WINE And Applique

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?

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

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?

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.

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

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

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.