The Great Outdoors

I feel like I'm back in a marathon—there is so much to do, so many time limits and things take longer than planned! 

However, I got a few more things done, but not as much as I would have liked. I'm afraid that today is going to be eaten up with computer work, as I have a lot of emails that need to be sent and that need to be done today. 

I've mentioned missing things from time to time. One thing has been missing for years. It's an embroidery file I purchased many years ago, and it's an alphabet that comes in 26 different files. I want it for several reasons, but I've had no luck. When I was walking Lexi yesterday, a thought came to me. 

Maybe it's still in the project box, so I dug that UFO out when I got home. OH GOSH—that was like opening Pandora's box. This is what I found. 

Here's the book. I taught this as a block of the month at Cock-a-doodle Quilts, which has been defunct for 10 years (or more?), and the owner (RIP Joanne) is no longer with us. 

Candy Cane Lane

This is what I found in the pretty decent-sized box. 

The box is overflowing with stuff

Here is one of the embroidery letters I'm trying to find! They are so cute -- it's a Christmas font with elves. I'd even repurchase the design if I could find it online. 

The embroidered Christmas font

I found lots of embellishments, thread, tools, and other patterns. 

Supplies set aside for ONE QUILT

More supplies for the SAME quilt

Stencil brushes, thread, buttons - still for the same quilt

And then there was a whole pile of fabric. No wonder I don't have that color blue in my stash basket! 

Fabric for the Christmas quilt

But wait -- there's more. This tin is also filled with Christmas embellishments for this quilt. 

More embellishments

This basket also contains more embellishments, fabric, and the blocks I've made. 

The blocks for this quilt and more embellishments

That's a sad state of affairs. How did I let myself get so far behind on that project? Oh, I know --- I did that to many of the BOMs I taught. In the last ten years, I did NOT let that happen, but before? Oh yes -- I was terrible. This will be my next UFO, even though it's not on any list. But I want to finish it. However, I still have a lot of work to finish the one I'm currently working on, and I'm NOT switching projects. 

I am a pretty productive person, but I'm amazed at how much of my time is eaten up doing what? Well, everything takes longer than planned—we know that. But still, you would think I would see some progress, but no! 

I chuckled yesterday when I ran into Diane -- a neighbor who I often spot walking her dogs. I spotted her without the dogs, and I had no dogs, so we chatted a bit. It turns out she goes to the same gym I do and has been a member for as long as I have. I've never seen her there. So she's trying to convince me to go to some of the classes she does, and I think that's a good thing. But she said, "Oh, you're still working?" And I thought -- yes, I am! But I don't have to be still working! 

Well, it was such a beautiful day when I finished my Zoom class in the morning that I had to be outside. But I was productive while I was out there. And even the girls came to help—sort of. 

I decided that if I was outside enjoying the weather, I could do some weeding. 

I call this area of the backyard the secret garden. It's along the side of the house, and no one gets to see it, but I can see it from the gazebo. It was a bit of a mess with weeds, and the dirt was covering the stepping stones. Can you spot Lexi trying to move the dirt off the stones? 

Lexi inspecting the worksite

On the other hand, Murphy appeared to be hiding - from what? 

Mom -- taking a break in the shade!

So here is the before, which looks alright but still a mess. 

The BEFORE

And here's the after, which I think looks pretty spiffy. Our backyard has no grass, and I'd like to bring in more mulch, but there's no time right now.  

The AFTER

It's incredible how a little effort produced some fantastic results. It didn't take long to make that area look much better with a hoe and a brush. And, of course, Murphy appears to be trying to take complete credit for the work! 

Then I rewarded myself and sat in the gazebo, but not to nap. No - I was on a call with the landline, lodging a service request for my cell phone. The phone itself is fine; it's the service in my area which sucks. I've neglected it for a long time (years), and I'm finally fed up. So I politely explained my situation again and asked for compensation for the lack of service. AH -- they can only do that once I get the phone service fixed. 

