Back to the drawing board -

So it was back to the drawing board -
To think about the border -
On my Floral Applique -

And I came up with a few options -
With a little help from my friends - ;))

Plan A - Do nothing - and forget what I saw -
KatieM said that once I stitched them the lights might disappear -
And become leaves again -

And -

Patrica said that the quilting might make me unsee the lights -
If I just made the quilting leaves -

But I don't think I can UNSEE the Christmas lights now -
It's been on the wall for a while -
And I still see them -

Plan B - Switch them all out for various shades of Green -
Like Angie said - they would look more like leaves if they were all green -
And Lori suggested making them lighter green -

Plan C - Change their size and/or shape -
There again - try to make them look more like leaves -
And maybe the scale is off a bit -

Plan D - Take them all off and have "vine" only -
Sometimes less is more -
And maybe the leaves are distracting -

Or -

Plan E - Play with something else -
It's not like I don't have choices - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

BOB's Tuesday Toast - 6/25/13

Here’s to Pattern Writers -
Who don’t furnish the FINISHED size of BASIC UNITS needed -

May they realize that there are different ways to make UNITS -
And that I may prefer another way - ;))

===

Patterns normally provide the FINISHED size of the QUILT -

And the FINISHED size of the BLOCK -

Which is GREAT - ;))

But sometimes the blocks include BASIC UNITS -

Such as HST -

QST -

4-Patches -

And Flying Geese -

And some pattern writers do not provide -

The FINISHED size of THOSE units -

And I REALLY wish that they would - ;))

I think that patterns with cutting diagrams are great -

IF I want to make it that way - ;))

But I also have some dies -

And Thangles(TM) -

And Triangulations(TM) -

And other tricks -

That I could/would USE -

If I knew the FINISHED size of the BASIC UNITS I needed -

To make the quilt - ;))

Lucky for me -

I can do the MATH -

And figure it out -

But it would be nice -

If the pattern writer provided the information -

So that I could spend my time -

SEWING instead - ;))



But then again - it’s probably just me - ;))

Design Wall Monday - 6/24/13

DESIGN WALL MONDAY - 6/24/13
Check out all of us who link up with Judy L. at Patchwork Times
on Mondays.
We have some awesome stuff on our walls!
Well, THEY do - ME - not so much sometimes - ;))
===

I got the top section together -
And it looks pretty good -
If I must say so myself - ;))

I even managed to do a bit better -
Matching those silly seams -
Except for the one on the left in the first photo -
But I figure three out of four ain’t bad - ;))

Then I dug out some of my Greens -
To see which one(s) might show up better -
On the Dark Gray -

And narrowed them down -
To the three on the right -
Plus the original three on the left -

So I cut out a bunch more leaves -

Played with the spacing and colors -

Pinned some to the left border -

And put the border up on the design wall -

Then in an email to LindaJ - HERE -
I rambled on and on -

Right now I'm trying to decide if I want to work on the "leaves" or on something else for a while. The floral applique is getting big and unwieldy and I really need to move it to the bigger design wall in the hallway - but that wall is currently covered in LHQSQ blocks - and I need 14 more of them before I can put that top together - and I really don't want to take down 85 blocks and then have to put them all back up again - so maybe I should just make the rest of them and get it done with - but the "leaves" are so pretty and I need to work on the spacing and colors to get them to look right - but this wall isn't big enough - I really need the other one - so maybe I could use the kitchen island instead - but it's got stuff on it - and I would have to clear that off - and it's almost nap time - and sew it goes - haha - ;))

Then I decided to play with the top border -
And the top left corner -

Pinned some more leaves -

Put that up on the wall -

And I thought that the leaves looked pretty good -

UNTIL I took this photo -

Now I don't see leaves at all -

I see Christmas lights - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

So cute!! - EDITED TO INCLUDE PHOTO -

While I was/am working on my stuff -

For Design Wall Monday -

I took a break to "surf" a bit - ;))

If I knew how to "capture" the photo -

I would -

But I don't -

So PLEASE check the link - HERE -

It is SO CUTE!!! - ;))

===
EDITED TO INCLUDE PHOTO -
Thanks to LindaJ and her TERRIFIC instructions -
I was able to "capture" the photo -
But you still have to check the link -
To get the whole story - ;))

===

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

BOB's friend -

BOB has told you about -
Her handicapped friend before - HERE -

My friend has a degenerative nerve disease -
That makes her leg virtually useless -
Which makes it difficult to walk and stand -

She wears a leg brace -
But cannot stand for more than a couple of minutes -
Before her back begins to hurt - big time -

