Still Stitching

My threads came in from Superior Threads.  Their turn-around time for orders is pretty quick!  My first order was for all of the variegations of purple that I didn't already have in my thread box.  ooh!  aah!

 My next order was for all of the variegations of pink that I didn't already have.  Obviously I'm not so much a fan of the pinks, eh?

While I was waiting for the thread to arrive, I started to work on Lesson #4.  I've grabbed that idea, and I'm going with it, even if it doesn't work out well.  I'm in this to learn, and I'm guessing I'm going to learn more than a thing or two in the process.  I'm working off of a few photos of my grandfather's house, taken in 1979.

 I have very few photos of his house, though many, many memories.  He built it himself, back in the 50's, acting as contractor, and actually hiring a couple of people to help him.  I'm not sure how many houses he built for his family to live in.  This is the third that I know of.  Back then, you didn't need all that licensing and stuff, though he was a Mechanical Engineer.

 Here is the final house, with the garage, kitchen window, living room window, and bedroom windows.  It is not to scale, but it's the right color, and it's got the windows I remember.

The house was set back, in the hills of Malibu.  My grandfather used to stand at the picture window, looking out across the ocean.  He told me, "I stand here, and wonder, 'Is there a man in Japan, looking out his window at me?' "  Perhaps there was, though my grandfather was pretty much one of a kind.

I'm debating back and forth as to how much of the hill to include.  The house came out much bigger than I expected.  In reality, it was dwarfed by the hill it sat upon.  And the hill wasn't of that much interest.  It was primarily sagebrush, with palm trees (planted from seeds) lining the driveway. 

Well, that's it for now.  I'm lost on Memory Lane.

Accepted!

My quilt was accepted into the SAQA "Oasis" exhibit in Palm Springs.  If you are attending, you can look for my little sail boat, sailing in the deep blue sea.  :)

My miniature has been shipped to Houston.  The show isn't until late October, but the judging will be done by mid-Sept.  They have quite the time line.

Other than that, I haven't done much that is quilt-related this week.  oh wait.  Yes I did.  I went to a couple of estate sales, and picked up more treasure.  I love this little marble table.  It's the perfect size for an afternoon of lounging by the pool with a book and something cool to drink.  The top is marble, the base is heavy metal.  (Not the radioactive kind.)

 This little rabbit is also metal.  He was so cute, I had to bring him home.

 I found two of these calla lily stepping stones.  They add sparkle to my shade garden.

 I couldn't resist this chair, with the carved roses in the back.  I don't know what I'll do with it, other than stroke the carvings.  yeah, I'm kind of odd like that.

This was my favorite purchase yesterday - if I had a favorite.  I bought too many things, and I've put almost all of them to use already.  It's a giant clamshell.

 I scrubbed it after taking the picture.  I thought you might get an idea of its size, with the pint glass and the 4" tiles.

 Today I bought this utensil sorter for $1.  I wasn't sure what to do with it, until I remembered my box of Masterpiece thread.

 It's not very easy to pick a color when they're stored in the box.  In fact, I never use this thread, because I never remember that I have it available.

 The utensil holder is the perfect size.  Look at that!  It even holds the rest of my Masterpiece thread, that didn't fit in the box.  I'm guessing that I will use it a lot more, now that I can actually see it!  Best dollar I spent today!  :)

And I guess that's about it.  I stitched out a label, and have a dozen more that need to be stitched.  Oh!  And I promised a picture of that old quilt top that is now bound.  I'll have to take that picture tomorrow, and then post it.  Something to look forward to.  Goals are good.  :)

Long Beach Festival Shopping

Think I bought enough perle cotton?

Old Things

First, I'll wish you a happy Independence Day, hoping that freedom becomes more familiar and restriction/oppression (I live in CA) less.  (Ever see Monty Python..."Help!  Help!  I'm being oppressed!"  It's a favorite quote around here.)

I made this little quilt in 1993.  I believe the cowboy pattern came from Quiltmaker or Quilter's Newsletter Magazine, either in late '92 or early '93.  I finished it for my #2 son's 6th birthday.   The older kids KNEW it was him.  That's how he dressed.  Every day.

"The Birthday Cowboy" 1993

 A friend is clearing out an acquaintance's stash.  I had a chance at some acquisition.  I chose some buttons...

 And some perle cotton...

 And some rayon (on the left) and silk (on the right) threads...

And an entire box of metallic threads.  oh my!  I may have gotten carried away!

 Here is a close-up, of some of the threads.  I hear they add sparkle, when added to other floss.  I can do that...