Making calls in the gazebo

I'm going to make this a priority. I'm going to call ONCE A WEEK until they get it fixed. I might have to put that on my calendar, but enough is enough! I had a chuckle because when I returned to put the tools away, I spotted this in the gazebo. Good grief—I left the phone on the chair and didn't even realize it!

The landline handset was abandoned!

This is Lexi, who reminds me of Houdini. Did she contort her head to avoid looking directly into the sun? I've no idea, but she's a wiry little thing. I'm making a valiant attempt to get that winter coat off her. She's looking better, but I suspect we've got many more hours of brushing to get anywhere. 

Mom -- just hanging out!

Poor Lexi -- she had something she wanted to save, so she buried it in the backyard. Within an hour, I spotted Murphy with dirt on her nose, so whatever Lexi saved was gone! Lexi doesn't get it even after all her years with Murphy!

MOM -- just burying a treasure

The two of them are thoroughly enjoying the backyard, and it looks beautiful. But you know what they say—the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, and the entertainment there is better than in the yard. 

MOM -- someone is on the path in the forest!

And I spotted this on my walk home from the library. Actually, I didn't spot them as much as I smelt them. They are gorgeous. I have one bush in the backyard beside the gazebo, and it's not in bloom yet. I hope I don't miss it. 

The lilacs are in bloom

I ended the day by finishing that customer quilt, so I'll need to trim that. I will just have to go with what samples I have made and call it a day. 

Customer quilt - DONE

I had been doing some embroidery on that Singer SE9180, which is Wi-Fi enabled, and all the notifications for thread changes went to my iPad! You have to love technology! I had the iPad out so I could read some manuals. I know—what a boring life that is — that for "entertainment" I read software manuals! However, I was too tired to focus, so I was off to bed! 

Thread change notifications on my iPad

Well, I'm off to spin class. I will NOT change my spin classes, but Diane attends classes daily at around 8 a.m. That time doesn't work for me, but I'm glad we chatted—perhaps this is the incentive I need!

I heard rain this morning, so it might be an indoor day, which is good because I have lots of computer work. 

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!!

A play date with machine embroidery

Yesterday I spoke of writer's block. No need to worry about that this morning, but I noticed that I'm over 3,800 blog posts, and that's for THIS blog. Before this blog, I had another one that sat on LiveJournal, and I think it's still there. I should go back and see if I can link them -- just for my sake, and I should dig up the very first picture I posted on a blog. It was a heron at my pond in the backyard!

Anyway --- let's start with what I keep talking about -- the Playdate, and then if I have time, I'll get to some other stuff. 

WAIT -- before doing that, I received some AMAZING suggestions from you!! A HUGE thanks because they make total sense, and why didn't I think of that? 

The dust -- wear a MASK -- DUH -- it's not like I don't have a mask or two around the house. That will definitely help. It won't eliminate the issue, but it'll help. I'll be digging out a DUST mask when I tackle more of the mess this afternoon. THANKS!!!

The keyboard - I got a ton of suggestions for this one. Silver or white marker, nail polish, making stickers with my labeler or buying labels. Hmm -- the paint rubbing off the keys seems to be a common problem. 

I like the idea of the purchased labels, but the issue is that they cost .45 cents. That's cheap, but it costs $8.95 to ship them, and they can only be purchased online. I'll check it out later today and see if I can find them somewhere cheaper or check out the shipping options on that website. And you know me -- if I don't have to buy from that specific online store, I'll avoid it like the plague. You must read that book that mocks them -- I can't remember the name, but it's so fitting. If we don't watch out, there will be only ONE place to buy from, and you know what that is called!!! I REFUSE to do it easy!

You guys (are we supposed to say that any longer?) - OK -- you PEOPLE are amazing  - so many super creative ideas!!!

I am amazed at how many people on Facebook and Instagram, especially in our Conqueror group, were inspired by my Virtual Challenge. It was a challenging journey at times, but I never stopped. I never gave in to the weather or a "few" aches and pains. And I may have found TWO quilters that are also walkers that live relatively close. Not close enough to walk with, but close. How cool is that?

