about my culture, growing up and my last trip.

So if you are in the Des Moines area, please join us. You WILL enjoy yourself. We meet on the third Thursday of every month at 6:30. The website has additional information.

Bad sewers are very creative

That is so-er not su-er. I will explain. I watched "A Year of Schnibbles" from afar, but this year I decided to participate in "Another Year of Schibbles". I said I wanted to improve my piecing skills. 

Right!! The pieces are small. They wiggle and when sewing triangles the corners get chewed up. I started the January pattern, Full House, in January, but finished it today. Well, not quite. I need a second opinion. In my defense I was traveling for half the month of January and half the month of February. I had to skip February for that reason. Even with the leap day I knew I wouldn't be able to get it done. I did order and have received the pattern for March. 

So where do I begin. I learned that 'scant 1/4 inch seam' means not a full 1/4 inch seam. I thought it wouldn't make a difference. Each not a difference added up to a difference. Nothing matched up!!! Edges were hanging off. The points were all off. I was sewing on the edge. I just ploughed through because I just wanted it DONE! The worst bit was my sashing strips. I have no idea what I did but I ended up with two strips that were a good three quarter inch too short. This one I couldn't wiggle out of. So I ripped it out a couple inches and then attached more fabric. Hey, I signed the Process Pledge, so full disclosure. Pictures below. 

I love the fabric and the pattern is cute. Since the pattern is called "Full House" and the fabric is "Flora", I am calling this "Hothouse". I wanted it to look like tropical greenhouses, so the gray is supposed to be steel like.

The pattern calls for a border which would be my gray. I don't want it to be too dull so I haven't sewed it on. Should I put the border on? 

Super secret project

I've always wanted to say that. It isn't 'super' or really 'secret'. I am just holding out on information for my presentation for the Des Moines Modern Quilt Guild. I am presenting "Traditional Indian Design in Modern Quilting" on March 15th (6:30pm) at the Waukee Area Arts Council Center at 405 Maple, Waukee 50263. Apart from working on the presentation, I am whipping up a quilt top to show. 


If you are in the Des Moines area, please come! 

Back!

I'm baacck! I was traveling for work and have been gone for a LONG time. I haven't done any sewing and just been tired in general. I wanted to participate in Another Year of Schnibbles but I missed the January 31st deadline (sitting on the ironing board) and came home too late to start February's pattern. I am going to try again with March. That being said, that may not happen because I have another project I HAVE to do.

I should turn this into a quilt and travel blog. "Where is my seam ripper and passport?"

Blog header

I have a brand new, customized blog header!
Jennisa at Once Upon a Blog did it for me. Isn't it cute? Even with all the crazy in my head, she was able to figure out what I was describing. See, the seams don't match so they need to be ripped out? Get it?! If you need a blog header go check out Jennisa's site. She also does buttons and signatures.
I really like it. It really perks up the blog, doesn't it?

Caught between the moon and New York City

Well, not quite. I am caught between modern and traditional. Does anybody else have this problem?

I am a member of the Des Moines Modern Quilt Guild and I love clean lines, but I dislike Kona Ash. What a waste of a colour. Medium Gray or Charcoal is so much better. I don't like novelty prints. They are cheesy in my opinion and some of them creep me out. I also am not a fan of trends. Seems like you see one and then you see a million copy cats with designs. Example: hexagons. Seemed like there were a million hexagons out there last year. 

I am not a traditional quilter either because I just wing it most of the time. I don't applique and probably never will. I don't really square up my fabric and I add borders and then cut. I do like pretty though- I love floral fabrics. Soft pastel florals. I also love traditional block patterns- straight up blocks.

I think this stems from an adolescence of reading Jane Austen and watching MTV at the same time.