She wears a diaper -
Because the disease has made her totally incontinent -

She uses a scooter to get around -
IF she leaves her house at all -
Which she has done -
Exactly 6 times this YEAR -

She cannot travel -
As wheelchair accessibility -
And scooter accessibility -
Are two entirely different things -
And handicapped bathrooms are few and far between -
And usually occupied by able-bodied women -

Anyway -
She has been following along -
On Bonnie Hunter’s trip to Ireland -
Wishing that she could have gone too -

And since she has no email or blog -
She has asked me to tell the group -
How very sorry she is -
That they were inconvenienced -
By the scaffolding at the Rock of Cashel - HERE -

that didn’t help those of us who were sad not to see the original cross of St Patrick!

And that they had to settle for a quick walk around the outside -

So sad - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Design Wall Monday - 6/17/13

DESIGN WALL MONDAY - 6/17/13
Check out all of us who link up with Judy L. at Patchwork Times
on Mondays.
We have some awesome stuff on our walls!
Well, THEY do - ME - not so much sometimes - ;))
===

OK - I finally decided to tackle -

The top section of the Floral Applique quilt -

First I played with the center block -
And detached/unsewed the top row of HST - ;))

Then to help straighten out the center block -
And to help stabilize it -
I cut a large piece of freezer paper -
The size that I thought the block should be -

And ironed it to the back of the block -

After digging out the pattern to find out -
Where the heck the CENTER of the block was - ;))

SIDE NOTE -
The side blocks lie flatter than they appear in the photo -
And don’t need to be straightened or stabilized -
And the center block is a couple of inches short -
If I were to sew the blocks together with no strips between them - ;))
===

Then I did a bit more unsewing -

And took off the HST -
That had been on each end -
Of the top row on the center block -

And sewed them to the top of the HST strips -
That I had tried BEFORE** -

And put the pieces back up on the wall - ;))

And I LIKE IT!! - ;))

I remember thinking BEFORE** -

That the center block looked crowded -

But it doesn't look crowded TODAY -

So that’s what I’m going to do -

TOMORROW - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

**BEFORE -
Check out the page/tab QJ - Floral Applique for the story.
Part VIII begins the tale of the HST Sashing/Inner Border - ;))

Happy Father's Day!!

I want to wish all of the fathers - brothers - uncles - grandfathers - etc.

a VERY HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!


My husband - and GREAT FATHER to our two kids -
and WONDERFUL GRANDFATHER to our grandkids -

Wants power tools again this year for Father's Day.

Rats!

He still doesn't want a long-arm quilting machine - ;))

Maybe next year.



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Puzzles -

For something different sometimes -

I like to do jigsaw puzzles -

They are mindless -

And relaxing -

EZ Grasp (TM)
Cut Flowers & Fruit Still Life
mbpuzzles - dot - com
300 pieces
age 10+
18" x 24"

EZ Grasp (TM)
Summer’s Bounty
mbpuzzles - dot - com
300 pieces
age 10+
18" x 24"

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Spinning seams -

I have been making 4-patches forever -

But it has only been recently -

That I finally figured out to “spin seams” -
Like everyone else -
YAY for me! - ;))

BUT -

I often wondered what would happen -

If I accidentally “unsewed” an extra stitch or two -

Would I wind up with a “hole” in the middle of my 4-patch? - ;))

So I did an experiment -

And did exactly that -

I “unsewed” an extra stitch on each side -
To see what would happen -

And - YES - there is a small hole -
But NOT in the middle -
It’s where the seam ripper is in the photo -
It’s just to the side of center -

The center seam is still intact -
Because of the long seam -
That joins the 2-patch units -

Whew!

Now I know for SURE -

What everyone else already knows - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

BOB's Tuesday Toast - 6/11/13

Here’s to Quilt Bloggers -
Who have one of my buttons on their blog -

Thank you!! Thankyouverymuch!! - ;))

===

The other day I received an email -
From another Left-Handed quilter -
Who found me through another blog -
YAY!!

