Kittens And Bikes

Iz NOT Stuk.  Iz Stawking Youz

I couldn't resist posting that picture of Buttons.  She climbs up EVERYTHING.  LOL.

You'll have to forgive me as I've been messing around with my bikes instead of quilting.  I finally customized my Sirrus today!  I found these awesome blue tires and matching water bottle cages.  It rocks and I love it!  It's girly w/o being pink.  

A new quilt store opened up 10 miles away from my town and I went out to investigate hoping they had the yellow fabric I needed for the "My Tweets" quilt.  Turns out the guy there is a rep for the Accuquilt Company.  He asked how I liked mine and I was perfectly honest.  I hate it. The shocked look on his face was priceless.  When he asked why, I told him I broke one, I can cut faster and more efficiently with my rulers and there are no dies I like and/or need.  His jaw dropped even lower.

I told him what I enjoy is that my Cricut and Black Cat cutters will draw out my templates accurately on fusible webbing and while I haven't tried it completely, the Black Cat should cut fabric.  I don't have the software figured out decently, but it does work with applique pieces.  I showed him the "Hearts Desire" quilt I had planned on starting and said that you can't give me dies like that. (And you probably couldn't afford them either, but didn't say it)

The store didn't have it, but said the Lincoln shop would and I headed up to Lincoln.  Of course, she's out of only the yellow bolt.  She's ordered another bolt and will send down some of it when it comes in.  The owner and several people there loved my "My Tweets" blocks, told me NOT to stop and that my satin stitching was flawless.  I SO needed that boost since I've been so overwhelmed with the satin stitching.

Between the two stores I picked up these fabrics for the "Hearts Desire" quilt:

Sigh.  I can't get the picture to flip right so forgive me.  I need to pick up some more orange/yellows and just work from there.

I also picked up the quilts my daughters had made:

I didn't realize it would cost me 85 dollars each to do this and I had planned on doing the binding myself (I told her this) because I bet that's where most of this cost came from.  I wish she had given me an estimate and I was dumb enough not to ask.  Only reason I had it done was I couldn't baste the quilts myself or quilt it with my back.  Not complaining about the quality by any means, just in sticker shock.

At least they are done and my daughters love them.  They did the tops with little help from me.  It did make me mad that none of the squares were square and none of the strips were the same length.  I won't buy precut fabric anymore.

I'm torn on a couple of projects.  With the "My Tweets" the satin stitching is driving me crazy and the yellow fabric needs taken out to add an extra layer so the green fabrics don't show through.  I know myself that I probably won't get around to hand applique and I hate unfinished edges.  Invisible applique looks awful when I do it.

I did make sure I had all the patterns in my book today as I realized that I hadn't printed blocks 4, 5 and 6.

I also got out my "Hearts Desire" book and updated patterns.  This is another quilt that I'm stuck on for fabric colors.  Nothing seems right.  I bought blues and some golds, but it looks awful when I put things together.  This one is tons more complicated to hand applique.  It's not that I can't do it, I just lose interest.

A couple of options are these:

1.  Make wholecloth quilts with them in some way.  Add in trupunto to add texture.
2.  Outline with hand embroidery like in redwork or blackwork patterns.
3.  Suck it up with the satin stitching, fix the "My Tweets" issues and finish up the blocks.
4.  Errr..No way on number 3..
5.  Be a coward and put them away for now.

Any other ideas?

Scratch, scratch, itch, itch, scratch, itch...

No, I don't have lice, fleas, or mosquito bites.  It's called years of my dad's quilt sitting in a bag setting off an allergic reaction.  I'm not sure I even want to quilt it and if I wash it, it would probably disintegrate.  Easiest way would be to tie it if I had a decent frame.  It has handled well to seam ripping and sewing though.  Maybe I could do a quick meander on it just to hold it together.  

It looks really nice now that I took out all the pieces with holes.  I took the picture before I finished up the last row.  I'm wondering if a nice soft brown would do the trick.  Or a gray-blue. 

When I quilt it, I'm wearing long sleeves, gloves and pants..LOL! 

Ahhh...the joys of having a kitten in the house.  DH named her Buttons today.  She plays hard and sleeps hard.  Bandit has finally accepted her and I found them sleeping together earlier on my bed.

Playing Hard

Sleeping Hard:

Sentimental Quilts

I made it home last night safe and sound.  Going to Ohio is one long day trip.  My sister wanted my mom's industrial sewing machine and wanted me to help drive.

While there, my mom asked if I could fix this quilt:

My mom said that my grandmother made it for my dad when he was a teenager and he's kept it ever since.  My dad is 61 so it's at least 40-47 years old.  It looks like it's made of heavy fabric for suits/pants. I love it.  When I talked to my mom a few minutes ago she said it was probably from clothing that was too small.  My grandma had several boys so it would make sense to cut up their pants for this quilt.  It makes me giggle thinking my dad's pants are in here.

I vaguely remember this quilt as it was on my bed once when very little, probably about 5.  It was tied with red yarn.  

I love the colors and the different patterns of each fabric:

And I came home with this little addition:

Bandit is NOT happy and has expressed this quite vocally.   She's been an outside cat at my mom's with her siblings and can hold her own as she's got some feral cat traits.  She can hiss and growl just as good as he does.  Sunday she adjusted to being held and that night went inside for the first time.  She's now an attention hog and loves playing.  Now to find a name for her.  My DH said "Smokey" is NOT an option.   

UFO's Anyone?

Nothing special about this picture right?  This is as far as I made it today going south of town.  See the background?  Down there is my small town.  I forgot to turn on my "My Tracks" app to get more details on my ride, but I'm pretty sure going north uphill is much easier.

I am SO grateful I took my debit card with me as I had a feeling to bring it.  I ran out of water on the way up (despite having two bottles) and needed to run into the store to get some Gatorade or something to drink on the way home or I was going to fall over from exhaustion.

I wish you all could have seen the looks on peoples faces when I came in dragging a bike and in full cycling gear.  It was like I'd walked off a UFO.  I hate Spandex but it's comforting to know we all look awful in it.  All I wanted was a Gatorade and I didn't have a lock on me.  The managers started whispering (probably wondering if they should have me leave the bike outside) and everyone just stopped and stared as I picked up the drink, paid for it, and walked, errr clicked out since I have cycling shoes.

I'm heading to Ohio for the weekend so I probably won't be posting anything until I get back.  I wish I could stay for Red, White, and Boom but we'll be leaving Monday morning.  My kids would LOVE to see that since our firework shows pale in comparision.