Miscellaneous for Monday

After a horrible, terrible, no-good week last week (mostly because of work), I was busied myself this weekend being busy.  I ended up finishing things after starting about 20 other things including putting this quilt top together.

The pattern is from Moda Bake Shop (here's the link Christmas Table Topper by Rachel Griffith) and I made mine with two charm packs of the Max and Whiskers line by Moda and changed the sashing to 2-inch finished instead of 3-inch finished.


The blocks are disappearing nine-patch blocks that I made the last time I was in Michigan.  I couldn't find any sashing in my stash that looked OK so ordered a little of the blue print for sashing and binding.












 
I'm thinking that this would be a good quilt for Edgar Poe.  I think the retro colors and playful styling match his personality. What do you think?

I also completed half my Honeycomb Schnibble (is half a schnibble a schnib?) I am diggin' this quilt and hope to get working on the second half this week.

On my way home from work today, I ran some errands. A trip to Target yielded the usual Tahhrrrrr-jay stuff and I couldn't resist some new school supplies pens (love love love shopping for office supplies). And I popped into the nearby bookstore for a copy of the new Quilts and More magazine.  

DIY for Quilters: Plumbing

This weekend it was time to tackle a pesky leaky bathtub faucet. I have been putting this off because (1) I didn't want to spend the money to hire a plumber and (2) although I've done two minor plumbing jobs, this seemed more complicated.

Step one in any DIY project when you are a quilter is:

Go to your favorite LQS. Yes that is step one. You need to visit your favorite place and hang out with some friends and soak up some good vibes.

I went to Sweet Home Quilt Co. to see what was new and sign up for Melisa's new Groovy Girls club that starts in September. Karin was there and she *made* me buy this cute-as-can-be little kit to make little Halloween treat bags from the new Quilts and More magazine

well actually I think it's Bad Melisa's fault because how can you resist this cute little bundle???
A bitty piece of Halloween fabric "just because", two charm packs for a future Schnibble, and some matching on-sale Moda marble and I was ready to tackle home repair. Trust me it works. Girl Power!!!

Step two: go home and drink some more coffee. While you fuel up on caffeine, check emails and blogs.

Step three: Call your dad and find out if he remembers where the main water shut off valve is. This serves two purposes (1) my dad has a good memory and can describe things over the phone well and (2) puts him on notice to keep his cell phone handy in case problem arise. After describing the water meter and lines under the house, sure enough, dad knew where it was. Turn off the water all the way. Remember righty tighty, lefty loosey. These things really need labels. Nice decorative hang tags or a small sign. As soon as I finish this plumbing job, I'm labeling everything in the crawl space.
With Martha Stewart gift tags.

Step four: Get your tool box and most importantly your laptop. Having a wireless router is so worth it just to be able to take my laptop all around the house.
Luckily the bathroom has a handy laptop holder. Use the power of Google to find several websites showing step-by-step instructions on how to take apart your faucet. Verify that the water is off completely, cover the drain with a old towel so you don't drop important pieces down the drain, and take apart the faucet. Use your favorite tools and cuss words here. Take all pieces and parts and put them in a quilt project bag (aka ziploc baggie).

Step five: Get thee to Home Depot. Wait do not go directly to the store go to.....

Step four and a half: Add more power steering fluid to Xena because along with everything else, Xena the truck is leaking power steering fluid. Geez... Realize you can't wash your hands because you turned off the water....

Step five: go to Home Depot with your quilt project bag and match old pieces to new pieces in the plumbing aisle. This takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r. Spend a few minutes wondering why the silicone caulk and teflon tape are not with the plumbing supplies. Wander around and get these items from their most unlikely places.

Step six: go home and start replacing pieces which requires three hands. I only have two. Use whatever tools seem helpful. Bash your knuckle and drop crucial piece down inside the wall. Use more favorite cuss words here.

Step seven: go to Lowe's. It's closer and you are now sweaty and grumpy and still can't wash your hands. Wonder why they don't sell big bags of M&Ms and wine at Lowe's because you could really use some of both right about now. Buy replacement piece.

Step eight: Get back home. Say in a loud voice "let's do this!" Cats think you are crazy and wonder why you are playing in the bathtub. Finish putting faucet back together. Be amazed with yourself.

Step nine: turn the water back on, remove camera, laptop, cell phone from bathroom--just in case... Be even more amazed with yourself when nothing leaks and faucet is working correctly. Finish tightening all fittings and get silicone caulk all over everything. Realize you are even more sweaty, gross, and now sticky and you can't take a shower for three hours until the caulk is set. The bathtub is dirty with footprints and ooky stuff from the old pieces. Be happy no one is around except the cats.

Step ten call your dad so he can be proud of you. Be proud of yourself. Wonder if you can join the plumbers union.

Step eleven: Call for take out and quilt the rest of the weekend. You did good.

Celebrity Sightings

I feel like Kevin Bacon by being one degree of separation from so many celebrity sightings this month (and yes, this is a shameless plug for some of my favorite people out there in quilty blogland).

First among the celebs is Her Most High Exalted Thimble Herself, Pat Wys
Pat has a super fantastic basket pattern in the new issue of McCall's Quilting magazine.
This is the issue and here is the article
Yes, I know the photo is bad...now you have to go find your copy to see it better. After you add Pat's project to your To Do list like I did...

Cruise on back a few pages and check out our second celebrity Ms. Marcie Patch of Patchalot More.
I love Marcie's designs (and her blog) and added this way cool Dream Catcher quilt to my To Do list to go along with her other magazine appearances.

