Progess on mitered border projects

Thanks for the information on the cadaver tendon use!!!! Apparently, the medical field has been using that technique for years!!! Who knew? And yes -- a lot is missing from the story of the man with the broken tibia/fibia. He's in bad shape, and I don't remember all the details - tendons pulled away from the knee and the broken bones (right at the knee cap) or something equally horrible. I must remember to ask his mother again. 

Another day - another project!!! And I managed to get through another item on that paperwork list, although a new one came up that I didn't even know needed to be done. All is good! 

Let's have a look at the table runner. I was making a scrappy backing for it, and that is now done. 

The table runner and the backing

Here's a close-up of the backing. I took the narrow strips of the border print and inserted a narrow strip of solid black between them to make the backing wider. I didn't really measure it, I just guessed, and WOW - it turned out to be the right size. What are the chances? I just go with my gut instinct, and again it worked! It also helps that the narrow strips should be the same length (or close) to the cut-offs of the wider strips, although the wider ones were sewn together. It doesn't matter - it worked. 

The backing for the table runner

And now the binding is also done, and so this is in the "to be quilted" pile. It's small, so I've added it to the list of what I want to accomplish this month. WAIT - make that next month. 

The table runner is now moved to the "to be quilted" pile.

I still had a few leftovers and didn't want to put them in my scrap bin, so I looked at it and decided I could make a placemat, which I could then donate to Meals on Wheels. I had two pieces of the narrow border print and some of the floral. I looked at the remaining pieces, made a few mental calculations, sewed the two narrow pieces together, and cut them to the same length. This is all I had left. 

The remains of the narrow border

Then I used the leftover floral pieces and the two narrow strips to get this. It's just the right size for a placemat! I swear—I didn't calculate the entire thing—I just went with my gut. I still had a few odd pieces, so I made a square-ish piece of the floral fabric and added solid black. I guess I forgot to take a picture of that. And then I found solid black to make the binding. It's rather pretty and won't show spills! The backing is pretty much the same size as the top, but it'll work for quilting on the sewing machine. 

The placemat is ready to be quilted.

There were two small pieces of black floral left, and those went into the scrap bin with the rest of the black with a bit of color. One day, that scrap bin will need to be addressed. 

Yeah!!!!! 

Now it was time to pull out the third (and final) project using leftovers from the mitered border prints. You will probably not remember this, but the wide mitered borders came from a zodiac-themed quilt I made for M. I don't remember what was in the center, but I used this very wide border print. The center was a picture that I had in the house. I wanted to get rid of the actual paper picture but keep the image, as it had special meaning, so I had it printed on fabric. So the picture got scanned and printed at Spoonflower. Can you believe that was in 2021? You can check out the story behind the print at that link. 

I'll try to find the blog post featuring M's quilt. I'm running out of time to do that this morning. 

I laid everything out on the floor. Hmmmmm. There is NOT enough border print unless I cut the picture down, which I didn't want to do. 

Hmmm - the border prints are not long enough.

When I really looked at the print, I don't think the colors went with the border print. OK -- time for plan B. 

Hmmm - the colors are a bit off.

I removed the printed picture, and I'll deal with that another day. Then I put the border prints together to see what I got. Hmmmm -- now I need something else to put in the center. What? What? 

OK—looks better. Now what to put in the center?

Then a brain wave hit me as I had literally just stitched out a new sample of one of the Zodiac constellations for M's bridal veil. What if I embroidered all 12 of them on some fabric for the center? OH MY GOSH --- what a brilliant idea. I can do the embroidery in gold metallic thread. 

Then it was time to audition some fabric. Well, guess who came to help? I swear - dogs can hear fabric of any size when it touches the floor. 

MOM - sorry I'm a bit late! 

And the situation got progressively worse as I auditioned more fabric. It was when I laid down this one that Murphy did, too. I guess that is her way of saying, "I approve!" Oh Murphy!!!

MOM - I approve of this one! 

The next step was to join the border pieces so I could get a rough idea of the size of the center piece. I put the lengths on the design wall, so Miss Murphy couldn't make a mess of my border. I had to take down my Many Blocks quilt top. I must get the backing done for that quilt! So much to do and so little time! But focus!!! 