OK --now onto the PlayDate. Dede and I got together last Friday to work on a Kimberbell bench pillow, and we chose Candy Cane Lane since it's Christmas. 

The instructions for Candy Cane Lane

I transferred the files from the CD to a USB and then saved them in the mySewnet Cloud to get prepped. Since we were both using a Wi-Fi-enabled embroidery machine, all the files were easy to grab and load when we wanted one. 

The instructions come on the CD as well. Now I technically could have loaded that onto the iPad, and we could have used the instructions that way. It really makes sense to have the instructions handy - if not, you can get lost; however, it's also easy to see on the screen of the embroidery machine what step is next. 

I trundled off to Staples to get it printed. YES -- I could have printed it at home, but we never seem to have colored ink, so I went to Staples to get a NICE copy. That cost me $18 to get the instructions printed in color. Thirty pages at .49 cents a page plus tax!!! I only printed the instructions because we were two, and I thought it would be easier to have the paper version. But that significantly added to the cost of $45 for the embroidery files. A cost that Kimberbell no longer needs to bear! Next time -- no printing -- all electronic to be sure. 

Making that switch requires some mental rewiring for sure, but if I can save $20, I'll do it!

We both started with the Lampost 1. 

Here is my lamp post -- I used the metal hoop, while Dede used the traditional hoop. We also used different fabrics for the background and different stabilizers, and I'm afraid I had a LOT of trouble with mine. 

The first one is mine, and it's a bit wavy. Usually, I love the metal hoop, but I think I should have done it slightly differently as only the mesh stabilizer was secure with the magnets and not the actual fabric, although it was secured with basting. Those snowflakes are what caused the problem. Loads of stitching and not much to support them. 

My lamp post block 1

Dede's was perfectly flat! 

Dede's lamp post block one

More on that %^^%$ snowflake in a moment. We used mylar, glitter vinyl, fringe stitches, and metallic thread in just this one little piece. 

I would HIGHLY recommend that if there is an embellishment kit for ANY Kimberbell design that you buy it. It's just way easier to have all those bits in the right color in the kit. Otherwise, you'll spend way more than that to accumulate all the bits. 

The embellishment kit

And so far, by being careful, I could get two bench pillows from the kit. Maybe it says that on the packaging -- I'm not sure. But GET the embellishment kit, as it's well worth the price. 

OK -- back to those darn snowflakes. Dede decided to do hers with metallic thread, and since I was about one step ahead of her, I went along with metallic. Big mistake. These snowflakes are DENSE -- tiny and dense. I changed the settings on my machine, changed to a metallic needle, slowed the machine way down, and still had issues. 

A very DENSE snowflake

So while Dede forged ahead to the next block, after using a regular thread for the snowflakes, I took the file to the software, cut out the snowflakes, and rearranged them to do a test sample. You have to LOVE the software and that I didn't have to think about what I was doing. I did NOT change the density of those snowflakes, but I should have if I wanted to use metallic thread. I want to say there was close to 1,800 in each snowflake, which is DENSE. 

Here's my sample. You can SEE the problem in design and the thicker metallic thread.

My sample of using metallic thread

The other thing I changed with this sample was the white fabric. I initially used a white fabric with PAINT on the surface, and the machine definitely did not like that. Once I used a softer material, the metallic thread worked much better. I need to go back to the software and decrease the number of stitches, or increase the size of the snowflake or change the density to make it better. 

Dede changed her mind and used a rayon thread, and the snowflake worked like a charm! So beware of metallic thread, as it's thicker than the rayon and just can't deal with the density in this snowflake!

The bottom line is that I got a GREAT sample to use in my presentations, and I'm going to redo it and make a less dense version to make sense for the presentations. And that's how I learn!

Dede got two blocks done while I got one, and I've decided to do that block over as I didn't like the snowflakes or the wave. 

After she left, I forged ahead to start, and I chose to start on the house blocks. There are three house blocks, two lamp posts, one tree, and one cocoa stand. 

Here is house block number one. It's super cute, and we used glitter vinyl in this one and thread. 

