Tangled Threads and Seaweed

Not Much Going On

Just checking in - there's nothing new going on here - no quilting, no knitting - just work and sleep.

Joe gave me a spa package for Christmas/my birthday, and I used it on Saturday afternoon. It was heavenly - a "margarita" pedicure (she used fresh lime slices in the water and scrubbed my heels with lime halves); a facial; and a 1-hour whole body massage. Bliss!!!

I've had some small (dime to quarter sized) scaly red patches of skin come up on my lower legs and the back of my arms since this summer.  They don't itch, and don't respond to antifungal cream or to corticosteroid cream. (its not ringworm. that's what I suspected but it doesn't match the symptoms and doesn't respond to the medication) They eventually go away, and others come up. The massage therapist said they looked like psoriasis to her. Hell, why not.... 

Here's what my Alaska kids woke up to on Sunday:
  Bella is looking out the front window at the moose in the park across the street from their house!
Isn't that fun?!?
 

Sunday Update

Sunday - the 20th of January! That came fast.

I did return to work on Thursday the 10th. It wasn't too bad for the first couple of days - I didn't get worn out. Last week got pretty rough - Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I worked 11-12 hours each day. That *sucked* (I hate using that word, but it fits) . I basically came in from work, ate supper, and hit the sack. Thursday the 17th I got off work on time, but I was hosting Bunko so I had to get the food and get everything set up, and didn't get home until after 9:00 pm. I went to bed pretty soon after getting home, as I was pretty tired. Friday was ok - I worked a little bit of overtime and I also had to get my sewing stuff packed up to go to quilt group on Saturday. Today (Sunday) I've done laundry and finally got a chance to check my e-mail and blogs. Time flies!

I finished setting a quilt top on Saturday at my quilt group's sewing day. Its a pattern called "Sand Castles" by Teri Christopherson, published in her book called "Mad About Plaid" from Black Mountain Quilts.   
   Its done in Kaffe Fassett fabrics - one of my favorites. This top is about 51" x 62" without borders.
This is the fabric I plan to use for the border. Its in a couple of the blocks of the quilt also. Any thoughts on the border? My group was divided - some like it and some don't - and I think it depends on whether you like Kaffe Fassett fabric to begin with. If for some reason I don't use the green gazania fabric, the quilt might not even get a border - I like it without a border almost as much.  The quilt will be quilted in a dense pantograph with light yellow thread, and will likely end up on the sofa. (that seems to be where a lot of my quilts get used!)

We went to see "Charlie Wilson's War" (Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts) this afternoon. It was a good movie - there was a lot of the f-word (in case anyone objects) but it was really interesting. I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't know much about the US-Afghanistan relations during the 1980s, so it was somewhat educational as well!

Speaking of Tom Hanks, we saw "The Terminal" on TV last night. I know it was released several years ago, but I'd never seen it and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Its the one where he's visiting from a foreign country, which has fallen into a civil war as he arrives in the US and he cannot leave the airport because his country is no longer recognized by the US. He spends several months living in the terminal until the war in his country ends and he gets his visa back from the authorities.

OK - what else is going on? I'm having a hard time getting to Curves - they changed their hours and I can't get there before work anymore. They open at 7:00 and I have to be at work by 7:30 am so I can't get a 30-minute workout. When I work late, I can't get there by 6:30 in the evening either, and I only have a 30-minute lunch hour. Grrr. Its frustrating. I hate to quit going, but I think its unfortunate that their hours and mine don't jive better.

I've updated my book list (in my sidebar). I've been reading a lot lately - since I've been feeling better and can focus again - and I read really fast. Joe reads alot too - about as much as I do - and once we've both read a book, we pass it on to someone else that might enjoy it. He likes non-fiction more than I do, but we have similar tastes. So far, we agree that "Marley and Me" is the best book we've read this year. Its a wonderful story of a couple and their wayward labrador retriever. This book was published a couple years ago.

That's about it for now. I'm looking forward to a pleasant week - and I'm wishing you the same!   

Another Day

I'm still working on the quilt. Dorothy asked what I was planning to do with it, once its finished. I seriously haven't thought that far ahead!  :)  I'm pretty sure the kids don't want it - the colors are wrong - Tara isn't into "bright" colors. Its a large throw size; it won't fit a bed so it will probably end up on a couch.

Here's the finished scarf - about 60" of mottled blue yumminess. The ribbing is scrunchy and soft and I'm glad to be through with it. I'm thinking of sending it to Alaska if one of the kids will wear it.

I went to Amarillo the other day to do some shopping and errands (pick up wedding photos, buy Bunko prizes, knitting stuff etc. but that's a different story). I've needed to make some fabric postcards with the theme "Where I Live", and I've been stumped about how to do it. I could do an easy cheat and use some Texas print, but that isn't interesting. I'm toying with the idea of a prairie and windmill - here's a couple shots of the landscape between Borger and Amarillo.
These pictures show the cuts in the land which are part of the "breaks" of the Canadian River. There are rolling hills and little creekbeds that look like small canyons. About 5 miles south of this area, the ground flattens out and you can see for miles across the plains. 
I don't know if I'll use these to make my postcards - I had considered printing a picture on fabric, or perhaps trying to do this in applique. Anyway I thought you might be interested in seeing where I live. (yes, its rather dreary this time of year!)

