These photos are of the guild recent trunk show at http://llqg.org by Karen Boutle and her DH is helping her set up for it. This gal is ooooh so talented and such a "Quilting Diva"! Her original designs of vest and jackets are just fabulous! She is retired from 30 years at the Pacific Bell telephone comany and her DH is retired from the Oakland Police Dept.

I wanted to show you the progress of the unedited mini baskets I am working on for the FLQS in October.

Today was I was so hot,hot and I don't mean it like (hottie!) The temperature was over 100*!!! Today was the day to deliver my entries to our local county fair. This year my DH actually entered some of his fab photo's!!! Every year when we are at the fair and looking at the photo arts, he always sez he should enter something. I always say "yes, you should" and he never does. But, he really did it this time!!! I am so proud of him. He does take great photos. So...now he can go to the fair and anticipate like I do w/my entries what will the judges say!!! I like to hear opinions...the positive and the negatives! I think that keeps me challenged! Some times (mostly) the fair judges do not make comments, either you receive a award or not!! I met a really nice young man(a strapping slim dude at least 6'6") that was assisting accepting the entries and he looked at one of mine and said what a nice job I did sewing. He said he liked to sew also!!! I said "Oh, how did you become interested?" He said when he was in the U.S. Navy (5yrs) his assignment was to repair and sew on parachutes with some other "navy guys" and they thought that it was a neat deal and began making "stuff", bags,totes, simple stuff. First off, I choked back my tears of gratitude and thanked him for serving his country! I told him I had a friend whose son about his age also likes to sew and that he bought his Mom a new machine and then the lady that was pinning on the exhibit ticket to my stuff said, did he hear what I said and he could do that for her; then she said "this is my son" and she had been working the fair job since he was a toddler w/his siblings that would run all over the place and how she was so excited to have him working w/her at the fair. Sitting on the floor besides her was his 4 month old baby girl in a little "chair swinging" looking up at her Dad and Gma!! Her daughter was in charge of the Photo exhibits in the next building. This is what small town stuff is all about. The real folks, the kind that we love to meet and keeps our country great! I hope I see him again and hear some more of his adventures into sewing. The down side for this lady was she has been battling cancer for 4 years. I thought to myself " I have so much to thank God for" and the spasams in my back I have been having are nothing to complain about!

Seam Ripper in Progress

Well, July just zipped by for me! I am frantically working on getting my local county fair entries done, I did get the paperwork done on time. It is so easy now to do as you must go on line to their website and then just fill out the forms,print,include the fees and mail it. How easy is that!!? If you don't have a "puter", you can go to the fairgrounds and they have about a dozen of them set up and a couple of really smart ladies, whom I think are summer college helpers, they will guide you along. At the last sew day at http://pieces.of.time/ Su's she shared her handy seam ripper she purchased in Utah made w/wooden handle. It felt so good to hold, especially 'cause older hands need a little more handle to grasp on to. I bragged to my DH about it and then showed him a photo that Su sent. Well, he said "get me the blade part". I of course obeyed......(only this time of course) because who wouldn't want to have "approved" trip to the local fabric store!! Here are the work-in-progress and then the finished product....oh, it feels so soft and fits my hand just right. It doesn't roll around as he designed some flat spots that go around the handle, that looks like decorations. So no matter where you put it down, it stays there. The wood is black walnut from his "stash" of our own trees. The only change in the design is I didn't want the plastic cap that comes w/the "ripper". So his idea of having the blade reverse into the handle is great! He even stamped my initals on it!! Whata guy!
I think he has a few more in progress!

Mini Oops!

A while back I posted my "Dancing

Fan" mini quilt. (The large photo.) The scalloped border wasn't on yet. There were to many wrinkles in the background white fabrics. I thought I would just give it a "spritz" with water and then iron it carefully. That was the start of my nightmare. The colors bled. Here is a photo. Try clicking on it to enlarge. I was just agast as this was "so much work" to put together! I took it to a "sew day" to show the girls. (Pity party!) Luckily pieceful.moments Leslie took a photo. So... I thought this would serve as a "don't forget to wash the fabric lecture" even for a mini quilt! Now, I wanted to share my "good luck"!
I talked to my mini class teacher about my mini color "runs". She said try vinegar in water. I did. Didn't work. I then decided "what do I have to lose?". So I filled a small plastic tub with hot tap water, while it was running in I slowly sprinkled half of my "99c" TG&Y (you do remember those stores in the 1970's?) package of Rit Color remover,(that was hiding in the back of a cupboard in the garage) and stirred it around. Then while holding my breath and saying a "Hail Mary" , I slowly laid the mini face down in the tub! Pushed it to the bottom and then got scared and just as fast as I could pulled it out!!!! IT WORKED!!!! The color runs were gone!! I hung it on the line and sprayed it w/the hose to stop the action. Then I put it in the washer on spin dry. Then laid it on a towel on the patio table!!!!
I am sooo lucky! Now, I just have to figure out how to get rid of those darn wrinkles!

