Fried Mayo

Well I'm back from Omaha and while the trip was a lot of work it was not without it's moments of fun as well. I didn't have a lot of down time as the convention kept me really busy but on Friday night I did get to have dinner with some amazing women. I had the opportunity to meet up with another online quilting friend, Debbie and her daughter Keira. My boss thought it was a little strange to meet people I hadn't even talked to on the phone but that didn't keep her from tagging along. I love to meet the friends I make through our online quilting community in person. It may seem strange to everyone else but I feel like I do know all you guys. I mean lets face it we share our experiences with quilting regardless of if they turn out great or need some improvement which is a risky thing to do, we share the joys and the sorrows of each others lives in the safety of our online bees and groups, we know some really important stuff that is going on in each others lives, why not meet in person if you ever have the chance? They were wonderful to meet and we had a great time. Since it was so late when we were able to get together Debbie took me to the only fabric place in town that was still open, Mangelsen's, which is a lot like a really big Michael's Craft Store. There was a small cafe attached to the store and while we were browsing through the fabric the sales lady proceeded to tell us about all of the things we should try. I couldn't believe she was telling us that we should be sure to try the deep fat fried pickles. Well we did eat at this little cafe and while I skipped the pickles I did take her up on the other recommendation for no other reason then to be able to say I ate fried mayo. What you don't believe me, lucky for you I brought the menu home and here is the exact description of my dinner in the menu:

"Cheesiest of Frenchees Basket: 3 thick slabs of deli cheese and

mayonnaise on thick slices of freshly backed FarmHouse bread,
dipped in our special recipe batter, coated in flakes and fried."

I had mine with Sun Stix which are sweet potato french fries. It was actually really good. So what about you, any strange local favorite foods that anyone else would think was nuts? While in Omaha I also got to check out the pedestrian bridge so I can also say that I walked to Iowa. I know that sounds impressive right. Really it is just a short bridge across the river and while there is a park and river walk on the Nebraska side when you get to Iowa there is nothing. Development coming soon I am sure.


I am glad to be home and looking forward to getting some rest this morning before heading back to work this afternoon. So that I can get back to my sewing machine soon.

Can you Remember?

Can you remember when sewing was a therapeutic thing you did to relax after a long day of work? Or something fun you looked forward to doing on the weekends in between chores and all of the hustle and bustle of life? Recently I noticed that my to do list wasn't getting any shorter and that I was starting to get stressed out about sewing. Remember the crazy list of to-do's from last weekend. I happen to have today off because I am going to Omaha next weekend for the GFWC convention for work and this morning I missed out on sleeping in because of the dogs so I thought I would sew for a little bit. The laundry was started and the dishes are drying in the rack and I thought of all the other chores I needed to do and realized that I had put sewing on that list. Maybe it is because when I decided to join a bee I joined 5, maybe it is because when I see a new quilt a long I like I sign up, maybe it is because I join in swaps, maybe it is because my list of I want to try that is longer than the number of days I have. But whatever the reason I realized that sewing wasn't all that much fun anymore. So I sat down at my machine to work on the next chore on my list and I picked up the easiest bee block that I had, a double pinwheel for Heather. I made a stupid mistake at the start and ended up having to take it apart. I found myself frustrated and I got up and walked away for a minute thinking why did I make a commitment to so many groups. I sat back down and started over after giving myself a time out the block went together like a dream. The fabric was super soft, it didn't warp when I ironed it, the seams all laid flat, it lined up like I wanted. Now the block isn't perfect I'm sure but I was happy with it and it reminded me that I do like sewing. I joined the bees because I wanted to try new things. I love quilt alongs and swaps because of the amazing people I've gotten to meet. I would never have meet such wonderful friends who send me such wonderful gifts and listen to me talk about my frustrations not just with sewing but life in general if I didn't. So next time you find you have put sewing on the chore list instead of the fun things to do list take a minute and remember why you do it.

One of those amazing friends I met is Corey, look at these amazing hexagons she sent me. If you haven't checked her blog out by now you are missing out on some amazing talent. Be sure to head over there and see what she is up to.