House block number one

Then on Saturday, I worked on house block number two. Again, this one used glitter vinyl. OH -- I should say that all three houses also used vinyl for the windows, and more on that in one second. 

House block number two

And on Saturday night, I finished the third house block. 

House block number three

And they look OK, but I was frustrated with the instructions and the way the designs were created. This happens when you know too much about how designs are digitized. 

Here's a close-up of the vinyl in the windows. 

The vinyl for the windows

This might not make sense for those of you who don't do machine embroidery applique, but I bet you can follow along. 

So when you want to do the multiple layers as in the Kimberbell windows, you start at the bottom and work your way up, just like traditional applique. The grey for the windows was tacked in place, and the excess was trimmed, and we are ready for the next step, which would be to repeat that process for the vinyl. Once the vinyl is tacked in place and trimmed, it's OK to do the satin stitch for the outer edge and the sashing. That would make sense. 

In ALL THREE WINDOWS, the embroidery files AND the instructions are INCORRECT. The grey window fabric was tacked and trimmed. The following window instruction was to do the SATIN stitch before the vinyl was placed. Luckily I caught that and switched it around on the embroidery machine. I made a note in the instructions for Dede. 

Oh, and here's one other thing about the windows. When the tack-down stitch for the vinyl in the windows was done, it also did the sashing stitching. And then when you did the final satin stitching, it stitched the sashing again! The first sashing stitches are a mistake -- at least to me, they are, and that builds up unnecessary bulk, especially on the vinyl. 

Perhaps today, I'm going into the software to fix all three embroidery files. I'll switch the stitching order and remove the excess sashing stitches. 

What bugs me is that I paid $45 for a pattern that is NOT correct and has no corrections on the website. This is a MAJOR flaw as far as I'm concerned, and the fact that it was NOT caught before it left their premises is disturbing. I'll be providing some polite feedback. This is not the first time I've been disappointed with a Kimberbell design -- I'll share the other disappointment later this week. I did not see a correction on their website for that one either. 

I get it that some errors will go out -- I totally get that. But for the consumer to find it on the first attempt? How does that happen? 

And if we, the consumer, do NOT provide constructive feedback, they will never know that there was a problem. 

Anyway, you see why the playdate story was long and look -- I've run out of time, so I'll have to share all the other stuff that's been happening tomorrow! 

It's Monday sewing and spin class, so I'm about ready to hit the road. 

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!!

UFOs

I had a great class teaching applique to a local guild yesterday morning and then back home where we had our first UFO class. Oh my - for those of you who did NOT sign up - well too bad. It was loads of fun - we're definitely going to learn from each other and I've realized that $10 is worth a lot to me! And the others as well.

In previous classes where there was a financial penalty, I realized that it's very hard to get the money out of the students. They don't show up or they don't cough up the cash. This time, I'm holding their cash hostage. If they get the homework done, they get the cash back. If they don't, it goes into a pot and we'll decide later what happens to the money. Hopefully, there won't be any money in the pot at the end of the year. And in one person's case, I'm holding their cash refund so it's like forced savings for them!  Go figure!

We meet again in two weeks so that timeline had to be taken into consideration when deciding what goals could be accomplished before the next meeting. Just in case you think some of the goals are not big enough. The goals set were also dependant on how much time each person has to work on the project in the next two weeks.

Some of the people just needed a deadline set for them and some people needed advice or to learn a technique or figure out the next steps. We had a round robin discussion for those that needed help which was great as we all pitched ideas to the owner of the UFO and now it's up to them to sort it out.

It was interesting to see the projects that people brought. Let's have a look and see what happened.

We started off with Elaine S. She brought a "brand-new" UFO. She hasn't really started the project yet but has had all the tools, pattern, and fabric for a while. So it qualifies as a UFO. A quick lesson on how to use the Quick Curve Ruler and she's good to go. Her goal: make a couple of sample blocks to get the technique down pat before she starts on the good fabric!