I got a rough estimate of the size and then popped over to the computer to see what it looked like with all 12 Zodiac Constellations in one spot. OH MY --- I think it's going to be perfect. I had thought about rejigging the placement of the border pieces so the wall hanging would be square, but with 12 Zodiac signs, square wasn't going to work. I did a vertical orientation, then a horizontal orientation. 

I'll have a better look at them today and see which one I like. Hmmm—let's put them on the blog and see which one looks better. OMG — do you know how nice it is to decide at the last minute to add a picture that wasn't in the initial email, and have it come through in MERE seconds? That alone has been well worth spending time with the Microsoft support team. I must remember to tell them on our next support call next week. 

Horizontal

Vertical

I put the constellations in order, starting with Capricorn. I'm leaning towards the vertical orientation because it seems less contrived. I'm not sure that is the correct term! I still have the option to move them around, and then let's see what happens. 

I have a jacket that I want to make for the April wedding, and it's bright fuchsia. I also wanted to embroider on it - just because I can. I found a design to test, and I finally got around to it last night. It turned out amazing!!! The big thing now is, do I want that particular design and what color? I asked Google what color I should use for the design. I'm stunned at what I got back. Who needs ChatGPT when I can get some basic information from Google? I'm sold. 

Anyway, it suggests that for a formal look, I can choose this color; for a casual look, I can use this. I think it gave me four options, and some I hadn't considered. So I need to pursue that later today and make sure I have the correct thread colors. I also need to settle on the design. I don't want it to be too formal-looking, since the jacket will be casual but dressy, but I also want whimsy. WOW --- that was an exciting exercise! I didn't take a picture of the sample last night as it was wet. I also did some more experimenting with the veil sample. It was very rough on the back, so I did another, and this time it's much softer. It's all about knowing how to set your embroidery machine!

And I got this giant quilt on the long arm. I've been neglecting the long arm for a bit, but I need to get this huge quilt done. I have four more quilts that need to be done fairly soon, and I need to get working on quilting the tops I've produced over the last couple of days. 

The giant quilt top is loaded on the long arm.

And now for the daily dog story!! Lexi is shedding like crazy, and unless I keep on top of it, she looks very scruffy. Her hair comes off in clumps. I don't always get to brushing her on cold days because I need to take my gloves off to do so, and I only brush her in the forest. This is the latest massive clump of hair. It's a daily thing and helps to keep the dog hair down in the house. 

The results of Lexi's daily grooming

Murphy was in her glory yesterday. I was in the garage several times as I finally cleared the driveway of snow. Not only did I have snow from yesterday morning, but I hadn't shoveled the snow from the previous week. I injured my knee on the day of the snow, and I didn't feel like hobbling out there to shovel. And no one else did either. Sigh......

While I was in the garage, a black garbage bag sprang out of the corner. Hmmm -- in it was the towel to wipe the dogs down after a romp in the dog park and FOUR Chuck-It balls. I quietly put them in Murphy's toy box, and not long after, she discovered them. She must have smelled them. 

MOM -- something new in the toybox!!!!

And then she hounded me to play ball with her all day!!

Let's play ball!!

Notice that one ball is in Lexi's bed!!

Hmm -- which one? 

MOM - Can we play ball now? 

How about now?

MOM - I don't know which one to play with!

Until finally, even Lexi got tired of it and tried to divert her attention with a rousing game of rough-house. Thanks for rescuing me, Lexi!!!!

Hey Murphy - cut it out and play with me!

Spin class went well, and my knee is healing nicely. As a matter of fact, it behaved pretty decently all day. But when I went to bed, it started to hurt. It doesn't like the lying-down position, so I got up, got a heating pad and a pillow, and that seemed to do the trick. The heating pad was so hot, I think I cooked the knee! Anyway, it's feeling good this morning, and I'll be off to the gym shortly to see Brooke. No fancy things with the legs, and especially no bending of the knee. It works, but I'm still very leery of anything that isn't keeping the leg straight! All is good!!!

I've got more stuff to get done today -- of course I do. And that one project is now two because I need to figure out something for the printed-on-fabric photo, but the mitered border project is the priority!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!