I spotted another favorite blogger in this month's Quiltmaker magazine. I already had this issue on my to-buy list because Judy Laquidara had a nifty pattern in it. But look who else has magically appeared with a super cute Halloween pattern
Ms. Moonbeams in a Jar Mary Anne Drury! I heart and adore her blog. She always cracks me up.

Just today there were two more celebrity sightings. Who did we find spreading laughter all over the Stash Manicure blog? Pat Wys!!!! Now I'm afraid everyone will know how funny she is and she'll get all Hollywood and leave our little Silver Thimble club behind to take on Conan, David, Jon, and Stephen. Sigh, I knew her when....

Lastly but not leastly two extremely local celebs are featured on the Bunny Hill Designs blog. Anne is featuring an "I Love My Pet" series of posts and if you click on this post and scroll to the 5th photo, you will see my very own Edgar and Stella being sweet and cuddly. So far the paparazzi has not caught them being siblings and fighting since this post.

Labor Day Weekend

I haven't been as productive as I thought I would be this weekend on the sewing front. Yesterday, I *had* to go to Sweet Home Quilt Co. and get some thread. I only had one extra full spool and half of one on the machine. It was imperative you see. I also needed to see Melisa, check out what was new, and pick up my copy of Quilt Sampler magazine. Karin showed up also so I hung out there for awhile.

I finished sewing the other half of Morpheus' quilt together and sewed on two of the three borders. Morpheus took a paws off approach yesterday and decided that cats need holiday weekends too. He spent the day lounging on the couch with Stella and
perhaps, perusing my magazine...

Today, I worked at SBux and didn't do much else because my allergies were really bad; must be ragweed season.
Gomez has been in rare form today... Interpret as you will...

Tempting Fall

Look at this wonderful fall quilt on the cover of American Patchwork & Quilting this month!!!! Not only do I have to make this quilt sometime, I also really want it to be Fall. Starting now until about December 1st. Wonderful crispy fall with no humidity, no smog, not too hot, not too cold--just perfect fall weather.

I think there is a better chance of me making and finishing this quilt sometime this century than having a perfect Fall here in the ATL....

Stormy Weather and Quilty Reading

Yesterday we had some pretty severe rain and high winds in the metro area, although it wasn't as bad at my house as other places. Combine bad weather with drought-stricken trees and this happens:

Huge trees get uprooted and fall on houses and powerlines and across roads (photo credit: ajc.com). I worked at Starbucks last night and it was crazy packed. The store had power but most of the surrounding neighborhoods did not so everyone came to camp out with their laptops. I imagine lots of people didn't know what to do without all the electronic "necessities" of life. I stopped by on my way home from the day job today and it was still crazy packed because a lot of people are still without electricity. At least most of the traffic lights are working now; the only thing worse than Atlanta drivers in the rain, is Atlanta drivers in the rain without working traffic signals.

OK I can't think of a segue so next topic:

I read the latest Elm Creek Quilts book. It was OK, a quick read, better than the last one (Quilter's Kitchen, which was more recipe book than story), but in my opinion, not as good as some of the earlier ones. I'm thinking maybe the story line has played out.

New quilt magazines arrived at my house a couple of weeks ago. I usually look through them a couple of times before tearing out projects to put into binders. I absolutely LOVE this quilt on the cover of June's American Patchwork & Quilting .

I think this is a "must do" at some point. I am sure I have enough scraps/stash to make it (probably two).

And from McCall's Quilting June issue this most fabulous quilt, all made from various Moda lines (I think I probably have a lot of these fabrics). Add this one to the must do binder also.

Is it really Sunday evening???

Where did my weekend go? Not much happened around here this week and I was so looking forward to getting a lot done this weekend. Of course weekend days somehow are much shorter than week days (I think week days seem to be about 34 hours long and weekend days about 14 hours long don't you?)

I did get some sewing time in and finished the top and backing for E.'s flannel quilt. It is a BIG quilt (for me--about 72 X 93") and I have no where in the house to lay it out flat so here it is folded up. It is all ready to go to my long arm quilter once she gets back from Florida.

I also worked on Bonnie Hunter's Orange Crush (aka my Mardi Gras quilt). I was farther along than I remembered and finished up the 30 spinning star blocks. I have to square up the pieced part of the album blocks and get those sewed together. Maybe I will finish it up by the end of the month.

This quilt is a lot of fun to make and I'm using all stash except for the main yellow.

The new "Irish Quilting" magazine I ordered from Pat Sloan's website came in the mail. It's a really great magazine with lots of projects I would like to make someday. Although I need another magazine subscription like I need a hole in my head, I may check out the subscription price....

A Good Read

Insomnia has been my unwelcome friend all week so I am really glad that quilt magazines are arriving in the mail. I heart "Quilter's Home"! I wish it was a monthly magazine (hint to Mark!) I usually read it cover-to-cover more than once. It is informative, fun, and thought-provoking all wrapped up in a fabulously designed package.

My friend Becky always talks about things that "speak" to her-usually fabric. This magazine speaks to me, especially Mark's editorial letter "Mark My Word" in this issue.
He discusses exactly what quilting is for me--an escape from life's day-to-day stresses and the opportunity to focus on one tangible thing that I have control over. I can't halt global warming, save all the homeless pets, solve global hunger and poverty, stop the Bush administration from screwing up literally everything in the world, or figure out what I want to do in life, but I can cut, press, and sew fabric into something that is both beautiful and useful. Quilting is my therapy. I am focused, focused, focused when I am working on a project and I find solace in stepping out of my multi-tasking, hectic, running between two jobs, worrying, no-sleep life and finding peace in some piecing.