Starflowers in Red and Aqua

For June, Sherri asked us to make two starflower blocks following the tutorial found here. She sent along red and aqua fabrics and Kona Snow to make the blocks. In my packet I received two canvas weight prints and two quilting cotton prints. I haven't worked with this heaver weight fabric before though I know a lot of the Japanese Imports that are so popular in blogland and on flickr have a bit more weight to them. I found it to be a bit of a challenge. In her instructions Sherri mentioned that it might be easier not to use the heavier weighted fabrics in the same block so I followed that advise. However I found that the heaver fabric still pulled on the lighter weight quilting cotton a bit and made it hard to get nice flat seams when pressing. Overall I think the blocks turned out well despite the extra bulk in the seams. The middle point of these blocks was a little difficult to maneuver and I'm wondering if any of you who have worked with the heavier weight fabrics have any suggestions for the next time. I'm glad I got this challenge though because it was fun to work with something a little different and try to figure it out.

Still Going

I feel a little bit like the energizer bunny with my sewing machine this weekend. While I still don't see the entire list I made being finished by the time I have to go back to work on Tuesday I do feel like I will be more in control of my sewing projects. I have made some progress today though. Yesterday I got a little side tracked with taking the husband to run errands, he won't be able to drive until the doctor gives the green light so for now it's either stay home or wait for someone to drive him. First off I finished the block for Norma for the Modern Tradition Quilt Bee. She sent along hunky dory and asked that we complete a single block in a tulip pattern. It was a fairly simple block to piece but mine still seemed to get a little wonky so there were a few seams that needed undoing and remaking. Overall I am happy with the way the block looks and I hope Norma will be too. I mailed it off today and it should reach her on Tuesday just a day late.


Next up I took a little break from the bee blocks to piece together my pinwheel sampler. You might remember me talking about following along with Rachel. Well the light outside is fading so I took a few quick shots just so I didn't have to leave you in the dark but I promise better pictures soon.The pink was a last minute choice and I pretty much landed there because I didn't have enough of the yellow and this was the best of the few solids I had at the house. I think it adds a nice little pop! I am thinking about adding a border in the pink all the way around before I'm done. I like the way the pink helps the blocks to stand on there own.

The pink is Kona Bubblegum so I think the color in
this picture is a little more true then the outside photo.

And last up for your viewing pleasure I have a stack of fabrics that I pulled to use for the Mod Bento Box Swap. What you didn't think I told you about all of those projects without putting a few on my to do list as well did you. The instructions requested saturated colors which immediately made me think jewel tones. Then I thought they were getting a little dark so I tried to brighten them up a little with the brighter colors. What do you think? If you are participating in this swap would you be happy with blocks made of these choices? Is there something you would like to see go? Or do you know of there perfect print or color that is missing?




Well it's time to make dinner and then maybe manage to sew a few more stitches before bed time. Hope you are having a great weekend.

BIG PLANS

It is a long weekend here in the states as we celebrate Memorial Day and give thanks and pay respect to the men and women who have served, currently serve, and will serve in our armed forces. It also means that we don't have to work on Monday and I have today (Friday off as well) so I have BIG PLANS for my four day weekend. Four wonderful days to clean house, cut grass, and bake. Hah just kidding the grass is already cut and the kitchen is actually clean why mess it up with cooking anything, nope I plan to spend my four days in front of my sewing machine. The old girl and I have some catching up to do and like I said I have BIG PLANS. Here's a break down of the sewing to do list:

Blocks:
June String Block
Paper Piecing Block (sorry Kristian, I'm still a little scared to be honest)
4 apartment houses for May Bee-Stitched
Tulip Block for May

Tops:
Pinwheel Sampler
Log Cabin (My month is the Fussy Cut Bee)
Red & Aqua swap (okay this was the second swap I ever did and the blocks have been at my house for well, almost a year now and I haven't put them together into anything. Time to make a plan and execute.)