Tomorrow (Thursday the 10th) I'm going back to work. I'm a little nervous about it - mostly afraid of being really tired when I get home in the evening. Joe thinks I've got more energy than I've had in a long time. I've gotten a bunch of stuff done around the house this past week, and could use another couple of weeks like this to get this house really straightened out!

Signs of Progress

I started quilting the Ribbon Candy quilt - its coming along ok.
 

  I'm using Superior's Bottom Line in dark green. I started by trying a meandering thing on the pie wedges. Well, you know that didn't look good OR work well - the raw edges kept folding back. Fortunately I only did a very little bit of that before changing my mind.

Can you tell? I am quilting a squiggly line through each curve of the pie wedges. Its easy to do this by traveling back and forth through each section.
I'm happy with the way the thread just melts into the piecing, but it looks like I need to slightly adjust the tension. I'm going to stipple in tan thread in the light sections.

Here's a shot of the back side of the quilt - the stitching looks just about perfect.

I'm quilting a 4-petaled curvy design in the border - its freehand (and I could do a lot better with more practice)
Its not terribly obvious, hope you can see the pattern. Anyway, I'm pleased with how it looks and how its blending with the fabric. I expect to finish quilting the pie wedges tomorrow and get started on the light sections.

Gosh, isn't that border fabric LOUD?!?!?

I HATE When That Happens!

I finally loaded the backing for the Christmas Bullseye quilt today. When I started layering the batting and the top, I discovered that the backing is an inch narrower than the quilt top... SNAP!!!! I'm totally bummed out. I quit in frustration, came in to check e-mail and pay a few bills online, and wait till I get over this latest snag. (insert imaginative swearing here!)

I know the thing to do is unpin the backing and add a 14" strip down one side of the piece. Yeah, it will take about 5 minutes to get the backing off the rollers, 10 minutes to cut and piece the additional fabric into the backing, and about 30 minutes to re-load the backing. I'm just too mad to do it right now! I knew it was all going together too easily... Cripes!!!!

First Flimsy of 2008

I spent a good part of the day working in the studio today... I had read somewhere that what you do on the first day of the year, you'll do all year long... so I wanted to be sure I got some quilting accomplished! I need all the good mojo I can get! We had worked on Christmas Bullseye Quilts in my stitch group at our December meeting, but I didn't finish setting my blocks into a top. Today I got the top put together and the borders added.
Here's my first "flimsy" (quilt top) for the year - its draped on the longarm rails and I've got the batting laid out to relax so I can quilt it.
This isn't the usual bullseye setting - one of the girls in our group thought this layout looked like ribbon candy, and I knew this was how I would set this quilt. My border fabric is an OLD, OLD candy print from V.I.P. and has some glitter on it. I may not have made the best choice in fabric for the narrow border - the quilt blocks do have some pink in them, and the pink really pops next to the border fabric, but yeah, its kind of loud. Oh well. The quilt top was so busy that I didn't want to put the candy border right next to it. I tried some green fabrics (instead of the pink) and didn't like any of them. So, pink it is...
I truly intended to fold the top up and put it on a shelf (with other "finished" tops) to be quilted someday. I've been on a mission to use up my Christmas fabrics for some time now, so I checked the shelf to see what I had that could be used for backing. I found 4 yards of this fabric - is it Christmas cookies, or buttons, or what?? Anyway, I did some quick measuring and this is the perfect amount to back this quilt top. I cut it in half, tore the selvedges off, and seamed it on the selvedge edges... so now I had a backing ready for the Christmas Bullseye... what would you do in this situation? I figure that it must be the fates working in my favor, and I better go ahead and quilt this one. I'll load this one tomorrow and start quilting it - it'll be nice to have a quilt finished up so quickly! (I still need to make some binding - it will probably be black)

I'm thinking of using a green thread in the bobbin - it will vanish against that busy print - and either green or red thread in the top for part of the quilting. I'll do some simple meandering in the border and in the "ribbons" made by the bullseye wedges. I'll do all the quilting with the colored thread first, then re-roll the quilt and use a tan/beige thread to quilt the block backgrounds. It looks like my first "flimsy" of 2008 might quickly become my first finished quilt of 2008!

Back to the knitting - here's how the Mistake Rib scarf is looking.
yeah, its a scarf! *grin* but this pattern has more dimension than the Seed Stitch, and I like how its turning out much better.

I'm not much of a "New Year's Resolutions" type of person... I've noticed quite a few bloggers have traded in the New Year's Resolutions for a list of things to accomplish in the coming year. Its a more positive outlook, isn't it, to focus on a "to-do" list rather than a list of things to quit doing. I admire those of you who are organized with spreadsheets and itemized inventories of what's in your stash, and I'm looking forward to cheering for you as you use up old fabrics and yarn, and your lists of finished objects begin to grow. I'd like to be that organized and committed... but I know myself better than that! I'm really bad at sticking with long-term plans. I did give it some thought, though. I realize that I could make a LOT of headway if I completed a UFO every week or two... and if I quilted a completed top every week or two, I'd have a BIG stack of quilts at the end of the year! But I'm not going to set goals like that, because I can't be sure that's how I'll spend my time this year. How about logging my finished projects in a photo album on this blog - I can do that - but no lists of UFOs to send me on a guilt trip. And maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised when the end of 2008 rolls around!