I said -

Nice to meet you, (insert name here)!! Welcome to my blog!! Check out the page/tab on my blog called "Lefties" - there are a whole bunch of us!! Add my button to your blog and I'll add your name to the list - ;))

We emailed back and forth -
And later I said -

I know that there must a BUNCH of us out there - and I'm finding them - one by one by one - ;))

And then there are those -
Who I found and then lost -

The ones who used to have the LHQ button on their blog -
But took it off for whatever reason -
May they reconsider - ;))

And then I wonder about the reason -

I wonder -

If they found a “cure” -
And are no longer Left-Handed -
If so - may they share the "cure" with the rest of us - ;))

Or -

If they feel that being Left-Handed -
Is bad for business -
If so - may they know that some of my biggest fans are Right-Handed - ;))

Or -

If it was something that I said -
If so - may they consider that friends can sometimes disagree -
And still be friends - ;))



But then again - it’s probably just me - ;))

Design Wall Monday - 6/10/13

DESIGN WALL MONDAY - 6/1013
Check out all of us who link up with Judy L. at Patchwork Times
on Mondays.
We have some awesome stuff on our walls!
Well, THEY do - ME - not so much sometimes - ;))
===

Funny thing -

After finishing the May Flowers Sudoku Quilt top -

I STILL wasn’t ready -

To tackle the top section -

Of my Floral Applique quilt -

I wonder why? - ;))

Anyway -

I needed some more diversion -

So I pulled out some blocks -

That I had "cut and kitted" a LONG time ago -

Pattern - It's Hip tp Strip!!!: "Chip Off The Old Block"
(c) 2007 - Diedre K. Brown
"The Teacher's Pet" - HERE -
Click the tab for Jell Roll Patterns - The pattern is #TP303 - near the bottom -
 
Fabric - Hoffman Bali Pops - Mint Chip - HERE -
I don't think that particular group is available anymore -
Santa gave it to me a very LONG time ago -
But Nancy's Notions has a nice selection - HERE - ;))

And -

In the next few days -

This jumbled mess -

Became this -

And then this -

And then a bunch of these - ;))

I should probably stop stalling -

And just get back to it, huh? -

That top section hasn't fixed itself yet -

And I have given it PLENTY of time - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

TUSAL - 6/8/13

I have joined hundreds of other stitchers in Daffycat’s TUSAL 2013 - HERE -

It's a Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long - ;)) -

To play the game -

I have to fill my glass container -

With saved thread clippings -

Or ORTS - Old Ratty Threads -

Fabric trimmings -

Stitching cast-offs -

And then -

On (or about) the New Moon -

Take a picture of the ORTS in my jar -

Post it to my blog -

With a link back to her TUSAL post - HERE -

And label the Totally Useless posts with “TUSAL” -

It's EASY -

It's TOTALLY USELESS -

And -

It's FUN!! - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

May Flowers Sudoku Quilt

So I took a break from the applique -

And decided to play with -

May Flowers Sudoku Quilt - ;))

>

It was already "cut and kitted" - HERE -

The squares had already been cut -

And the scrap card had been made -
It was my "cheat sheet" - ;))

So I spent a couple of lazy days -

Sewing a few squares together -

Making blocks -
And adding the sashing and cornerstones -

The “Watercolor” feel to it was a "Happy Accident" - ;))

After I added the borders -
I even made the heart - ;))

TA DAH!!

Flowers - Flowers - Everywhere!! -

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Unsewing a bit -

The more I looked at this quilt -

The more I wasn’t happy with the top section - ;))

That center block doesn't lie flat -

And -

The skinny dark gray strips bother me - ;))

I remember not making strips of "full-sized" HST -

To separate the top three blocks -

Because they seemed to crowd the center block -

But I might have to re-think that -

Because the skinny strips don't look right either -

And those silly seams don't match - ;))

So I “unsewed” it -

And I’m going to try AGAIN -

I want/need to rethink those strips -

Or try to match those silly seams - ;))

But first I’m going to take a break -

From all of this applique -

Shift gears a little -

And do a bit of piecing - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

BOB and sugar-free -

Let me see if I’ve got this straight -

A company makes regular cookies -

And -

The same company makes SUGAR-FREE cookies -

And I have to pay EXTRA -

For the SUGAR-FREE ones - ;))

I have to pay EXTRA -

Because they left OUT the sugar - ;))

Yeah - that makes sense!! -

NOT!! - ;))

With that kind of logic -

I probably should be grateful -

That they don't charge me -

Even MORE extra -

Because they left out -

The carrots and onions, too - ;))



But then again - it’s probably just me - ;))

Design Wall Monday - 6/3/13

DESIGN WALL MONDAY - 6/3/13
Check out all of us who link up with Judy L. at Patchwork Times
on Mondays.
We have some awesome stuff on our walls!
Well, THEY do - ME - not so much sometimes - ;))
===

So after I find a Green -

That will show up on the Dark Gray -

And I cut some more leaves -

I get to play with colors and spacing - ;))

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -