Quilted With Love

2012-02-02T00:25:00.000-08:00

This is a tax rant post. Ignore if you don't feel like listening. I do plan on putting up a quilt post in the next day or two.

I do believe in paying taxes. I pay honestly and don't complain much. At least until today.

I went to turn in my tax forms and was told I needed to bring in my online purchases information to be charged Nebraska sales taxes. What???

When I dug further in, I'm supposed to pay city taxes on top of the sales tax for any purchase out of state to protect small businesses. It's called "usage" tax and every state has it. Check your state's website or look at your tax forms. Since states are going broke, they are desperately seeking any way they can to get your money.

I call bullshit.

If a small store doesn't have it, I shouldn't be penalized for shopping out of state. I'm not always looking for a bargain, I'm shopping because my small town has nothing. I can't even special order fabric or supplies from my LQS because they are forced to buy in bulk. Of course she loses out on a sale, so does the state and the city. I feel bad, but I didn't put the stipulations on sales of orders. The manufacturers did.

I refuse to pay a 30 dollar of what I consider a"shipping and driving fee" for gas just to go to Omaha or Lincoln to get something like a 10 dollar Smash Book to create revenue. Of course Michael's in Omaha won't/can't ship it to me so they lose out on a sale creating revenue for them, the city of Omaha and the state of Nebraska. That is their loss. I also recognize that having a shipping section for them would be pain, but more and more people that live in rural places like I do need that option. I ordered mine from Amazon.com but a week later I did have to go to Omaha, stopped off at Michael's and bought stuff..because I was there.

I see online shopping as a way to help small businesses. I've ordered patterns from ladies like the "My Tweets" center panel. No LQS carries those speciality patterns. I've ordered thread and fabric from small businesses. I believe in supporting local and small businesses..regardless of where they are.

I see it several ways for creating state revenue.

If I bought the online item in a state, I pay that state's sales tax for online purchases. That creates legal revenue for that state. I'm sorry my state loses that revenue, but that service isn't provided hence going to another state. I have no problem paying sales taxes to the states I bought them from. I shouldn't have to pay sales tax several times over for a purchase via that state and my state though.

No online retailer like Amazon.com should be exempt from paying sales tax or any other kind of taxes. They are legal business and should pay taxes. The states need to enforce sales taxes through retailers and is done at the time of my order. I consider the retailers that don't offer sales tax guilty of tax fraud. Not the consumer.

These businesses can't consider the online side of their store a separate entity and are exempt from sales taxes.

Welcome to Capitalism. I have the right to purchase from any place in the USA and worldwide and from any store I choose. I refuse to be bound to support the state I live in because it's upset about what I bought and where it came from. States are also losing sales tax money because many people are out of a job and no longer buying items, not just from me shopping online.

I shop locally at places that do meet my needs. I believe in supporting all businesses, big or small. I support paying taxes. I do not support the "usage" tax and consider it illegal and almost unconstitutional. I'll reluctantly pay it, but I do feel like writing a nasty letter to my state government about how stupid it is.

I do applaud places like Barnes & Noble, Apple, Best Buy and other retailers that put sales tax automatically in your purchase.

Rant over.

Smash Books

2012-01-26T12:48:00.000-08:00

I LOVE this concept. I bought one for my other daughter on Tuesday and the three of us have been adding pages. I went to Michael's and came back with all these fun stickers/sets. I knew as soon as I saw the ruffled rhinestones and laces that was going to be my front cover page.

This one is mine:

This is my oldest daughter's :

And my youngest:

You can tell we each have our own unique ways of decorating the front covers. No rules, no reasons, just do what you want. I've never scrapbooked because of needing every page to be perfect. My youngest is still doing her front cover in sections.

Here's a page from mine:

It's not finished, but was playing with the idea of a bike page. I wanted to put all the trails I've been on and how far I've gone over the year. I couldn't find the other two maps right now, but will when I find them. I found a tattoo site that had bike chain rings all over them, imported into SCAL3, printed it out and used my marker to scribble in the design.

What I want to do is use my Cougar cutter to cut out several different designs of them, ink them up and glue them in.

My youngest has had the most fun:

This is her superhero page: I found the stickers and she fell in love immediately.

A glue gun is still not my friend. At least I haven't burned my fingers yet; just made a gooey mess all over myself and the table.

2012-01-25T08:57:00.000-08:00

I sold my bike on Monday. A lady from Omaha purchased it and I hope she loves it. I had no idea how heartbroken I would be until later that evening. I just burst into tears and sobbed my heart out. I know she's got a better home where she's not in the garage wistfully waiting for a ride. I paid the necessary bill and don't have to worry about that any more.

I did take my Salsa Fargo out for a ride the other day. You take advantage of every warm day now. I took my son with and went to the local trail. Since it had snowed, the trail was wet and muddy. Perfect for testing out my bike. You can see from the picture that it got all nice and muddy. She goes through mud really well so maybe I'm good for not having a fat bike. I actually beat him back to the car for the first time ever on the bike. His Rockhopper slid all over the place so I had quite the advantage. My Fargo is the green bike.

I haven't done any quilting. For some reason I'm just not in the mood. I just stare at the pile of projects and walk away. It seems like too much effort to pull it all out.

For the Mukluk, I'm wondering if it would be best if I just buy the bike in pieces. It would be more expensive, but I could buy parts as I can. The nice part about bikes is that you can upgrade and buy parts at a time completely customizing your bike.

2012-01-18T11:03:00.000-08:00

I did the unthinkable. I'm sure anyone who has been through this, knows the agony of making a difficult decision. I've debated for a couple of months about selling my Madone 4.7 (bike in my profile pic) but after my ER visit, I need to sell her. She also needs a better home with nice clean streets and paved bike trails and I can't give her that.

I put her up for sale on Craigslist yesterday. I have no way of shipping her out of the area or I'd put her up on a bike forum. If no one responds I guess she's meant to stay at my house.

My main reason to sell her was to get a Pugsley or a Mukluk until the ER bill came. They are "fat bikes" because they have 4 inch wide tires and are meant for going across snow, mud, grass, gravel and sand. I wanted one for the rural gravel roads out where I live. Even with my Fargo, I still slide around.

The other thought was to sell my Sapphire 870 since I do have the original box, packaging and everything else. I don't know if it would ship in the standard Viking box though. I don't think Viking makes the 870 any longer and have replaced it with the 875. I always get paranoid about the shipping. I have fears of someone paying for something I sold and the box falls apart on the way to their house.

For some crazy reason, I've kept the Go! Cutter and you'd think that would be the first thing I'd want to sell.

Smash Book

2012-01-16T22:17:00.000-08:00

My Smash Book came today! It took me some time to decide how badly I wanted one. I'd gone through several stores including Barnes & Noble looking at books and realized I didn't like any of them.

These are worth every penny. I love the hardback, the small binding, the papers and the pen/glue stick works really well.

Here's my first page:

I used my Cricut to cut out the swan and the swan corners with one of the cartridges I own. My daughter suggested adding sequins on the feathers/wing and in the centers of the corners. Not sure I like it, but for a first time ever doing something paper creative, it works. I plan on adding around it with words/sayings about being beautiful.

I just wonder if the swan needs more decoration. The page needs more "bling" to it.

I plan on doing a page about my bikes. I wish they made stickers of bikes that weren't cartoony or childlike. Maybe I need to steal a bike catalogue from my LBS and cut out pics of my bikes.

SMASH Books And Organizing

2012-01-05T14:07:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to say thanks to a couple of ladies who emailed me to explain about the "Glacier Star" pattern and how the program works as they are certified teachers. I wish there was a trained teacher in my area for that class and that I could afford to take it. The pattern is indeed 60 dollars. I know my LQS isn't certified in anything except in annoying me and probably had to pay retail for the pattern. I really only visit her store when I have too. Again, thanks for explaining how everything works. It's a truly beautiful pattern and well worth the money.

Has anyone heard of SMASH books? While I'm not into the scrapbooking thing, there's a huge buzz about it over on a forum and it being the newest addiction. I looked it up and they are hardback notebooks that you can do whatever you want with. They aren't crappy ones with wire binding that will fall apart on you and already have pretty paper in them. Yeah, anyone can buy a notebook, make a scrapbook out of it, and enjoy their work, but this idea seemed really cool. However; I'd have to order one online. They're pretty cheap, and they come with a pen with built-in glue stick, I just haven't convinced myself of it. Mostly because I'm not artsy, cute, have tons of stickers, ribbons, and other stuff for making it totally my own. I'm just boring and what would I do with it anyway? My daughters would die for one though.

This is what I have for collecting quilt stuff: Binders

I just hate looking over at ugly, bulky 3-ring binders full of stuff and wish I could make them look presentable. Those are just a small sample of the binders I have. It seems kind of silly to put lace, stickers, and other stuff on them for decoration. Obviously none of this stuff would fit in a SMASH Book either. I also hate that they don't lay flat.

So, how do you organize your patterns, classes, embroidery designs, and all the other items we quilters have?

BOM Prices?

2012-01-04T13:40:00.000-08:00

I was at my LQS getting red fabric and she mentioned a paper piecing class. I wander over and if I remember right it's the "Glacier Star" pattern from Judy Niemeyer. Pretty pattern until I looked at the price for the pattern set and realized it was 120 dollars discounted. When I questioned it she proudly exclaimed that it was an exclusive pattern and only available for stores this year as a BOM. Yeah..cause no one else outside a store will pay that price. When I asked about fabrics, she said the background alone was 9 yards. Umm..no. I had really hoped to take a class, but not like this and at such a high price.

Out of curiosity I checked online for the pattern. According to Judy's site, it's an exclusive pattern just for the stores but I found the pattern on other sites for around 60 dollars and a kit made up for another price. Too bad I can't wander in with my 60 dollar pattern set when the class starts in a couple of weeks.

Then I found another site that wanted 181 dollars up front to take this class and then get charged 33 dollars a month until the class is over. No refunds. It didn't say whether or not part of that was price was fabric. I'm hoping this was paying for a teacher's time.

Just to be clear, I have no problem paying a teacher good money for her time in a class. It's hard work and I know that. What I don't like is being charged a fortune JUST for the pattern.

For other suspicious quilters out there, is there some of quilt Mafia for paid BOM's setting these outrageous pattern prices? There are dozens of BOM beautiful quilts as I did some Google searching but I'm not about to pay double or triple for a what it should really cost for me to make it myself or even what I think a class should cost.

I just want to say thank you for those designers that make their BOM patterns reasonably priced, fun and entertaining. There are so many talented ladies out there and you are truly loved and appreciated. Don't stop doing what you love.

New Years Resolution

2012-01-03T13:32:00.000-08:00

I don't make resolutions or serious goals, but I do have this one: I hereby plan to stay out of the ER forever. Just bury me in the back yard. It's cheaper.

I know the US has terrible health care problems even with insurance but the last straw was charging me 3000 dollars for a 5 minute CT scan and another 1000 dollars worth of charges for the bill totaling 4000 dollars. I'm still responsible for 800 dollars of with insurance. All for a burst ovarian cyst.

How to help the cost of health care? Reduce the prices of tests, scans, and every single part that got suck in me that night. It costs me 525 dollars just for showing up. I don't know how much I've spent last year between a concussion, (I didn't bother with the second one) my left side going completely numb to the point of slurring and being confused, going to the ER for smoke inhalation and finally this.

Now to happier things:

I've been working on my "Red Christmas" appliqué some more. It's looking better and better as I'm more skilled and it's been easier. The pattern is emerging and will be truly beautiful. Maybe I can get it done within my lifetime.

I'll do the circles between the flowers later. It's been nice to sit next to DH while he watches TV at night. We watched Russell Crowe's version of Robin Hood the other night. It bombed at the theaters, but I really enjoyed it. It's a prequel to the Robin Hood story we all know and that's probably why it bombed.

2012-01-01T22:43:00.000-08:00

Ugghh. Nothing is working right for a layout for "My Tweets". EQ7 is useless. I wonder if I should put white sashing around everything to make the blocks "float" with a blue border, the appliquéd border and blue binding.

Or put a blue border around the center panel, sew the blocks, add a blue border around the blocks, add the appliquéd border and bind with blue.

If I could lay it out visually via EQ7 for the math and how it looks, it be so much more helpful.

I just hate to cut down the blocks only to have them be to small. My biggest problem is the 26 inch center block. would it look bad if I sewed strips 2 inches on each side to make it what the pattern is, would it look "off" and be out of proportion? If it was done in blue would it be out of proportion?

I wonder if I have graph paper somewhere in that organized chaos of bins and bags. I thought I did and it was actually done by 4's to the inch making it that much more useful.

Assembling "My Tweets"

2011-12-30T19:02:00.000-08:00

I've been working on the satin stitching of "My Tweets" so I could get blocks done and work on the last couple of blocks. Erin put up the finishing directions and I realized I'm going to have to make some big changes.

1. My center panel isn't 30 inches. It's 26. I think the original pattern had it at 24 but I can't find it to make sure. I wish she had said something.

2. She has the blocks at 15 inches and while mine are larger so I could cut them down, I'm not sure how to make it work with a 26 inch inch block.

3. If I understand the borders right, they are cut at 10.5x90 inches with them mitered.

I did play in EQ7 but couldn't find the right setup and if you did a custom design, it wasn't working very well.

So, do I:

Cut out the borders (they are appliquéd and I really don't want to resize) and make the rest of the blocks fit with sashing? I just can't figure out the math for some reason. From the 90 inches, I'd take out 20 inches (10 on each side) leaving me with 70 inches square to work with?

However; when I take the four blocks that she has cut out at 15 inches (14.5 inches finished?) and the 5 inches of sashing I come up with 63 inches, not 70.

I put a post up in her Yahoo! group.

I haven't taped up the border blocks yet to check the distance to see what it really is. I guess I should.

Getting There

2011-12-24T20:17:00.000-08:00

I started going through stuff. I'm one of those crazy people that organize fabric via specific color. It's not just "red" or "blue" or "yellow" It's gold-yellow, yellow, red, red-orange, orange and so on. I pin the color on the fabric and then put in bins according to the color wheel. Then you run into the problem of re-arranging fabrics when you add new fabrics in.

I do this because some fabric colors aren't what they seem. When you see "red" and it's really more "orange", it doesn't work with it's opposite, a green. Oranges and blues are opposite and once you put that fabric in with the blues, it works perfectly. Your quilts become more colorful, vibrant and blend better when you know it's true color.

It's still a mess with sorting fabric. Then I thought about what my DH would say if I asked him what to do. His advice would be, "You know, no one is going to see your stash or care how meticulously you organize it. It's just going to get messed up every time you raid it. If you want to match a color, wait for your project, take out your book and do it then." Translated in man language that would mean, "Stuff it all in bins and don't worry about it".

You know what color each fabric is. Don't obsess over it. So I just stuffed everything in bins and figure when I go looking for fabric for a new project, I'll still be good. I dumped out some fabric and feel better. Plus, it's an excuse to go buy more fabric that's not 10 years old.

If you are wondering why I'm doing this on Christmas Eve instead of doing some celebration, it's because there isn't anything to celebrate. I have no family close by. I'm a hermit with anxiety problems. Having anyone over would give me a massive heart attack. It's just been a nice quiet day.

After organizing DH and I started watching a 1978 Japanese series called "Monkey" that was broadcast in England when he was a kid. I despise dubbing and Japanese/Chinese movies are the worst. Once I got over the terrible dubbing, it's a pretty good series. If you lived in England during that time period it was a very popular show.

Now he's watching "633 Squadron" that I found for 5 bucks on Amazon.UK. It was on the Military Channel about a week or so ago and screamed "widescreen" the entire movie to enjoy the planes. US version was overpriced and crappy copies. It came today and with his region free DVD player he's enthralled. If you or your loved one loves WWII movies, this is a great one. They haven't put classic WWII movies on Blu-ray yet so I'm glad I could find this DVD for him.

2011-12-24T13:03:00.000-08:00

I have a problem. It's bad. I had no idea how bad things were until my daughter asked for some drawers to stash her crafting supplies. It's been ten years in the making of this problem and it's not going to get better. I need intervention like that one show about hoarders so I can fall apart while someone else goes through my stuff.

I admit it. I'm a fabric hoarder. I'm a book hoarder. I hoard thread. I buy patterns knowing I'll never use them but can't resist. I've got quilt stencils I've only used once. Homemade stencils of patterns I've designed but will never get around to making.

I fell for the knitting fad and have stuff in the hopes of making a pair of socks. Anyone want to make me socks? I have really, really, really nice yarn. Even knitting needles and the books to make them. I just don't have the ability to count.

I can't bear to part with any of it. It's the "I Might Need That Someday" syndrome. I have A.D. projects. You know, the "After I'm Dead" project my kids will never finish. If you don't believe me:

That's only ONE drawer of scraps in trying to do Bonnie's way of organizing. I'm not about to spend hours cutting all sizes of strips and squares. I don't even think my Go! Cutter would make that easier.

Surprisingly I only have a small stash of magazines.

Stencils:

So, some questions:

1. If you really aren't going to use the little scraps are you allowed to toss them?

2. If I put some of this stuff up for sell via my blog or (gasp) Ebetray would they sell?

3. How do you know what toss or keep? Some of this stuff is 10 years old.

4. Will it really be emotionally okay to give it away, sell it, or toss it?

Back to the basement to help my daughter.

Boxes

2011-12-22T21:46:00.000-08:00

Still working on my "Red Christmas". It's looking better and a little easier as I've done more of it. It's going to take awhile since it's slow going.

I got out my Cougar cutter as I wanted to do this project:

Things got busy and I realized I may not have enough paper to do it. It's actually about 9-10 inches tall.

So I tried a free download with my Cougar and got this:

Yeah. It's pretty bad. How did my Cougar totally screw that up? (It's actually been a pain all week) I put the box together anyway just to see how it looked. LOL.

I got out my Cricut to see if it would work better and it ate another box project from the same file. Uggh. The paper was destroyed. I got out a different kind of paper and tried again. Wow! Talk about pretty! DD and I put M&Ms in them and will take them to some friends.

I really need to work on "My Tweets" blocks. I just haven't felt like it.

WINE And Applique

2011-12-19T14:29:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure I'm liking this appliqué pattern. It's a pain trying to do the the slender points and I suspected it would be rather boring doing the same pieces over and over. It's not looking very pretty either given my ugly stitches. It's not terrible, just looks very amateurish. The fabric frays badly. So..keep it up or give up?

I've been playing with computer programs as well. I installed Lion for my computer in hopes I could use WINE (not the drinking kind) to work with Windows via the Mac side of my computer. The WINE software works but not with most of the programs I have. It doesn't recognize USB ports so I can't use my cutters or my embroidery machine with my windows software. If I was a computer programmer I can see tons of opportunities with the program. It just took most of the weekend to install and play with the program to find all of this out. The joys of being to lazy to boot over to the Windows side of my Mac computer. LOL.

However; MTC (Make The Cut) software is coming out with a Mac version soon so I'm very excited.

I should be working on my "My Tweets" blocks but haven't felt like it.

Freezer Paper Issues?

2011-12-08T21:11:00.000-08:00

First off, are there ads when you come to my blog because I didn't put them there. If so, how do I get them off. I don't have "monetize" on nor have I ever enabled it. Has Google started doing this w/o our permission? Not happy about this.

On to the blog post.....

Did the people who make freezer paper change their formula? When I iron the paper onto the fabric it doesn't stick and if you spray starch the whole piece practically falls apart. It's driving me nuts. I used to be able to press the freezer paper with ease and use the same piece over and over despite using starch.

The brilliant plan was to cut out all the applique shapes on freezer paper with my Cougar cutter for the "Red December" quilt. Then use my iron/starch to press the fabric over. Instead it's just making a gooey mess.

The other plan is to cut out the pieces on plastic templates, but if I starch the piece, all it does is make the template slippery and ruins the design.

Of course, the original plan of just doing it by hand works, it's just slower.

"Red December" Quilt

2011-12-07T10:48:00.000-08:00

I've been working on my "Red December" quilt. Just like glue, those dang points are killing me. The fabric is similar to Kona Cotton. It frays and it's bulky when you get to the points. The color is so beautiful though. It didn't even run when I washed it. A red that doesn't bleed!

I may have to call it quits on the back basting and use templates to get those points nice and sharp with some starch. It is really pretty despite my bulky points. Even DH likes the pattern.

Hmm..going to JoAnn's is more and more appealing. I can drive since I'm not taking the pain med anymore.

Glue?

2011-12-07T10:39:00.000-08:00

I hate glue. Part of me wants to head to Lincoln, hit JoAnn's and find some scrapbooking glue. Or glue that doesn't take 10 hours to dry or warps my project. That entails filling my my car @50 bucks, using half of it for the trip just to spend a few dollars. Ughh.

I've spent hours making this box. Oh, cutting it out was easy. Press "cut" on the software and you are done. It took me forever to figure out the inside part of the book. The YouTube video kept stopping on me before it hit the box and there are no written instructions in the downloaded file that I could find.

The front isn't so bad. I love the front part of the book. It needs some berries and twigs that I seem to have lost. Even the box that fits into the book looks great.

So..am I allowed to use Roxanne's basting glue for these? Or would any form of moisture dissolve the glue? That stuff is amazing. I even caught DH using it to glue up the corners of his DVD box sets awhile back. You know, he's actually been very well behaved. Something is up.

I used my Cougar cutter for the oval with the circles in it. Every one of those circles is a circle. Not kidding. Those are not hand punched. I cut out the book cover with my Cricut and it totally messed up the four corner circles. Now that I've figured out my Cougar cutter, it's been worth every penny.

2011-12-06T22:07:00.000-08:00

Spent last Sunday night in the ER. I'd been feeling sick since Thursday but chalked it up to the "just not feeling good" theory. By Sunday night around 11:30pm I started cramping over in pain. My first thought was my appendix and headed to the ER.

ER is 1/2 mile down the road and by the time I was there, I was really doubled over. It felt like labor pains and that scared me. I'm not pregnant. I can't get pregnant unless there's some kind of miracle and if I was having a miscarriage I'd be bleeding. Other thought was ectopic pregnancy but again, I can't get pregnant. All kinds of thoughts race through your mind when you start thinking about what's going on. It would kill me to find out somehow I had gotten pregnant and lost a baby.

The nice part about rural hospitals is that there's never anyone there so I got in right away. The bad part is that there isn't anyone there. Doc said I needed a CT scan. However; they had to call in the guy that does the CT scan. Then they wanted to use a dye to see better and had to set that up. One glass, wait 45 minutes, another glass and wait 45 minutes before they can do the scan.

Nurse gave me some morphine and DH and I waited until I could do the CT scan. Umm. Can't they just use an ultrasound machine to figure this out? The nurse said they don't have an ultrasound machine and then they'd have to hire a tech to use it. Yet, you somehow have a CT scanning machine and can pay that guy? It's a conspiracy as you'd make more money off the CT scanner right? I could have been out of the ER within an hour or so with the ultrasound machine, but no...you kept me ALL friggin' night for the CT scan. You can charge more for the time as well.

The guy comes to do the CT scan. It has to go to Lincoln. They have to wake someone up on their end to read it and send back the results. Geesh.

Why can't this happen during a WEEKDAY so I can hit a regular doc, get an ultrasound and go home?

4am comes along and the final verdict is that an ovarian cyst ruptured and that they found another one. I get handed some pain meds and they send me home all nice and drugged out. I'm told I can't drive under Vicodin (duh) as it would be considered a DUI.

Good news after seeing a regular doc is that it's all good and there's no sign of cancer. Just keep an eye on it and go from there.

Can't wait to get the bill for this. I shouldn't complain too much. If it was a big city hospital, it would have been 4am by the time I was even seen.

Red Fabric For Applique Project

2011-12-05T20:43:00.000-08:00

I found some red fabric! Turkey red and it's beautiful! I cut out one 20 inch square of red fabric and backbasted it to the white foundation fabric. The red fabric is on the bottom so you can see where I basted from behind.

Then you cut around the design to 1/4 of an inch to start your hand applique.

I've started on the outside and plan to work inwards. Here's a close up of where I've been working:

"Red December" Quilt

2011-12-02T12:38:00.000-08:00

Esther over at Esther's Blog has an amazing red/white quilt pattern for her readers called "Red December" and it's truly gorgeous! Sigh. The last thing I need is another beautiful quilt to drool over.

So..I quit drooling and went and bought fabric. I'm not doing red but browns and pink. However; I'm torn on what I want to do. If I do more than one color, will I lose the simpleness of it? Should I just keep to one color? The dark brown, the medium or the print?

There are four blocks shown on point with triangles that have part of the design on it. I know the best idea is to cut out several pieces and play around. I worry about losing the pink flowers in the design and it comes out just one mottled mess. The dark brown is truly beautiful and would probably make a stunning allover quilt. If I use all 3 will the contrast lose the entire pattern that one color does?

I plan on hand appliquéing since the design is gentle curves and circles. I have no desire to satin stitch around all of that. I can't stand raw edges so hand applique would do just fine. I'd just back baste everything.

Or, just go buy red fabric and make it look like the quilt she has shown? I had looked at several stores and couldn't find that "perfect" red and liked the idea of brown.

2011-11-29T10:40:00.000-08:00

I think I should legally change my name to perpetually frustrated because that's all I am. It never goes away and never gets easier. There isn't any medication. Well, some people could debate that, but I'd rather have legal drugs and even those suck the life out of you. There isn't a support group. Banging your head against a wall hurts. People hide when they see you coming. Throwing the item(s) that make you frustrated only means holes in your walls or a broken window and voids your warranties. Thankfully I know that and only mentally toss stuff through the window.

Yup. Being bipolar sucks and I hate having it. You do indeed live with being perpetually frustrated. Nothing is easy and everything sets you off.

The good news is that I'm actually LOVING the holidays. Normally I want to hibernate this time of the year, but for some reason, I'm so excited it's killing me. I even hit Black Friday. Oh, not at 3am. That's when the crazy people are out and those people are dangerous. DH and I went late afternoon. We hit JoAnn Fabrics and Best Buy.

JoAnn was having some killer sales that I didn't know about. Wait for it...I picked up..gasp..a Sizzix BigKick. Okay..40% off was a huge deal maker and I've wanted to try one to compare it to the Go! cutter.

Err...now what do I do with it? If ya'll know how to find some dies (JoAnn's had been picked clean) let me know. Yeah. It was pure impulse. Dang Black Friday. I got several scrapbook paper packs half off for a couple of projects and was glad I wasn't buying fabric. The cutting line was wrapped around the store.

So..what did I do with scrapbook paper? Check these out:

Blue and silver are my favorite Christmas colors. My girls and I made the tree using 4x1.5 inch strips going around a styrofoam cone. It's itty bitty, only 9 inches high. It was SO much fun to do this with them. It really needs a silver star of some kind on the top. Any ideas? A pin with a star on it would be perfect.

The other tree was made using my Cricut. It opens up as a box. I've discovered I suck at using glue. My daughters were laughing so hard as I was furious that sections kept coming apart. I'd finally get one section done to have the rest come undone as I went around the tree. I hate glue. Within a few minutes they had the tree put together after I'd spent 20 minutes trying to make the sections stick.

So, why am I so frustrated?

I've spent all weekend trying to get my Blackcat Cougar paper cutter up and running. It kept sliding the blade across the papers leaving cut marks everywhere. I couldn't get the blade holders to work. Then it stopped working altogether.

I installed a trial of Parallels to run my MTC software via the Mac side so I didn't have to boot over. Of course that's been a pain all weekend. Windows keeps protesting that it needs activated. Then it made for needing to install drivers that the computer kept insisting that weren't there. Now I'm worried I'll lose XP for activating it and lose all my stuff. Yes, it's backed up, but the thought of having to reinstall everything makes me sick if I have to buy a new operating system. I hate Windows so much and wish more programs ran on Mac computers. Dang it, you sewing machine companies, Electric Quilt, Embird,
Make the Cut and other software companies need to get with the times and make your programs work on a Mac.

I've spent all weekend wanting to kill software programs, Windows, and my Cougar Cutter. I'm about tempted to sell the Cougar cutter. It works, it's the stupid operator that is dumb.

I think I'm going to uninstall Parallels and gripe about booting over. It's easier that way.

Quilter's Guide To The Nook Tablet Or Kindle Fire

2011-11-23T09:24:00.000-08:00

I picked up the Nook Tablet last week and being the electronic nerd I purchased the Kindle Fire last night. Neither one is better than the other after playing around, but your decision should be based on what you plan on using your Tablet or Fire for. Everyone in the tech industry seems to go on about the memory, size, and other technical specs, but I'm giving my review as a normal boring person.

My true advice is don't bother with either and go get an iPad. It's more versatile and truly worth every penny. That's one purchase I don't regret. Nothing beats the iPad. Nothing.

I really have the Nook because my husband picks out better books that I do. He's into history, politics, sci-fi, and everything else. I can go into a book store and find myself lost in choices. He's got 400 books to choose from.

I have a Kindle because I like romance novels and quilting books. He doesn't want anything like that on his Nook, archived or not.

If you want quilting e-books, get the Fire. Amazon has so many books to choose from and at much cheaper prices. Barnes and Noble wanted 32 dollars for a book. Amazon wanted 21.99.

Both readers play your own movies. You will need 3rd party software to convert your movies into a readable format. You need the SD micro card for the Nook to load a movie in. You use the "Gallery" app on the Fire. I refused to pay 1.99 an episode for my "Thundercats" TV show via Kindle when I paid a few bucks for the DVD. It was easy to convert it over and watch on each tablet. Volume sucks on both readers so it's hard to hear.

If you want better customizing of your books, get the Nook.

Marvel Comics has worked out a deal with the Nook. DC has done that with the Fire. That really sucks if you like comic books like my DH. I told him I didn't have a problem if he downloaded comic books on my Fire.

User Interface

I tried to get some pics, but the glare wasn't helping. Once you push the power button the Fire, you get this large bookshelf with oversized apps or books. It's a truly ugly home page. You can't scale it down and when I tried to change the order of the books, it just spins through them. Come on Amazon. You could have done better than that.

When I clicked on a book and hold it, I have two choices, Add to favorites, or remove from the device.

With the Nook, you push the "N" and it opens up with whatever screen saver you've put in (I have an animated fish tank) and your recent books are stored at the bottom in a nice neat size. If you hold on one of the books/apps it asks if you want to open it, view details, recommendations and if you want to remove it from the home page.

Once you get a book loaded, you can go to the menus by tapping. You can change fonts, size, margins, background color, line spacing. The Kindle has three background colors, gray, back and Sepia. The Nook has Day, night, gray, Butter, Mocha, and Sepia.

When it comes to navigating your way through menus, the Kindle is easier because it doesn't have all the menus to go through. However; when I do need that "N" I know where it is. Having to tap all the time to go the home menu on the Fire was annoying at times.

I couldn't find shelves on the Kindle. On the Nook I could add bookshelves, label them and easily move those books into them.

Internet:

Both are fast and load up nicely. Buying books are easy on both sites. Amazon.com is easier to navigate through and the prices are so much better for books. There are more apps. Barnes and Noble website can be a pain to find what you want and some books are almost as much as the regular book.

If you are into Facebook, you cannot chat with either device. That sucks. I think that's an Android problem, not the devices themselves. I can't chat on my Droid either.

It's a hard choice because of my needs. The nook is better with customizing and I like it more than the Kindle. I like to watch movies, but don't want Hulu+ or Netflix. I have Amazon Prime and can watch what I like, whenever I want, but the Nook has clearer, more vibrant colors. I can buy so many quilting books via Amazon and books are cheaper.

Get the iPad if you want the best. Even if you despise Apple, you really get what you truly want.

*Edited* You can hack into the Nook without messing with anything to ruin it. I was able to sideload Amazon's app store and the the Kindle reader. It's more complicated to get into the Android Market and I don't buy apps that much so I wasn't worried about it.

If you really only want to read books and not deal with the internet, get one of the simple readers that each offer for a great price. I like e-ink and not dealing with the glare of a glass screen.

I probably haven't helped, but this is my first impressions with both tablets. Both have really nice features and I wish I could put it all into one tablet.

Design Wall Monday

2011-11-21T14:06:00.000-08:00

I got brave and pulled out my Cricut cutter to see if I could make something that wasn't quilty. I found my"Make The Cut" forum and found a pattern for a birdhouse . I downloaded it, had it cut out and then wondered what to do with it. My creativity has improved over the years but once I saw what the other ladies had done with their birdhouses my spirits fell. Quilting I know. Paper crafts I do not.

After rummaging through the scrap booking stickers for birds and finding nothing. How can you NOT have birds? I picked out butterfly stickers and found some Japanese blossoms. I picked out some blue ribbon and headed home.

After playing around I came up with this:

My daughter said to put a candle in and with the lights off you get this:

I have one problem. If I tape the roof on, I can't get to the candle (fake one) to turn it on/ off. Any ideas?

Check out Judy's blog for more Design Wall Mondays.

Cardinal Quilt

2011-11-14T23:53:00.000-08:00

Argh. The tape kept coming off the wall and I needed a better view for the blocks so I laid everything out on the floor. A much better view and it's been easier to put my blocks where I want. The cats haven't destroyed it and I'm leaving it until morning to put the rest together. Hopefully I can start sewing blocks and maybe even rows.

I'm really liking how this is turning out.

Cycling

I got quite the scare this morning when I picked up my bike to put it on the stand and the wheel fell out as it hadn't been tightened in right . That explains the "thunk" I heard yesterday about 6 miles outside of town. I'm lucky I didn't crash. I don't how the bike made it home on the rack w/o losing that tire when DH came to pick me up.

I called up the store and brought the bike up for a check since I couldn't get the gearing to work right. I had my fingers crossed I hadn't bent the rim or frame. The guy had to true up the tire (make sure the spokes are in place/tension so the tire spins correctly), bend the bottom part of the frame where the tire sits back into place and we spent about 30 minutes figuring out why the chain doesn't move up/down the cassette (where the smaller gears are in the back). Turns out there's a tension setting on the bar-end shifter that needed tweaking.

Between the bar-end tension and the bottom tension settings, my bike rides beautifully. And I only thought tension problems existed with sewing machines. LOL. Bike cables stretch as you use them.

BTW, if I have my bike terminology off, I make no apologies. It took me years to get it right for quilting.

Note to self:

Always check your bike over before going out and don't forget the cell phone. You got lucky one of your friend's house is 8 miles away to call DH.

2011-11-12T23:33:00.000-08:00

Stupid back. It's aching really bad. That's what I get for loading up my Fargo onto the rack and putting my Trek Y-11 into the back of the car since it won't fit on the rack. I'm so excited though! My Y-11 now has a beautiful view to the outside world as a collector's piece in the shop window instead of being in my garage. She's still mine, but she'll get more attention at the shop.

My Fargo got an adjustment and is back home waiting for a ride.

I thought I could get more done on my cardinal quilt, but my back finally protested enough to stop. It's a mess up on the wall, but it really is organized chaos.

The top 4 corners will have the sparrows with the cardinals in the center. The flowers will be centered around/between the birds. Masking tape doesn't stick very well as you can see and two cats don't help when they pull at the bottom pieces.

Completely off topic:

If you got this far, I could use some help with tactfully dealing with 4-5 ladies that ruin every time I go to church. You know the ones. Usually older ladies that seem to think they are more important than they are and probably without realizing it, disrupt the lessons by their comments. They are in every organization possible.

I come to church to listen quietly to the lesson and enjoy it. Last week I'd had enough and it hit me why I'm pretty much inactive in my ward. It's those ladies. The sacredness of every lesson is ruined. When your ward is very small you can't get away from them.

We were talking about keeping yourself unspotted from the world and one lady starts in on how TV is unrighteous and all the shows are evil. I wanted to answer back with, "Why do you have a TV then?" but I didn't.

Another lady tells us that the commercials are just as bad. I couldn't resist, "Umm. Get a a DVR. I don't even have to deal with commercials".

Then another goes on about the computer and I almost walked out. Then Brother "Cough and Hack It Up" decides to have 3 minute attack which doesn't help. Why can't these people realize it's so gross to listen to and leave for a couple of minutes?

After the lesson, I'd had enough and left to go home. I quit going to Relief Society years ago after a terrible discussion with these ladies demeaning anyone who was on government assistance. I have been on government assistance at one time or another and was so disgusted I've never gone back.

It doesn't help that one of the ladies is the teacher and they egg each other on.

Is this normal for other wards if you are LDS? Or if you are part of another church?

Any solutions? The ones I've thought of aren't really very nice and the ones that are would still be hard to say publicly in a class. I just want to go to church and enjoy the day. Most of the time I hide under the covers and wish Sunday would just go away.

2011-11-11T20:14:00.000-08:00

I was bad. Really bad because I didn't tell DH first, but she's incredible. She's a 2012 Salsa Fargo. She's an all steel mountain bike with 29inch wheels, with road bike handlebars and bar end shifters.

When you go into a bike store, no one asks what are the road conditions in your area to help select a bike. I never thought about it until now when I realized I was spending all summer trying to avoid rocks and being blown over by semi trucks on my Madone. I never really felt "safe". The rural roads out here are not meant for a racing bike and I wish I had understood that before buying it.

The other thing that peeved me was last week I looked online at my Madone and realized Trek had dropped the price to 2000 bucks and I paid far more for it. If you want a 2011 Madone 4.7, get it now as you'll save nearly 700 dollars. I wanted to puke right there. I LOVE my Madone, it's just not meant to be ridden down pothole riddled roads.

This bike was amazing going down the road. The mountain bike tires go over anything, the road bike frame and drop bars make it like a road bike, the softness of steel and it's a rush. I wish I had found this first.

I'm going to sell my Trek 1.2, my Specialized Sirrus and maybe my Trek Y-11 on Craigslist. They need much better homes. I'm also considering selling my Husqvarna Viking Sapphire 870. She's sat in a box for several years. I'm getting her tuned up and hope to have her back next week.

2011-11-10T09:18:00.000-08:00

A couple of people were asking why I don't like my Accuquilt cutter, so thought I'd answer.

It's really an ingenious idea and truly has revolutionized the quilting world, but it does nothing for people who don't need dies. Most of my applique is complicated and right now it's "My Tweets" and there isn't a die for that. The cardinal quilt has 1.75 inch strips and there's no die for that either.

I bought mine hoping to do my nine patch quilt where each square finishes at 1 inch. Just cut the strips at 1.5, turn the strip around on the Sharpie lines and cut squares. Umm. No. I broke my first one and put nicks in the 1.5 inch die. Accuquilt was fabulous about fixing the whole problem and sent me a new one and die.

After you cut the 1.5 inch strips, they would stick to the mat or die and fold open making it a pain to put back on to cut squares. I got tired of refolding strips and it was just easier to use my June Taylor strip cutter. Flip the ruler to the side, and it cut squares. No moving of fabric. Mine is 12x18 making it even faster.

I realized that Accuquilt made a die with 1.5 inch squares on it. The first one didn't stick to the back of the die and was very kindly replaced. The die only has six squares and every time I used it, they weren't square. Even if they were square, it would take forever to cut out enough squares with only six on the die. I have no room for the Studio version and wasn't going to pay that much just for squares.

I fell in love with the Rose of Sharon blocks from EQ and bought the book and die. I don't like raw edges for fusible applique and I never get the stupid fusible to work anyway. That's user error, not the fusible webbing. I know I'll never get around to it.

While working on "My Tweets" someone had used their electronic paper cutter and software to make freezer paper templates. That's what I want. The ability to cut freezer paper templates of anything I desire. Long story short, within minutes my Cricut can draw or cut out any design I want via my software. If I need something larger, I have my 18 inch killer duty Cougar cutter. You can no long use a Cricut and software together. Provo Craft threw a tantrum and sued the software companies. You would have to find another cutter so don't go out and buy a Cricut if you want to try this.

This was done on my Cougar Cutter as a test for intricacy. It's one of EQ's blocks and done 4 times to make one square. The last part didn't get cut right due to user error, but you can see how it did. If I wanted to just make one large block for applique, it could easily cut out templates.

What I haven't been able to do is cut fabric with them yet, but haven't really sat down and tried. It's a stability issue which is why Accuquilt has the top part that goes over the fabric and protects the die. I'm just happy to have both draw out on freezer paper the custom templates I need.

2011-11-09T21:38:00.000-08:00

I've decided to sell my Accuquilt Cutter and dies. I don't use them. I'm not impressed and think they are overhyped and overpriced however; I know lots of people adore theirs.

My biggest problem is shipping. I have the original box for the cutter but I have no clue how to ship the 1.5 and 2.5 inch strip dies. They are long and skinny for those who haven't seen them and don't fit in regular USPS boxes. I don't have access to a fancy box shop either unless I went to Lincoln. Would they have something to fit the dies?

I'd like to sell it all together making it easy since I only have the two strip dies, the Rose of Sharon, and the 2 inch square die...oh and the ones that came with the cutter.

I just hate having mine knowing someone would love it more. I'm not even sure how much to ask for the entire set or if I should put it up on Ebetray w/o knowing how to ship the larger dies. If someone lived locally within Lincoln, Omaha or surrounding areas we could meet up somewhere.

Any thoughts?

Random Thoughts?

2011-11-07T22:17:00.000-08:00

I have been piecing today. It's been cold and rainy and to keep my mind off those bikes I want, I started working on the cardinal quilt. It's not working.

I hate random piecing and quilting. I don't like same fabric pieces touching and it drives me nuts trying to piece and place blocks randomly. Grrr.

But, here's one layout of this quilt:

Deep down, it really doesn't matter, but sewing and quilting random blocks drives me crazy. Which is probably why I haven't had this done that fast. I just need to get over it.

Cycling:

Yup. I've done my best to forget about bikes today, but it isn't happening. Stupid Salsa Fargo. Why didn't I find you when I was looking earlier? Oh yeah, cause I didn't know what I wanted. Duh.

I got thinking about what I liked so much about the Fargo and it was the seat post, the shifters and the handlebars. If I can't afford the bike, I figured I could get those parts and change my bike around.

Of course it's NOT that easy after I talked to my LBS mechanic. The handlebars won't fit on my mountain bike and the fancy shifter setup would cost me at least 400 bucks. I thought about putting the fancy shifters on my Madone but right now I'm not sure I want to put that much money on the bike.

I can put the fancy seat post on my mountain bike. When I looked it up, it's called a Thudbuster and instead of the suspension going up/down which hurts me, it slides back and forth.

The more I thought about things I realized I wanted that flared handlebar as well. The mechanic said I could put it on my Madone. Of course that would be blasphemy to the road cyclists out there. It's a good thing there aren't any down where I live. Not that I care. It's my bike and I can do it the way I want. I ordered the bars and I hope to see them on Friday.

BTW, here's DH on the recumbent bike he was looking at:

We both tried it out and while lots of fun, not even remotely useful in rural Nebraska. Hills would take hours to climb. We got lots of looks though. It's a Catrike Trail model he's riding.

2011-11-05T19:46:00.000-07:00

I'm at a loss and not sure what to do. No, it's nothing bad, just confusing. I'm not really looking for answers. Just doing some online thinking.

DH and I went to another bike store to look at recumbent bikes today. We tried out one and he really liked it. Meh. I had a good time, but wasn't worried about having one. He loved it.

As I was looking around they had a Salsa Mukluk that I tried out and really liked. It's a bike with 4 inch wide tires and rides like a tank over anything. Perfect for rural gravel roads and the snow. Then the guy showed me a Salsa Fargo and it was almost love at first ride. It's a touring bike/mountain bike with 29 inch wheels and has funky drop bars. I thought I loved the bikes I have, but this was different.

Mukluk:

Salsa Fargo:

What's hard about bikes is the same about sewing machines. You think you know what you want until you start getting better and then realize you may have gotten the wrong machine/bike.

When I first started looking the guy asked "Where do you plan on riding?" and "What kind of bike are you looking for?" "Ummm...dunno. Just want a bike." I had no idea so many kinds of bikes existed, touring, mountain, racing, cyclocross, racing, hybrid, time trial, cruisers and whatever else is out there so I just winged it. Then there are price points between all of those depending on the level of bike.

After today, I realized I don't like racing bikes. I won't ever race. My Madone is hard to handle because it's so light and despite several fittings, it just doesn't seem right. Rural NE doesn't have roads built for light carbon bikes and blowing semi's don't help. I thought I wanted a racing bike. Really. I did. But the more I ride it, the less enthralled I am. It's a gorgeous fast amazing bike, but not for where I'm at.

My Sirrus is a hybrid and I bought it before the Madone. I was told a hybrid was the perfect match between a racer and mountain bike. No. It's crap. You can't ride the trails and it's not fast enough to race. Hybrids suck. Don't bother.

I've realized cruiser and comfort bikes are not my style, but I already knew that.

I LOVE my Mamba 29er. After doing a real ride yesterday I realized I picked the perfect bike and no regrets. I regret the Sirrus and Madone purchases and selling them is awfully tempting.

Salsa Fargo

Like I said, it's a touring bike with 29 inch wheels. I rode it around and it was incredibly fast, agile, light and stable. Never once did I fall off the bike or feel like I was going too. I have spent the entire summer falling of that Madone. I've had bruises that have taken weeks to heal because of it. Since it's not a racer, I wasn't bent over like a pretzel. Since it's not a crappy hybrid, you're not stuck sitting upright with straight bars wondering if the ride will ever end.

A touring bike is made for going long distances in comfort. They are also built to hold luggage and bags while you ride. I didn't look at them before as I figured I would never get farther than a few miles so why look at them? I thought they'd be slow and cumbersome, but this wasn't even close when I tried the Fargo.

Mukluk

If you truly live rurally, you know what the gravel roads are like out here. I thought my mountain bike would do great, but all you do is control slide the bike over the gravel. This bike makes going over anything easy. You can glide over snow from what I've been told. There are miles and miles of gravel road out there. Oh, the possibilities.

There are several disadvantages. It's a tank. It's not going to handle nimbly around a mountain bike trail unless it's a wide trail and if you have to stop while going up a hill, good luck gaining momentum. It's huge. I'm not sure I could take it anywhere and it's really location specific. People stop and gawk at you as you go by. While that's not a bad thing, I found that while riding it, people kept coming up and asking about it.

LBS

The shop that sells these bikes is in Council Bluffs. That's over an hour away if I need quick adjustments. The shop was fantastic though and almost worth the drive since my store can get cranky. I'm not sure my bike store could order the bikes in either. If they could, would it be worth it for easy service?

Anyone who has bought machines through dealers know that dealer availability and help is necessary. However; a brake adjustment that is 5 minutes makes it hard to drive up that far, even though you like the dealer better.

I'm not sure my shop would let me trade up the bikes I own and I'm not sure how easily I could sell them myself.

If I had to choose one, it would be the Fargo. The guy said he was putting together a Fargo that was my size, but a lower model. He said to come in and check the size for reference as the one I rode was 19 inches after he got it built.

2011-11-05T09:54:00.000-07:00

Maybe this post can be a true "First Mountain Bike Ride". I was talking with my LBS and he metioned a couple of bike trails near Omaha. Once again, determined to do a real trail before it gets cold, I call up DH and tell him I'm picking him up to take me there.

WOW and WOW when we got there. We started riding and immediately I fell in love. The hills, the turns, the descents, dodging trees and being with DH was amazing. He did awesome for being a part-time weekend warrior despite his protests of thinking he's in the way.

My 29er did beautifully on the trail. She handled everything that was in her path. I LOVE this bike.

Go to your local mountain bike park and try out a trail. Don't worry about feeling inexperienced. We actually did an "easy" trail which was still challenging, but SO much fun.

I'm in heaven..at least until I hit a tree which brings me back to reality.

Sorry there are no pics. We only had about a 1/2 hour to ride before it got dark. Another time I'll find a way to go during the day and explore more. You really don't want to go by yourself.

First Mountain Bike Ride

2011-11-03T18:54:00.000-07:00

I finally got the courage to head for a true mountain bike ride today. I called up the local state park and asked if the trails were cleared to get a bike through. I was told the trails were great and come on down. I lugged my bike onto the rack and headed out. I probably shouldn't have gone out by myself, but winter is coming and I wanted at least one attempt at using my bike.

Lady at the front office gives me a map and tells me to use the number 7 trail as it was easy. I head out, find the trail parking lot and unload my bike. I grab my stuff and helmet and start my first ever adventure. I'm doing pretty good getting up/down the first couple of hills and then come across this monstrosity:

Right lady. The trail is cleared for bikes. For what? Monster size bikes like the monster trucks on TV? Obviously you haven't been out on the this particular trail anytime soon.

I pick up my bike and haul it around the tree. I go a little further down the trail and nearly slide all the way down the hill via the leaves in the rut. Brakes are NOT helping and I'm praying I don't fall off onto the left side since there's a steep drop-off.

Number 7 trail is EASY? Lady, who hired you?

I slide down the hill and walk up the next hill. There is no shame in walking if no one is around. I start down and realize there's ANOTHER tree about 3/4 of the way down. It's not as big as this one, but it's there. I slow down best I can and haul the bike around this tree.

I spent more time hauling my purple 29er over trees than I actually did riding it.

Now that I have 1.5 hours of experience mountain biking I've learned these things:

1. I need a small backpack that isn't labeled specifically for cycling since those cost 150 bucks to put crap in.

2. Wool socks are awesome and my waterproof/windproof tights under my jeans worked amazingly. I really wish they made mountain bike style pants for fall weather. Jeans are unfcomfortable, but if I fell off I'd have some protection.

3. The windproof goofy looking beanie hat works great for your ears, lets you put your hair back and fits under my helmet.

4. Disc brakes ROCK. If you are looking for a mountain bike get them. You can slide through mud and other debris much better than if you have rim brakes.

5. Love my armwarmers. I can fit them under my sweater and if it gets too hot, I can take them off.

6. I'm not nearly as bad at this than I thought I would be thanks to reading several books. I won't be doing anything fancy soon, but I never crashed.

7. Always look where you want to go, not where your bike goes. That advice saved me several times while going down some steep hills.

8. 29ers rock at going up hills, not so much going down since they aren't as agile as 26ers. That will take some practice.

9. I need to figure out how to work my shocks, or I may be too heavy for the WSD bike shocks. I kept tweaking it, but it was still too much.

10. Take a friend. It's no fun going alone and not having anyone to share the adventure is a shame.

I could really use some more mechanic skills as my brakes were causing problems on the way up the road back to the car. LBS fixed it after about 5 minutes and there was no way I could have done it by myself. Make sure your bike is in perfect condition before leaving.

Oh..the nice part? There was a hunter walking up the road with his crossbow and he was smoking hot. Very nice view of nature at it's finest.

Bike Fit!

2011-11-02T10:04:00.000-07:00

I had another professional fitting for my bikes last week. Another? Well, after putting my Madone on a trainer for an hour, everything just started aching. Something was off and made an appt for a new fitting from another LBS.

After taking several measurements of inseam, thigh length, torso length, arm length, shoulder width, hand size and foot length, he put them in the computer and bam..out comes a picture of how my bike should be set up. Neato.

He starts fiddling with the magic numbers and sets up my bike. He raised the saddle up, made it level and moved it closer to the bike. He dropped the handlebars down a level, and tweaked some more. He said I might need my cranks smaller but that would be a huge expense and said to wait and see how the bike fits as you use it.

It's AMAZING what a couple of tweaks can do. It's like getting the tension exactly where you want it for FMQ and the perfect satin stitch.

Of course he does this and the weather turns nasty. Maybe it's a good time to try out my cold weather clothing?

Here's my bike now. The changes are small but wonderful:

He also raised the seat post and leveled my saddle for my mountain bike:

Best 45 bucks I've ever spent!

2011-10-25T21:29:00.000-07:00

My dad is doing great. Thanks for all the support. 100+ stitches but he'll heal up just fine. He's lucky he didn't take off half his head being so stupid. I know everyone is laughing at him and I can see the humor in it, but I'm pissed off that he was even using a chain saw.

After talking with my sister, I found out he had no protection (brain bucket and other stuff), was alone across the street in the field and didn't have a cell phone on him. He headed home bleeding all over and if it wasn't for a passing stranger who stopped and called 911, he may not have made it home.

If you are going to play with big boy toys, you better have the safety gear to go with it. You better have a buddy with you in case something goes wrong (and it usually does) and a cell phone to call 911.

When cycling I make sure I have a cell phone, let someone know where I'm headed, all the crap you need in case your bike falls apart, a helmet, and basic food/water supply. I have a few dollars and medical info for emergencies.

Enough ranting. I love my dad and I don't want to lose him.

2011-10-24T22:32:00.000-07:00

Please keep my dad in your thoughts. He was cutting wood when the chainsaw he was using backfired and cut up part of his forehead. He has at least 100 stitches and the doc said he'd be okay, but I still worry.

If you are using power tools, please take care. It only takes a second for something bad to happen.

Cardinal Quilt Picture From LQS

2011-10-23T20:38:00.000-07:00

I cycled 23 miles on Saturday with DH. Woo Hoo! He wanted to see the flooding and we followed the newly opened trail all the way to the start. Sadly, it doesn't go near the river but we had a great time going up and then back. Surprisingly I'm not a walking zombie so I must be in better shape than I thought. Does cycling up grueling hills in 95 degree temps for 5-6 miles over the summer equate to 23 miles on flat terrain and 65 degree weather?

I was able to get a picture of the "Northern Cardinals" quilt that one of my LQS has on display. I love how she did this:

I'll put some blocks up soon. I have to redo a couple and keep sewing them.

Harlequin Wrapped Bar Tape

2011-10-21T17:10:00.000-07:00

I saw a harlequin bar taping design online and thought I'd try the same thing on my bike. I've never wrapped bar tape but know it's a tension deal. If your tape isn't tight enough, it will fall off while cycling. I must have weak hands because I spent 3 hours trying to get this design to work by wrapping the tape under/over and keeping the tension the same but it's still not right. It's still not bad for a first attempt. Well, try about 6 times on each side to make them equal but the finished look is pretty sweet.

I didn't know how to finish the bar ends and to make it all nice and pretty so I called up my LBS to see if they had time. The guy said yes and to bring it up. He loved the harlequin design but said it wasn't tight enough and that this kind of tape makes the design nearly impossible to stay on correctly. Darn. I really wanted this, but he very sweetly wrapped it up in the red bar tape. It was previously wrapped in white so nice burst of red color makes it fun.

Go figure. I felt totally in the way the past few visits but today we talked shop and how to wrap tape. Maybe I'm far more paranoid than I realize even though I try hard not to be that way.

Dear Moda

2011-10-20T09:27:00.000-07:00

Dear Moda,

I would think by now you would know what a square is. You know, the one we all learned about in in geometry and every quilter knows how to make perfectly. Your individual "Northern Cardinal" blocks are NOT square which made for some fudging to make them a 9 inch square. See picture at the 9 inch lines if you don't believe me. (Top right hand corner). The bottom left corner is where the ruler starts.

In future panels, please check that they are geometrically correct or print a label letting people know that they are not.

Sincerely,

A Blockhead

Cardinal Quilt Kit

2011-10-17T12:26:00.000-07:00

Well, if the bike gods hate me today, the quilting gods do not (sticks tongue out at the sky). While at my LQS looking for thread I found this gorgeous quilt kit using these cardinal panels from the "Northern Cardinal" line from Moda Fabrics. The coordinating fabrics are to die for and I rarely say that phrase. LQS said the fabric was getting hard to find as it's so popular and she only had one kit left after I picked up mine.

Here are the panels (cat is not part of the panel nor is included with the kit):

As soon as I get the rest of the fabrics pressed I'll put a pic up. Bandit and Buttons are not helping as they attack the fabric as I'm gushing over it making pictures impossible.

I'm using Terry Atkinson Design pattern "All About Me" that came with the kit. Terry's patterns are usually KISS simple to cut out. Maybe I might get some real work done today.

Design Wall Monday

2011-10-17T10:28:00.000-07:00

I am one block short of caught up with the "My Tweets" blocks! I've been working on satin stitching this weekend with my Ruby as well until I ran low on several thread colors.

I went to my LQS to get them and realized my Mettler silk finish 0900 didn't exist in her store which of course is the one I'm really out of. I would have to go to Papillion to another store as she has all of the threads Mettler makes. The last thing I want to do is travel 60 miles for a 3 dollar spool of thread. If I needed other stuff I could justify the trip. I figured I'd order online but the shipping for one/two spools of thread is more than the thread. I guess it's cheaper than using up all that gas though. I really despise Mettler thread but it's local and easy to get except for 0900. If I can, I get Aurifil. I love my white cone of thread from them. I think it's something like 5500 yards. Those are hard to find as well.

Here are the blocks:

This one needed redone as I messed up the first.

Block Nine:

My LQS mentioned the bike trail is now open as the flooding has gone down. Guess who's going after this post? If you hear wheezing, a loud crash and some moaning, that'll be me down the ravine or tossed into the cornfields. Don't worry too much. I have my cell phone, emergency contact info, and my brain bucket.

edited: NOOOOO....... They open the trail for the first time today and as I loaded up everything I realized it was dark out where I was heading. It's RAINING over by the trail. The bike gods must truly hate me right now to do this to me. It's been fine all morning until I decide to load up everything and head out. Frickety Frack...

Make sure to check out Judy's blog for other Design Wall Mondays

New Tires!

2011-10-15T15:40:00.000-07:00

I finally put white racing tires on my blue Trek today and added a computer. I've been meaning to for some time but wasn't sure I wanted to pay 60 dollars a piece for the tires. LBS gave them to me for 50 bucks and I couldn't resist.

I haven't had a chance to really ride her much this summer as my Madone is a much faster, lighter bike, but there's something about this Trek that makes her so sweet. I'm not sure what year she is but she's a Trek 1.2. LBS sold her to me for 300 dollars when I first started cycling this summer. I moved up to the Madone 4.7 when I wanted something fancier.

Catching Up on "My Tweets"

2011-10-14T11:32:00.000-07:00

Woo Hoo! A real post for once. An energy bar does wonders.

I spent yesterday catching up on two of the "My Tweets" blocks. Block number 10 came out today and I'll start on that later. I may actually be caught up and can do some more satin stitching.

I hate leaves so I got out my software, deleted everything but the leaves and traced them out onto fusible webbing. Here's the software:

Here's the tracing. Yeah. I wasted a lot of fusible, but I didn't feel like arranging all the leaves to save paper. I've gotten faster with the software so it didn't take long. I didn't trace out the birds because I need overlapping to keep everything together without having gaps.

Sorry about the lousy pictures, but here are the blocks I worked on yesterday. I still haven't decided on the heart colors and need to finish up the flowers and small items.

Cycling

I got myself a new toy the other day for my bike. My anxiety has been really bad lately and leaving the house to ride has been really hard. I decided I needed an indoor trainer. You can fit your bike into the back part, put your front tire on the block and off you go. My house is a wreck, ignore that part. Why spend a huge amount of money on an indoor boring cycling thing, when for a couple of hundred bucks you can put your favorite bike on one?

What would be totally cool is if you could virtually hook up your bike to a system and go through trails via a video game or something like that. Then you could watch yourself fall off the cliff down into the ravine when you didn't see the turn. That would be more exciting than putting a movie in and pedaling for 4 miles at 10 miles an hour before your body gives out.

If you have a wireless system for the back tire (see the small black area above the pedal?) you can track your speed, cadence (how fast your turn the pedals) and all that fancy stuff. My Android has a couple of apps for cycling but I don't know if they would work with the bike stationary. I do have an app for heart rate which is nice. Don't know how accurate it is, but close enough.

My son decided to try it out and went almost 40 mph on the bike for about 5 seconds. I can do about 20 mph and my body protests a couple of minutes later. I have to remember I'm 36 and not 15 and invincible.

2011-10-11T21:18:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted since standing at an ironing board hurts my back and makes fusing fabric really hard. It's like my lower back is sinking into my hips and butt. Even sitting down to iron hurts. A kitten doesn't help either. Last thing I want is Buttons to burn herself out of curiosity. Both of my cats go bananas when I sit down to sew hoping they can dig through the drawers in search of bobbins. Their favorite game is drop them in the tub and play hockey. You can hear "plink", "plink", "plink" for hours.

I didn't do my back any favors when I cleaned up three bikes a couple of days. Putting them on the bike stand and taking them off wasn't helping and even though I was sitting down on a chair to clean them, my back still aches. However; the bikes ride beautifully after a good chain cleaning. It's like when you clean out your bobbin case of lint and threads and your machine runs beautifully again. Which reminds me I need to do that. Satin stitching makes a huge mess of lint in your bobbin case.

Hopefully I can get another post up soon with some pics once I feel a little better.

Late Design Wall Monday

2011-10-03T17:26:00.000-07:00

I have pics of the "My Tweets" now. I'm still not done and will have to redo two blocks that didn't fuse right. Here you go with the satin stitching. Check out Judy's blog for more blogs.

Cycling:

I found this shirt and couldn't resist.

BTW, if you happen to have a retail store bike it's all good. It's just a funny shirt that I couldn't resist. Love whatever bike you have regardless of where you got it. I haven't had the courage to walk into Wally World with it on yet.

My wireless sensor went out on my today on my Madone. I'm guessing I did around 5 miles. I only stopped because it was getting hot and between pedestrians and cars, it just wasn't safe for an inexperienced rider like me.

I tried out some new energy gel called GU energy gel to see how it worked. I'm not into energy drinks and specialty products but with cycling you need something. The last thing I tried was some fizzy stuff that made me puke when I got home after one sip. This stuff wasn't too bad and kept it down the entire time I was out. I had DH try some and he was the one gagging on it. It was pretty funny watching the look on his face.

Blood Test Results

2011-09-30T17:53:00.000-07:00

I have the results of my blood tests from last week. Everything is normal. No anemia, thyroid problems, blood counts are normal, kidney and liver are fine, and everything else he tested was within normal ranges. The only test that was high was an ESR sed rate that measures the level of inflammation. Normal is 20 and mine was 32. That suggests but doesn't prove rheumatiod arthritis but since all the other levels were normal, he discounted that.

It's a relief to know that things have been ruled out but I am tired of being tired.

Wounded Pride

2011-09-29T16:39:00.000-07:00

Limp. Groan. Limp. Oww. Limp. Groan. Owww..

Yup. I crashed. Twice. Once when I hit the brakes too hard and I slid into the handlebars hard enough to make me cry. At least I didn't go over the handlebars to face plant out on the street. The second was wiping out trying to do a wheelie and landed in the grass scraping my knee and adding 4 more giant bruises to my body.

I have always wanted to do a wheelie and go down the road holding one. I found a YouTube video that was fabulous and showed simple steps to do it. Cool. I so gotta try this technique. What could go wrong?

Step one:

Use the grass so if you wipe out it doesn't hurt so much. I stood on the side of the bike and practiced pushing my upper body/arms down and over the bike to get the front wheel up. Cool! Instead of 2 inches off the ground I got a foot! I kept practicing using my upper body until it clicked. Sure beats trying to pull up on the handlebars.

Step two:

Lower the gears to find a comfortable position. Done. I practiced putting my back as low to the bar as I could, pushing down on the bike and pulling up. I kept that up until it got easier and went to step three.

Step three:

Put the pedal in the right spot to add leverage while pushing down and keep pedaling. So far so good. I'm not perfect every time but I have the front tire in the air pretty high up and getting the pedaling sort of right. I'm not even close to getting the balancing right, but I'm stoked I can get the tire up at least a foot off the ground.

Step four:

Show off to your son about your accomplishments. That ends up with you pushing down the wrong way with your back, losing your footing on the pedal, sliding off and landing on the grass with the bike on top of you.

Step five:

Avoid step four. You'll end up crying like a baby because of your wounded pride and banged up body. Your son will also fall over laughing until he comes over and helps you up. You will also be grateful you didn't have your son record your accomplishment and that you wore a helmet.

Rambling Away

2011-09-28T23:57:00.000-07:00

Quilting

I'm still working on the satin stitching for "My Tweets" and I'm almost done. I will put pics up soon. The blocks look fabulous! I need to do the center panel and make two more blocks to get caught up. I have loved doing this quilt. My Topaz and Ruby make gorgeous satin stitching.

Cycling

I did 7 miles on my 29er the other day. 29ers have 29 inch tires instead of 26 inch ones. You either love or hate them when you ride one for the first time. I happen to love mine. She's fast and nimble. I have a WSD (women's specific design) model. Women tend to have longer legs and shorter torsos making for a different style of bike. I can ride men's bikes given that I'm tall but she's perfect for me.

I wish I could get purple tires or rims for her, but they don't make that color. I did find out I can put 700 tires on a 29er while at a LBS (local bike shop) today making her more of a street bike than a mountain bike. They don't come in wide widths like mountain bike tires so finding something that doesn't look out of proportion might be hard.

I've learned a couple of things about tires the past few weeks. First, tires deflate over time. Second, Presta valves need to be screwed shut or you lose air faster. There's nothing more embarrassing than realizing you've been running your Madone with tire pressures of 10 when they should be at 90-100 for about 2 months. My son fell over with laughter and shock when he pointed this out to me after asking him about my tires looking flat. How come he knows all this and I don't?

Once again I hate being self-taught. There isn't anyone else that cycles down my way so I'm on my own for figuring things out. I have to drive 80 miles to Lincoln or Omaha if I want a bike trail. I'm still self-concious about being in cycling clothing. I can't use clipless pedals to save my life. I've had two concussions because of clipless pedals despite wearing a helment. I have had more bruises on my body this summer than I care to count. I still can't get farther than 5-7 miles w/o nearly passing out yet people I know via the internet are boasting that they've ridden 10+miles and they just started that day. I'm still too "fat" for cycling gear as I discovered today while looking for jackets. Crappy fat hips.

BTW: always wear a helmet. It's not concussion proof, but when you hit the asphalt, you're not going to crack your head open. The more expensive ones mean they are lighter than a 45 dollar one. Lighter means you don't have a stiff neck after cycling.

So why don't I give it up?

1. I have killer legs. Slim, sleek and sexy. At least that's what DH says.
2. My blood pressure is around 113 over something instead of being high.
3. Despite my setbacks I can go up the killer hills I couldn't do when I started.
4. I can let out my inner speed demon and go as fast as I want/can when it's safe.
5. I'm eating better. I haven't lost weight, but I'm hoping it's more muscle than fat.
6. I'm crazy and seem to like self-punishment.
7. It's making me face my fears/anxiety every time I'm on.
8. When I accomplish something like making a left turn on a major highway, I feel empowered.
9. I've put way too much money in this to stop.
10. Somehow I happen to love it.

Design Wall Monday

2011-09-26T11:02:00.000-07:00

Nothing from the doc yet.

DH and I took our bikes out Saturday and rode around the city. A whole 4 miles..LOL. We stopped off at the LQS and I came home with this:

He really liked the dragonfly pattern and I chose out the fabrics. At JoAnn's I found the shimmery fabric for the wings and picked up the wavy blade to cut the strips. I'd like to keep working on my "Tweets" blocks for now so I don't know when I'll start the this project.

Check out more design walls at Judy's blog

Cycling:

On the cycling part of my life, I found my missing book in the garage. I've been looking for it for a couple of weeks and yesterday I remembered that I took measurements of my bike to check the fitting. I had no idea how complicated cycling really is if you want to go farther than a few miles.

Here's my growing collection:

Most cycling books are racing/training related and I'm way to slow and I don't care about racing anyway. I plug along at 10mph and hope I don't fall off or crash into something along the way. I do have a mountain bike book on my Kindle that is actually really good if you are lucky enough to have mountains nearby.

I suck on mechanics despite the books. I hate dragging my bike up to the shop to have him adjust my brakes or something silly like that. I get the idea, but the couple of times I've tried, I just made the problem worse. At least I get free help for a year. At least you can buy books on fixing a bike unlike the sewing machine trade where it's a huge secret and conspiracy.

I need to clean up my bikes today and see if my Y-11 is out of comission.

I looked at some cold weather clothing yesterday. Somehow the thought of tights down to my ankles makes me feel more embarrased than I do on regular cycling shorts.

Doc Visit

2011-09-22T23:20:00.000-07:00

I went to the doc today to see why I'm so exhausted. I'm fed up with not having any energy, hot flashes, being completely sore everywhere and feeling like crap. He took 4 vials of blood and is checking for mono, thyroid issues, diabetes and some other stuff. Mono is going around the schools right now and I have had teenagers in my house all summer and in/out a couple of times a week now that school has started. The good part is that my blood pressure is at 113 over something so cycling is helping.

Sigh. The LBS has some new bikes in. Walk away. Walk away. You don't have any money right now and you have wonderful bikes. Dang. I had no idea cycling was this addictive. It's almost as bad as quilting. I almost spent 120 dollars on white tires for my Trek 1.2 bike. Yup. Tires can be expensive. I figured I'd save those for completing something special like 500 miles or something like that.

There is a reason why cyclists wear such dorky clothing as I realized after riding my Madone to the pharmacist the other day. It's to save your butt from all the bumps and cracks in the streets. I have several pairs but still feel like a dork using them and hate to use them just to ride a mile up to the store. They make underclothing for regular pants/shorts so you aren't always stuck in dorky black cycling shorts but still wanted to make a quick trip.

Apparently I have been noticed around town riding my bikes as I was in a restaurant and had people ask where my bike was today as they didn't see it out front. I was using my car as I had the doc appt and needed to get gas for it. I try really hard not to be a bad cyclist and scare cars so I hope I'm not.

Hopefully I hear from the doc soon. I'd really like some answers.

The Rules

2011-09-19T19:58:00.000-07:00

Feeling so much better after the weekend. Colds nearly kill me. They always have. I could get the flu and sail through without too much pain, but a cold will knock me out for a week.

I rode my Madone a mile today to get the cycling itchies out of the way. I've missed her.

Dear Cats:

I do NOT need your help while quilting. That means:

1. Stay off the foot pedal. It's not a sleeping pad.

2. Getting into the drawers looking for bobbins is forbidden. The two of you fight over them causing growls and nasty looks. I need them more than you do anyway.

3. Paws are forbidden near the needle. I know it's fascinating but believe me, it hurts to have it go through your finger..errr your paw. All vet bills will be charged to your food account.

4. Dumping my project onto the ground to sleep on is also forbidden. So is dragging it around looking for a better place to put it.

All cats who do not follow the aboves rules will be banished to the bedroom where I will ignore your pathetic but loud pleas to come out. Banging the door will help not your cause. Your safety and my sanity are more important.

The Lady That Feeds You

I did get some satin stitching done despite "help".

2011-09-16T17:10:00.001-07:00

I've got a cold. A nasty miserable one. No quilting for now. Crawling back into bed where I've been the past few days. Don't you love it when your kids start school? They bring home all kinds of nasty germs.

2011-09-14T07:37:00.000-07:00

I'm planning on getting something done today. I'm feeling a lot better after yesterday.

Need a laugh?

Buttons, my newest addition, is extremely street smart since she lived outside for the first couple of months of her life. The other day I bought sugar cookies and left them on the table. I happened to hear some plastic crashing and looked over. Buttons had shoved the plastic box over the side of the table, watched the cookies spill out all over the floor, jumped down and helped herself to one of them.

She has managed to pop off the top of her food bin to help herself.

Last night I was eating dinner and she pops up out of nowhere, sticks her head into the bowl, grabbed food and took off.

She digs through trash cans looking for human food and has conned Bandit into helping her.

She gets the squirt bottle a lot. It's a good thing she's cute.

2011-09-13T12:27:00.000-07:00

I have a question. If you have any ideas, let me know, especially if you excerise, cycle, walk or have a health care background. I have epilepsy but it's never stopped me before. I have fibromyalgia and a bad back..which seems better after cycling.

Since I've started cycling my body gives out after a half hour or about 5 miles. I mean, it really gives out. Nada. Zilch. Nothing. I spend the rest of the day/night sleeping it off and still wake up exhausted. It's to the point where I'm sleeping in until at least noon.

I walked a mile yesterday came home and slept for two hours. DH and I went out for a simple bike ride, both on cruiser bikes. 15 minutes later I'm done..maybe 3 miles? I've slept until almost 1pm today.

I'm 35. Out of shape (unless you count round as a shape) which is why I started cycling. I thought this would get easier..that's how it is with exercise right? You lose weight, get stronger and healthier.

I know I'm not 15 like my son who can do 20 mile round trip, but after cycling since May you'd think I'd do more than 5 miles.

Sunday I went out for a ride, gone 4-5 miles most of it uphill (welcome to rural NE) came back home and slept. I woke up a couple of hours later and the room started spinning. For a second I thought I was going to have a gran mal seizure. Thankfully; I didn't. For about an hour every time I sat up the room would spin for a second or two. I kept myself hydrated, ate like I was supposed to for a cycling trip and still spent all day Sunday and night sleeping it off.

A few cycling friends said I was probably "bonking" which means your sugar levels are down to zero. How do you "bonk" at 5 miles or at 1 mile of a walk? DH can do 9 and not have any problems and he's not sucking down Gatorade, energy bars, etc.

This is also why I haven't done anything quilty. I'm too busy sleeping.

Yeah, I know. Go see a doc. I've been around enough docs to know they'll say, "just take it easy and not overdo it". I'm not cycling every day to give myself a break, but nothing is helping. Maybe I should just give up cycling for now, but I love doing it.

Cricut Leaves

2011-09-12T11:17:00.000-07:00

With all the leaves needed for the "My Tweets" quilt I started playing around with my Cricut cutter and my now banned software. I don't know if "Sure Cuts A Lot" still has the Cricut on it. "Make the Cut" no longer has Cricut supported so if you are thinking of doing this for yourself, buy another cutter.

Now that I sort of understand how the software program works, I was able to get the leaves drawn out on fusible webbing. I should have taken photos of the screen, but didn't think about it. A few minutes later I have leaves. What I didn't realize is that I messed up the top row and had to hand draw them out. If you are more coordinated than I am with this kind of software and have a cutter (just put a pen or pencil in) it's worth it.

Actually, if you have a leaf set you could probably easily draw out leaves that are similar or exactly like the ones in your blocks.

Design Wall Monday

2011-09-12T11:06:00.000-07:00

I have been busy working on my "My Tweets" blocks. I'm almost caught up and just need to finish up details.

I still need beaks and the top feathers on most of them. Some of the flowers need centers as well. I can't wait for the next block! This has truly been my favorite BOM and the most fun to do. Check out Judy's blog for more Design Wall Mondays

"My Tweets" Blocks

2011-08-29T10:29:00.000-07:00

Taking a break has really helped. I've been less stressed and feeling better.

I was going over my computer folders, looked in the "My Tweets" folder and realized I wasn't caught up for all the blocks. In a panic I checked the website and downloaded block 8 and realized I was missing block 7. I found block 7 and realized how gorgeous this quilt really was and pulled it out. I had overwhelmed myself with the colors, the satin stitching and that the yellow fabric was see through. The thought of ripping out the yellow flowers to put white fabric behind them was the final straw.

Over the past few days I've almost got blocks 5, 6, and 7 done. I need to finish up some leaves and flowers. I need to put beaks and the feathers on the heads as well. I couldn't find my regular camera (my kitten probably stole it since she takes off with everything) so the pictures are dark, but you get the idea.

I LOVE the one on the far left as the flowers are so pretty. Some close-ups:

And the center with all the blocks:

I'll spend the next couple of days depending on how I feel on block 8 and finishing up the small details on the others.

I don't think it's too late to join in the quilt. Go to Erin's site at One Piece At A Time and check out her blog. You may have to join her Yahoo! group to get all the blocks. Even if you can't start, you can download the blocks for a later date.

Now to track down my camera and anything else Buttons has dragged off to her secret hiding place.

Check out Judy's block to see more design wall Monday posts.

Taking A Break

2011-08-18T21:21:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a break for awhile. I think the stupid log cabin quilt killed my desire for piecing and cutting fabric. I stuffed the entire project in the back of the closet last week and accepted the fact that I don't want to quilt right now. I feel better after saying that.

Truthfully I'm loving riding my bike. I haven't been outside in years and now spend at least half an hour or more every day. I have spent more on bikes than I ever thought I would. I bought two new mountain bike saddles to try out today. The only thing that's hard is that while energized, cycling makes me exhausted. Go figure.

I'll be in from time to time though so I won't be completely gone.

2011-08-14T20:35:00.000-07:00

I think I need a cycling blog..LOL

I bought this bike the other day, had my LBS put new shifters, tires and grips on and she rides like a dream. It's like having found and cleaned up a Singer Featherweight. Smooth, fast, reliable and and vintage. She was a TOL bike back in the 90's. I paid two hundred dollars for her and she's in wonderful condition. You just have to get over the loud yellow and red paint.

This is a Trek Y11, one of the first "Y" full suspension mountain bikes. She's about 15 years old. A full suspension gives you front suspension and a rear suspension so your butt doesn't hurt going over rocks, logs, etc while riding. I went down a gravel road hill full speed and my back/butt didn't hurt from the bouncing of a regular mountain bike.

Hmm.. Maybe I should set up a cycling blog.

Oh..I fell of this bike today. I fell off another bike last weekend and I think once again during the last week. You should see some of the bruises I have. I just need to adjust the saddle height again. I have a hard time getting on/off a bike since my saddle has to be high for my long legs. Too short and the front of your knees hurt. Too high, I fall off and your knees hurt in the back. I do love cycling though. Going down a hill at 30mph is a huge rush.

Oh, the neighborhood kids call it the "Pimpmobile" since you can rock it back and forth while riding. Half of the boys that come over want it and another kid was willing to give me his next paycheck for it.

A couple of friends suggested I buy used bikes, clean them up and sell them. My mechanical skills suck with a bike so that won't be happening any time soon.

My mom got my dad's quilt yesterday when she stopped off in Council Bluffs yesterday on her way to Utah. I hope my dad loves it. I'll call him tomorrow and let you all know how he likes it.

2011-08-08T09:55:00.000-07:00

I finished my dad's quilt yesterday! You can see the "pants" like backing and it matches perfectly with the front of the quilt. I just folded over the backing and it finishes the quilt nicely. I just did a simple crosshatch design for easy quilting.

My Topaz is okay. I just broke the bobbin case and purchased a new one. My mom was funny when she said, "Well, if you had a metal bobbin case, you wouldn't have that problem" (She has a Bernina).

I was at a LQS and came home with this pattern. They finish out at 6x10. What was I thinking?

I got bored of cutting after doing a few charm squares. Each square has a zillion pieces to cut out to make the three quilts. I'll do some more later.

I did 10 miles on my Madone last Friday. It's getting easier and what keeps me going is the 30mph rush back home for 5 miles. If you want to get stronger, buy a mountain bike. If you want to go fast, buy a street bike.

I had no idea that there is so much more to cycling than ever imagined. All the things you can do to fiddle with your bike. Part of me wants to get red tires and red tape to my Madone. Those tires are 50 bucks each. I'm toying with the idea of adding drop bars to my Sirrus and putting street tires on my 29er mountain bike. Too bad you can't customize your sewing machines.

Back to cutting out itty bitty pieces after I feed a starving teenager. He's grown 2 shoe sizes this summer and isn't stopping.

Design Wall Monday

2011-08-01T14:50:00.000-07:00

I hope I didn't kill my machine. If it's indestructible you know I'll find a way to break it.

While quilting my dad's quilt, the machine got caught up in the bulky corner seams. There was a huge screech, the computer screen said "Main Motor Overload" and the needle had broken. Once the computer screen cleared, I was able to move the needle up and clear out the threads underneath. Then I realized the bobbin looked odd.

I lifted up the case and yup, I broke something. Or at least bent the bobbin case into the machine. I can't pry it out and I'm not about to try forcing it either. I'm SO glad I wasn't using my Ruby.

I couldn't get a proper angle, but the bobbin case is shoved in at an angle to the left and back.

This quilt has fought me all day with the bulky seams and stretchy material. I guess it's time for a break.

I did find the perfect backing for my dad's quilt:

It looks just like the pant material from the font. I love it.

Guess I'm taking a trip to Lincoln tomorrow. I think I'm going to put my Madone on the trainer, put in a movie and get some miles in since it's too hot to ride outside.

Kittens And Bikes

2011-07-22T13:45:00.000-07:00

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.

2011-07-15T22:16:00.000-07:00

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.

2011-07-11T19:05:00.000-07:00

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?

2011-07-11T18:49:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-07-10T19:30:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-05T09:05:00.000-07:00

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?

2011-07-01T12:20:00.000-07:00

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.

2011-06-26T16:32:00.000-07:00

I went downstairs to the basement, dumped out my fabric and amazingly found all the fabric for that bargello quilt. So..after several days and 6 years later, here it is:

This was actually my first bargello attempt. I was so overwhelmed towards the end and I had messed up my color scheme that I put it away. The light purple was supposed to be the dominant color where the "light" blue is now. Now I love it the way it is. Cheater me says add a small black border and bind it in black. Or just bind it in black and have done with it.

To be honest, I have been quilted out for some time. My machine has pretty much stayed off, I haven't purchased any fabric, read any magazines, gone through blogs or visited stores. I just overwhelmed myself at the beginning of the year and fighting depression/mania hasn't helped.

What has helped is cycling. My self-esteem has increased, I'm getting exercise, I may have lost some weight, or at least some inches, and spent more money than I ever dreamed I would on cycling. It was just going to be a basic bike and ride around. I have hit every bike shop in Lincoln, bought saddles, shoes, helmets, clothing and tools. If this is a manic fad, at least it's been a fun one.

My Trek Madone 4.7:

I don't know how much she weighs, but I can lift her with one hand. The green saddle is a test saddle. If I like it after a week, I can buy one, just not in green.

My Trek Mamba Women's 29er:

A 29er is a mountain bike with 29 inch inch tires. The only problem with where I live is the lack of mountain bike trails. The closest you can get is racing down the back alleys of town at 15 mph, hit the one foot drop off at the end, land in the street, and nearly crash into the bushes of the driveway you plowed into after crossing the street. If you are really lucky, there will be two guys watching the entire show from their lawn chairs. Anyone want to do it again?

Even DH has gotten into this cycling thing. I got him this Electra Rat Fink for Father's Day and he adores it. Every guy wants a chopper bike, even at 42.

2011-06-23T13:00:00.000-07:00

My new Nook came yesterday! Barnes and Noble came out with their latest generation that is full touch screen with E-ink. I'm not a big fan of B&N as they are too "stuffy" for my taste but this will truly compete with Amazon's Kindle. Amazon.com's site is far more user-friendly and so is the Kindle but this is really nice.

DH is the one that loves his Nook and he always buys more interesting books than I do. I bought mine so I don't have to steal his.

Right now I'm reading "Seal Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy Seal Sniper" by Howard E. Wadson. Just touch the screen and it moves to the next page. This is so much easier than the older Nook I have.

Yeah. I know. Odd choice for a quilter right? DH and I love these kinds of books and since he's already purchashed them, why buy them on the Kindle?

As far as which one is better, the new Nook or the Kindle, it's hard to say. I'm just not a B&N person. If Amazon.com came out with a touch screen Kindle, I'd go for that. I think it would just depend on your perception of the two stores and who you would want to support.

2011-06-16T11:59:00.000-07:00

Anyone else on UFO overload?

I keep looking at my projects and think, "This is never going to get finished" or "Do I even WANT to finish it?"

I almost wish I had a way of stacking the projects next to each sewing machine and when I get bored, move to the next machine. Then I wouldn't have to keep putting stuff away and pulling it out when bored. I've never been the "number each project, pull out a number and do that quilt" person.

There is this quilt:

I love it, but I don't know how to finish it. The blocks have been machine embroidered and I haven't figured out how to border it. I thought about putting a white border, a blue border, and another white border and bind it in blue. Way to much of a pain to do.

What I want to do is put a white background embroidered border tbat matches the embroidery. The designer didn't include any border and I can't think of anything else to do. I'm not good enough to use software to design an embroidery set and anything plain just looks off.

Here's a close-up of a block:

Once I realized "My Tweets" yellow flowers are see-through and you see the green stems, the thought of taking all the flowers off and adding another layer to make it look better makes me sick. I overdid it with trying to satin stitch everything and I just want to give up. I hate fusible webbing because I can't take an unfinished edge and it comes up anyway. I love applique work, but it hates me. I spent a fortune on a cutting machine hoping that I could easily cut out fabric and templates and it just sits there because in reality it's just easier to draw it out.

I have several applique kits in my closet, but I have no desire to fuse the pieces and deal with the edges.

My roses quilt needs borders, but I don't feel like doing the "gate" border as it won't even come close to fitting as my measurements are off. The fabric is from JoAnn Fabrics a couple of years ago so I don't know if I could get more for something like a piano key border.

And another quilt:

I can't find the pattern in my collection and I don't think I have enough fabric to finish it. This quilt was started about 5-6 years ago.

And of course my stupid log cabin quilt. Do I give up, make it a wall hanging and go from there?

On the positive side, I discovered that I can turn off the fix function so I don't have that annoying first couple of stitches in place. What a difference that has made. I can just put the fabric under my foot and go.

2011-06-15T23:43:00.000-07:00

The joys of flooding. It turns out that a section of I-29 has been closed by my town. If the two bridges that are twenty miles apart get closed, it looks like your only options are St. Joe (if they have a bridge) and I-80. Wny does this affect me? It means that my town of 3700 now has freeway traffic going both ways as of today. It's a mess of semis and cars. If you are on the Iowa side, you're supposed to take I-35 and some other roads, but it's more convenient to go through my town and up the 20 miles to get back on I-29. If both bridges are closed that still leaves north/southbound traffic goiong through my town to Omaha and down to St. Joe or even KC for the next few months. If so, my two stoplight town is going to have to change the lights to last longer as you can only get about 3-5 semis through a light.

The Super 8 twenty miles away has a sign saying, "Riverfront property for sale". I laughed but at the same time it makes me mad that so many people are losing homes up/down the river. A friend said that a lot of insurance companies are considering this a man-made flood and aren't covering anything. If you don't have insurance, you're out of luck.

The semi trucks will have a hard time getting gas since our stations weren't made for such large trucks and the only truck stop I know of will shut down soon. I don't know where the next truck stop up north to Omaha is.

I don't think I'll have any problems with flooding as I'm on higher ground, but who knows.

I plan on getting some quilting done tomorrow. Maybe I'll even post and put pics in.

2011-06-12T22:26:00.000-07:00

Go figure. I wake up Saturday morning and I'm fine. It's all good. I'm back to "normal" and I look back over the week and wonder who or what took over my body/brain because that was scary.

Why am I throwing fits over stupid Girl's Camp? Just buy the crap and it's all good. I sound pathetic and I apologize for acting that way. The girls will have a great time and it's not like they need tons of stuff..geesh.

Bawling over a stupid bike. Okay, that one was truly worth crying over. My son did save the bike's life and my sanity that day and I'm grateful. The red bike is getting traded up for a better mountain bike. She'll be here middle of next week. It won't make me faster or better, but the 29 inch wheels will help my sanity.

I didn't post this, but I have been screaming at every car that was slower than me last week. Normally I don't care. I can pass or if I'm not in a hurry just keep going. I don't really get road rage. I'm raging 70+ miles passing people on the highway out of sheer frustration. If you own a Buick, you were on my radar screen. I even screamed at a red van, passed it at top speed and realized that it was a friend of mine. She probably thought I was crazy passing her like I did.

It was so bad that I almost delibrately hit the brakes on a silver Jeep Cherokee just because he or she didn't realize the lane ended and nearly caused a 4 car pile up when they moved behind me and in front of the semi. There wasn't ANY room for this SUV and the semi truck nearly collided with it. He was desperately trying slow down and at one point thought he might jackknife. I tried to speed up, but then the car in front me suddenly stopped to turn into Amigos and I nearly crashed into it. All I could see was a vision of this semi plowing into the Jeep, the Jeep hitting me, I hit the car in front and the jeep and I are now pancaked with the semi jacknifed in the road.

Once the car turned, I sped up and it was okay. The Jeep turned at the light as I did and I wanted so badly to just hit the brakes and let him hit me for being such a dumbass. I managed to keep my cool and went home.

I have done nothing but rant, rave and rage at everyone and anything all week. How pathetic is that?

I'm planning on calling my doc on Monday and seeing about getting some anxiety medication and maybe upping my bipolar meds, but what got me was the sudden, "I'm fine" on Saturday and that blows my mind. The only thing I can think of is PMS as I know last week I was ovulating. Do people with PMS get crazy like this? I've been lucky over the years to not suffer from PMS very much, but after thinking about it, the past few months I have been pretty moody around the middle of the month and start of my period.

Either that or something with the bipolar issues got set off. Regardless, it needs fixed ASAP.

This week I'll be much more positive. Y'all are great for sticking around despite myself. It's been a Jekyl and Hyde week and I can't physically or emtionally do this twice a month or if my bipolar meds aren't working right.

2011-06-10T22:10:00.000-07:00

My brain shut down today. This week has been more than it can take. The final straw was my bike.

The other day I had to walk home again UP a hill with the dang bike. I've been doing this for about 5 weeks and I've been mad that I can't go more than a mile or two and have to come back. I had grand visions of riding a dirt bike through the back roads for miles at a time at full speed. I was going to take on the highways with ease and today just made me realize I SUCK. Don't try and make me feel better, either. The truth is there. I have accepted it.

I got my dirt bike out to change the tires out to the original ones. I got the first tire off and put the old one back on. You can get a tire off/on the rims fairly easy w/o using a tool if you know how (thank you YouTube). I undid the back tire via a YouTube video and after getting it changed went to put it back on. I spent 10 minutes trying to get it figured out and finally started sobbing because I couldn't. I'd pinched my thumb on the chain, my hands were completely black and I was seconds from tossing the entire dirt bike out in the highway to get ran over by a semi truck when my son came upstairs to see why I was crying.

He said, "Mom, I got this. Go to the kitchen and clean up your hands. It will be okay".

That had my crying even harder. Through the crying I told him, "I (sniff) want to (sniff) do it (sniff) myself".

"I know Mom, but go clean your hands. I'll fix it", as he walked me into the kitchen.

He got the tire on, took it for a spin and said he'd fixed it. "Mom! Come on, get on your bike! It's fixed".

I got on and started riding. I felt a little better and then I realized somehow my son had fixed the shifting. It didn't clang and make clicking noises going through the gears. It shifted between gears 1,2,3 with ease. It always gets caught on gear 2 nearly stopping me in my tracks. It had been looked at several times by two different shops who said it was me not shifting right. I went around the block a couple of more times and then it started downpouring so I brought the bike back in.

I still suck, but somehow my teenage son got my bike to shift through gears smoother making for an easier ride and that's more than two bike shops could do with several visits.

I am grateful for a wonderful son.

2011-06-09T22:11:00.000-07:00

DH was very sweet to me and let me vent away all my frustrations.

I don't hate camping. I hate camping in group settings because everything goes FUBAR. I can rough it as necessary. I'm not scared to get my hands dirty nor will I shrink off to get out of work. After riding a bike for about 5 weeks I can even eat bugs and can almost tell what kind by it's taste. Dust is another fine delicacy. Rocks are a little more gritty.

What I wish is that our ward had some kind of camp bucket with all the necessary items like group cookware, soap, towels, cooking utensils and other supplies that will be needed every year. I hate the begging for stuff I think should be part of what the ward should aready have. I'll help you out with that goal since it makes the ward more self sufficient. I feel my 90 bucks should really go for those items and so should the budget for Girl's Camp.

If my ward does this, make sure to buy real utensils. The dollar potato pealers suck and dull knives are a danger. Oh, wait, I'm smart enough to bring my own real sharp utensils. As quilters, we know the value of good tools so I wish ward leaders would have the same idea. If all else fails, I can use my rotary cutter as a knife.

I'd like to see the ward have required goal items already available. I shouldn't have to buy a hatchet, yards of rope or other stuff every year for each of my girls. Steal some from the Scout cabinet.

I've learned from experience that most leaders give you this, "you're rocking the boat" look when I bring up more organized ideas like this. The hard part is while I have what I think are great ideas, I don't always have the ability to follow through with things because of being bipolar. Great ideas, bad follow through is my biggest bipolar weakness. At some point it all crashes down making you look inept.

I did tell the leaders that I'm not driving. They already knew I wouldn't. I just had horrible visions of being told that I should do this as they don't have enough drivers. Even DH was adament that if I was asked, he'd be the one to tell them NO.

I'm heading back to bed now.

2011-06-07T08:08:00.000-07:00

I got some more blocks done on my log cabin quilt. I still can't find my "b" bag with a zillion pink pieces. I really don't want to cut out more, but I may have too.

I have discovered that cyclists (I guess you can't say bikers..it's derogatory) are some of the most obnoxious people ever. It's probably from all the doping they claim they don't do. I quit going on some of the forums as they aren't worth my time.

I solved my problem of streets by adding another bike. I'll keep my red one for the back roads and my new one for the streets:

I wish it came in red, but all the other hybrids came in various shades of gray and had ugly frames. I can't ride a true street/racing bike so this was perfect for the roads. If I understand this right, hybrids have a mountain bike frame with street tires. I thought about customizing it with metallic purple so it's not all black, but I think I'll keep it this way. Alex, the guy at the bike store, said that lime green would be perfect, but he could order me purple parts.

DH wants me to get one of these to cruise around town with him since my bikes go too fast. He likes this pink one from the same company he bought his Townie from.

Errr..does it come in red?

All it needs is a white basket and streamers to set off the entire look. Oh..and a bell.

2011-06-02T18:32:00.000-07:00

I finally started working again on the log cabin quilt. Somehow I've lost a bag of pink fabric labeled "b". If you have to see it, please send it back to me. I'll have to do another search.

It doesn't look like I've done much, but each block takes forever to make. My new Ruby machine doesn't have the same stitch as my Topaz which sucks. You'd think the higher end machine would have more stitch width/length options. I may have to pull out the Topaz to piece these blocks.

I made it 7 miles on last Sunday on my bike. New record for me. I told myself I wasn't walking my bike the last couple of miles and kept plodding along. I didn't want to walk with clipless shoes and pushing a bike.

After my whining post, I took my bike up to a store in Lincoln. I bought different tires and added different handles I don't speak professional bike but they are much better than the ones that came with my bike:

You can see the new tires. They don't work as well on the gravel roads but I made 31mph down the hill coming home the other day instead of 18 mph. That was a high making the speed limit.

I've gotten more confident with riding and even looked at a street bike the other day. I really liked it, but worry about my lack of experience.

I am proud that I haven't found a way to destroy the bike so far. The Specialized company doesn't need to hire me for beta testing yet.

What I do like is that you can customize your bike. You can't do that with a sewing machine and that would be cool. If I don't like how the bobbin case works, you can buy another. If you hate the take-up lever, get another one that does work. That would revolutionize the sewing machine world.

I better go find that bag. I know it's in the last place I put it.

2011-05-29T17:42:00.000-07:00

I'm at a loss. What do you do when you have two very different road conditions to travel through but most bikes are made for one or the other?

I talked with a couple of local bike shops and everyone looked at me with this glazed over look of huh? Obviously no one deals with rural roads that are either ashpalt or rough gravel and you have to go through both to get anywhere.

My mountain bike is terrible on regular roads and hills. It was made for rough terrain, perfect for the back gravel roads, but not here in town or for long distance. I went 7 miles today and I hated it. I even changed to a different tire and added more comfortable handles.

I looked at several bikes yesterday:

The street/racing bikes where you are bent over are uncomfortable and with the skinny tires, they wouldn't last 2 seconds in the back roads.

The comfort bikes are just that..comfort. They aren't for the back roads and I don't want to ride through town with a bike that was made for flat roads.

The cruiser bikes are for cruising. Think old people going through the park with no concept of time. Not even close to what I could use but DH bought one yesterday; the Townie. Look it up.

You have the hybrids which are supposed to do both, but I wasn't impressed.

The commuter bikes are for going through urban areas like in downtown cities.

I give up for now.

2011-05-22T10:14:00.000-07:00

I fell off my bike Friday. There's nothing more embarrassing than falling off when practically stationary and my kids doubled over in laughter. I bought some fancy pedals with shoes that click into the pedals. I had one foot locked in and was trying to get the other foot into the pedal. I accidentally moved the pedal forward and somehow clicked the shoe in and with both shoes clicked into the pedals, I lost my balance and fell over.

I'm glad I had my helmet on as I hit the pavement pretty hard. I didn't think anything of it until yesterday when I still had a headache and a sore neck. One ER visit and a CT scan proved I was okay, but I still have a headache and my neck is sore. ER doc said if I hadn't had my helmet on, I'd probably have a concussion. DH has banned me from riding until further notice.

I'm still not a big helmet fan, but I know enough that a helmet will at least protect your head from being cracked open on the pavement if you land on it. I'd like to keep my skull in one piece.

2011-05-19T10:15:00.000-07:00

I haven't disappeared. Just been doing nothing along the quilting end. Just in one of those "don't feel like doing much" moods.

I did bike four miles yesterday so I have been doing something.

2011-05-14T12:31:00.000-07:00

I had a breakthrough moment yesterday while on a date with DH. When you order a glass of water instead of a soda at dinner, something is up. It's called severe caffeine withdrawal. Why have I been a mess the past week? Little to NO caffeine and not as much sugar intake would make anyone turn into a monster. That also explains the bad headaches and wanting to sleep all day.

Gasp. I even ate a banana or two the other day. I hate bananas, or thought I did. I even made a PB and J sandwich yesterday. I don't like bread but it tasted wonderful. All the foods I thought I hated suddenly taste incredible and a lot of the junk food I normally go for don't. I hope it stays that way.

I bought a pair of clipless pedals today for my bike. My shoes should come in end of next week. They have "cleats" that click into the pedals for better efficiency. The pedals also flip over for regular shoe use.

I'm still wheezing up the hills, but DH went with me today and I did better. The hills really make biking frustrating.

On the sewing end I'm still working on the cross stitch:

You can see the path, part of the basket/roses and part of her skirt.

2011-05-13T12:27:00.000-07:00

It's been a horrible week.

Biking has not been fun. Something is "off" about my bike and I can't figure it out. Since I'm not sure what I want anyway, I shouldn't complain. I've used sewing machines enough to know that "off" means we aren't bonding. It's not like you can just return a bike and get something else either.

I'm sick of going 20 miles just to get something adjusted or another needed thing from the store almost every day. I'm sick of helmets, shorts, shirts, and all the stuff you "need" while gone: first aid (my daughter fell over and scraped her knee up pretty good. Didn't have a band-aid), patch kit, tire pump, bike locks and where the crap are you going to put all this stuff on mountain bike? I'm not about to ride with a backpack. It's all I can do just to do a few hills.

I hate Snow Leopard, Safari and I hate Flash even more. Can't get them to work together. I can't even type up a blog entry in Safari. I shouldn't complain. Windows sucks even more.

I'm ready to go on permanent vacation from everyone. You want 3 fighting teenagers that are non stop all day? They are all yours. I shudder to think about summer.

I lost my needles for the cross stitch project. That would mean another 20 miles up to another store for a small package of needles.

That same city that the bike and fabric store has rerouted everyone because of road work. It takes forever going through the neighborhoods just to get by the 1/4 mile of roadwork they are doing.

Frustrated that a few days after my son gets his bike, his friend's mom accidentally backed into the bike totaling it. Bike shop says it's fixable, but it won't ride the same again. Now I remember why I haven't ridden a bike in 17 years; they break easily and you can't afford the crap you need.

Hoping your kids don't make show choir since you don't really have the money to pay for all that crap because you just spent it on bikes, helmets and everything else. Plus if I have to hear the audition song one more time, I'm going to duct tape them. Hey..that might work for the fighting issues.

I'm going to take a nap. I at least made it a mile and a half going up/down hills today.

2011-05-10T14:50:00.000-07:00

Remember my "Lucky" issues a few weeks ago? He's done really good and isn't keeping the neighborhood awake anymore. We've actually started to become friends since his kennel is now 2 inches from my property. He's a pretty good dog and we've had a few good conversations. He's starved for attention and loves any petting I give him. Their other dog is stupid but I look into Lucky's eyes and see that's he's so intelligent and smart.

I not only have Lucky to talk too, but I found a stray cat that is living under my deck a few days ago. I've known something lived under there as you can see the openings, but I figured it was a rabbit. It wasn't until I caught part of the tail and realized it was a cat. I put some food out and the cat came out inhaling food. When it caught sight me, it froze and carefully made it's way back under the deck.

He or she's fairly shy but has let me pet and take a picture of him/her today I've told the kids that this cat stays outdoors. They want to name it, but then that means you get attached to it and want to bring it inside. He/she could really use a bath and it's fur brushed out. It's probably full of fleas and who knows what else. Do not get attached.

2011-05-10T14:26:00.000-07:00

Now I know why bikers have specific shorts. Regular ones ride up and feel funny.

I thought I'd be cool and go further than I usually do despite the 90 degree weather. It's a 1/2 mile from my house to the street light. I rode up and made a left. Feeling great, I went further down the road where it goes more rural. I follow it all the way to the stop sign and my body gives out. I've gone two miles and now I have to figure out how to get back home another two miles. I also made the mistake of going 15mph over the bridge to see if I could do it.

I start pedalling back home and make it about 1/2 mile before I have to stop and take a break. I'm inhaling water as fast as I can and start up again. I'm going about 5mph and less. I suck it up and get to a hill. There's no way I'm going to make it up so I walk the bike up at 2mph and most of the way home.

Lessons learned:

* Don't push yourself. You do have to get back home.

* Don't go so far in hot weather. I'm grateful I didn't fall over from heat exhaustion.

* As much as I hate to admit it, looks take a back seat in biking. I'm getting a pair of spandex shorts and if I look like a muffin top, hopefully it won't be for long.

* I may need a mirror. You can hear the cars coming, but you don't know exactly how far away they are. If you look back, you run the risk of going down the embankment.

This is fun. Really. I also thought I'd be limping around the house by now, but I'm not.

Don't the basketball shorts rock? Well, maybe not, but they are really comfortable.

2011-05-10T08:43:00.000-07:00

Whoever designed biking shorts didn't take fat people into consideration. Actually; 99% of the population don't belong in them either. Spandex is a great invention, just not realistic.

Riding in jeans is a pain so I thought I'd pick up some shorts. I wasn't looking for true biking shorts as I know they cost a fortune and I'm just riding around town, not going for a marathon. I looked at basic excerise shorts. Again; exercise clothing was not designed for fat people. No wonder we all sit around. We'd look like fools walking or running.

My kids love basketball shorts so I thought I'd try on a pair. If I wanted a tent, I'd head to the sporting good section. Small on top and huge as they go down.

Capris of any kind looked terrible with the same problem as basketball shorts. Companies assume that if you have a large waist, your calves must be that fat as well.

I really hadn't tried on the true biking shorts and wondered if I should swallow some pride and try on a pair. Then I thought, if I fall off my bike, 70 dollar shorts aren't going to save me. Not that basketball shorts would either, but those are easily replaced.

I finally went to my local sporting shop. She's really nice and carries all the high school sporting needs. Maybe I might get lucky or she'll tell me that it's hopeless and bring me down gently. She does stuff for the local kids, not adults.

I explain what I'm doing and she goes over to the women's shorts and brings me back a pair. I look at the size and I think there's no way I'm going to fit into a 16/18. I haven't been that size in years, but I give it a shot just to make her feel better.

They fit. Not kidding. They slimmed down to the knee perfectly. No muffin top or riding down low went I bent over (you know you don't want to see skin while driving behind a biker). They are perfect. If she'd had more, I would have bought them all.

Thank you Nike for making this fat woman feel like a person again.

Before you think I'm degrading myself, I am at least 50lbs overweight. If I could get to 175 (where I should be) I'd be so happy. I don't think losing that much weight will happen this summer. I also think I have great looking legs. It's the middle that needs help.

I'd show you a pic but the shorts are in the wash and you'd go blind seeing my white pastelike legs.

2011-05-06T10:22:00.000-07:00

I have a new bike. My first ever new bike. My parents always got bikes from other people when I was a kid. Being in a family with 6 kids made anything "new" hard despite me being the oldest.

Wanna see?

Mine is the red one and my son's is the giant blue one. His wheels are 29 inches where mine are 26. 29 inch wheels seem to be the new thing right now, but they are just too big for me.

I can't ride a bike very well as I've discovered. Just getting over the bar is hard and my legs get caught up in the seat. The seat needs to be a little higher, but if I raise it, I can't make it over. I am really relearning to ride a bike and I feel so embarrassed.

I did make it around a couple of blocks twice before my legs turned to spaghetti. I played with shifting gears and suddenly my gears started clicking and it wouldn't shift up to 2nd. I could get it to 3rd, but 2nd would protest with all the smaller gears protesting as well. Great. I get a bike and the second time I ride it, I mess it up.

After I got home, I checked the gears/chain. The gear things are all scratched up. True to my ability, I manage to mess up something that should be fairly indestructible. I wasn't doing tricks and I wasn't moving very fast, about 8mph (I made it to 11 one time) so now I realize I need to be a beta tester for the Trek company along with the companies out there with products I've destroyed over the past year.

I called up the store and they said to bring it in. With my luck, I've totally destroyed something and either need a new bike or a new part that has been back ordered for months like my Topaz part.

I finally got my Topaz back yesterday after, not kidding, about two months because of a back ordered part. I'm glad I have another machine because that would drive me crazy. Does that mean Viking screwed up a part and now is paying for that mistake by having to fix everyone's machine? Or is it just an uncommon part that doesn't break that often needing a wait to get it? If so, I get to work for the Viking company to beta test their machines.

Now I'm off to get out my ice pack and when my kids get home, take my bike to the shop.

Oh. I forgot. This has been amazing on my back. Not kidding. Part of physical therapy has been strengthening the front stomach muscles and my glutes. This is perfect.

2011-05-06T10:01:00.000-07:00

I realized I forgot to tell what "mistake" I had made with my last "Tweets" block.

The feathers on the right bird are under the wing, not under the body. And the middle feather should probably sit on top of the light blue ones even though they are underneath in the pattern. Arggghhh.

The good news is that I'm terrible at fusible webbing and the pieces are falling off so I'll be able to fix the block.

2011-05-05T11:38:00.000-07:00

My kids have been dying for a bike. I'm fed up with Wally World bikes that break but have had a hard time wanting to spend top money on a real bike. If someone steals my kids' bikes, I'm out hundreds of dollars. I finally just did it and bought my kids bikes as my son's Target hybrid bike died. He was putting 10 miles a day on gravel/street roads and it couldn't handle the gravel.

I took him up yesterday to a bike shop knowing I'd need to spend way more than I did for my girls and he found one that he wanted. It's a mountain bike with something like 28 inch wheels and as tall as I am, I have to use the curb to get on it.

Of course he wanted us to go bike riding with him, so I grabbed the Target bike and realized it had been 17 years since I've been on a bike. I nearly crash just going down the driveway as I'm wobbling all over. The bike starts weaving down the road and I'm holding on for dear life. There's no "I'm gonna die" handle on a bike and getting off would mean a controlled crash. At least I remembered that the brakes are on the handle and used them. I stopped, nearly went off the bike and felt a stabbing pain down my back and the muscles seized up. The pain went away (maybe the physical therapy is working?) and I kept going.

After a couple of minutes and some serious laughter by my kids, I get the hang of it and follow behind. I soon understood why my son hated the bike. I was wheezing up a gentle hill and hacking going up a larger one. I still couldn't get control of the bike going down and about 10 minutes later my body gave out.

Now I have the problem of getting home. My kids are getting worried so my DD let me borrow her new one and I slowly wheezed my way back. Her bike was much better but it was still hard. I know I'm out of shape, (round isn't considered a shape in fitness) but going up/down some streets should have been much easier.