I know this list is a bit unrealistic but if I don't aim high I won't get anything done I'm afraid. I have some other blog post planned for the weekend too, lots of ideas running around in this head of mine. How about you do you have big plans for the weekend (be it is extended or otherwise). If you need a little inspiration check out these upcoming projects:

Isn't this beautiful. I am so glad Amanda Jean is back in the blogging world.
And now she is bringing us this great quilt along as well.

And just so you know how serious I am about getting some sewing done over the next four days, I managed to finish one of the previously mentioned blocks last night. Dena asked for string blocks for June for the Circuit Quilt Bee. She sent each of us different color pieces in one color. I got green. At first I thought green I don't have any green to add. Last night I started looking and it turns out I did have some green in my stash. Not much but enough to make one cool looking block I think. Enough to make the ever growing list of ideas in my head think okay someday we need to try this. Dena I hope you like the block and the fabrics I added. My favorite part is the middle where all the tiny pieces come together.

Mini Hexagons

There hasn't been a whole lot of sewing going on around here as of late. Sometimes life just gets in the way and you get behind on things. I have been doing a few mini hexagons during my lunch break and thought I would share them with you before you think I've gone off the grid altogether. I decided to join up with Melanie on her quest to complete an entire quilt out of mini hexagons. It is going to be a true test of patience and love. Melanie set a goal to make her quilt a true charm quilt and I thought that sounded like a great challenge. Let me tell you not duplicating fabrics when you need over 2000 hexagons is a huge challenge. I've been lucky enough to get some help from a few friends. Leanne, Ruth, my mom and I teamed up to do a charm pack swap so that alone should yield a fair amount of fabrics, we are each cutting 4 charm packs into fourths. Then we will keep one and send the other three sets to the other girls. I cut up my Love and Modern Meadow packs last night and now I am just waiting for the other to arrive so I can slice them up as well.

These are 2.5 inch squares and paper pieces waiting to be turned into hexagons.

Bea is making some hexagons as well and I commented that she isn't crazy since she doesn't need 2000+ fabrics. One of her blog readers offered to send me some fabric scraps she has so a big thank you to Bee for making the introduction and to Allison for being willing to share. Thanks ladies! In addition to that Mary was doing a little scrap organization herself and decided to share the love and sent along a scrap care package as well which should be here any day now. Thanks Mary I promise to put those to good use for you.

Here are the first 109 hexagons that are done. These are gathered from the ends of jelly rolls, bee scraps, and scraps from other projects that were in my scrap bin. No two are the same, but I did find an accidental duplicate when laying them out.

If you don't think I'm crazy for attempting this then come on over an join in the fun. There is no rush to finish and just think how amazing they will look when they are done.


And on a side note just in case I'm not the last one to know, one of my all time favorite quilt bloggers is back. Amanda Jean over at Crazy Mom Quilts is back and she is always full of amazing ideas and projects so be sure to head over and check her out!

How do you learn improv?

Ironic really since improvisation isn't really something you can learn. Without sounding cocky I think I can hold my own with most quilt patterns. There are somethings I am better at then others but when it comes to following a pattern I do pretty good. I've had a lot of practice so far this year trying new techniques and trying out different things through my virtual quilting bees. When I received my fabric and instructions for May in the Fussy Cut Bee immediately my hands began to sweat, my heart started to race, and all I could think was I can't do this. The instructions were simple, there really were no instructions. She simply asked for squares or rectangles in multiples of three. A 6 by 6 square, a 9 by 9 square, a 6 by 9 rectangle. These were the examples. We were to use the camper fabric as the Fussy Cut fabric but apart from that there were no instructions. The range of fabrics and sizes that were included were widely varied as well.


Here's what I learned. I'm not sure how to make a block without instructions. Shocking I know for someone who is suppose to be a modern quilter in an era where improv is all the rage. But I like clean lines and structure. So I kept it simple and created a 6 by 6 inch square and a 6 by 9 rectangle. I didn't do a lot of wonky stuff and my blocks might even be considered by some to be a bit of a bore. But well it made me realize maybe I need to learn how to do this improv stuff. Then I took a deep breath and thought, you know improv really isn't something you learn it's just something you either do or you don't. For now at least I'm okay with choosing not to practice improv. Besides really I have enough projects on my plate.