Monday, March 31, 2014

What Do You Mean, It's Not For Me?

Okay, so I'm totally ready to admit paper piecing is not my thing.  And, I've go a WHOLE quilt to go still!This little bugger took almost 2 hours to do.  Those glasses were intense!  I kept putting the fabric down on the paper backwards or not making sure the fabric is long enough.  And, now that I see the picture, forgetting pieces all together!  Yeah, that left botttom frame isn't supposed to be that long.  Jeez, now that's got to be fixed.

It's been a long couple of weeks.  My hours are long and my family doesn't seem to stop needing me just because I'm busy.  Rich's mother died this week and that's a whole other thing.  He was estranged  from her up until about a month ago when she found out she was dying and wanted to make amends. The kids have never met her.  He isn't taking it well.  He's been a Crab-asaurus Rex from the planet Crab-atron.  I think mourning would be easier on him (and the rest of us) but he's just really angry right now.  It really makes you reflect on what's important in life.  What do you want people to feel when you're gone.  Do you want them to be sad to see you go or just pissed at who you chose to be.  God willing, my kids will just be sad.  All four of that woman's kids are pissed off.  And, I guess that is one of the stages of mourning.  It's pretty terrible.


Any who, enough of the depressing stuff.  I did manage to get a couple of my Christmas blocks done.  I think it's turning out cute.  However, I do keep forgetting that I wanted it to be blues and greens.  Pink seems to be creeping in on a regular basis.  I love how the pear fabric photographed!  It doesn't seem that intense in real life.


I told Rich, "Look honey, I get the present!"  He gave me the dead pan stare and said, "You get ALL the presents."  Ha!  At least we've got that established!  If you're keeping track, March's gift was tickets to Celtic Woman.  It was so good!  I took Sierra because Rich said he would just make fun of it and ruin my night.  Another thing we agree on.

Here's a funny story about me and presents!  Rich had a seriously beautiful book shelf hand crafted by his former co-worker.  Seriously.  Beautiful.  Artistry.  So, he sends me a picture of  it while I'm at work and I love it.  So, I thought, this must be an early April present... I have it mentally filled and decorated before I get home.  I'm showing my co-workers how beautiful it is and they're telling me how spoiled I am.  You get the picture.  So, I get home and the darn thing is full already of war books!  I'm, like, what?!  It wasn't for me at all!!!  He had it made to house his war/ science/ philosophy book collection!  What the heck?  He wanted it for books??  He did leave me part of one shelf to put the family photo albums.  Reason # 4,567,396 that the world does not revolve around Heather Mantz.




Sunday, March 16, 2014

Eleanor Is Back In Action


Well,  my machine was at the doctor's for the last 2 weeks and it was killing me!  Apparently the feed dog module was toast.  Eleanor's got plenty of pep in her step now!  It's like an episode of I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant, how did I not know there was that big of a problem?  We're good now.  I haven't tried free motion yet but I'm hopeful!  

I put together the blocks for my baby quilt and got the first border on but then had to quit when I realized that I needed more fabric.  Ugh.  It'd be fun if I could plan ahead once in awhile.  I bought more of the yellow than I needed but I figure that can be the back.  I will NOT be doing the prairie points.  One more white border and I'll be done.  The baby will be here before I know it , I was hoping I'd finish it today.



So, I decided to start another project for myself.  I'm a super huge Harry Potter fan.  I saw this project a few years ago when the designer was doing it as a Block of the Week.  I wasn't really excited at first because it was just books.  Not really exciting but then I saw it at the end of the year!  So, great!   I just loved it!  It's paper pieced, which is weird for me.  



I kept thinking that as I went along it would get easier to do but that was not the case today.  I ripped out more than I sewed, or so it seemed.  It's so hard to make sure you've got a big enough piece of fabric, pointing in the right direction.  It seems simple but it's not.  Then, I kept ripping the paper off before I had the whole piece together.  Bleh.  Lots more to do.  By the time I'm done, I'm going to be an expert, I'm sure.




While the machine was in the shop, I worked on my cross stitch project.  I sucked at this, too.  The last block with the Flying Geese, kicked my butt!  I wrote in the pattern wrong twice.  Then, I was half way done stitching and realized I still had the pattern wrong.  I was 2 rows off.  I couldn't leave it like that because the block beneath it wouldn't line up.  So, I ripped out the stitches.  And, shredded the Aida cloth in the process.  2 weeks and much swearing later, I fixed it.  Only to realize that I now had it misaligned in a different direction.  Ugh.  Why do I bother?!  At least it will still line up with the one beneath it.

Monday, March 3, 2014

Is That A Tulip In Your Pants, or Are You Just Happy To See Me?


I'm back to work but I'm trying to stay a little creative.  Fred and Dorothy's quilt got finished.  It's more than she asked or paid for but she's really happy with it and that's cool.  When she mentioned she was going to want one for herself (this was a gift) I said it would cost double.  She voluntarily paid me extra for the extra work.  So, that was cool too.

I used Mountain Mist quilt batting for the first time and it was horrible!  You know that cotton that pulls apart in the medicine bottle and won't come out.  It's just like that.  When I was making the quilt sandwich my fingers would rip right through.  That is NOT the place to same money.


Rabbits Prefer Chocolate got the borders put on.  I did end up hand appliquing the scalloped border and I love the stripe fabric I found for it!  If you don't look too closely, it appears that my corners match up just fine.  And, if you do look too close, go away.  Nobody needs your negativity.  I'll have to wait until my machine comes back from getting a tune-up before I quilt it.  Hopefully in time for the guild's May meeting.


I finally got around to repainting my buttons.  Okay, so I bought the paint and asked Rich to do it for me... that should count for something.  They're so much cuter now!  Don't look too closely, or you'll see all the paint layers underneath and Rich's finger prints from when he brought them back in the house.  And, if you do look too closely, go away.  Nobody needs your negativity.


Just last night I finished another tulip block.  I was telling Rich that I didn't like it.  The spheres at the base of the large tulip really bothered me.  We looked at each other and said "They look like testicles."  Then he says, it wouldn't have been so bad if the center wasn't that shade of pink.  Yep.  I have a penis on my tulip.  You totally see it, right?!  Can you see the light shadowing?  So, he suggests I embroider some fuzz on the spheres to make the look complete.

During the Oscars I embroidered along the "tip" to disguise it a little.  Nope.  Now it looks diseased.  This one time I had a pair of sandals that had flowers on top that I decided looked like vaginas.  I never wore the shoes again.  So, as I see it, I have 2 options here.  One, get rid of the block and do something less phalic.  Or, two, put it in the quilt where it will always lay across Rich's crotch.