A couple of hours later, my DS wants to go riding again. He's SO excited about his bike and I was determined to figure out why (other than the crappy bike) I couldn't get up the hills. My other DD has a mountain bike and I stole hers. WHAT a difference between a crappy bike and a real bike. I made it up the hill with ease, went down without nearly crashing and made it around the curve at high speed back into the driveway. This was FUN.

DS wanted me to try his bike out. His bike is huge. Really huge. I get on via the curb and start going. The bike moved with ease and grace even more than my DD's smaller one. I couldn't believe that a bike this big could move so fast. The stability was incredible and the speed was a true high as I went down the hill, turned the corner and went back into the driveway.

Ya'll realize that I paid for this "fun" as I'm pretty sore today. BUT, surprisingly it's a good feeling. I used mucles that help stabilize my lower back and I don't feel so "round" today.

I've thought about getting a bike, but would I really use it enough to justify 600+ dollars? My son hates going by himself and walking up and down the road is plain boring other than I use my Bluetooth headset to talk to DH as he drives home from work.

The one thing is that my son really needs a helmet and reflective gear as he's going down highways where cars are going 60mph. If he's truly taking this seriously, he has to have a helmet. No questions asked.

Design Wall Monday

2011-05-02T11:43:00.000-07:00

Here is what is on my design wall:

Oops. Wrong pic. That's DH playing "Thor" in Walmart the other day.

What's really on my design wall is block 4 of "My Tweets":

A couple of things:

1. There is a mistake. If you find it, do I fix it or leave it?

2. Do I add light yellow centers to the flowers?

3. That the yellow is light fabric and I have green stems showing through. Any fixes?

The cool part of this was using my Cougar cutter to draw out the pieces on fusible webbing. I haven't figured out how to cut fabric as of yet, but will try eventually.

To see more Design Wall Monday's check out Judy at Patchwork Times for more inspiration.

2011-04-27T22:15:00.000-07:00

Stupid back went out today and I'm hobbling around. I'm about ready to give up. I've done physical therapy, seen a back specialist and a chiropractor, have enough muscle relaxers/pain killers (not the good kind) to kill a horse and I'm back to the beginning of where I started.

As Meatloaf puts it quite eloquently, "Life is a lemon and I want my money back".

2011-04-23T20:14:00.000-07:00

The last post said I had figured it out right? Ummm. No. While I got the pieces traced they aren't the right size. Arghhh!

I have spent the whole week trying to figure out why I can't get it the right size and doing my cross stitch project. I thought this design would move faster, but it's not. I'm getting better at reading the pattern, but some of the symbols are hard to see because they are light green and all in the same area. Then I realized the section I was working on was done wrong and had to take out the stitches.

Long story short so I don't whine on and on is that I truly figured out all my issues and have this to show for it:

Not all of the leaves traced out right but everything fits perfectly. The body and the feathers need to be hand traced to fit better together as they fit under so there are no space gaps.

Lessons learned:

1. Make the Cut lets you print out the templates. Had I know this, I would have figured this out sooner. I kept changing the size of the pattern from 14 inches up to 14.75 and then it was spot on.

2. Since my experience with Black Cat company has left me lost, I didn't know there was technical support. I called up, had my problem solved within 10 minutes and drew out the pieces:

3. She said I could use my 18x24 rotary cutting mat with my Cougar making any project SO much simpler. She also said more mat sizes would be available soon.

4. I was able to ask about some of the issues I had like why there wasn't a manual included or better instructions for starting. She said the software was really new and that a manual wasn't available. It's not a huge company like the Electric Quilt Company so it takes longer to get up and running. They are working on one though.

The customer support and the Make The Cut forum are wonderful. I just think there needs to be a start up letter giving some better explanations on how to set up the software and the machine as everything keeps changing.

2011-04-18T11:00:00.000-07:00

I am a genius. At least for today. I figured it out and made fusible web templates with my Cricut for "My Tweets" block four.

I checked to see if my practice pen and pen holder for my Cougar would fit into my Cricut. It fit! Well, at least it fit until the top of the pen hit against the left top of the Cricut. The pen is flexible so it didn't mess up but after my test cut, I snipped off part of the top so it could slide easily.

Since the block is 14x14 and my mat is 12x12 I have to do the other bird and flowers on another sheet. My Cougar could do it all except it doesn't work with Sure Cuts A Lot. I have to do more editing in Make The Cut and for some reason the mat isn't as sticky on the Cougar. It's also a pain to boot camp over to XP. I'm so lazy. Too bad I'm not enough of a genius to figure out how to make the Cougar work with SCAL2 and I don't think the owners of this software would appreciate me messing with it.

And I did remember to flip the design. The pieces fit when I put them on top of the pattern. I just need to fuse it all to the fabric.

2011-04-17T21:08:00.000-07:00

I discovered that PC made pens for their cutter and bought a package. I'm sure there's a way to fudge around the pen issues, but for now it will work.

I have tried to work with the Cougar cutter but right now it's overwhelming. I had tried using a pen (it comes with a simple pen holder that only holds the test pen) but trying to put pieces on a mat designed for the Cricut is confusing. The Cricut wins for now as it's simpler and much lighter to set up and put a way.

Erin's "My Tweets" whole block file must have disappeared from her blog when I went to download it via XP. I may have to transfer the one I have on my Mac. I know she was having measurement issues so she may have taken it down.

I imported the left bottom half of the pattern to Make The Cut and start working on the pieces. After three weeks I'm sort of making my way through the program and understanding how it works. I finally get what I want, put the pen in the Cricut machine and press the cut icon.

The machine starts throwing fits and spits out the mat and doing wacky things. Great. I probably just broke the stupid machine. After a couple of attempts I realize (DUH) that the software is set for the Cougar.

After getting the right cutter set up, I got this:

Pretty cool! I figure I could do this on fusible webbing making this so much easier except I had two problems. The pen is too wide and for some reason not all the pieces came out the same size. The two bottom leaves are so much bigger. The rest of the pieces would fit much better if the pen had a thinner line. But it works and it didn't take me all day to get this far.

Yeah. I know. Just tape the four pieces together and trace onto fusible webbing and forget the whole computer part of it. The manic in me just won't let me give up with this idea. Now to figure out how to fudge the pen issue.

Checking out Google and then will head to bed. *Edited*. After doing a search, I found that a guy has been cutting out out circuits with his Cricut. That guy rocks admitting he even uses one. If yours goes missing, check out your DH's man cave first to see if he's tinkered with it. That guy needs to tell PC to make circuit cartridges and demand that PC stop suing 3rd party software so he can do his job.

I know alot of people are upset at ProvoCraft for their decisions but I'm beginning to really like my Expression.

2011-04-16T16:16:00.000-07:00

I saw this cross stitch kit and HAD to have it. I don't even particularly like cross stitch either so go figure. what helped seal the deal was that it was 15 bucks. Ya'll know where this going right? I thought so.

I open the kit and there is a zillion threads. I don't get the idea of a premade thread organizer since the threads just tangle up on each other on the bottom. Yeah. That works. NOT. I bought a cheap plastic box that said it was made for organizing floss with cardboard thingies and got to work writing color/numbers on each one. Some of the colors have up to 10 strands on them. Trying to wrap them around a cardboard thing isn't working but I continue to plod away. This is going to be so pretty once it gets done I told myself.

What started out as a very organized thread box has turned into a giant mess after a couple of days. This sucks trying to cut the threads when you have so many wrapped around. Try adding one strand from two colors and this is not fun.

What I also didn't realize is that the aida fabric squares are so small you can't even see them. I'm blindly trying to stick the needle in/out of the fabric as I go. I seem to remember the last cross stitch I had done years ago had bigger ones. Oh..just checked the box, it's 18 count Aida fabric. This is only part of the top skirt and a partial rose. I had to literally rip out where I started with the bushes as I had done it wrong since the squares are so small. You can see how small the squares are.

It's also stretching as I go and it didn't help that my cat climbed into the embroidery hoop last night making it stretch even more. I know if you tighten it more, you stretch more of the fabric.

If you know the best way to organize this mess so I don't spend more time trying to find/cut/separate floss and more time stitching PLEASE let me know.

Cougar Frustrations and Fabric

2011-04-13T13:22:00.000-07:00

I'm beginning to think I wasted my money on my Black Cat Cougar. It's just too much machine for my abilities. It works beautifully so no panics there. It's just me. I can't even get a blade to sit right in the machine. I had bought it primarly for quilting. I had grand plans for cutting fabric and for applique. It was going to make my quilting world perfect. It was going to eat the Go! Cutter alive with it's capabilities. It was one of those "manic" purchases where you are convinced you NEED this item.

The machine is based on scalable vector graphics (whatever that means) so any hand drawing has to be converted. EQ products must work on the same graphics as the cutter knows exactly what to do with them. Maybe I should just put it away and use it for my EQ quilt designs.

So I have to import a drawing, change it over to SVG and then figure out layers and deleting stuff that I don't need. I'm not good enough to truly know how to edit and by the time I'm done, I could have had everything traced and ready to go.

For some reason, the blade holder and blade that came with the Cricut work perfectly on that machine but I can't get the settings right with the Cougar holder. It either scores the paper but still leaves marks on the mat or cuts so deeply it scores the mat. It's not like I can go to the store and buy a new mat either.

Then it hit me, instead of trying to cut out templates, have the machine DRAW them on fusible webbing. DUH. It does come with an ink pen that fits in the holder and I got everything ready to go. I hit cut and it draws out 3 designs and then starts eating the right side as apparently I don't know the dimensions of the mat! Make the Cut only has the mat for the Cricut on it and I haven't quite figured out where the true cutting area for the Cougar is on the software. I don't think the Cricut has a pen holder.

On to better news. My hand dyed fabrics came today!

I found Chris's blog Dye Candy and had to check out the Etsy store. These will be perfect for my Fiesta quilt. They are fat 16ths but they will blend in with my other fabrics perfectly.

I think I will put the Black Cat Cutter away and work on a color scheme for my quilt. I'll try to work out drawing on my fusible webbing later. If I can get it to draw on my fusible webbing right, it will make this quilt easier. I would just have to cut around the shape. At least I know how to work with fabric so I feel better.

Baby Alert!

2011-04-12T22:11:00.000-07:00

After my last post I realized that I will have a 1-year-old baby coming with my mom and sister. Now it's been a LONG time since I've had a baby in the house, but I know enough to baby proof and I had better get started. No time for moaning and groaning now.

The last thing my niece did was cover herself in Vasoline. She's SO proud of herself all nice and shiny in it. Anything greasy better be moved up. I have horrible visions of smearing herself in butter.

I've moved my sewing stuff. I'm sure drawers are fascinating and finding stuff in them is even more fun.

I did some better vaccuming. She'll find stuff you didn't know you had and stuff it in her mouth. LOL.

My sister said she has a thing for cat/dog food. Ewwwww. That's getting moved as well.

Oh. And I had better put the Vasoline up where she'll never find it. At least I hope she doesn't!

2011-04-12T12:08:00.000-07:00

I talked to the police chief yesterday and he was aware of the problem with my neighbor's dogs. He said he'd talk to them and try to come up with a solution. Lucky has been quiet for two days and a night. I'm very proud of him and I hope it stays that way.

Since it has been so quiet, I've been working on this:

I've run out of ecru and the blue yarn so I will have to go looking for more. I'm still not sure I like the metallic yarn.

My system is on overload again. I haven't wanted to do anything. I'm staring at stacks of papers, house work that needs done, and yardwork that I can't seem to finish up. I have a brand new machine that I've barely touched. I haven't really done any quilting. I just stare at the potential projects and walk away feeling dejected. I thought buying the bright fabric for my Fiesta quilt would make me excited but it hasn't. My mom is coming to visit tomorrow and I should be so excited but I'm not. I'm just in slow motion and thinking just seems too hard to do right now. I'm just staring at walls. Welcome to the depression side of bipolar.

Having my mom here will help though. She'll help me organize things and get me moving again.

An Apology

2011-04-10T17:12:00.000-07:00

I have taken down the previous posting. I'm sorry that I offended some people. Please know that I really do love animals. I wouldn't shoot my neighbor's dogs. As a commenter posted, it's not their fault and I know that. Both are good dogs and it breaks my heart to see what I would call abused and neglected happen to them. If I was capable of adopting "Lucky" I would. I don't have the health or the ability to care for him.

You also have to know that I live rurally. There is no animal control or a humane society to make a report. The police figure they have better things to do than make my neighbors take care of their animals. Most of the people here are farmers and hunt all owning guns. It's how they feed their families beside farming. My frustrations are not meant for posting about anyone's feelings on gun control either. There are plenty of forums to argue over that topic.

I don't own a gun (BB or otherwise) and don't plan on it. I don't hunt nor feel the need for a gun. Guns don't solve problems. They just create more.

I've put up with "Lucky" for two years barking across the street day and night. All of the neighbors are fed up but there isn't really anything they can do. Now that "Lucky" is right next to my window it's unbearable. Add in the other dog crapping in my yard and barking along with "Lucky" when he's outside, I lost my cool today.

For anyone that deals with dogs that bark all day/night I'm sure you understand the frustration of not really being able to do anything.

Tomorrow I'll make a formal complaint (not that it will do any good) and let it go from there. I promise there will be no shooting of any dogs.

I was shocked when the husband told me it was okay to shoot "Lucky". I wish there was a way to make this work out better for the sanity of the dogs and all of us neighors that are fed up. I really wish they would find a home for both out in the country where they can be loved and appreciated. I don't get why people have animals and then refuse to care for them and let them bark all day/night.

I apologize for coming across as heartless or having people think I would actually shoot the dogs.

Bandit And Chocolate Milk

2011-04-09T17:57:00.000-07:00

I usually don't put YouTube videos on, but after catching Bandit helping himself to chocolate milk, I had to show you. I fell over in laughter.

Marseille White Corded Quilting

2011-04-07T12:55:00.000-07:00

I finally made it up to the International Quilt Study Center and Museum today for the first time. I had wanted to see this exhibit as I love whitework quilting. The pictures I uploaded here do not do this exhibition justice. You have to see it in person to see the exquisitness of the work done. You'll have to click on the photos for more details.

I can't even imagine the time and effort it took to insert cording between two layers of fabric. There isn't any batting, just cording throughout the entire work. The stitches are immaculate and beyond anything I could ever do.

The one above is from Britain and the outside border is shown below. There is cording between every stitch.

The corner:

I love the texture on this piece between the flowers and the dots.

A close up of the medallion:

And the dots/flowers:

The earlier dated pieces have even more cording done.

This is a new piece. I fell in love with the scalloped border.

They also made clothing:

Again. If you get a chance, go and see the exhibit.

Update For This Evening

2011-04-05T20:23:00.000-07:00

Not much to say. I did find a fabric site and ordered fat quarters. I hope they work.

Since DH had the day off and it's New Release Tuesday, we headed to Lincoln to pick up "Tron" and "Tron Legacy". They only had a couple copies of "Tron" on Blu-ray so we were glad to get one.

After that we headed to the machine dealer to see if my Topaz was ready. The part still hasn't come in as it's backordered. They've had it 3 weeks now. Who knows when I'll get it back.

While there, I checked out Brother's TOL machine. It has a CAMERA to see what you are doing. I want that feature on my machine. Way neato cool. I'll keep my Ruby though.

The best part about today?

I got some of my flower bed weeded and de-treed. I haven't been able to do garden work in 5 years because my back will go out just bending over to pull weeds. With physical therapy and a chiro, I made it a half hour. I quit so I wouldn't over do it. It's a huge mess with overgrown weeds and small twig trees trying to grow.

I'll work some more tomorrow for about a half hour as well.