New Bowl!

I just had to share my new, original design and one of a kind black walnut wood candy dish!
Last week my DH made this for me on his wood lathe out of our own black walnut wood . We cut down several of our huge dying English walnut trees about 4 years ago; they were grafted on to the black walnut and that is how we got the black walnut wood, from the huge stumps that grew before they were grafted (are you confused?) DH then "milled" the wood from those huge stumps and put it in his wood shed to cure and dry. I was so excited to finally have something to remember those huge trees that so gracefully shaded our yard for at least 80 years or so. (We still do have some of the trees left out there. ) The ones that we cut down were replaced with 3 sycamore tree and they are really throwing the shade as they were planted 4 years before we cut down the black walnuts. Very clever, don't ya think!? Now they are 10 years old!!! They are doing a great shade job! I told DH to keep going with his lathe and see what else he can produce!
Whata guy!

A New Tote!

I know making a "Tote" is not a new idea....but....on http://sewmamasew.blogspot.com/ Irene posted a tutorial for this pattern that I "just had to try". Well, it was such a jiffy project! I had just the right fabric for it! A piece of blue denim I purchased at the $1.00 @yd sale. It took no time to whip this up. She recommended using some uphostery fabric as a lining is not necessary. I thought the denim would suffice and it did. I serged all the seams and used a Jean needle. I had no problem sewing the handles on. (6 layers of fabric) I shortened the length as I am 5'2", need I say more!!! ;) I used the triple stitch on my machine that I have never used before!!! I wished I had used it on other denim creations, like my DH's shop aprons! My pocket seams should have been deeper, so the top stitching looks a little wobbly! Who's gonna care?!!! The bottom is really flatter than it looks here, as the "gussets" don't show. Well, I might just get on a "tote" binge after all! Is that legal to say!! ;)

Shelf Sitters!!!

Here they are!!! Top row: Steve Spool,Tim Thimble,2nd row: Debbie Dress Form,Ben Bolt, Su Scissors,3rd row:Patti Pincushion,Betty Button and Jack in the Sew Box! !

My friend at Pieces of Time, celebrated her 200Th post by having her GD Madeline drawing a name of those who commented on her blog that day and these adorable little gals and guys were the prize! Well, lucky me!!! I have to admit I only expected to receive one of them! When she hand delivered a good size box to me, at our guild meeting, w/these "cuddled" inside, I was so excited! Of course I had to open it up and show them off. They are looking down on my cutting table. So, I have to do everything right or they will start chattering at me !!!! I knew right away how I would display them. The blue/white pear pin cushion was also made last year by my generous friend! At guild we have a freebie table and last year some nice person put a maple colored 1960's era spice rack on it. I took it home as I just knew someday I would need it!!! I asked DH to remove the little dowels that go across each shelf and the next thing I knew he had it sanded and painted it the white I said I wanted!!! Then he said: "Where do you want it hung?" Done!!! Hope you can click on the photo and take a good look at these!

Rockin' Rooster

The heat here has been anywhere from 100*to 110*. The low temps hover around 60*,I kid you not. The smoke from the wild fires has returned and I am not in the mood for any of it!!! I need to concentrate on finishing my entries for our FLQS quilt show in October and the county fair on Labor Day Wkend!!! Every ceiling fan is on 24/7. So, mornings are better to put the pedal down and sew! I bought the pattern several months ago and cannot believe that I am actually using it! Usually patterns have to have at least a year in the "box" to get to the cutting table! I have wanted to create my version of a scrappy bird and so have gotten this far. I know,I know, he doesn't have a eye yet. I haven't decided yet on that look! It has to be "just right"!!! I'm thinking glitzy! This was a "fly-by-the-seat-of my-pants" creation. I saw a t.v. show recently on using your sewing machine twin needles. Yikkes, in ten years,I have never even gotten that needle package open. So, no better time to try it. Well, it was fun. See, what you think! I am open to suggestions!

P.S. The father robin and 2 babies showed up today, wanting strawberries!