I'd been slowly accumulating things to begin crazy quilting.  The bug BIT me, and now I can't stop.  If only there were more hours in the day!  Or perhaps I should say, "If only I spent more hours in the day quilting!"  :)  Time to stop blogging, and begin quilting.

Happy Birthday, America!

No Dropping Allowed...

You've heard the phrase, "Shop 'til you drop," right? Well, I shopped this week, that's for sure. First stop, a little (ha! 9,000 sq ft of quilting pleasure is not exactly little) bit of Quilter's Paradise on the border between Escondido and San Marcos. I'd gone down to visit my dad, after the first visit to Road. I'd never heard of it, he was anxious to see if it lived up to its name. He declared that, "Indeed, it does!"

The only thing I dropped there was a pile of pretty pennies. :) I walked out with these hilarious Dr. Seuss prints. Love them, love them! For some reason the Thing 1/Thing 2 fabric reminded me of my youngest. He's just the kind of boy who might try to fly a kite indoors...

For those of you who might be interested, here's a picture of me with my dad. We're at the latest version of Estrada's restaurant. We've followed them around town and through the generations over the past 35+ years. Their food is always a favorite.

On Friday, I took the bus trip back to Road. This is what I was able to stuff into my tote bag. The bag wasn't overly big, but size isn't everything. It's what's inside that counts. If you click on the image, you might be able to see some of the beautious beads that I bought. I am particularly enamored by the red glass "vintage German" beads just below the King Tut thread color card. I already have a project in mind for them, if I can only find the time.

My last picture has been upended by Blogger. *sigh* Turn it 90 degrees counter-clockwise, and you will see a quiltlet I sent to my friend JPJOC. She's a judge in Tucson. I thought she could use a "Thinking of Moo" card. :) I'm guessing smiles have been few and far between in her neck of the woods over the past couple of weeks.

That's all I've got for today. I've been working on the quilt show and playing catch-up after so many days away. The hurrieder I go, the behinder I get. Surely that is against the laws of Physics! If not, it definitely breaks all laws of Grammar.

And that's it for today. Gotta run...

My Step Update

I thought it might be about time to give you a look-see at my Hoffman Challenge.

I'm not going to show you the front, I'm showing you the back. That way you can see my actual quilting progress.


I'm moving forward, really I am. It's just very slow going. I figured a shot from the back gives you a better idea of how far I've come and how much further I've left to go. The top photo shows how close to the edge the quilting will eventually be (on the right and bottom). I have far to go on the left and top. And I've got plenty of gaps that need to be filled in as well.

This second view might give you a better idea of my progress. You can always click on a picture, to enlarge it.

So there you go. My June Step has evolved into my July Step. I may not have completed my June Step, but I definitely spent more than a few hours working on it. Oh, and if you can't tell, I should probably point out that this piece is hand-quilted.

My biggest issue is that I'm running out of quilting thread. I bought some honey-colored Gutermann quilting thread #1225 several years ago. It's perfect for this project, but I didn't have a full spool. I getting close to the end, and the new Gutermann #1225 is a greenish brown, not honey-colored. If anyone has a spool of the old #1225, I'll buy it from you. Anyone? Help! :)

I'm continuing my quilting, praying for either a loaves & fishes experience or that the eventual switch to a different thread won't be too terribly noticeable. After all, I'm already quilting the quilt with both green and this honey-brown, since I knew I didn't have an abundance of brown.

I'll keep you posted.

Ingredients

I received a question via yesterday's post. PB wanted to know what kind of thread I used for my April Step. I suppose a picture is worth 1000 words, so here are most of the threads I used.

I quilted the clothes with the solid color Mettler. I used the various King Tut threads and the cone of Valdani for the grasses and background. I once again bought a spool of Superior Rainbow polyester thread, and once again I hate it. You'd think I would learn my lesson. Maybe this time. Sure, it works well for most people, but I don't want to invest in yet another spool (of Bottom Line) to make the $7.99 spool of Rainbow work.

King Tut continues to be my absolute favorite. It works well for me and I never have trouble balancing the tension.

I've been going through my stash over and over again, looking for something that might blend with the 2009 Hoffman Challenge fabric. sigh. gag me with a spoon. The green Ricky Tims hand-dye works well, as does the dark brown stripe. The beige collection also works. The other three on the left have the right colors, but they don't excite me in the least when paired with the Challenge fabric.

After 5 straight years of participation, I'd really like to continue my streak. This year's selection might just be the one to knock me out of the competition. If I can't do anything with it, I'm not going to get anything done.

That's all for today, folks. Thanks for stopping by.