February Review

February is short with only 28 days, but I try to pack as much in as I can. 

We visited Magnolia Gardens, Middleton Plantation, Folly Beach, and Charlotte (NC). 

My grandkids were also busy this month. Seth graduated from his Eye Therapy Classes. Most of us never even think twice if we want to cross our eyes. This little man couldn't, and therefore was unable to read anything in small print or up close! Distance was a strong point for him so no one noticed how things weren't working, until his grades started to drop. That's when his parents pushed for answers. And NOW things are much better. Our Miss Molly has a new love, her littlest cousin. He fell asleep as she rocked him, much to her dismay. She wanted to talk to him more. Precious kids. 

The Creative Adventure Journal is moving forward, slowly. I am keeping paper copies of 'stufff' in the 3-ring binder I covered last fall for this project. On the right, below, you can see the inside of the cover I made for my 'pages' that I will be creating this year. On the lower left is what is left from an old photo album. The interior pages literally fell away from the covers when I started to check out its stability. I guess it was meant to be a part of this project also. I glued the two tab areas together. That might not have been the best decision, but time will tell. If I fold my locker hooked cover the way I want to, the hard covers should slide into the little pocket flaps on each end. And I'm participating in the M.A.P. on Facebook. It will be fun to interact with others. 

Next are two pages of rough draft drawings for disappearing quilt blocks. I'm mesmerized by the options that one could do with this simple technique. It's been around for several years, but good ideas are worth revisiting. 

Valentine's Day goodies of a delivery of 50 colors (only 1 shade of gray) and dinner at Sunrise Bistro in Summerville, SC. We also had gone for another 'Southern Tea' experience at Baker's Pond and Garden Center. Dr. West is a very informed gentleman regarding the 'tea culture' of our area. 

This next set of pictures has a funny story behind them. The first is obviously how the project ended. But it is obvious that we had some unstitching to do on the top right piecing. We sat and took care of it one afternoon. Put it all back together and I took the lower left picture the second time we were done with piecing, NOT! All we could do was laugh at this point and unstitch the last seam, and restitch it for a third finish??? Yes, this time everything had been pinned and stitched according to our drawings. I used my favorite circle meander design for the quilting. It has been trimmed and given back to its owner. And before I started on her charity quilt, I noticed my longarm quilting machine 'pulling' against me as I tried to move it into position. I went to the back side to see if there was a cord caught. Oh, yes! My encoder tape was under the carriage, caught within the rollers, and that little zip tie was laying on my table. This is not a good thing! I turned everything off. Checked the HandiQuilter website for the video for setting up of the machine. This was done by the shop I purchased it through, not me. It was not done correctly, or this could not have happened! And there was no reason for a zip tie to be anywhere within my machine's vicinity. Thankfully there are good videos on that site that showed me exactly what should be where. I was able to fix things and got more quilting done that day. 

Here's what can happen when you know you want another flannel comfort quilt. I purchased 5 yards of wide back flannel for the project. I cut it into two sections because I wanted to use one for backing and the other one for the filler. My original plan was to stitch within each of my hankies, fold the fabric into columns and rows. Similar to when you use some of that wonderful 2" grid for watercolor quilting. My method was to do this with the seams to the top, then trim the edge so I could then 'rag' the edges. Great idea, but my hankies were of so many varying sizes, it wasn't a wise way to go. So, after washing, drying, and several extra rounds of air fluffing to remove lint and fuzz, I attached one as a backing, used the second piece as a batting and just layed my hankies on one row at a time. Adjusting things as I went worked well. I was surprised at how much my 'batting flannel' shrunk compared to the attached backing flannel. I once again used my favorite circle meander quilting design. I then layed out a group of charms and just did straight lines across them. It can be a table runner, chair cover, or I might eventually make it into a snuggle pillow. For now it lives on my rocking chair. The 2cup container is the lint from that 5 yards of flannel. The flannel is still soft and fuzzy like you would want it, but my goodness I never thought I was going to get this much lint accumulated. I'm glad I checked early in the drying time, as I needed to clear the lint filter every 20 minutes. By the way, that lint is pushed and packed into that cup, not loose in any spot!

Things don't always go as planned for any of us, do they? I started this pink and purple tunic. The pattern has you make it from the neck down, then sew the shoulders together. I went from the back bodice up and across. The neck was supposed to be a 'slit type' opening. Not one I like but I was willing to try it. I added some rows to make a faux cowl, or at least I can say I started to,,, I decided I hated it and I wasn't going to continue. I got out my yarn winder, unraveled it, wound it into balls. I then started knitting another tank top, using a pattern I've done in the past. It isn't finished but I invested quite a bit of time getting it to this point. 

I grabbed some upholstery fabric squares I picked up at IKEA in Illinois a few years ago, used my serger, and made a quilt top that has gone to the church to be tied and sent out for missions. The 8 boxes on the right are each filled with a similar grouping as in the top one. I plan to use them in the Assemblage Dyeing Workshop I'm taking. I love learning other people's techniques. 

I finally found my cathedral window piece. I hand-pieced this way back when,,,. I took a pillowcase apart and attached it to the top. I tacked each of the little flaps down around the outside edge and sewed the case back together. Viola! Done!  Then, feeling proud of just getting something out of the UFO pile, I grabbed the Batik pieces I cut several years ago for a sweatshirt redo. I started piecing them together in various ways. I have 4 blocks completed. Until I know where I'm going with this, it's as done as it will be. I'm also investing some time in learning how to use a 'new to me' machine. Oh, the learning curve is such a pain,,,.  

As I went through a lot of the 'clutter' of my life I sorted through my flannel fabrics. The small pile on the right of the ironing board is what I kept, the rest went to a local church's charity project. I also gifted the batiks and quilting cottons to a friend that makes charity quilts. I filled  a recycling bin to the top and quilted up the sandwich of a friend's charity quilt. 

The dragonfly candle holder is from the Magnolia Gardens Gift Shop. And the applesauce was something I made for the hubster and myself to enjoy. I forgot just how good homemade can be, even though it cost an arm and a leg, at least you know how much sugar you did (or didn't) put in it!!

Time to go create,,,  

May God bless the work of your hands on this last day of February 2018.