Elaine S - Urban Abacus by Sew Kind of Wonderful

Lynne brought a completed quilt top that she designed herself. Hm - what does she need help with? Ah - the quilting. We chatted about various types of quilting appropriate for the top and she got the information she needed. Her homework is to get part of the quilting done and look for a specific motif that she wants to incorporate on the quilt.

Lynne M

Susan brought this quilt top. The photo doesn't do the fabric justice. The quilt is gorgeous and we told her to watch it or it might disappear. She had fabric for the borders/binding but wasn't sure which was which. We offered suggestions and her homework is to figure out what she has, which fabric will go where and be ready to cut.

Susan's quilt top

 Liz also brought a quilt top. This is from the book called Candy Cane Lane by Melinda Bula. Oh dear - I just found out that she lost her home in the Camp Fire in California and her online shop is temporarily closed. Liz has modified the quilt quite a bit from the book, but had run into difficulty with the top border. We had a big discussion about options for the top. Her task is to finish the stitching around the appliques and then make a decision on what goes in the top.

Liz's quilt top - Candy Cane Lane is the inspiration

 Laura brought Kaleidoscope by Quilt Addicts Anonymous. The center part of the quilt is together!!!  And some of the other blocks for the huge triangles (to set this medallion on point) are together. Her goal is to sort through the blocks that are made to figure out what still needs to be made and to cut everything that isn't already cut.

Laura's Kaleidoscope

 Ronda brought Amish with a Twist II by Nancy Rink Designs. She has quite a few blocks made but is missing a few. Her goal is to make two blocks.

Ronda's Amish with a Twist II

Shelley wasn't able to make it because of sketchy weather. Hey - it's January and she lives far away. We gave her a break. But not because of that. She sent me numerous pictures of her project so it was like she was here! She's making a poodle quilt and her goal is to finish the six blocks needed to sew the quilt together. I wonder what she stood on to take this picture? A ladder?? Not sure the source of her pattern.

Shelley's poodle quilt

Sharon was not here either as she was sunning herself on the beach somewhere in the Caribbean. Never mind, she's going to do double duty when she comes to the next class!

I decided to play with the group and I chose Stitcher's Garden as my project. I taught this class TWICE and only got three blocks done. That's sad - typical but sad!

Stitcher's Garden

 Some of the other blocks are started! This takes up a lot of room on my shelf and I want the space so it's getting done. Here's some of the blocks partially finished. My goal - finish Month 4 which has two blocks to do  - bits and pieces of both of them in the picture below.

My homework for the next class

I decided after the group left yesterday that I would get started while I was fired up. First road block - what color thread did I use to quilt the backgrounds of each block? That thread stayed with the project for a few years (the first time I taught it was in 2015). I put the thread in the thread box because I was tired of it falling off the shelf. 

Backgrounds of all the applique blocks are quilted

 But a quick trip to the thread box and I found this - I'm pretty sure that it's the right thread. If not - it's close enough!!!!

The thread for quilting the backgrounds

 This is going to be a fun year-long project. As one person finishes their project (to their point of finish), then they get to choose another project and from the sounds of it, there's a lot of UFOs out there.

While I was tidying up - I have three empty pizza boxes. Anyone want a pizza box to put their project in??? I suppose I could use them with some of the other stuff lying around.

Three empty pizza boxes

Guess what other exciting thing is happening today?? No - not the snow storm. Shoveling is already boring for the year. But I don't mind - it's good exercise if you do it properly.

No - it's my week to blog on QUILTsocial. This week, I'm using the HUSQVARNA VIKING Designer Brilliance 80. It's a sewing and embroidery machine. It has so many wonderful features. You must check it out. Don't forget that there's an app for QUILTsocial that you can download to your smart device. Then you just open the app and there's the latest post from QUILTsocial. There's loads of cool information on that website. Even though I'm reviewing the sewing machine, I'm still providing tons of tips on sewing stuff that you can apply to your projects.

On that note, I'm out of here. It's Monday sewing and I'm fired up to work on my other UFO from the UFO list. The hand applique one. The gingerbread boy!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!